Ch.85085 – Random Matching 3

# 085 – Random Matching #3

“The air is chilly.”

That was Jeongseok’s first impression upon entering the second floor.

It was definitely cooler on the second floor than the first.

It felt like being indoors during a cold winter without any heating like a boiler running.

That precarious feeling just before your breath becomes visible.

“There aren’t many lockers or boxes to hide in here. So when we move around, we need to avoid being spotted by ghosts at all costs. If we get caught, they might suck our brains out.”

So far, the ghosts I’d seen were the Rhythm Ghost, the Dancing Ghost, and the Mirror Ghost.

“The Rhythm Ghost makes clicking sounds with its mouth to keep rhythm. So if it gets close, you can tell by that sound. The Dancing Ghost, as the name suggests, dances around making loud stomping noises.”

Only the Mirror Ghost I saw in the principal’s office remained mysterious.

And there was no chance that these three were the only ghosts.

The second floor was suspicious enough that even Gu Hyena, a ghost herself, was reluctant to set foot there.

We moved cautiously through the labyrinth of corridors without a map.

That’s when my eyes caught sight of the “Principal’s Office.”

“There’s the principal’s office! There was a strange safe inside! And the Mirror Ghost too…”

I was half excited and half tense at the sight of the principal’s office when I was desperate to get into any room with walls and a door.

I wondered if it was the right choice to enter a place where the Mirror Ghost might be waiting.

Thud-thud-thud-thud-thud-thud-

Just then, from far down the dark corridor, we heard the sound of feet stomping wildly.

It meant the Dancing Ghost was approaching.

If we stayed here, we might encounter the Dancing Ghost.

There was nowhere to hide.

Our only option was to enter the principal’s office.

Dancing Ghost vs. Mirror Ghost.

While I was contemplating which ghost would be the lesser evil to face, Yang Juhui, seemingly unable to bear the suspense any longer, strode forward and opened the principal’s office door.

“What are you doing? Hurry up and get in!”

Both Jeongseok and I, inspired by Yang Juhui’s decisiveness, moved our feet and took shelter inside the principal’s office.

Clank-

After closing the thick metal door, we soon heard the sound of heavy stomping passing by in the corridor outside the principal’s office.

Only after that sound had completely faded could we finally breathe a sigh of relief.

Yang Juhui leaned against the wall and straightened the hem of her disheveled skirt.

“…My grandmother used to tell me ghost stories when I was little. She said dancing ghosts aren’t normal and should be avoided at all costs.”

Are there normal and abnormal ghosts?

Isn’t the very concept of a “ghost” far from what we’d call “normal”?

While I was thinking this, Jeongseok, who had been hyperventilating from fear, asked as if catching his breath:

“…Why? Why aren’t dancing ghosts normal?”

“Haven’t you heard the legend of Royal Concubine Hui’s tomb? There’s a superstition that women who want boyfriends or marriage should visit her tomb to receive energy that will help them find a man.”

Jang Hui-bin was a woman known as the villainess of the Joseon Dynasty.

If she were born today, she’d probably be a bully like Bong Jiyeon or Yang Juhui.

Yang Juhui explained at length, either because she was happy to show off her knowledge for once or because she too found this second floor unfamiliar and eerie and wanted to shake off her unease.

“But actually, even shamans are afraid of Jang Hui-bin’s tomb. They say there’s a ghost dancing in hanbok on top of her tomb. Laughing so loudly it gives you goosebumps.”

“……”

“……”

Being cowards, Jeongseok and I couldn’t help but feel terrified by Yang Juhui’s story.

It’s scary enough already—do we really need to hear ghost stories too?

But Jeongseok seemed to think it was necessary to listen.

“So why aren’t dancing ghosts normal?”

“Ghosts are dead souls, so they should have faint emotions and be rather bland, right? If a ghost shows various expressions and even dances, it’s not normal. I don’t know. That’s what my grandmother said.”

I knew that Yang Juhui’s grandmother had been an impressive shaman who had even studied in Japan.

More precisely, she was closer to a Japanese shrine maiden than a Korean shaman.

When I looked it up, Japanese sorcery had many creepy and bizarre stories.

Maybe it was due to the uniquely closed culture of an island nation…

Anyway, since this was a story from Yang Juhui’s grandmother, it wasn’t something we could easily dismiss.

So we established one rule for our behavior on the second floor:

“If we have to face either the Dancing Ghost or another ghost, let’s avoid the Dancing Ghost first whenever possible.”

If you have to avoid either a tiger or a fox, you should obviously avoid the tiger.

So what should we do now?

“There might be ghosts here too. Everyone be careful.”

I turned on the desk lamp in the principal’s office and warned Jeongseok and Yang Juhui.

The sharp-eyed Yang Juhui was the first to spot the mirror, pointing at it.

“Is this the mirror where the ghost appears?”

“…I think that’s it. When I escaped from here, I definitely left it fallen on the floor, but now it’s hanging on the wall again. There was something like a portrait in it. But it was actually a mirror.”

Even I thought my explanation was a bit rambling.

But Jeongseok seemed to understand well.

“Stories about what looks like a portrait but is actually a mirror or window are common ghost tales. Mirror Ghost… Be careful not to get too close to the mirror. You might get pulled into it.”

Pulled into the mirror?

I hadn’t thought of that, but hearing it now, it didn’t seem so far-fetched.

Yang Juhui’s explanation about dancing ghosts.

Jeongseok’s theory about mirror ghosts.

I was definitely getting more information than when I came to the second floor alone.

This is why people can’t live alone.

From now on, I won’t let anyone who advocates for staying single or rejects community living, claiming humans are solitary, get away with it.

People are social animals who need to receive and give help to others!

“Let’s just break this damn mirror.”

Yang Juhui dropped the mirror to the floor and then stomped on it with her foot, shattering the glass.

I was a bit tense and worried about breaking what might be a cursed mirror, but fortunately, nothing happened.

Instead, a safe behind the mirror was revealed.

It was a safe with a keypad lock, like a door lock.

There was also writing next to the safe that looked like someone had written with a highlighter.

“ㅁ4ㅁ1”

“So this is the safe you mentioned, Yeongwon. It definitely looks tempting to open. Do we enter numbers from 0 to 99? No, this kind of safe will sound a loud alarm if you enter the wrong password three times in a row.”

“It sounds an alarm? How do you know that?”

When I asked, Jeongseok answered with confidence.

“My grandfather had exactly the same one in his study. It makes a really loud alarm sound. It would probably be loud enough to be heard throughout this corridor.”

So that means all the ghosts would rush to the principal’s office if they heard that sound?

And we’re supposed to guess the right number from 0 to 99 in just three tries?

I was very curious about the safe but wondered if we should give up.

That’s when it happened.

Click-click-click.

Clack.

The electronic safe made a sound and opened.

It was quite surprising.

“Hey, Jeongseok! How did you open it?”

“I told you my grandfather’s safe was exactly like this one. This safe has a master key number that resets the settings when you forget the password, changing it to ‘0000’.”

Oh, shit!

As expected of a rich young master who has a safe at home!

“Wow, Jeongseok. You’re definitely worth that Escape Talisman we used on you.”

“That’s just who I am.”

So what was behind the safe?

Amazing treasure? Gold bars?

# # #

“200─ ㅁ Month ㅁ Day, 1ㅁ:00, Current Status of Yeongji High School Students”

“1st Year: 253 students, 252 attending, 1 missing”

“2nd Year: 25ㅁ students, 252 attending, 2 missing”

“3rd Year: 255 students, 256 attending, 1 increase?”

“Chairman, students keep disappearing from the school.”

“The number of students who claim to have seen ghosts in stairwells or bathrooms is increasing. Even children without aptitude as Watchers are getting involved.”

“And in the third year, there have been substitutions. We cannot tell which of the 256 students is a ghost, so please inform your son.”

“The consecutive occurrence of these unfortunate events is ominous. I believe it would be best to temporarily close the school. During this period, please request assistance from Gwanak Jeil Presbyterian Church for exorcism.”

“Chairman, I must advise you that if the situation continues to deteriorate, truly uncontrollable events may occur. Please reconsider my proposal. Respectfully submitted by Principal Ji Dongseok.”

What was inside the safe wasn’t treasure but a letter in a small envelope.

The letter contained the above text.

“The year is smudged so I can’t tell for sure, but if it’s before the 2010s, this might be from when my mom attended Yeongji High. It seems students were already disappearing back then.”

When I first enrolled, I had no idea there had been so many disappearances at Yeongji High.

But now I see that Yeongji High was a completely… bizarre place.

Moreover, in the third year, 256 students attended out of 255.

What does it mean that one student increased?

Did a ghost pretend to be human and slip in among the students?

While I was pondering many questions, Jeongseok drew a conclusion.

“It seems this letter never reached the chairman. Given that it was in this safe, it looks like the principal at that time decided to just bury this letter in the safe.”

“Why?”

“I don’t know. But considering that so many students have disappeared yet it feels like we’re hearing about it for the first time… maybe they deliberately tried to conceal the information?”

Jeongseok’s theory made sense.

Looking further into the safe, we found what looked like student records.

“1st Year: Kim Miyoung”

“2nd Year: Choi Yejin”

“2nd Year: Lee Hana”

I was wondering who these students were when Jeongseok said:

“Could these be records of the missing students?”

“That makes sense. And they’re all female students.”

A chilling sensation ran down my spine.

I remembered what Kwon Suho had said before he died: “It was true that they killed people to make them into ghosts. They said they made women into ghosts and used their blood to prevent the water veins from overflowing.”

“When the Cheon family… demolished their mansion and built a school, there were people who opposed it, right? Saying the land wasn’t suitable for a school. But the current chairman, Cheon Daegon, built the school despite the opposition and here we are…”

A ritual using virgin blood to prevent water veins from overflowing.

A school built on top of it.

Am I overthinking this?

I believed that the reasons this high school was built on this land were not unrelated to these disappearances. In fact, maybe these disappearances were the fundamental reason the school was built?

“…Maybe Yeongji High was built to make students disappear? To create kids who fall into these nightmare corridors like us today… or to offer them as blood sacrifices to stabilize the water veins…”

It was just my speculation.

But I thought it fit too perfectly.

Soon, Yang Juhui also seemed to have a realization as she shuddered violently.

“My grandmother said my sister had to go to Yeongji High for our family to survive. If what you’re saying is true, did my grandmother send my sister to school to be sacrificed to stabilize the water veins or whatever?”

…I hadn’t thought of that at all.

That’s how it sounded to Yang Juhui.

But thinking about it coldly, doesn’t it make sense?

Jeongseok nodded.

“…Human sacrifice. It’s a common story. Look at the story of Sim Cheong who sacrificed herself to the sea. And in Japan, there are many stories like the one about the Gandara shrine maiden who was offered to a snake.”

At Jeongseok’s words, Yang Juhui shuddered as if disgusted, making an expression of revulsion.

“Why are only women sacrificed? Ugh, am I in danger too?”

“…That… I don’t know. Maybe the entities receiving the sacrifices prefer young, pretty women. Or maybe young, pretty women enhance the tragic nature of stories that get passed down.”

These were stories I hoped weren’t true.

To think I’d been attending such a horrible school!

No wonder I got a status window at the entrance ceremony and have been tormented by all sorts of ghosts!

Bang bang bang-!

Just then, someone knocked on the principal’s office door.

I was nearly having a seizure, and Jeongseok was so startled he jumped about two meters into the air.

—Kids! Are you in there? Open the door! Hurry! It’s me! Bong Jiyeon!

Bong Jiyeon’s voice was heard from beyond the door.

Bong Jiyeon suddenly!?

I was surprised in many ways and couldn’t help but be suspicious.

That’s when Jeongseok said:

“It could be a ghost pretending to be Bong Jiyeon. I’ll test it.”