Ch.52052 – Bullying Game 1

# 052 – Playing Gangster #1

These days, Class D’s atmosphere was quite tame.

The king of troublemakers, Kim Geonho, hadn’t been coming to school.

Kim Geonho’s lackeys—Kim Youngho, Lee Jinseong, Park Inbae, and the like—were noisy at first, but their influence gradually withered. They either just slept through classes or skipped them entirely.

This meant that I, Ha Yeongwon, had been liberated from the era of being bullied in various ways.

In a way, this was an achievement I had accomplished myself.

So had my life become more peaceful?

Well, not exactly.

“Yeongwon. Teacher Hong Miri said she’s buying ice cream for Class D during English class and asked us to get it from the school store. I don’t think I can carry it all by myself. Would you come with me? The teacher specifically asked for you.”

At Jeong Sojin’s words, my face immediately scrunched up in a frown.

These days, I was being attacked on all fronts by Jeong Sojin.

Why was Jeong Sojin acting like this toward me?

Ever since I slapped her in the infirmary to snap her out of her “Persecutory Delusion,” she’d been like this.

Maybe Jeong Sojin thought something like, “Oh my! That woke me right up! Ha Yeongwon is the first guy to ever slap my cheek!” and started liking me.

This is really troublesome.

“Did Teacher Hong Miri really say to go with me?”

“Yes! Let’s go together! Hurry!”

Swish.

Jeong Sojin grabbed my hand and pulled hard.

She really had no hesitation about grabbing a guy’s hand.

Considering she used those same hands to push me toward the Head Ghost, I couldn’t help but feel a chilling shudder.

At this point, I’d better just get this ice cream errand over with quickly!

“Carrying ice cream like this reminds me of when we moved textbooks together at the beginning of the semester. Yeongwon, isn’t it crazy that we already need to prepare for final exams? Time flies, right?”

Jeong Sojin was trying to establish common ground with me while carrying the bag of ice cream.

She tried to kill me, yet she’s so shameless…!

Of course, Jeong Sojin didn’t remember trying to kill me in the Nightmare Corridor.

That’s probably why she’s acting this way.

“If Kim Geonho comes back to school and bullies you again, let me know! I’ll go directly to the principal! Bullying, seriously. Ugh, such childish behavior.”

Jeong Sojin spoke boldly.

In my opinion, Jeong Sojin had been making out with Kim Geonho near the old school building. And after I caught them, didn’t she pressure Kim Geonho to “Bully Yeongwon more!”?

For someone like that to say these things… This is why humans are scarier than ghosts.

I pretended not to know anything and asked:

“Why hasn’t Kim Geonho been coming to school lately?”

“I don’t know. Why would I care about that pathetic coward? Always bullying people weaker than him. I hate such cowardly people the most. Acting all tough.”

“……”

“Yeongwon, I heard you deliberately didn’t tell your mother about being bullied because you were worried about her? That’s really amazing. That’s what a real man is!”

Being praised like this doesn’t feel good at all!

But I couldn’t just tell Jeong Sojin to “Get lost!” either.

She’s the type who would be fatally dangerous if turned into an enemy.

It’s better to humor her if possible.

“I also think I’m a real man.”

I appropriately agreed with Jeong Sojin’s opinion.

She burst into laughter as if she’d just heard an incredible joke.

“Ah, what! How can you say that about yourself! That’s hilarious!”

“I am pretty funny.”

As we chatted, we arrived at the classroom.

I distributed the ice cream to the class.

The students cheered for Teacher Hong Miri’s generosity and magnanimity.

“Shit, which asshole picked ten Bibi Bigs!”

“Ha Yeongwon, you crazy bastard!”

“One out of three people has to eat a Bibi Big!”

Hey, I didn’t pick those, you crazy bastards!

I’m going to remember the faces of everyone who just cursed at me and throw them all into the corridor.

Anyway, English class was quite fun.

English teacher Hong Miri was a woman with a bizarre identity, but she taught well, had a tough personality, and above all, was pretty.

However, even I couldn’t have a crush on a ghost who had chewed up and devoured female students.

“Now, number 25, read this paragraph and translate it.”

Click. Click.

After asking students to read passages, Teacher Hong Miri was strolling around the classroom.

As she walked between students in her high heels, some male students couldn’t focus on their textbooks and kept glancing at her.

Some male students were blatantly staring at her thighs exposed beneath her short suit skirt.

That would be me.

I was trying my best to examine Hong Miri’s exposed skin.

It wasn’t because I was a pervert, but because I was looking for a “butterfly-shaped birthmark” that might be somewhere on her body.

In my opinion, Teacher Hong Miri definitely had a butterfly-shaped birthmark somewhere on her body.

And that butterfly-shaped birthmark… probably moved and changed position like a real butterfly.

Swish.

Teacher Hong Miri came near me.

As her strong perfume wafted over, she poked Yang Juhui, who was sleeping with her head down behind me.

“Wake up, girl. Is this a motel? Are you here to sleep?”

The students laughed—wahahaha.

I couldn’t help but feel tense.

In our corridor exploration, Yang Juhui had been killed by the third ghost, “The Woman in Red.”

She was killed by Hong Miri!

How could Hong Miri act so nonchalantly toward Yang Juhui, whom she had killed—probably chewed up alive?

Yet the teacher Hong Miri was doing exactly that!

“Yang Juhui. You read from here. And translate.”

“Of course… This is discriminatory behavior towards fairy. Please call a lawyer.”

Yang Juhui was a delinquent, but she was good at studying.

Click.

Now the English teacher approached me, sitting in front of Yang Juhui.

She must have seen me escaping in the last nightmare.

What if Teacher Hong Miri brings up our encounter in the corridor?

“You come to the teachers’ office after class. Bring the vice class president Jeongseok too.”

# # #

“Hey, Yeongwon. Why is Teacher Hong Miri calling us?”

“I don’t know.”

“According to you, Teacher Hong Miri is our enemy. Do you think she’s calling us because we met in the corridor?”

Jeongseok made a similar guess to mine.

Whatever the reason, we headed to the teachers’ office and heard something unexpected from English teacher Hong Miri.

“Ha Yeongwon. Jeongseok. You two were sneaking around the basement of the old school building before, right? Write reflection papers about it.”

The teacher didn’t say anything about me and Jeongseok entering the “Nightmare Corridor.”

A bluff?

Is she deliberately hiding it?

Or… does she not remember?

Or maybe “The Woman in Red” isn’t Hong Miri?

I thought there was no way my memory could be wrong.

So I stared intently at the legs of Teacher Hong Miri sitting in her chair.

Flutter flutter.

Looking carefully, I could see a black butterfly flying on her left thigh.

It was a birthmark, but it moved like a real living butterfly.

The size was slightly smaller than my palm.

“Hey, Ha Yeongwon. Are you listening to what I’m saying?”

“Huh?”

“Tell me what I just said.”

“To write reflection papers?”

“Besides that.”

What else did she say?

Damn, I must have missed it while looking at the butterfly on the teacher’s thigh.

“Are you really not going to pay attention? Ha Yeongwon, your mind has been elsewhere lately. I told you the chairman has invited you this evening, so keep your schedule clear.”

“Ah—”

An invitation from the chairman?

I thought that was a random statement, but what surprised me more was that the butterfly was flying around Hong Miri’s neck area. It was flying right around her choker.

Flutter flutter.

If it’s flying around so obviously, wouldn’t people notice?

As I was slightly taken aback, Teacher Hong Miri asked me:

“What is it, Ha Yeongwon? Is there something on my face?”

“…No. About the evening invitation, is it just me going? Or can my friends come too?”

For some reason, I thought it was better to pretend I didn’t know about the butterfly.

“You can bring Dahi’s friends if you want. The chairman seems curious about what kind of friends Dahi is making.”

Teacher Hong Miri looked at me with slightly drowsy eyes but didn’t ask anything more.

We had to prepare for the next class, so we left the teachers’ office.

When we were a bit away from the office, I asked Jeongseok:

“Hey, Jeongseok. Did you see it too? The butterfly flying around the teacher’s neck?”

“Butterfly? I didn’t see anything like that.”

“You didn’t see it even though it was flying around so obviously?”

What’s going on?

It was really flying around so obviously.

Jeongseok seemed to be interested in something else rather than the butterfly.

“If Teacher Hong Miri is really a ‘Watcher’ or a ‘Hero,’ what could her purpose be? Why does she catch and kill students in the corridor? I’m also curious about how she enters that corridor.”

“I don’t know either.”

We weren’t the only ones who could enter the “Nightmare Corridor.”

For some reason, Yu Dahui was there too.

And Teacher Hong Miri.

Also, according to my guess…

Swish.

I took out the business card I had kept in my pocket and showed it to Jeongseok.

“It’s the business card of the CEO of Sakuras Co., Kang Bada. The Morse code ‘Beware of the Sky’ that you translated was written on this card. Didn’t this guy’s game seem extremely similar to the ‘Nightmare Corridor’? Like he had experienced it.”

“It was at a level that wouldn’t make sense unless he was an experiencer. In my opinion, that guy probably entered the corridor too. Wasn’t he Teacher Kang Haneul’s brother?”

Jeongseok seemed to have developed a slight wariness about the suddenly appearing ‘Kang Bada.’

So did I.

A man who might be targeting my mother.

Someone who looked somewhat sinister.

And a person who might know about the “Nightmare Corridor.”

I couldn’t help but be wary.

“Beware of the Sky. Does this mean to be careful of Teacher Kang Haneul?”

I asked.

Soon, Jeongseok pondered with an “Hmm” and said:

“It could be, but ‘sky’ might refer to something else. For instance… the Cheon family, who are Yu Dahui’s relatives. There are many possible interpretations. The surest way would be to ask directly.”

I had the business card.

That meant I could contact him if I wanted to.

Crash!

Just then, we heard something breaking.

When I turned my head, there was a commotion in Class C.

“You crazy bitch! Are you insane?”

“Get out! Aaaaah!”

A male student was lying on the floor, bleeding.

And a female student was holding up a chair, screaming as if possessed.

That girl was… Bong Jiyeon!

“Get out! Just get out!”

“Do you want to die? You haven’t been coming to the meetings lately! Who do you think shielded you from the seniors, and now you hit me? Ah, a nosebleed… You bitch, do you need to be trampled by the seniors like in middle school to come to your senses?”

“Get out!”

“Bong Jiyeon, you’re really dead today. I don’t know what will happen now. You’ve been ignoring Suho’s calls too.”

While our Class D had become peaceful, Class C was still in the midst of war.

I guess this is what a delinquent high school is like.

At this moment, Jeongseok was looking at Class C with a rather serious expression.

His face seemed to say, “I need to help Bong Jiyeon.” Jeongseok then looked at me and asked:

“Hey, it sounds like Bong Jiyeon might get beaten up by seniors. Shouldn’t we help her?”

You want me to meddle with another class’s gangsters?

I was already in over my head, but the problem was that Jeongseok wanted me to.

If I refused and Jeongseok got upset saying, “I won’t help you anymore,” I’d be screwed in many ways.

Jeongseok usually seemed smart, but when it came to Bong Jiyeon, his rational judgment seemed clouded, as if his reason was paralyzed.

I have no choice.

“Alright. I’ll see what I can do.”

With the “Mercenary Corps” system, I meant that if I got serious, I wasn’t afraid of mere gangsters.