I Became the Hidden Mastermind

024 – There’s Space Behind the Pillar #1

024 – There’s Space Behind the Pillar #1

“We don’t have an elevator in our house.”

The “Taegwang Villa” I live in is an old villa with its exterior covered in brown bricks.

The top floor is the 4th floor.

There’s no way there could be an elevator.

If my mom sent a message like “Mom’s Delivery Service: Forever, bring up the rice, hehehehe, but it’s quite heavy,” I had to scream in horror at the thought.

Then, what on earth is that person pressing the button supposed to be doing?

“…Hey, Jungseok. I don’t know what it is, but we should probably get off for now.”

I suggested to Jungseok, who was pressing the “down” button with his hand. Jungseok, looking at the expressions of me and Yang Juhee, seemed to realize the situation and slowly stepped back, distancing himself from the elevator.

Swoosh-.

The elevator, untouched by any control, finally closed its doors.

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The floor remained on the 4th floor.

A sudden intrusion of the unusual.

My planned day, full of joy as I walked to school with friends, saw dandelions blooming on the street, and considered taking a shortcut, suddenly felt like sinking into the cold slush and sinking into the sea.

“Hayoungwon. Are you sure your house doesn’t have an elevator?”

“Yeah! Even though I haven’t been living here for long, I’m sure whether there’s an elevator or not! Yang Juhee, you should remember too!”

“There was no elevator. Can an elevator be built in a day? If there was such construction, there’s no way we wouldn’t have heard it.”

It’s truly unbelievable.

“Hey, Jungseok. You complained yesterday that you had to go up to the 4th floor using the stairs. Remember? Because there’s no elevator, it was tough climbing up. I even joked about carrying you up.”

“….”

Jungseok remained silent.

He seemed lost in thought as he looked at the closed elevator door.

About 10 seconds passed.

With a groaning sound, Jeongseok opened his mouth again.

“No, I’ve been seeing this elevator since I came here yesterday. I asked you why we have to take the stairs when there’s an elevator.”

What is he talking about?

A creepy chill ran down my spine.

“I thought there must be some construction or malfunction or something. After I came out of the main entrance today, I pressed the button and it worked fine, so I thought it was fixed.”

Jeongseok had been seeing the elevator since yesterday…?

Having experienced several incidents recently, I didn’t doubt that this was related to the events and accidents I had overcome.

“Wasn’t spraying ‘Faint Perfume’ supposed to keep us peaceful for a while? What the hell is going on from the morning! I’m really going crazy!”

I felt like foam would come out of my mouth from indignation.

Was the capsule machine a lie?

Then, Jeongseok, who had been maintaining his composure, explained to calm me down.

“The perfume effect significantly reduces the probability of encountering anomalies. Even if we reduce the discovery probability from 99 percent to 1 percent, there is still a possibility. It’s not about completely eliminating it.”

“I know that too.”

I was convinced, but I couldn’t help but feel unjust.

“Or maybe we can’t escape from the anomalies that have already been discovered. I had already discovered this elevator before you acquired the perfume. It has already started since then.”

That makes sense.

Yang Joo-hee, who had been quietly observing the situation, interjected.

“Should we go in and see once? Maybe we can find out for sure by taking the elevator.”

“No, are you going to ride this?”

Upon Yang Ju-hee’s words, I, too, was taken aback, shaking my shoulders in bewilderment.

Is Yang Ju-hee fearless?

To willingly say she would take this eerie and mysterious elevator.

Suddenly, I remembered that Yang Ju-hee’s player trait was “bravery.”

In the same situation, different reactions could arise depending on personality and traits.

What should I do here?

Jung-seok looked at me.

“Ha Yeong-won, you probably have the most experience with this kind of thing here. Decide how you want to handle it. Personally, I’m against going in or anything like that.”

Decide and act for yourself.

I also had no desire to enter the elevator that had suddenly appeared.

“Let’s absolutely not go into this elevator.”

However, since there was no guarantee that only we could see it, I went home, brought tape, a pen, and paper, and wrote “Do not use!” in big letters on the elevator door!

“This might end the haunting.”

The sudden method of exorcising the elevator was to choose “not to ride.”

I hoped for a bit, but the message “Congratulations” did not appear on the status window.

It meant it wasn’t exorcised.

“Hmm.”

I pondered for a moment.

Unlike the strange entities like “Ajumma Ghost,” “Ancestor Ghost,” and “Feng Shui Ghost” that directly troubled and followed me, this elevator was quiet.

At least they didn’t follow me or make scary noises.

“…Should I just ignore it for now? I still have to go to school.”

Just in case, I taped the area in front of the elevator.

I also sent a message to my mom saying, “Even if there’s an elevator in the villa, don’t take it.”

I even wrote a sign at the entrance of the villa that said, “Warning! Do not board the elevator. There is a risk of falling.”

“Wow, you have really good handwriting.”

Yang Joo-hee admired the warning sign that Jeong-seok put up. The printed-like handwriting was impressive. Because Jeong-seok’s neat handwriting had a certain authority, everyone would definitely listen.

# # #

Even though I arrived at school and classes had started, my heart felt empty.

It was like leaving the gas stove on at home.

I couldn’t calm down because of the elevator that suddenly appeared in the villa.

I’m really freaking anxious.

I wish it was a ghost that I could confront and somehow get rid of.

Should I have listened to Yang Joo-hee and ridden the elevator?

“What day is it today? The 14th? Then not 14… 24! Stand up and interpret this sentence.”

24.

If it’s 24, it’s me, right?

I stood up and looked at the blackboard.

But I didn’t know what sentence to interpret, so I could only be confused. When I stumbled for a while, our English teacher in class, Hong Mi-ri, gave me a disapproving look.

“24. Hayoungwon. You’re not thinking straight. Hi… Geez. D Class is so weird lately. What’s going on with you guys? What’s been happening in our class lately? Kim Geonho was late for first period again today.”

As Teacher Hong Miri had said, the atmosphere in D Class was not the same as before.

Lately, the overall mood in the class had been unsettled.

Ding ding dong ding-.

It was break time.

Just as I was considering calling my mom, I felt a sharp tap on the back of my head.

When I turned around, a guy with red-dyed hair was looking at me and snickering.

“Hey, why didn’t you answer the English teacher when she asked you a question earlier? You think you can slack off just because Geonho isn’t around to keep you in check? Not paying attention in class either.”

It was Kim Yeongho, one of Kim Geonho’s group.

His head was dyed red, and he was the type to always stick up for Geonho and cause trouble when he was around. Kim Geonho and Kim Yeongho, their names were even similar.

It had been quiet for a few days, and now this?

It’s true what they say, when the tiger’s away, the fox will play. Now that Kim Geonho was behaving, it seemed like the guy below him, Kim Yeongho, was trying to pick on me.

Then, Yang Juhee, who was sitting behind me, spoke up.

“Hey, Kim Yeongho. Back off. I’m trying to concentrate here, so stop making a racket.”

“What? Back off? Our Juhee has a sharp tongue. The loudest one in school was your mom.”

The atmosphere during the break of first period was really tense.

In the midst of what felt like an impending storm, D Class fell silent for a moment.

When everyone was watching, Kim Yeongho added,

“Yang Juhee, be careful. Bong Jiyeon from C Class is out to get you. Without Kim Geonho’s protection, what are you going to do on your own? If you mess with Bong Jiyeon and the seniors, it’s going to be a big problem.”

“Ridiculous. If anyone hears, they’ll think Kim Geonho really protected me and shielded

“Wow, Yang Ju-hee’s thighs are damn huge.”

“Kim Geon-ho, sticking to you, now Kim Young-ho, who does nonsense next to you, has a bigger thigh than you. Isn’t it embarrassing for a guy to do nonsense under a shorter girl?”

“…”

Kim Young-ho couldn’t speak as if he had been stabbed in the heart.

Somehow, my heart hurt too, but Yang Ju-hee tore into the opponent without mercy, like a shark tasting blood.

“When Bong Ji-yeon does queen bee stuff, responds to texts, smiles for no reason, does it feel like she likes you? There are tons of guys like that around her, idiot. Kim Young-ho, you’re just a fish in a fish tank.”

I recalled the time when I was beaten up in the alley with Assistant Manager Jung Suk.

There were quite a few guys from Class C around Bong Ji-yeon. A good-looking appearance was power in itself. Bong Ji-yeon was a bully who knew how to wield people using her charm as a weapon.

“Hey, Kim Young-ho. When you text, does Bong Ji-yeon reply? She doesn’t, right? Even when she was hitting me, she didn’t drop her phone. Why is her response slow to you?”

“You bastard, who the hell is a fish in a fish tank! Wanna bet? Let’s bet! Damn it! If I text and get a reply from Yang Ju-hee, what are you going to do? Let’s bet!”

I felt a frenzy-like emotion in Kim Young-ho’s eyes. I mentally reviewed the wall he had built recently.

《Gambling Addict》: For some, gambling has become not just a means or method, but everything.

Now Kim Young-ho’s actions made sense. He liked illegal sports betting even before. It’s a perfect fit for his recently acquired wall.

Maybe this wall is not just random but manifests based on a person’s constitution or aptitude.

It was a hypothesis worth considering.

I’ll discuss it with Jung Suk later.

But first, I have to end this harsh situation.

If too noticeable things happen in the class, it might be exposed to the ‘watchers.’

“Hey, Kim Young-ho. I’ll take that bet. If I send a text to Bong Ji-yeon and get a reply within 5 minutes, I’ll do what you say. But if there’s no reply, it’s the opposite.”

“Damn it, Hah Young-won, who asked you to intervene.”

“Why are you so nervous? Worried that Bong Ji-yeon won’t reply?”

“Wow. I can’t believe I’m going through this. Fine, go ahead, kid. Ha Yeong-won, you little bastard, you’re dead.”

Kim Young-ho picked up his phone with bloodshot eyes.

And then he sent a message to someone, probably Bong Ji-yeon.

“Hey Bong Ji, what are you doing? lol”

5 minutes.

Would Bong Ji-yeon, the leader of Class C, reply within 5 minutes?

No, I didn’t think so.

Bong Ji-yeon also had her own walls.

“《Fear of Men》: Seeing something. Just being in the same place causes an unbearable aversion. What does it feel like to fear half the world…?”

The power of the walls was almost absolute.

Wouldn’t it be impossible to reply to a frightening opponent?

1 minute, 3 minutes, 4 minutes passed.

Kim Young-ho’s forehead was almost bursting with veins like a madman.

“Hey hey hey hey hey hey answer answer answer”

“Confirm it.”

“Photo.”

“Gifticon.”

“Kim Young-ho has gifted a gifticon.”

“Read it, damn it.”

Absolutely insane.

If you send it like that, any desire to respond will disappear.

“Hey. Young-ho. It’s been 5 minutes.”

Before I knew it, the promised time had passed.

Kim Young-ho’s face was scrunching up.

The content of the bet was that Kim Young-ho would become my slave. How would it turn out now?

“f*ck, damn it. Shouldn’t have joked in the first place. Bongji said he’s not feeling well these days, probably sleeping. Let’s just pretend it never happened.”

Indeed.

There’s no law that accurately enforces the contents of gambling called “Gambling Mania.”

However, that Kim Young-ho guy was indeed unpleasant.

If I had lost the bet, would this guy have suggested invalidating it like this?

I pondered for a moment and came up with a quite interesting thought.

“Hey, Kim Young-ho. Let’s make another bet. Whether you’ll accept the result of the slave bread bet we just had or not. I bet that you won’t accept it. You won’t become my slave. You have to bet on the opposite, that you accept it. How about a 50,000 won bet?”

“Uh… well…”

If Kim Young-ho wanted to win this bet, he had to choose to become my slave. If he didn’t want to become a slave, he had to lose this bet and pay me 50,000 won.

How would Kim Young-ho, the “Gambling Mania,” bet on this dilemma?

“Uh… well…”

In fact, such ridiculous bets shouldn’t be participated in.

The surefire way to win in gambling is not to gamble at all. I saw it in the movie “Tazza.”

But can Kim Young-ho, who is crazy about gambling, resist gambling? Even if the gambling table destined for him to lose, will Kim Young-ho headbutt into the lion’s mouth?

“Uh… well….”

Kim Young-ho sweated cold sweat like a person with the flu, trembling his shoulders and arms. Just when he seemed quite serious, the classroom door opened and Jung-seok and Jung So-jin came in.

“Hey! What’s going on here! Are you guys bothering Yeong-won again? Yang Ju-hee! Kim Young-ho! Stop bothering Yeong-won! If you keep doing this, I’ll personally tell the principal!”

Bang-.

Jung So-jin came closer to me and scolded Yang Ju-hee and Kim Young-ho.

Of course, Yang Ju-hee frowned deeply.

“What? Annoying.”

Click-.

Then the phone rang.

Kim Young-ho’s expression brightened.

“Did Bongji reply to my text!?”

“No, this is my phone.”

As soon as I checked the message, everything went dark in front of my eyes.

“Mom’s trapped in the elevator: Mom is trapped in the elevator now lol. You’ve never experienced this, right?”