Chapter 1335 – 1335. Ghost Romance
The fire that started on the first floor of the apartment building quickly spread upwards. Acrid black smoke filled the sky, and the surrounding air was hot from the heat.
The sound of sirens echoed from the apartment. It was the fire alarm. I watched the apartment ablaze for a moment before stepping back. I hid behind a nearby tree. Students from inside the apartment rushed out in a panic.
And people who saw the smoke from outside the apartment began to gather, one after another. For them, the fire scene was a rare spectacle.
After a while, sirens wailed. Fire trucks had arrived. Firefighters fought the fire and rushed into the apartment building.
The apartment ghosts were powerless. Ghosts are weak against yang energy. In other words, they are weak against fire. With the entire apartment engulfed in flames, their power would weaken, and with people gathered outside, they couldn’t come out. The more people there are, the more yang energy they emit.
The moment they are recognized by dozens of humans, the ghosts would not be able to withstand the outpouring of yang energy and would die.
From the ghosts’ perspective, it was a hopeless situation.
At some point, I openly revealed myself and watched the fire.
“Kieeeeeeek!”
A scream came from the apartment.
The people around me were startled.
“It sounds like someone is still trapped inside…”
“Oh no…”
“Hopefully, everyone will be safe.”
People looked at the apartment with worried eyes. When a firefighter came out of the apartment carrying an unconscious person, the crowd cheered as if welcoming a hero.
I tilted my head skeptically. The scream I just heard was not human; it was a ghost’s.
『✝You have burned many ghosts to death.』
『✝Nearby ghosts are terrified by your absurd exorcism power.』
『✝Many ghosts have turned to ash. They will burn even in hell.』
『✝The ghost energy in this area has drastically decreased.』
After checking the notification window, I turned around.
Was it because the ghost energy had decreased? My steps towards home felt light.
What about the arson?
No problem.
The police in this world are incompetent, and I did everything after checking the existence of CCTV and everything else. There would be no evidence. Even if they suspect me, I can just deny it.
I went into Ji Dahye’s house. I spent the whole night having sex with Ji Dahye before going to school.
•••
“Hehehe. Sung Yujin. Do you know about the fire that happened at the dormitory apartment yesterday?”
As soon as I entered the classroom, Shin Ohjung approached me.
I couldn’t openly say that I was the cause of the fire, so I pretended not to know.
“No, I don’t. I’m not interested.”
“I figured. You’re only interested in exorcism.”
I wasn’t even interested in exorcism. The reason I was doing exorcism was to capture the heroines. The ghost energy had to be lowered to weaken the power of the ghosts possessing the heroines.
“Do you have any information related to ghosts?”
“There were rumors of ghosts appearing in the dormitory apartment that caught fire yesterday. One of the students using the dormitory has been having dreams of committing suicide every night. Another student said they saw a ghost standing in the hallway. There was also a student who fainted after seeing a long-haired ghost in the shower.”
“Now that the apartment has burned down, those ghost rumors will disappear.”
I said nonchalantly.
Shin Ohjung stared at me intently.
“…Did you perhaps set the apartment on fire? To exorcise the ghosts?”
“Hey, pig. Say something that makes sense. What kind of crazy person would set a fire to exorcise ghosts? That’s like burning down your whole house to catch a flea.”
“Hmm… I guess not. I was a bit sensitive because I got information that there were signs of arson. I apologize.”
Shin Ohjung bowed his head to me. I accepted his apology and pondered for a moment.
Burning down the whole house to catch a flea.
Isn’t it okay to burn a little to kill a flea?
“Do you have any other information about ghosts?”
“Hmm. Another murder happened yesterday.”
“The convenience store murder?”
“That’s right. It was committed by the same culprit as the convenience store murder. Last night, two taekwondo instructors were brutally murdered. Of course, there are no clues about the culprit this time either. The culprit wasn’t captured on CCTV or even dashcams.”
“Do you think it’s the work of a ghost again?”
“The culprit is openly committing crimes. Yet, the police haven’t even been able to gather any clues, let alone catch the culprit. It doesn’t make sense unless it’s the work of a ghost. It’s 120% the work of a ghost.”
Shin Ohjung said with a determined face.
He had a pretty good sense for someone who wasn’t an exorcist. But that was it. There was nothing Shin Ohjung could do. Gathering information about ghosts and actually exorcising them were two completely different things.
“So, the Hell’s Six-Section Staff… what are you going to do?”
“Don’t call me that. The culprit of the murder case… I don’t really have a way either. Even if it’s a ghost, I don’t know where it will act up. It’s hard to track.”
“I see… So, to exorcise a ghost, you have to encounter it first.”
“So, we have to deal with other ghosts first. We can’t exorcise a guy we don’t even know where he is.”
“If we leave him alone, there will be more victims.”
“Then what do you want us to do? I’m telling you again, we don’t know where he is. We can’t waste time chasing after someone we don’t know where he is. It’s more beneficial to exorcise other ghosts in the meantime.”
“Hmm… So, the problem is that we can’t pinpoint the ghost’s location…”
I glanced forward.
I looked at Yoo Semi, who was suspected of being the culprit in the murder case. The class president, Yoo Semi, was happily chatting with other students.
“Oh, right. Sung Yujin. I heard that Ji Dahye, one of the three beauties of our school, was absent yesterday and today. Is it related to you? You were also absent yesterday.”
“It’s not related.”
I said firmly.
The three beauties.
It was a term referring to the three heroines. Yoo Semi, Ji Dahye, and Seol Jiyoung. The school’s top beauties, or whatever, were common settings in dating sim games.
“Well, if you say so, then I guess so. So, what ghost are you going to exorcise today? There’s information that a water ghost appears in the school swimming pool.”
“A water ghost? It’s easy to deal with, so you do it.”
“…What, me?!”
“It’s simple. Just go to the swimming pool when the water ghost appears and spray a lot of disinfectant.”
“You’re saying you can exorcise a water ghost with chlorine? Are you serious?”
“I exorcised an asura with insecticide, so what’s the big deal?”
“Hmm. I see. But I’m not a professional exorcist. Shouldn’t you be doing this?”
Shin Ohjung was completely intimidated. He was sweating profusely with a stiff expression.
“Don’t be so weak when you said you’d be an exorcist’s manager. You can handle a water ghost on your own.”
“But… a ghost is a ghost. There’s no way a normal human like me can deal with it…”
“Water ghosts can’t come out of the pool. You can at least drop some chlorine in the pool from outside, right?”
“…I still can’t believe that you can exorcise a water ghost with just that… but I can’t not believe it since I experienced you exorcising an asura with insecticide. Okay. I’ll exorcise the water ghost today as you said. But just in case. I might fail, so I should write my will in advance…”
Shin Ohjung, holding a pen, began to scribble something in his notebook with a serious face. I ignored him and looked straight ahead. Today, I was planning to capture Yoo Semi.
•••
After school, I left the school with Yoo Semi. We headed to the city, not home. In short, it was a date.
Perhaps because I had a basic level of favorability, it was easy to seduce Yoo Semi. I just suggested we hang out outside of school, and Yoo Semi immediately accepted my offer. She didn’t even seem to doubt my words.
Yoo Semi, walking next to me, was smiling brightly.
“Yujin, it’s been so long since we went out like this… Let’s have fun today.”
“We can hang out together again next time.”
I put my hand on Yoo Semi’s shoulder. Yoo Semi flinched. She didn’t shake off my hand. Instead, her cheeks flushed slightly.
“Together again… Yeah. Just tell me anytime.”
“Do you have time? You’re in the kendo club, and you have to study too.”
“It’s hard to make a lot of time… but I can hang out for about 3-4 hours after school.”
“Oh, really? How long can you hang out today?”
She hesitated, looking at me.
“I, I can hang out as long as you want. I have a lot of time today…”
“You mean we can hang out until dawn? Right?”
Dawn.
Yoo Semi, startled by that word, nodded shyly.
“I’m okay if it’s with you.”
“Won’t your parents worry?”
“I can just say I’m sleeping over at a friend’s house.”
“Really? Then let’s have fun today. But first… I want to give you a gift… How about clothes? You’ll accept it, right?”
“Clothes? You’re going to pick them out yourself, Yujin?”
“I’ll pick out something pretty for you.”
“I’m looking forward to it. But do you have money?”
I took out my card from my wallet. I checked the balance at the school store, and I had quite a lot of money. It seemed to be money I earned through exorcism activities.
I took her to a clothing store in the city. To be exact, it was a women’s underwear store.
“H, here…!”
Yoo Semi was flustered. Her black hair, tied in a ponytail, shook violently.
Usually, it’s difficult for men to enter a women’s underwear store. No, it’s impossible. But if a woman is with you, the story changes. I grabbed Yoo Semi’s waist and confidently approached the female clerk. The female clerk smiled at us.
“Welcome. Are you a couple? You look good together.”
“Yes. I’m going to buy underwear for my girlfriend. Do you have anything sexy?”
We were wearing school uniforms, but we were adults. We weren’t going to be kicked out.
“Ah, there are many products you might like in that corner. I’ll help you.”
“It’s okay. I decided to pick it out and give it to her as a gift.”
“If that’s the case… I understand. The fitting room is over there.”
“Thank you.”
I took Yoo Semi, who was still stiff, to the sexy underwear corner. There were quite a lot of adult underwear.
I looked around and checked the CCTV. There were fewer CCTVs than the size of the store. There were many blind spots. I smiled with satisfaction.
“Semi, show me your underwear.”
“W, what?!”
“I’m curious about what kind of underwear you’re wearing right now. Can you show me?”
“I, if it’s your request…”
Yoo Semi swallowed and grabbed the hem of her skirt and lifted it up.
