Ghost Story Club-Chapter 138: Sixteenth Ghost Story – The Mysterious 4th Period (2)

[2019, May 13th | Monday, 10:55 AM]

[Lee Joon: Number of Attempts – 2]

[Ghost Story Points: 173]

[Causality Rate: 22%]

[“It seems like you were paying for breakfast and dinner with a meal card. The amount probably isn’t that much. 5,000 won, probably…? It definitely seems insufficient. So, aside from the basic living expenses, you don’t have any allowance, right? Like from relatives, for example…?”]

Since I could only see Sunah’s back from my position, I could only read the shape of the homeroom teacher’s mouth.

[“If necessary, you can blend in with the seniors and have dinner here… but the seniors who have evening study sessions also eat dinner in the cafeteria…. Hmm, I guess it’s a bit tough. You might get some weird stares from them, though… Or, you could eat with your friends from the club…”]

‘… Sunah has been using her meal card for even breakfast and dinner.’

I’ve seen it a few times on the news, but this is the first time I’ve seen someone actually doing it.

‘Well, after all, the only family she has left is her sick grandmother…’

Her parents passed away early, and it seemed like she didn’t have any relatives to contact.

‘Has she always been eating alone like that?’

I suddenly felt a pang of pain in my heart when I thought of Sunah, who was buying a lunch box with her meal card at a convenience store and was eating it alone.

My mom always makes me a warm home-cooked meal for me.

‘At least she can have as much money as she needs now.’

I thought it would be a good idea to think about ways to help Sunah little by little, without making her feel burdened.

After all, Sunah has been the one who helped me the most from the beginning.

“Yes, we’re done. Next is Joony.”

Sunah got up from her seat and approached me.

I nodded toward her, then got up from my chair and walked towards the homeroom teacher.

“How is your studying going?”

The homeroom teacher asked while scanning my student record and the personal information form I had submitted at the beginning of the semester.

I answered appropriately and then sat down.

“Well, just… so-so…”

“I was really surprised because your grades came out really well.”

The homeroom teacher said, closely examining my midterm exam scores.

“15th in the entire school. I was really surprised. You don’t go to academies or anything?”

“Yes, I just… study by myself.”

“You don’t seem to pay attention that much in class either….”

The homeroom teacher adjusted his glasses and gazed quietly at my report card.

Since I had already finished high school once in my previous life, I always either doze off or do something else during class in this life.

It seemed like he was pointing that out.

“… I study hard at home.”

“That’s the answer all the teachers hate the most.”

The homeroom teacher mumbled as he turned a page of the document.

On that page, there was a report detailing the activities of our Ghost Story Club.

It was probably written by the supervising teacher, Teacher Jang Hwaeun.

It was written in plausible-sounding words so that the school could accept, such as what activities we did and what was discussed each week.

[4/26 – Discussion on the topic of fear that can be felt when someone is unable to see, at the same time experiencing the experience of being visually impaired in a dark room.]

April 26. It was the day we played the Corner Game.

[5/3 – Discussion on the impact of corporate development on religion]

May 3rd, it was the day I announced the results of my research on Clover Corporation and the Dogma of Void.

[5/10 – Playing rock-paper-scissor to improve the social interaction of the members]

May 10th, the day when Teacher Hwaeun lost in the game of rock-paper-scissor and broke the mirror.

‘Teacher Jang Hwaeun is pretty smart.’

“How does it feel being the Club President? Isn’t it hard?”

“Ah… yes, well… it’s a bit hard…”

I didn’t know how to respond to the homeroom teacher’s question, so I tried to brush it off vaguely.

Then, the teacher suddenly smirked slyly.

“It must be tough, especially for you who’s a freshman. Do you happen to need more people?”

“……”

“Two more transfer students are coming to our class this time.”

He smiled mischievously as if he was plotting something sinister.

“Since the Ghost Story Club is made up only of students from our class, I was wondering if it would be a good idea to put the transfer students there to help them adjust…”

The homeroom teacher grinned wickedly.

I looked at him with a dumbfounded face.

Normally, I would have agreed, but after the Demon King sent Kim Eunjung to our school as a transfer student and tried to force her into the club as a spy, we faced quite a big trouble.

Anyone could see that he was trying to do the same thing-

“But of course, it won’t be necessary, so I’ll assume you won’t allow it.”

Before I could say anything, the homeroom teacher intercepted my answer and flipped through the documents with a cheerful expression.

“You must be surprised because you thought I was going to send a weird person, right?”

“… Ah, haha…”

I couldn’t help but laugh with an awkward face.

“But seriously, are the transfer students really coming?”

“Yes, within this month.”

“Really…..”

Another sudden change after the teacher? Two of them? And in our class, of all places?

Hmm, I hummed to myself and nodded.

“Alright, let’s move on to the grades.”

The homeroom teacher unfolded my midterm report card.

“Joony, you’re ranked 15th in the entire school, so I’ll tell you this: at our school, students who rank in the top 10% receive various benefits.”

“… Benefits?”

“Yes. Have you heard of special classes?”

Special classes.

The name varies for each school, such as intensive classes, advanced classes, or In-Seoul1[T/N: “In-Seoul classes” refers to a group of students who are typically aiming to get into top universities located in Seoul.] classes.

A special course that exists only for top-ranking students, that is what a special class is.

It’s a premise that often appears as a theme in dramas, from the old drama God of Study to the recently concluded Sky Castle. In teen dramas that focus on aiming for prestigious universities, it’s a common theme.

‘Some schools have it and some don’t, but it seems this one has it.’

“It’s not like we actually have a separate class just because it’s called a special class. Instead, the students assigned to it just gather in the multipurpose room for about an hour after everyone else leaves school and receive supplementary lessons separately.”

“That, I……”

“It’s optional, it’s up to the students.”

The homeroom teacher said, staring at me intently.

“Will you join?”

“……”

I felt a little nervous for a moment.

To be honest, I’ve always had a longing for special classes since my previous life.

If it’s the top 10% of students, then there were roughly the top 30 students in the entire school, but within that group, all the school’s executives end up gathering.

‘There aren’t many regular students in it, and all of them are presidents, vice presidents, executives, and class presidents…..’

Even without that, the top students are naturally close to each other because of the executive training sessions organized by the school. And the special class served as a place that further strengthened the bonds of these school leaders.

Class president meetings, executive training sessions, school policy discussions, special classes… In the end, it was an elite place where only the top students who were good at studying would mingle around.

The ones who get close and hang out together like that become the real top-tier students of the school, the object of envy and admiration, the ones everyone wants to hang out with.

“You can choose, Joony.”

“……”

“Do you want to join?”

If it were me in my past life, I would have said I would join without holding back.

Every student has a desire to be in a group of successful people who are doing well at least once.

Moreover, it’s not a ‘successful’ group in a bad sense, but a group that’s successful in a meaningful and beneficial way in life.

President, vice president, executives, class president, vice class president…

They all live well, study together, while competing for the top spot in the entire school.

Being In-Seoul is just the baseline, and they’re at a level where they even discuss whether to study abroad or not.

If you hang out with those kinds of students, your parents won’t say anything even if you’re late.

Elegant and intelligent boys and girls hang out together, and the parents also have gatherings of their own.

They tag each other on SNS (social media) and have fun, and they take turns taking the oath during the morning assembly.

They even get invited to the homes of their close teachers.

They’re among those popular elites who walk on the smooth path in life, showing off and walking with their shoulders held high, having exclusive birthday parties together…

If I wanted, I could have all that.

No, in fact, for being ranked 15th in the entire school and a Club President despite being a freshman, they would probably even welcome me.

“…I don’t want to.”

“……?”

But what came out of my mouth was a word of refusal.

“Are you sure you don’t want to?”

“Yes.”

“Why……?”

The homeroom teacher looked puzzled.

“You don’t go to any private academies or anything. If you go there, you could get close to the students who are good at studying….”

“……”

I gently turned my head and looked at Sunah, who was waiting behind me.

Sunah was just sitting there, blankly tracing the pattern on the floor with her eyes.

I wondered if there was something interesting that caught her eyes.

“…I’m sorry, but I still don’t want to join.”

“Well, if that’s your decision……”

The homeroom teacher marked an X on the list.

“I guess you must be worried that it’ll take up time for club activities.”

“… Well, there’s that too….”

I answered with mixed feelings.

“The special class is completely out of the question then. You can’t join it until the second semester, before the reorganization.”

“Yes.”

“Still, you can get benefits like the Study Room, so keep that in mind. You can use the Study Room instead of the classroom during evening self-study.”

“Yes…”

Anyway, evening self-study will be something that happens after I become a second-year, so there’s nothing to worry about right now.

“Then, do you have any other difficulties coming or going to school? Like, any bullies or anything….”

After that, he just asked general questions, so I gave him vague answers.

Actually, there were people who bullied me, and it was the teachers of the school.

“What kind of school or department are you thinking about for college? If you can maintain this level of grades, getting into a well-known university is possible.”

“College……? Well……”

I felt dazed for a moment.

‘Now that I think about it, I’ve never really thought about it.’

In my previous life, I did well in my grades through last second cramming, but because I messed up the college entrance exam, I had no choice but to go to a rather ordinary local university.

I messed up so badly that I couldn’t even meet the minimum required score for the college I was accepted to based on my grades, and ended up failing because of the entrance exam.

However, in this life, if I can maintain this level of performance, it’s possible to aim for a prestigious university in Seoul.

‘Of course, your school ranking doesn’t necessarily lead to a good result in the college entrance exam…’

But still, since I was ranked 15th in the entire school, it meant I was in the top 5% of students in this school, and if you consider the entire country including the humanities and vocational fields, I would be in the top 2 or 3% of students in South Korea.

“Uh, for now… I’m thinking about computer engineering.”

However, I had never really thought about which college I would go to based on my grades.

For now, I vaguely mentioned the department I got into in my previous life to the homeroom teacher.

“Computer engineering?”

My homeroom teacher looked at me as if it was unexpected.

“Do you like computers?”

“Kind of…”

Of course, I do like computers, but it’s limited to things like online games and YouTube.

I’m not really interested in areas like computer hardware or coding.

“Well, they say you can make a good living if you go to the engineering department….”

“……”

My homeroom teacher made a face of disbelief.

“… That’s unexpected. You don’t look like you’ve ever really thought about your future career.”

“……”

“Joony, you have some kind of extraordinary side to you, so I thought you’d already have a plan in that direction.”

Of course, I have made a plan.

However, it was not based on the premise that I would definitely go to college.

‘If I consider the plan to defeat the Demon King and live comfortably for the rest of my life with the money I saved up, I suppose that is a good plan……’

“College is a lot harder than you think. There are actually a lot of students who either switch majors or drop out after choosing it with a light heart.”

“……”

“If you think you can graduate just by passing the time like in elementary, middle, and high school, you’ll be in big trouble. Don’t take it lightly.”

For some reason, I felt like I was being scolded.

I scratched my head in embarrassment.

“Isn’t there anything else you are particularly interested in? A field you want to learn about?”

“If there’s something I want to learn……”

There was one.

The field of human psychology, which I decided not long ago.

In the end, ghost stories are also tales that come from people’s imagination.

Why do human beings inevitably conjure up such ominous imaginations, and what kind of psychology drives them to create and spread such stories?

I decided to dig deeper.

“I’m a little interested in psychology.”

“…Psychology?”

Hmm, my homeroom teacher hummed thoughtfully.

“It might be better to keep psychology as a hobby unless you truly enjoy studying it and are passionate about it….”

“……”

“First of all, it is common to think that they go all the way to help you graduate from college. Here, it shows….”

The homeroom teacher began explaining various things while showing the cut-off grades for psychology departments at different universities.

Actually, it’s not that I was particularly interested in the psychology department itself, but I just wanted to learn about things related to ghost stories, so I was somewhat intrigued.

‘Still, he gave me more thorough consultation than I expected.’

Soon, the homeroom teacher finished explaining and neatly arranged the documents before putting them away.

“Wow, I got so absorbed in this that it took quite a bit of time. Please let Jinhee and Chaerin, who are next in number, know to come during the 4th period. I need to rest during break time too.”

“Yes……”

Just as I was about to get up from my seat, the homeroom teacher glanced up at me.

“Is there anything else you’d like to ask before we finish?”

“……”

Something I wanted to ask.

There was.

I sat back down and stared at the homeroom teacher with a nervous expression.

A middle-aged man with a receding hairline and a protruding belly, like a raccoon, with a typical Korean teacher personality and likes to joke around.

I know he belonged to the Dogma of Void, but what was with this person’s mysterious attitude?

I got straight to the point.

“What is your identity, Teacher?”

“Oh-ho.”

The homeroom teacher laughed with a strange interjection as if he was enjoying himself.

“Are you asking me that right now?”

“……”

“But I liked your straightforwardness. Let me tell you.”

The homeroom teacher, who had been laughing happily, soon looked around as if making sure there was no one else listening.

Fortunately, it seemed everyone else went to class, and the teachers’ office was quiet except for us.

Only Sunah, in the back, was staring blankly and waiting for me, her eyes following the pattern on the floor.

“Joony Boy.”

The homeroom teacher leaned back against the back of the chair and looked at me.

“What do you think makes a good teacher?”

“……”

A good teacher.

‘A good teacher….?’

…What’s with that?

I didn’t know how to respond, so I stayed silent.

“… Don’t you know?”

I remained silent instead of answering.

Then the homeroom teacher laughed lightly, as if pleased.

“Well then, let me teach you. What makes a good teacher.”

Then, he leaned forward again, lowering his voice as if sharing a great secret.

“A good teacher is one who helps the student find the answer on their own. And with that, we’re done.”

At the same time, the bell for break time rang loudly, and the homeroom teacher swiftly opened the door to the teachers’ office and rushed out.

‘… F*ck.’

This chapt𝙚r is updated by freeωebnovēl.c૦m.

He just didn’t want to teach me.

With an expression as if I had eaten shit, I stood up from my seat and left the teachers’ office with Sunah.

* * *

The 4th period that followed was P. E.

When the Class President came in during break time and informed everyone to head to the auditorium, the students headed to the changing room to change their clothes.

“Did you and the homeroom teacher talk about anything interesting, Prez?”

“Well, just…”

I answered while changing into my gym clothes.

“It was surprisingly a proper consultation, so other than being a little surprised, there was nothing else.”

“Right? I was surprised too.”

“Yeah.”

While waiting for Dukhun, who was taking his sweet time changing his clothes, I also asked Gyeongwon one question.

“He told me to join the special class. Did he ask you too?”

“Oh, yeah. I said I would.”

Gyeongwon answered as if it was obvious.

“He said it doesn’t take up much time, just adding an extra hour, about 2 or 3 times a week.”

“…I see.”

I nodded.

Actually, one of the reasons I rejected the special class was because I was worried the other members might feel left out.

Our club was divided into the top 3 and bottom 3.

Ahn Gyeongwon, ranked 4th in the whole school, In Hayoon, ranked 12th, and me, Lee Joon, ranked 15th.

‘I don’t even remember Sunah and Dukhun’s ranking numbers… I suppose Jinhee is the last of the grade.’

If I were to blatantly leave for the special class and hang out with those popular kids, the rest of the members would definitely feel a sense of deprivation.

‘But as expected, Gyeongwon doesn’t pay attention to these little details.’

The guy wore an indifferent expression, as if he thought it was natural for him to attend.

In reality, we haven’t even had a chance to go around looking for ghost stories together after school.

‘… Well, I guess it’s okay.’

Even if I don’t, let him join the special class.

Soon, Dukhun changed into his loose gym clothes, and as we all went down to the classroom, more than half of the students had already gone to the auditorium, so the classroom was deserted.

“Have a nice trip.”

Jinhee placed her legs on the desk and waved at us.

“Aren’t you coming?”

“I gotta go to the consultation with the homeroom teacher. It’s my turn.”

“Aha.”

In the next seat, Vice President Chaerin was looking at Jinhee with a grim expression.

Attendance number 15, Lee Jinhee, number 16, Lee Chaerin.

It seemed like the last-place delinquent girl of the school and the Vice Class President who ranked second in the whole school were going to the meeting together.

“What a funny combination. Get to know each other before you return.”

“Are you crazy?”

When I threw a joke so that Chaerin wouldn’t hear, Jinhee kicked me lightly with her foot.

“Then we’ll go.”

“Good luck.”

Leaving the two who looked very awkward behind, we headed to the auditorium.

* * *

“Hey~ Number 17, In Hayoon, number 18, Joo Yeseul, go now.”

In the auditorium, when we were dribbling a basketball under the guidance of the female P. E. teacher, Jinhee swaggered in and shouted.

Soon, Hayoon and Yeseul, another female student, put the ball down and walked out lightly.

At the same time, Dukhun and Gyeongwon rushed to snatch the basketball that Hayoon had put down.

“Heeeeek, give it to me…”

“Wheeze, Wheeze… It’s mine……”

Since there weren’t enough basketballs for all 30 students in the class to use, Gyeongwon and Dukhun had just been sitting and waiting.

“I’ve had my eyes on it since I was born.”

“I’ve been waiting for it since before you were born….”

I handed the basketball I was holding to the two of them who were bickering.

“Don’t fight, just use mine. I’m going to the bathroom for a bit.”

“Oh, Prez……”

“Sasuke2[T/N: Dukhun is referring to Joon as Sasuke (an anime character from Naruto).]……”

I told the teacher and left the auditorium under the pretense of going to the bathroom for a moment.

Then, I quickly chased after the figures of Hayoon and the other female student, who were visible in the distance.

Today, I’m going to sneak in and eavesdrop on the meeting of the prettiest girl in our class.