Chapter 43
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Translator: 8uhl
Chapter: 43
Chapter Title: Monster Tale Specialist Office: The Cursed Video (5)
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“Ow, where the heck is she?”
Hanseol and Woli had finished lunch and were wandering around the school looking for someone.
“Woli, who exactly are we looking for?”
Still uncomfortable around all the crowds, Hanseol stuck close to Woli and asked.
“It’s hard to explain—she’s a really weird one—so I figured I’d just introduce you once we found her…”
Woli gave Hanseol an apologetic look. She’d thought it would be quick, but it was taking longer than expected, and now she was getting antsy.
“The person I’m looking for right now is a friend named Boyoung. Info-yeong.”
“Huh?”
Hanseol blinked in confusion.
“Huh? Not Suhyeon?”
Woli nodded.
“We don’t even know what she looks like. Or anything about her.”
“Yeah, yeah, I’ve never seen her before!”
“But there’s this one weirdo in school who investigates every single thing that happens around here.”
“Weirdo?”
“If I exaggerate a little, she’s Director-level.”
Hanseol tilted his head in disbelief at Woli’s words. But it wasn’t an exaggeration at all. When it came to school happenings, it wouldn’t be wrong to say Boyoung knew everything.
“The Director? No way! What kind of person is she?”
Of course, she probably wasn’t actually like the Director, but comparing her to him was already shocking enough for Hanseol.
“Right? So what’s your Director like?”
“Gah, you scared me!!”
“Eek!”
The two jumped and whipped around at the sudden voice. Standing behind them was a lively girl with a short bob haircut.
“Hey! You really startled us!!”
Woli immediately scolded the girl who’d snuck up from behind. Seeing it, Hanseol instantly realized this must be the one they were looking for.
“Oh, is this her…?”
And from that behavior alone, he could tell exactly what “Director-like” meant.
* * *
It might seem overly obvious by now, but Woli wasn’t your average high schooler.
She was one of the core members of the office, and when real danger cropped up, she was an indispensable fixer.
She hadn’t started out as part of the team, but she’d joined after one particular incident.
Woli planned to keep doing this work even after graduating, and everyone else at the office assumed the same.
Even so, she was still a high school student. At her mom’s insistence that she had to finish school, Woli dragged herself to class every day.
She had zero interest in studying, so she mostly slept through it and skipped any class that didn’t pique her curiosity. That made her an outsider in school.
She wasn’t a diligent student, nor a delinquent. She didn’t have anyone she was really close to.
Thanks to skipping so often with excuses about being sick, even the teachers saw her as frail and left her alone when she zoned out in class. The other students did the same.
Woli knew that was her image and leaned into it.
She was walking a different path from everyone else anyway.
So until Seol transferred in, she only had one person in the entire school you could call a friend—the one standing right in front of her now.
“What’re you two hunting for, wandering around like this? Feeling okay today?”
“Yeah, something like that.”
“First time I’ve seen you out and about during lunch. Something urgent?”
Boyoung said with a grin.
“Were you spying on me?”
Woli narrowed her eyes, and Boyoung waved it off playfully.
“Not you. I was checking out your friend there a bit. You’re always glued to her side, so I got the gist.”
Hanseol’s eyes wavered a little at the bold admission that she’d been investigating him, but Woli didn’t bat an eye. She’d known that was Boyoung’s style.
“So, what’d you dig up?”
“Hmm? Just that you and her have the exact same transfer pattern? Looks like the same method, but nothing legally sketchy about it.”
“You figured that out quick.”
Woli shook her head in disbelief. Boyoung muttered to herself, seeing Woli didn’t deny it—yep, called it.
“But she’s got the frail kid concept too?”
“Nah. She’s just normal. Physically, at least.”
“Got it. Anyway, why’d you come looking for me?”
Woli was floored. Boyoung had already known they were searching for her.
“How’d you know we were looking for you?”
“You’re wandering around like you’re on a manhunt, and I’m your only friend in school? Not exactly rocket science.”
Boyoung puffed up proudly. Woli let out a chuckle. Annoying, but she wasn’t wrong.
“Fine, smartypants. Good thing we found you anyway. We’ve got some questions, and yeah, you know her, but she doesn’t know you, so introductions first.”
Boyoung flashed a grin and stuck out her hand to Woli.
“Hi! I’m Boyoung. Info-yeong!”
“Uh… I-I’m Hanseol.”
As Hanseol mumbled, Woli jumped in.
“She works at the same place as me.”
“Knew it? Well, guesswork and confirmation are different. Nice to meet you anyway.”
“And she’s the one who knows everything about this school. Name’s Info-yeong, as you heard.”
“You really know everything?”
Boyoung scratched her head sheepishly at Hanseol’s blunt question.
“Well, I just like digging into stuff.”
Either way, it had worked out. Boyoung knew everything that went on in school, so she’d probably have answers to what they wanted to ask.
“So, what’d you want to know?”
Boyoung asked, clearly intrigued.
“We’re looking for someone named Suhyeon right now.”
“What? You’re hunting for a person? You always act like you couldn’t care less about other people.”
Boyoung looked more than just interested—she was having fun.
“And dragging a transfer student along? Can’t even guess why—”
Her eyes were practically sparkling. Woli panicked, unsure how to respond.
She couldn’t exactly spill about curses or ghosts. It wasn’t top-secret, but word would spread that they were nuts.
“Nah, it’s, uh, something came up at work. This kid named Seonwoo left a tablet with us, but…”
“Seonwoo? The one in the class next door?”
“Yeah, but it’s not her we’re after—the tablet’s kinda weird, and we heard the real owner’s someone else…”
Boyoung squinted at Woli’s rambling.
“Your work isn’t an electronics repair shop, is it…? Didn’t you say last time it was more like a counseling cafe?”
Woli inwardly freaked at the question. Oh right, she had said something like that before. And she hadn’t even come up with a solid cover story.
Screw it, Woli decided to just own it shamelessly.
“Who cares? We’ve got people who can handle just about anything. Anyway! We need to verify with the original owner, and turns out that’s Suhyeon. So we wanted to ask you about her.”
Boyoung tilted her head, and Woli tensed, worried she’d poke holes in it.
After a beat of silence, Boyoung spoke up.
“Hmm, I know a Suhyeon, but… you might wanna tread carefully?”
“Carefully?”
Woli was relieved the lie seemed to land, but the caution was unexpected.
“Yeah, she’s kinda infamous. Everyone at school knows. It’s a bit awkward to spread around…”
“What’s so big you’re dodging like that?”
Boyoung hesitated unusually at Woli’s question—nothing like her usual sharp self.
But then she steeled herself and said it.
“Last fall, midterms around then, her parents both died.”
“Oh…”
It was an unforeseen tragedy. Woli hadn’t expected that, and it left her feeling off. Hanseol, beside her, looked equally shocked, eyes wide as he gauged the mood.
But facts were facts, and they needed this to talk to Suhyeon, so Boyoung kept going.
“Car accident, they said. After that, she got really dark. Dropped all her club activities and stuff.”
“Is it okay to tell us this?”
Boyoung frowned, conflicted at Woli’s words, but shrugged it off.
“Dunno. Better to know if you can be careful. Everyone who matters already does.”
“Fair enough.”
“Anyway, talking to her’s fine, just watch what you say.”
“Got it. Thanks for the heads-up.”
The two nodded solemnly.
If they hadn’t found Boyoung first, they might’ve messed up, so it was a smart move.
“Man, loaning stuff out again. I’m worried, seriously.”
Hanseol caught Boyoung’s sigh-mutter and asked.
“Huh? Worried about what?”
“Suhyeon. She’s got this nickname now—only people in the know use it, though.”
“Nickname?”
Woli echoed.
“Treasure Goblin. Rumor is, whatever you ask her for, she gives it. Mechanical pencils, leads, pens, even books and stuff. So they call her Treasure Goblin—Boblin for short.”
Boyoung muttered she hadn’t expected a tablet, though.
Even to Woli, a tablet PC was a whole different price tier from those examples.
Woli frowned and asked,
“Are those two usually close?”
“Close? Yeah, they were in the same club.”
“Club?”
“Club?”
Woli said it as new info, while Hanseol was just clueless about clubs in general.
“Suhyeon was even the rep there. Surprising, huh?”
“What’s the club?”
When no one answered, Hanseol asked again, and Woli poked his side.
“Ow…”
Luckily, Boyoung took it as asking about the club and answered without suspicion.
“Film club. Seonwoo started it, I think? They watched movies and wrote reviews. Even won a newspaper award for best review, so the school loved it. Though really, it was just those two doing anything.”
“Seonwoo and Suhyeon?”
Boyoung nodded at Woli.
“Before Suhyeon joined, it was basically a hangout. Seonwoo probably started it for that. But once Suhyeon came in, it turned into serious film study.”
Boyoung said Seonwoo barely knew movies before that.
“She changed it all by herself?”
Woli asked, incredulous.
“But now the film club’s just a name.”
“Why? Oh…”
Hanseol started to ask, then got it.
“The accident…”
“Yeah. It was really just the two of them active, and one dropped out, so it fell apart.”
“I see.”
Unexpected bonus info.
“Not many know this, but they’d go to theaters, discuss, and submit reports to school. I saw one by chance—pretty good.”
“You really know a ton, huh?”
Hanseol said, impressed. How did she even find this stuff?
Woli hadn’t expected this level of detail either, so in her mental ranking, she bumped Boyoung from “a bit Director-like” to “even more Director-like.”
“How do you know all this?”
It was hard to believe from another high schooler.
“Trade secret. You’ve got your secrets too.”
Woli dropped it at Boyoung’s pointed jab.
“Impressive, though.”
“Oh, and in exchange for this info, I’ve got a favor to ask!”
“Huh, wha—??”
Boyoung suddenly leaned in close, startling Woli into stepping back.
“So you thought you’d get all this for free?”
“Nah, of course not! Can’t just take it and run. What do you want?”
Whatever it was, Boyoung’s personality meant it wouldn’t be too weird, so Woli nodded readily.
“I don’t really get what you do… but from what you said last time and now, here’s my request—just hear me out.”
Boyoung hemmed and hawed, dragging it out.
“What’re you trying to say?”
“If it’s impossible, fine, but… I wish Suhyeon could snap out of it a bit.”
“Snap out of what?”
“Since her parents died, she’s like a zombie. No spark at all. I get why, but it’s been long enough, and she still feels like a ticking bomb. Or maybe shattered glass—handle her wrong, and she’ll cut you.”
Boyoung grimaced.
“Feels like she’s heading for a breakdown. Bad kind. That’s why I told you. Maybe your work could help somehow.”
Woli thanked her and promised to pass it along.
Boyoung waved off the thanks.
“You two, quit the mushy stuff and go. She’s probably alone in class now—easy to approach.”
“Thanks anyway!”
As Hanseol bowed gratefully, Woli, impatient, dashed out.
But she suddenly burst back into the classroom.
The two stared, puzzled, and Woli scratched her head.
“Uh… so, what does she look like?”
Boyoung gave her a pitying look.
“Are you seriously that dumb?”