5th Period Class, Extracurricular Activity (CA).
"...So, from the goshiwon incident all the way to the olympiad, a lot of things really happened, but everything was resolved well back then. Now we only have one thing left to talk about. If ghost stories and the existence of the Demon King already existed before I entered this school, then there must have been heroes from the previous generation too, right? Regarding this, Gyeongwon has been investigating during our week-long break last week, and now he's going to present the results. Come on, let's call together the person who's been struggling alone. Gyeongwon, come to the front!"
"....."
"Gyeongwon? Ahn Gyeongwon? Eh, did he even come today…"
I stared at the door with a hopeful expression.
The other club members also turned their heads, looking toward the door curiously.
"Alright, let's call him one more time. Loud voice, okay. GYEONGWON~!"
"...Gyeongwon~!"
"Looks like he hasn't shown up because our voices still aren't loud enough. Let's do it again, with the longing of someone who hasn't met in 16 years! With all our strength! GYEONGWON~!"
"...Gyeongwon!!"
"Ahn Gyeongwon!"
"GYEONGWON~!"
Bababambababam—
And finally, Gyeongwon appeared, fresh from taking a dump, holding two rolls of toilet paper in his hands as he opened the classroom door.
"Waaaahhh…!"
"Waaahhhh…!"
Bababababa-bam—babam!
Deokhun ran clumsily and hugged Gyeongwon, while Gyeongwon—face already red—hurriedly pushed him away.
"Wah… wahhh…."
"...So noisy, I swear."
Gyeongwon walked over and sat among the applauding club members, grumbling that this was exactly why he hated taking a dump at school.
"Thanks, though, for welcoming me with applause and big expectations. But sorry… actually, what I got during the investigation wasn't that much."
"Based on the information the Chairman gave before he defeated the goshiwon ghost story last week, I was helped by Ms. Jang Hwahun to look for the Nakseong High School graduation album from February 25, 1999. The goshiwon ghost story happened to first appear on that graduation day, so I figured there might be a connection."
Gyeongwon stood in front of the whiteboard and looked at us.
"And after I checked the entire graduate list… unfortunately, there wasn't a single one that looked suspicious. The details we can discuss together with Detective Tapi later, but if we want to be sure, we still have to check them one by one with Detective Park's help. From what I saw, though, there isn't a single name connected to us. Not even one artist."
"You were hoping there'd be someone, huh?"
"Yeah, of course. Because Clover's CEO, Cheon Seungjae, turns 39 this year. That means he graduated high school exactly in 1999."
Gyeongwon nodded slowly.
"It was such a coincidence. That person we all know, Cheon Seungjae is… well, clearly really strange. I personally can't believe an ordinary human could be that amazing. It's beyond reason."
Gyeongwon furrowed his brows and shook his head.
"Not to exaggerate, but even if we gathered every person who's ever been called a genius in history, they still wouldn't compare to him. Einstein, for example—he was great, but only in his own field. But this guy? Electronics, automotive, biotechnology, heavy industry, construction, medicine, IT… everything! He alone made human civilization jump twenty years forward."
"All the products that should've come from a hundred companies instead came out of one Clover company. It's not just the technology that's insane—his thinking power and managerial ability to lead projects that big… you can't even call it human anymore. Even now he still circles the globe thirty times a year handling his business. Meanwhile there are plenty of other geniuses who couldn't replicate it even if you gave them the blueprint."
"…Yeah, that's true."
The other club members nodded in agreement.
Gyeongwon continued.
"That's why I hoped everything was connected. 1999, graduation day, the ghost story, and Cheon Seungjae… I hoped they were all linked. That's why I checked the graduation album expecting a connection, but it turns out there wasn't one."
Gyeongwon pointed at the whiteboard.
"As written in this data, Clover CEO Cheon Seungjae spent his school years in America. He did middle school and high school as an international student. So he was basically a foreign citizen with black hair. He has zero connection to Nakseong High School. In fact, during that time he hadn't returned to Korea even once."
"Hmm, is that so…?"
"Yeah. Looks like we need to find someone else, or… at the very least, do a mass investigation of all 1999 Nakseong High School graduates."
"Huht… well, okay then…"
I leaned back, crossing my fingers behind my head.
Honestly, I had also thought… if there really were previous-generation heroes in this world, or someone who had returned from the future, then most likely that person was Cheon Seungjae.
So it was pretty disappointing to learn that someone like him had absolutely no connection to Nakseong High School.
"It's difficult too, huh..."
"Yeah, true."
The other club members also nodded slowly while holding their heads, looking deep in thought.
I suddenly remembered the graduation album and turned to Ms. Jang Hwa-eun.
"Ms. Hwa-eun, the 1999 graduation album that you and Gyeongwon already looked at… can I see it too?"
"I already figured you'd ask. That's why I haven't returned it yet."
Our club advisor, Ms. Jang Hwa-eun, as if she had predicted my request, immediately pulled a large album out of her paper bag.
"But today's the return deadline. So if you want to look, you'd better do it here, in the club room."
"Alright. I'll take a quick look."
I started opening the album and flipping through the pages one by one.
The other six club members' gazes began focusing on me.
"Joon, are you looking for something…?"
"Is there someone you're looking for, Chairman? I already checked and I don't think there's anything weird."
"Just… who knows."
Actually, I was searching for the short-haired man I had seen in my dream—the one where I made peace with the Demon King.
The school uniform he wore was identical to the uniforms from this era.
But back then the hair-length rules were still extremely strict, so all the students had short hair that looked similar, and I had only seen that man two or three times anyway.
'Even then he was messy, and it was only in a dream.'
Even though the dream had repeated several times, because it came from a dream the image was still vague when I tried to recall it in reality.
'Hmm… this is gonna be really hard.'
On top of that, there were way more students back then than now. One class could have over forty people, and the total was almost five hundred students in one batch.
If they all had the same hair and uniform, telling them apart was like distinguishing kids in a military training camp. I kept flipping through the album pages until I finally let out a heavy sigh and closed it.
"That's it. I didn't find anything either."
"Yeah, that's how it is…"
"Thank you, Teacher. I'll return this."
"Okay~"
"By the way, Gyeongwon, you were really busy this week. I even skipped school because I was sick and just relaxed playing games."
"I already knew you wanted to rest, so I didn't say anything and tried investigating alone. The results weren't much, though."
"You still tried. Thanks."
***
After the 5th-period flashback session ended and we rested for ten minutes…
6th-period CA started again.
But just as we were about to begin, I realized Ms. Jang Hwa-eun wasn't there.
"Where's Ms. Hwa-eun? Why hasn't she come yet?"
"She went to the workshop room, said she wanted to meet the school guard, Joon. She said she wanted to give a gift or something…"
"Oh, really? We could've gone together."
"She said she wanted to ask for help alone, without us tagging along…"
"Is that so…"
Even though we were the ones who received the help, I actually wanted to thank them directly.
But Teacher kept bringing up the Kim Young-ran Law, saying she was only the club advisor and felt she hadn't helped much, then went by herself to express her gratitude and ask for help installing the digital door lock.
"Hopefully it goes well. Sunah, you already prepared the item, right?"
"Yes, it's in my bag…"
Sunah opened her bag and took out the digital door lock I had ordered earlier.
It was a smart door lock with simultaneous fingerprint and face recognition, priced at 3.3 million won.
I nodded and gave her a thumbs-up.
"If that's the case, while we wait for Teacher to come back, let's just start. Gyeongwon already summarized everything we went through during 5th period. Now in 6th period, as chairman, I'll go over a few important operational points for the club. Okay, here's the list."
I pulled a sheet of paper from the blackboard—a printout of the agenda I had taped up earlier.
**
① Friend Money (Chingubi)
② Choosing one item to put into the club room
③ Free to express opinions
**① Friend Money**
"First, today is the day we distribute the returned Friend Money. Everyone's happy, right?"
"Oi, that term is kinda annoying, you know."
Deokhun, who had a bad experience with friend money back in school, immediately grumbled.
"Can't we call it work bonus or ghost money or something?"
"Only you're complaining," Jinhee replied lazily.
Deokhun put on a dissatisfied face.
I took the money I had withdrawn through the store system, divided it into white envelopes, and handed them out one by one to the club members.
"Here. Each of you gets twenty 50,000-won bills. So one person gets 1 million won."
"Go, awesome… Thanks, Joon…"
"Thanks~"
Sunah and Jinhee took theirs without much thought and immediately put the money into their bags.
"…Here, you guys too. Take it."
"Oi, this time watashi will accept first, okay."
Deokhun received it with a nonchalant attitude, while Hayoon didn't even touch the envelope in front of her—she just stared at it with a blank expression.
When it was Gyeongwon's turn, he refused again as I held out his envelope.
"I don't need it, Chairman."
"Again?"
"Like I said before, bringing it home is useless anyway. Nowhere to hide it. Even if I put it in a bank account my parents will still find out."
"Wow, that's rough."
"Besides, I don't have anything I want to buy right now. So just keep it for the time being."
"Alright. But if you need it, just say so."
After the Friend Money distribution finished, Sunah asked softly.
"Joon… we're not giving any to Teacher either, right…?"
"No. Teacher already received 10 million won during yesterday's incident. That should be more than enough."
Besides, she wasn't here right now anyway.
I stood in front of everyone.
"Like I said, this money is for you guys who stayed by my side even though you got dragged into all kinds of danger. Use it however you want. If you need more, just say so. But remember one thing—this money isn't for ordinary friends. This is for true friends… the kind who are even willing to risk their lives for me."
"Eh, if that's the case, instead of becoming friends, how about becoming lovers instead, huh?"
Jinhee said that while laughing, stuffing a hundred million won into her pocket with satisfaction.
Sunah's face immediately turned red. I quickly shifted everyone's attention to the next agenda item.
**② Choosing the item to put into the club room**
"Our club room has been expanded several times, so now it's a bit empty. But until now we still haven't decided what to fill it with. From the last discussion, someone mentioned a bed, a computer, all kinds of things. But this building has no elevator, so we can't bring heavy stuff upstairs. Plus, attracting attention isn't good either."
"That's why this time we're buying with points, not money. And only one item."
If we buy from the club store using points, the item can appear right in front of the door regardless of space and time, so we don't have to carry anything up the stairs or worry about being watched by the Dogma of Void (Church of the Void).
"Now, one by one. Give your ideas for what item you want. But remember—if too much talking makes CA time drag on, we'll kick you out of the club immediately."
"I… refrigerator, Joon…"
Sunah chose refrigerator!
"Because we often have leftover food when we order together… or sometimes we come here right after school without eating lunch first, and we sometimes gather on weekends too, so a refrigerator would be really useful…"
Sunah had a point.
Not just the refrigerator—every item suggestion that followed from the other members was genuinely something the club room needed.
"We should input a computer as soon as possible. The faster the better…"
"What for? The glasses guy always brings his laptop anyway, idiot. What do we need a computer for?"
"My laptop? Hey, this thing is actually heavy, you know. I only bring it when I really need it—I can't carry it every day."
Gyeongwon took out his laptop and handed it to Jinhee to prove his point.
That laptop was a replacement for the one destroyed when the goshiwon building collapsed. I had searched for and bought the same model this week.
"How is it? Heavy, right?"
"Well, this… oh my god."
Jinhee lifted the laptop with just two fingers, then started spinning it on her middle finger like a plate.
"Super light. Enough already, no need for a computer. Let's just pick a mattress!"
"Hey, don't spin it—give it back!"
"Refuse, lazy~"
With her towering height, Jinhee held Gyeongwon back with one hand while her other hand kept spinning the laptop on her middle finger like a magic trick.
I turned to Gyeongwon.
"So you agree with Deokhun? Computer?"
"E-eh? No, I pick TV."
"Oh yeah?"
"Yeah. It'd be nice if our club room had a TV that plays news in real time. Aww, I said don't spin it!"
So he wanted us to install a 24-hour news channel like an intelligence agency, so we could stay ahead of world events.
That also made sense.
When the goshiwon building collapsed and became huge news across Korea, only a few of us actually followed the developments carefully.
We're not old people who stare at political news on Naver all day… might as well install a TV. A big LED screen would be good too, I thought.
Next, true to her secretive personality, Hayoon suggested personal storage space.
"It'd be good if each person had storage space like a personal locker… to keep things."
"That's also a good idea. All your suggestions so far are genuinely useful items. Unfortunately we can only pick one because our points are limited."
"What about you, Joon…?"
Sunah asked hesitantly.
"We've all given our opinions, but what does Joon want…?"
"Hm… me? Maybe an AC?"
"AC?"
Sunah and the others looked up at the ceiling.
There was already a school AC installed on the club room ceiling.
"I know there's already one. But that one's controlled from the administration office, right?"
"…That's right."
"I think we shouldn't expect too much from the ceiling AC."
Because that was the reality at our school: the teachers' room was as cool as it could be, but the other classrooms were like saunas.
Plus our club room was at the farthest corner of the fifth floor, far from the administration office on the first floor.
"That's why, since summer's coming soon, I think we should install an extra AC that we can control ourselves with a remote. That's my opinion."
"The chairman's suggestion makes sense too."
This time everyone nodded in agreement.
Everything that had been mentioned—AC, refrigerator, computer, even TV—was something the club room really needed.
We could only choose one item with the points we had right now.
But eventually we would get all of them, sooner or later.
"But… the real question is: which one should we buy first!"
"Suit!"
"Suit!"
"Hoooraaaaah~!!"
The winner was Deokhun, who cheered in excitement.
"Immediately buy a god-tier spec computer! GeForce RTX 2080TI, Intel 10900K, RAM 32GB, SSD 1TB! Screen must be HDR 600 and above! And speakers must be 7.1 channel yeah~!"
"…But if you think about it, we could probably carry a computer upstairs by hand too. Let's change it."
With a flat expression, I canceled the previous suit result.
"Not because I don't want to. But we can also buy a computer with cash. I'll buy one with the best specs, so Deokhun, you just find the monitor, mouse, keyboard—everything yourself. Then send me the virtual account number. I'll transfer it when I get home."
"Joon… you're sending it to my house again, huh…?"
"Yup. For now Deokhun can handle the purchase online. Meanwhile the five of us will continue with suit to pick the item we're actually buying with points. Suit! Suit!"
"Oh! I won, Chairman!"
Gyeongwon, who had suggested the TV for 24-hour news, now got to decide.
Without wasting time we discussed and chose a 55-inch OLED TV made by Clover from the store.
"55CX…? This TV is expensive, you know. It's more than two million won. Is it okay, Chairman? A regular LCD is enough…"
"Might as well. After all we all want to watch in the club room too…"
"…so we can watch movies as well, let's just get a good-quality OLED. If we cheap out and buy a low-end one it'll feel poor and won't be a good memory."
If we bought the latest model with good picture quality, it could last us another three years.
For example, during summer vacation we could stay overnight in the club room watching horror movies, or use it for CA presentations like now with a big screen instead of the usual whiteboard.
It would be useful in all kinds of situations.
"No one in the corridor, right? You guys go out first and get ready."
Because the store's purchase feature could only be used from inside the club room, I told the members to go out into the corridor first to stand guard.
Then I pressed the button floating in the air.
[OLED55CXGNA 55-inch OLED TV (stand type)] – 260 points
[ATTENTION: Products purchased with points cannot be returned, exchanged, or refunded.]
[Are you sure you want to buy?]
[Purchase successfully completed.]
[Current Scary Story Points Remaining: 604 - 260 = 344]
DUP!
Suddenly a heavy thud came from the corridor, followed by a commotion.
"Eh, why is this so heavy…"
"C-quick, help take this off first!"
Hearing their panicked voices, I immediately stepped out of the club room.
"What's wrong? Why the fuss?"
"J-Joon… this is Deokhun's pants…"
As the members cleared a path, I finally saw the cause of the panic.
The large 55-inch OLED TV package… had fused with Deokhun's long pants, as if it had been part of them from the very beginning.
"…Oh my god. What the hell is this…"
"T-help take it off please…"
Deokhun panicked and stomped on the floor.
Afraid someone might see, I quickly told the others to bring him back inside the club room along with the TV.
Then I examined Deokhun's pants more carefully.
"Doesn't hurt, right? It didn't reach the skin—just the bottom of the pants fused, yeah?"
"S-seems like it…"
I touched the fabric at the cuff and felt it with my fingers.
That part was completely fused with the cardboard package, with no visible seam—as if they had truly become one single piece.
"This is really weird… looks like we need to cut the bottom of his pants first with scissors."
"Huff, huff…"
"Sunah, please get the scissors."
A moment later, Sunah came in carrying scissors and carefully began cutting the part of Deokhun's pants that was stuck.
The bottom of his uniform pants now had a big hole, like it had been bitten by a mouse.
"After all, you got a lot of money today, so you can just get it fixed or buy new ones. Got it? Just tell your mom it got torn because it got caught on a nail or something."
"…Yeah, got it."
"But why did this even happen?"
I pulled on the part of the pants that had fused with the cardboard box.
Both felt like they had already merged into one strange material that couldn't be separated.
Even the part where the fabric and cardboard box had truly fused had changed composition—not fabric, not cardboard, but some kind of weird sticky substance that felt like gel when touched.
It seemed that when the package appeared, its position exactly overlapped with the bottom of Deokhun's pants, causing this phenomenon.
"What do you think, Gyeongwon?"
I turned to Gyeongwon. He looked deep in thought, as if something had crossed his mind.
"Chairman… this reminds me of Project Rainbow."
"Project Rainbow?"
"Yeah."
He nodded slowly.
"1943. It was supposedly a secret American experiment involving Nikola Tesla and Einstein."
"…Einstein? You mean that Einstein?"
"Yup. The one who came up with the theory of relativity."
Gyeongwon pushed his glasses up a bit.
Not just Einstein—Nikola Tesla's name had also come up several times in science class.
His rival Thomas Edison, the inventor of the light bulb. Tesla was often called an eccentric genius scientist full of mystery.
"The mad scientist Nikola Tesla… the experiment he designed, and then Einstein joined in… In 1943, in Philadelphia. It was a failed experiment by the American military that's now known as Project Rainbow."
"…What was the experiment about?"
"Teleportation."
Teleportation.
I looked at the still-floating virtual store screen, then turned toward the TV that had just appeared out of nowhere.
Then Gyeongwon began explaining further:
On October 28, 1943, in the city of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, genius scientists including Tesla and Einstein worked together with the United States military on a secret experiment.
They installed super-powerful electromagnetic generators on a warship named USS Eldridge, with the goal of teleporting the ship through space.
Once the magnetic field was activated, a strange blue fog reportedly began to envelop the ship.
And not long after the magnetic field reached maximum intensity…
The ship disappeared completely into the fog.
And suddenly, the ship reappeared in the port of Norfolk, more than 400 km away from Philadelphia.
Once the magnetic field was turned off, the ship appeared again at the original port, Philadelphia. The scientists, including Einstein, cheered and climbed onto the deck, convinced that the teleportation experiment had succeeded.
However, the inside of the USS Eldridge had turned into hell.
Some crew members were found in indescribable conditions—their bodies had fused with the floor, masts, and walls of the ship, writhing in a half-alive, half-dead state, like creatures that had lost their form.
Even some of the survivors weren't truly saved. They screamed hysterically, saying that during the teleportation process they had glimpsed something from another dimension—something too horrifying and incomprehensible to the human mind.
Einstein immediately left the scene.
Project Rainbow, also known as the Philadelphia Experiment, was immediately shrouded in secrecy by the American government and never officially discussed again.
"After that incident, many conspiracy theories emerged," Gyeongwon said.
"They say many movies and games were also inspired by this experiment. Event Horizon, Half-Life, and so on…"
"Even appeared in Azur Lane," Deokhun added.
I had never heard of those titles before.
But I seemed to have seen summaries of them on mystery TV shows every Sunday, like TV Surprise.
"If teleportation technology really exists," Gyeongwon continued, "and by chance there's already another object or item at the destination location, what would happen to two materials that overlap?"
He slowly approached while murmuring, then touched the sticky part of the package box that had fused with Deokhun's pants.
"…Most likely, this is what would happen, Chairman."
"…Yeah, that makes sense."
I answered casually, but Gyeongwon seemed completely absorbed in his thoughts. His gaze was empty, as if he was drifting in knowledge from another world, not caring about us or even the TV in front of him.
"Modern science has revealed many things, Chairman. Including the fact that this world… is almost empty."
"…Empty?"
"Yeah. Of all the elements that make up matter, if we don't count the atomic nucleus and electrons, 99.999% of everything we see is actually just empty space. The universe is built from emptiness. What we consider reality is actually just an illusion created by our sight and perception."
"All of that is scientifically proven fact."
Gyeongwon seemed genuinely triggered in his curiosity by the strange phenomenon in front of him. Even now his face radiated admiration, like a scientist who had just touched the mystery of the world.
That face was different from usual—not the expression of someone explaining something he already knew, but the rare expression of someone directly encountering something unknown.
"If matter is really made of 99.999% empty space, then the appearance of two objects in the same place is technically possible. The question is what happens if they truly overlap?"
He gently stroked the sticky part of the cardboard.
All the club members began glancing at each other, confused and somewhat silent seeing the conversation turn increasingly serious.
Then Gyeongwon slowly turned toward me.
"Chairman… if you don't mind, how about we leave the TV for a bit and try a simple experiment? We repeat the purchase process from the store. But this time, we note the exact coordinates where it appears. After that, we place another object right in the same spot. Then we try buying another item from the store, and see what happens when two objects appear and collide in the same space."
"..."
"Aren't you curious, Chairman…? What would happen… if we actually did that…?"
Gyeongwon's face showed overflowing enthusiasm, almost as if he was swept up by some kind of scientific obsession. As if he felt he had the chance to recreate the secret experiment of those legendary geniuses from the conspiracy.
And even though I didn't feel the same level of excitement, as someone who had to face various strange phenomena in this world, I knew… that something like this would eventually have to be faced too.
"…Well, it doesn't seem too difficult either. Alright. Even though it's a bit sudden, if it's really simple, let's just try it."