Ghost Story Club

Chapter 55: Eighth Ghost Story – Doomed Midterm Exam (6)

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[2019, April 23 | Tuesday, 12:13]

[Lee Joon – Number of Attempts: 2]

[Ghost Story Point: 202]

[Causality Rate: 11%]

[……♬… ]

In the afternoon, inside the clubroom of Ghost Story Club. An uncanny ringtone was blaring.

“Pick it up. Hurry.”

Hayoon finally lowered her head at my urgent call, reached out her slender hand to my phone and picked it up.

And then, she answered quietly.

“Hello?”

[……]

Perhaps he didn’t expect to hear a woman’s voice all of a sudden, the science teacher was silent for a moment.

[…Is this Lee Joon’s phone?]

“It is.”

The silence stretched longer at the calm answer.

The scene of the science teacher, who was just below our clubroom, rolling his head in confusion appeared in my mind.

[Are you Lee Joon himself?]

“Yes. Who are you?”

Hayoon lowered her voice slightly, making it appear a bit heavier and answered calmly as if she was me.

After another moment of tilted silence over the phone, a question was asked.

[Why did the man commit suicide?]

“Because he found out that the seagull meat the man ate on the deserted island was actually his wife’s human flesh.”

[…]

Without showing even a bit of surprise or hesitation, Hayoon calmly answered the same answer that I had given previously.

Silence echoed beyond the cell phone.

I lowered my voice and whispered a command to Hayoon.

“Ask why he wants to kill me.”

The science teacher initially gave an odd answer to the question, ‘What is the reason?’, which I couldn’t quite comprehend.

However, later it suddenly occurred to me that maybe it was because I misrepresented the question.

Hayoon quietly looked at me with a gaze I couldn’t comprehend.

‘What are you doing?’

At her unresponsive attitude, I nodded my head and urged her to ask the question silently.

Hayoon finally asked what I told her to into her cell phone calmly.

“Tell me why you are trying to kill Lee Joon.”

[…!]

For a moment, the sound of the ever unresponsive man on the other end of the phone gasping in surprise was heard.

Thud, thud.

Something heavy moving on the other side could be heard this time.

[Huff, huff, haa… ]

It seemed the science teacher was rushing somewhere, perhaps to get help on his behalf, as the sound of his rough breathing was heard through the phone.

I signaled to Hayoon again.

‘Count.’

Hayoon nodded.

“One. Two. Three…”

The pronunciation was clear, with a voice without any ups and downs, as if the announcer weren’t counting numbers but singing a soothing melody.

“Four. Five…”

[For a moment! Just wait for a moment~!]

A scream echoed beyond the cell phone.

[Lee Joon is the representation of the word arrogance! I hate selfish people like him! So I tried to kill Lee Joon!]

What?

This time, the feeling of embarrassment and surprise hovered over the clubroom.

‘Am I an asshole now?’

The members looked at each other with dumbfounded faces.

It looked like someone needed to explain things before it could lead to misunderstanding.

However, no one was opening their mouths, as they had no idea what to say in this kind of situation.

Hayoon, who was holding on to my cell phone, only had her eyebrows slightly furrowed.

[Huff, huff. Is it that hard to understand?]

A question was suddenly thrown at us.

‘It’s our turn!’

What did he say?

He said if you pronounce the word egoism, it becomes the name Lee Joon!

This was why he tried to kill me!

‘What kind of idiot is he to recognize this bullshit as the correct answer?’

[Huff….huff….haa, huu.]

Hayoon looked at me as if asking what she should say now.

However, I had no choice but to remain silent, because I myself couldn’t understand what should be the answer to such a question.

[Three… four… huff, huff.]

The sound of his rushing footsteps and laboured breathing was still flowing through the phone.

[Five… Huff, haa.]

“… Troublesome. The correct answer is you tried to kill Lee Joon because he is troublesome to you, which is not hard to understand at all.”

Hayoon tried to come up with a random answer.

However.

[Five.]

At that moment, Hayoon’s always calm expression distorted for the first time as she grabbed her chest.

“Ugh… Haa… Ugh.”

Thud.

Her eyes opened wide as her body began to convulse. It seemed the curse would work on anyone participating in the game.

Foaming through the mouth with saliva, her head was slowly lowered to the desk.

Tuk.

Then, her head bumped on the desk as she finally collapsed.

“Ha, Hayoon!”

Gyeongwon and Sunah grabbed Hayoon’s shoulders and shook her.

Jinhee and Dukhun also stood up with surprised expressions.

[Teachers! Teachers! Please help me, huff, huff.]

At that moment, the science teacher’s urgent cry reverberated through the cell phone.

The voices of several people shouting and moving at the same time came through the other side.

“Hey!”

Gyeongwon snatched the phone from Hayoonn’s fallen hand and shouted at it.

“What are you guys doing! Who are you!”

A commotion was heard through the cell phone as someone shouted.

[…What! Whose turn is it now!]

[One of the people of their side died because of the question I asked, and now it’s their turn!]

[Fuck you! Quickly turn on the speaker of the phone!]

Is it our turn to ask a question now?

As I looked at Gyeongwon, who was sweating a bucket while holding the cell phone, something occurred to me.

‘…no way.’

Something terrible flashed in my mind.

The seagull ghost story, which was a combination of two ghost stories, was a ghost story itself. It had its own element of mystery.

Could it… really be called a normal quiz game?

In the first place, the fact that it was a quiz question cited in general social knowledge in a Q & A session leaves no room for interpretation.

Even when giving a light quiz using an interlude on a radio broadcast, questions are given with clear answers that do not require room for interpretation, such as the author of a book or the title of a song.

However, this ghost story of seagull meat.

It had a different propensity from general quiz questions.

If I were to classify this strange question into categories, what should I name it?

Logical question? Question related to IQ?

Previously, when I asked the reason for his desire to kill me, the science teacher replied European Union (EU).

However, this time, the reason was changed to his favorability of myself, because he thought Lee Joon was selfish.

Fuck.

Quickly, I grabbed the black marker and wrote down the information that I just envisioned on the whiteboard while looking at Gyeongwon, who was sweating profusely holding the cell phone.

They had sharp senses.

Although, the members were all startled.

‘They must have realized how fucked up it was…’

The reason the science teacher screamed so desperately and barely answered was not because he was trying to hide his true intention.

He did that because he was trying to squeeze out an absurd answer.

Whether it was the show Golden Bell, midterm exam, a radio quiz question, or college entrance examination, the format of the question once decided does not change in the next round.

[T/N: Star Golden Bell, was a South Korean variety show broadcast on KBS. The show consisted of mini-games, which have certain prize amounts. The winning celebrity is given the opportunity to ring the bell by correctly answering a riddle. If he or she is correct, the money is donated in the winner’s name. Source: Wikipedia]

If the format of the questions in Golden Bell is set to general knowledge, the quiz game must contain questions related to general knowledge. And if it is midterm exam, there must be questions about the topics that the students learned in the first semester.

If it’s a Korean test, there will be questions related to Korean language. If it’s a science test, there will be science questions.

And in the case of this ghost story, since it started with the seagull ghost story, something that didn’t exist in the first place, this quiz game of life and death ultimately became a game of ‘absurd’ questions if I classified it.

Gyeongwon nodded, realizing where the situation was headed and tried hard to think of a question. However, even after racking his brain for a while, he couldn’t think of a proper question.

Biting his lips, he asked on the phone.

“Why is it surprising to play the game rock-paper-scissors in front of a mirror?”

Then, a commotion broke out beyond the phone.

‘This person, he’s not alone!’

Apparently, the reason why the sound of his rushing footsteps and laboured breathing were heard a moment ago was because the science teacher was heading to his fellow teachers for help.

People, who were not only on his side, who could also understand the strange situation and help him.

[…Because when you look into the mirror, you notice that your reflection is also playing rock-paper-scissors! Fellow teachers! Anything that comes to mind, say it quickly!]

The teachers were panicking.

I didn’t know who they were, however, there were people among the faculty and staff who were with him.

There was a force within this school plotting to kill me!

“One! Two! Three! Four!”

[We won! We just have to answer correctly to win… Or we will lose…]

The science teacher screamed once again, and then the next question was thrown at us.

[Next question! Next question quickly… okay. I found one! Whose profession is to make a living by deceiving others?]

Someone whose job is defrauding others!

Isn’t it a scammer? While I was thinking about it, the countdown had already started.

[One! Two! Three! Four!]

Gyeongwon’s face turned pale as he looked at me helplessly.

I also gave him a helpless stare while sweating.

At that moment, Sunah shouted into the phone instead.

“A person whose job is to deceive others is a scammer! A scammer!”

[Five! Time out!]

“Ugh!”

Gyeongwon fell down, clutching his chest.

Thud.

‘We gave the correct answer, then why!’

In the midst of confusion and panic, I slowly understood the rules of the game.

This was a typical relay-type game.

One person from the opposing team and one from our team would go head-to-head.

Just because someone else gave a correct answer for the one participating in the game directly didn’t mean it was recognized as the correct answer.

The person holding the cell phone must give the correct answer.

As Hayoon and Gyeongwon both fell down, we also started panicking. In the midst of panic, Sunah quickly grabbed the phone.

[……]

Silence enveloped the other side for a moment, as if they could feel someone was holding the phone.

We waited a while longer, but didn’t hear anything.

They seem to be waiting for our question.

Gyeongwon’s death seemed to hover over us, it felt as if the table had turned back to us.

I quickly nodded my head to Sunah, signaling her to pose a question.

Sunah also nodded her head before opening her mouth.

“Wh, what kind of money is Grandpa’s favorite?”

[…!]

Once again, panic rose on the other side of the phone.

The sound of heated discussion with each other could also be heard.

As they were busy panicking, I shouted to Jinhee and Dukhun.

“Jinhee! Dukhun! Go down to the teacher’s office right now and find out who these people are!”

Dukhun jumped up with a surprised face and Jinhee bit her lip.

“The people who are with the science teacher right now! They’re all part of the same team! We have to find out who they are!”

“I get it!”

At my urgent command, Dukhun and Jinhee left the clubroom with hurried footsteps.

Originally, I was planning to find out these people’s intentions by asking questions that would make them spit out valuable information. However, when the format of asking questions was nothing but absurd, I couldn’t expect a proper answer.

Since there were people lurking in the shadows within the school, including the science teacher, who wanted to kill me.

I had to see at least their faces before I die.

And there was no better timing than catching them now!

“One… two… three…”

Soon, Sunah started chanting the countdown.

The voices of the teachers shouting urgently again kept coming through the phone.

[Internet! Quickly! Search on the internet…] 

“Four… five…”

The science teacher immediately shouted urgently.

[Grandma! Because it means discount ‘Money’!!]

[T/N: This is a word play. The word ‘hal’ (할) means ‘discount’ and ‘meoni’ (머니) means ‘money’. Apparently, ‘halmeoni’ (할머니) together means ‘grandma’.]

“… Correct answer.”

[Okay, next question! Who is the poorest king in the world?]

“One with the lowest salary. Which one is the hottest phone in the world…?”

[T/N: Another word play. The word ‘wang-eun’ (왕은) means ‘king’. Similarly, the word ‘imgeum’ (임금) can mean ‘salary’ as well as ‘king’.]

[…Teacher Lee! What is the hottest phone in the world! Hurry!]

Sunah’s response was quick and blunt, without any hesitation. However, the teachers on the other end of the phone began shouting as another question was thrown at them.

At that time, Gyeongwon’s phone, which was lying down beside him, lit up. Dukhun had made a video call on his phone.

‘Hmm. The hottest phone in the world… let’s answer the call for now.’

With that in mind, I picked up Gyeongwon’s cell phone and received the call.

[Hello? President! These people are gathered in the broadcasting room right now! Check all the faces!]

“Thank you, Dukhun!”

Teachers of various faculty, gathered inside the broadcasting room and shouting at each other appeared on the screen.

I stared at the screen of Gyeongwon’s latest cell phone and tried to memorize each of those people’s faces. I needed to give them back tenfold of what they had done to me and my members.

“One… two… three…”

[Hottest phone! What is the answer! Please! Teacher Lee! Hurry!]

“Four… five…”

[Damn it! If you don’t know the answer, search it up quickly! Hurry up!]

“Time is over.”

[Ugh…!]

Thud.

Through the phone, the sound of the science teacher finally falling down along with a groan was heard.

In the video call made by Dukhun, teachers could be seen muttering in confusion seeing such a large crowd in front of the broadcasting room.

[What are you people doing crowding in the broadcasting room?]

[Don’t worry about what we’re doing and go!]

Murmur.

Looking closely, I realized that not everyone present there was involved in the game.

Some teachers were asking what was going on and some were trying to hide the situation by telling them to just go on their way without paying attention.

‘Who is my friend and who is my foe!’

My eyes stared at the cramped LCD screen of Gyeongwon’s phone desperately.

Soon, someone picked up the phone and resumed the game with Sunah. Since the science teacher was unable to come up with a question and had already fallen down, it was their turn to pose a question.

[…♦ Who just came out of the crematorium?]

“Japanese people. What is the name of the high school where Second Lee goes?”

[T/N: *Cough* *cough* pardon me if I’m wrong but I believe the answer to this question is easy to understand. The author was indicating the rise of Japan after the World War II.]

Sunah answered the questions as quickly as a machine and then immediately counterattacked with another question.

The teacher who answered the phone seemed dumbfounded for a moment. It seemed he couldn’t grasp the situation that his time of flying to heaven would come so soon. In desperation, he shouted urgently.

[What? ···No, Second Lee! Who’s this Second Lee! Who can answer it quickly…]

“One… two… three… four… five… Time’s up.”

[Ugh! Ugh.]

Thud.

The sound of the opponent falling was heard once again.

[Next! Someone please pick up the phone! Where is the PE teacher…]

[Hello! What does a cannibal think seeing Usain Bolt?]

“Fastfood. What if the milk is sore?”

[T/N: Another funny but easy to understand riddle. Usain Bolt is known to be the fastest human being on earth. He’s ‘fast’, and in the eyes of a cannibal, ‘food’. Thus the answer, ‘fastfood’.]

[Milk! What’s wrong with milk! Fuck you! Does anyone know? Vice Principal! Where is the Vice Principal! Please help me quickly! What if milk is sore! Why is milk sore? Ugh.]

“Time is over.”

Sunah muttered coldly.

Thud.

Once again, the sound of an opponent falling down was heard.

I could hear the voices of teachers yelling and passing their phone to each other over the phone.

[Teacher Yoon! You can’t do this to me! You’ve borrowed money from me before…]

[What the fuck! You’re speaking bullshit even before your death! Teacher Choi! You take it!]

[Fuck it, it doesn’t matter anymore, so pick it up quickly, you bastards! Otherwise, we’ll all be dragged down into the mess!]

[Hey you bitch, then take it if you want! Vice Principal You dragged us into it! You should be the one receiving it…]

‘Yoon Sunah, you’re amazing!’

Thinking about that, I suddenly realized why Sunah was unbeatable in the game. Because it was one of her hobbies to read old humor books she had at home.

As if she was grateful, Sunah blushed and giggled at my gesture of silent support.

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