Ghost Story Club

[2019, May 2nd | Thursday, 18:42 PM]

[Lee Joon: Number of Attempts – 2]

[Ghost Story Points: 102]

[Causality: 17%]

‘My bladder is going to burst…’

I started relentlessly fidgeting in the room, and eventually I couldn’t hold back the urge to go to the toilet. Hardening my heart, I quietly turned the doorknob.

And then, I poked my head out through the crack of the opened door and looked around the dark living room, where the lights were turned off.

‘… The lights are really turned off.’

Suddenly, the image of a ghost running wildly with strange, stumbling steps, and going around the house to turn off all the lights flashed in my mind.

‘F*ck.’

I shook my head violently once to prevent any more ominous thoughts from coming to mind.

‘Let’s just think of it as a power outage.’

The light leaked out through the crack in my room’s door, creating a long line of light in the dark living room floor.

‘… Is there anything?’

I rolled my eyes through the crack in the door.

Nothing really suspicious caught my eyes.

‘What was that loud noise earlier?’

It felt like something was banging against the wall and cracking.

Since the living room appeared to be fine for now, it probably came from my parents’ room…

Suddenly, I remembered the location of the ghostly figure I saw at lunch while imagining the layout of our apartment. It was in the bathroom in my parents’ room.

‘Stop thinking about it and just go, and return quickly.’

I quickly opened the door, and without paying attention to anything, hurriedly walked towards the bathroom in the living room.

Click.

I pressed the switch to turn on the light, then quickly opened the door and stepped inside.

I was worried that something would suddenly pop out, however, the inside was empty.

‘Let’s leave the door open and do it.’

When someone is scared, even opening a door that has been closed requires a lot of courage.

I quickly lifted the toilet lid and hurriedly took care of my business, all the while keeping a close watch on the living room through the gap in the open door.

Psss.

What was there?

In the dark living room, only the faint light seeping from my room gently illuminated the space.

It was quiet.

“Huuu.”

I washed my hands at the sink and then went back out into the living room.

There was nothing.

Absolutely nothing at all.

I let out a sigh of relief, then walked over to the switch in the living room and turned the light back on.

Tak.

The space became brighter.

‘… Should I close the curtains?’

When the sun was still up earlier, I could see people walking around and the scenery outside, so it was bearable. But now that the sun has set, the lights from the living room were reflected on the glass window, so I couldn’t see anything outside.

Instead, it felt more like a full-length black mirror was covering the window.

Seeing my figure reflected all over the living room’s glass door with raised shoulders as I cautiously looked around felt strangely creepy.

I stared at my reflection, and began wondering if I should close the curtains and leave it like that.

After thinking for a moment about which would be scarier, I concluded that going to close the curtains of the balcony was scarier.

‘I have some bad memories associated with that washing machine over there.’

I turned on the lights of the whole apartment, including the kitchen, and quickly rushed back into my room.

Locking the door, I collapsed onto the bed. Then I picked my phone to check if I got any messages.

[☏ Missed Calls: Mom (2)]

“… Mom?”

What’s the matter?

I had my phone on silent mode so I couldn’t hear it.

I decided to call again.

After a brief beep, my Mom’s voice came through.

[Joony]

“Yes, Mom. I saw you called.”

[Yeah. Have you had dinner?]

“Not yet. I was going to have it with you both when you got home.”

[Well, one of our relatives has passed away, so I’m urgently heading out of the town with your Dad.]

“…Out of town? Where…”

[We’re heading to Busan. Why don’t you have dinner without us?]

“…It’s not just about having dinner without you. If you’re going to Busan, you won’t be here until tomorrow, right?”

[If we hurry, we might be able to return by dawn. For now, don’t wait for Mom and Dad. Just go ahead and sleep.]

“Okay……”

[There should be a few ten-thousand-won bills in Mom’s drawer. If you’re too lazy to cook, just order chicken.]

Chicken!

Normally, it would have been a word that would make me excited, but right now, even chicken couldn’t calm down my anxiety.

“Okay, I understand. Be careful.”

[Okay, son. I love you~]

“Me too~”

Dud.

The call ended, and once again, silence descended.

※Horror Movie Cliché: Being left home alone on the day of the incident for whatever reason.※

I glanced around the room with the phone in my hand.

This place seemed safe, but beyond this door, the house was filled with an eerie and inexplicable sense of ominousness.

I have to spend tonight alone in this ominous house?

Even though I’ve already confirmed through the system that I was already entangled in a ghost story?

‘This can’t be happening.’

I would never do something stupid like the main character of a third-rate horror movie.

I immediately turned on the phone in my hand and sent a KakaoTalk message to Sunah.

[Lee Joon: Sunah, I think I’ve encountered another ghost story. Could you come to my house?]

[Yoon Sunah: I’ll be there right away.]

* * *

After sending my home address to Sunah via KakaoTalk, I quickly changed my clothes and headed out the door.

There was no point in staying in the scary apartment alone, as it would only make me more anxious. Therefore, I decided to head to the entrance of the apartment complex to meet Sunah.

‘In this situation, the only person who can come running to help me without hesitation is Sunah.’

The other members were tied up with things like cram school, part-time jobs, or their own personal lives. Not to mention, they also have to be mindful of their parents.

The moment I put on my shoes and turned the doorknob to open the front door.

Click-

For some reason, the door wouldn’t open.

“What?”

Our apartment door lock was designed so that you have to enter a password to get in from the outside. However, from the inside, you just need to turn the door handle and it opens automatically.

But for some reason, it wouldn’t open no matter how much I tried.

“…..?”

After trying to turn the knob a few times, I reluctantly raised my hand to press the lock button myself. However, the moment my hand reached out to the door lock, suddenly I felt a wave of dizziness.

And when my vision cleared, there was no door keypad.

The square door lock mechanism with a lid, batteries, and a lock button.

It has vanished without a trace.

As if it had never been there in the first place, all that was left in that spot was the cold metal of the front door handle.

And the doorknob I was pulling had a small round keyhole.

What the hell, this is a nightmare.

I quickly stepped back and tried the two RC (Reality Check) methods Gyeongwon taught me. I wasn’t dreaming.

Worried that I made a mistake the first time, I checked again but the result was the same.

There was no door keypad, but instead, a keyhole was attached to the handle.

‘… A keyhole?’

Oh, I’m having dementia.

When did our apartment’s front door have a keyhole?

With a sense of hope, I put my hand in my pocket and felt a cold metal object.

‘… A key.’

Click-

At the same time, all the lights in the house suddenly went out.

And the door to my parents’ room behind me slowly opened with a creak.

Creeeeeak.

Step. Step. Step.

Thud. Thud. Thud.

The sound of something walking with extremely narrow strides, skimming against the floor.

Without thinking any further, I immediately shoved the key into the keyhole.

※Horror Movie Cliché: The key never works on the first try when you’re trying to escape.※

Click-

But it bounced back, like the strange resistance you feel in your hand when trying to push the same poles of magnets together.

The key could not be inserted into the keyhole, and instead, it was pushed to the side, stabbing into an entirely wrong place.

In a moment of panic, I dropped the key from my hand.

Clang-

The key rolled across the tiles on the floor of the shoe cabinet, making a metallic sound.

At the same time, someone approached me from behind while making a strange noise.

“Ugh…. Crack… Creak… Crack….”

Thud. Thud. Thud.

Shit, I’m going crazy.

Did I seriously drop my key now? Have I lost my mind?

I cursed everything in my head and bent down with lightning speed to pick up the keys.

Clang-

But the keys had already become a ‘bunch of keys’.

The bunch had about five keys hanging from a single hook.

Clang- Clang-

As my hands trembled, the keys clinked together, making a metallic sound.

Without even having the time to think about what was happening, I immediately shoved the first key into the lock.

Click-

It didn’t fit.

I immediately inserted the second key in.

Click-

F*ck, another mismatched one again.

I grabbed the third key and inserted it this time.

Click-

“Kkeuuk… eek… Creak… keueuuuk….”

It approached me slowly, making a sound as if it was choking on air.

My body trembled. I didn’t even have the courage to turn around as I was too scared.

That thing seemed like It was already halfway into the living room.

Click-

I immediately shoved the fourth key in, but none of the teeth fit.

Then I inserted the fifth key in, but the sizes were different so it wouldn’t fit.

Shit. What’s going on? I tried every key, but none of them fit?

“Uuuggghhh….”

Something crawled behind my back.

Ignoring the tension burning stiffly from the spine, I immediately tried inserting the first key again.

Click-

The handle finally turned.

Without hesitation, I left behind the terrifying breath of someone who had creeped up right to the back of my head, then opened the door and ran, racing down the stairs in a daze.

Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!

Huff, huff, huff…

Shit, shit…

Stop this now, stop it. Please.

***

I ran mindlessly all the way to the apartment entrance, only after arriving did I finally catch my breath.

Haa, haa, haaa.

“Huff, huff…”

What was that? That unreasonable situation just now.

What was I even doing in that situation?

Haa, haa.

“…..”

After my breathing returned to normal, I let out a sigh of relief, feeling grateful that I was alive. I raised my head and slowly muttered to myself.

‘…This is all cliché.’

In horror movies, the main character always drops the key while trying to escape.

No matter how many times you pick it up and try to put in the right key, the teeth never align perfectly on the first try.

It’s always this key, then that key, turning them one by one, and only in the most critical, life-or-death moment does the protagonist barely manage to escape.

Like a car ignition that never starts on the first try, it’s a cliché situation that’s always used in tense situations, almost like a rule.

“Huuu.”

The A-rank Special Ability Banality Manifestation.

Is this how it works?

‘What good does it have for me…?’

As I sat waiting on a bench near the entrance, I saw Suna, wearing a pink hoodie, and toddling toward me from a distance.

“Sunah.”

Seeing me wave my hand to greet her, Sunah’s expression changed to one of surprise, and she ran toward me.

“Joon!”

“Hi.”

As Sunah got closer, she softly smiled and looked down at me, who was sitting weakly while greeting her.

“Thank you for coming all the way here. Have you had dinner?”

“No, not yet…”

“Then, how about we grab something to eat and go in?”

Sunah nodded in agreement.

* * *

“……That’s how it is.”

“Oh my god…”

The convenience store near the apartment complex.

While shopping and holding plastic baskets in our hands.

“But is it really okay to go back home…? If you want, we could just eat outside…”

“It’s okay. You have come this far, so I’ll make something for you.”

I explained as I headed toward the vegetable section.

“I think it’s fine to go back home for now. In horror movies, the typical rule is to scare you once with a situation like this, and then when you go back with someone else, everything’s perfectly normal.”

“Typical rule?”

“I mean worldwide rule.”

“Oh, I see….”

Sunah nodded with a blank expression, perhaps finding my words a bit ridiculous. She then looked at me again with a worried expression.

“The ghost… Do you have any idea why…?”

“No, not yet…”

I sighed as I picked up a green onion.

“Dukhun sent me the instructions for seeing ghosts, and at lunch, we both tried it out. Other than that, I can’t think of anything else.”

“Then maybe that’s why ghosts appeared…?”

Sunah briefly glanced at the tasting corner, then hesitated before sharing her opinion.

“You said you saw something scary while doing that. Then maybe…”

“I thought that at first, too.”

I shook my head as I put two rice balls in the basket.

“But when I thought about it, that was just a method to check if there were any ghosts in the house.”

“…Yeah. That’s true.”

Sunah nodded, taking a step back to avoid the other woman who was shopping behind her.

“It’s not like we were summoning ghosts like we did during the Corner Game last time. We were just checking to see if they really exist. And if they do…”

“…it means there’s been a ghost in your house before today.”

“That’s right. That’s why it’s more of a problem.”

I quickly grabbed a piece of pork belly from the tasting corner with a toothpick and shoved it in my mouth.

Sunah followed suit and picked up one.

“My family moved in as soon as the apartment building was completed, so there’s no special story or secret attached to the building.”

“Then why did ghosts appear…?”

“I have no choice but to find out by going there again by myself. Should we pick some snacks?”

“How about bread…?”

Sunah pointed to the bread corner instead of snacks.

“Is the bread from the supermarket good? It looks promising, but the taste isn’t that great.”

“They taste okay…”

“Then let’s take a few. I’ll pay.”

“Thank you, thank you……”

Sunah’s small figure ran towards the shelf piled up with bread.

‘Thank you, thank you?’

I ended up bursting into laughter.

[T/N: The ‘Thank you’ was spoken in broken English. That’s why Joon laughed.]

* * *

“I’ll pack them, here…”

“Oh, thanks.”

While I was paying, Sunah put the items into a plastic bag from the store.

“Let’s go, this way.”

“Yeah.”

Sunah, holding the large plastic bag, followed with small steps.

That’s because she’s short.

“But this is the second time ghosts appeared in your house, right…?”

“Yeah.”

Is my luck that bad?

Haaa, I let out a tired sigh.

“For now, let’s take it easy and have dinner first, then we can figure out a solution step by step. Thank you so much for coming all the way here, really. Let’s keep the points of this time between the two of us.”

“Yeah…!”

Sunah strode ahead, walking briskly while holding the plastic bag.

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