Soon, the statement was over and the detective and homeroom teacher opened the soundproof door and came out.
“……”
“……”
Instead of just walking towards me, the detective stopped at the doorway and glared at me.
“Attendance number 13, Lee Joon. Is that true?”
“…What?”
“The student In Hayoon, who proved your alibi. Is it true that you and that girl are in the same club?”
“……”
The detective looked at me with a serious expression.
Behind him, the homeroom teacher was seen covering his mouth and laughing.
“…What does that have to do with anything?”
“It has everything to do with it.”
The detective strode over, walking around us, and stood in front of the whiteboard again.
“Now, let’s see. The female students and Teacher Park Damim, who were also in the teachers’ office, didn’t see you peeking in. But, In Hayoon was the only one who witnessed you hiding and conveniently provided your alibi just in time. And, oh, what a coincidence. Not only are you in the same club, but you are also very close friends?”
“……”
“I have heard you two’s relationship is very ‘good’, is that right?”
I bit my lip.
And glanced at Hayoon.
“……”
Hayoon didn’t seem to have any intention of intervening, she just calmly crossed her legs with her usual indifferent expression.
“That’s right, that’s right… they’re really close friends, I’m telling you…..”
The homeroom teacher laughed like a mean person as he stood next to the detective.
The detective got irritated, and slammed the whiteboard with a loud bang.
“Now, look. What does that mean? It means the testimony lacks credibility. Credibility.”
“… Are you trying to imply that Hayoon lied for me just now?”
“Well, it’s not impossible. Just like you brought your homeroom teacher here and made the Vice Class President cry, it’s not something that can’t be done. Right?”
He glared at me with his eyes wide open.
“And remember. You’ve already been on my radar since you made false statements from the beginning.”
…The fact that I got him scolded by his superior was probably just an added bonus.
He slammed his hand on the table in front of him, continuing his glare as he spoke again.
“And this isn’t the only suspicious thing that’s come to light. Now, you, Lee Joon, pretended to go to the restroom during the 4th period and sneaked out. But when you came back to the auditorium, you looked really out of breath. Is that true? Can anyone confirm that? Of course, excluding you three.”
As he said that, the detective pointed his finger accusingly toward our club.
Jinhee was also unwillingly dragged into the situation.
It seemed he just heard from the homeroom teacher that she’s also a member of our club.
“I saw it.”
Soon, Vice Class President Chaerin answered in a clear voice without a moment’s hesitation.
“He came running really fast. He was so out of breath that he couldn’t even speak properly.”
“I see, thank you for confirming.”
My face gradually stiffened.
The detective then looked around at the five students and two teachers, as if he was about to announce his conclusion.
“Now, here’s what I think. Thanks to Teacher Han Ari’s statement, one new fact has come to light. That is, where the culprit ran off to after leaving the body in the hallway. Everyone was listening, right? So, where did the culprit run to?”
“The hallway window, the hallway window.”
“Yes, Teacher Park Damim. The culprit jumped over the hallway window and ran to the back of the school.”
The homeroom teacher responded with a sly smile, supporting the detective’s statement, who then confidently continued with his logic.
The detective soon began to exaggerate his gestures, looking around the whiteboard map as if searching for something.
“Oh, but there’s something strange here. If the culprit escaped through the hallway window, they would have landed at the back of the school, right? But in Lee Joon’s statement, who has been watching the back of the school the whole time, there was no mention of that. Why do you think that is?”
“……”
“That’s strange. Why isn’t there anything about that?”
Everyone turned to glance at me.
Am I back to the same situation?
“Well, maybe the reason there’s nothing about it is because the one who ran away was you?”
“Stop talking nonsense.”
I took a bold step toward him and said.
“I wasn’t there the whole time. Before anyone even saw the body or heard any screams, I had already left the spot. If anything happened, it would have been after I left.”
“That’s what you’re saying. And even if that’s true, just a few seconds.”
He glared at me.
“It really must have been a difference of ‘few seconds’.”
“……”
“Even more, the back of the school is pretty wide, and yet you never saw anyone there.”
“……”
I bit my lip hard.
Now that the homeroom teacher has exposed the close relationship between Hyoon and me, it would be hard to rely on her help any longer.
“For your information, after the screams were heard, many people, including the store owner, ran out right away, so there’s no way an outsider could have escaped. Just like you thought, Lee Joon.”
Before, when the detective asked me why I ignored the screams and went away, I answered, “There must have been plenty of people who heard the screams and came out, so I didn’t feel the need to go.”
“In such a suspicious situation, if I were to piece together Teacher Han Ari’s statement and yours, what am I supposed to think? Huh?”
He waited silently for my answer but then answered for me.
“You, sneaking around the back of the school to spy on a female student and leaving, and Teacher Han Ari discovering the body and seeing the culprit run away. Those two events happened almost simultaneously, with just a few seconds in between. So, the culprit appeared out of nowhere like a ghost, placed the body in the hallway without anyone noticing, and then, after being spotted by Teacher Han Ari, ran away like a ghost again within those few seconds. Do you really think that makes sense?”
“……”
“Shall I tell you which side makes more sense?”
He approached me as if threatening me.
“You have committed the murder at the back of the school, climbed over the hallway window, and left the body there. Then, after being spotted by Teacher Han Ari, you ran back, jumped over the window again, and fled to the auditorium. That’s why you arrived at the auditorium panting so hard you couldn’t even breathe. How does that sound, Lee Joon?”
He glared at me as if he wanted to eat me.
“This way, you have enough time to commit the crime, and it matches all the other testimonies, including yours. Hmm?”
“……”
“At least you won’t try to make up some pathetic story about someone sneaking around like a ghost while you were obviously watching, right? After all, Teacher Park Damim here says he has never touched a classroom window.”
“……”
“And you can’t say that the culprit, after being spotted, turned into an invisible man and disappeared over the hallway window.”
“……”
“Let’s go. To the police station. Go get your bag.”
…Hoo.
I closed my eyes quietly.
And began thinking.
‘Don’t panic.’
If things don’t go my way, I can just kill myself.
No matter what this person in front of me said and tried to get me in.
No matter how much people cursed at me and suspected me, once I turn back time, it would all be forgotten.
So, I wouldn’t let myself get swept up by emotions.
And assess the situation calmly.
‘First, at the end of the last period, when I tried to avoid suspicion by involving the homeroom teacher.’
Casually remarking that the homeroom teacher must have opened the classroom window when the students weren’t around.
I already knew from the beginning that it wasn’t true.
That was just something I said to divert the detective’s suspicions from me.
It’s obvious that the culprit couldn’t have come from either side where the CCTV cameras were recording, nor could they have come through the classroom windows which the Vice Class President had locked.
The only way to do that was to enter through the hallway window at the back of the school.
But there was nothing wrong until Hayoon and Yeseul walked down the hallway to the teachers’ office, so the culprit must have appeared with the body at least after the consultation session started.
The problem was that at that time, I was already hiding behind the store and watching everything.
Of course, there was a moment when I briefly withdrew because I was afraid of being discovered by Hayoon, but that was only for a few seconds.
I didn’t see anyone coming, nor did I hear any footsteps.
If someone had avoided my gaze at that moment and sneaked in, it would have been possible only if they had flown in silently, carrying the body in the air.
‘Hehehehehe…’
Suddenly, while looking at Hyoon, a chilling image flashed in my mind; a ghost with disheveled hair, holding the body and silently laughing in mid-air. I quickly shook my head to shake off the thought.
‘… The circumstances under which the criminal escaped are also strange.’
When the culprit was caught by Teacher Han Ari and ran away, everyone from the store owner to the faculty members would have immediately run out after hearing the scream.
The culprit had no time to escape to the outside.
And more than all of this,
The biggest question in this case is.
“Thank you for your hard work. You can all go back now. You’ve really worked hard today and-”
“So, whose body is it?”
“…What?”
As he was about to wrap things up and dismiss everyone, the detective furrowed his brow at my question.
“What did you say?”
“The body.”
“……”
“Whose?”
“…Haa.”
The detective just sighed at that question, seemingly troubled.
“We’ll have to have the ambulance come over and collect the body, so we’ll have to wait for the autopsy results to find out.”
Autopsy.
It sounds like anther term for the forensic investigation.
“As of now, it’s an unidentified corpse. I can’t say anything more than that. Until the culprit, you, confess.”
“…Why is it unidentified? Can’t you make a rough guess by looking at the face? Whether it’s a student or an outsider.”
“An outsider. Because everyone in the school is numbered accordingly.”
Since everyone in the school was numbered accordingly, it means the corpse was an outsider.
‘…In the end, that means they didn’t identify the body by its face.’
“Take out your phone and call your parents first. I need to take you to the police station, and they’ll need to come as your legal guardians.”
“…What if I don’t want to?”
“Would you just stop it!?”
He suddenly shouted.
“There’s a limit to being unreasonable, you p*nk! Hurry up and go to your classroom and get your bag! You’re unnecessarily dragging the situation!”
“I said I don’t want to.”
“……”
The detective glared at me, trembling in anger.
Then, suddenly, he spreaded all five fingers and shoved them toward me.
“5 seconds.”
“……”
“I’ll give you exactly 5 seconds.”
The others looked at us with uneasy expressions.
“If you don’t follow by then, I’ll drag you away by force, whether the teachers here are watching or not. Do you want that?”
“Just go, go ahead. Take him.”
The homeroom teacher laughed in agreement.
“Alright.”
“……”
“Five.”
“……”
I folded my arms again and began pondering again.
Who killed the person?
And ‘who’ died?
“Four.”
“……”
“Three.”
“……”
Actually, even if I were go to the police station like this, it was not like I was losing much.
After all, if things go wrong, I was just planning to kill myself anyway.
“Two.”
“……”
The problem is, even if I were to go back, I need to figure out all the facts before that. Right now, all I have are questions.
At this rate, going back would just be like running in circles, spinning in the same place like a hamster on a wheel.
“One.”
“……”
Leaving the situation inside the school which was complicated, I also had to figure out how to solve the problem of the ominous black sky outside.
In the end, it was best to confirm how everything unfolds before I return.
In order to do that, I have to trust Detective Park Gangwon who was working hard outside, and wait for his call, but if I’m stuck at the police station writing a statement, my actions would be restricted in many ways.
“Ding. Time’s up.”
“……”
The moment the detective took a step forward to drag me away.
A message appeared before my eyes.
Pop-
[Special ability Life Design has activated.]
[Open the door to the broadcasting room right now.]
“…..!”
Ignoring the detective rushing toward me with a cold look, I turned around and walked briskly toward the broadcasting room, throwing the door open.
“Hey, where—!”
Click.
Creak-!
Maybe he thought I was trying to escape.
But instead of running, I opened the door and boldly extended my hand.
“Now, take a look.”
“……”
The people inside the broadcasting room looked outside and flinched.
“Did you see it?”
“…What.”
What lay before them was simply an empty hallway.
To be honest, I had no idea what I was supposed to show.
I just did it because the system told me to.
“… Really-”
At the same time, in the distance, a commotion could be heard coming from the hallway.
“L-Let go of this, please…!”
“Follow me right now, you insolent brats!”
“W-Wait…! We were just…!”
“Ouch, ouch…!”
Our club’s hilarious trio.
The trio that makes me laugh by their eccentric combination.
Sunah, Dukhun, and Gyeongwon.
They were being dragged here by the furious Vice Principal, with their ears firmly held by her.
Why the Cliff hanger here )9>_<)9 aaahhhhkkkkk