"Joon..…"
"… Sunah."
The two of us sitting alone on my bed.
Both of our cheeks flushed.
"..."
"..."
In a situation like this... am I supposed to do something?
Would I still be a man if I don't say anything?
'Why isn't Sunah saying anything?'
Maybe she was just staying quiet because she's naturally shy.
Is this the time I should try to resolve the incident that happened at our house last time?
"..."
"..."
This sudden strange situation was making me feel restless and uneasy.
W-we should do something now, right?
What should I do?
Should I just ask her what I'm supposed to do?
My mind was racing.
I bit my lip.
"…Let's go out, Sunah. Let's talk outside."
"...?"
Something felt off.
Even if my thoughts right now seemed normal.
If this situation arose because we were entangled in a mind-contamination ghost story, then I must not trust my own judgment or emotions.
I grabbed Sunah by the arm and pulled her up.
"Get up. Let's go."
"..."
Sunah reluctantly stood up, her face still flushed red.
Guided by my hand, she followed me out of the room.
We walked down the hallway and stepped out of the glass door at the entrance.
"Huh, Joon.....?"
As soon as we stepped out the front door, Sunah suddenly seemed to come to her senses and called out to me.
"Sunah. Are you clear-headed now?"
"Uh, yeah... What was that...?"
Sunah's cheeks had returned to their normal color.
Her expression immediately shifted, as if she were pondering something.
"Joon, back there just now….."
The strangely flushed look on her face from earlier has disappeared, and she looked just like her usual, slightly dumb self.
"Back there just now, something felt like it was tightening my heart… and I felt uncomfortable."
"Yeah....."
"It was really… suddenly a strange feeling, like I had to do something…..?"
It was a common feeling between a man and a woman.
When two people are alone in a small room, no matter how close they are, a moment of silence in conversation quickly creates a strange atmosphere.
"I felt the same way, Sunah."
What we just felt was almost like that kind of obsessive feeling toward the opposite gender.
'Do I have to do something here as a man? Should I hold her hand? Should I ask how she feels? Is this the right moment?'
Normally, I would have brushed it off lightly, thinking, "Why worry about something like that?"
But just now, when we were alone together, those feelings seemed to have been amplified tenfold, no, a hundredfold.
Sunah, who was changing her shoes in the shoe rack, tilted her head to the side.
"But it's okay now, Joon. I feel my head's a lot clearer."
"Right? Me too. Something felt off earlier."
I picked up my phone, entered the group chat, and sent a KakaoTalk message to the other members.
[Lee Joon: It's 10 o'clock now. Everyone, come up to the rooftop like I instructed.]
[Lee Joon: I think I've figured something out.]
The uncomfortable feeling we just felt with those strange emotions between the opposite sexes.
As soon as we left the front door, we returned to our usual close friendship.
"Yeah!"
"Eeee…"
As Sunah lifted one foot to change her shoes, I grabbed her sleeve and shook it. She stumbled and flailed her arms in surprise.
The uncomfortable feelings from earlier were gone, and I felt refreshed instead.
Sunah giggled, her expression much clearer than before.
'Ah, it feels so good to be out of that boarding house.'
Inside that place, I kept feeling emotionally unstable.
People constantly telling us to be quiet for no reason, and those strange knocks on the door.
One moment, I was losing control, caught up in the thrill of gambling, and the next, sudden bursts of romantic feelings between the sexes erupted out of nowhere.
The strange kind of discomfort I had been feeling ever since first stepping into that boarding house seemed to vanish the moment I stepped out the front door.
Soon, Gyeongwon, Dukhun, Jinhee, and Hayoon came out after seeing my KakaoTalk message.
"Come on, let's go up, let's go up."
Gyeongwon showed an annoyed expression when I urged them.
"Prez, the competition's the day after tomorrow, and you're standing here laughing? You should be nervous, not…. huh?"
Then, as soon as he stepped out the front door, his expression dramatically changed.
Jinhee, following behind, also started complaining as soon as she saw me, only for her expression to suddenly shift.
"Why are you making us gather again, so annoying… Eh?"
Even Dukhun and Hayoon, who had been frowning for some reason, suddenly showed relaxed expressions the moment they stepped through the glass door at the entrance.
"...?"
"...?"
The club members looked around with bewildered expressions in front of the shoe rack by the entrance.
"Alright, first change your shoes. We'll talk once we get up to the rooftop."
One of the residents opened the door and gave us a sharp look, complaining why we were talking again by the entrance, but I just snickered and ignored him.
* * *
"It's a mind-contamination type ghost story."
I gathered the club members on the rooftop, where the laundry lines were hanging, and explained it.
Beyond the rooftop, the neon-lit night of Noryangjin spread out before us.
"Remember when we brought the bag of money before and suddenly started fighting to snatch it from each other?"
"I remember."
"I remember too."
Of course, even the Fourincess incident in the past was a mind-contaminating ghost story, but since time rewinded, these guys haven't actually experienced it themselves.
That's why I explained based on their memories of the fight over the bag of money.
"Back then, we suddenly couldn't control our anger and suffered from strange compulsions, right? It seems to be a similar type of ghost story. I don't know what it really is yet, but something inside there was affecting our minds."
In my case, I was suddenly swept up in the thrilling rush of gambling, while also plagued by an obsessive feeling about whether I should hold onto Sunah and take our relationship to the next level as a couple.
"How about you guys? Did anything strange happen while you were washing up and getting ready for bed?"
"I….."
Gyeongwon showed a thoughtful look.
"…I think I was just on my laptop, organizing some materials."
"Didn't you feel anything strange then?"
"...Hmm."
He frowned.
"I felt really annoyed, thinking…. Why am I the only one preparing this? Why am I the only one working?"
It was true, so I quickly turned my head to the other members.
"What about the others? Hayoon, Jinhee, and Dukhun?"
"I suddenly felt bored and thought about going home."
Hayoon crossed her arms as she spoke.
Her face remained expressionless.
"Tell me in detail."
"In detail?"
She tilted her head slightly.
"I just thought, like, maybe I should leave, go back home. I couldn't find a reason to stay… I think that's how I felt."
"…You don't feel that way now, right?"
Hayoon shook her head at my cautious question.
"I feel fine now. But I do want to figure out what kind of ghost story this is."
"What about you, Jinhee? How was it for you?"
"...Nothing happened to me?"
Jinhee's expression was indifferent.
Next to her, Dukhun also nodded in agreement.
"Nothing happened to me either."
"Nothing happened…..."
These two were just mentally unstable, so they probably didn't notice. But I definitely saw their tense expressions eased up the moment they stepped through the glass door at the entrance.
"...So, to sum it up, Prez."
Gyeongwon spoke, pushing up his glasses.
"I understand that it affects our mind, but what kind of ghost story is this?"
The colorful neon signs of Noryangjin reflected off his glasses and shone onto me.
I crossed my arms and wore a thoughtful expression.
"Well. Not sure yet. We'll have to look into it more."
It suddenly makes people want to gamble, and evokes strange feelings between men and women.
It suddenly makes people extremely sensitive, makes them see ghosts like the previous managers, and even makes them commit suicide like the owner?
'...What kind of ghost story is that?'
A lot of strange phenomena have definitely happened, but I still haven't found a common thread that tied them all together.
"I don't know. I can't find a common thread between the things that are happening."
"Hmm, thought so…"
"Yeah."
"But one thing we need to remember for sure is that this is definitely a type of ghost story that affects the mind."
On the dark rooftop, I looked around at the members and pointed out what I thought was important.
"This kind of ghost story deceives a person's perception and clouds their judgment. So, you guys, never trust yourselves."
At the rooftop, illuminated by the nighttime scenery of Noryangjin, the members listened to my explanation with serious expressions.
"If something feels strange, don't make judgments on the spot. Step outside the boarding house and think it over. Even if you feel a strong impulse or emotion, no matter what, always leave this place first and then think about it. Even if you are 100% sure that something is right, don't act alone. Always call the other members and discuss it together."
The club members nodded slowly.
These kinds of ghost stories were definitely the most concerning.
If it were an entity with a physical form that comes to kill, you could just smash its head and be done with it.
This kind of mental contamination-type ghost story can be resolved only through a specific narrative structure.
From the incident with Fourincess to the Wiggle Wiggle ghost story, it's always been the most troublesome type.
And even more important than that was figuring out where exactly this ghost story originated from.
"It's not a ghost story sent by the Demon King to kill me. It's a ghost story that's existed here for a long time, and we've come here of our own accord."
"That's right."
The club members nodded.
"Why, for what reason is there a ghost story like this here? Finding that out is most important."
Was it another attack from the Void cult?
Or was it Clover?
One thing was certain, the Demon King had retired after sending out both the S-rank and B-rank ghost stories, so he was currently powerless.
And ghost stories fundamentally target me, the hero.
Then what about the strange events that occurred in this world, long before I was chosen as the hero?
'What exactly could those have been influenced by?'
This incident was a perfect opportunity to uncover that truth.
'That is, if we can stay sane.'
I quickly decided to play rock-paper-scissors with the members to determine the night watch order.
"It seems the previous managers working here have always been in trouble. Ordinary people never saw anything. Not even the owner."
The owner, too, had never seen anything strange before, but after becoming manager, he experienced trouble.
It seemed there was something triggering this ghost story only on the managers.
"So, we're going to take turns doing night watch at the counter, acting as the manager."
If you want to catch a tiger, you have to enter the tiger's den.
If ghosts have haunted the previous managers, then we just have to become the manager and see for ourselves.
"We'll just sit at the counter playing with our phones, glance down the hallway once in a while, and that should be enough. Then, when it's time, go to the next member's room and shake them awake."
"Sounds fun….."
"Right, Sunah?"
Standing night watch is fun when you're with friends.
"But isn't it dangerous to take shifts alone, Prez?"
"That's true. But even the owner didn't see anything when he was on duty with the manager. It only happened when the manager was working alone."
The members nodded in understanding.
"I think being alone is a key factor here. And since we're splitting the shifts, the time gets divided into smaller chunks, which means we can still get some decent sleep. This ghost story is important, sure, but we still have to prepare for the competition during the day, so getting proper sleep is just as important."
"Right."
"Yeah….."
"Alright then, let's decide the order with rock-paper-scissors. Rock, paper, scissors!"
"Rock-paper-scissors!"
"Rock-paper-scissors!"
"Rock-paper-scissors!"
"Yoon Sunah was late, let's do it again."
"Rock, paper, scissors!"
"Paper, paper, paper, stop!"
〈Night Watch Timetable〉
11:00 PM - 12:00 AM Oh Dukhun
12:00 AM - 1:00 AM Ahn Gyeongwon
1:00 AM - 2:00 AM In Hayoon
2:00 AM - 3:00 AM Lee Joon
3:00 AM - 4:00 AM Lee Jinhee
4:00 AM - 5:00 AM Yoon Sunah
"Okay. We'll follow this."
"Yes."
I posted the night watch schedule in the group chat.
"Even though you're on watch alone, if anything strange happens, wake me up right away. Or just step outside the boarding house and think. Staying inside increases the chance you'll make the wrong decision."
The members nodded.
"Alright. It's just past 10 now, and the night watch starts at 11, which is our bedtime. Since we've got some time left, we can do something else. Let's head to the counter where the manager works and check out the CCTV footage together."
It was important to check the CCTV recording there, but according to what I heard from the Detective, the owner's strange behavior at the end..…
That footage was still saved on a file on the desktop.
"We're going to go check it now. Alright, let's go!"
We joined our hands together to keep our wits with us and shouted "One, two, three, fighting!" before heading back down to the boarding house from the rooftop.
* * *
We all rushed together, opened the glass door at the entrance, and went inside, only to see a chubby woman coming out of the kitchen with a scowl and glaring at us.
We tried our best to be careful, but with six people moving around together, our footsteps must have been quite noticeable no matter how lightly we walked.
So we had no choice but to bow our heads in apology. The chubby woman shot us a sharp glance and walked right past us without saying anything.
It seemed like the people living here, regardless of gender, were suffering from both a lack of exercise and hypersensitivity.
We shrugged at each other and then slipped behind the counter.
After locking the door, the members let out a collective sigh.
"Huu, how does anyone manage to live in a place like this? It's cramped and uncomfortable….."
"I can't even breathe properly."
"Man, if I stay here much longer, I'm gonna end up fighting someone."
"Endure, endure, everyone."
Thankfully, the counter area was just the manager's private space, with no adjacent rooms to speak of, so it was bearable.
The wall next to us was just a bathroom, so the members grumbled freely.
Meanwhile, Gyeongwon was already sitting at the counter desk, checking the computer.
"Is it working?"
"Uh-huh. I'm starting it."
Soon, the Windows XP logo appeared on the monitor.
"Wow, how long has it been since Windows XP support was discontinued….."
"This computer must be really old."
Soon, the simple default desktop appeared.
A blue sky, green fields.
The famous Windows XP background, often called 'the photo seen by a billion people'.
"This reminds me of that time... back in the internet cafe....."
"Minecraft ghost story?"
"Yeah, that's the one..…"
Sunah nodded.
It definitely resembled the scenery we saw back then.
"There are a lot of files on the desktop."
Gyeongwon clicked around and looked through various items.
There were Excel files related to the boarding house's operations, copies of contracts, and various accounting documents recording money transactions, all visible at a glance.
And perhaps as remnants of the former manager, there was a folder labeled 'Hwang Namgil Administrative Law', and surprisingly, folders with familiar names in Korean and English also appeared.
"Maybe he was a repeat student? Why was he studying Korean and English?"
"You need to pass in Korean and English on the civil service exam, Prez."
Gyeongwon gave a simple answer and then hovered the mouse over a folder in the corner.
[CCTV files to show the boss.]
"This is it."
"Click on it."
He soon clicked the folder, and found several video files inside.
19990225.mp4 ▶• ılıılıılılılıılıılı
20190517.mp4 ▶• ılıılıılılılıılıılı
20190525.mp4. ▶• ılıılıılılılıılıılı
"There are three videos."
Gyeongwon carefully read the names of the videos.
"These numbers obviously indicate the dates they were recorded."
"Then let's see. The dates are….."
February 25, 1999.
May 17, 2019.
May 25, 2019.
"…One video from 20 years ago. And two files from this month."
"I guess these are videos extracted separately from a CCTV playback program."
"Which one should we check first, Prez?"
When Gyeongwon turned and asked, I pointed to the file dated May 25th, the most recent date when the owner attempted suicide.
"This one. Let's start with this. The most recent one first."
"Yeah. Just a second."
Soon, Gyeongwon clicked with the mouse, and the video popped onto the screen.
* * *
The time displayed was 00:03, well past midnight.
The location was a boarding house in the middle of the night.
The camera was mounted next to the entrance, capturing a side view of the entryway and the counter area inside the boarding house.
Most likely, the camera was installed at the entrance to monitor people coming in and out of the boarding house.
"It's starting."
The video begins with the boss emerging from behind the counter, right where we were.
Soon after, he locked the counter door on screen, seemingly about to leave for the night.
Suddenly, as if remembering something, he clapped his hands and muttered to himself, then opened the door he just locked and went back inside.
"He's going back in?"
"Yeah, exactly."
Then, after a long moment of silence, suddenly...
Slide-
The door, which had been half-open when the owner entered, began to slide shut on its own.
The screen remained unchanged for quite a while.
"Did he attempt suicide around this time?"
"12:04, 12:05… Seems like it."
I roughly compared it to the time I was contacted by the Detective and came here late at night.
"Maybe-"
"Prez, wait a minute. It's opening again."
The members focused back on the screen, which had been motionless for a long time.
The counter door, which had been closed until now, suddenly began to open slowly.
And then—
"Aaah..."
The owner, with his cheek pressed against the floor, poked his head through the crack in the door, staring straight at the camera.
Sunah let out a small gasp.
"..."
The owner, with only his neck sticking out, muttered something at the camera for a while.
Then, he suddenly pulled his head back inside.
A moment later, blood splattered through the slightly opened door.
"...!"
"...Ugh."
The members flinched.
The screen remained still for a long while after that, the footage ended with the owner's wife entering, looking for her husband.
Gyeongwon paused the video and turned around.
"...Strange, isn't it, Prez?"
"Yeah."
I nodded and straightened up from the position I'd been hunching over to watch the video.
Who on earth was the owner talking to?
And why did the door, which had been still, suddenly opened and closed on its own?
"…Anyway, Prez, do you think you can read what the owner said in this video?"
I nodded.
"Of course. Play it again."
"Okay."
Click-
The video soon started again.
First appeared the scene where the owner, about to lock up the counter and go home, suddenly clapped his hands.
The owner muttered, 'Ah', as if remembering something.
What had he forgotten and suddenly remembered?
'Activate Lip Reading!'
["Oh, I forgot to check the video."]
"He's saying he forgot to check the video."
"Video?"
"What video was he talking about?"
The members tilted their heads and wondered.
Gyeongwon skipped past the part where the owner went inside the counter and the screen remained unmoved for a long time.
He jumped ahead to the unsettling scene, where the owner eerily poked his head out through the gap in the door.
I focused on the owner's lips as he stuck his neck out and muttered something.
'Activate Lip Reading.'
Pop-
["A ghost behind me is holding a knife grinning wide like its mouth is torn shaking its head side to side like crazy while running through the hallway jumping up and down dancing with the knife running down the hallway laughing madly swinging the blade shaking its head sprinting down the hall at full speed with the knife head whipping left and right."]