The Boy’s Abyss (1)

In the 21st century, high school is a class society.
For example, Jeong Sojin, the class president of Class D, belonged to a considerably high tier in the school’s ecological pyramid.

“Hey, everyone! Don’t leave yet! The homeroom teacher says he has something to say before lunch starts! Oh geez! Don’t leave yet!”

With a pretty face that couldn’t be hidden even behind glasses, good grades, and popularity among peers and teachers,
There were rumors that Jeong Sojin’s parents were executives at a large corporation, so her family environment was also affluent.

If human worth was expressed in percentiles, class president Jeong Sojin would undoubtedly be within the top 5 percent.

“Well, this homeroom teacher has something to say. Someone wrote this letter and left it in the faculty office. It says there is someone being ostracized in Class D. Does anyone know who this is about?”

“Teacher! If lunchtime gets delayed, the line will be long!”
“Hurry and finish! Where would there be ostracizing or anything like that in our class!”

“Yes, the teacher thinks so too, but just in case. Now, everyone close your eyes. And only those who know about this letter raise your hand. Now… that’s it. No one, I see.”

Where would I, Ha Youngwon, the library committee chair of 1st year Class D, belong in the school’s class system?
In my opinion, I was right in the middle.
That’s how it should have been…

*Thwack!*

Just as I was about to take a quick nap before the lunch break, something hard hit the back of my head, and sparks flew before my eyes.

“Argh, fuck!”

“What? Fuck? Did you just say ‘fuck’ to me? Wow, did you all hear that? What did this bastard say? Class D is doing well, I see.”

A male student with dyed red hair and flashy earrings held a ruler as if he were a kendo player.

The male student was wearing a tracksuit over his school uniform, which was prohibited by school rules, as if it were natural, and his physique was large, making him look like an athlete.

“Hey. Youngwon. You wrote that letter to the faculty office, didn’t you? Saying I bully you? Are you out of your mind, you fucker? Think you can handle it?”

“No, Geonho. Why would I write something like a letter? It must’ve been some other kid.”

To appease Kim Geonho’s threats, I avoided eye contact and looked around. As our eyes met, everyone slyly averted their gaze.
They all had an attitude of not wanting to get involved in troublesome matters.

“Ha… Youngwon, seriously, behave yourself so annoying things don’t happen. Got it? Find out who wrote that letter by the end of this week. If you don’t, I’ll assume you wrote it.”

*Rumble*

As Kim Geonho’s notice ended, the group of ill-faced male students left the classroom.
As the classroom started to get noisy, like blood flow resuming after being blocked, someone lightly approached me.

“Hey, loser. Did you really not write it?”

It was a girl with long bleached yellow hair wearing a school uniform tightened to the point of bursting.
Her two hands were hidden behind her back as if trying to conceal something, which made her chest area more prominent.
On the bulging uniform vest was written “Yang Juhui.”

“No, Juhui. I said I didn’t write it.”

I maintained the most servile attitude possible towards Yang Juhui, who was a head shorter than me.
Because this way, I get hit less!

I even lowered my eyes to look as pathetic and pitiful as possible!
Thanks to that, Yang Juhui’s white legs and slender ankles under her short skirt entered my vision.

Some time ago, when I overheard her gang talking, I heard Yang Juhui made 1 million won doing something like shoe modeling, and she indeed had legs slender enough to be picked as a model.

Pretty, decent at studying, popular among the partying kids…
How enjoyable must the lives of kids like this be - as I was thinking that, Yang Juhui spoke.

“Why, when you get bullied every day, there are times you want to rebel, right? Youngwon, you’re also a guy. Since we’re on the topic, should this noona check how big Youngwon’s little thing is?”

“Eek, stop that! Why would I write a letter to the faculty office? I also want to know who the hell wrote it. Where would there be bullying or anything like that in our class? Right?”

“……”

Yang Juhui frowned.
But the gloomy face soon changed into a smile as bright as sunshine.

“This is why I like our Youngwon. Really. When I see Youngwon, I just want to bite and pinch you hard. So, did you buy my lighter? I think Zippo lighters are cool.”

“Here. I scraped together money. It’s 5,000 won. Since I bought it with my dinner money, you have to pay me back…”

“Kyaa-. Youngwon is the best! I’ll give you the money later?”

*Clatter*

Then, as the classroom door opened, a gawky-looking red-haired boy appeared and urgently spoke to Yang Juhui.

“Hey, Juhui! Geonho says he has something to tell you, so come to the old school building area? He says it’s super important, so come quick!”

“Ah, shit, who does that Kim Geonho think he is, annoyingly telling people to come and go. Youngwon, let’s meet later. Come behind the auditorium after school ends. Don’t run away like last time? Got it?”

Yang Juhui spoke in an angel-like voice with a devil-like threat, put the cutter knife on my desk into her pocket, and left the classroom.
I don’t know why she took the cutter knife… but I guess it’ll be difficult to get it back. It’s not just one or two of my things that have disappeared this way.

“That was my knife… I didn’t even get the lighter money.”

At this point, anyone would know.
…I, Ha Youngwon, was the sandbag of Class D’s delinquents!
You could say I’m the absolute bottom of the school class society - a “slave”!
But the me of today couldn’t stop smiling.

“Heh heh heh heh. Look at that Kim Geonho fucker throwing a fit. Guess he’s a bit scared of getting caught by the teacher? Serves him right. That Yang Juhui bitch too. That Yang Juhui bitch also takes my things bit by bit….”

Normally, I’d be too scared of someone overhearing to even mutter to myself, but…
Today’s me was different!
There was a reason for that!

I quietly whispered, taking advantage of no one paying attention to me.

“Status window.”

Advice from [Broken Clock]

Try collecting funds to open the “Shop”! You automatically gain 2 Points per day and can acquire additional points through unusual activities.

100 Points needed to open shop

Thanks to these letters that appeared after the entrance ceremony, I was able to spend days a bit different from others.
I was able to endure even when I became a sandbag and was humiliated by Yang Juhui because I had this bizarre status window.

Also, today was the day the funds I had been collecting 2 points per day since the entrance ceremony reached 100 Points.

“The price to open the ‘Shop’ is 100 points.”

I didn’t know what would be in this status window’s “Shop,” but it certainly wouldn’t be ordinary, and it had to be that way.
Maybe it would sell something like a “hypnosis app.”
Or if not, maybe it would sell a magic book to awaken supernatural powers?

But if possible, I hoped for the “hypnosis app.”
I’m confident I could use it for real.

“Lunchtime, come quickly!”

From what I have investigated, the time the points come in is fixed at 12 noon and 12 midnight.
So I endlessly waited only for lunchtime and *tick-tock* finally I was able to acquire 100 points!

“Fucking hell, oh God, Buddha, please… Fucking hell, please….”

100 Points consumed to open the shop!

Welcome to the Level 1 Shop.

Our shop sells various items that will aid warriors in battle.

Did the “hypnosis app” appear!?
From now on, I am the king of Class D!

Raising the shop’s level will add products and apply discounts.

Shop Level 1 (0/100)

1. Trait Draw Ticket - 100 Points
2. Capsule Draw Ticket - 100 Points
3. Unlock Locked Item - 100 Points
4. Old School Building Unlock - 0 Points

“……”

Looking at the list of items the shop was selling, my mind blanked for a moment.

Since it was called a “shop,” I expected it would, of course, sell things in exchange for something, but most of the prices were so high I couldn’t even touch them.

“This is too much.”

100 points means I have to collect for 50 days, you know?
You’re telling me to endure 50 more days of sandbag shit?
No way.

With no points right after opening the shop, the only thing I could do was “4. Old School Building Unlock - 0 Points.”
I thought I had to do something to escape slavery and moved my hand.

*Ding*

The old school building has been unlocked.

Chapter 1. The Nightmare Corridor begins.

Please select players from the list.

Up to 4 people can be selected.

“Oh….”

In the list of names that popped up, there were many familiar faces.

Yeongji High School barely qualified as a humanities high school, so the quality of students wasn’t very high.
So, during breaks, the back of the old school building where few people went was a lawless area ruled by various students.

“Hey, did you hear that? I heard someone saw that Kim Geonho bastard with the English teacher in Jimun-dong last weekend.”
“Wow, for real? Jimun-dong has a ton of bars and motels! Kim Geonho with the English teacher? Even though they’re like 10 years apart in age…!?”
“Wow, I’m so fucking jealous of that Kim Geonho bastard. I really genuinely liked the English teacher… Is the English teacher crazy, too? With a student?”

“Ugh, the cigarette smell is so strong.”

When a girl with bleached yellow hair appeared, the male students gathered here and there, stopped what they were doing, and focused their gazes on her.

For teenage boys full of hormones, every little action of Yang Juhui, one of the prettiest girls among peers, was overly stimulating.

“I heard Juhui doesn’t have a boyfriend? Should I try contacting her?”
“Wow, did she shorten her skirt even more? She’s so fucking pretty…”

But even teenage boys couldn’t casually talk to or act friendly with Yang Juhui.

There was the fact that Yang Juhui, rumored to be from a rich family, gave off an unapproachable aura, but also because Kim Geonho, who reigned over Class D like a king, had taken a liking to her.

Among the male students, the only ones who could converse with Yang Juhui were Kim Geonho and Youngwon, Yang Juhui’s sandbag.
This was also a reason Youngwon received additional bullying from other male students.

“Hey, where’s Kim Geonho? Why did he tell me to come here?”

Yang Juhui asked.
The male students who were smoking competitively opened their mouths.

“If it’s Geonho, he’s probably in the old school building! I think it’s because of the shoe model thing?”
“Or maybe Geonho is confessing to you again? Juhui, honestly, you two look so fucking good together. Why don’t you just go out with him?”

“With Kim Geonho? No thanks. I told you before. I like strong men.”

The male students made faces of incomprehension.
Because there were few people who fought better than Kim Geonho at Yeongji High.

Was she talking about that senior from 3rd year… As they were having such thoughts, Yang Juhui took out a lighter from her pocket and lit her cigarette.
The male students all gazed at that sight as if entranced.

“But why is he telling me to meet in the old school building of all places?”

“Geonho has been digging every day recently, trying to undo the lock on the old school building. Says he’s making his own hangout spot. The teachers don’t patrol there either, so we can smoke without worries.”

Yang Juhui hated the old school building.
She got an ominous feeling from that abandoned building.
There were also rumors about ghosts appearing.

In fact, Yang Juhui was someone who had seen a “ghost.”
She was still confused whether that was a dream or reality, but…