Thanks a lot Keima for the Kofis! ❤️
[2019, May 13th | Monday, 15:04 PM]
[Lee Joon: Number of Attempts – 2]
[Ghost Story Points: 301]
[Causality Rate: 23%]
“Haa, haa……”
Thud, thud, thud, thud-
The black sky of ShinLim Neighborhood.
A giant god looking down at us from the universe beyond, with his back to the moon.
A winged catastrophe pouring down from the sky.
We were about to jump into that scenery.
“Sunah, stop—!!!”
Screech–
Running on the rooftop, I suddenly stopped in my tracks and blocked Sunah, who was about to jump off beside me.
Smack–
“Kyaaa-!!”
Sunah, unable to control her speed, crashed into me.
We tumbled across the rooftop’s cement floor, entangled with each other.
“Grab my hand……!!”
I barely managed to grab Sunah’s hand and pull her back as she lost her balance and fell from the edge of the rooftop.
“J, Joon……?”
Sunah showed a startled look at my sudden behavior.
I helped Sunah up and headed toward the rooftop entrance.
“Let’s go. We need to go back to the broadcasting room.”
“……?”
Though hesitant, Sunah followed me again.
Everything had been a trap.
From the murder case inside the school to the dark sky outside the school.
The Demon King had used a trick to render my regression ability useless.
‘…First, the ghost story that pretended to be a detective.’
The guy who had been spouting nonsense all day had only one goal; to waste my time.
So that the next ghost story would kill me and reset the checkpoint.
‘… As expected, one of the conditions for setting a checkpoint is that I have to defeat the ghost story first.’
Of course, there was a time when I earned a checkpoint by bringing the possessed teacher back to her senses during the Fourincess incident, but in the end, she was just one of the many people who were possessed by the Song of Resentment ghost story.
Since the original source, the ghost story of the song itself, hadn’t been resolved, there was no change in the checkpoint.
‘The elevator ghost story that I encountered afterward, I just survived from it, not defeated it.’
But this time, it was different.
The human anatomy body model ghost story was an independent story in itself, unrelated to the disaster outside.
When it was defeated, it ended up being acknowledged as the completion of a single ghost story.
‘…But if that were the case, it could’ve just revealed itself as soon as it was summoned before me. Why wait until another ghost story superimposes it……’
After thinking deeply, I was soon able to realize the reason.
Of course, if the ghost stories sent to us defeated themselves and messed up the checkpoints, that would be the best-case scenario from the Demon King’s perspective.
Unfortunately, due to the nature of ghost stories following the structure of their original storyline, the likelihood of that happening is nearly zero.
In the first place, ghost stories are beings that sprang from people’s ominous imaginations, so even if people feel threatened by their existence, there’s no version anywhere in the world where they simply solve themselves on their own.
‘If that had been possible, the ghost stories would have endlessly messed up the checkpoints by attacking me once, defeating themselves on their own, attacking me again, and then defeating themselves again, continuing this endlessly.’
However, since that was impossible, the ghost story that was first sent out kept dragging me along and picking a fight.
So that the next ghost story that would be sent out soon would reveal itself and reset the checkpoint.
To put it in terms of a game, there was a mob I had left behind with just a sliver of health, intending to find its weakness for a better strategy and return later to finish it off.
While I turned around, another mob intervened and landed the final blow, resulting in it being saved in the game panel.
“…Huu, damn it.”
That’s how it got messed up.
The checkpoint was reset right after the huge disaster that would turn the world into a mess was summoned.
So it was over.
The Demon King won.
‘…Then why?’
I thought as I held Sunah’s hand and went down the stairs.
The situation I was facing right now.
The Demon King had clearly won.
The great disaster before my eyes was probably an S-rank ghost story, but this wasn’t created for us to defeat.
In terms of games, S-rank is an event mob that you have to avoid at all costs.
The sign of the apocalypse, when the sky turns black in broad daylight and the moon stains blood-red, the only solution to prevent this was stopping the bomb from being exploded, which was the trigger of the whole disaster.
‘But that’s not possible.’
The damn b*stard twisted the checkpoint.
So it’s over now.
He clearly won, so why?
‘Why did he feel the need to set another trap here?’
Logically, once a checkpoint has been set, there’s no way to undo it.
All he had to do was wait for me to die, endlessly repeating time within this catastrophe.
But the Demon King didn’t do that.
Instead of leaving me alone, he tried to judge me once more, using the keyword ‘Judgment of the Apocalypse’ that often appears in eschatology.1[T/N: Eschatology is the study or belief system concerned with the end of the world or the ultimate destiny of humanity.]
Just as he branded me a sinner on earth, he tried to brand me a sinner in heaven as well, to imprison me in eternal hellish punishment.
‘Why?’
Why would he do that when he had already won?
The Demon King’s behavior was clear.
Just like I thought when I didn’t even do the tutorial in my previous life, if I’m not a threat to him, he’ll leave me alone as well.
Such behavior is an attitude that can only be shown by a divine being, one who transcends human cognition.
Now, there’s no way he would set multiple traps just because he wants me to suffer more out of personal feelings.
‘Because it was necessary.’
The judgment of the end times passed down to me in the apocalyptic ghost story.
He did it because it was absolutely necessary for him.
‘To eliminate the loopholes left in some parts of the plan!’
The moment I finished that thought, a large message appeared before my eyes.
Pop–
Your understanding of the Demon King has increased by 10.
I flinched for a moment.
‘… What is this?’
It felt different from the Status Window I’ve seen so far.
The font of the status window I had seen so far was a 16-bit style with pixelated dots, giving off a classic video game vibe.
But the message that appeared before my eyes was written in a calligraphy-style font, completely filled with Chinese characters, something you would only see in calligraphy.
I briefly stopped Sunah, who was walking down the stairs with me, and stumbled through reading the Chinese characters I could recognize. It seemed to say something like my understanding of the Demon King had increased by 10.
“Joon……?”
Sunah stood nervously beside me with a worried expression.
I nodded.
“Let’s go, Sunah.”
“Yeah……!”
I grabbed Sunah’s hand, who nodded her head like a baby bird pecking, and we headed back down toward the broadcasting room on the second floor.
‘There is.’
A way to reverse the checkpoint.
‘There definitely is.’
Because there is, the Demon King set another trap.
For someone like me, who can come back to life no matter how many times I die, the only thing that passes is time. He must be worried that I’ll figure out that method someday.
Therefore, he tried to imprison me forever in the prison of the apocalyptic ghost story, making sure I couldn’t even die.
* * *
Thud, bang-!
“Hi, hiiik… A, a monster~!!”
The door to the broadcasting room burst open and the homeroom teacher rushed out.
At the same time, I could see the members faithfully following my order to protect the human anatomy model and attacking the Virgin Mary hanging from the ceiling.
‘It’s already too late.’
[Geeeeeeeeeeee——]
“Get out, get out, damn it……!!”
“Kyaaaaaaaaaaah!!!!!”
The fake Virgin Mary, hanging upside down from the ceiling, ravenously devoured the human anatomy model.
I shouted at the panicking club members.
“Everyone, stop! Focus here!”
At my shout, the club members, who were about to throw all sorts of things at the ceiling, flinched and turned to look back.
The Virgin Mary on the ceiling laughed gleefully as she gnawed on the anatomy model.
“P, Prez……?”
“Uh. Why did you come back?”
“Listen carefully.”
I took a deep breath and explained to them.
“It’s already too late. I’ve died and come back. More than once.”
“D-Damn it…!”
The club members made surprised expressions.
Soon, Gyeongwon, on the verge of tears, apologized to me.
“P-President… we’re s-sorry… we tried to stop it somehow……”
“Yeah, that thing suddenly came in, and we didn’t have time to……”
“Stop. It’s okay. Come with me.”
I led the murmuring members out into the hallway.
Seeing us rushing out the door, the others inside quickly came to their senses and followed us out in a hurry.
Everyone else gathered in the hallway, leaving only the Virgin Mary, who was happily filming her own mukbang video inside the broadcasting room.
“Soon, a Buddha will break out from the faculty office and everything will be chaotic. Let’s move to our clubroom where it’s safe. Follow me.”
“B, Buddha……? What……”
Though they looked confused, the club members followed me for now.
Chaerin, Yeseul, and Teacher Han Ari also followed us.
As expected, just as we climbed a few steps, the faculty office door was smashed open, and the teachers and the Buddha tumbled out one after another.
[Chensu Cheonan Gwanjasae Bosal, Gwangdae Wonman Muae Daebisim Daerani]
Thud, thud, thud, thud, thud-
Soon, a golden Buddha with eight legs crawled out from inside and grabbed the head of the Vice Principal, who had been shoved into the hallway.
[Buddha. Dharma. Reverence. Have you understood the Three Treasures?]
“Everyone, don’t look and follow me!”
I urged the members who were looking back in surprise and climbed up to the 5th floor.
As we walked down the hallway, in front of the clubroom stood Teacher Jang Hwaeun, bleeding from the nose, and as soon as she saw us, she opened her mouth.
“Before the great and dreadful day of the Lord comes, the sun will be darkened and the moon will turn blood-red—”
“T, Teacher……?”
“Ignore her. Come inside.”
At my urging, the club members rushed into the clubroom.
Teacher Han Ari, who was following from the end, hesitated for a moment, then tried to push Teacher Jang Hwaeun into the room with her small frame.
But the teacher’s heavy body wouldn’t budge an inch, remaining firmly in place as she continued to recite ominous prophecies.
In the end, Teacher Han Ari gave up and stepped inside.
When she finally closed the door behind her, the clubroom was filled with a heavy silence.
“……”
“……”
Outside, the world was being destroyed by calamities.
Inside the clubroom, the nine people standing there could only look at one another awkwardly.
I quickly pulled out my phone and waited for a moment.
“Uh, hey……”
“P-President……”
Everyone looked at me with tense expressions.
But I silently waited for a moment.
Then, as soon as the call from Dasom, the youngest member of the Fourincess, came on my phone, I rejected it and shoved it back into my pocket.
Only then did I look up and faced the others.
“You all must be very confused.”
“……”
The female members were looking at me with dazed expressions.
Among them, Yeseul, the church girl, nodded with a worried look on her face.
“Even if you don’t understand, please just wait quietly. We’ll figure it out, somehow.”
I happened to be standing in front of the whiteboard, as if I was about to explain something to everyone.
The club members looked at me with anxious expressions.
I was their savior right now.
“…Alright, let’s see. What kind of situation are we in?”
I drew a simple straight line on the board to represent the timeline.
“Let’s see.”
Everyone’s eyes were drawn to the whiteboard.
“We’re in big trouble.”
I tapped the timeline I had drawn with my finger as I spoke.
“According to the original plan, I was supposed to return right after revealing the detective’s identity, but in the meantime, another ghost story intervened, and things got tangled up.”
“Oi, oi… if you knew the truth in advance, why didn’t you turn back time sooner and kept arguing with the detective until the end? If you had figured it out, you should’ve left turned back sooner—”
“I didn’t know either.”
As I spoke calmly, the club members fell silent with their mouths slightly open.
“I didn’t know in advance and deduced it slowly. I was scrambling, building the logic moment by moment, and by the time I reached the conclusion, it was already too late.”
“That, you deduced that on the spot……”
Gyeongwon stared in shock, mouth hanging open.
However, at this point, even being admired didn’t feel satisfying.
Because unless we solved the checkpoint problem right in front of us, we had no hope.
“So, my current checkpoint is set at 3 p.m. By the time I go back, those strange monsters have already jumped out from the clouds.”
At my gesture pointing out the window, everyone’s eyes briefly shifted toward the scenery of ShinLim Neighborhood.
Gods, angels, demons, Buddhas, evil spirits, and Maitreya, killing people indiscriminately wherever they go.
“As you can see, there’s no solution. We’ve been completely outplayed.”
“There is no solution……”
“There isn’t one yet.”
Sunah shrank back timidly, looking uneasy.
Cold sweat trickled down the foreheads of Gyeongwon, Dukhun, and Jinhee.
Although at first glance, Hayoon seemed calm and indifferent as usual, the gloom on her face revealed a sense of mixed emotions.
Vice Class President Chaerin, with her cat-like eyes slightly narrowed, gave me a once-over as I explained, while Yeseul, a devout believer since birth, looked at me with teary eyes.
Amid all this, there was even Teacher Han Ari, looking exhausted with her shoulders slumped, and Teacher Jang Hwaeun murmuring to herself outside the door.
Facing everyone’s gaze, I declared.
“We are finished.”
“……”
“……”
“Thank you all for your hard work. See you in the next life.”
“Wh-What, you… How can you say that right now…”
“Hey, are you kidding me? Without even trying-”
“I tried.”
I cut off Dukhun and Jinhee’s protest.
“How many times do you think I’ve stood here like this?”
“……!?”
“T-That means……”
I nodded solemnly.
“Dozens of times.”
“Do… Dozens of times……!?”
“Yeah. I tried everything I could, but there’s really no way.”
The club members were shocked.
In truth, I hadn’t died even five times, but I exaggerated the number on purpose to crush their hopes.
“Oh, oh my god……”
“J, Joon……”
Slowly, despair spread across the faces of the club members.
It was the reaction I wanted.
“Wh-What are we going to do…?”
Sunah stomped her feet.
And Hayoon looked troubled.
“T-That can’t be true, President… There has to be some way……”
Gyeongwon clung to me with a distressed look, but I held my hand out firmly as if telling him not to come any closer.
“I, I’m sorry……”
Gyeongwon shrank back, stepping away.
“You’re the President, you’ve probably seen this reaction countless times… Sorry…..”
I nodded solemnly with a serious expression.
Soon, a brief silence followed.
Unable to stand the heavy atmosphere, Vice Class President Chaerin looked around the room, then asked in a sharp voice.
“…Hey. What are you guys talking about right now?”
“……”
“Checkpoint? What’s that supposed to mean, you guys? I don’t understand any of this…”
The Vice Class President, with her cat-like eyes wide open, stared at us.
But none of the club members answered.
They just sighed and shook their heads.
“Hey, Lee Joon, do you know…?”
In the midst of it all, Yeseul, with her short permed hair and teary eyes, called out to me.
“You, you… do you know something……?”
“……”
“T, teach me too… what, what should I do……”
Next to her, Teacher Han Ari stood with an exhausted expression, her shoulders slumped.
I slowly looked around at everyone and nodded.
“…There is one thing you all need to do.”
With my hand resting on my chin, I received everyone’s gaze.
Soon, the solution they had been desperately hoping for came out of my mouth.
“That is, give up hope and stop bothering me.”
“……”
Stop being so damn pathetic and let’s all give up together.
kusooooo……