Thanks a lot Keima for the Kofis!
All chapters are unlocked and three more chapters will be posted in a few days. Happy reading
[2019, May 13 | Monday, 11:26 AM]
[Lee Joon: Number of Attempts – 2]
[Ghost Story Points: 173]
[Causality Rate: 22%]
Attendance numbers 17 In Hayoon and 18 Joo Yeseul.
The two female students entered the east entrance of the main building.
I had been poking my head out of the auditorium entrance, but as soon as the two turned the corner, I dashed out at full speed.
Thud, thud, thud-
I arrived at the east entrance in less than 10 seconds.
However, instead of following the two into the east entrance, I turned the corner and headed toward the back of the building.
I circled around the main building and arrived at the back of the school where the store was located.
Then I crouched down nearby the store building and looked for the window of the teachers’ office on the first floor.
‘… There it is!’
Through the window of the teachers’ office, which was about the height of my chest, I could see the side profile of my homeroom teacher, who was organizing documents while humming a tune.
[“Jinjinjara Jinjinja ♬”]1[T/N: The phrase “Jinjinjara, Jinjinja” is part of a Korean children’s song called “진진자라” (Jinjinjara), which is a popular traditional song in Korea.]
At the same time, the door opened, and Hayoon and the other female student entered and greeted him.
[“Hello, Teacher.”]
Confirming that I could read the shape of the words being spoken, I hid behind the cafeteria building, made sure not to be noticed, and just slightly poked my head out.
[“Ah, sit over here.”]
Hayoon sat down and was the first one to be consulted.
Because of my position, I was now in the exact opposite direction from when I eavesdropped on Sunah’s counselling earlier.
Thanks to that, this time I could see the back of the homeroom teacher, and Hayoon sitting in front and being interviewed was directly before me.
Although it was through the window and there was some distance, my eyesight was good enough to clearly see, and the words Hayoon was saying appeared as if they were projected right in front of me in midair.
[“I study at home.”]
Although it was a shame that I couldn’t hear what the homeroom teacher was asking, what I really needed was Hayoon’s reaction.
I focused on Hayoon’s pink lips, hoping that some kind of clue would come out.
[“On my own. I listen to internet lectures sometimes.”]
‘Is she saying how she studies…?’
There was a brief conversation about grades.
I adjusted my posture and measured the distance between Hayoon and me once again.
Truth to be told, the fact that I could see her face clearly from my position meant that she could see my face from there as well.
However, I was hiding behind the wall of the store building, with only my eyes peeking out, and Hayoon didn’t have particularly good eyesight to begin with.
For some reason, she was walking around without glasses now, but at the beginning of the semester, Hayoon had always worn glasses.
‘I won’t get caught, right?’
Sticking close to the wall as much as possible, I tried to focus on Hayoon’s pink lips.
Hayoon sat neatly, without any distraction, and answered the homeroom teacher’s question clearly.
[“I don’t have a specific major in mind currently, but for now, I’m thinking of going with the humanities.”]
As the homeroom teacher turned to look at the documents, a few words were visible from his side profile for a moment.
[“…12th place in the entire school…”]
[“Yes.”]
[“…join the special class…]
[“I won’t be joining the special class. I have club activities every once in a while.”]
With the homeroom teacher’s side profile, I could only read parts of the sentence, while Hayoon, sitting directly across, was in full view.
[“…Ghost Story… Club…”]
[“Yes. It’s more important to me than my grades.”]
‘Wow.’
Hayoon, with her usual calm expression, flatly rejected the homeroom teacher’s suggestion to join the special class.
As the President of the club, I was a little touched.
‘…I’m oddly grateful that she said that.’
Of course, there might be other reasons, ones I didn’t know, for why Hayoon considered club activities so important.
Still, as the President of the club, it was genuinely pleasing to know that the members valued the club.
‘In Hayoon… good job. Hehe.’
Aside from the incomprehensible behavior she showed from every now and then, she was actually quite good, no, she was an extremely capable member.
[“…This month… two transfer students…”]
[“I’ll sit next to Jinhee. There’s an empty seat.”]
[“That would be better…”]
‘……?’
I felt something strange in the conversation for a moment, so I focused more on Hayoon’s lips.
[“… Is there anything that’s inconvenient about coming here….”]
[“Nothing in particular. But a guy from the next row texted me with my number, even though I’ve never talked with him before, and asked to be friends.”]
[“…I see. I’ll take immediate action…”]
[“If you look at the last page of the attendance book, it has contact information for the students in your class. I think he probably secretly saw it there and contacted me. But Joon, what are you doing over there?”]
‘…..!’
Heeeck-
I was so startled that I let out a gasp without realizing and quickly hid my body behind the wall.
‘Shhiiiiii… Fuuuuu…!’
Thud- creak.
“……”
I heard the sound of someone slowly opening the window.
Perhaps the homeroom teacher was looking out.
“……”
I waited, trembling for quite a while, but there was no other sound.
I cautiously lifted my head again and looked through the window.
“…..?”
Hayoon was already out of her seat.
Perhaps her turn had passed, as the seat was now occupied by the female student named Joo Yeseul, who had come with her, and was now having her counselling.
The homeroom teacher was talking with the female student without any particular reaction.
‘… N, no way.’
Judging from the homeroom teacher’s lack of response, it seemed that Hayoon’s ‘But Joon’ that she had said earlier wasn’t said out loud, but only mouthed with her lips.
‘… F*ck. I gotta run.’
I sprinted as fast as I could and ran from the place.
“Gasp, gasp.”
Quickly.
Just as I was about to turn back the way I came and go around the building by passing the east entrance again.
“Kyaaaaaaaaa-!”
Suddenly, the sharp scream of a woman echoed from the main building.
At the same time, a loud sound, completely opposite to the scream and from toward the city, came from beyond the playground.
Boom—
“Ahhh! A-a body! There’s a dead body—!”
“…..!”
What, what’s going on?
The sound of something exploding outside the school and screams inside the school.
I paused for a moment, but whatever it was, I knew I couldn’t get involved right now.
I ignored the screams and ran straight to the auditorium in front of me.
“Huff, huff……”
I rushed in, panting, and as soon as I entered the auditorium, the members of the club, who had been practicing basketball dribbling, turned to look at me.
“Joon…?”
“Prez?”
“Why are you running so fast?”
“Huff, huff…”
Sunah, Gyeongwon, and Dukhun hurriedly approached me.
Jinhee was busy playing basketball with the boys.
“There’s a dead body…! A dead body…!”
At the same time, a sharp scream flowed from the main building again.
“…..?”
“What’s happening…?”
A few students who had been sitting in the auditorium seats, also stood up after hearing the sound.
“What’s going on outside, Joon…?”
“Prez?”
Sunah and Gyeongwon looked at me and asked, but I could only gasp for breath and waved my hand.
“I… I don’t know. I just ran here for something else. I have no idea either.”
“What’s going on….”
Students gathered at the auditorium entrance, murmuring about the origin of the scream.
The P. E. teacher, who was guiding the students who couldn’t play basketball, also went out of the auditorium, looking around.
“What’s going on?”
The P. E. teacher’s name was Yoon Gyeongja, who used to be a female volleyball player.
With her tall figure, she quickly scanned the surroundings, but just then, our homeroom teacher, Park Damim, burst out from the east entrance of the main building and rushed toward us.
“Huff, huff, Teacher Yo, Yoon Gyeongja….!”
“What’s going on?”
The P. E. teacher went out to meet the homeroom teacher, who was running with his belly jiggling.
Behind the homeroom teacher, the two female students who had been having their counselling, Hayoon and Yeseul, were following him closely.
“P, please check if there are any students missing from the class right now. There’s a bit of a problem….”
“Yes, I’ll do that. Alright, everyone, gather around~”
As she waved her hand a few times, with her tall height towering everyone and called the students together, everyone immediately gathered.
“Let’s do a headcount. Everyone gather~”
Jinhee and the Class President’s group, who had been playing basketball in the distance, soon came panting over to this side.
“Two lines in order of attendance numbers. Quickly now~”
The students gathered together, murmuring to themselves, while the homeroom teacher watched anxiously from the side.
“What’s going on, Teacher Park?”
“Well…?”
Was it a mistake to go and peek at them? I was getting nervous.
‘I hope it doesn’t involve me……’
Soon, Gyeongwon and Dukhun standing in front of me heard their attendance numbers 11 and 12 being called and knelt down.
Sunah and my attendance number, 13 and 14 was called and we also knelt down.
“Fifteen.”
“Sixteen.”
Jinhee, the Vice Class President, Hayoon, and the other students followed in order.
“29. End of the number.”
“Everyone’s here.”
Once the homeroom teacher confirmed that everyone was gathered without any missing students, he finally let out a sigh of relief.
“It’s a little early, but let’s go to the classroom for now….”
“… Shall we?”
The P. E. teacher and the homeroom teacher discussed with each other for a moment, then soon had all of us get up from the ground.
“There’s still some time left, but there’s been an incident at the school, so we’ll end the class here. Everyone, go back to your classrooms and study on your own. Now, get ready for the oath!”
Hey- The students got ready for the oath as the P. E. class was ending.
Soon, the Class President, Janghoon, called out ‘Start!’ and everyone shouted out loud in unison.
“Clap clap clap clap, clap clap clap, thank you for your hard work.”
We bowed our heads and followed the homeroom teacher in two lines, leaving the auditorium.
“Don’t stray in the middle. Just follow behind me. Don’t look around unnecessarily…..”
The students walked along, murmuring, following the homeroom teacher, who repeatedly gave warnings.
“What’s going on? What’s going on?”
“I heard someone screaming that there’s a dead body…”
As we all rushed into the east entrance of the main building and turned the corner, we could see teachers gathered in front of the teachers’ office across the hallway, where we had been having our counselling.
“Don’t let the students see! Don’t let them see….”
“Stay back! Which class are you from?”
“Go back to your classroom! You’re gonna be scolded otherwise!”
Teachers were shouting and blocking the students from seeing something, while students, unable to hold back their curiosity, peeked through the gaps and screamed in shock.
“Ugh, uweeek…”
One male student, who had been sneaking a look, suddenly started gagging.
“What the heck, what’s happening there…?”
“Don’t look, come on. Let’s go.”
The homeroom teacher quickly ushered us through the back door of the classroom to prevent the students from peeking any further.
“Go in quickly, quickly.”
“What was that? Over there……”
“Don’t look, don’t look. Quickly, go in.”
We also sat down at our desks, blending in with the murmuring students.
Over the school broadcast, the urgent voice of the 3rd-year student council president echoed through the school.
[Ah, we’re informing you once again. Please stop all classes immediately, and the homeroom teachers should return to their classes and check attendance. This is an important situation, so we would appreciate it if you could follow up the request immediately. Once again, I’ll repeat….]
“What’s going on….”
“Who, who died?”
[This is an important announcement. Teachers, please urgently check each class to confirm if there are any missing students. Once again, I repeat….]
As the homeroom teacher nervously counted the students one by one with his fingers, the door to the classroom suddenly opened, and the Principal hurriedly entered.
“Is everyone here?”
“Yes, yes, everyone in our class is here.”
“Understood, wait for now.”
The Principal gave a polite reply to the homeroom teacher, gestured as if signaling to wait, and then opened the door again to leave.
‘It’s almost lunchtime….’
Although we were in the middle of class and I was hungry, lunch break was still about 20 minutes away.
Wondering what had happened and how things would unfold, I looked around.
At that moment, Dukhun poked me on the shoulder and called me.
“Oi, President. Over there….”
“Hmm?”
Dukhun pointed out the window with his thick fingers.
“Th, the sky….”
“…..?”
I turned my head toward the window, following his gesture.
“…What the hell is that?”
The buildings in the city were visible beyond the playground.
At some point in the distance, black smoke started rising, turning the sky dark.
“… What’s that?”
“Hey, look over there.”
Soon, other students in the class started nudging each other and pointing outside the window.
“Looks like there’s a fire somewhere.”
“What’s with the smoke? It’s pretty intense.”
“Wow, crazy. Look at the clouds turning black.”
Unlike the usual gray smoke from a typical fire, the smoke rising from somewhere between the buildings was incredibly dark and thick.
The smoke rose endlessly towards the blue sky, slowly staining even the clouds black.
‘…This is unsettling.’
It seemed the students were just as uneasy as me, they all looked around at each other, murmuring in concern.
[Attention, the Principal is currently going around the classrooms to check attendance, so students, please remain seated and wait for a moment. Please also hold off on using the restroom for now—]
“Holy crap.”
Suddenly, a male student exclaimed while looking at his phone.
“My friend in the next class saw a corpse, and now I’ll read the KakaoTalk message they sent: ‘I almost threw up for real. The skin was completely peeled off, and the body was so dismembered that if it weren’t for the limbs, you wouldn’t even be able to tell if it was a person. There was blood everywhere, and the floor was a complete mess.’”
“Ugh….”
“Crazy…”
“Yaaak!”
The girls screamed in fear at the boy who was reading his friend’s message aloud.
Outside the window, the sky was turning black.
Inside the school, a murder has occurred.
“… I wonder what’s going on.”
“Y-yeah…”
Feeling uneasy at my muttering, Dukhun turned his head and looked around cautiously.
