.„Ahh..."
The moment the voice of an elderly man, as if gasping his last breath, flowed from the phone.
Everyone in the teachers' office froze. Soon, the teachers, still kneeling, clasped their hands together in front of their chests and began to bow their heads.
Once, twice, three times.
After politely bowing their heads three times, following the final bow, they remained prostrate with their heads lowered.
Hayoon was still pointing the gun at me, while the club members and I were just staring nervously at the phone placed on the desk from just a few steps away.
Soon after, the long silence ended.
[Jang Yeok....]
A mumble came from the smartphone, but the volume was too low to hear.
As Hayoon frowned and looked at the Vice Principal, she, who had been bowing, quickly jumped back from her prostrate position and went back to the phone to turn up the volume.
Beep-beep-beep-
"....."
Only then did a sound begin to come from the other end of the phone.
[Murmur murmur-]
"..."
The old man remained silent, and behind him, all kinds of whispering could be heard.
At first, I thought the person on the other end of the phone was calling from somewhere like a subway.
It was because all sorts of noisy sounds and murmuring could be heard from the surroundings.
[Murmur murmur- Whisper-]
I strained my ears to listen more closely to the sounds coming from the other end of the phone.
I thought I might be able to figure out where the old man named In Taesang was calling from now.
[Sizzle- Thud, clatter-]
"....."
[Creak- Squeak- Clang, Thud. Aaaagh- Aaaargh-!! Ding- Draaag..Zzzzzzz-Thud, Pitapat. Pwit- Bang!GrrrrrrT.. Kyaaaaaaah! Swish, Swish-Whir- Whir- Bang, Click. Rattle- Bubble bubble.. Rumble- Thwack. Chirp-Crack. Crackle- Slap. Rumble, Rumble...Whoosh... Buzz buzz buzz buzz-Slip]
The sound of birds chirping. Thunder rumbling. A trumpet blowing. Rain pouring down. People's footsteps. Car horns honking. A man shouting. A woman screaming. Dogs barking. Then someone laughing. A door opening. Object falling. A building collapsing.Airplane flying. Wind blowing. Clock ticking.
'Where is that, exactly?'
Where in the world do you have to be to hear sounds like that?
It was as if someone had crammed every kind of animal, person, and noisy thing tightly into a small room without leaving a single gap, and then answered the phone from the very center of it all.
[Is there....]
Amidst all those incomprehensible sounds, the feeble voice of the old man was barely audible.
The teachers, still prostrate, subtly lifted onlv their heads.
[Jang Yeok.. Is she there....]
".....!"
As soon as the Vice Principal heard her name being called, she rushed over like lightning and bowed her head to the phone.
"You called."
[.....]
"y-Vice Principal Jang Yeok, I humbly await the words of the Supreme Lord Taesang."
After bowing her head like that, another long moment passed.
I opened my eyes wide at the incomprehensible voice and sounds coming from the other end of the phone and looked at Gyeongwon.
But he, too, was just standing there with his mouth agape, looking like he had absolutely no idea.
[And... who else is there…]
"....."
[Is there... someone else here...]
The voice of the old man, as if on the verge of breathing his last, echoed again from the phone on the desk.
A question arose hearing that feeble voice.
The voice itself sounded exactly the same as the 20th president of South Korea, In Taesang, whom I remembered giving a speech on TV.
Even though he would actually be two years younger at this point in time, he sounded much older.
It truly sounded like the dying voice of an old man on his last breath.
Soon, Vice Principal Jang Yeok bowed her head and answered the question.
"Besides myself, Vice Principal Jang Yeok, one of the Four Advisors, nine of the believers who serve as teachers below me are present.
[....]
"And...."
The Vice Principal, still bowing her head, glanced at us briefly.
"..And there are several students from
Nakseong High who created a private
organization called the Ghost Story
Club."
[Is Yoony... there as well..]
The old man asked again in a voice that sounded as if his breath was failing him.
[Our Yoony....]
Before answering this time, the Vice Principal flinched, glancing at Hayoon.
Because she had warned her not to mention her name earlier.
But Hayoon gave a slight nod as if it was okay.
"..Yes, she is here. The young miss is also here."
[Would you come here...]
The old man called Hayoon with a dying voice.
But Hayoon didn't move and, still pointing the gun at my head, answered from where she stood.
"Yes. I'm here."
[What happened, Yoony..]
The old man's voice was quite slow, as
if even speaking was too much for him.
[Did this person... not fulfill her duty...?]
Hayoon looked at the Vice Principal with a cold expression.
It seemed the old man was referring to the Vice Principal in front of the phone.
At that question, Vice Principal Jang Yeok, trembling as if she were about to receive a death sentence, looked at gaze.
"No."
".....!"
"She failed to fulfill her duty, Grandfather."
A death sentence delivered with a sardonic smile.
The Vice Principal's breathing, as she stared, gradually became shallower, turning into haa, haa, haa, gasps.
But even to me, an outsider, that was clear.
She had failed to notice the betrayal of her subordinate, and even after the incident, she had failed to protect such an important person as their young miss. Therefore, it seemed only right that all responsibility should fall on her.
The Vice Principal, gasping for breath with her hands and feet trembling violently, suddeny threw herself flat onto the floor.
"I, I'll atone with my death! I will atone with my death!"
[Ahh...]
The old man let out a voice as if troubled.
The Vice Principal prostrated herself again, almost wailing.
"P, please permit me to take my own life! I will atone with my death...!"
[.....]
"I will atone with my death...!"
Despite her repeated cries, the old man on the phone remained silent.
Only a variety of incomprehensible noises echoed through the silent teachers' office amidst the unstable call quality.
[Shush- Shushush- Snap, thump,]
The Vice Principal lying flat on the floor, and the ominous sounds echoing from the phone.
After waiting for a long time with no change, I cautiously glanced at Hayoon.
With a look asking if it would be alright for me to step in now.
".....?"
Hayoon, still pointing the gun at me,neither affirmed nor denied.
'Does that mean she doesn't care.....?'
"..."
The old man still remained silent.
If we waited any longer, the sun would literally go down.
So, after observing the atmosphere for a moment longer and seeing no change until the end, I let out a small 'ahem and stepped forward.
"...!"
"....!?"
The teachers, startled, lifted their heads from where they were prostrating.
They immediately shot me a murderous glare, but I ignored them and approached the phone.
"....Hello, sir."
[....]
"I'm Lee Joon, Grade 1 Class 3, attending Nakseong High School. It's very.... nice to meet you."
".....!"
"...!"
The teachers looked as if they were about to faint, and even the club members stepped back with terrified expressions.
[Special ability Lip Reading has activated.]
["Wh, what are you trying to do]
Gyeongwon silently shouted at me.
I cleared my throat again and continued with my greeting.
"Sorry for being so forward on the first meeting... but would you have a moment to talk?"
[.....]
Amidst the silent people, a tension that felt like my heart was being squeezed filled the air.
After another brief moment passed, the old man's voice from the phone answered.
[Ahh... it's the young man....]
[I have been... waiting for you...]
The people watching the conversation let out a gasp.
The teachers remained prostrate, while the club members stood dumbfounded.
Even Gyeongwon and Dukhun, who were standing, had legs trermbling so violently that it seemed they might collapse onto the floor like the teachers at any moment.
Even Jinhee, who was always so reckless, was just looking at me as if I were crazy, unable to predict what would happen next.
I cleared my throat once more and spoke towards the phone.
"...You were... waiting for me?"
[Yes...]
"Hmm.."
I thought for a moment before asking In Taesang, who answered immediately.
"Why were you trying to kill me?"
".....!"
".....?!"
In that instant, the Vice Principal, who had been lying face down right next to me, suddenly sprang up and slapped me across the face with a full swing.
Slap!
".....!"
"Y-you little b*stard.. You insolent brat, what kind of question is that.."
[.....]
"Kneel down! Right now!"
The Vice Principal glared at me with her face flushed as if she genuinely wanted to kill me.
I touched my stinging cheek and offered no reply.
Soon, the Vice Principal strode over again, grabbed the back of my neck, and tried to push me down.
"Kneel!I said kneel!"
"Kneel! You crazy b*stard!"
Just as I was thinking about whether to resist or not and was about to bow my head as the Vice Principal was pushing me down.
[Ah... wait...]
"..."
[What... was that sound...?]
At the voice flowing from the phone again, the Vice Principal, who had been scuffling with me, stopped dead in her tracks.
Then, from behind, Hayoon, still aiming her gun, chuckled and answered for me.
"Vice principal Jang Yeok slapped him."
"....."
"She slapped the student who Grandfather said he was waiting for just now."
The Vice Principal froze on her stance of pressing down on my neck.
I slowly raised my head again and then slapped the arm away from my neck.
[Ah, I see...]
"....."
[I understand now... why all these things happened today..]
The old man's voice brought silence back to the teachers' office.
[Thinking you can do as you please just because I'm not there... it seems you're the same...]
At that sentence, I quickly ran a logical
circuit through my mind.
'Do as you please because I'm not there? Did he refer to Vice Principal Jang Yeok?'
Doing as you please probably meant doing whatever she wanted.
And seeing that he said 'still the same, it means there was someone else who acted according to their own will first.
That would, of course, be referring to Teacher Choi Jungim, who betrayed them today.
As everyone waited for Taesang's answer, those few clues sent my head spinning.
'He's not here!'
Just as the Detective couldn't find the name In Taesang in the South Korean database, for some reason, this guy wasn't with the believers at the moment.
Because of that, Teacher Choi Jungim
thought he was a fraud, and in the end, she betrayed in in order to covet his position herself.
And Vice Principal Jang Yeok did not monitor her. and iust like Taesang. she sat back and let all of this happen, and now he was criticizing her as if she was acting recklessly.
"Hah, b-but this young brat dares to speak recklessly to you..."
[Too much.]
The old man's voice, faint but clear,
was heard again briefly.
Even though his tone returned to one of exhaustion with the very next word, it was enough to freeze Vice Principal Jang Yeok in her place.
[You are worried about... so many things...]
"...."
[He is a noble person, Vice Principal. It is we who should apologize...]
At those words, Vice Principal Jang Yeok seemed to be greatly shocked and froze in her place.
A noble person.
I, Lee Joon, whom the teachers have been treating so rudely all this time, was a noble person.
The feeble voice flowed from the phone again.
[What do you think, young man...?]
[With her blood...shall it soothe your anger?]
At those words, Vice Principal Jang Yeok seemed to realize something, and with a gasp, her breathing became ragged as she quickly looked around.
Then she ran over to Sunah, who was collapsed on the floor, picked up Sunah's boxcutter, and quickly hurried back.
The Vice Principal then extended the blade and held it to her own neck.
[Go ahead....]
".....!"
Everyone's eyes widened in shock, and
before anyone could stop her, the Vice
Principal let out one final, loud cry.
"P-please... Heed the call of heaven, earth, and the one who responds with compassion...! Kya,kyaaaaaaaaaaah-!!!!!"
With that, the Vice Principal repeatedly
slashed her own neck, stab, stab, stab,
stab.
The club members gasped in shock and quickly looked away, and the teachers, trembling once more, bowed their heads again.
"Kyaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah-"
Stab- Stab- Stab- Stab-
Like this, with that horrifying scream, the maddening moment passed as she relentlessly slashed her own neck without stopping.
Vice Principal then coughed out blood
and collapsed limply onto the ground.
Thump-
The Vice Principal's blood splattered thickly onto my face.
I deliberately kept my eyes closed.
[This one... was one of my beloved servants..]
"..."
[As a sign of apology... I offered her to you.]
"..."
[What do you think? All of our discourtesies today.. with this one's blood... will you forgive us...]
The old man's voice, as if seeking
forgiveness, trailed off weakly.
On the floor, the Vice Principal convulsed, coughing up blood.
The teachers bowed their heads, and the club members turned their heads away.
But Hayoon was still pointing the gun at my head.
I slowly lifted my head and opened my mouth.
" Don't make me laugh."
"....!"
The teachers gasped in surprise, and Hayoon let out a bright smile.
"A noble person? Forgive our discourtesy? You're talking like a f*cking idiot."
[.....]
"You think I don't know? What your real intentions are?"
I strode over and slammed the desk where the phone was placed with both hands.
The phone bounced up from the impact with a thud.
"You, you know well. That I have the ability to turn back time."
[.....]
"...!"
"Wha, what!?"
["Why would you say that, Prez!"]
The club members made horrified expressions, and the teachers, startled, half-raised their waists.
But my thoughts were firm.
This guy. He knew what he was doing.
"Yeah, right. I'm going to turn back time anyway. Since I have nothing to lose, you thought you'd show off by sacrificing a subordinate, huh? Hm? And you expected me to be like, 'Oh my, you didn't have to go that far, and feel sorry? F*ck you, you son of a b*tch."
i swept all the chuttered papers and
everything else annoying off the desk,
sending them clattering to the floor.
Then I slammed the desk again with a bang and brought my face close to the phone as if I was going to devour it.
"If you're so sorry, try answering my
questions. First, the method to defeat
the Demon King. Second, the true
identity of the system. Third, the plans
of your Void cult."
[...]
"If you don't answer those, then there's
no apology. You're on your own from
now."
I glared at the phone as if I was fighting with it, my hands still on the desk, and soon enough, the old man's voice was heard again.
But the old man's voice this time had a
completely different atmosphere from
the humble tone just moments before.
[Haha... Haha....]
"....."
[Hahaha.....]
It was the laugh of someone in an
absolute position, finding the whole
situation ridiculous.
Finally, the mask of the feeble old man
had been stripped away.
The true face of In Taesang, the leader
of the Void cult, was revealed.
[Ah. I seem to have forgotten today's
events.]