Ghost Story Club

[2019, May 2 | Thursday, 16:28 PM]

[Lee Joon: Number of Attempts – 2]

[Ghost Story Points: 102]

[Causality Rate: 17%]

That day, we rushed out of the classroom after school finished.

At the entrance of the main building, we changed our shoes and chatted pleasantly with each other.

“What are you going to do when you get home?”

“Of course, I’ll play the PlayStation that the President bought for me last time.”

Dukhun swung his arms.

“VR is the new world-”

“What about you, Sunah?”

“I’m just…”

Sunah hesitated before answering.

“I’ll just stay home……”

“If you’re too bored, call me. I don’t have anything to do either.”

“Okay…”

Sunah smiled faintly.

Jinhee would go to her part-time job after taking a nap, and Gyeongwon would go to his cram school.

“Oh, Gyeongwon, didn’t you say you quit the cram school and are now taking private lessons?”

“Mmhm. I decided to go until this week.”

Gyeongwon answered nonchalantly while tying his shoelaces.

This guy said that after levelling up last time, he was introduced to his mentor who was also his private tutor.

“Have you met that private tutor, who got a perfect score on the college entrance exam?”

“Not yet. I think we’ll have a quick meal and chat over the weekend.”

“I see. Tell me how it went later.”

“Okay.”

I suddenly became curious about how the level-up event on Hayoon’s side was going.

Hayoon also got a call after she leveled up.

“What about you, Hayoon? You didn’t reply to my private message last time after reading it.”

“Private message?”

Hayoon, who was slipping her feet into her shoes while sitting, glanced at me.

I had messaged Hayoon on KakaoTalk before, asking her to tell me what happened with her mentor, but she had still kept me on ‘read and ignored’.

“Yeah, I sent you a KakaoTalk message last time…”

“Oh, that. I didn’t know you were waiting for my reply.”

“Mm.”

“Sorry. It was too sudden, and I got a little flustered, so I couldn’t reply right away. In my opinion, I think it’s better if we just stay friends like we are now.”

Friend?

What does that mean?

Sunah, who was putting on her shoes next to me, glanced at us at those words.

“…Wait, wait a minute……”

I became flustered all of a sudden.

The kind of talk, staying friends for now, gave that kind of awkward vibe, as if I had confessed to her secretly on KakaoTalk and got turned down.

“Uh, what do you mean ‘friends’? I asked about your mentor, not ‘friends’.”

“Oh, did you?”

She got up from her seat with a chuckle.

She clearly did it on purpose so that Sunah would hear.

“I’ll think about it. Bye~”

“No, come back. What the…..”

Hayoon, with her black hair fluttering, swiftly walked ahead.

‘I’m the idiot for asking.’

* * *

“Goodbye~”

“See you tomorrow~”

Just before we parted ways in front of the school gate.

I briefly called out to Jinhee.

“Jinhee.”

“Hmm?”

She turned around and looked up at me curiously.

“Are you okay?”

She tilted her chin as if asking what I was talking about.

I cautiously brought up the matter about yesterday.

“Yesterday, well…. You had to face a lot of things.”

Her friend’s crazy antics.

And her teacher’s betrayal.

“…..”

Jinhee, who had been looking up at me, suddenly chuckled. Maintaining the slight smile on her face, she lightly punched me on the stomach before speaking.

“I’m fine, you idiot. Just focus on what you’re planning to do next.”

“Okay…”

I awkwardly nodded in agreement.

“But if anything comes up, call me. Okay?”

“Fine, you idiot. I’ll be going then.”

“Yeah~ Bye~”

Idiot!

Jinhee thinks I’m an idiot!

‘Where is my respect as the President…’

As I was walking on my way home.

I suddenly remembered the method I had used earlier to check if there were any ghosts in the house.

‘What was that?’

The figure of a woman with a horrible face suddenly appeared before my eyes.

A woman with a very long neck.

According to the method Dukhun had sent me, the scary figure of the woman I saw in our house while imagining it should be the ghost.

But that couldn’t be true.

The apartment where my family lives now is the one we’ve been living in since it was newly built about 7 years ago, making us the very few first residents of the apartment building.

Not only was there no one living in the apartment building before us, but of course, no one had ever died in the building either.

Before the current apartment building was built, the apartment where we live now was just an empty space in midair.

‘….But if you think about it that way, there was no reason for the Mother Ghost to appear either.’

Actually, calling it a ghost makes it seem like it happened because someone died in the apartment, but naming it something like ‘Devil Mom’ or ‘Monster Mom’ just doesn’t feel right either. Both sounded a bit strange.

That’s why I decided to call the creature in the ghost story the Mother Ghost because it was easier to call it this way.

As I entered the apartment complex, I looked up at our apartment in the distance.

The balcony of our apartment, which was visible from where I stood, was devoid of anyone.

‘It had a long neck… with disheveled hair.’

And that thing was hiding in the bathroom of the master bedroom in our apartment?

I couldn’t believe it.

From the beginning, that method was just a ghost story floating around on the internet. Moreover, I had even fallen asleep while imagining it in my head, so I probably just had a strange dream and nothing else.

‘But I can’t let my guard down.’

You never know when strange things might sneak into your daily life.

Even the ghost stories we are fighting right now were nothing but childish tales to us before.

Before I could come to my senses and say ‘Oh?’, I would have already gotten tangled up in the situation without realizing it.

Perhaps, even this moment, while I was deep in thought, I could already be in a situation where I’ve unknowingly gotten caught up in a new ghost story.

While pondering and thinking, I found myself in front of the entrance to our apartment building.

I quietly thought to myself as I looked up at the empty balcony once again.

‘Now that I think about it, there was a sure way to check if our apartment is haunted or not.’

A very secure way to find out if I was already tangled up in a ghost story or not.

I opened the Status Window.

“Status Window. Description of the special ability Banality Manifestation.”

Pop.

《Banality Manifestation

Rank: A-rank

Trigger Condition: Passive

Ability: This ability can be activated when encountering a ghost story. Reality will continue to flow in a mishmash of clichés until the situation is resolved.》

‘I can know it by checking whether this ability is activated or not.’

The fact that it can only be triggered when encountering a ghost story means, conversely, that it cannot be used in ordinary daily life.

If a message appears saying that it has been triggered when I activated it, then it would mean I was already entangled with a ghost story.

If there is no response, then everything was as usual.

Judging from the phrase ‘until the situation is resolved,’ it seems that once it is activated, the ability cannot be canceled until the incident is resolved. But if that’s the case, it’s a bit of a problem….

‘I was going to use it once to check what kind of ability it was anyway.’

I clicked on the ability nervously.

[Would you like to activate the Special Ability ‘Banality Manifestation’?]

“… Yes.”

[The Special Ability ‘Banality Manifestation’ has activated.]

[Caution: Please be careful as excessive use of the reality manipulation ability may overload causality and cause unintended consequences.]

Pop-

I flinched for a moment, sensing that the flow of air around me had changed somewhat.

I quietly looked around, but nothing seemed to have really changed.

I was still standing at the entrance to the apartment building.

The surroundings also appeared to be the same.

‘… But I could definitely feel that something had ‘activated’.’

Which means it truly had activated….

‘… Does that mean I was already entangled with a ghost story?’

I sighed quietly, not finding the answer to my question, and opened the automatic door of the elevator and hopped inside.

If there was a ghost story that was connected to me right now, it would probably be the one I did at lunch, the instructions written on the picture [How to know if your house is haunted.jpg].

As I got on the elevator and thought back to my conversation with Dukhun, that in itself seemed strange in its own way.

As it was written in the picture, it was a method that can only confirm if a house is already haunted by ghosts or not.

Unlike the Corner Game from before, it wasn’t about performing a ritual that would summon a ghost or anything like that.

‘… How long has that thing been hiding in our apartment?’

The woman with an unusually long neck.

After quietly mulling over various questions, I got off the elevator, entered the passcode for the front door, and opened it.

Creak-

The inside was quiet.

Silence.

There were still two hours left before my parents got home from work.

The late afternoon sunlight was streaming through the balcony, however, the house still looked dark, perhaps because the lights were turned off.

Click-

After closing the front door, I slowly entered the living room before turning on all the lights in the dark apartment.

Flick-Flick-

The fluorescent light hanging on the living room finally turned on after flickering a few times.

I turned on the TV next.

Click-

[Ms. Jo Boah! Please come down and try this~]

[T/N: Jo Boa (주보아) is a South Korean actress, known for her roles in various Korean dramas and films.]

I felt a little better after hearing the loud noise of the TV.

Quickly looking around, I noticed that the kitchen was still dark. So I hurriedly approached the kitchen and turned on the light.

The doors to my Dad’s study and my parents’ room were half open, and seeing the inside of the rooms made me uneasy, so I hurriedly closed the doors.

“Huu…”

Only then did I let out a sigh.

‘There’s no way, no way in the world there’s a ghost in our house.’

There’s no way it’s possible.

‘I don’t know, how something like a woman with a long neck can appear.’

However, for some reason, a faint sense of fear crept in, so I walked towards the balcony to peek outside. But I suddenly remembered how the Mother Ghost had popped out from the washing machine on the balcony in the living room, so I quickly closed the door and moved to the balcony on the kitchen on the opposite side.

I stood there for a moment, watching the people passing by on the sidewalk in the distance, and only then did I feel a little more at ease.

‘I’m not alone. There are several people within my 100 meters of radius.’

Although they were separated by the walls around and not visible, there were more than a dozen people within a 100-meter radius above and below me, almost surrounding our apartment.

Of course, when I turned around, it was still the same quiet, lonely house, so the fear remained unchanged.

At moments like this, alone and scared, everything feels really strange.

Since each floor of the apartment is 2.4 meters, within a 100-meter radius, all the people in our neighborhood were crammed together.

If you take all these people and put them in a playground with a radius of 100 meters, you would think it was a lot of people.

Since they were separated by walls like this, the sense of distance was hard to register.

It didn’t feel like I was alone at home anymore, but rather, it felt like I was the only one left in the world.

‘This isn’t working. I’m getting more scared. I should at least play a game until my parents come home.’

Trying my hardest not to look at the closed door to the master bedroom, I hurried to my room.

As if I accidentally glanced over, the door would creak open and someone would suddenly poke their head out.

***

Click-

As soon as I entered my room, I locked the door, and sat on the bed. Only then did I finally feel a little at ease.

My room is safe.

I feel safe here.

Such feelings were rushing over me like waves.

The bed, the desk, the bookshelf, and the closet.

With just one glance, I could see where everything was and be sure of unwanted presence.

Even though it’s the same house, the living room was filled with a sense of ominous tension, as if something could suddenly emerge from somewhere.

But my room was cozy and familiar. There was no place for scary imaginations to pop up in my head and play with my fear.

And while the windows in my Dad’s study and the master bedroom lead to the indoor balcony, my room’s window opened directly to the outside, without any balcony.

Since there was only one door as the entrance, the psychological reassurance that nothing else can enter this space added to the sense of comfort.

‘… Oh shit, I suddenly remembered that Granny Ghost of Hong Kong.’

[T/N: The ‘Granny Ghost of Hong Kong’ is a popular urban legend and ghost story that has circulated in Korean internet culture, involving a ghostly figure of an elderly woman, typically portrayed as a grandmother, who is said to haunt people or places.]

It’s a famous old Korean ghost story I came across while researching ghost stories on my own.

It was a story about an old lady who peers through the window of a high-rise apartment, a height that no one could possibly stand at.

‘… Just because it’s the outside window doesn’t mean it’s not scary.’

I suddenly chuckled to myself.

Even though I’ve been through so many strange situations, I was still scared of some mere ghost story.

But I had no hand in this.

Regardless of what kind of life a person has lived, the feeling of fear is completely separate and unrelated to their experiences.

Take my mom, for example. She lived through the turbulent industrialization era, working on a farm as a child to survive, and then working in a factory in her 20s to make a living.

In her thirties, she endured the pain of childbirth and hardship of raising children, and even now, approaching her fifties, she works two jobs in a grocery shop. She’s a proud, hardworking power housewife of South Korea who has gone through all kinds of hardship.

Even such a Mom, despite all her tough experiences, would run away in terror if you tell her a horror story.

What’s more, I often get involved with ghost stories in real life, so the fear was heavy in my subconscious, especially after seeing something like that in a dream during lunch today.

So even a dark, empty house is scary enough as it is, but for me, there’s an actual threat, so I couldn’t help but feel even more on edge.

“Haaa….”

I sighed helplessly and plopped on the edge of my bed before turning my phone on.

‘…Sunah has sent me a KakaoTalk message.’

It was sent not in the group chat, but privately.

[Yoon Sunah: Joon, what are you doing?]

Thank you.

I wondered if she had some kind of power, as if she knew I was scared and sent me a KakaoTalk message.

My heart, which had been pounding with fear, started to relax a bit after receiving a message on KakaoTalk from a classmate, and a girl on top of that.

[Lee Joon: Just arrived home. What about you?]

Sunah’s reply came right away as if she had been waiting.

[Yoon Sunah: I’m also at home]

[Lee Joon: Have you had dinner?]

[Yoon Sunah: I’m about to have it now, hehe]

[Lee Joon: What are you having for dinner??]

[Yoon Sunah: I’m was just preparing to make some fry eggs, lol]

[Lee Joon: Just fried eggs? hmm]

[Yoon Seon-ah: Yeah, just fried eggs, hehe]

[Lee Joon: Suddenly, I’m craving egg fried rice with green spring rolls. I used to make that a lot when I just learned how to cook eggs by myself, lol.]

Thud!!!!! Thud!!!!! Thud!!!!! Thud!!!!!

Thump — !!!!!!

Thump, tang, tang, tang!!!!!!!!

Thud.

Thump

… Oh fuck, what is that.

A sudden noise was heard in the silent apartment.

It seemed to be coming from the master bedroom, my parents’ room.

I stood up and strained my ears.

“…..”

But it was quiet.

After the loud noise just now, no other sound hasn’t been heard.

It was so quiet that the only sound that filled the empty house was an ominous ringing noise.

I approached the door to see if it was locked.

Click- click-

I could see that the lock button on the round handle was pressed firmly, so it was definitely locked.

No one could come in.

I was safe here.

“Huu.”

What the f*ck.

My heart was pounding like crazy.

I should have brought a weapon of some sort with myself. It could be a thief.

Whoever it may be, that person couldn’t just barge in here.

Because the door was locked.

The door served as a boundary, making this place, my room, feel safe.

This psychological reassurance was set in my mind.

I stood still like a statue, my neck stiffened. I strained my ears to listen again, but as expected, it was completely devoid of any sound.

No strange sound caught my strained ears.

What the heck.

Should I check it out?

No, shit.

Why would I go check something like that alone?

In movies, it’s always the unlucky character who becomes curious like this that ends up getting caught first.

I wouldn’t do something stupid like that.

I’ll just stay here.

Until my parents come.

“Huu.”

I sat back down on the bed, but a sudden ominous realization hit me hard.

I need to pee.

Oh, seriously.

I should’ve gone to the bathroom as soon as I got home…

“This is crazy.”

I stomped my feet in frustration.

In the midst of all this, I forgot to reply to Sunah. Thinking she might be waiting for my reply, I hurriedly tapped on the keypad.

[Lee Joon: Suddenly, I’m craving egg fried rice with green spring rolls. I used to make that a lot when I just learned how to cook eggs by myself, lol]

KakaoTalk~

[Yoon Sunah: I eat that often too, it’s delicious]

[Lee Joon: It would be fun if we all cook it together next time.]

[Yoon Sunah: I think it’s a good idea!]

In fact, after the unidentified noise earlier, thoughts of fried egg rice with green spring rolls have long since flown away from my mind.

I could still bear it to some extent since I was chatting with Sunah on KakaoTalk like this.

Sunah happily replied to my messages, completely unaware of my anxious heart, and the strange atmosphere in the house.

KakaoTalk~ KakaoTalk.

After talking like that for a while, I couldn’t hold back the urge to go to the bathroom any longer, so I finally got up from my seat.

Should I just use the trash can in my room, or, Instead, I could climb onto the desk, open the window, and lean my lower body outside to….. Ugh.

No, don’t be retarded Joon.

As the situation worsened, all sorts of absurd thoughts started running through my mind.

KakaoTalk~

Ah, that scared me.

I decided to put my phone on silent mode. The sudden sound of KakaoTalk kept making my heart race for no reason.

After setting my phone to silent mood, I stood still in the middle of the room, when all of a sudden, a rush of uselessness at my cowardly self gripped me.

‘Fuck, what the hell am I doing right now.’

I shouldn’t be so scared, it was the apartment I lived in for so many years.

I should stop thinking of these useless thoughts.

This was dragging on too much without any reason.

I should just open the door and go out, quickly use the bathroom, and come back to my room.

It’s not that hard.

The bathroom is just about 4 meters from the door.

Just go and finish it quickly.

Can’t you do this simple thing, Joon?

Stop overthinking. You’re a high school student.

If you’re not an idiot, you can do it.

‘Once you’ve made up your mind, just take action right away.’

I immediately strode over to the door and turned the doorknob with a heroic spirit.

Click-!

Rustle.

Since I turned the doorknob from the inside, I heard the sound of the lock automatically unlocking.

‘I was startled.’

I briefly opened the door and glanced around the dark living room.

No one was there.

Before my feet could cross the threshold of my room, I quickly retracted them and instantly locked the door, then stood frozen in my room.

The living, the living room was dark…

I clearly remembered turning on all the lights earlier, then why…

T/N: The ghost in Lee Joon’s home