There’s Space Behind the Pillar (1)
“Our house doesn’t have an elevator though.”
The “Taekwang Housing” where I live is an old house with an exterior made of brown bricks.
The top floor is the 4th floor.
There’s no way it would have something like an elevator.
If Mom sent me a message like Mom: Youngwon-ah, carry the rice up haha, it's a lot haha, my thighs would have to scream.
Then what the heck is that thing Jeong Seok is pressing the button on?
“…Hey. Jeong Seok. I don’t know what it is, but you should probably step away from it first.”
I suggested to Jeong Seok, who had his hand on the “Down” button. Jeong Seok seemed to realize the situation after seeing my and Yang Juhui’s expressions and slowly backed away from the elevator.
*Swoosh*
The elevator, receiving no input, finally closed its doors.
The floor indicator remained on the 4th floor.
The sudden intrusion of the extraordinary.
My good mood from walking to school with friends, looking at dandelions blooming on the street, and thinking about taking a shortcut instantly felt like it was tied to a cold lump of lead and sinking into the sea.
“Ha Youngwon. Are you sure your house doesn’t have an elevator?”
“I said it doesn’t! Even if it hasn’t been long since I moved here, I’d definitely know whether there’s an elevator or not! Yang Juhui, you remember too, right!”
“There was no elevator. Can an elevator be built in a day? If there was such construction, there’s no way we wouldn’t have heard the noise.”
This is truly ridiculous.
“Hey. You also grumbled yesterday about having to go up to the 4th floor by stairs. You remember having a hard time going up because there was no elevator? I even joked about carrying you on my back.”
“……”
Jeong Seok shut his mouth.
He seemed lost in thought as he looked at the closed elevator.
About 10 seconds passed.
Groaning, “Urgh…” Jeong Seok opened his mouth again.
“No. I saw this elevator here from yesterday when I came. When I asked you guys if we had to go up the stairs, I was asking why we had to use the stairs when there was an elevator.”
What’s he talking about now?
I felt an eerie chill run down my back.
“I thought there was a reason like it was under construction or out of order. When I tried pressing the button after coming out of the front door today, it worked well, so I thought it had been fixed.”
Jeong Seok had seen the suddenly appearing elevator since yesterday…?
Having gone through various incidents recently, I was convinced this was related to the cases and accidents I had dealt with.
“Wasn’t the ‘Subtle Perfume’ I sprayed yesterday supposed to let us live in peace for a while? What the hell is happening from the morning! I’m really going to go crazy!”
I felt so frustrated I could froth at the mouth.
Was the capsule draw a lie!
Then Jeong Seok, who had been maintaining his composure, explained as if to calm me down.
“The perfume effect drastically reduces the probability of being detected by ghosts. Even if it reduces the discovery probability from 99 percent to 1 percent, there’s still a possibility. It doesn’t completely eliminate it.”
“I know that much too.”
It made sense, but I couldn’t help feeling upset.
“Or it might be that you can’t escape from a ghost that’s already discovered you. I had already discovered this elevator before you obtained the perfume. It had already started since then.”
That makes sense.
Soon, Yang Juhui, who had been quietly observing the situation, interjected.
“Should we go inside and take a look? If we ride the elevator, we can know for sure what it is, can’t we?”
“What, you want to ride this?”
Jeong Seok and I were both startled by Yang Juhui’s words.
Is Yang Juhui fearless?
To readily suggest riding this suspicious and bizarre elevator.
Suddenly, I remembered that Yang Juhui’s player trait was “Bravery.”
Even when facing the same situation, reactions can differ so much depending on traits and personality, huh.
What’s the best thing to do here?
Jeong Seok looked at me.
“Ha Youngwon. You have the most experience with these things. You decide what to do. If you want my opinion, I’m against going inside or anything like that.”
What’s there to decide?
I also had no desire to deliberately enter the suddenly appearing elevator.
“Let’s never go inside this elevator.”
However, there was no guarantee this would only be visible to us, so I went inside, got some tape, a pen, and paper, wrote “Do Not Use!” in large letters, and stuck it on the elevator door!
“I thought this might help.”
The method to exorcise the elevator was to choose not to ride it.
I had a small hope, but the words ‘Congratulations’ did not appear in the status window.
It meant it wasn’t exorcised.
“Hmm…”
I pondered for a moment.
Unlike the “Lady Ghost,” “Ancestral Ghost,” and “Feng Shui Ghost,” which directly harassed and followed me, this elevator was docile.
At least it didn’t chase me or make scary noises.
“…Should we try ignoring it for now? We have to go to school too.”
Just in case, I plastered tape all over the front of the elevator.
I sent Mom a message saying, “Even if there’s an elevator in the house, don’t ride it.”
I also wrote a warning at the house entrance: “Warning! Do not board the elevator. There is a risk of falling.”
“Wow. You write really well.”
Yang Juhui admired the warning sign Jeong Seok put up. She seemed amazed by the handwriting, which looked like it was printed from a computer. There was a certain force in Jeong Seok’s neat handwriting, so everyone would surely listen.
Even after arriving at school and classes started, my heart felt completely hollow.
It was like I was someone who left the gas stove on at home.
I couldn’t calm down at all because of the elevator that suddenly appeared at my house.
This is seriously unnerving.
If it were a ghost that pounced, I would have somehow dealt with it and gotten rid of it.
Should I have ridden the elevator like Yang Juhui said after all?
“What’s the date today? The 14th? Then not number 14, but… 24! Stand up and try translating this sentence.”
24 is me, isn’t it?
*Swoosh*
I stood up from my seat and looked at the chalkboard.
But I had no choice but to space out because I didn’t know what sentence I was supposed to translate. As I hesitated for a while, Hong Miri, our class’s English teacher, frowned deeply.
“Number 24. Ha Youngwon. You’re not getting your head on straight. Sigh… really. Class D has been strange lately. Did something happen with you guys? What’s going on in your class these days? Kim Geonho is late again for 1st period.”
As Hong Miri said, the atmosphere in Class D wasn’t the same as before.
The class atmosphere had been generally chaotic lately.
*Ding ding dong ding*
It was break time.
I thought about calling Mom when something suddenly smacked the back of my head.
I turned my head and saw a red-haired boy grinning at me.
“Hey you bastard. The English teacher called on you but why didn’t you answer? Now that Geonho isn’t keeping you in check, you’re out of control huh? You’re not even paying attention in class properly.”
It was Kim Yeongho, one of Kim Geonho’s goons.
He dyed his hair red and was the kind of kid who would flatter and mess around next to Kim Geonho. Kim Geonho and Kim Yeongho, even their names are similar.
Is it starting again after being quiet for a few days?
When the tiger is away, the fox will play. Now that Kim Geonho is behaving, Kim Yeongho, who was below him, seems to be trying to chew me out.
Then Yang Juhui, who was sitting behind me, said:
“Hey. Kim Yeongho. Get lost. You’re noisy, I’m trying to take a nap.”
“What? Get lost? Our Juhui’s words are harsh. The loudest one at school was your mom.”
The atmosphere is already hostile from the 1st-period break.
Just as it seemed like a storm would hit any moment, Class D went quiet for a bit.
Everyone was watching the situation when Kim Yeongho added:
“Yang Juhui. Be careful. Bong Jiyeon from Class C says she’s going to get you. How are you going to manage without Kim Geonho’s shield? If Bong Jiyeon and the upperclassmen catch you, you’re really screwed.”
“Ridiculous. If someone heard that, they’d think Kim Geonho really protected and shielded me. Bong Jiyeon can come directly to me if she has something to say. Ah right, that bitch would be too scared to even look me in the eye.”
“……”
Kim Yeongho couldn’t speak as if his vital point had been struck.
Yang Juhui relentlessly tore into her opponent like a shark that smelled blood.
“Does it make you feel good when Bong Jiyeon acts like a queen bee, sometimes replies to your messages and laughs a bit? There’s a truckload of guys like you next to her, you idiot. Kim Yeongho, you’re just a minnow in her pond.”
I recalled the time when vice-president Jeong Seok and I got beaten up in the back alley.
There were quite a few Class C boys next to Bong Jiyeon. A pretty face in itself was a weapon and power. Bong Jiyeon was a delinquent who knew how to use her weapons to control people.
“Hey. Kim Yeongho. When you text her, does Bong Jiyeon reply? No? Even when she was getting beaten by me, she never dropped her phone. So why would her replies to you be slow?”
“You bitch, who’s a minnow in her pond! Wanna bet? Let’s bet! Fuck! If I text her and she replies, what are you going to do Yang Juhui? Let’s bet!”
Kim Yeongho’s eyes flickered with an emotion similar to madness. I mentally went over the eccentricity that had recently appeared in Kim Yeongho.
[Gambling Addict]:
For some, gambling is not a means or a method but becomes their everything.
Now, Kim Yeongho’s behavior made sense. He always liked illegal sports betting, so this eccentricity fits him perfectly.
Perhaps these eccentricities are chosen not just by simple randomness but manifest according to a person’s constitution or aptitude.
It’s a hypothesis worth considering.
I’ll have to discuss it with Jeong Seok later.
Before that, I have to finish this hostile situation.
If something too eye-catching happens in class, it might be detected by those “Watchers.”
“Hey Kim Yeongho. I’ll take that bet. If you send a text to Bong Jiyeon and she replies within 5 minutes, I’ll do as you say. But if she doesn’t reply, it’s the opposite.”
“Fuck, Ha Youngwon, who are you to butt in?”
“What. Are you scared? Scared Bong Jiyeon won’t reply?”
“Well, well. This is a first. Okay. Do it, you bastard. Ha Youngwon, you’re dead.”
Kim Yeongho picked up his phone with bloodshot eyes.
And he sent a message to someone, probably Bong Jiyeon.
“Hey Jiyeon-ah haha what are you doing?”
5 minutes.
Will Bong Jiyeon, the delinquent of Class C, reply within 5 minutes?
No, I didn’t think so.
Bong Jiyeon also had an eccentricity.
[Androphobia]:
Just being in the same place as a man brings unbearable rejection. What would it feel like to fear half the world…?
The power of eccentricity is almost absolute.
There’s no way she would reply to a feared subject, is there?
1 minute, 3 minutes, 4 minutes passed…
Kim Yeongho furrowed his brow like a madman, almost bursting a blood vessel.
“Hey hey hey hey hey reply reply.”
“Check this.”
“Photo”
“Gift card”
“Kim Yeongho sent you a gift card.”
“Read it damn it.”
He looks totally crazy.
Sending messages like that would make anyone not want to answer.
“Hey. Yeongho. 5 minutes passed.”
The promised time had passed.
Kim Yeongho’s face was flushed red.
The content of the bet was for Kim Yeongho to become my slave, so how would he respond now?
“Fuck that. It was just a joke to begin with. Jiyeon said she wasn’t feeling well these days so she’s probably sleeping. Let’s forget about it. Forget it.”
Of course.
A [Gambling Addict] doesn’t properly follow through with the content of the gamble.
But it’s true that Kim Yeongho is annoying.
If I had lost the bet, would this guy have agreed to nullify it?
I pondered for a moment and came up with a pretty fun idea.
“Hey. Kim Yeongho. Then let’s bet again. We’ll bet on whether you’ll agree to become my slave or nor. I bet you won’t agree. Meaning there’s no way you’ll become my slave. You’d have to bet on the opposite, that you will agree, right? How about a 50,000 won bet?”
“Uh… that…”
If Kim Yeongho wanted to win this bet, he would have to choose to become my slave.
If he didn’t want to become a slave, he would have to lose this bet and pay me 50,000 won.
How will the [Gambling Addict] Kim Yeongho bet on this dilemma?
“Uh… that…”
Actually, he could just refuse to participate in such a nonsensical bet.
After all, the surefire way to win gambling is to “not gamble at all.” I saw that in the movie The War of Flowers.
But would it be possible for the gambling-crazed Kim Yeongho to refrain from gambling? Even if it’s a rigged game, would Kim Yeongho stick his head into the lion’s mouth?
“Uh… that…”
Kim Yeongho was sweating like he had the flu and shaking his shoulders and arms. He looked pretty serious, and just as I thought, the classroom door slid open, and Jeong Seok and Jeong Sojin came in.
“Hey! What are you guys doing there! Are you bullying Youngwon again? Yang Juhui! Kim Yeongho! Stop bothering Youngwon! If you keep doing this, I’m going straight to the principal!”
*Stomp stomp*
Jeong Sojin approached me and scolded Yang Juhui and Kim Yeongho.
Of course, Yang Juhui grimaced.
“What’s with her. So annoying.”
*Ping*
Then a phone rang.
Kim Yeongho’s face brightened.
“A reply from Jiyeon?!”
“No, this is my phone.”
The moment I checked the message, my vision went black.
Mom: Mom is trapped in the elevator right now haha you've never had this experience, right?