The Sixth Ghost Story - College Entrance Exam Banned Song (13)
Survived an encounter with the song steeped in resentment.
You've displayed astonishing ingenuity and succeeded in resolving the resentment embedded in the song!
Club members who participated receive 10% bonus points each.
Participating Members (6): An Gyeong-won, Oh Deok-hoon, Yoon Seon-ah, Lee Jin-hee, In Ha-yoon, Jang Hwa-eun.
Total acquired: 240 points + 60% bonus of 144 points.
>Current Ghost Story Points: 52 + 240 + 144
>Ding!~
>Current Ghost Story Points: 436
Ghost Story Points have accumulated sufficiently! Spend them to grow yourself, unlock abilities for allies, expand club functions, or upgrade facilities!
[March 15, 2019, Friday, 10:05]
[Lee Joon - Loop 2]
Ghost Story Points: 436
Causal Rate: 10%
"Quiet! Quiet! Who's making that weird noise right now?"
The music teacher stopped playing the piano and shouted. The students looked around with baffled expressions.
Ooh... Oh yeah♬
In the silent music room, Porinseu's latest hit song started playing faintly from somewhere.
"Who left their phone on? Turn it off now!"
The teacher yelled sharply, and a dopey-looking student hurriedly checked their phone and killed the music.
"Phew, why doesn't this damn school confiscate phones anyway."
Confirming the silence, the music teacher let out an irritated sigh and resumed playing the piano.
"Ahhh, ahh~"
I mouthed the words silently while staring at the floating message declaring I'd cleared an A-grade ghost story.
An A-grade one... First time facing this rank. Unlike the previous incidents that happened inside the school or only ensnared a few people, this ghost story had the power to shake the entire country of Korea. And solving it was way more complicated too. Before, a bit of on-the-spot cleverness was enough. But this time, I had to go straight to the source, investigate every bit of backstory, and resolve the resentment.
Right after regressing yesterday morning, I'd sent a long text to Porinseu's maknae member.
The message was so out-of-the-blue that there was no reply, but it must've stuck with the maknae enough for her to look into it and report it. The internet news was plastered with the story now.
With the culprit and evidence all exposed, the cops nabbed the guy in a day. And today, during music class, bam—the ghost story cleared message pops up. Guess getting the body out and arresting the guy were the keys to lifting the song's grudge. DNA match and verdict are just a matter of time.
"Someone turned their phone on again! Argh!"
Snapped out of my thoughts as the teacher halted the piano and bellowed. Students exchanged panicked glances. Some were griping about whoever couldn't read the room again.
But the music room stayed dead silent.
"Huh?"
The teacher perked up her ears, confirmed the quiet, and tilted her head.
"...Must've been nothing. Sorry~ Let's try again! Ahhh~"
"Ahhh~"
* * *
After wrapping up CA time with some spooky stories, around 5 PM, I dragged the club members to the fast food joint in front of Sinrim Station.
Was gonna treat everyone to burgers, but Deok-hoon bailed to watch anime, Jin-hee coldly headed off to her part-time gig, and even the teacher waved it off saying she'd mooch off a student. So in the end, it was just Gyeong-won, Seon-ah, Ha-yoon, and me. Back to four.
"Whaaaat?!"
Gyeong-won gaped, burger halfway to his mouth with its double patty.
"Unbelievable! President!"
Seon-ah wore the same dumbfounded look at my story. Ha-yoon seemed unfazed, but her slim wrist froze mid-reach for fries.
"It's true. Proof: Gyeong-won, your first phone was a Clover Corporation AMOLED feature phone. Right?"
The guy stared at me like I'd lost my mind.
"...Kinda freaky, sure. But you expect me to buy it just 'cause of that?"
He shook his head and chomped his burger.
Damn this glasses nerd. Throwing out bait like that and then—
"Even for you, Joon... it's a bit..."
Seon-ah sipped her cola, flustered.
"What about you, Ha-yoon? Believe me?"
"Huh?"
Ha-yoon paused dipping her fries in ketchup and smiled.
"Why ask me? Ahaha."
"Dunno. You seem chill."
"Hmm... hehe."
She giggled softly and brushed it off with a vague "dunno."
"Figures no one buys it. Sheesh."
"Pfft."
Gyeong-won shaking his head, Seon-ah peeking over, Ha-yoon quietly amused. I sighed.
"Anyway, my treat, so eat up."
"Then, President, one more shake for me."
"Go wild."
Gyeong-won headed to the counter for his order.
[Ding~] A text popped up—from Porinseu's maknae.
Our middle-school member a year younger than us. Dasom, was it? I replied yes, and soon my phone rang.
"Hello?"
"Um... At first I thought it was some prank, but I did what you said and it actually worked out... So I called to say thanks..."
"Glad it worked."
"Yeah..."
Seon-ah and Ha-yoon eyed me questioningly, so I mouthed Porinseu. Silence hung over the line before Dasom spoke up.
"Your voice... sounds way younger than I expected?"
"High schooler here."
"Whoa, really? I figured some middle-aged exorcist dude! I kinda have a sixth sense myself, so I thought you could just tell at a glance..."
"Haha, exorcist."
Couldn't help but laugh. Yeah, pretty spot-on actually.
"Kinda do similar work. Anyway, glad it's sorted."
From her story, she stewed on the text during dance practice, pushed her sisters to handstand, spotted the face-swap on one, the ghost—who had little attachment left—vanished once busted. Convinced the freaked-out members to peek at the murder site, fudged some witness testimony, reported it. Dug up the floor, found the body, CCTV and all led to the boss's arrest in a day flat.
"So, um... if it's okay..."
She sounded hesitant, broaching something.
"Do you live in Seoul?"
"Yeah, Sinrim-dong."
"Oh! Close by. We're recording the music show at 6. We can hook you up with good seats—wanna come watch?"
"For real?"
Oh yeah, the live stage that got scrapped when the world went to hell. Score!
"Hell yeah, thanks!"
Idol show live? Not my thing usually, but free VIP seats? Hell yes!
"Yup! Schedule's packed today, so this is the best we can do... Next time, let us treat you to a meal!"
"Nah, no need for that. You're busy..."
I bowed to the invisible voice on the phone, waving it off. Seon-ah watched with pursed lips and uneasy eyes.
"Talk soon then!"
"Yep, fighting~"
Grinning like an idiot as I hung up, the two girls stared. Gyeong-won returned with his milkshake, plopped down, and sighed deeply.
"Thought it over real hard, President. Absurd, but gotta believe ya. That phone... limited edition, broke the day after I got it, swapped for another model."
"Ho ho."
"No way you could've known unless I told you..."
He slurped his shake and shook his head.
"How the hell..."
"Shit happens, haha."
I chuckled casually, and Seon-ah with Ha-yoon nodded along. The Porinseu call and Gyeong-won's reaction must've sold it a bit. Sorry to Deok-hoon, Jin-hee, and teacher—we'd been through one ghost story together already, and even they were this skeptical. Others would be worse.
"Really not coming? Porinseu—top idols—on in the middle."
"Hehe. Cram school."
"Seon-ah?"
"Noisy places... not my thing..."
"R-right."
Our club members were all hopeless loners, huh. I nodded awkwardly, and Ha-yoon piped up.
"Not asking me, Joon?"
"Uh, yeah. Right."
For some reason, being around Ha-yoon felt off.
"You got time...?"
"Ufufu."
She covered her mouth laughing.
"Date invite? Sorry, busy today."
Split with the crew at Sinrim Station, skipped home, and bused to Cheongdam-dong Broadcasting Station instead. Arrived a tad late but just in time for Porinseu.
"Waaah~ Waaaah~"
The massive hall packed tight, fans waving lightsticks everywhere. Pushed through to my seat.
"Ow! You stepped on my foot!"
"Sorry, sorry!"
Stepping on toes left and right, I spotted the empty seat Dasom mentioned. Before their turn, the big screen played Porinseu teasers.
Phew, total madhouse. Watch Porinseu and bounce, fuck this.
Finally sat as the MC intro'd, and the four girls hit the stage, hyping the crowd. Lights flashed, confetti flew, cheers exploded as the song kicked in.
"Waaah! Cha Ji-won! Cha Ji-won!"
"Dasom! Dasom!"
Fans screaming fave names. Blasting amps deafening me, bass thumping my bones. Ears ringing—zero tolerance for this decibel hell. Nearly plugged 'em, but manners, so I endured.
Verse one flowed, catchy chorus hit, crowd chanted together.
"All together! Po! Rin! Seu!"
"Ooh oh yeah~ Ooh oh yeah~"
No creepy lyrics in the chorus anymore—just normal ad-libs I remembered from my past life.
End of verse one, chorus redux on verse two—suddenly Dasom darts front-center for a surprise dance break?
"Waaah! Waaaah!"
"Dasom! Dasom!"
Some fans went nuts; others puzzled why she jumped ahead of her part. Other members looked thrown but reformed around her, dancing hard. Dasom's moves were jerky, like a corpse twitching to the beat—eerie solo, but the hype track made it fun choreography. She tossed her hair, sweat droplets sparkling under lights from her cute brown locks.
Chorus ended, but she stayed upfront, scanning seats like searching. Then she beamed my way, waving.
Leader Cha Ji-won zipped over, smacked her shoulder like choreography. Possession snapped; maknae blinked confused, rejoined the formation.
I nodded back, stood, and slipped out slow. Thunderous applause erupted behind as their set ended.
Yeah, noisy spots like this ain't for me. Smiling, I exited the venue.
Repeat Ghost Story Club