I Became the Hidden Mastermind

002 – Abyss of the Boy #2

『Chapter 1. Beginning of the Nightmare Corridor.』

『Please select a player from the list.』

『You can choose up to 4 players.』

Since the status window appeared, it felt like a game-like situation.

The word ‘player’ made it even more so.

But “Nightmare Corridor”?

Just hearing the name gave a sinister feeling as if saliva was gulped down at the mention of it.

Doesn’t seem like a good thing, no matter how you look at it.

Is there no more detailed explanation?

As I stared blankly for a while, the words in front of my eyes came into focus more clearly.

『One day, when you woke up, you were lying in a dark corridor.

From that pitch-black corner, horrifying sounds are heard, and ominous signs are getting closer.

In this strange situation, you had no choice but to move your steps to survive and escape. Eventually, you reach a shocking secret and a bizarre taboo…』

…Feels like a real game explanation.

In terms of genre, it’s a horror game.

The number of players you can choose is four.

The names appearing in the player ‘list’ were all people I knew.

How could I get these four into the horror game called “Nightmare Corridor”?

It was only natural that my heart would pound with excitement in this unfamiliar situation.

I had been eagerly anticipating something like this to happen for the past two months.

It was a non-routine event that would completely shatter my daily life.

Even though the coveted “Hypnosis App” wasn’t there, if I were to be discouraged, it was clear that I would remain a punching bag in the future.

Not long ago, Yang Ju-hee asked, “Yeongwon, do you live with your mom alone? Does your mom come in late every day?” while trying to find out the location of our house.

Will our house become the hideout for the hoodlums?

Absolutely not!

I will protect my home and my daily life.

After much contemplation, I dragged and filled the spaces in the player’s list with names I knew well.

『Kim Geon-ho』

『Yang Ju-hee』

『Jeong So-jin』

I had thought about it in various ways, but these three names had to be fixed.

Now, I had to fill in the remaining one….

I carefully scanned the names entwined in the list.

Among them, there was even a familiar name.

I pondered to the point of wondering if my hair would fall out, and filled in the last empty space with a name.

『Hayoung Won』

It was my name.

It might be a somewhat reckless act, but if something were to happen because of me, I felt like I needed to see with my own eyes what would happen and what the outcome would be.

I also didn’t know why this strange “Status Window” had appeared in front of me, despite my attempts to ignore it.

The part that particularly caught my attention was the phrase “Eventually, you will reach a shocking secret and a bizarre taboo…” when describing the nightmare corridor.

“Well… so, what’s going to happen now?”

There were still 20 minutes left until lunchtime was over.

During this leisurely time, I looked around and focused on not missing any small changes.

But perhaps I was thinking too sensitively?

Nothing happened until lunchtime was over.

“…….”

There really was nothing out of the ordinary.

If I had to point out something that bothered me, it was that even though lunchtime was over and classes had started, troublemakers like Kim Gun-ho and Yang Ju-hee from Class D didn’t come into the classroom.

It wasn’t particularly surprising since Kim Gun-ho skipping class was quite common…

The strange thing was that even Yang Ju-hee and the class president, Jung So-jin, skipped class.

Wasn’t Jung So-jin extremely sensitive about her grades and record book? And Yang Ju-hee was also quite strict about managing her grades.

Tap, tap.

The history teacher in traditional Korean clothing hit the podium lightly and asked.

“Does anyone know where these guys are? Try calling them on your phones. Even if it’s Geonho, it’s absurd that our class president Sojin and Joohee are playing hooky during history class.”

Originally, using phones was against school policy, but due to the incident of a missing female student at the beginning of the semester, our school prohibited the use of phones and left it to individual discretion.

Some kids called the absentees, but no one answered.

Even after the next class and dismissal time, the kids didn’t return to the classroom.

# # #

“Hey, Hayoungwon. Did you tell the teacher that I’m bothering you?”

Thwack!

Feeling the pain from a blow to the back of my head, I regained my senses to find the petite tyrant, Yang Joohee, glaring at me.

“Are you intentionally ruining my life by messing up my records? You pervert!”

“What!? No, what nonsense is this? Why would I be a pervert?”

Thud!

Before I could finish, Yang Joohee’s fist struck my chest.

I gasped for breath, and a scream escaped me.

“Ah!”

Someone might say that a sturdy male student getting hit by a girl of the same age is making a fuss, but that was only said by those who hadn’t experienced Yang Joohee’s fist.

I was a somewhat delicate literary boy among male students─.

It was somewhat inevitable to shed tears when receiving punches from the bully Yang Joohee.

“Hayoungwon! Are you trying to ruin my life? I know everything! I know it all! You jerk! Give me back my life! My life! I wanted to succeed and get out of that damn house corner!”

Thud, thud-thud!

Yang Joohee relentlessly struck my torso with her fists.

I felt like I was running out of breath and had no choice but to desperately defend myself.

“…What are you talking about! Why would I ruin your life! I didn’t do it!”

“Really? Are you willing to bet everything?”

“Really! I’ll bet everything!”

Swish-.

Only then did the fist that mercilessly struck me come to a halt.

But Yang Ju-hee still had a furious look on her face, like a goblin, and horns had grown on her head.

“But still, isn’t it only right for you to take responsibility for my life? Take responsibility like a man.”

“Responsibility? What responsibility should I take?”

“You pervert! You always stared at my legs! Because of you, I feel dirty. You should take responsibility! You even confessed that you liked me before! Saying you liked me? Well, I also like you forever!”

Yang Ju-hee rushed towards me.

The fragrance of luxurious cosmetics filled the air.

To me, who had been training in the male-dominated Namjoong for three years, it was an incredibly provocative scent. In our infamous scumbag high school, this kind of scent was always overwhelming.

In an instant, it felt like all the blood in my body was rushing downwards, and my whole body became mushy, as if melting. How could Yang Ju-hee be clinging onto me like this!

Maybe it was because of that thought, but my brain quickly became cold-headed.

“Oh, f*ck, this must be a dream. No wonder something felt off.”

No, this wasn’t just a dream.

It was a clearly hallucinating dream!

“No! If I stay like this, I’m really screwed!”

I desperately tried to regain my composure.

And then, as if a submarine that had been deep in the ocean suddenly rose to the surface at full speed, I felt my consciousness resurfacing.

“Oh!”

I let out a loud scream and trembled violently.

When I regained my senses, I found myself lying on a bed in a dark room, covered with a blanket.

“Ah….”

My body was drenched in sweat as if I had a nightmare.

But what mattered now was not that, but whether I had been having a dream or not.

After quickly checking my pants and underwear, I was relieved to find that it was just sweat and nothing more.

“I must have slept without changing into my school uniform. Sleeping like this is so uncomfortable, it gives me terrible nightmares.”

Whenever I thought I might be having a dream, I had the extraordinary ability to stop it with my supernatural mental power. Honestly, it was quite an amazing talent.

Since the time I had a dream and my mom came to wake me up in the morning, asking, “You’ve grown up so much, my eternal child. What kind of dream did you have? A naughty dream? Did someone appear in your dream?” and I was teased for a week, it had become a severe trauma.

“Ah, damn it. This is really sh*tty… I was too busy yesterday, so I couldn’t take care of it… No matter what, this is just too much. I took care of it the day before yesterday, and already…”

Why is there no cooldown for men’s dreams?

You know, just like women have their menstrual cycle that gradually builds up. Wasn’t it that they didn’t have dreams until it was full?

I was quite puzzled that it was already full.

“I almost got into big trouble. No, even if I dream, why of all things…”

Maybe it was because I had stolen a glance at Yang Joo-hee’s legs up close yesterday that I had such a dream.

“That b*tch. She definitely showed me her legs on purpose to make me dream. And she definitely lowered her skirt to torture me. What a psycho.”

I cursed Yang Joo-hee like I was cursing my parents’ enemy and stepped out into the living room.

Since I was already awake, I thought I might as well have a drink of water….

“No, what is this?”

When I opened the door to my room and stepped out, the whole world was filled with a pitch-black tunnel.

The living room of the rundown and cramped two-room villa was so dilapidated that sometimes even cockroaches would come out, but now it was gone, and a dark corridor greeted me!

“Oh, sh*t… this is really f*cked up.”

Did someone kidnap me while I was sleeping and lock me up in this strange room?

For a moment, I had such a thought, but I wasn’t a fool.

I quickly realized that this situation was not normal.

I wanted to find out more about the situation, but it didn’t seem important right now!

Clang, clang, clang, clang-.

The bell sound coming from far away felt strangely eerie and ominous!

“Advice!”

For now, I decided to use the ‘Advice’ function, which I could use up to twice a day in my status window.

Although the only funds I had, 1 point, disappeared after opening the store, it didn’t matter.

『Advice from the “Broken Clock”: In the nightmare corridor, there are hiding places such as cleaning supply closets and lockers where you can avoid monsters for a certain period of time. Who could have prepared such things?』

Hiding place!

Thunk-.

As I felt my way through the dark corridor, I grabbed something like a rusty iron door. It seemed to be the cleaning supply closet that the advice mentioned!

Creak, creak, squeak-.

For a moment, the foul smell of the rotten mop emanating from the hidden cleaning supply closet twisted my nose as if it would make it unbearable-.

Clang, clang, clang-.

Inside the cramped iron bars, something unimaginable began to pass in front of me.