I Became the Hidden Mastermind

Chapter 12

012 – 2nd Student Ghost Story #2

“Wow, what’s this? Move aside. Let me see too.”

“Yang Joo-hee really came to school.”

“Hey! Why isn’t everyone going away!”

In front of the faculty room, students gathered like clouds, buzzing with excitement.

Although teachers tried to intervene, the authority of Yeongji High School had long fallen to the ground.

I also peeked into the faculty room amidst the children.

Yang Joo-hee sat facing the homeroom teacher, having a conversation, but the content was naturally inaudible.

What was more important than the sound right now was their appearance.

“Looks like she dyed her hair.”

“It suits her well.”

Yang Joo-hee’s bright yellow hair, like the admiration of the children, had returned to a color similar to most students’ hair. Thanks to that, her impression had changed significantly, and it suited her so well that the atmosphere had completely changed.

Ding-dong-.

At that moment, the bell announcing the start of the first class rang.

The children in front of the faculty room, who had been waiting as if queuing for an idol ticket, had no choice but to disperse, and I also returned to the classroom.

Drrr…

Soon, Yang Joo-hee also entered the classroom.

As Yang Joo-hee’s seat was right behind mine, naturally, everyone’s attention shifted towards our direction.

A bit overwhelming.

A tense atmosphere, as if it might burst when someone pricks with a needle.

When this situation felt particularly awkward, the movement of the girls caught attention.

Tap, tap, tap.

The girls hit each other’s arms with their elbows.

It felt like a silent exchange of “Hey, you do it.” or “You do it!”

As the struggle seemed to go on for a while, the class president, Jung Sojin, who was also the quiet and introverted partner of the girl, Ahn Youngmi, stealthily approached Yang Juhee.

And then she spoke.

“Um… Juhee. Over the weekend, there was talk in the class group chat… today, after school, can you come to the back of the auditorium? C class students will be waiting after they finish….”

“C class?”

Swoosh.

Yang Juhee scanned her surroundings with narrow eyes.

Although her hair color had returned to normal from the delinquent look, her demeanor was still alive with a snake-like gaze, and Ahn Youngmi trembled like a frightened rabbit.

“What’s this? I didn’t see any such message. Ugh… these damn bastards. Did they create another group chat without me? Are they trying to ostracize me this time?”

Clang!

Yang Juhee forcefully pushed her chair back and stood up.

“This damn! Are you planning to step on me with the C class students if I go to the back of the auditorium?”

Everyone fell silent as if startled by the loud voice.

Yang Juhee stood out like a musical actor taking over the stage.

“Wow, I can’t believe this. Did you think I wouldn’t know what you guys are up to? Hey, Kim Geonho, did you instruct these bastards to do this?”

“What are you saying? Am I supposed to pretend I don’t know about this? Go and have a good chat with the students from Class C. You never got along with Bong Ji-yeon from the neighboring class. Clear up any misunderstandings.”

Kim Gun-ho seemed a little taken aback by Yang Ju-hee’s words.

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In Class C, there was a girl named Bong Ji-yeon who often hung out with the seniors. It was a position similar to Kim Gun-ho’s in Class D.

Even though Kim Gun-ho was no match for the senior students in grades 2 and 3, he didn’t like being associated with Bong Ji-yeon, who blindly followed them. He seemed to distance himself, as if trying to show that he wasn’t afraid. Coward.

But wait, there was a D-Class group chat?

I’ve never been invited from the beginning?

Those bastards!

The fact that I wasn’t invited to the group chat hurt me more than the direct torment from Kim Gun-ho or Yang Ju-hee!

So….

What’s going to happen now?

Will Yang Ju-hee be trampled by Bong Ji-yeon, the lackey of Class C?

No matter how much Yang Ju-hee flies or crawls, she’s still just a first-year high school student.

If the 29 members of Class D, excluding Yang Ju-hee, intentionally torment her, she would eventually break down.

Then what should I do?

If I just stand by and watch Yang Ju-hee being bullied, I’ll become just like those who tormented and abandoned me.

But still, Yang Ju-hee was my girlfriend, even for just one night.

It’s only right for me to step up.

I had a few ideas in mind.

“Hey, guys, the teacher is coming.”

Jeong Seok, the vice captain of Class D, who was watching the hallway, quickly sat down at his desk after tapping the board three times.

“Alright. Take your seats and open your books. Class President Jung Sojin mentioned briefly that she’ll be stepping out to the infirmary. Vice President Jung Seok, would you like to greet and start the class?”

As always, the bustling atmosphere in the classroom quieted down in an instant, and then – my phone buzzed loudly.

Wondering what it could be, I glanced at my phone to find a new, unfamiliar chat room.

“User 30 has been invited to D-Class chat room.”

“4: We’ve invited everyone in our class except Yang Juhee, lol.”

“14: Lol, a chat room without Yang Juhee is something new. But why did you make it an anonymous open room?”

“….”

So, this is our class chat room.

Even though it’s in the middle of class, the chat room’s scroll kept going up rapidly.

Raising my head and looking around, I saw everyone hiding their phones behind desks or bookstands, tapping away.

“2: s*x.”

“15: Seriously, is that Jinsung Lee? It’s really disgusting, what’s up with him, lol, is he in heat or something?”

“17: What are you talking about? I’m Jinsung Lee.”

“21: Actually, I’m Jinsung Lee, and Youngmi, I love you, let’s date.”

These days, during class, they engage in this kind of banter and play around among themselves.

For me, it was quite a revelation in many ways.

No wonder my heart is pounding.

Being invited to such a chat room probably means that I’m finally recognized as a part of Class D.

The spot that used to be tormented by exclusion seems to have shifted to Yang Juhee.

However, there was a slightly worrying point.

Was it because of my mood… or is something strange?

Did no one notice?

# # #

Our class has a total of 30 students, including me.

And I believe that among these 30, there is a bully.

“There is bullying happening in Class D.”

This is what the bully wrote on a note.

I was looking at the photo of the note that I had taken with my phone, asking Teacher Kang Hanuel for help.

The last conscience in Class D.

He must be someone I can call that.

It was clear that he would be a suitable companion for me.

Uuung, uuung-.

But the constant vibration of my phone annoyed me.

I’m sure I turned off the notifications, so why does it keep ringing?

Currently, Class D was flooded with messages in a newly created anonymous open chat room.

Even if I took my attention off for about 5 minutes, there would be 300 messages flooding in no time.

Well, with 30 people in our class, that’s one message for each of us.

“2: Honestly, I couldn’t stand seeing Yang Joohee’s face.”

“3: Yeah, our Yongwon is being tortured every dayㅠㅠㅠ”

Is it because it’s a group chat without Yang Joohee?

Or was this group chat created solely for the purpose of cursing Yang Ju-hee?

“7: Thinks she’s a princess, crazy b**** honestly not pretty at all. Isn’t Hee-yeon prettier?”

“15: Hee-yeon, come quickly, hahahaha.”

Curses against Yang Ju-hee continued. It was astonishing how they could now criticize and belittle Yang Ju-hee, whom they had recently praised and adored so much.

If Yang Ju-hee herself had seen this, she might have cried her heart out.

Curious, I asked the group chat just to make sure.

“30: Yang Ju-hee isn’t here, right? Sure about that?”

“1: Yup, she’s not here, hahahaha. Sure, would we curse like this if she was?”

“4: Scaredy-cat, hahahaha. I could curse even if she was here.”

“…….”

Sure Yang Ju-hee isn’t here?

No, something’s off.

Our class D consists of 30 students.

If it’s a group chat without Yang Ju-hee, shouldn’t the number here be 29?

I was in chat room number 30.

This room supposedly has 30 members even without Yang Ju-hee.

“Oh, s***.”

Someone cursed at that moment.

It was Park In-bae, the buzz-cut troublemaker sitting in the back right corner of the classroom.

I wondered why he cursed, but looking at the group chat, I quickly figured out the reason.

“15: Ah, damn, this hate image is freaking disgusting.”

“2: Leader, kick out that bastard number 5.”

“7: Is this guy insane? Number 5, is that Lee Jinseong?”

Someone had posted a filthy picture, terrorizing the group chat.

It was something that could easily happen in an anonymous chat room.

In a group chat with 30 students, having at least one interested party was more than enough.

However…

A sudden and bigger issue arose.

“1: Ji”

“2: Geum”

“3: Bu”

“4: Teo”

“5: Ge”

“6: Im”

“7: Eul”

“12: What is this?”

“8: Si”

“9: Jak”

“10: Han”

“11: Da”

12: Inside

13: Me

14: Who

15: Are

16: You

17: Finding

18: Me

19: Unable

20: To

21: Do

22: If

23: You

24: Hee

25: Is

26: Dying

27: You

28: Are

29: Dead

30: Person

“…….”

It was a strange message.

Moreover, a chat that I had never written appeared in the group chat under the name “30”.

The intention behind that message was clear.

─ We are starting the game now. If you can’t figure out who I am, you all die. Bzzz. ─

“What is this? What’s going on?”

“Who would play such a prank….”

The sound of children’s confusion quietly spread through the silent classroom.

Everyone seemed disoriented by this bizarre occurrence.

「14: What is this? Can’t leave the chat room?」

「15: I can’t leave either.」

「4: What the hell is this? Who’s playing this kind of prank? Check your own names.」

「22: f*ck, if you expose your real name here, your remaining school life is over.」

「11: We’ve said everything we can say, but if we reveal our names, we’ll be totally screwed. LOL.」

Although the atmosphere in the chat room was chaotic in many ways, it seemed like some kind of ‘prank’.

I would have thought the same.

If I hadn’t experienced several strange incidents before.

But I thought this was an unusual act of mischief, and it seemed to be the case in reality.

“… If we can’t figure out who it is, we all die?”

My number 30 said, “Bzzz.”

「30: Bzzz.」

Is it saying there are 30 minutes left?

Looking at the clock, there were exactly 30 minutes left until the end of the first period class.

In other words, if I couldn’t find “someone” before the end of the class, I would die— it didn’t seem strange at all. And that ‘someone’ was someone I could easily deduce.

“30: Hey, guys, it feels like there’s someone else besides our Class D here. Excluding Yang Ju-hee, we should have 29 students in our class, but there are 30 here. We probably need to find someone not from our class.”

“12: What kind of surprise is this?”

“11: It’s kinda fun lol.”

“1: Let’s write ‘XX is not from our class’ here.”

“2: If you say that, they’ll probably use it well lol. You XX guy.”

These bastards! This is not a joke!

Seriously, you could all die from this!

It’s so sad that there’s no one to trust.

“Advice…!”

『Advice from the “Broken Clock”: Sometimes, counting prime numbers can help relieve tension.』

Count prime numbers?

Are prime numbers the culprits?

No, it was just a way to relieve tension.

Prime numbers.

Perfect and lonely numbers that are divisible only by 1 and themselves.

I slowly counted them, turning my head as much as possible.

The easiest way to find the culprit was for each person to chat their name in the group chat.

If we do that, we should easily be able to find the culprit.

If someone imitates our class student on the 30th, and if there’s someone whose name matches, all we need to do is find the number of that student.

But the problem was that the members of the group chat had no intention of revealing their own names.

Already in an anonymous group chat, posting explicit content and all sorts of dirty jokes, they strongly disliked the idea of their names being exposed.

And it had to happen during class, a situation where moving openly was out of the question.

Finding one person out of 30…

This is exactly like trying to find a needle in a haystack.

“A needle…”

Wait, finding a needle…!?

In a flash.

At that moment, an idea popped into my head.

I opened my phone and looked at the picture of a note that said, “Bullying is occurring in Class D.”

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This is the hint.

Not the letters or the content, but the paper!

“The answer is in the paper…!”