Ch.24024 – There’s Space Behind the Pillar 1

# 024 – There’s Space Behind the Pillar # 1

“Our building doesn’t have an elevator.”

The “Tae-gwang Villa” where I live is an old building with brown brick exterior.

The top floor is the 4th floor.

There’s no way it would have an elevator.

Whenever my mom sent messages like “Mom is Mother: Yeongwon, come up carrying rice hhh but it’s quite a lot,” my thighs would have to scream in protest.

So what exactly was this thing that Jeongseok was pressing the button on?

“Hey, Jeongseok. I don’t know what it is, but I think you should step away from it.”

I suggested to Jeongseok, who was touching the “down button” with his hand. After seeing the expressions on my face and Yang Juhui’s, Jeongseok seemed to understand the situation and slowly backed away from the elevator.

Swoosh-

Without any operation, the elevator doors finally closed.

The floor indicator remained at the 4th floor.

The sudden intrusion of the abnormal.

I had been in a good mood, planning to walk to school with friends, look at dandelions blooming on the street, and take shortcuts. Now it felt like my day’s plans were tied to a cold lead weight and sinking to the bottom of the sea.

“Ha Yeongwon. Are you sure your building doesn’t have an elevator?”

“I’m telling you it doesn’t! Even though I haven’t lived here that long, I definitely know whether there’s an elevator or not! Yang Juhui, you remember too, right?”

“There was no elevator. Can an elevator be built in a single day? If there had been construction, we would have definitely heard it.”

This was truly exasperating.

“Hey, Jeongseok. You were complaining yesterday about having to climb to the 4th floor using the stairs. Don’t you remember struggling up without an elevator? I even joked about carrying you.”

“…”

Jeongseok kept his mouth shut.

He seemed lost in thought as he stared at the closed elevator doors.

After about 10 seconds, he let out a groan and spoke again.

“No. I saw this elevator when I came here yesterday. When I asked you about climbing the stairs, I was asking why we had to use the stairs when there was an elevator.”

What was he talking about now?

I felt a chill run down my spine.

“I thought it was under construction or broken or something. When I came out of the front door today and pressed the button, it worked fine, so I figured it had been fixed.”

Jeongseok had been seeing this suddenly appearing elevator since yesterday…?

Having experienced several incidents recently, I had no doubt that this was related to the cases and accidents I’d been dealing with.

“Wasn’t the ‘Subtle Perfume’ I sprayed yesterday supposed to give us some peace for a while? What’s going on so early in the morning! I’m seriously going to lose my mind!”

I felt like I was about to foam at the mouth from the injustice.

Was the capsule machine a lie?!

Then Jeongseok, who had been maintaining his composure, tried to calm me down with an explanation.

“The perfume’s effect is to greatly reduce the probability of being discovered by ghosts. Even if it reduces the discovery rate from 99 percent to 1 percent, there’s still a possibility. It doesn’t completely eliminate it.”

“I know that.”

I understood, but I still felt wronged.

“Or maybe we can’t escape from ghosts that have already discovered us. I had already seen this elevator before you acquired the perfume. It had already started then.”

That makes sense.

Soon, Yang Juhui, who had been quietly observing the situation, chimed in.

“Should we try going in? If we ride the elevator, we might figure out what it is.”

“What, you want to ride this thing?”

Both Jeongseok and I flinched in surprise at Yang Juhui’s suggestion.

Is she fearless?

To readily suggest riding this suspicious and strange elevator.

Suddenly, I remembered that Yang Juhui’s player trait was “Bravery.”

Even in the same situation, people can have such different reactions depending on their traits and personalities.

What should we do here?

Jeongseok looked at me.

“Yeongwon. You have the most experience with this kind of thing. You decide what to do. If you want my opinion, I’m against going in.”

There’s nothing to decide.

I didn’t particularly want to enter an elevator that had suddenly appeared either.

“Let’s absolutely not go into this elevator.”

However… since there was no guarantee that only we could see it, I went home and brought tape, a pen, and paper, wrote “DO NOT USE!” in large letters, and stuck it on the elevator door!

“I think this might finish the exorcism.”

The way to exorcise a suddenly appearing elevator is to choose “not to ride it.”

I had a slight hope, but the words “Congratulations” didn’t appear in my status window.

That meant it wasn’t exorcised.

“Hmm.”

I thought for a moment.

Unlike ghosts like “Ajumma Ghost,” “Ancestor Ghost,” and “Feng Shui Ghost” that directly harassed and followed me, this elevator was docile.

At least it didn’t follow me or make scary noises.

“…Should we just ignore it for now? We need to get to school.”

Just in case, I plastered the elevator with tape.

I sent a message to my mom saying, “Even if the building has an elevator, don’t ride it.”

I also wrote and posted a sign at the building entrance: “WARNING! Do not ride the elevator. Risk of falling.”

“Wow. You have really good handwriting.”

Yang Juhui admired the warning sign Jeongseok had put up. She seemed impressed by his handwriting that looked like it was printed from a computer. Jeongseok’s neat handwriting had a certain power to it that would make everyone listen.

# # #

Even after arriving at school and classes starting, my mind felt completely empty.

Like someone who left home with the gas stove on.

I couldn’t calm down because of the elevator that suddenly appeared in the building.

I’m seriously anxious.

If it had been a ghost that attacked me, I could have dealt with it and gotten rid of it somehow.

Maybe I should have tried riding the elevator like Yang Juhui suggested?

“What day is it today? The 14th? Then not number 14… number 24! Stand up and translate this sentence.”

Number 24.

Number 24 is me, isn’t it?

Swish-

I stood up from my seat and looked at the blackboard.

But I had no idea what sentence I was supposed to translate, so I could only stand there blankly. As I stammered for a while, our class’s English teacher, Hong Miri, frowned deeply.

“Number 24. Ha Yeongwon. You’re not paying attention. Sigh… Class D has been strange lately. Did something happen? Is something going on in your class? Kim Geonho is late for first period again today.”

As Teacher Hong Miri said, the atmosphere in Class D wasn’t the same as before.

The class atmosphere had been generally unsettled lately.

Ding-ding-dong-ding-

It was break time.

Just as I was thinking about calling my mom, something hit the back of my head with a thwack.

When I turned around, a boy with dyed red hair was grinning at me.

“You bastard. Why didn’t you answer when the English teacher asked you a question earlier? Now that Geonho isn’t keeping you in check, you’re running wild? Not even paying attention in class.”

It was Kim Youngho, one of Kim Geonho’s gang.

He had dyed his hair red and was the type who usually chimed in with various remarks while standing next to Kim Geonho. Kim Geonho and Kim Youngho, even their names were similar, these bastards.

I thought it had been quiet for the past few days, but is it starting again?

They say when the tiger is away, the fox plays king. Now that Kim Geonho had quieted down, it seemed Kim Youngho, who was below him, was trying to harass me.

That’s when Yang Juhui, who was sitting behind me, spoke up.

“Hey. Kim Youngho. Get lost. I’m trying to take a nap, so stop making noise.”

“What? Get lost? Our Juhui is being harsh. The loudest person at school was your mom.”

The atmosphere is quite hostile from the first period break.

Class D fell silent for a moment as a storm seemed about to break out.

While everyone was watching cautiously, Kim Youngho added:

“Yang Juhui. Be careful. Bong Jiyeon from Class C is grinding her teeth, saying she’s going to get you. How are you going to handle it alone without Kim Geonho’s shield? If you mess with Bong Jiyeon and the seniors, you’ll be in big trouble.”

“That’s ridiculous. Anyone listening would think Kim Geonho was really protecting me and shielding me. If Bong Jiyeon has something to say, tell her to come to me directly. Oh right, that bitch is too scared to even look me in the eye.”

“Wow, Yang Juhui, you’ve got huge balls.”

“Bigger than you, Kim Youngho, who used to hang around Kim Geonho and now does Bong Jiyeon’s bidding. Aren’t you ashamed as a man to be a lackey for a girl who’s shorter than you?”

“…”

Kim Youngho was speechless, as if struck at a vital point.

For some reason, my chest hurt too, but Yang Juhui was like a shark that had tasted blood, mercilessly tearing into her opponent.

“Does it feel like she likes you because Bong Jiyeon acts like a queen bee, replies to your texts, and occasionally smiles at you? There’s a truckload of guys like you around her, you idiot. Kim Youngho, you’re just a fish in her pond.”

I recalled the time when I was beaten up in the back alley with Deputy Class President Jeongseok.

There were quite a few boys from Class C around Bong Jiyeon. Her pretty appearance was power and authority in itself. Bong Jiyeon was a bully who knew how to use her weapons to manipulate people.

“Hey. Kim Youngho. Does Bong Jiyeon reply when you text her? She doesn’t, right? Even when that bitch was getting beaten by me, she wouldn’t let go of her phone. I wonder why her replies to you are so slow?”

“You fucking, who’s a fish in a pond! Want to bet? Let’s bet! Fuck! If I text her and she replies, what are you going to do, Yang Juhui? Let’s make a bet!”

I could sense something like madness flickering in Kim Youngho’s eyes. I mentally reviewed the quirk that had recently appeared in Kim Youngho.

“Gambling Addict: For some people, gambling isn’t a means or a method, but everything.”

Now Kim Youngho’s behavior made sense. He always liked illegal sports betting, so this quirk suited him perfectly.

Perhaps these quirks aren’t simply random but manifest according to a person’s constitution or aptitude.

It was a hypothesis worth considering.

I should discuss this with Jeongseok later.

But first, I needed to end this hostile situation.

If something too noticeable happened in class, we might be detected by those “Watchers.”

“Hey Kim Youngho. I’ll take that bet. If you text Bong Jiyeon and she replies within 5 minutes, I’ll do whatever you say. But if she doesn’t reply, it’s the other way around.”

“Fuck, Yeongwon, who are you to butt in?”

“What? Are you scared? Afraid Bong Jiyeon won’t reply?”

“Wow. I can’t believe I’m experiencing this. Fine. Let’s do it, you bastard. Ha Yeongwon, you’re dead.”

Kim Youngho picked up his phone with bloodshot eyes.

Then he sent a message to someone, presumably Bong Jiyeon.

“Hey Bongi lol what are you doing?”

5 minutes.

Would there be a reply from Bong Jiyeon, the bully from Class C, within 5 minutes?

No, I didn’t think so.

Bong Jiyeon also had a quirk.

“Androphobia: Just seeing them, just being in the same place causes unbearable revulsion. What does it feel like to fear half the world…?”

The power of quirks is almost absolute.

There’s no way she would reply to someone she fears.

1 minute, 3 minutes, 4 minutes passed-

Kim Youngho was almost like a madman with veins popping on his forehead.

“Heyheyheyheyhey answer answer me answer”

“Check this”

“Photo”

“Gift card”

“Kim Youngho has sent a gift card.”

“Read it ffs”

What a complete lunatic.

Sending messages like that would make anyone not want to reply.

“Hey. Youngho. It’s been 5 minutes.”

The promised time had passed.

Kim Youngho’s face was flushed red.

The content of the bet was that Kim Youngho would become my slave, but how would he react now?

“Fuck off. It was just a joke in the first place. Bongi said she wasn’t feeling well lately, so she’s probably sleeping. Let’s forget about it. Let’s forget it.”

I see.

Just because he has the “Gambling Addict” quirk doesn’t mean he properly honors the terms of the gambling.

But I was still annoyed with Kim Youngho.

If I had lost the bet, would he have suggested nullifying it like this?

I thought for a moment and came up with a rather amusing idea.

“Hey. Kim Youngho. Let’s make another bet. Whether you’ll accept the result of the slave bread bet or not. I bet that you won’t accept it – meaning you won’t become my slave. You should bet the opposite, that you will accept it, right? How about a 50,000 won bet?”

“Uh… well…”

If Kim Youngho wanted to win this bet, he would have to choose to become my slave.

If he didn’t want to be a slave, he would have to lose this bet and pay me 50,000 won.

How would “Gambling Addict” Kim Youngho bet on this dilemma?

“Uh… well…”

In fact, he could simply not participate in such a ridiculous bet.

After all, the surest way to win at gambling is “not to gamble at all.” I saw that in the movie Tazza.

But could Kim Youngho, who was addicted to gambling, resist gambling? Even if it was a gambling table where his loss was predetermined, would Kim Youngho stick his head into the lion’s mouth?

“Uh… well…”

Kim Youngho was trembling in his shoulders and arms, sweating like someone with the flu. Just as I thought the situation was getting serious, the classroom door slid open, and Jeongseok and Jeong Sojin entered.

“Hey! What are you guys doing there! Are you bullying Yeongwon again? Yang Juhui! Kim Youngho! Stop bullying Yeongwon! If you keep doing this, I’ll speak directly to the principal!”

Slam!

Jeong Sojin approached me and scolded Yang Juhui and Kim Youngho.

Of course, Yang Juhui frowned deeply.

“What are you talking about? So annoying.”

Ding-

Just then, a phone rang.

Kim Youngho’s expression brightened.

“Is it a reply from Bongi?!”

“No, it’s my phone.”

When I checked the message, my vision went dark.

“Mom is Mother: Mom is trapped in the elevator now lol Have you ever experienced this?”