Chapter 42
“What’s the point of these useless classes?”
“You heard about it just now. The class is about the mental health of the students or something?”
“I’m saying that’s ridiculous. How the hell is this different from a Wee class[1]?” Jun-Hyuk grumbled.
All classes in the morning today were replaced with an unidentified class called Landscape Viewing and Nature Observation.
They said it was for students' mental health welfare, depression prevention, etc., but I didn't listen to it properly, so I couldn't remember the exact details. If the purpose was to prevent depression, I'd rather they let us rest at home. I had no idea why they dragged us all the way to Eiden Hill and forced us to hike.
“Wow~ Seeing the trees just comforts me. It feels like seeing the suicide prevention sign on Mapo Bridge.” Jun-Hyuk said with a bright smile. His tone was openly sarcastic.
Jun-Hyuk's words went through one ear and out the other ear as I admired the landscape of Eiden Hill. When I cleared my mind and observed the scenery, it was reasonably good. I wasn’t really sure if it helped prevent depression, though.
I walked through the hill while thinking about this and that. Various children were complaining while hiking up the hill, just like us. Among them, there were also faces I had never seen before.
“Are they students from another class?” I asked while glancing at the students passing by. Since there were so many students, even if they were in the same grade, if they were from a different class, it was common not to know each other.
"Uh. He’s from the Class of Patience. That guy is from the Class of Patience too. Ah, the kid who just passed by is from the Class of Kindness.”
“Three classes are doing this together? Really?”
"Yup. Our class, Class of Patience and Class of Kindness. A grand total of three classes! Almost three hundred students are wasting their time here!” Jun-Hyuk sarcastically remarked with a raised voice as if he was dumbfounded. It seemed like he did not like this class very much.
Of course, I also had the same thoughts as Jun-Hyuk at first. However, as I walked across the hill while observing the landscape, it felt like my complicated thoughts were being sorted out. That meant that it really did have a positive effect.
While staring blankly at the stones that were rolling down the hill, Jun-Hyuk asked, “By the way, did you ask about that?”
“Ask about what?”
Jun-Hyuk often tried to express everything with a single pronoun, ‘that.’ It was the same habit as Uncle Jin-Sung. He wasn’t even that old, so why was he like this already?
“That thing from last time. You know, the thing that I said to ask Jin-Seo.”
I roughly knew what he was referring to. He seemed to be referring to that day when Jin-Seo hit Jun-Hyuk’s face until it got swollen.
“I haven’t asked yet. I haven't talked to her lately.”
It’s not that I haven’t talked to her, it’s that I haven't encountered Jin-Seo recently. Although, I didn’t really remember well in the first place.
"Really? If you ask her, the reaction will be staggering—"
“Ask what?”
A clear voice rang out from nowhere and caused Jun-Hyuk to abandon the rest of his sentence. Just like that, Jun-Hyuk became a vegetable. Countless beads of sweat formed on his forehead. The exceptionally exaggerated sound of gulping and swallowing could be heard. Jun-Hyuk eventually turned his stiff neck as if he was forcibly twisting his head and smiled brightly. N0v3lVerse hosted the premiere release of this chapter.
"Haha. What brings you here...”
His face was pale, and a forced smile was plastered on his mouth. It was a very bizarre expression.
“Ask what?” Jin-Seo stared at us with an empty expression on her face and repeated the same question.
Just like that, she strode straight toward us. There was no sound in her steps and no change in her expression. In that single moment, it felt like time had come to a complete stop.
“Huh? Hey! Below your feet!” Jun-Hyuk immediately pointed below Jin-Seo's feet and shouted. Jin-Seo stiffly halted on the spot.
There was nothing beneath her feet.
"Okay. Don't come any closer. Let's talk from here.”
“...So, ask what?”
It was Jun-Hyuk's ploy to widen the distance, but it seemed to only anger Jin-Seo. The wind was chilly.
“I heard that Jun-Hyuk said something about me at the training center,” I intervened before the atmosphere got any worse.
Jun-Hyuk's and Jin-Seo's faces hardened at the same time. However, the way they hardened was different. Jun-Hyuk’s face felt like it had hardened due to fear and a feeling of betrayal. And as for Jin-Seo... Her expression was difficult to pinpoint and explain.
“Did Jun-Hyuk really do that?” I asked.
"Yes. He said that if you asked, the reaction would be fun,” she said.
"Is that right?" I responded.
Jin-Seo glanced at Jun-Hyuk. Jun-Hyuk’s shoulders trembled.
“Are you coming to the training center today?” she asked.
"No? Starting from yesterday, I decided to go somewhere else,” Jun-Hyuk answered.
“That’s a shame, ” she laughed. Jun-Hyuk also laughed along, but it was somewhat of an uneasy laugh.
Somehow my intervention seemed to make the situation more complicated.
Jun-Hyuk rushed over to me and hurriedly whispered, “You crazy bastard...! You have to ask her when I'm not here...!”
"Why? This is more fun.”
“Wow, I can’t believe I called you a friend...!”
For Jun-Hyuk's safety, it was right to ask in his absence. But I thought it would be much more fun to just ask here. The reality was that it really did create a more interesting situation. I was satisfied with this.
Behind Jun-Hyuk, who was frantically complaining with his eyes wide open, Jin-Seo was staring intently at me. When I looked at her, she quickly turned her head to avoid eye contact.
“So, what exactly did you say?”
As is often the case with ghost stories, if one started thinking about it logically, they were implausible. But that was also why they were fun.
“Well, in any case, whether it’s a ghost or a devil, they say that if you look at that thing, your grades will go up. There is also another anecdote related to this.”
"Go on."
“The three kids did the test of courage to see the devil after a late-night study session that ended at 10 p.m.” Jun-Hyuk lowered his head and made an eerie expression to set the mood. “You usually can’t see even after nine o’clock because it’s so dark, right? They say it’s a hill, but it’s more or less in the mountains.”
"Right."
“You can’t see anything ahead, and strange noises can be heard everywhere. So the three stuck together and talked to each other because they were scared. They talked about funny things, and they also talked about who they liked.”
I listened quietly without answering. As I turned my head to glance at Jin-Seo, her body trembled. It seemed like Jin-Seo was listening to Jun-Hyuk's story while pretending not to be interested.
“But then suddenly, the three voices became four.”
Flash.
At that time, light filled my vision. It was as if lighting had landed right in front of us and released a flash of light. The flash seemed to work as a directing technique as part of Jun-Hyuk's play. That’s how perfect the timing was. A short scream came from behind.
“So one of them said, ‘Hey, who just said that?’ And then there was no answer.”
"Holy... That’s scary!"
“Right? They were also suddenly scared too, so they all just ran towards the school. But the voice they heard from behind kept screaming and chasing after them. Do you know what the voice said?”
"Come play with me!"
"Huh? Have you heard this story before? Hey man, then you should have told me. I’ve wasted my breath for nothing.”
It was the first time I had heard of this story.
Jun-Hyuk had been talking excitedly when his face suddenly hardened. “...Who just said that?”
He looked around nervously. At first, I thought it was Jin-Seo, but no matter how much I thought about it, it didn’t match her tone.
Jin-Seo, like me, was looking around her as if something was odd. There was a little fear in her eyes.
Jun-Hyuk was fiddling with his arm as if he was getting goosebumps, and he opened his mouth with a hearty laugh.
"Ha ha ha. You’re pulling a prank, right? I just got goosebumps–”
"Come play with me!"
A voice could be heard. It was a voice that was as innocent as that of a child. The faint smile that remained on Jun-Hyuk's lips completely disappeared.
Let's play, let's play, let's play...
The voice echoed and filled the area. The sound was coming from above.
I slowly raised my head up.
Two birds were sitting on top of a branch.
One was a parrot. It was a parrot only in appearance, but in terms of size, it was no different from an eagle. Its beak was sharp like a blade. It seemed like the sound was from the parrot.
The other was a finch. It was also the size of an eagle. No, it seemed bigger than an eagle. The beak was stubby and pointed and was stained red with blood.
Both had black feathers and pure white eyes. The birds looked at us and tilted their heads for a while, then spread out their huge wings as they wanted to show them off. Then, it sharpened its beak and launched itself us.
Swoosh–!
Its sharp, pointy beak rushed at Jin-Seo and Jun-Hyuk in an instant. There was no time to resist or escape. The birds were too fast. It was to the extent that it was difficult to follow with the eyes.
Snatch.
“Ohhhh?!”
"Oh."
The birds that were rushing forward landed softly in front of them and bit their collars like tigers carrying their young. Just like that, the birds kidnapped Jun-Hyuk and Jin-Seo and lifted them into the sky.
"Ah."
They were getting further and further away as the birds’ beaks held them up by their clothes. All I could do was watch as I let out a stupefied sigh.
It didn’t feel real. It felt like the sight in front of my eyes was all a dream. It would be more appropriate to say that I wished it was a dream.
The appearance of giant bird-type demonic beasts.
The kidnapping of Jun-Hyuk and Jin-Seo.
All of this happened so suddenly, basically in an instant.
The dark clouds that were starting to form were half-obscuring the sun, causing darkness to permeate the forest. The darkness was piling up everywhere.
"Hey!"
Then, through the darkness, a sharp, gruff voice leaked out. Someone was running this way. I couldn't see who it was because they were covered in darkness.
To be precise, I couldn't tell who it was because my consciousness was hazy. I still hadn't come to my senses yet.
[Are you just going to watch? If you don't do anything now, it will be difficult later.] Legba said calmly. His tone was so dry and stark that I couldn't feel any emotion. It felt like he was speaking not because he was worried about me but rather it was like he was just reciting his feelings in a third-person perspective.
It woke up my mind. It didn't matter who was running towards me or what the weather was like. All I had to do was find the best choice to make in this situation.
There were many choices, but there was only one correct answer.
“Bossou.”
1. Refers to some sort of mental health counseling program in Korea: https://www.wee.go.kr/eng/cms/cmsCont.do?cntnts_sn=123.