[2019, May 7th | Tuesday, 12:38 AM]
[Lee Joon: Number of Attempts – 2]
[Ghost Story Points: 241]
[Causality Rate: 20%]
“Money, money!”
“Huu, huu……”
The club members rushed to the bundle of money like a pack of dogs and started causing a ruckus.
“Give me the money!”
“It’s mine, f*ck……”
“Don’t touch it!”
Jinhee took advantage of the confusion and threw a punch in Gyeongwon’s face. And Dukhun twisted his huge body with all his strength and pushed Sunah, sending her flying away.
Thud-
“Haa! Who, who are you to take my money!”
“Give me the money!”
“Huff, huff……”
Sunah, who had been shoved and flown away, quickly ran back and dug into Jinhee’s side, while Hayoon scratched Dukhun’s nape with her long nails.
“Kyaaaaaaah!”
In the clubroom, five people were fighting over the wads of money.
I also quickly picked up a chair and threw it at the guys with all my might.
“Stop it, everyone! If you touch my money, I will kill you!!!!!!!!!!!”
Smack, thud-
Jinhee got hit by the flying chair and collapsed while screaming, and Gyeongwon, who was almost buried by the members trying to snatch the bundle of cash, waved the wad of money high and burst into a fit of mad laughter.
“This is enough to live on for the rest of my life! I can live off of this for the rest of my life!”
“Aaaaahhhh……!”
Sunah, with her face red, struck Gyeongwon’s wrist and tried to snatch the bundle of cash.
“Give it to me…..! You’re already so rich…..!”
“Go away, beggar!”
Sunah desperately tried to steal the money from Gyeongwon’s hand, who was still laughing like crazy.
Soon, Jinhee got back to her feet and shouted loudly.
“If you losers want to be my friends, you have to pay me, Aarrgggh~!”
She ran with all her might and jumped in the air before sending a kick at Hayoon.
Jinhee’s foot hit Hayoon’s shoulder directly, and Hayoon’s body twisted in a ‘1’ shape as she weakly flew and crashed into the wall.
“Don’t touch my money—”
Gyeongwon was laughing madly, Sunah’s face was flushed red, trying to shake off the money from his hand. Dukhun had started drooling and shaking his heavy body. Amidst the chaotic scene, I jumped in.
“It’s my money……!”
“My money, money……”
“Don’t touch it! Give it back! Give it back!”
“I brought it from Busan, how dare you little shits say that it’s theirs?”
“AAAAAAAAAAAH! Try touching my money!! I won’t let you go!!”
The moment all of our hands grabbed the wads of money together and pulled our way.
Snaaap-
The paper string that was tied around the bundle of cash snapped, and golden bills fluttered in the air.
“My, mine…… mine……”
“Money…… money……”
The club members hurriedly began picking up the bills that were scattering down.
“Here, here they are…..
“……”
They stopped fighting and crawled around the clubroom, frantically picking up the bills.
Hayoon seemed to have been shocked by Jinhee’s kick, so she just sat there motionless, leaning against the wall and clutching her shoulder.
“All, all are mine……”
“…….”
After picking up the scattered bills that had fallen on the ground, we all calmed down for a moment.
Each of us held the crumpled bills in our hands and blankly stared at each other.
At the same time, a message appeared in front of my eyes.
Pop-
[You have come across and survived a D-rank ghost story – Cursed Hidden Treasure.]
[You have earned 5 Ghost Story Points.]
[You have dispelled the curse by evenly distributing the treasure to everyone!]
[You have earned 20 Ghost Story Points.]
[You will receive an additional 50% bonus points for each contributing member]
[Contributing Members (5 members): Ahn Gyeongwon, Oh Dukhun, Yoon Sunah, Lee Jinhee, In Hayoon]
[You’ve received an additional 50% bonus point on the total earned of 25 points, 13 points.]
[Current Ghost Story Points: 241+25+13]
Ping~
[Current Ghost Story Points: 279]
“……?”
“… What, what’s going on……”
Disheveled hair, buttons ripped off.
Looking like a mess, we stared at each other blankly.
“It, it’s the cursed hidden treasure ghost story……”
“……”
* * *
As we slowly calmed down after a while, we sat around the desk in the clubroom.
Gyeongwon adjusted his crooked glasses and explained absentmindedly.
“It’s from a famous ghost story, like the Curse of the Pharaoh… When they dug up the treasure that had been buried in a small wine barrel, everyone suddenly went crazy and started killing each other, that kind of thing…..”
I nodded my head, my mind still in a daze.
“Yeah, I think I’ve seen it in movies a few times……”
“It’s a commonly used troupe……”
The keywords are buried treasure, and the people who took the treasure together.
When I took it out alone, nothing happened, but now that we were all looking at the money together, the curse of the ghost story has been triggered.
I thought the danger related to this money was settled with the Wiggle Wiggle ghost story, but looking at it again, it seemed that it had nothing to do with the money, and was something In Hayoon had planned.
‘This ghost story was prepared separately by the Demon King……’
I let out a sigh, feeling all my energy drained out.
Still, this was fortunate.
What if I had chosen the lottery instead of the garlic field cash as a way to solve the money problem…?
A chill ran down my spine.
‘I would have literally been tormented by the lottery curse, had my identity stolen, been chased by self-proclaimed welfare organizations demanding money, and probably been kidnapped and sold on the black market….’
“Hey, hey guys. Focus for a moment…..”
I stood up with trembling legs, and shook the club members who were staring blankly in a daze.
“Hey, hey… everyone, snap out of it…”
“……”
“Ah, anyway, since we’ve already got rid of it once……”
The ghost stories that have been exorcised once have never appeared again.
Which means the ghost story related to this money ends here.
From now on, there wouldn’t be any more ghost stories related to using this money.
“Is anyone hurt anywhere?”
“Ugh, well……”
“Hayoon, are you okay? You seemed to have been hit hard earlier……”
“I’m okay.”
Hayoon answered in a slightly exhausted voice.
I waved my hand at the club members to get their attention.
“The bell will ring soon, so let’s wrap this up and go.”
“Yeah…..”
“Everyone, take out the bills you gathered.”
The members, who crawled around on the ground and picked up the notes, took out the crumpled 50,000 won bills that they had picked up earlier, one by one, and showed them to me.
I waved my hand again and gave instructions in a tired voice.
“There were originally 100 bills, 5 million won in total. Since there are five of you, each of you will get 20 bills, 1 million won each. Split it among yourselves…..”
“Huh……”
“Here, three more……”
“How many? Is this okay…… ?”
They sorted the crumpled 50,000 won bills and divided them among themselves so that each person, except me, got 20 bills, total 1 million won.
“Did you all divide it? You can keep the money.”
“……!”
The members looked at me with startled expressions for a moment.
“I just wanted to test if it worked, and I was planning to divide it up from the beginning. Take all of it and use it for what you need.”
“You, you trusted us……”
Dukhun smiled with emotion as his pale face slowly turned rosy.
“I’ll explain now. As you just saw, using the Store function to withdraw money was a huge success.”
“Wow……”
Sunah let out a sound of congratulations in a feeble voice.
“Before, I used to buy you physical items with points as a reward for your hard work, but we concluded that was a waste, right? From now on, whenever you guys participate to help me with a ghost story, I’ll take out a bundle of cash like this and share it as a performance bonus.”
“Oh, it sounds good. Sounds good……”
Dukhun nodded his head excessively, as if he had completely come to his senses.
“And if there are any other club members who need quick cash, our Ghost Story Club will definitely provide support, even if it’s not necessarily in the form of a performance bonus.”
“Uh, support…?”
“Yes, it’s the concept of welfare.”
The members gathered here are the original members, so they absolutely deserve these kinds of welfare benefits.
“Of course, there aren’t many of us who would need such a large amount of money, but there are people in our club who are struggling. We already have a friend working part-time jobs on their own.”
Sunah and Jinhee raised their heads together.
“If necessary, I’d like to support them with living expenses. Of course, assuming that they actually want it.”
“…What.”
“We have to chase around ghost stories and exorcise them, but if they don’t have time because of their part-time job, it won’t work out, right?”
Jinhee opened her eyes in surprise.
In fact, the support for living expenses was aimed at Sunah, but thinking it would hurt her, I deliberately explained it in a way as if it was for Jinhee as well.
“Got it? If you follow me like this in the future, I will take responsibility for your lives.”
“……”
“Don’t worry about what to wear, what to drink, or what to eat anymore. As for the money today? You can just take it. Think of it as a bonus and a treat from a friend. But remember this. You must really, really be willing to bury your bones to the Ghost Story Club. Accept it with that resolve.”
The crumpled twenty golden 50,000 won bills they held in their hands seemed to shine brightly. Each person was holding 1 million won.
Saving the world requires compensation.
And there is no free lunch in the world.
“If you ever face financial difficulties or need money, just tell me. If the treat I give you for solving the ghost stories isn’t enough, you can take more. But promise me this. These three years of your highschool life, you would dedicate them to me.”
If necessary, lie to your parents so that you can participate in club activities.
Even if your studying, grades, and college entrance exams are a mess, you will focus only on this.
“Instead, I’ll take responsibility for you. Your lives. Not only will I provide enough money for you to live and enjoy yourself for the rest of your life, but I can also use my ability to turn back time for you.”
“……!”
“I’ll listen to any problem. Even personal and trivial requests.”
Gradually, a sense of respect slowly began to creep into the members’ eyes.
At this moment, like the leader of an organization, I have become more important to them.
It’s not just about giving them money, but if necessary, I’m even ready to use my ability to turn back time for them.
Gyeongwon quickly adjusted his glasses and let out a smile.
“The Club Prez has become really cooler.”
“Thank you.”
The rest of the members slowly nodded in agreement.
“If I call you, you should be prepared to fight with your parents and come to help, and if I ask you to die, you have to be willing to sacrifice your life and die. Understood?”
I intentionally spoke harshly.
There would be many such instances in the future, and I had already asked them to help me during the midterm exams.
“… Yes.”
Jinhee was the first to answer.
“… I will. Always will.”
Sunah nodded next.
“Ah, you’re not the only one who can act cool.”
With Dukhun, trying to act cool, and Hayoon quietly staring at me, we gathered our hearts together once again.
“… How many minutes are left for lunch?”
“5 minutes.”
“Then I’ll do one more thing.”
The club members looked at me as they put the crumpled bills in their pockets.
“I’m thinking about investing points in the club right now to level up the Ghost Story Acquisition Skill ability.”
I explained as I opened the Status Window.
“When I leveled up this ability last time, a ghost story was immediately found and thrown at me.”
And that ghost story was the Psychology Test with Teacher Jang Hwaeun.
“After that, it took quite a long cooldown time for this ability to activate again, up until the MineCraft incident. But in video games, the cooldown periods usually reset when you level up, right?”
“That’s right.”
Dukhun nodded his heavy chin as if agreeing with me.
“So if I level up this ability now, I think a ghost story will appear right away like last time.”
“So you’re telling us to be careful for a while. Got it.”
Feeling the eyes of the club members gathering around me, I started investing points in the Club Status Window.
[Ghost Story Club LV.6]
① Manage Club
② Manage Member
③ Store
④ Settings
‘Manage Club.’
Paat-
[Ghost Story Club LV.6]
[You can spend Ghost Story Points to nurture your club.]
[Ghost Story Points until next level up: 0/200]
[Ability]
• Space Expansion LV.3
• Ghost Story Acquisition Skill LV.1
• Manpower Capacity LV.1
‘Level Up.’
As I pressed the button in the air, the numbers of the points in my Status Window smoothly slid into the Club Status Window.
[Ghost Story Points until next level up: 17… 48… 72… 95… 132… 157…199……]
200/200
Tring!!
Ding~♬
[Your club has leveled up!]
[Ghost Story Club LV.6 -〉LV.7]
[Current available ability points: (1)]
‘Invest in Ghost Story Acquisition Skill.’
[Ghost Story Acquisition Skill LV. 1-〉LV.2]
Ding-♬
[The Ghost Story Acquisition Skill of the club has leveled up.]
[A mailbox for collecting ghost stories is created at the entrance of the clubroom.]
[Random ghost story reports will be submitted here periodically, and the color of the envelope indicates the level of the story.]
[Once an envelope is opened, you will be immediately involved in the corresponding ghost story, and once a ghost story is assigned, it cannot be canceled. Please carefully consider the color of the envelope and open it strategically.]
