I Became the Hidden Mastermind

014 – The Dancing Ghost with a Smiling Face # 1

014 – The Dancing Ghost with a Smiling Face # 1

“Hey, Jeong Seok. It’s you. You wrote this note.”

Swoosh-.

In a voice audible only to the sub-leader Jeongseok, who shared the money, I asked.

The gaze of the sub-leader Jeongseok, looking at the photo taken on my phone, flickered like a candle in the wind.

“I don’t understand what you’re saying.”

Sub-leader Jeongseok was evasive.

He didn’t want to be caught revealing that he was the one pushing.

I completely understood his reluctance.

He must have seen what Kim Geonho said, “Find out who wrote the note.”

What did Kim Geonho intend to do by identifying the pusher?

Obvious.

Because they didn’t like it, everyone was either watching or sympathizing with the bullying in Class D.

“I don’t know anything about you having the same handwriting.”

Swoosh-.

I showed Jeongseok’s signature on the Hidden Quest, which read, “Confirmed.”

It was neatly written, as if typed on a computer.

Finding the pusher by handwriting – I was inspired by Teacher Kang Haneul to use this simple yet methodical approach.

Teacher Kang Haneul had said, “Eternity, you can’t write for your life, so you’re not the one who wrote this note.” So, I tried to find the pusher by handwriting.

It seemed easy to find someone who wrote so well, as if measuring their writing like this.

When I was contemplating how to compare the handwriting of the students, “Classroom Death Game” attacked us, and thanks to that, I was able to collect the signatures of the students in the class.

Seizing the Crisis -!

Reversal -!

These words perfectly suit the current me.

“What are you saying? What does the handwriting matter? Don’t pick a fight for no reason.”

There’s a point to it -.

Of course, Vice Captain Jung Seok was still sulking.

Does Lawyer Lee Ha Young Won think that the “evidence submission” is insufficient?

“There’s more evidence. Look at this.”

Accept it -!

I pointed out with my hand the commonality in the remaining notes and signatures, excluding the handwriting.

Upon seeing that, Jung Seok shuddered his shoulders as if he had unearthed clues to the crime.

“Hey, Vice Captain. Do I really look like Pikachu just because I imitated Pikachu under Kim Geon Ho? You underestimate me too much.”

I am Ha Young Won, the library committee member of Class D.

I’ve read a lot of books, enough to boast about being a literary boy.

And people who read a lot of books inevitably end up writing.

Books -.

Even I have scribbled short stories, and there was a habit that formed during those times.

It’s a kind of barrier, and it’s scary, but when completing a sentence, I can’t stand it if I don’t put a period at the end!

Habits are truly frightening.

“An incident of bullying is occurring in Class D.”

The use of spelling and punctuation in this short sentence was perfect.

The Hidden Quest’s signature page was the same.

“Standard: Confirmed.”

While others casually scribbled or played pranks in the signature box, Standard, at least, neatly dotted even the period with a clean handwriting.

“Hey, you. You always put a period whenever you write a sentence. It’s like a barrier that those who’ve fairly written have. That’s something only you have in this class.”

Such details were absent in the old-fashioned guys from Yeongjigo.

However, with just this, it was true that there was not enough evidence to prove this guy’s guilt.

There’s no decisive item.

Still, Standard’s attitude was unusually flustered, and that alone could confirm what this guy was pushing for.

I said to that Standard.

“Hey. If you were going to write a denunciation like this, you should have changed your handwriting by writing with your left hand or something. Of course, you probably didn’t think about comparing handwriting or finding the one with the habit, but.”

“What…”

“Don’t be scared. Since you won’t tell anyone that you wrote it. If someone else asks, say it wasn’t you like just now. From now on, I’ll claim that I wrote this note. Got it?”

I called Standard to make sure he never revealed that he wrote the note. This was something I wrote. That way, I could discreetly and effectively shield Kim Geon-ho.

Ding-dong-dang-dong-.

The bell signaling the end of break time echoed through the classroom and corridors.

“Hey, Jung So-jin. Is your body feeling better now?”

“Yeah, Young-mi. Have I been acting crazy lately? Sorry. I’m fine now.”

Among the kids heading back to their seats, I followed Standard’s back.

Class President Jung Seok.

“What are you up to?”

# # #

May.

Warm spring.

It’s been roughly two months since the semester started, but I knew little about my classmates as I tended to keep to myself.

Jeongseok.

At first glance, he looked like a well-mannered guy, the typical handsome type. He was of average height for a first-year, excelled in sports like soccer.

Midterm grades… Was he fifth in the whole school?

He was the top student in our class – at least, that’s what they said.

But for me, he was just one of the indifferent bystanders, and I had no interest in this Jeongseok guy.

Mutual indifference.

It was fine that way.

However, I was curious about why this guy, who was indifferent like me, was now writing a note like this… I wondered.

uuung-.

At that moment, my phone rang.

Curious, I checked, and there was a message from “Jeong Sojin: ㅎㅎ.”

…Damn, what’s this?

Class had started, and the class president Jeong Sojin sent me a text.

Is this the beginning of a new torment?

Perhaps it was a retaliatory message for the incident when I slapped her in the dormitory.

“Jeong Sojin: What are you doing?”

“……”

Ah, she’s here again!

There was no doubt that this girl found pleasure in tormenting me!

I decided to reply briefly.

“Go to class.”

“Jeong Sojin: Liarㅋㅋ You were looking at your phone just nowㅋㅋ”

“……”

Hey, Jeong Sojin.

What are you trying to do right now?

How did you even know and save my number in the first place?

…Well, actually, it wasn’t strange for Jeong Sojin to know my number.

As the class president, she probably had something like a “Class Emergency Contact Network.”

I recalled how, at the beginning of the semester, Jeong Sojin was passing around a paper, asking the students to write down their phone numbers.

“A class president….”

As someone holding that position, she must naturally know a lot about the students in our class, right?

In this situation, I thought of using this opportunity to my advantage.

“Hey, do you happen to know what the vice class president Jeong Seok is up to?”

“Jeong Sojin: hahahaha, I know.”

The confirmation mark ‘1’ appeared so quickly that there was no time to spare.

This means that Jung Sojin has been constantly checking my private chat room!

It was both eerie and overwhelming, yet astonishing.

Jung Sojin: Seok is my cousinㅋㅋ What’s up?

Assistant class president Jung Seok was the cousin of class president Jung Sojin?

Now that I think about it, they both had the same last name.

Were cousins running Class D as the class president and assistant class president?

It’s like some kind of Fifth Republic.

Jung Sojin: Seok’s dad used to be a prosecutor, he’s a really scary guy, so don’t get caught doing anything bad later ㅎㅎㅎ

Jung Seok’s father used to be a prosecutor. Past tense?

That’s quite helpful information.

Jung Sojin: If you tell your dad that you hit my cheek earlier, you might be in big trouble ㅎㅎㅎ

Jung Sojin, this girl.

Even her jokes sent shivers down my spine, just in case.

“I don’t have a battery, so if I’m bored, I’ll contact my boyfriend.”

Jung Sojin: I don’t have a boyfriendㅎㅎ

Damn it!

Ssh-.

I covered my phone with the excuse of not having a battery.

I kept messaging with him because I felt like my lifespan was decreasing.

In a way, this was scarier to me than the strange things that happened to me.

Anyway-.

With that feeling, the day gradually came to an end.

“Hey! Geonho! Let’s go smoke! Or should we skip class? We even got 30,000 won!”

“No, we can’t. The substitute teachers have been patrolling lately.”

“Ha, this guy Kim Geonho. Why are you acting like such a coward these days?”

Today, more than ever, my day was peaceful.

Kim Geonho didn’t bother me like he usually did, and Yang Juhee, who was sitting behind me, didn’t give me any special attention or taunt me.

For me, it was a relief.

Since the first period, I’ve been fighting with “Death Game,” so honestly, my mental and physical strength has been drained.

Before I knew it, it was time to go home.

The frequency of Yang Juhee’s trembling body behind me increased.

Perhaps she was stressed about having to deal with the C-class students near the substitute teacher’s auditorium after school.

But I was confident that nothing would happen to Yang Juhee today.

# # #

“Hey, there’s a police car outside?”

“Why again? Is it because of the missing person case?”

“Oh, damn it. Is it because of the scam I pulled on Carrot Market?”

The police came to Yeongji High School.

No matter how much those troublemakers swaggered, they were still first-year high school students.

It was only natural that the atmosphere became peculiar with the arrival of the police.

In this kind of atmosphere, it would be impossible for the guys from Class C to bully Yang Ju-hee behind the auditorium.

Even if they were tough guys, with police cars at the main entrance, would they dare to cause trouble?

“Geon-ho, why are you so nervous?”

“Does this guy think we came to catch him and got scared?”

“…Just shut up, you punk!”

I looked at my phone, impressed by my own wisdom, as I checked the contact of the ‘senior police officer’ I obtained during the incident of the “Ajumma Ghost.”

I was also surprised that the police actually responded to the text I sent saying, “There might be an assault incident at school today.”

There were indeed trustworthy adults in the world.

As I passed by the main entrance, on the way home, just to see the police car, the familiar face of the police officer caught my eye.

What if he calls me over – what should I do? I might end up exposed as the one who reported to the police…? Then my remaining school life would certainly become troublesome.

I worried about that, but surprisingly, the officer didn’t call me over or stop me.

Soon, the vice principal came out in front of the school and greeted the police officer with a bow.

“Oh, Detective-nim. Thank you for your hard work! With you patrolling again, the school atmosphere feels safer! It’s the first time I’ve seen you since that incident the other day, right?”

“I’ll be patrolling like this more often from now on. There’s also a law saying that no additional incidents should occur—”

“Oh, sir, let’s discuss that inside.”

Right.

Well, I guess I can consider this as having protected Yang Ju-hee to some extent.

Tonight, I’ll go home and brainstorm some players to throw into the “Nightmare Corridor.”

It was when I was returning home along the winding alley with that kind of feeling.

Roaring sound -.

I saw a quite familiar group of students entering the alley.

A girl with short hair, wearing braces on her teeth, and seemingly about to burst out of her skirt, caught my eye.

Looking at the ankles with white socks in sneakers, she seemed like Bong Ji-yeon, the tyrant of Class C.

“Hey, damn it, be quiet and follow me. You’re done for today.”

Why is Bong Ji-yeon’s gang dragging someone into the alley?

Could it be Yang Ju-hee?

Glancing at the alley, I could see Bong Ji-yeon and someone else heading somewhere… I could see Jung Suk, the vice-president of Class D, with her! What is he doing there?

“What’s up with you again? Bong, do you know this guy?”

At that moment, someone grabbed my shoulder.

He was a male student I didn’t recognize, but I could tell he was from Class C.

“Oh, look who we have here. Isn’t he that Kim Geon-ho loser? While we’re at it, should we check his pockets? How much do you have?”

Are they going to take my money?

No way! I have money like blood earned through points in my wallet right now!

“What’s up? Look at this guy. Getting cocky, huh? Got a lot of money? How about we strip off all your clothes? Even your underwear? If you don’t want to get beaten, stay still. Attention. What’s wrong? Can’t do it? Let’s strip him, including his pants and underwear.”

Bong Ji-yeon opened her narrow eyes.

Chewing on a candy with her teeth wearing braces, it was chilling enough to give me goosebumps.

At a glance, I could tell. Bong Ji-yeon is not the joking type like Yang Ju-hee! She really intends to take off my pants and underwear!

Sss- My pants slid down pathetically.

I lost! That’s what I thought as it filled my mind.

“Hey!!! Bong Ji-yeon!!!”

Someone shouted loudly.

And then, what happened next was so sudden that I doubted my own eyes.

Thwack-.

Yang Ju-hee, who appeared from somewhere, ran vigorously and grabbed Bong Ji-yeon by the hair, slapping her cheek forcefully with her palm!

Slap-slap-.

“Kyaaak! W-what, what is this! What’s happening!”

A man mixed in, and one woman charging at five gangsters alone.

When I wondered if this was logically possible, I remembered the power that Yang Ju-hee had obtained.

“Yang Ju-hee: ‘Boiling Blood’ – Sometimes, the blood that burns like a blast furnace clouds judgment. Do you know that courage and anger stem from this heat?”

Yang Ju-hee had been agitated all day not because she was scared.

It was because she was furious due to her boiling blood!