Eighth Ghost Story - Cursed Midterms (3)

The day before midterms, during lunch. I explained to the club members gathered in the club room what had just happened to me.

"What?!"

After hearing the whole story, Gyeong-won exclaimed in disbelief. "How could something like that...?"

"It's true. I died like that and just came back."

He shook his head in dismay. But Seon-ah was looking at me with a serious expression.

"I believe you, Joon-ah..."

Ooh! A fresh wave of emotion washed over me.

"Th-thanks for believing me!"

"Hehe." She blushed and smiled.

"Actually, I think I know the answer too..."

"Really?"

Startled, I leaned in as Seon-ah whispered something to me. I was dumbfounded by the answer, but it was certainly the only thing that could qualify as correct. More importantly, how did she know this?

As I wondered, Seon-ah whispered again. "If it were me... I'd do the same..."

...I see.

I cleared my throat and looked around at the members once more. "What about you guys? Can you believe what I just told you?"

Ha-yoon nodded quietly. Gyeong-won sighed, seemingly accepting it reluctantly. The four of us had already been through the Dream within Dream ghost story together and shared the chaos of that ghost-possessed song that kept echoing in our ears endlessly. That's why we could accept it so quickly.

Of course, in the song incident, they only heard my secondhand account of the experience.

Deok-hoon and Jin-hee, being new to supernatural phenomena, looked utterly baffled. Soon, Deok-hoon crossed his arms and grumbled in a voice full of complaint.

"I don't buy it, but isn't that a Japanese ghost story?"

"Ooh, right! You said that earlier too!"

"The purple mirror or whatever..."

Suddenly, Gyeong-won cut in from the side. "Oh Deok-hoon, you know something about it, huh? The Purple Mirror. I know it too—"

"Oi oi—fuck off, nerd. Stop."

Deok-hoon held up his hand to shut Gyeong-won down and shook his head. "Hogging the explanation all to yourself is too greedy, don't you think? This is my turf."

"Heh heh. I can't help my explanation bug instinct... Sorry about that part."

"Ahh—it's fine. That's your chōshō and 'strength,' after all."

"Is that so? Heh heh."

"Kukuku."

"You too, huh."

"Oi oi."

"You two fuckin' losers, stand."

"St-stand~~~!"

"Standing at attention, sirrrr!"

Jin-hee, who had woken up and been listening quietly, spoke coldly, and the two shot up like lightning.

"Go to the window and forehead-smash."

"Forehead-smash, execute!"

"Executing now!"

They scrambled around the desk to the window and assumed the bombing position, heads planted firmly against the glass. Jin-hee, hands in her pockets, stood up wordlessly, walked over, climbed onto Deok-hoon's massive back as he bowed, hooked her legs over Gyeong-won's ass right beside him, and nodded at me to continue.

"Thanks, Jin-hee."

In the past month, the members had grown closer, leading to some small changes in our dynamics. One of them was Jin-hee's current role. Whenever Gyeong-won and Deok-hoon couldn't rein in their antics, Jin-hee stepped in without fail, beating them into line and sorting out the mood.

"What were we talking about? So, it's that ghost story where if you remember the story until you're 20, you suddenly get a call asking for the answer?"

"Y-yes, President... The format is new... but that's the gist."

"But it calls at 20, right? Why'd I get it one day after seeing it...?"

I muttered the question, then realized it myself. Wait, I'm technically 20. My physical age is 17, but adding the three years from my previous life makes me exactly 20 now!

That's why the phone rang right after seeing the question today. Because I'm already 20.

"P-President? Why'd you trail off...? Something click?"

Gyeong-won asked, trembling from his bowed position. But I couldn't tell them yet. We'd shared some ghost stories and even the regression, but not the full three extra years—or the Status Window, the Demon King, and all that massive stuff. They didn't know any of it.

...Explaining that to total newbies like Jin-hee and Deok-hoon right now would be impossible.

Someday, when the time is right. I want to share my secrets with all of them. But not now. I changed the subject.

"Nah, just... why call a 17-year-old?"

"Hmm... Now that you mention it."

Gyeong-won and Deok-hoon mumbled heatedly from below, heads still planted.

"This... no, if you think about it that way..."

"Nah, more than that... What I know is a bit different..."

Jin-hee yawned atop them, arms crossed.

A moment later, Gyeong-won started explaining, trembling. "Our take is... Among stories like this, the most famous from Japan are Purple Mirror or Dolphin Bridge... Depending on the region it's passed down... it could be 15 or 20... Even locally it's all jumbled, so... we don't need to fixate on the age..."

"Y-yeah..."

"Anyway... The elements in the problem you saw seem familiar from stuff we've read... but this format is new to us too... Honestly, we don't know... Details probably don't matter..."

I nodded quietly to the two stammering away. "...Got it. You guys are the best."

The next day, midterms resumed. Having done them once before, I quickly checked the answers and waited out the time.

First period math passed, then second period English.

"Jin-hee, you gonna sleep?"

Jang Hwa-eun asked, and Jin-hee lifted her head groggily.

"At least bubble in before you crash. Come on."

Prodded by the teacher, Jin-hee reluctantly marked her OMR sheet. Then came third period science.

"Why aren't you solving the problems?"

Having finished quickly from prior knowledge, I was just chilling when the science teacher approached and asked.

"I did them all."

"Looks like you just guessed."

My test paper indeed had no signs of work.

"Don't slack off. Do it right."

He grumbled gruffly and walked past. But his eyes lingered on me.

...What a creepy asshole.

Reluctantly, I picked up the paper and looked. Sure enough.

Hmm.

Ghost stories, as Deok-hoon put it like RPG attacks from the Demon King, felt natural when you were in them. Like the fake mom—it didn't crawl up from under the school to pick our house's lock. It felt like it just spawned inside one day. The grudge-filled song ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠wasn't composed by the Demon King under the school either. A person killed another, buried them, and that grudge got turned into lyrics by people and spread via broadcast.

This ghost story phenomenon. I don't know the mechanism, but it's clearly the Demon King attacking me somehow.

Even so, every element in those stories existed in the world first. The Psychopath Test I faced wasn't conjured from thin air. It was something Jang Hwa-eun confiscated from kids messing around in the reading room. There was always a real root.

So what about this test paper?

I'd assumed the paper transformed because I got tangled in a ghost story. But really?

Did the ghost story come first, or this problem? Did I get swept into the ghost story, so the problem slipped onto my paper? Or did I see this problem on the paper, so I got swept in?

Let's check both possibilities.

If the ghost story first, no need to overthink. Demon King sends it, paper gets weird, done.

But if the problem was first?

If the ghost story was on the paper already, and seeing it pulled me in? This last problem only on my paper. What ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠if someone wrote it deliberately to show me?

Only one person could do that.

The science teacher proctoring right now. He made the test, distributed the papers. Custom-making one with the ghost story for me wouldn't be hard.

Assuming that raises another question. Why?

The science teacher. Why try to kill me? Using a ghost story, no less.

Ding~ dong~ dang~ dong~ ♬

The bell signaling the end rang, but I hadn't concluded. The teacher silently collected OMR sheets, stacking them neatly.

Am I overthinking?

Just a quiet middle-aged guy—am I painting him too villainous?

Staring at his face, a thought flashed. Why warn me to take the test properly?

Jin-hee, sprawled asleep, was way sloppier. Yet he warns me, just sitting there zoning out? The science teacher, rumored to barely interact with students?

Maybe to make sure I read the last problem. Nothing else fits.

The teacher left soon after, and students buzzed around. Gyeong-won, Deok-hoon, Seon-ah, Ha-yoon rushed to me.

"How was it? That weird problem again?"

I stopped them checking my paper and shot up. "It's the science teacher. He's suspicious."

"What?"

The members looked puzzled, but Gyeong-won adjusted his glasses gleamingly. "Exactly. While taking the test, I wondered who could do this—only the science ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠teacher right in front came to mind."

"Let's tail him!"

"S-suddenly?"

Seon-ah panicked, but I was already moving. "The call's coming soon. I don't know what I'll confirm, but let's see where he goes and what he does."

"L-let's go together!"

Excluding Jin-hee casually watching from the back, our five rushed out.

Luckily, he wasn't fast—just rounding the corner up the stairs.

"Follow. Close enough not to lose him."

We trailed at a distance, me in front. Clump clump.

"Bit many for tailing."

"Just be careful."

Tailing a teacher in a school herd like this was ridiculous.

"Shh."

We peeked around corners, keeping him in sight up the twisting stairs. We reached the fourth floor.

"Science room, as expected."

Science room, music room, computer lab—fourth floor had subject facilities. He stopped there, walked the quiet hall, and entered the science room.

"Not the office?"

"Nope."

Besides the classroom, there's a corner room—storage and his office.

Unlike teachers with staff room desks, science and music ones spent more time in their rooms.

"Can't spy from here. No point tailing."

"You idiots."

Someone cursed us; turning, Jin-hee stood arms crossed.

"Just check."

She strode through our cluster and yanked open the sliding door.

Drrrk—

And simultaneously.

My phone. Like the ringtone from The Call.

"Gonna answer, President?"

"Fuck, hold on."

I pulled it out, tried silencing, but it blared louder.

"We're busted."

"Just pick up. Hoo."

I know the answer anyway—no big worry.

Beep.

"Hello?"

A modulated male voice from the phone. Simultaneously, Jin-hee barged in and flung open the office door.

Bang—

I peeked into the science room office. Jin-hee nodded smugly; the teacher stood awkwardly, phone in hand.

"Wh-what are you kids doing bursting in?! Students aren't allowed here! Out!"

"Jeez."

It was him. We piled into the room.

"Block the exits, guys."

"Got it."

Seon-ah locked the entrance from inside; Deok-hoon blocked the office.

"I said no entry! Get out now!"

"Quiet. I know you messed with my test paper."

"Wh-what?"

The teacher panicked, then grinned creepily.

Shit.

Right—five-second count after the question. I blurted the answer.

"The seagull meat on the island tasted different from what he ate. Because the meat his wife fed him was her own flesh."

The blind man. Wife sacrificed herself, cooking her flesh as "seagull" to save him from starvation. He survived clueless; years later, real seagull revealed the truth. Bitter tale.

His face hardened—correct. He went silent. Already taciturn and sinister, now worse.

Seon-ah was right.

I questioned him. "You wrote the ghost story on my paper. Why?"

"Answer."

He paused, then grinned again, his tree-bark skin creasing disgustingly.

"European Union... I wrote the ghost story to kill you, obviously. What's with the real questions?"

"Huh? What bullshit. So why try to kill me—say it."

"One."

"Two."

"...Fuck, you joking? Think I'll go easy 'cause you're an adult? Answer!"

"Three."

"This bastard—!"

Panicking at his countdown, I lunged; Gyeong-won flailed to stop me. The teacher chuckled.

Thwack—!

Jin-hee stepped in, punching his bark-like face.

"Guhk—!"

Unbelievable force from a high school girl. Crunch—his nose shattered, glasses flew. He crashed into shelves; glassware shattered down.

Jin-hee grinned at me. "Always wanted to deck a teacher."

And then.

Throb—!

"Ugh..." Time up again.

What the hell...

Heart clenched; I clawed my eyes, collapsed clutching chest.

"President! President...!"

Members supported me in shock. Seon-ah rushed from the door, checked me, whipped out a cutter knife, and lunged at the passed-out teacher.

"What'd you do to our Joon—?!"

Amid the chaos holding me, Seon-ah slapping and threatening him, vision blurred.

Nakseong High, fifth floor. Club room. Lazy lunchtime.

Jin-hee asleep, Deok-hoon stealing a chair, Ha-yoon back from brushing teeth, Gyeong-won studying. Seon-ah approaching me.

"Joon-ah, studying going well?"

Instead of answering, I looked around. "Hey, guys."

Eyes on me.

"I just died again, you know."