The Shaman Ghost Who Dances While Laughing #1
Hey. Jeong Seok. It was you, right? The one who wrote this note.
I whispered the words so only Jeong Seok—the vice class president currently handing out the money—could hear me. When he saw the photo on my phone, his eyes flickered like a candle flame in the wind.
“What are you talking about?”
Jeong Seok played dumb. He clearly didn’t want to be exposed as Class D’s informant. I could understand why he was denying it. He must have seen Kim Geon-ho say, “Find out which bastard wrote that note.” Anyone could guess what Kim Geon-ho would do to the snitch. That was exactly why everyone in Class D had either turned a blind eye to the bullying or actively gone along with it.
“Your handwriting is identical. How can you not know?”
I showed him the signature from the hidden quest that read Confirmed. The characters were neat, almost like they’d been typed. Finding the informant through handwriting—simple, yet perfectly in character for Jeong Seok. The idea had come from Ms. Kang Haneul. She’d told me, “Yeong-won, your handwriting is far too messy for you to have written this note.” So I decided to hunt the snitch the same way. Someone who wrote this neatly would stand out.
While I was wondering how to compare everyone’s handwriting, the Death Game in the Class Group Chat had struck. Thanks to that crisis, I’d managed to collect every classmate’s signature. Turning crisis into opportunity. A complete reversal. Those words fit my current situation perfectly.
“What are you even saying? What’s wrong with my handwriting? Stop picking fights over nothing.”
Objection sustained, I suppose. Jeong Seok was still playing innocent. He seemed to think the evidence I, Attorney Ha Yeong-won, had presented wasn’t enough.
“I have more evidence. Look at this.”
I pointed out the shared traits between the note and the signature that had nothing to do with handwriting. Jeong Seok’s shoulders twitched like a criminal whose clue had just been discovered.
“Hey, vice president. Do I look like a real Pikachu just because I did a Pikachu impression under Kim Geon-ho? You’ve been underestimating me way too much.”
I’m Ha Yeong-won, Class D’s librarian. I’ve read enough books to proudly call myself a literary youth. And people who read a lot inevitably start writing. I’d scribbled a few short stories myself, and that habit had left me with one particular quirk. You could call it an affliction—I simply cannot stand leaving a sentence without a period at the end.
Habits are terrifying things.
The short sentence Bullying is occurring in Class D had been written with perfect spelling and punctuation. The same was true of the signature on the hidden quest. While other kids had scribbled nonsense or messed around in the signature column, Jeong Seok had written his name neatly and even added a period.
“You have a habit of always ending your sentences with a period. It’s the kind of quirk people who write seriously tend to develop. And you’re the only one in this class who does it.”
The idiots at Yeongji High don’t pay attention to details like that. Still… it was true that this evidence alone wasn’t quite enough to prove his guilt. There was no decisive physical proof. Even so, Jeong Seok’s unusually flustered reaction was all the confirmation I needed.
I told him, “If you’re going to write a report like this, you should’ve at least used your left hand to disguise your handwriting. Of course, you probably never imagined anyone would compare handwriting or hunt for habits.”
“…What…”
“Don’t panic. I won’t tell anyone it was you. If someone else asks, just deny it like you did a second ago. From now on, we’ll say I wrote this note. Got it?”
The reason I had called Jeong Seok over was to make sure he never revealed that he had written it. If it was me who wrote it, I could quietly and effectively take care of Kim Geon-ho.
Ding-dong-dang-dong—.
The bell signaling the end of break rang through the classroom and hallway.
“Hey, Sojin. Feeling better now?”
“Yeah, Young-mi. I was acting a little crazy lately, wasn’t I? Sorry. I’m okay now.”
I watched Jeong Seok’s retreating back as everyone returned to their seats.
Vice President Jeong Seok. Just what kind of guy are you?
May. Warm spring sunlight. It had been roughly two months since the semester began, but because I tended to stay on the outside of things, I still didn’t know much about my classmates.
Jeong Seok. On the surface, he looked like the model student from a good family. He was reasonably tall for a first-year and excelled at ball games like soccer. His midterm ranking… fifth in the entire school, I think. He was the best student in our class, no question.
But to me, he was simply one of the many bystanders. I hadn’t been particularly interested in him. Mutual indifference—that about summed it up.
So why had someone like him suddenly written a note like that…? That was what I wanted to know.
Vrrrr—.
My phone vibrated. When I checked, a message had arrived from Jeong Sojin: hehe.
…Fuck. What is this?
Class had already started, yet the class president was texting me. Was this the beginning of a new form of harassment? Maybe she was sending retaliatory messages because I’d slapped her in the infirmary.
“……”
Damn it, another one! This girl had definitely gotten a taste for messing with me!
I kept my reply short.
“……”
Hey, Jeong Sojin. What the hell is this? And how did you even get my number and save it in the first place?
…Actually, it wasn’t that strange. She was the class president, so she would have had access to the emergency contact list. I remembered her passing around a sheet at the start of the semester, asking everyone to write down their phone numbers.
“Class president, huh…”
Someone in that position would naturally know a lot about the students in our class. Since things had already come this far, I decided to use the situation to my advantage.
Jeong Seok was Jeong Sojin’s cousin? Now that I thought about it, they shared the same family name. So the president and vice president of Class D were cousins. It felt like some kind of political dynasty.
Jeong Sojin. True to her backstabbing nature, even her jokes sent a chill down my spine.
Fuck off!
I closed my phone using the low-battery excuse. Talking with her any longer felt like it would shorten my lifespan. In a way, Jeong Sojin scared me more than the monsters did.
Anyway, the day slowly drew to a close in that manner.
“Hey! Geon-ho! Let’s go smoke! Or should we just skip? We got thirty thousand won!”
“No. Teachers have been patrolling near the old building lately.”
“Ha, this Kim Geon-ho bastard. Why are you suddenly acting like such a coward?”
Today was more peaceful than any other. Kim Geon-ho remained unusually quiet and didn’t bother me. Even Yang Ju-hui, who sat behind me, seemed to be reading the room and didn’t act out.
It was a relief. I had been fighting the Death Game since first period; my mental and physical stamina were both running low.
Before long, dismissal time arrived. The frequency of Yang Ju-hui’s restless trembling behind me had increased. She was probably stressed about the possibility of having to face the Class C kids at the old building auditorium after school.
But I was certain that today, nothing like Yang Ju-hui getting beaten would happen.
“Hey, there’s a police car outside?”
“Why again? Is it about the missing persons case?”
“Ah shit, is it because I scammed someone on Carrot Market?”
The police had arrived at Yeongji High School. No matter how tough the delinquents acted, they were still only first-year high schoolers. The atmosphere naturally grew tense at the sight of police cars.
With this kind of mood, the Class C kids wouldn’t be able to gang up on Yang Ju-hui behind the auditorium. No matter how stupid they were, they wouldn’t start trouble with a police car parked at the front gate.
“Geon-ho, why are you shaking so much?”
“This bastard probably thinks they’re here to arrest him.”
“…Shut the fuck up!”
I stared at the contact number for the “senior police officer” from Yeongji High that I had obtained during the Auntie Ghost incident, quietly impressed with my own foresight. I was also surprised that the police had actually shown up after I sent the text saying There might be an assault at school today.
There really were trustworthy adults in the world.
On my way home, I passed the front gate to get a look at the police cars. A familiar-looking officer met my eyes. What if he called me over? It might become obvious that I was the one who reported it. The rest of my school life would become a hassle.
I worried for a second, but the officer didn’t call out or stop me. Soon the vice principal came out and bowed deeply to the detective.
“Ah, Detective! Thank you for your hard work! Having you patrol like this makes the school feel so much safer! This is the first time seeing you since that… incident last time, right?”
“I’ll make sure to patrol regularly from now on. It’s not as if additional incidents can’t—”
“Ah, let’s continue this conversation inside.”
I see. Well, this should count as having protected Yang Ju-hui.
Today, once I got home, I’d start thinking about which players to send into the Nightmare Corridor.
With that thought in mind, I was walking home along the winding alley when—
Rumble rumble—.
A familiar group of students entered the alley ahead. A girl with a short bob, metal braces, and a skirt shortened to the extreme caught my eye. The white socks and sneakers made it clear—it was Bong Jiyeon, the tyrant of Class C.
“Hey. Shut the fuck up and follow. You’re dead today.”
What was Bong Jiyeon’s gang dragging someone into the alley for? Was it Yang Ju-hui?
When I peeked inside, I saw Bong Jiyeon heading somewhere with… Class D’s vice president Jeong Seok!
What the hell was he doing there?
“Who the hell are you? Bongji, you know this guy?”
Someone suddenly grabbed my shoulder. The male student’s face was unfamiliar, but I could tell he was from Class C.
“Oh, I know him. Isn’t he one of Kim Geon-ho’s lackeys? Since we’re here, let’s check his pockets. How much you got?”
They were going to rob me? No way! My wallet had the hard-earned points I’d just withdrawn!
“Huh? Look at this bastard resisting. Must have a lot of cash. Should we strip him completely? Even the underwear? If you don’t want to get fucked up, stay still. Attention. Nope, this won’t do. Take off his pants and underwear.”
Bong Jiyeon narrowed her eyes. The sound of her biting down on candy with those braced teeth made my stomach turn. I could tell immediately—this girl wasn’t like Yang Ju-hui. She wasn’t the type to joke around.
She really intended to strip me.
Slide—.
My pants came down pathetically. I’m screwed. That single thought filled my head.
“HEY!!! BONG JIYEON!!!”
Someone shouted at the top of their lungs. What happened next was so sudden my eyes could barely follow it.
In a blur—Yang Ju-hui appeared from nowhere, sprinted forward, grabbed a fistful of Bong Jiyeon’s hair, and slapped her across the face with full force.
Slap! Slap!
“Kyaaak! Wh-what! What the hell!”
A single girl charging at a gang of five, including boys. It seemed impossible by common sense—until I remembered the quirk Yang Ju-hui had obtained.
Boiling Blood
Blood that burns hot like a furnace sometimes clouds one’s judgment. Courage and anger stem from this heat.
Yang Ju-hui hadn’t been trembling all day out of fear. Her blood had been boiling with rage the entire time.