Ghost Story Club

Chapter 26: Intermission - Club Level Up!

“I was surprised that Teacher Jang HwaEun came from a shaman household. I think we will hear quite a lot of interesting stories from her from now on.”

“I think JinHee… is impressive. She’s the same age as us but she’s already working part-time jobs… No wonder she’s always sleeping at school.”

After school ended, we went to the fast-food joint next to the station near the school. Just as I had promised in the dreams, the three of us had come back to the restaurant in real life. We bought our hamburgers and were sitting next to the window on the second floor.

Although HaYoon had also gone through the Dream Within Dreams with us, when the ending bell rang she disappeared from the classroom as if she had to leave quickly, so only the three of us were able to go.

“I get it. So prez has had several encounters similar to the phenomenon from before. I guess that does make you a part of the experiential group.”

“You’re right. And that was why I decided to create the club.”

“Hmmm… Next time, I wish to hear about the stuff club prez has been through in detail—”

“Joon, ummm……”

SunAh suddenly interrupted us and started to motion with her head in a certain direction. I looked at where she was motioning to and saw the part-timer girl sweeping the floor with a broom.

“Oh, it’s the girl we saw in the dream.”

As I responded, SunAh nodded as she started to nibble on her hamburger again.

“There’s no way that this is a dream as well, right?”

“Haha, stop saying scary things, prez.”

GyeongWon waved his hands in denial as he chuckled.

“One of the things to determine if that is true was the totem that club prez had handed to me in that dream.”

“Totem? What is that? Did I give you something like that?”

GyeongWon nodded as he pulled out his cell phone. It was the newest smartphone released by Clover Industries and marked with a ‘♣’.

“Besides numbers and other mathematical cues, you can use other things, like balance, as a random check. Items used to do these random checks are called totems. Look here.”

He placed his phone on the table and proceeded to spin it.

“In a dream, once something starts spinning, it’s very rare to have it stop. It has to do with the fact that the subconscious has a tendency to keep things connected and going, rather than stopping things at a suitable time.”

The cell phone couldn’t overcome friction and came to a stop after a few spins.

“No need to worry, you two. We’re in reality right now, huhu.”

I let out a sigh of relief as SunAh let out a smile.

“Then, do you think that the part-timer over there showed up in my dreams because I saw her when I last visited the restaurant and my subconscious remembered?”

“Things get complicated if you start digging into the past. Just eat your burger, prez.”

“Haha, true.”

“Take care~ Enjoy your weekend~”

“Huhu, see you next week.”

“Bye, Joon… Thanks for the meal……”

I covered the bill.

I had promised both of them that I would buy them something good to eat. I had promised SunAh during the episode with the Laughing Girl, and I had promised GyeongWon when I needed help with the Mother Dilemma.

The cause of this phenomenon was the skill ‘Goddess of Luck’, which activated and made the four of us faint at the same time.

“Luck, huh…? Hmmm……”

As I took a shortcut, I started to speak to myself. The four of us went through several collisions in order to lose consciousness all at the same time. And right then, the Dream Within Dreams ghost story occurred.

While it had been a very improbable situation, to call it the Goddess of Luck…

Usually in online games, a skill you obtained was yours to keep permanently.

However, the S-rank skill I obtained, ‘Goddess of Luck’, had activated once and then disappeared.

‘Is to keep things balanced?’

To call what had just happened the results of a S-ranked consumable skill wasn’t very convincing.

“Luck, fortune… What exactly is the fortune in this?”

The points I received while solving this ghost story were the same as before. I had earned the same exact amount that I would earn from defeating a B-rank Ghost Story.

“What did I gain from this situation? Hmmm… what could be called a great fortune?”

Did I gain anything else besides points? … Members?

SunAh, GyeongWon, and JinHee were originally club members.

Teacher Jang HwaEun was originally our advisor.

The two new members we gained today because of the incident were DukHun and HaYoon.

Well, we could ignore DukHun.

In HaYoon.

‘HaYoon……’

The type of quiet female student that every class has. Was bringing HaYoon into the Ghost Story Club really that great of a fortune?

She did exude mysterious elegance, but looks definitely weren’t the reason it was fortunate, right?

I suddenly had the idea to check HaYoon’s status window.

“Manage Club. Manage Members. In HaYoon status window.”

Since HaYoon was now a member, I could check her status window from anywhere.

Poof-!!

Status Window
Name: In HaYoon LV.1 [0/100]
Age: 17
Title: Wife Material
Disposition: ??? >NEW!! Click to Expand
Special Ability: None
Quirk: ???
Understanding: 5/100
[Your understanding of the target character is too low. Please interact more with this character to obtain more information.]

“… Something is off.”

My understanding of her was way too low. I had been through life and death situations with her, yet I know so little about her.

I tried clicking HaYoon’s disposition.

Poof-

Disposition: ???
-Likes books.

“… That’s it?”

What happened to her personality being calm, or her being very quiet usually? What about her being polite?

‘… Also, I think something unusual had happened, but what was it?’

Anyway, I tried thinking up several different images I had of HaYoon, but that didn’t reflect on the understanding of HaYoon in the status window.

In the case of GyeongWon and SunAh, the understanding had increased drastically even if I made rough guesses about their personalities.

“Haaa, damn. I don’t know. Nothing is working. I’ll leave it for later.”

I decided to put the stuff on HaYoon on hold for now and started to think about what I had earned from the incident this time all over again.

Members, members huh… Maybe……

“… Ah! That’s it!”

With that happening, I was able to completely reveal the monstrous incidents that I had been through so far to the members.

I could reveal the Broadcast Announcement, the Laughing Girl, the Mother Dilemma, and even the Demon King.

From the first time meeting those monsters to the point where they died, this incident had let them experience the same things that I had experienced.

Even the situation where every time I died, I regressed, was reproduced to a certain extent. Of course, it wasn’t a real regression. Rather, it was the restarting of a dream. But from the perspective of the person stuck, it was very similar to the regression I’d been through.

All of those situations had been very fortunate for me when I explained what I had been through.

‘My word!’

I couldn’t help but hit my head in surprise.

The four of us colliding heads and knocking ourselves out was not the fortune to be expected from the Goddess of Luck. It was the timing at which the Dream Within Dreams happened when we were knocked out, and having it replicate everything I had been through. That was the fortune presented by the special ability!

It could be said that the Dream Within Dreams had done its work before leaving!

Although I would still have to slowly explain everything to my club members, because they understood what I had been through so far, they were in a position to accept what I explained.

This was an amazing prospect for me.

It could have been that I would be forced to work my way through all of these ghost stories by myself for the next three years as the club members just hung out on the sidelines in the dark. Now, that situation was completely impossible. I would not have to fight by myself.

If something unusual happened, I could gather the club members and work on it together.

I had made friends that I could share those monstrous incidents with.

“Wow, this is fucking amazing. Haha.”

I smacked my forehead again for good measure.

It really was S-ranked good fortune.

As I was walking and feeling content, I ended up passing by the school.

On the map, my house, the school, and the station were in that order in a straight line. As I had been on my way home from the fast-food restaurant, I naturally ended up passing by the school again.

Seeing the school building, I suddenly remembered something I had planned to do.

“That’s right! The points!”

I had been planning to use all of the points I had stocked up to level up the Ghost Story Club, but I had to do it when there would be no one looking. It had been a while since school ended, so now would be the perfect time.

After crossing through the empty schoolyard and climbing stairs to the fifth floor, I headed to the clubroom.

It was very quiet within the school. The only noise that could be heard was a couple of third year seniors studying on their own for after school studies.

‘No one will see, right?’

I carefully opened the clubroom door and entered.

I could see the sun starting to set through the window. The table, the chairs, and the whiteboard were right in front of me. The cozy clubroom had something relaxing about it.

‘Though, I do wish it was a little bit more spacious.’

Due to HaYoon and DukHun suddenly joining, the room was a bit cramped for all six of us to be there at once.

‘No, if we consider that the teacher is also considered a member of the club, it’ll be seven people total. Somehow, we managed to make the room work during Club Activities Period before. Anyway, Manage Club!’

Poof-

[Ghost Story Club Lv.1]
① Club Status Window
② Manage Members
③ Shop (LOCKED)
④ Club Settings

‘One. Club Status Window.’

Poof-

[Ghost Story Club LV.1]
[You may spend points to nurture your club]
[Points until next level up 0/100]
[Ability]
-None

“Good. Shall we start leveling up?”

After I pressed the button with my fingers, a question popped up.

[Current Ghost Story Points: 212]
[You may spend points to level up your club. Will you proceed?]

“Yes!”

[Club Level Up will commence.]

At that instant, a sound effect that reminded me of leveling up in video games sounded out as numbers filled my vision.

[Ghost Story Points until next level up 17/100]

Ooooooomm~

[28/100]

[52/100]

[75/100]

[87/100]

[99/100]

Babum!

And finally, the points finished filling up.

[100/100]

Bam Bam Bam Bum~♬

* * *

[The club has leveled up!]

[Ghost Story Club LV.1 → LV.2]

[Each time the Ghost Story Club levels up, you may distribute one ability point. Please choose an ability. Current available ability points: (1)]
[Ghost Story Acquisition Skill LV. 0]
[Manpower Capacity LV.0]
[Space Expansion LV.0]

“Oho!”

I started to ponder as I looked at the three options I could choose from.

It was hard to tell exactly what the ghost story acquisition skill and manpower capacity did from just those words. As for space expansion, it seemed pretty self-explanatory.

“It should mean that the clubroom will become larger in size, right? I should probably choose this one first.”

If we included our teacher, the club consisted of seven members. Proceeding with club activities in our current cramped room was a bit of a stretch. Both mentally and physically, this clubroom would be the heart of the club.

That was why it was important to prioritize the space, so that it was wide enough for all of the club members. Without hesitation, I clicked on space expansion.

[The Space Expansion ability has been added to the club.]
[Ghost Story Club LV.2]
[Points until next level up 0/100]
[Ability]
- Space Expansion LV.0 -> LV.1

Bam Bum~♬

[The clubroom expansion will begin soon. In order to begin, please leave the room and close the door.]

“… Loading?”

Was such a thing really necessary? I briefly looked around the clubroom. I could see the wide windows and white curtains as the sunset peeked in. A table with four chairs with a whiteboard on wheels.

In order to compare the expanded clubroom to the current one, I tried to engrave this image into my mind as I left the room.

Bam-

As I closed the door, a message popped up.

[The clubroom is reloading. Please wait a moment.]

0%

12%

35%

There was an unusual sound, like machinery, coming from the clubroom as it began reloading.

I grew curious about what was happening inside so I tried to look in through the window on the door, but the window was blurred, and I couldn’t see through it.

Ring~♪

100%

[The clubroom has been created.]

I opened the door and could not help but be surprised.

“Oh my god.”

The clubroom had become about twice as large.

“The furniture has been moved around, too.”

As the room had become wider, it would make the most sense that the tables and white board would be located off to one side. However, the furniture was moved around so that it was in the middle of the room. The window on the wall remained the same size, but since the wall had increased in size, there was now an empty wall on either side of the window. As the window was now in the middle of the wall, I could not help but wonder how exactly it worked.

‘Also, the number of chairs increased to match the number of club members. There are two more chairs than before!’

The system clearly had the ability to control and adjust reality! My heart began to pound. I needed to learn how to use the system properly.

‘If I can use the abilities of the system properly, fighting those weird ghosts and monsters will be much more realistic!’

As I gained a bit of confidence, I checked my system window.

Poof-

Status Window
Name: Lee Joon
Age: 17
Title: Main Character
Disposition: [Two-Faced] > Click to Expand
Special Ability: 1. None
2. None
3. None
Quirk: Last Second Cramming.

‘As I expected……’

The special ability I had, ‘Goddess of Luck’, had disappeared. As it said in the description, the Goddess of Luck ability was a consumable skill that would disappear after activating once.

‘Just leaving the ability spot blank now makes me feel a bit empty. Since I’ve invested about half of my points on the club, I should use the remaining half on obtaining a skill.’

I pressed the first blank spot under special abilities.

Poof-

[Currently, the first ability is empty. You may use 100 points to open an ability.]
[Open Ability (100) / Go Back]

“Open Ability.”

Click.

[Spending 100 Ghost Story Points. You unlocked your first ability.]

Then, a 16-bit melody began to play, just like last time. Several words spun past the first slot, as if it were a slot machine once again.

♪ Tada Tan, Dada Tan~ ♫

Spin.

V
[…letic Sense - Member of Society - Lip Reading - Joint Regression - …]

Spin.

V
[…r of Society - Lip Reading - Joint Regression - Fast Walking - …]

Spin.

Just like the first time, I could see all sorts of abilities pass by. I tried my best to look at all of the words zipping by, trying to memorize the names of the abilities. I thought that it would be best if I could get a sense of what sort of abilities were available to me.

I had tried taking a picture of the status window using my phone, but of course it did not actually show up. Looking at the window with my eyes and trying to memorize it was the best I could do.

“Fast walking… Lip reading… Identity forgery… Joint regression……”

Joint regression especially caught my eye.

‘Does that mean someone would regress along with me…? That would be amazing. I hope I can get that ability.’

That my fellow club members had ‘regressed’ with me this time was only because it was the Dreams Within Dreams ghost story. It was a unique case that would most likely not happen again.

However, this was reality. If I died, only I would regress. If I obtained the joint regression ability, however, I would be able to regress with my club members, which would help with solving cases faster.

♪ Tada Tan, Dada Tan~ ♫

[You obtained Special Ability: Lip Reading.]

However, despite my hopes, the arrow landed on a different ability.

‘Well, Rome wasn’t built in a day. It could take several tries.’

I put aside my slight disappointment and clicked to learn more about the ability I had obtained.

Click

Rank: B-Rank

Trigger Condition: Automatic

Ability: You can read the lips of another person to understand what that person is saying.

Although I couldn’t say the ability was amazing, if there was a situation where I would need to try to spy on someone, the ability would be useful for understanding what was being said.

“Whew~”

I finished spending all of the points and sat down in one of the seats as I let out a sigh.

I was tired. Although it had been a dream, I had died several times over.

Still, I managed to go through a situation with my classmates and got them to understand what I was going through, expanded the clubroom, and received ‘Lip Reading’ as an ability. Because I had received those things, the suffering I went through was worth it.

“It would have been perfect if there were a sofa right here.”

As I imagined what it would be like to take a nap in the clubroom on a sofa, I started to head out.

***

“Oooh! Joony boy! Why are you still here this late?”

I was crossing through the courtyard to get to the front gates when someone greeted me. It was DamIm, that racoon-like, rotund old man.

“I was checking up on the clubroom before I went home.”

“Oho, is that so? How enviable.”

My homeroom teacher rubbed his belly as he laughed.

“It would be great if us teachers also had a place to rest like that~ Ohoho.”

“Isn’t there the teacher’s lounge?”

“That’s a place for the popular insider teachers to hang out, Joony boy. A rotund, middle-aged man like me has no business there.”

To think that teachers also had an insider crowd and outsider crowd.