Corridor Conquest (2)

I did not invite Yoo Dahee to the corridor.
But Yoo Dahee was in this “Nightmare Corridor.”
And she was shouting at us to get out of “1-4” quickly.

Having turned many crises into opportunities, I understood exactly what this situation was.
Yoo Dahee’s identity.
It was probably…

“Dahee. Yoo Dahee. Can you come into this Class 4? I have a favor to ask.”

To confirm Yoo Dahee’s identity, I invited her into Class 4.

Ghosts couldn’t enter this talisman-filled Class 4.
If Yoo Dahee was a ghost, she wouldn’t be able to enter this Class 4 either.
Smart Jeong Seok seemed to read my mind and added,

“Yeah! Yoo Dahee! You come in here too!”

“Come in! Come in!”

“…You guys, this is not the time to be doing that there! You need to get out of there quickly!”

We were trying to make Yoo Dahee come in, and Yoo Dahee was trying to get us out of the classroom.
The meaning of this situation was very clear.

“The third ghost’s identity was Yoo Dahee! The reason why everyone who met her died and no one knew the ghost’s identity was because the person talking was the third ghost themselves!”

Yoo Dahee’s identity.
It was definitely the third ghost appearing in the corridor, the “??? Ghost”!
The third ghost’s identity was the “High School Girl Ghost”!

“Yoo Dahee, how could you deceive us! I trusted you! I trusted you! You bitch!”
“Get away!”

Jeong Seok and I shouted at Yoo Dahee with anger and fear about being deceived all this time.

Please go!
If Yoo Dahee stayed in front of Class 4, we couldn’t escape!
If we stayed here, we’d be like trapped rats!

“……”

Yoo Dahee then looked around.
Then, as if something had caught her attention or she had discovered something, she quickly ran off somewhere.

“She’s gone!”

“Youngwon! We defeated a ghost!”

Jeong Seok and I hugged each other and jumped with joy when we started hearing the sound of bells ringing. Jeong Seok’s body stiffened.

“Hey, this sound…”

“Yes, it’s the shaman ghost we met during the feng shui ghost incident.”

*Jingle*
*Jingle*

Something was coming towards us from the end of the corridor, shaking a bundle of bells in one hand.
She was holding a candle in her other hand, so her appearance was quite visible.

It was a woman wearing a hanbok.
Her face was hideous enough to be recognized from a distance, and her tongue was long and hanging out.

“Oh, shit, that’s scary.”

*Screech*

I closed the classroom door for now.
Although I knew the shaman ghost couldn’t enter “1-4,” I wanted to be sure.

*Jingle-jingle*

The sound of bells was getting closer.
Now, the creepy mumbling of the shaman ghost was getting close enough to be heard clearly.

“Where are you, can’t see, can’t see, where are you, can’t see, can’t see, where, where, where.”

It still sounded like she was looking for something.
What was the shaman ghost looking for?
As I was thinking that, Jeong Seok, who was hiding under the desk, whispered as if he found it strange.

“But Youngwon. Didn’t Yoo Dahee run away just now? Didn’t it look like she was running away from this shaman ghost? I thought ghosts didn’t hurt each other?”

Was that so?
Come to think of it, Yoo Dahee’s actions did seem like she was avoiding the approaching shaman ghost.
I didn’t know what it meant, but the important thing was that we needed to get rid of the shaman ghost and join Yang Juhui.

*Screech*

Then the door to “1-4” opened.
I felt chills run down my spine and a choking sensation in my throat.

“Here, here, here, here.”

The shaman ghost opened the door to 1-4…?
I thought ghosts couldn’t enter 1-4?
Yoo Dahee didn’t enter earlier!

As I was panicking…

*Jingle-jingle*

The shaman ghost took steps into the classroom, making bell sounds.

Jeong Seok and I must have had the same thought at the same time.
We’re screwed.

Jeong Seok and I each crouched under a desk.
We held our breath and covered our mouths and noses, staying completely still to avoid making even the smallest sound.

*Jingle-jingle*

“Where are you, here, where, here, can’t see, can’t see, dark, come out quickly.”

*Step* *Step*

The shaman ghost walked around the classroom in her socked feet.
I couldn’t understand why she wasn’t bumping into the desks or chairs even though she couldn’t see.

*Jingle-jingle*

The shaman ghost finally passed by the desk I was hiding under.

The feeling of chills and tension running from my tailbone to my head made me dizzy.
It felt like I had just escaped death.
The only fortunate thing was that, as we had expected, the shaman ghost couldn’t see.

Please just leave now…
As I was thinking that, an incident occurred.

“Ugh.”

A nauseatingly strong stench began to pierce my nose. It was similar to the symptoms from the lockers and trash bins that had talismans on them.

I held back my nausea by any means necessary.
But the problem was that Jeong Seok, who had grown up as a rich kid with no tolerance for such smells, was there.

“Ugh!”

Jeong Seok finally couldn’t bear it and vomited loudly.
It was at that moment.

*Jingle*

The sound of the bells rang loudly, and the shaman ghost, who seemed about to leave the classroom, turned sharply to look at Jeong Seok with a creepy smile.

“Got you! Kihehehehehe! Hehehehehehe!”

It was a terrifying situation.
A woman with her mouth torn to her ears and a long tongue was rushing at Jeong Seok.
Jeong Seok was so startled that he fell down, and I couldn’t predict what would happen if things stayed this way.

I… had to make a decision.

“Hey! Hey! Hey! Over here! Here! Shaman bitch! You fucking bitch! Here! Waaaaah! Waaaaah!”

I stood up and deliberately made a loud noise.
I banged on the desk and screamed my lungs out.

Honestly, I was extremely scared.
I felt like I was going to have a heart attack, but thanks to the new trait, “Strong Heart,” I somehow managed to hold on.

“Why did you become a ghost and mess around at school? You fucking nuisance! Aaaaah!”

*Jingle-jingle-jingle*

“Kihehehehehe! Hehehehehehe!”

The shaman ghost started running towards me with her mouth wide open. Her mouth was so wide it seemed like it could swallow my head whole.
How could a woman with no eyes run so fast?

I also started running immediately.
If I stopped even for a moment, she would catch up, and I couldn’t imagine what would happen if she did.
One thing was for sure, if I stopped, I was screwed!

“Aaaaah! Aaaaaaahhhhhh!”

I screamed desperately, trying to hold back the feeling that I might pee my pants.
I was a walking siren.
Of course, there was a reason why I was screaming like this.

“Hey! What’s going on? Who are you? Are you Ha Youngwon? What the hell!”

Yang Juhui!
Yang Juhui appeared from the corridor!
The sight of Yang Juhui holding a lighter’s flame was like a light itself!
I could understand the feelings of the people of Gondor when they saw the riders of Rohan!

“Hey! Juhui! Help! Help! Stab the shaman bitch! Stab her with a knife!!!”

I screamed not only to draw the shaman’s attention for Jeong Seok’s sake but also to bring Yang Juhui over.
I thought Yang Juhui would definitely come to the sound!

“You…you…you fucking bitch!”

*Tat-tat-tat-tat*

Yang Juhui, running towards me, charged at the shaman ghost and forcefully stabbed her face with a box cutter!

*Jingle*

“Aaaaaaahhhhhhhh!!!!”

The shaman ghost screamed in a voice full of anger and pain, covering her face.

“Good job, Juhui! Let’s go! Let’s get out of here and retrieve Jeong Seok!”

When Yang Juhui had stabbed the elevator head ghost with a knife, the ghost had been in pain for about 20 seconds. We needed to retrieve Jeong Seok and escape to the safest place possible within 20 seconds.
But where would be safe now that “1-4” was destroyed by the stench?

“Hey! Jeong Seok! Are you there!”

“Y-Yeah!”

Jeong Seok hadn’t managed to escape properly and had fallen near “1-4.”
He was a complete coward.
But that was fortunate for us!
If he had run too far, it would have been difficult to join him!

*Flutter*

After reuniting with Jeong Seok, I used the light from Yang Juhui’s lighter to spread out the map.
First, we needed to find a place to hide!

“The faculty room! There’s a faculty room!”

Jeong Seok pointed to the faculty room marked on the map.
But as I recall, the faculty room was locked.

“The faculty room is locked!”

“Locked? Then there’s a broadcasting room nearby!”

Thanks to Jeong Seok quickly reading the map, we were able to set a target.

Fortunately, the broadcasting room wasn’t locked.
Since it had various soundproof settings, it felt quiet as soon as we closed the door.

*Jingle-jingle-jingle*

“Aaaaaaah!”

But outside, we could still hear the maddening sound of bells and the woman’s screams.

The muttering that seemed like she was looking for something had turned into screams full of malice, hatred, and murderous intent after being stabbed by Yang Juhui’s “knife.”
If we were discovered… we’d be screwed.

“Ha Youngwon. I looked at the map, and it seems the red lines mark locked doors. There’s a red line at the faculty room. This broadcasting room has a blue line.”

“Oh. Now that you mention it.”

Jeong Seok was useless when it came to dealing with ghosts, but he was almost like a flying genius when it came to strategizing or analyzing the situation.

Looking at this map, we could know in advance which places were locked and which were open… that’s it.
The map was the best! I needed to send class president Jeong Sojin to explore the corridor more to bring back good items!

“Whew…”

My legs gave out, and I sat down in the broadcasting room.
Soon, Yang Juhui asked,

“Hey. What happened?”

“We don’t know exactly. The ghost came into ‘1-4.’ Before that, Yoo Dahee was there.”

I briefly explained the situation.
Then Yang Juhui got very angry.

“Yoo Dahee, that fucking bitch! Was she a ghost? I had a feeling!”

Yoo Dahee was a ghost…
It was an important revelation, but there was an even more important matter.

Why did the shaman ghost come into “1-4” and start stinking?
That was more important to me.

“…Maybe the talisman isn’t a barrier?”

I had imagined that having talismans would make the ghosts think, “Tch, a barrier,” and not come close.
But the shaman ghost had just entered “1-4” filled with talismans.
Jeong Seok said,

“Youngwon. I think it’s similar to the effect of the ‘Subtle Perfume’ you had before. The talismans probably reduce our presence as much as possible. It didn’t completely hide us.”

The talismans didn’t block ghosts; they concealed our presence near them.

Thinking we were invincible with talismans, I foolishly made a lot of noise by calling Yang Juhui in “1-4,” which attracted the shaman ghost despite the talismans.
It was a plausible hypothesis.

“If there’s a ghost nearby, the talismans seem to emit a stench. That’s what happened with the trash can we hid in. So, it would have been better not to let any ghosts into ‘1-4’ from the beginning.”

Jeong Seok concluded.
I agreed with his conclusion and regretted my foolish actions.
Thinking talismans made us invincible, I had lost one of our safe zones for no reason.

“…Did Yoo Dahee know this and try to get us out of ‘1-4’?”

I recalled the moment Yoo Dahee had told us to leave “1-4.”

If her action wasn’t to kill us but to help us, knowing this would happen?
Ah… I don’t know.
At that moment, Yang Juhui, who was rummaging around as usual, seemed to have found something.

“Hey. Have you seen this?”

There was a large hole where Yang Juhui pointed.
A hole in the floor.
It led underground.
The size was enough for one person to fit through, whether by coincidence or fate!