Ch.46046 – Monday Worship 1

# 046 – Monday Service # 1

I was conscious but couldn’t move my body.

It felt like my mind was trapped in the enormous prison of my physical body.

This feeling.

This is sleep paralysis!

How long has it been since I last experienced sleep paralysis?

At first, I didn’t think much of it, but as time passed, I started to get scared.

Because I could feel someone staring at me.

Suddenly, I remembered the story that if you sleep with a chair at your bedside, a ghost will sit there all night watching you sleep. What if that was true…?

I need to wake up now!

“Hnngh!”

After straining with all my might, I finally managed to come to my senses.

Soon, my eyes met with the eyes that had been watching me.

“Dahui. What are you doing?”

“Watching you.”

Yu Dahui was sitting in a chair, staring at me.

She was already fully dressed in her school uniform.

“Yeongwon. We need to go to school.”

“School?”

I was disoriented.

Come to think of it, today was Monday.

The time was 7 AM on Monday.

If I got ready at a reasonable pace, I wouldn’t be late for school.

“You’re sweating a lot. Yeongwon, did you have a bad dream?”

Yu Dahui asked me.

Yes.

I had a nightmare last night!

Ding-.

Soon, text appeared before me.

『Congratulations! You have safely returned from the Nightmare Corridor!』

『Beginning settlement for 2 survivors, 1 deceased.』

『Ghost encounters: 3 times + 30 P』

『Escaped personnel: 2 people + 200 P』

『Deceased personnel: 1 person + 10 P』

『Item acquired: Luxury Bag (Rare) + 100 P』

『Nightmare Corridor progress: 20% + 200 P』

『Total: 540 P』

Oh, sheeeesh-!

Amazing points!

540 points is… equivalent to 5.4 million won in cash!

I earned 5.4 million won in just one night!

I also acquired an item.

「Luxury Bag: Allows you to carry up to 2 items when starting your journey.」

Oh…!

So it’s like an inventory that lets me start with up to 2 items!

It seemed like a downgraded version of Yang Juhui’s trait 《Tool Use》, but hey, it’s better than nothing!

I felt happy for a moment, but the next text that appeared quickly cooled my excitement.

『1 deceased person acquires a quirk.』

『Yang Juhui ◀ Select to confirm』

『Yang Juhui: 《Kleptomania》 – There are many reasons why people steal things. But according to thieves, most of their excuses sound similar.』

Death.

Despite having just woken up and feeling disoriented, I could clearly recall Yang Juhui’s death.

We entered the Nightmare Corridor, used the talisman we got from the basement to help Jeongseok escape, Yang Juhui was killed by an unidentified ghost, and somehow I managed to escape.

Everything started coming back to me vividly.

“……”

I looked at Yu Dahui, who was sitting in the chair swinging her legs back and forth.

Last night, we met Dahui in the corridor.

And in my case, I even witnessed Dahui being horribly devoured alive.

“What?”

But Yu Dahui tilted her head curiously, as if she knew nothing.

She looked extremely innocent and pure.

Really?

Is that really the case?

Is Yu Dahui truly innocent and pure?

I asked her:

“Dahui. Did you have any dreams last night?”

“Dreams?”

“Just wondering. I’ve heard that many people have bad dreams when they sleep at my house. I was wondering if you were okay. Did you have any nightmares?”

“Hmm… hmm… I don’t know. I don’t think I dreamed at all. I slept really well.”

Is she lying?

Or is it true?

I thought I’d learned a lot about Yu Dahui from this “Nightmare Corridor,” but she remained a girl with many question marks.

I decided to wash up first.

And when I was in the bathroom, out of Dahui’s sight, I removed Yang Juhui’s quirk.

“Status Window.”

『Name: Ha Yeongwon Lv.2

Traits: 《The Broken Clock》 《Holding Breath》《Strong Heart》

Quirks:

Funds: 978 Point

Description: Once promising, you’ve been killing time in a meaningless daily routine. But even a broken clock shows the correct time twice a day.』

『Shop ◀ Click to open』

『Clinic ◀ Click to open』

『Training Ground ◀ Click to open』

My available points were 978P.

It was an enormously large number, and I felt full despite not having eaten breakfast.

There were so many things I could do with these points.

I could upgrade the shop, copy my traits, or acquire lots of items.

『Welcome to the Level 2 Shop.

Our shop sells various items to help in battles against heroes.』

『Leveling up the shop will add products and apply discounts.

Shop Level 2 Lv (0/500)

1. Trait Drawing Ticket – 90P

2. Capsule Drawing Ticket – 90P

3. Unlock Locked Item – 90P

4. Open Old School Building 2nd Floor – 900P』

Do I need to raise the shop level to 3 to unlock new locked items?

I was really excited to see what would be unlocked this time.

Also, the text that said “4. Open Old School Building 2nd Floor – 900P” really caught my attention.

My available points: 947.

If I wanted, I could open the second floor of the old school building.

Until recently, I thought, ‘Do I really need to spend such expensive points to open it?’ but now it was different.

I now knew that each floor had a special “shrine” and each shrine definitely had an escape talisman attached to it.

Currently, I could only access the basement and the first floor.

There were only two shrines and two talismans.

If I opened the second floor, I could get one more talisman from the shrine there.

That meant up to three people could escape.

“I need to think about this a bit more.”

# # #

Shhhhh-.

After washing my hair and face, I came out.

Yu Dahui was staring at me with wide, blinking eyes.

“What?”

“This is the first time I’ve seen a boy wash up.”

Is that so?

Somehow it felt like we were living together, which made me a bit embarrassed.

Suddenly I remembered that Yu Dahui had run away from home.

What… is she planning to do from now on?

Is she going to stay at my house tonight too?

Anyway.

We went to school together.

I thought walking to school with a girl would be fine since I’d done it a few times with Yang Juhui, but walking with Yu Dahui was awkward and embarrassing in many ways.

“Yeongwon! Look over there! A cat!”

Yu Dahui seemed to find everything fascinating, like an elementary school student going to school for the first time.

Her behavior attracted people’s attention, which made me feel embarrassed.

“Dahui. We’ll be late if we don’t hurry.”

“Really? I didn’t know. I always go to school by car, so this is my first time walking!”

Come to think of it, that’s right.

After experiencing something in elementary school, Dahui started commuting by car.

It was during the summer of her sixth grade in elementary school.

Hot-.

Maybe because I was thinking about summer, the weather already felt hot.

I suddenly became curious.

What happened to Yu Dahui during the summer of her sixth grade in elementary school?

Could the “dreams” that Dahui experiences be related to what happened then?

“Ouch.”

Just then, Yu Dahui stopped walking abruptly.

The three-striped slippers I lent her must have been uncomfortable.

“Are you okay?”

“I’m fine. But we’re almost at school. Oh! I just remembered I’m on duty today! Yeongwon! I need to go ahead! See you tonight! I’ll cook something delicious for you!”

Patter patter-.

With those words, Dahui ran off quite quickly.

See me tonight? Cook something delicious?

Does that mean she’s going to stay at my house again tonight?

“Did you hear that? She said she’ll cook dinner.”

“Wow. These first-years nowadays are something else.”

Students who were walking to school whispered as they looked at me.

I wonder if Dahui and I looked like a couple.

Somehow I felt a sense of superiority.

In reality, my days were filled with creepy and scary events.

When I arrived at school with that feeling, there was quite a commotion near the playground.

When I looked to see what was happening, I saw Yang Juhui running around the field.

“Wow. She runs really well. First year, right? Was there someone like her in our school?”

“At this rate, she might be better than Bong Jiyeon, who was once a promising athlete.”

I wondered why Yang Juhui was running around the school field in the morning, but then I remembered the mission or quest she got from the “Training Ground.”

『Yang Juhui – Training List!』

『Push-ups 1000/1000 times』

『Running at a speed of over 2Km/h 71/100Km』

『Reward: 《Fast Legs》』

『《Fast Legs》: You can run 1.5 times faster for 10 seconds.』

“Wow.”

When I checked the Training Ground, her progress was faster than I expected.

She must have been working hard while I was busy with various troubles trying to find my missing mother.

I thought about saying hello, but she looked busy, so I decided against it.

I didn’t have the confidence to handle the attention she was getting from people.

“What’s with Yang Juhui? So annoying. Tch.”

Just then, I noticed Bong Jiyeon mixed in with the crowd.

Bong Jiyeon was openly showing her dislike for Yang Juhui, who was running on the field.

Come to think of it, didn’t Jeongseok mention that Bong Jiyeon used to be a track athlete?

I entered the classroom.

It felt like it had been a very long time since I’d been here.

In reality, I hadn’t properly attended classes for several days because I was busy looking for my mother and doing other things.

“Hey, Ha Yeongwon. Good to see you.”

Swish-.

Jeongseok, who seemed to have been waiting for me in the classroom, approached me.

Then he handed me a notebook.

“This is the assignment that Teacher Kang Haneul gave us before. I wrote it down diligently.”

Assignment?

What’s this sudden assignment?

Flip-.

When I opened it, I saw very neat handwriting.

「Nightmare Corridor 2nd Entry Report

Participants: Ha Yeongwon, Jeongseok, Yang Juhui

Content: Encountered Shaman Ghost. Explored basement. Encountered Yu Dahui─.」

“Ah.”

Come to think of it, I had told Jeongseok to write down everything he remembered as soon as he woke up.

Jeongseok seemed to have written everything he remembered in this report format, just as I had asked.

He looked a bit tired, either from writing all night or from the nightmare.

“You wrote it well, Jeongseok. I also survived last night.”

“What? Shit, how?”

Is it that surprising?

I probably would have cursed too if I were him.

After all, a friend who was thought to be dead had returned alive.

“Yang Juhui died, but I survived. I found the talisman at the first floor shrine and escaped with Dahui’s help. I also roughly figured out the identity of the third ghost. It’s a long story if I go into detail.”

“Hey, it’s such a relief that you actually remember everything!”

Jeongseok looked like he was about to hug me and jump up and down.

But we couldn’t talk too much here.

It would be better to discuss the details via text message.

“Jeongseok. I’ll show this notebook to Yang Juhui first.”

“Sure. Oh, and remember that note we found in the basement that said ‘something was buried at Gaeryong Mountain’s rock site’? How about we go to Gaeryong Mountain this weekend to check it out ourselves?”

Should I say it’s a good idea?

We needed all the hints and clues we could get, so it seemed like a good plan to accept.

“Let’s ask Juhui about her schedule too. Without Juhui, we’re completely disorganized. If just the two of us go up the mountain and something goes wrong, it could be really bad.”

“That’s true.”

And so the day began.

Today’s tasks include using my 900+ points and holding a “Pirates Meeting.”

Also….

Beep-.

My phone rang.

「Ju Chanmi: Yeongwon, it’s your noona Chanmi ㅎㅎ You’re still free tonight, right? There’s Monday service today and you must attend! I’ll give you a gift if you come!」

Right, I almost forgot.

There was also the Monday service at Yeong-gwang Church.

With that in mind, lunchtime came.

“Hey! Ha Yeongwon! Jeongseok! Come out behind the old school building!”

Yang Juhui growled.

The students in the class trembled at the sight.

“Yang Juhui was being quiet lately, but she’s at it again.”

“I understand Yeongwon, but even the vice class president?”

Anyone watching would think she was calling us out to extort money or bully us.

Soon, Jeong Sojin angrily shouted:

“Hey! Yang Juhui! I told you I’d report directly to the principal if you keep doing this!”

“What. I just want to eat some bread from the cafeteria together.”

Yang Juhui responded with an indifferent attitude.

Soon, Jeong Sojin asked me:

“Yeongwon, is Yang Juhui bullying you?”

“No, Sojin. We’re really just going to eat bread together.”

Jeong Sojin looked at me with an expression of pity.

I felt miserable.

Everyone ignored me so much when I was being bullied before, so why now…!

So damn annoying.

Anyway.

We headed to the back of the old school building.

It was eerie even in broad daylight.

There used to be a truckload of kids smoking here, but after teachers started patrolling frequently, there wasn’t a single one.

“Shit, I died?”

Yang Juhui frowned intensely.

She couldn’t believe that she had died.

Jeongseok asked:

“What do you mean you got help from Yu Dahui?”

“It’s exactly what I said. Wow, damn. It still gives me chills thinking about it.”

I explained everything from beginning to end.

After hearing the whole story, Jeongseok asked again:

“So Yu Dahui died too. Did you ask her if she remembers what happened last night?”

“I asked her directly as soon as I woke up, but she didn’t know. Looking at her face, she didn’t seem to be lying.”

Hmm… Jeongseok pondered, resting his chin on his hand.

Yang Juhui also added:

“How could you see her face and ask her as soon as you woke up? Did you sleep with Yu Dahui last night?”