Chapter 1329 – 1329. Ghost Romance
『✝You woke up from a severe sleep paralysis.』
My eyes snapped open.
I was lying in bed, just like when I first came to this world. I could see the ceiling with the fluorescent light turned off. It was the second time I was seeing it, so the ceiling still felt unfamiliar.
I lay in bed for a while. I never expected to see a bad ending right from the start.
‘I didn’t think the highest difficulty would be this bad… Does this mean the strategies I know are useless?’
Looking at the system and the choices, it was faithful to the original game, but the content was different.
‘My favorability suddenly skyrocketed earlier. Maybe the condition for a happy ending isn’t favorability.’
Of course, this was just a guess. I needed confirmation. I needed to check if the strategies worked or not.
『✝You must go to school by 9:30 AM.』
I got out of bed. I took a shower and changed into my school uniform. Sitting on the sofa, I looked at the kitchen with the dining table. Maybe it was because I wasn’t close enough. Even when I looked at the bread on the table, no choices appeared.
I walked closer to the table. Then, as if interacting, the world stopped, and choices appeared.
『1. Eat the bread.』
『2. Don’t eat it.』
I already knew what would happen if I ate it. I chose option 2.
『2. Don’t eat it. ✓』
The choices disappeared like scattering flower petals, and the stopped world started moving again. I stood still. I wondered if my body would move on its own like when I chose option 1… but nothing happened. Just in case, I grabbed the bread. The system didn’t stop me.
‘…Even though I chose not to eat it, I can still eat it? Should I try eating it? Maybe a different result will come out this time.’
After thinking for about 30 seconds, I made a decision. I decided to eat it. I needed to know what would happen if I reversed my choice.
‘It’s not like a kidnapping and confinement bad ending is painful enough to die from.’
Still, it would be better not to fall asleep if possible. I took a bite of the bread.
『✝You ate the bread on the table.』
『✝Oh no! It was bread with sleeping pills!』
『✝You fell asleep.』
When I opened my eyes again, my body was restrained, and Jida-hye was in front of me.
“Yujin-sunbae… I’ll take care of you for the rest of your life. Haa…”
Jida-hye, who had taken off her uniform and was now in her underwear, approached me with a dangerous look.
‘At this point, I wish I could just have sex with her…’
『✝Jida-hye’s favorability increases. Jida-hye’s favorability: 117』
『✝You realized that you will be captured by Jida-hye and confined forever.』
『✝Your vision went dark.』
『Starting over from the beginning.』
•••
『2. Don’t eat it. ✓』
I threw the bread into the trash can.
‘Bread with sleeping pills that make you fall asleep the moment you take a bite… How did Jida-hye get such a strong sleeping pill?’
When it was a game, I just accepted whatever came out, but now that I think about it, something is strange.
Jida-hye was a student. The only special thing about her was…
‘She’s possessed by a ghost. Is it the ghost’s power?’
Come to think of it, there were supernatural powers in this world.
I clicked my tongue and looked around the house. In the original game, there were a few special items. Depending on those items, the story progressed, and the strategies changed.
‘Found it.’
I took out a rod placed under the closet. It was a dark, rod-like object with a length and thickness similar to a recorder. At the end of the rod, the Korean word ‘Exorcism Rod’ was written.
It was the exorcism weapon used by the original protagonist.
‘It looks inconvenient to carry around… Ah, maybe!’
I shouted, looking at the air.
“Inventory! Bag! Backpack!”
But there was no response. I had no choice but to put the exorcism rod in my bag.
I left the house. I didn’t know the way to school, but I had money. I took a taxi to school.
Instead of going straight into the school gate, I stood in front of it and looked at the school. The cool morning air and the students entering the school. It was a scene that felt somewhat nostalgic. But there was no time to keep indulging in sentimentality.
That’s because I could see the ghostly energy lingering in the school.
The original protagonist was an exorcist born into an exorcist family. In other words, I had to do exorcism activities. What if I didn’t do exorcism? In the original story, the protagonist would be killed by a ghost, or the entire neighborhood would be massacred by ghosts, leading to the worst bad ending.
Also, leaving the ghosts alone would likely hinder the strategy. So, I had to clean them all up when I had the chance.
‘The reason I brought the exorcism rod is for exorcism, but… the exorcism rod is a basic weapon. I can catch ghosts in other ways too.’
I wasn’t a hardcore player of the original [Ghost Romance]. In terms of playtime, it wasn’t even 10 hours. But I had memorized all the strategies and know-how of the hardcore players through the internet.
‘First of all…’
Suddenly, the world stopped. The sound disappeared, and the students going to school stopped. The sparrow flying in the sky didn’t move as if it was frozen.
『1. Enter through the main gate.』
『2. Enter through the back gate.』
Two choices appeared.
The choices appeared out of nowhere, so I didn’t know what the result would be.
『1. Enter through the main gate. ✓』
I chose the main gate first. The stopped time started flowing again, and my body entered the main gate on its own. My body stopped only after reaching the school entrance.
I looked around.
Nothing happened even after looking around.
“Hey, hey, what kind of cruel joke of fate is this… I never thought I’d meet you here. Heh heh.”
I turned my head back at the annoying voice.
There was a pig wearing glasses staring at me. He was shorter than me, but his belly was as big as a mountain. I knew who he was right away. He was the protagonist’s friend, a common character in dating sim games. His role was to give the protagonist various advice.
His name was Shin Oh-jung. He was in the same class as the protagonist. He was even sitting right next to Shin Oh-jung. Shin Oh-jung was good with computers and interested in ghosts. His dream was to be a collaborator of an exorcist… In short, he wanted to leech off the protagonist.
“Shin Oh-jung… Can’t you do something about that annoying way of talking?”
“Hehe. This way of talking is my identity.”
“Identity my ass. Well, anyway, it’s good that we met. Lead the way.”
Normally, I wouldn’t even talk to a guy like him, but… Shin Oh-jung was quite useful. I could get a lot of information through him.
“You’re telling me to lead the way…? Well, it’s not a difficult task. As your collaborator, I will grant that request.”
“You little shit, seriously.”
“Hehe. You’re unusually prickly today. Yujin, the Six-Section Staff of Hell…”
“Six-Section Staff? What’s that? Don’t call me weird names.”
“Don’t deny your title.”
Title? That wasn’t in the original story. I frowned, and he took out his smartphone from his pocket.
“I knew you would react like that, so I collected evidence beforehand.”
“Evidence?”
“The moment the Six-Section Staff of Hell was born… It was a truly thrilling moment.”
He showed me a picture by operating his smartphone.
It was a picture of me. It was a picture of me wielding the exorcism rod at the delinquents. The exorcism rod, as well as me and the delinquents, were all covered in blood. I was sure that it wasn’t my blood.
‘This guy was originally a bullied loser. In the original story, the protagonist saves him…’
The reason why the protagonist and Shin Oh-jung become friends. Maybe this was it.
“Meat ‘Yuk’ (肉), to judge ‘Dan’ (斷), rod ‘Bong’ (棒)… Yukdanbong. Your reputation has already spread around here. You should be careful. There’s talk that the bullies don’t have a good impression of you…”
“To judge ‘Dan’ and rod ‘Bong,’ what are you talking about? You made up those names, didn’t you?”
“Hehehe.”
“This little shit, seriously.”
I was about to kill him, but I stopped. Even if I were to kill him, I should kill him after using him.
Shin Oh-jung started walking ahead and opened his mouth. He liked to chatter… or rather, he liked to show off by talking about the information he knew.
“Did you know? The owner of the O-B convenience store was murdered this morning. I saw it on my way here, the police were all over the place.”
“O-B convenience store?”
“The convenience store near the back gate.”
“Ah.”
The back gate.
The choice that appeared must have been because of the murder case.
‘Since an event appeared, it’s not an ordinary murder case. Damn it. There was no murder case in the original game…’
I just hoped it wasn’t something related to capturing the heroines.
“The strange thing is that there are no traces of the culprit. It’s definitely a murder, but there are no traces of the culprit at all. There are no fingerprints, of course, and the culprit wasn’t caught on CCTV or black boxes. The CCTV installed inside the convenience store only shows the scene of the convenience store owner being murdered. There are no traces of the video being manipulated, of course.”
“Oh, really? But how do you know that?”
“I secretly eavesdropped on what the detectives were saying.”
“Those detectives. They’re doing a sloppy job.”
“In my opinion, it seems like the work of a ghost… What’s your opinion as an expert?”
“How did they die?”
“They were killed by a long sword.”
“A sword like a Japanese sword?”
“Yes.”
“Then it must be the work of a ghost.”
“…Are you going to get involved in this case?”
“Why would I? I haven’t even received a request.”
“This is the third murder case. If we leave him alone, there will be more victims.”
“The police will take care of it.”
“No! You have to step up! The police are incompetent! They’re tax thieves!”
Shin Oh-jung started ranting about the police for a long time. I just let his words flow by. Before I knew it, we arrived at the classroom. Class 4 of H grade.
Shin Oh-jung sat in his seat and opened his bag, taking out a triangle kimbap and munching on it. I sat on the window seat to the left of Shin Oh-jung. I put my hand in the desk drawer and took out a textbook. There was a textbook with my name on it.
‘This is my seat.’
Munch munch munch munch munch.
I turned my head to the side at the annoying sound. Shin Oh-jung had already eaten six triangle kimbaps. I narrowed my eyes. I could see a ghost behind Shin Oh-jung. Compared to its skinny arms and legs, its abdomen was abnormally protruding, and half of its face was drooping with its mouth. It was a hungry ghost (Gaki).
‘This guy is possessed by a ghost too.’
It was quite serious.
The hungry ghost appears after the mid-point of the original story. And it only appears in the most difficult route, the exorcism route.
‘As expected of Super Man difficulty, is it forcing me into the exorcism route?’
Fortunately, I knew a simple way to deal with the hungry ghost.
“Shin Oh-jung. I’m starting an exorcism ritual during lunch break. So, go out and buy some things later.”
“Hmm? Exorcism ritual?! Okay!”
Shin Oh-jung started munching on his 8th triangle kimbap.
