I Became the Hidden Mastermind

013 – Ghost Story of the 31st Student #3

013 – Ghost Story of the 31st Student #3

“Bullying is occurring in Class D.”

Upon receiving this note, I wasted no time in devising a plan.

First, I tore up a notebook and hastily scribbled on a piece of paper!

『Hidden Quest in Class D!』

『When the minute hand of our classroom clock reaches the exact time 10 minutes before the end of class, simultaneously input the phrase written here, “example,” into the group chat.』

『Example: The sunlight was licking the leaves vividly.』

『If all 29 members of the group chat input the example at the correct time, each person can obtain 300,000 won in cash.』

『Caution – Under no circumstances should the content or existence of this hidden quest be mentioned in the group chat.

If the hidden quest is mentioned in the group chat or there is non-compliance with inputting the example, the hidden quest will automatically fail.』

『If you have confirmed the above content, please sign next to your name below.』

You little ghost in the group chat!

You didn’t know this, did you?

A digital ghost cannot defeat an analog human, right?

It aligned with the notion that a digital girlfriend is inferior to a real girlfriend.

“….”

I looked at the contents written in the notebook once again.

The biggest issue was whether the Class D guys would actually participate in my proposal.

So, I staked 30,000 won per person as a strategy.

In an era where high school students have an average monthly allowance of 80,000 won, getting 30,000 won for free?

Honestly, I can’t resist this.

I also had the confidence to jump for joy if someone gave me 30,000 won for free.

The problem is that I’m the one giving the money….

But that wasn’t a big problem for me right now.

If this rumor is resolved successfully, I’ll receive more points.

Then I can open the “bank” in the lock section, exchange the points for cash, and distribute it to the kids.

Shoo-.

I turned the paper over to the side.

There’s about 25 minutes left until the end of class.

I wondered about the atmosphere in the group chat, so I checked, and it was still in a panic.

Is it an error or a bug, etc.

Was there a better way?

I briefly got lost in thought while looking at the notes that were being passed around. Honestly, I was quite uneasy because it was something I came up with in a hurry.

How many people can stay calm in a situation where everyone might die?

I couldn’t calm down easily when I thought that the lives of all the students in Class D depended on me.

Swoosh-.

The paper that had been circulating finally came back to me.

“An Yeong-mi: Confirmed”

“Baek In-bae: 30,000 won”

“Lee Jin-seong: s*x”

“Cheon So-yeon: Confirmed”

“Jeongseok: Confirmed.”

“Kim Geon-ho: I don’t know who you are, but if you don’t pay, I’ll kill you all. Do it properly.”

.

.

.

“Hayoungwon: “

In the classroom, only my name at the back was left blank.

Everyone had diligently signed and put their seals, quite robustly.

It was good that Kim Geon-ho, greedy for money, had threatened the others.

Now that Kim Geon-ho had driven in the nail, no one would dare to mess around.

Indeed, it was a wise decision to put money on the line!

“Wait….”

As I looked at the list of 29 names, excluding Yang Ju-hee, I realized an important fact.

…Upon closer inspection, it wasn’t just my name left blank!

“Jeong So-jin: “

Oh, damn it!

The teacher said something about Jeong So-jin going to the nurse’s office earlier during class!

Ugh!

I quickly glanced at the clock.

20 minutes left.

To the infirmary, I’ll get there in 5 minutes!

“Teacher! I need to use the restroom! It’s urgent!”

Swoosh-.

I quickly got up from my seat and swiftly exited the classroom.

Thud-thud-thud-!

Thanks to the legs trained to run for Yang Joo-hee’s bread, I had no trouble running all the way to the infirmary.

Swoosh-.

As I opened the infirmary door and stepped inside, the interior, where the curtain fluttered in the spring breeze, caught my eye.

I advanced into the scent of disinfectant and found Jung So-jin lying on the bed.

“So-jin, hey, can you read this and sign it for me? Quickly! We’re running out of time!”

“….”

The class president, So-jin, who was lying on the bed, half-raised her body after seeing the paper and pen I offered, furrowing her brows.

“I don’t want to. Are you trying to ostracize me with this? Are you planning to conspire against me and make me an outcast while I’m in the infirmary? I know everything.”

No, what is she talking about now!

Was So-jin always like this?

“What are you talking about! Why would people ostracize you, So-jin!”

“Everyone hates me! Because I study well and I’m pretty. They’re all jealous and dislike me, especially the girls. I’ve known it all along, actually. That people are jealous and dislike me.”

I knew why So-jin was acting like this.

『Jung So-jin:《Persecutory Delusion》 – The parallel lines of dreams and reality that should never meet have inevitably crossed. Are the whispers in the ears just dreams? Or…』

The wall embedded in Jeong Sojin, “Delusional Damage,” must have created this situation.

Has the wall that accumulated in the nightmare corridor now rolled towards me like a snowball?

If I can’t get Jeong Sojin’s consent for this operation, maybe if I know Jeong Sojin’s chat room number, I can somehow make it work.

“People hate me. I… I hate going to school. I’m going to drop out. And maybe just take the GED….”

Jeong Sojin seemed so disheartened that it didn’t seem like she would easily tell me her chat room number.

It feels like a snail firmly hiding between the shells.

“Hey! Jeong Sojin! Snap out of it! People don’t hate you! They hate me! I’m also going to school, and if the class president like you says that, what does that make me!”

A situation where Jeong Sojin’s help is desperately needed.

I looked at the remaining time until the end of the class, not even 13 minutes.

Nothing can be done now!

“Status window.”

『Open by clicking on the Treatment Center ◀』

『Use 100P to treat the wall.』

I dragged Jeong Sojin’s name from the player list and put it in the treatment center.

I currently have 111 points.

I had saved points in preparation for the bizarre attack like a witch, but if I don’t treat Jeong Sojin’s wall now, we might all die.

『The wall “Delusional Damage” has been treated.』

The wall has been treated!

Now, only persuading Jeong Sojin is left!

“Jeong Sojin, can you see this? These letters here! Look at this! This! Don’t you want 30,000 won too!?”

“I hate it… I’m an ugly bug.”

Oh, for f*ck’s sake.

The barrier clearly should have been cured! Yet, he still hasn’t snapped out of it!

Come to think of it, when I cured the 《Ghost Possession》 barrier, my mind was briefly foggy.

Did the police sirens finally wake him up?

We need a big shock!

Thunk-!

I reached out and slapped Jung Sojin’s cheek.

A pretty loud sound echoed, and behind the disheveled glasses, Jung Sojin’s eyes widened.

“Snap out of it! You’re not a bug! I need your help!”

“….”

Tick-tock, tick-tock, tick-tock.

Around the time the clock in the infirmary became noisier.

Jung Sojin’s gaze, as if gradually regaining consciousness, shifted to the paper I extended.

Now, there’s approximately 2 minutes left.

Jung Sojin looked at his own phone.

I had already written down the example sentence in the group chat, feeling like, ‘Do as much as you can.’

「The sunlight vividly licked the leaves.」

“Sojin. The D-class clock and the infirmary clock will tick differently. When everyone starts chatting wildly, quickly input something similar.”

Woooooong-.

The sunlight vividly licked the tree leaves.

The sunlight vividly licked the tree leaves.

The sunlight vividly licked the tree leaves.

The sunlight vividly licked the tree leaves.

….

In the group chat, identical characters began to rapidly appear.

Now’s the time!

The scroll quickly ascended in an instant.

There was only one number that hadn’t entered digits.

“30: Number 4. Is it you?”

“4: It’s us.”

… “They caught on”?

Number 4 readily admitted their identity.

Just when I wondered what would happen next, words appeared before my eyes.

“Congratulations! You have won in the ‘Death Game’!”

“The settlement for the 29 surviving players will begin.”

“You acquire 290 points.”

# # #

“Oh?”

Settlement for the 29 surviving players!

Did 2900 points just appear…!?

I was so surprised that I couldn’t say a word.

But the points that came in were 290 points.

“Huh?”

Wasn’t it supposed to be 100 points per person when breaking a monster?

290 points were indeed a lot, but I couldn’t help but feel a bit disappointed.

It seems that different points are applied for each defeated monster.

Maybe there’s a difference in difficulty….

Well, now that I think about it, this “Death Game” I just defeated was easier than “Ajuumagwi”.

Now that I think about it, Number 4 said at the very beginning, “4: Anyway, I invited everyone in our class except for Yang Joo-hee lol.” He was the host who invited everyone and also a monster.

“Number 4 has left the chat.”

“Number 22 has left the chat.”

“Number 11 has left the chat.”

The group chat is also being destroyed smoothly.

It’s all over.

No, now I had the post-processing time left where I had to give 30,000 won to the people who participated in this operation.

Honestly, it was a bit of a waste of money… Eating and running away with the money here was the worst move.

Who knows how many times something like this will happen in the future.

There may be times when I need the help of the kids in the class like this, but it would be troublesome in many ways if they think, “Oh, you’re not gonna pay for that, are you?”

I needed to give the kids an “experience”.

Hidden Quest completed, receiving rewards.

I sacrificed 100 points to unlock the “Bank.”

『Would you like to withdraw 90P?』

『Yes/No』

Let’s withdraw 90P just to test it out.

Whoa-.

『Remaining balance – 111P』

『Check your locker.』

Locker?

Are they talking about my school locker?

I was eager to find out what had happened.

I should go back to the classroom.

“Yeongwon.”

As I was about to leave the infirmary, Jung Sojin called me from her bed.

Jung Sojin’s cheek was swollen and red, and only then did I realize that I had slapped her cheek earlier.

I guess I didn’t control my strength well.

I hope this doesn’t lead to any unnecessary trouble.

“Yeongwon, what did you learn in math class today?”

“….”

But it seemed that Jung Sojin was somehow interested in what I learned in the first class today, despite me not attending the class.

“Sojin, I’m in a hurry so I’ll be going now… um… I have to go buy bread for Yang Ju-hee.”

Whoosh-.

I left Sojin behind and hurried out of the classroom.

I could hear Sojin calling me from behind, “Hey-.” But right now, that wasn’t important to me.

I quickly went to the classroom and glanced at my locker. Inside, I could see a thick, white envelope! Amazing!

Should I… distribute this to the kids just like this?

No.

If I distribute the money, everyone will know that the person who issued the mission and riddles is me, Hayeongwon.

Then things will get really complicated.

“Hey, Hayeongwon, do you have money? Give me some.” If all the kids in the class come to me like that, it will become a mess.

It’s better for me to hide my identity if possible.

That’s why I left my name blank on the “Hidden Quest Note,” so it wouldn’t look like I wrote it.

“Hmm.”

I thought about what I could do and decided to write a note on the envelope.

“To Vice Class President Jeongseok. Divide 30,000 won each among the kids. From the Hidden Quest issuer.”

Vice Class President Jeongseok.

A guy with a criminal record.

As I passed by his desk, I discreetly put the envelope inside.

About five minutes passed.

“Hey, kids. I’ll give each of you 30,000 won.”

Oh-.

The children were buzzing with excitement at the assistant manager’s story.

“Awesome!”

“I wonder what kind of surprise it was!”

“Seriously, 30,000 won!”

In the midst of the thrilling excitement, Yang Joo-hee didn’t quite fit in.

“What’s this? Trying to avoid us like this? The D-class kids are really childish.”

Yang Joo-hee, who wasn’t in the group chat, seemed puzzled by the situation.

I felt the same way.

My 840,000 won…

If I try to refresh my mood and do some mind control, I actually gained a lot.

Points increased, and I could find someone to push.

Swish-.

Looking at the assistant manager Jeong Seok, who was coming to hand me 30,000 won, I whispered quietly to myself.

“Hey, Jeong Seok. It’s you. The one who wrote the note about avoiding in D-class. Don’t even think about denying it. There’s already evidence.”

The “report note” and the “signature of the hidden quest” he wrote.

There’s quite a strong connection between them.