Chapter 18: The reason it had to be that way(3)

“Welcome to the Problem-Solving Club.”

The Problem-Solving Club.

With that introduction, Na Seon-yul invited Yoo Da-hyun and me into the clubroom—room number four on the fourth floor of the annex building.

And as we stepped inside, we couldn’t help but widen our eyes at the sight before us.

“Whoa… This place looks like a shrine or some kind of fortune-telling room…”

From the entrance, thick ropes dangled from the ceiling.

One wall was adorned with scrolls featuring mysterious figures drawn in an East Asian style, like you’d see in a fortune-teller’s den. In front of them was what looked like an altar.

Another wall held a small Buddha statue with incense burning, like a mini temple altar.

In stark contrast, yet another wall was decorated with eerie drawings and objects that gave off a sinister vibe.

The mixture of all these elements created a cluttered and chaotic feel inside the clubroom. Confused, I turned to Na Seon-yul and asked,

“Uh, isn’t this still part of the school’s facilities? Are you even allowed to do all this? Did you get permission from the school?”

If this setup was done without authorization, there could be all sorts of issues.

Since I had some connection with the chairman of Nakwon High School, I even wondered if I should report it.

Na Seon-yul chuckled at my question and replied, “Don’t worry. I filed for an official club registration and got permission to use the room. Plus, all of this was explained to the chairman and approved.”

“To the chairman…? Then the chairman is also like us…?”

I murmured in surprise.

I had never suspected that the chairman might be someone with spiritual insight like us.

But Na Seon-yul quickly corrected that assumption.

“Oh, Chairman Ma Tae-woo is just a regular person.”

“Huh? Then how did…?”

“He may be a regular person, but he’s also the chairman of the Tae-woo Group. You know how sometimes in the news you hear about CEOs or politicians believing in shamanism?”

” That’s not just gossip. At that level, powerful people tend to get tangled up with the supernatural whether they want to or not because of all the people targeting them.”

Na Seon-yul plopped down in a chair at the large table in the center of the room and gestured for us to sit as she continued.

“My mentor helped him out once, which led to me getting placed at this school. I go to school while also watching over this area. I don’t want to sound boastful, but having someone like me around isn’t a bad deal. It’s a win-win.”

” From his perspective, I take care of any supernatural events that occur near the school, and I get an officially sanctioned base of operations like this.”

Nodding in understanding as Na Seon-yul shrugged, I sat across from her.

Yoo Da-hyun, who had been about to sit next to her, instead glanced at me and came to sit by my side, then asked Na Seon-yul, “Um, Seon-yul? So that part-time job you mentioned, was it this kind of thing?
Like yesterday, using talismans to repel… evil spirits?”

“Ah… well, yeah, more or less. The part-time job thing was just a convenient excuse…”

Looking slightly awkward, Na Seon-yul straightened up and began formally.

“Now that things have come to this, let me introduce myself properly. I’m Na Seon-yul, and I’m a psychic affiliated with an organization called the ‘Association of Espers’—a group formed by people with spiritual perception like you.”

” My original role is to protect people from supernatural occurrences around here as an agent of the Association. Yesterday, due to my poor oversight, you two were put in danger. I apologize for that.”

With a serious expression, she bowed her head in apology.

Flustered, Yoo Da-hyun waved her hands and said,

“Oh? No, no..! If you hadn’t come yesterday, things would’ve gone really bad!”

“Yeah. If it weren’t for the talisman you gave me, we wouldn’t have been able to stop that thing.”

Since she had essentially saved us, I chimed in as well.

Na Seon-yul, looking a bit more at ease, raised her head.

Then Yoo Da-hyun, still curious, asked, “By the way, Seon-yul, have you always been like… a shaman who exorcises evil spirits?”

She likely assumed that because of the talismans. But Na Seon-yul shook her head and explained, “Strictly speaking, I’m not a shaman. In our field, only those who’ve received a ‘divine calling’ are considered true shamans—those are the ones we call ‘baksu’ or ‘mansin’.”

“Baksu…? Mansin…?”

“‘Mansin’ is the term for female shamans. ‘Baksu’ is for males. That’s how it’s traditionally distinguished in Korean shamanism.”

With a touch of professional confidence, Na Seon-yul continued, “So yeah, I haven’t received a divine calling, so I’m not officially a shaman. My mentor was one, so I did learn a lot in that area, but I’ve also learned various other things. So just think of me as a multi-talented psychic.”

She gestured proudly to the mixed assortment of mystical and non-mystical items in the room, then turned back to us.

“Anyway, enough about that. I have something to tell you two. The reason I brought you here wasn’t just to talk in a quiet place. I also have a favor to ask.”

“A favor?”

“Yeah. Do you remember what I said this club was called?”

I nodded.

“You said it was the Problem-Solving Club, right?”

“Exactly. And there’s a reason I chose that name. This club was created specifically to help students with problems—especially ones they can’t talk about with others due to supernatural causes.”

Nodding as if that was the correct answer, Na Seon-yul pointed to a piece of paper taped to the table.

It read: “If you have a problem, write it down and put it in the ‘Problem Box’ by the door.”

I turned to look, and sure enough, next to the entrance—something I hadn’t noticed before—was a plastic box labeled “Problem Box!” in cute handwriting.

“Schools have long been hotbeds for ghost stories and urban legends. So naturally, they tend to have a higher rate of supernatural activity. But I can’t go around chasing every student involved in these incidents, right?”

As Da-hyun and I glanced at the box and looked back, Na Seon-yul pulled out a flyer from under the table and unfolded it for us to see.

It read:

[Problem-Solving Club – Come see us if you have a problem you can’t talk about. Annex 4th floor, room 4.]

Waving the flyer like a presentation prop, she explained, “So I enchanted these flyers and posted them around school. When someone has a supernatural-related issue, they’ll notice the flyer, and feel drawn to visit this place. It’s like an automatic alert system.”

Yoo Da-hyun tilted her head and murmured, “Huh…? But I never saw any of those flyers?”

“That’s because your problem got resolved right away. I admit I got a bit complacent because of that. Normally, issues caused by spiritual beings develop slowly and gradually, not like what happened to you yesterday—it’s rare for things to escalate so suddenly.”

Muttering that she hadn’t expected things to go that way either, Na Seon-yul looked at Yoo Da-hyun and said,

“Anyway, I made this club to help people with those kinds of problems, and I can’t just ignore someone who’s struggling. That’s why I invited you. Maybe not you, Hwi-jun, but Da-hyun—I wanted to help resolve your issue.”

At that, Yoo Da-hyun blinked in confusion, not quite understanding what she meant.

“Huh? Me? It’s not like I don’t have any worries… I mean, it’s not that I don’t, but Seonyul, I don’t have the kind of worries you’re talking about…? The one I did have got resolved yesterday, like you said.”

“You might not have any right now, but I called you because I feel like more are bound to come up if we leave things as they are. I mean, Yoo Da-hyun, you’re the kind of person who attracts that kind of thing.”

At Na Seon-yul’s words, Yoo Da-hyun asked in a flustered tone, “Attracts that kind of thing? What do you mean?”

“I mean it literally. You’re the kind of person who naturally draws in things like that. Why do you think that guy yesterday was especially obsessed with you? He probably saw you as some irresistible prey.”

“Huh…? Not because I’m pretty?”

“…Yoo Da-hyun, don’t you feel embarrassed saying that out loud yourself?”

“Ah, no… that’s not what I meant…”

As Na Seon-yul muttered in disbelief, Da-hyun blushed bright red and shot her a resentful look.

When I averted my gaze slightly, Seonyul sighed as if she didn’t care anymore and spoke again.

“Sigh… Well, maybe it was because you’re pretty, like you said. But more fundamentally, people like you—who are born with energy and constantly leak it without knowing—are easy targets for those kinds of things.”

” Minor spirits might get intimidated and stay away, but stronger ones will definitely notice you. That’s why I’ve been sticking close to you since the start of the semester—I was worried about that from the beginning.”

“Wait…? So it wasn’t because you wanted to be friends with me? You didn’t want to get close because you liked me…? This is… disappointing. I thought of you as a real friend, Seonyul…”

Yoo Da-hyun mumbled with trembling eyes after hearing Seonyul’s words.

Seonyul seemed taken aback and quickly responded in a panic.

“N-no…! It’s true that was the reason at first, but…! W-we’re friends, Da-hyun! We are, so don’t say that…! I was really happy when you first asked me to hang out, you know? I’d never gone out with someone my age before because I was always training with my master every day…!”

Gone was her previously cool demeanor—Na Seon-yul was now stumbling over her words, desperately trying to explain herself.

Yoo Da-hyun stared at her with a disappointed look and then burst out laughing.

“Pfft…! Ahaha! Wow, so you can make faces like that, Seonyul?”

She broke into laughter.

“I was just kidding! You approached me because you were worried, right? I shouldn’t be disappointed about something like that. Anyway, our Seonyul’s pretty cute, huh? You liked hanging out with me that much? I thought you didn’t enjoy it since you were always saying you had a part-time job.”

“Ah, Yoo Da-hyun, you seriously…!”

Realizing she had been teased, Seonyul turned her head sharply, both embarrassed and slightly sulky.

Yoo Da-hyun, perhaps trying to cheer her up, stood up and casually linked her arm with Seonyul’s.

“Anyway, Seonyul, so what should I do? Do I have to stick with you all the time from now on?”

“…That won’t be necessary. Starting today, I’ll teach you how to control your energy little by little, so you can hide it from evil spirits.”

Na Seon-yul replied in a deliberately cool tone, gently pulling her arm away from Da-hyun’s.

Not wanting the mood to stay stiff, Da-hyun joked:

“Oooh, if I learn that properly, can I do stuff like Murasaki or Domain Expansion too?”

“…Murasaki? Domain Expansion? What are those?”

The problem was, Seonyul didn’t get the joke at all.

As the atmosphere chilled again, Da-hyun stammered in confusion:

“H-huh…? You don’t know Jujutsu Kaisen? You know, like Ryouiki Tenkai and stuff?”

“…No, I don’t. Is that from a movie or something?”

“No, it’s a Japanese manga… Wait, seriously? That’s weird. The boys who lent me manga in middle school said everyone knows it these days. It’s super popular. Lee Hwijun, you know it, right?”

Yoo Da-hyun turned to me.

Na Seon-yul also gave me a look as if asking, “Do you know it?”

So I answered:

“…No. I didn’t really have any friends to talk to about that kind of stuff, so I don’t really know.”

Honestly, Da-hyun might be right. It could very well be one of those mangas that everyone knows these days.

But Seonyul just said earlier that she trained every day with her master, and I was a kid who grew up in the countryside without a single friend at school—of course I’d be out of touch with popular trends like that.

So, without meaning to, I ended up staring at Da-hyun in silence alongside Seonyul, as if to say, “You watch that kind of stuff?”

“D-don’t look at me like that! It’s way weirder not to know it! You two are the weird ones for not having any friends!”

Feeling like she had become the two-eyed person in a village of one-eyes, Da-hyun’s eyes darted around as she grew flustered.

Eventually, she seemed to decide I was the easier target compared to Seonyul, or maybe she was just annoyed at how I silently sided with Seonyul like a meddling sister-in-law—so she lunged toward me and shouted:

“You! Stop hiding behind your bangs like that! That’s why you don’t have any friends to talk to about this stuff!”

I was caught off guard and couldn’t stop her hand from brushing aside my bangs.

“…Huh?”

And then a heavy silence filled the clubroom.