The Boy's Abyss #1
High school in the 21st century is a class society. Take Jeong Sojin, the class president of Class 1-D, for example. She sits pretty high up on the school's ecological pyramid.
“Hey, everyone! Don't leave yet! Our homeroom teacher has something to say before lunch starts! Come on! Just stay put!”
Even with glasses on, her face was pretty enough that they couldn't hide it. She got good grades and was popular with both students and teachers. I'd heard her parents were executives at a big corporation, so her family background was solid too. If you measured a person on a percentile scale, Class President Jeong Sojin would definitely be in the top five percent.
“Alright, your homeroom teacher has something to say. Someone left this letter in the staff room. It says there's someone in Class 1-D who's being bullied. Does anyone know what this is about?”
“Teacher! If lunch gets delayed, the lines will be insane!”
“Please wrap it up quick! There's no bullying in our class!”
“Yeah, I think so too, but just in case. Everyone, close your eyes. Only raise your hand if you know something about this letter. Okay… yeah. No one, huh.”
Where did I, Ha Yeong-won, the Class 1-D librarian, fit into the school's hierarchy? In my opinion, I was right in the middle. I should have been, anyway….
Thwack!
I was trying to catch a quick nap before lunch when something hard smacked the back of my head. Sparks exploded in front of my eyes.
“Ow, fuck!”
“What? Fuck? Did you just say fuck to me? Hey, did you guys hear that? What this bastard just said? Class 1-D is really going to shit.”
A male student with bright red dyed hair and flashy earrings gripped a short wooden stick like a kendo player. He wore a tracksuit over his uniform, which was against school rules, but his large build made him look like an athlete.
“Hey. Ha Yeong-won. You wrote that letter to the staff room, didn't you? Saying I was bullying you? Are you out of your mind? Think you can handle the consequences?”
“No, Geon-ho. Why would I write something like that? It must've been someone else.”
I avoided Kim Geon-ho's glare and glanced around, trying to defuse the situation. Everyone who met my eyes quickly looked away. They all had the same attitude: they didn't want to get involved in anything annoying.
“Ha… Yeong-won, seriously, just behave yourself so we don't have any unnecessary trouble. Got it? Find out who wrote that letter by the end of this week. If you don't, I'm assuming it was you.”
The group of thuggish male students filed out of the classroom after Kim Geon-ho's announcement. As the classroom started buzzing again, like blood flow returning to a numb limb, someone approached me with light steps.
“Hey, loser. It really wasn't you?”
It was a girl with long, yellow-dyed hair and a school uniform skirt so short it looked ready to burst. Her hands were hidden behind her back like she was concealing something, which only pushed her chest out more. On her swollen uniform vest, the name Yang Ju-hui was written.
“No, Ju-hui. I told you, it wasn't me.”
I kept my posture as submissive as possible toward Yang Ju-hui, who was a full head shorter than me. This way I got hit less! I kept my eyes down, trying to look as pathetic as possible! Thanks to that, I caught a glimpse of her white legs and slender ankles under her short skirt. I'd overheard the gang talking recently that Yang Ju-hui made a million won as some kind of shoe model. Her legs really were long and elegant enough to be a model's.
Pretty, decent at studying, and popular even among the kids who partied. How fun must their lives be—
While I was thinking that, Yang Ju-hui spoke.
“Well, if you're getting bullied every day, it's normal to want to fight back at least once, right? You're a guy too, Yeong-won. Since we're on the subject, should this noona check how big your dick has gotten?”
“Hey, stop it! And why would I write a letter to the staff room? I want to know who did it too. There's no bullying in our class. Right?”
“…….”
Yang Ju-hui frowned. But her stormy expression quickly turned into a bright, sunny smile.
“This is why I like you, Yeong-won. For real. Every time I see you, I just want to bite you and pinch you. So, did you buy me a new lighter? I thought a Zippo would look cool.”
“Here. I scraped together what little money I had. It's a five-thousand-won one. I bought it with my dinner money, so you really have to pay me back…”
“Kyaa— Yeong-won's the best! I'll pay you back later, okay?”
Slide.
Just then the classroom door opened and a sloppy-looking red-haired guy appeared. He hurried over to Yang Ju-hui and spoke urgently.
“Hey, Ju-hui! Geon-ho said he has something to tell you and wants you to come to the old building! He said it's super important, so come out quick!”
“Ugh, what the hell. Who does Kim Geon-ho think he is, ordering people around? Yeong-won, come see me later. Meet me behind the auditorium after school. Don't run away like last time, got it?”
Yang Ju-hui delivered her demonic threat in an angelic voice, then snatched the utility knife from my desk, stuffed it in her pocket, and left the classroom. I had no idea why she took the cutter, but… I probably wasn't getting it back. It wasn't like this was the first thing of mine that had disappeared this way.
“That's my knife… And I didn't even get the lighter money.”
By now, anyone would understand.
…I, Ha Yeong-won, was the punching bag for Class 1-D's bullies! In the school's class hierarchy, I was at the very bottom—the 'slave'!
But right now, I couldn't stop laughing.
“Hehehehehe. Look at that bastard Kim Geon-ho having a fit. Guess getting caught by the teacher is kinda scary, huh? Serves you right. And that bitch Yang Ju-hui too. She's been swiping my stuff little by little…”
Normally I wouldn't dare say any of this out loud, even to myself, for fear someone might hear. But today was different! I had a reason!
Taking advantage of the moment when no one was paying attention to me, I whispered quietly.
“Status window.”
You were once a promising young man, but at some point you began living a meaningless daily routine, simply killing time. Even a broken clock is right twice a day.
Save up your points and open the Shop! Points accumulate automatically at 2P per day and can be earned in larger amounts through non-routine activities.
100P required to open the Shop
Thanks to these words that had appeared after the entrance ceremony, I was able to live a slightly different daily life from everyone else. The reason I could endure being a punching bag and suffering humiliation from Yang Ju-hui was because of this strange status window. And today was the day the points I'd been collecting—two per day since the entrance ceremony—finally reached 100P.
“The price to open the Shop is 100 points.”
I had no idea what would be in this status window's Shop, but it definitely wouldn't be ordinary. It couldn't be. Maybe it sold something like a Hypnosis App. Or perhaps magic books that could awaken superpowers? Still, I'd rather have the hypnosis app. I could make really good use of that.
“Come on, lunch time, hurry up!”
From what I'd figured out, points came in at exactly noon and midnight. So I'd been waiting endlessly for lunch, and finally—
Tick.
I'd earned my 100 points!
“Fuck, God, Buddha, please… Fuck, please…”
Consuming 100P to open the Shop!
Welcome to the Level 1 Shop. Our shop sells a variety of items that will help heroes in battle.
Did the Hypnosis App show up!? From now on, I'm the king of Class 1-D!
“……”
Looking at the shop's list, my mind went blank for a moment. Since it was called a 'Shop,' I'd expected it to sell things in exchange for points, but most of the prices were so high I couldn't even touch them.
“This is too much.”
100 points? That would take me fifty days to save up. Was I supposed to keep acting like Pikachu and being a punching bag for fifty more days? No way. The only thing I could do right now, with no points after just opening the shop, was option four: Open Old Building — 0P.
I figured I had to do something to escape my life as a slave, so I moved my hand.
The Old Building's lock has been released.
Chapter 1. The Nightmare Corridor begins.
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“Oh…”
Many familiar names scrolled down the list.
Yeongji High School barely qualified as a humanities-focused school; the quality of its students wasn't particularly high. As a result, the area behind the rarely visited old building became a lawless zone during break times, filled with all kinds of students.
“Hey, did you hear? Someone saw Kim Geon-ho walking around Jimun-dong with the English teacher last weekend.”
“Whoa, for real? Jimun-dong is full of bars and motels! Kim Geon-ho and the English teacher? She's like ten years older than him…!?”
“Damn, I'm so jealous of that bastard Kim Geon-ho. I seriously had a thing for the English teacher… Is she crazy? Dating a student?”
“Ugh, it really stinks of cigarettes here.”
When the girl with yellow-dyed hair appeared, the boys who had been gathered in small groups stopped what they were doing and turned their eyes toward her. To boys in the prime of their hormones, every little movement from Yang Ju-hui—one of the prettiest girls their age—was incredibly stimulating.
“Ju-hui doesn't have a boyfriend, right? Should I try hitting her up?”
“Whoa, looks like she shortened her skirt even more. She's seriously fucking pretty…”
But even the boys in their prime didn't dare speak to Yang Ju-hui casually or act friendly. Part of it was because she had the aura of a rich family's daughter, making her hard to approach. But the bigger reason was that Kim Geon-ho, who ruled Class 1-D like a king, had taken a liking to her.
Among the male students, the only ones who could talk to Yang Ju-hui were Kim Geon-ho and her personal punching bag, Ha Yeong-won. That was also why Ha Yeong-won got bullied by the other boys on top of everything else.
“Hey, where's Kim Geon-ho? Why did he tell me to come here?”
Yang Ju-hui asked. The boys who had been smoking immediately started talking over each other, competing to answer.
“Geon-ho's probably inside the old building! I think he called you about the modeling gig?”
“Or maybe he's going to confess again and ask you out? Ju-hui, honestly, you and Geon-ho look perfect together. Why don't you just date him?”
“Date Kim Geon-ho? No thanks. I told you before. I like strong guys.”
The boys made faces like they couldn't understand. In all of Yeongji High, there were only a handful of people who could beat Kim Geon-ho in a fight. Was she talking about that third-year senior…? While they were thinking that, Yang Ju-hui pulled a lighter from her pocket and lit a cigarette. All the boys stared at her, mesmerized.
“But why did he want to meet at the old building of all places?”
“That guy Geon-ho's been digging around here for days trying to break the lock. Says he's making it his hideout. The teachers don't patrol here, so you can smoke without worrying…”
Yang Ju-hui hated the old building. She always got a creepy feeling from the abandoned structure. There were also rumors that ghosts appeared there. In fact, Yang Ju-hui had seen a 'ghost' herself. She still wasn't sure if it had been a dream or reality….