Ghost Story Club

[You have come across and survived a B-rank ghost story – The Forgotten Friend.]

[You have earned 15 Ghost Story Points.]

[Your member has successfully helped your friend find her identity and attain spirituality!]

[You have earned 70 Ghost Story Points.]

[You have received an additional 10% bonus points for each contributing member.]

[Contributing members (7 members): Kim Eunjung, Ahn Gyeongwon, Oh Dukhun, Yoon Sunah, Lee Jinhee, In Hayoon, Jang Hwaeun]

Beep-

※※Error Error Error Error Error Error Error Error Error Error Error Error Error※※

[Error Code: Reality Error, File name: Kim Eunjung, Message: 4444-4444]

[Unable to Process Kim□Jung File!]

[There may be issues with reality, preventing reality from being displayed correctly or functioning properly. If the issues persist, your personalities may merge, or you may wander around with severed limbs.]

[The system is modifying reality.]

[Loading…]

“…What is it?”

“Mo, what….”

Our Ghost Story Club standing at the entrance of Seoul Station.

At the sudden change of scenery in front of me, I was left in bewilderment.

“Hey, guys!”

After dropping us off, Teacher Jang Hwaeun was unable to join us because she was parking her car.

Now with the situation over, she rushed through the crowd and climbed up the stairs, out of breath.

“What, what is going on…”

“…I don’t know.”

Moments later, the police officers who had gone inside Seoul Station to search came stumbling backward and walked out of the entrance.

The pedestrians who had been standing around and watching also walked backward and went back the way they came from.

On the road, the cars were rapidly flashing their headlights and driving the wrong way in a chaotic manner.

The sun, which had been setting, slowly rose again in the sky, casting a glow of sunset once more.

“Look over there, Joon….”

When we all looked to where Sunah was pointing, we witnessed a bizarre scene of the corpses, that had been scattered on the ground, rising to their feet as their blood, that was pooling around, being sucked into their own body.

“… Let’s go inside.”

Before long, we headed back to the platform inside Seoul Station.

“#$^$#@!&$^%…”

Incomprehensible voices burst out from all directions like the frantic sound of a tape being rewound.

Employees frantically stumbled backward, and the corpses arose from death, sucking the blood from their clothes into their bodies as they convulsed.

And citizens in seemingly normal attire walked by, casually grabbing suitcase bags from thin air.

“… Everyone is moving backward.”

I tried to open the Status Window to check the time, but all that appeared was the message [Loading…] and nothing worked, so I reluctantly took out my phone.

“Hey guys, look at this.”

[May 1st, Wednesday, 18:34]

Ss…

[May 1st, Wednesday, 18:17]

Ss…

[May 1st, Wednesday, 17:58]

“Time is turning back.”

“Oh my god…”

Just like in the movie Doctor Strange I saw a few years ago, when the main character turned back time, the blood that had splattered on the floor was sucked back into the people’s bodies and their severed limbs were attached back together in thin air.

The objects on the floor that were scattered in a mess slowly rolled away in various directions and returned to their owners’ arms.

[The small-scale reality adjustment has been completed.]

[Causality Rate is being loaded.]

[Causality Rate: 14%]

Ding.

[Causality Rate: 15%]

Ding.

[Causality Rate: 16%]

Ding.

[Causality Rate: 17%]

“Hey, guys! The crowd is coming back! Get out of here!”

In the distance, the crowd of people who had fled came rushing back in a chaotic retreat through the distance.

The Teacher and Detective quickly pushed us against the wall so that we wouldn’t get crushed by the people driving in the opposite direction.

Rumble, rumble.

Paat-

[Contributing members (6 members): Ahn Gyeongwon, Oh Dukhun, Yoon Sunah, Lee Jinhee, In Hayoon, Jang Hwaeun]

[You will receive an additional 60% bonus point on the total earned points, 51 points.]

[Current Ghost Story Points: 66+85+51]

Ping〜

[Current Ghost Story Points: 202]

Rumble.

Soon, the citizens began to move again as if nothing had happened.

“Where are you? I told you to hurry… The train is almost leaving.”

“Honey, should we have dinner here before going?”

Buying train tickets, laughing together with family members, waiting for their loved ones.

The cleaning lady passing by with a broom glanced at us, who were standing blankly in the corner at the bottom of the escalator, before walking past.

All the traces left by Ghost Story Kim Eunjung had disappeared from this world.

“Huu.”

The Detective patted his chest.

“I have no idea what just happened, but it looks like things have wrapped up well.”

“…Let’s call Jinhee.”

I hurriedly called Jinhee, but she only said in a hoarse voice that she was tired and would go home first.

“Okay. You’ve worked hard. Everything here seems to have been treated as if it never happened, and all the people who collapsed are back on their feet, going about their business. It seems to have been resolved well.”

[Good to know.]

“We’ll take a look and then disperse. Go home and get some rest. You’ve really worked hard this time.”

[You too.]

Beep~

Amid the bustling crowd of people moving in and out of Seoul Station in a hurry.

Our Ghost Story Club, with five students and two adults, stood awkwardly, glancing around.

In the end, the Detective coughed and spoke up.

“… So. Have you all had lunch?”

Inside the food court on the third floor of Seoul Station.

We each ordered pork cutlet, cold noodles, and sundae soup, picking at our food with chopsticks.

“Ah, so you’re the club’s supervising teacher? These kids only call me when they need something, so I didn’t realize until now.”

“I agree. They really do whatever they want without us adults, haha.”

The two adults from the club were chatting while eating food-

However, we have just witnessed a murder scene where limbs were severed and turned into several pieces, so we had no appetite and were absentmindedly picking at our food.

Dukhun was the only one who was enthusiastically finishing his plate, ordering for another.

“…He has a good appetite.”

He really has a big stomach.

Soon, Gyeongwon, who was sitting next to me, slowly opened his mouth among us, the students who looked exhausted.

“Prez. I had been wondering about what just happened.”

“Yeah. I was curious too. If you figured out anything, could you explain it to me?”

“About the ghost story about a friend that no one remembers… There are many variations, but what I mentioned to you before is more likely correct.”

I clearly remember, it was about a friend whom I used to play with as a child but the people around me couldn’t remember.

A ghost story, where even when I searched through old traces to show evidence, that friend was mysteriously absent, almost like a ghost.

When it materialized and appeared in reality, it wandered around with the characteristics of memory manipulation and reality alteration, fitting the concept.

“By getting rid of that, the realities that the ghost story had manipulated were all completely reset…”

“… It’s amazing that we’re the only ones who know about it.”

“Well, as the Prez said before, it’s because we were already aware of that.”

I gestured for Gyeongwon to stop, indicating that he didn’t need to elaborate on the finer details.

It was already over.

The important thing is what information we could infer from here regarding the resolution of the next incident.

“So what I mean is.”

Now completely uninterested in the food, Gyeongwon put down his chopsticks and adjusted his glasses.

In an instant, Dukhun’s fork flew in and stole Gyeongwon’s pork cutlet.

“You remember that 200 won ghost story I told you about yesterday?”

“…About yesterday.”

Because of the incident that happened so chaotically, I thought it had been a few weeks.

“You mean the story about how there were 200 won coins when you were a kid?”

“It’s not a story. There are more than a few people in Korea who have seen it.”

Gyeongwon pushed his glasses again.

“From what I could infer, I think that too… might also be a trace of some kind of reality manipulation, just like what just happened a moment ago, Prez.”

“Reality manipulation…?”

“Yeah.”

“Huuu.”

Dukhun’s fork flew in again.

Gyeongwon, seemingly annoyed, pushed the plate toward him and continued his explanation.

“No matter how much I think about it, I don’t think such absurd information could have spread to the citizens. There are more than a few people who remember it. Both I and Jinhee were definitely aware of it.”

But I didn’t remember.

Even so, for now, I decided to listen to his explanation in silence.

“After witnessing reality being manipulated and altered right before my eyes, I became convinced. This kind of reality alteration likely isn’t the first time it’s happened.”

“… I agree with that.”

I had sensed it from the game that Clover Corporation released ten years ago, as well as from the teachers’ familiarity with the existence of ghost stories.

The history of ghost stories may be much older than we thought.

Then, the reality manipulation that just happened right before our eyes may have happened several times before…

“I think the memories of people like me regarding the 200 won coin are probably evidence of that.”

“… Evidence of reality manipulation?”

“Yeah. I can’t specify the exact connections, but…”

Gyeongwon shook his head as if he was a little unsure of his own hypothesis.

“Listen. While her friends may have forgotten, the Kim Eunjung that Jinhee remembered was a real person. She wasn’t just an illusion.”

“…That’s right.”

The reason Jinhee’s friends couldn’t remember Kim Eunjung.

Thinking back now, it wasn’t that strange.

Eunjung had only played with the group of bullies in her class a few times back in elementary school.

And that was also because Eunjung volunteered to go along with the group, so Jinhee’s friends, who were naturally indifferent, couldn’t help but forget.

Ultimately, even the memorable incidents with the lizard or the rabbit were just farce orchestrated by the guidance counselor.

“See. In the end, it was Jinhee’s friends who remembered it wrong, right?”

“… Right.”

“It was something trivial, something you could never possibly be mistaken about.”

Gyeongwon took off his glasses and slowly wiped them.

“That’s why I believe the 200 won coin really existed originally. It’s actually other people who forgot it. And I am right.”

“… You seem surprisingly quite confident, unlike your usual self who can’t think straight whenever a strange phenomenon occurs.”

With such a realistic personality, I thought he would naturally dismiss it as just a misunderstanding influenced by the social atmosphere and pass it off as his own mistake.

However, Gyeongwon, who was blowing on his glasses, replied nonchalantly, as if it were nothing unusual.

“You guys might see the existence of the 200 won coin as a ghost story, but for me, the absence of the 200 won coin feels more like a ghost story.”

So it’s the opposite. For him, that side is reality-

“Why aren’t you kids eating?”

At that moment, Teacher Jang Hwaeun suddenly stood up and snatched Sunah’s shrimp tempura from two seats away with her chopsticks.

Sunah just stared blankly with a tired expression.

“You have to eat a lot during your growth period!”

Standing up again, the Teacher chewed with her mouth full as she dipped Hayoon’s croquette before stuffing it in her mouth.

“Hohoho.”

“….”

“Great job today. Everyone, be careful on the way home.”

“Yes, Detective. See you next time.”

As we were about to part ways after getting into the Teacher’s car, the Detective suddenly placed his hand on my shoulder and quietly asked me.

“Joon.”

“Yes.”

“Why do you think I’m helping you?”

The Detective asked in a deep, low voice.

He exuded an uneasy aura from his demeanor, making it impossible to let my guard down.

He had been a bit more relaxed around the students, but I could tell from our first meeting that this man was different. He was no ordinary detective.

“… I know you’re not an ordinary detective.”

“Yes.”

Detective Bak Gangwoon nodded in affirmation.

In my previous life, he was called in during the incident of the 300-people head explosion at Nakseong Highschool. And strangely, he navigated the investigation without being bound by the investigative system, yet when necessary, he called in police for backup.

There was something strange about him that made him seem like a simple police investigator but at the same time, mysterious.

“I’ll visit you sometime soon.”

“….”

“To discuss some important matter.”

I nodded in understanding.

“…I understand.”

I owe this person a great debt, having received help from him today and on many other times.

If there was something I could assist him with, I would do it.

“Okay. You must be tired, so go ahead.”

The Detective said as he looked at the members looking at us from the car.

“Get in quickly~”

“Go now.”

After wrapping up my conversation with the Detective, I got into the car.

“What did you talk about?”

“….Well. The Detective said he’d like to come see me next time for something important.”

“Really?”

The Teacher glanced back and started to pull the car out.

“What about Hayoon?”

Suddenly, I remembered Hayoon and looked out the window. Hayoon was standing in the distance at Seoul Station, gazing at us.

“She said her brother is coming to pick her up in his car.”

“… I never knew she had a brother.”

We waved our hands through the window and said goodbye to Hayoon and the Detective before heading back toward ShinLim Station.

As if he had never been so aggressive, the Detective turned back to his usual imposing self and waved us off.

“The view is nice.”

“It’s pretty…”

The Han River Bridge, which we hadn’t had the chance to appreciate because we were rushing over earlier.

The waters of the Han River, flowing peacefully on both sides, sparkled golden, reflected by the setting sun.

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