Chapter 8: Stuck at the Gate: The Truth of Possession

Seo Yi-han, the tallest and most athletic among us, and I tried to boost each other over, grunting with effort.

But the marble walls, slick from the drizzling rain, gave no purchase—we couldn’t even get a proper grip.

“f*ck! Who the hell designed this school gate? Is this the Blue House?”

I finally let out the curse I’d been holding back, soaked in the rain at this ungodly hour.

Seo Yi-han brushed his wet bangs aside and glared at the gate, his eyes tinged with irritation.

Kim Ji-ho had scavenged a wooden stick from somewhere and wedged it between the bars, prying at them like a lever.

“It’s going to break…” Yoon Soo-ah muttered.

No sooner had she spoken than the branch snapped and shot back, smacking Kim Ji-ho right in the face.

We tried every trick in the book for a long time. But the clock still read exactly 3:00, and neither the security company nor even an alarm sounded.

Seeing this, the kids’ faces colored with despair. Maybe it was because they’d harbored a hope that we might escape more easily than expected. Facing reality, they were rapidly sinking into a quagmire of despair.

“Waaah… sob… Mom…”

Kim Ji-ho clutched his reddened forehead and slightly askew glasses—injured by the stick—and began to sob.

With Kim Ji-ho as the starting signal, Han Bo-bae also started crying heavily. Even brave Yoon Soo-ah’s eyes were brimming with tears, but she bit her lip and held them back.

‘Is Seo Yi-han crying too?’

Seo Yi-han stood with his back turned, kicking the gate, so I couldn’t see his expression. But his shoulders weren’t shaking, and his breathing was steady, so he didn’t seem to be crying.

I was staring blankly at Seo Yi-han’s back when he suddenly spun around, our eyes meeting full-on.

To my surprise, he had a calm expression. When our eyes met, he smirked and trotted over. His damp curly hair even bounced, making him look exactly like a dog.

But how could he laugh in this funeral-like atmosphere? I lightly tapped his arm and scolded him.

“What’s so funny?”

“Because you were looking at me.”

“Do you have no fear or tact?”

“More than you, probably…”

Seo Yi-han rubbed his arm and muttered in a sulky voice. He was clearly mocking the way I’d scared the kids earlier with my explanation about the hour of the rat.

This cheeky bastard is picking on me. Though we’re supposedly the same age, I’m undeniably a twenty-year-old college student.

As I glared at him, Seo Yi-han bent down slightly to match my eye level. Damn it, I’m not that short, but my pride was wounded. Without realizing it, a sharp tone slipped out.

“Why are you bending down?”

“So you can glare at me comfortably.”

“Are you guys on a camping trip?”

Unable to hold back any longer, Yoon Soo-ah started hitting Seo Yi-han’s back with whacks. Afraid I might get hit too if I stayed, I quietly slipped away and escaped to Han Bo-bae’s side. Yoon Soo-ah’s hand was quite fierce.

When I came close, Han Bo-bae sniffled and grabbed my sleeve with trembling hands. She was a tiny girl, barely reaching my chest, crying pitifully like a hamster, which naturally softened my heart.

“…Are you okay?”

Just as I awkwardly reached to pat Han Bo-bae’s shoulder, Seo Yi-han suddenly covered his face with his hands and bowed his head. His broad shoulders trembled slightly.

As I watched in surprise, Seo Yi-han mumbled in a damp voice.

“Actually, I’m really scared too… But I thought if I showed it, it wouldn’t be okay…”

Seo Yi-han’s voice was already a deep, beautiful tone, but now it trembled and was soaked in sorrow, making it impossible not to feel pity.

And he had been holding it in, thinking he shouldn’t show his fear. Indeed, like a protagonist, he had a deep heart and was quite admirable.

I felt sorry for having scolded him earlier, so I approached and gently patted his shoulder. His firm shoulders twitched.

“Are you okay? Sorry for saying that earlier…”

“Where do you get off pulling that trick?”

…The atmosphere shattered completely at Yoon Soo-ah’s curse. What was she doing, picking on someone who was scared? As I glared at Yoon Soo-ah, she crossed her arms and snorted.

She tried to pull down Seo Yi-han’s hands covering his face, hopping around.

“Take your hands off. Let me see if you’re really crying!”

“What’s wrong with you? You were crying from fear just a minute ago too.”

I pointed out while hiding Seo Yi-han behind my back. Yoon Soo-ah’s face flushed red and pale. Meanwhile, the trembling of Seo Yi-han behind me grew more intense. He seemed upset.

Yoon Soo-ah retorted in a shrill voice.

“Who cried? And are your eyes just holes? Does that look like crying to you?”

“Jae-yoon’s eyes are big…”

Seo Yi-han lowered his hands from his face and said pitifully. Since we’d been in the rain continuously, there were no tear traces, but his eyes were red.

Yoon Soo-ah, who had been shining her phone light all over his face, opened her eyes in a triangular glare.

“Bullshit… Ah, fine. Anyway, Lee Jae-yoon. Do you… have any idea what’s happening here?”

She hesitated uncharacteristically, choosing her words to avoid hurting my feelings. She stumbled and hemmed for a while, then finally asked point-blank.

“What else? We’re possessed.”

At my neat answer, all eyes focused on me. To explain the series of events without revealing we’re in a game, there was no better term than ‘possessed.’

I continued, bearing the heavy gazes.

“Common sense says it’s impossible for all our phones to go dead at the same time, time to stop, and a normal school to turn into a den of ghosts, right? Just take it easy and think we’re possessed.”

“If we take it easy, isn’t that more of a problem…?”

Kim Ji-ho timidly interjected. But a single glance from me made him shrink back.

“Then what should we do from now on?”

Seo Yi-han, having returned to a fairly composed face, rested his chin on my shoulder and asked. Now that he’d stopped crying, why was he clinging to me? Gross.

I pushed Seo Yi-han’s head away firmly and sank into thought. How could I make them understand that we needed to exorcise six ghosts?

In this game, the ghosts that appear as bosses are broadly divided into two types.

One type is the vengeful spirits that retain memories from life. For those, the method of exorcism was to appease them, resolve their grudges, and send them to heaven.

So we had to do the grunt work of finding objects related to those ghosts’ memories. Both the first and second bosses were of this type.

The second type is the monster kind. According to the trailer video, foes of this type don’t require memory retrieval, making the grind easier than other bosses.

However, if we don’t find the exact sealing method, we can’t exorcise them. That’s the difference from the humanoid ghosts that could be talked through, meaning the choice of words was crucial.

I think the third boss, which I haven’t cleared yet, is of that type… I remembered receiving a stone piece with Chinese characters as a reward for clearing the second boss.

It was an item I didn’t get in the first round. Probably, it was dropped because it’s needed in the next boss fight.

Anyway, the introductory video clearly stated that the gate would open only after clearing a total of six bosses. But it would be weird to tell them straight up that we just need to catch six ghosts.

In the game, they just naturally did their own tasks… But now, there was no sign of that.

‘Ah, if only the system were visible to their eyes too.’

Then it would be convenient. They’d understand without me having to explain one by one.

Just then.

[You are the only one who can see this^0^]

[Quest: Convince your friends of the future actions!]

…I don’t know why, but it seems the system has a solid grudge against me. Otherwise, why would it use that f*cking emoticon that treats me like a fool… The round mouth shape as if telling me to wish for what I want was really irritating.

Moreover, as if it were constantly on the lookout for chances to f*ck me over, it kept appearing in difficult situations and giving me annoying quests.

Still, a quest is a quest. As I was pondering how to explain this, Kim Ji-ho hesitantly moved his lips.

“I heard that before the school was built, a shaman lived here… Could it be related?”

“No way. If it was a shaman who served the proper gods, no evil spirits would even dare to approach. Like the playground now.”

Even if it’s just a mere local spirit, strong enough ghostly energy keeps out weaker evil spirits. Let alone a land where a shrine once stood? That was impossible. How could mere evil spirits dare to invade a place where a god had lingered?

‘…No.’

Thanks to Kim Ji-ho’s helpful TMI, a good idea flashed through my mind. At times like this, I preferred that glasses-wearing weakling over the system. Though a bit pathetic, he was useful in these moments.

“It was probably a cult that invited in evil spirits as a false god. After the shaman left, the evil spirits attracted more evil spirits and grew in strength. We’ve been caught by those evil spirits and thoroughly possessed.”

“Th-then, how do we break the possession…?”

The reactions I expected came from the kids’ lips. I smirked inwardly and spoke like a con man.

“Remember the male ghost with the elongated jaw we saw earlier? And even though you can’t see it now, there’s something similar in that playground. There are a few ghosts stronger than ordinary ones in the school.”

“But…?”

“It’s impossible for average evil spirits to cause possession. It’s probably led by those few strong ones. So if we find and take them out, the possession might break.”

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