Chapter 3: Shadows After Sundown
A week had passed since the entrance ceremony.
Contrary to my initial worries, I blended into the class without much trouble.
“Then Hwaseo and Haru, please hand out the test papers.”
“Okay~”
“Alright…”
Unlike the confident Lee Hwaseo, I answered in a small voice.
The daily grind of class officer duties, as expected.
It made getting close to classmates easier, but I still wasn’t thrilled.
The kids smiled at me.
“Pfft.”
Kim Dodam looked the happiest.
That darn childhood friend.
‘I’ll fold him in half next time.’
Since our bickering childhood days, I’d never beaten him.
Truthfully, a human beating me is impossible, but a girl overpowering a guy would look odd.
I might have to break that rule someday, swallowing my pride.
“The test is 30 minutes. It’s just a quiz, not graded, so don’t stress. But don’t just guess either~”
At Park Irim’s words, the students picked up their pens.
I grumbled but looked at the test paper.
‘Easy.’
As expected of a quiz.
Some tricky questions popped up, but they were warm-ups for me.
‘Looks like Hwaseo thinks so too.’
The top freshman was breezing through the answers.
A spark of competitiveness flared.
In my past life, I was good at studying but lonely.
Being alone, I never had the youthful thrill of competing academically.
‘Things are different now. With my past life’s age, I can’t lose to a high schooler.’
…Even if I’m a ghost.
For now, that didn’t matter.
I finished early with time to spare.
Boring.
What are the others doing?
“Pfft.”
“…Hey, don’t laugh, jerk.”
“Sorry, it’s just kinda cute.”
“How do you finish so fast? You study freak…”
I teased Kim Dodam, who was struggling, then turned and caught Lee Hwaseo looking at me.
She flinched and whipped her head away.
‘Coincidence?’
Maybe she heard our whispering.
We’d talked as class officers, but we weren’t close.
I don’t know how to hang out with girls, and I worried she, an exorcist, might sense something.
Though that was unlikely.
‘I’m not really close with anyone else either.’
I kept a wall up, even if I chatted casually.
The eternal outsider’s curse, I guess.
Kim Dodam was still my only real friend.
Youth is tough.
‘Better than that guy, though.’
I glanced at Yoo Kishin in the front.
Staring blankly, he hadn’t answered a single question.
His ghost-hunting talk and quirky vibe made others naturally avoid him.
He was a character in Spirit Exorcism, but I’d never seen him ostracized like this.
A gap between the game and reality.
“Time’s up! Back row, collect the papers.”
“Okay~”
‘Ugh, why me again?’
Shouldn’t have sat in the back.
Park Irim graded the quizzes in no time.
“Good job, everyone. Some turned in blank papers…”
She glanced at Yoo Kishin before continuing.
“But we have two perfect scores! Hwaseo and… Haru? Wow, I knew about Hwaseo, but Haru, you’re a great student too.”
Eyes turned to me.
Cheers and gasps, but I was unimpressed.
‘Tied with a high schooler? No reason to celebrate.’
A perfect score, so no complaints.
Park Irim picked up chalk to explain the most-missed questions.
“This one’s about finding the area of the shaded part where two squares overlap. The small square’s side is 2, the large one’s is 3. The large square’s left vertex is at the small square’s center, and its side passes through two-thirds of the small square’s side.”
Boring, since I knew the answer.
‘Extend the large square’s sides, divide the small square into four pieces. Each piece has the same angle and base, so… that’s the gist.’
“I get it now.”
“Ugh, I could’ve gotten that.”
“Next, science question 6. Haru nailed it.”
Cheers and chalk sounds echoed.
“Look at the diagram. You pour water into a transparent cup and add a big ice cube. Most of the ice is submerged, with about 10% above the surface. A line marks the water level outside. When the ice melts, does the water level rise or fall? It’s a critical thinking question.”
Park Irim drew the diagram and grinned.
“Simple but tricky. Many get confused. Let’s clear it up. When the ice melts, the water molecules above the surface merge with the water. So, does the level rise?”
“Hmm, rises?”
“But it’s wrong, so…”
“Look here. Haru, want to explain?”
“…What?”
I was content spectating when the spotlight hit.
With expectant eyes on me, I had no choice.
‘If I wasn’t vice president…’
I glared at Kim Dodam and stepped to the board.
“The water level stays the same.”
“Correct! Why?”
“When ice turns back to liquid, the molecules pack tighter, perfectly filling the space the ice occupied. The part above the surface matches the volume increase from freezing.”
“Wow, perfect! Haru, you could be a teacher.”
“…Thank you.”
But I don’t want to be a teacher.
The students clapped, their eyes sparkling.
A student’s explanation hits differently.
Even Yoo Kishin looked at me, wondering how I solved it.
‘Kinda… proud, maybe.’
Childish, I know, but praise felt good.
Class ended with Park Irim’s murmur.
“…Pretty and good at studying? That’s unfair.”
March 10, 20XX
A janitor’s diary.
At dusk, night falls.
I check the power-saving mode and patrol for stragglers.
Click—
I confirmed the classroom was empty and locked the door.
Starting from the top floor, I checked each room methodically.
No sense of danger in this routine.
“Time to head home, wash up, and eat my wife’s cooking.”
As I locked another door, a heavy sound echoed.
Footsteps?
Similar, but different.
Without thinking, I headed toward it.
Around the corner, I saw a human silhouette.
‘Still here? What’re they doing?’
Annoyed, I shouted into the darkness.
“Hey! Why are you still here?”
No response.
I stomped closer.
“Staff? Student? Answer me!”
Frustration mixed with an unexplainable unease creeping up.
The closer I got, the stronger the unease.
Maybe fear of the unknown, but as I neared, I relaxed.
The dark figure clearly had a human shape.
I shone my flashlight on them.
“Go home. It’s dangerous at night…”
My words cut off.
The flashlight’s beam, moving up from their legs, hit their head—revealing an empty hallway.
No head.
A scream echoed through the cold school.
“Aaagh!”
“They say that’s the ghost story going around.”
“Whoa.”
I let out an intrigued sound at a girl I’d gotten a bit closer to.
“The janitor saw it himself. He didn’t come to work today—bad condition, they say.”
“After seeing that, no wonder.”
“Right? Everyone’s debating if it’s real or not.”
Kim Dodam cut in with a grumpy face.
He’d been listening but couldn’t hold back.
“No way it’s real. A headless ghost? That’s ancient.”
“Ghost stories are human-made, but real ghosts don’t care about that.”
“…Haru, you look like you’re enjoying this. Didn’t you say you don’t believe in ghosts?”
“It’s fun.”
Being a ghost dulled my excitement, but ghost stories still thrilled me.
Kim Dodam shook his head, exasperated, when a clear voice spoke.
“…Is it real?”
Lee Hwaseo.
Her usually bright face was tense.
“Well, it’s just one witness, so I’m skeptical. Kids are probably just talking for fun.”
“Oh… good.”
“Whoa, Hwaseo’s scared of ghosts? That’s surprising.”
“Huh? Oh, yeah… a headless ghost wandering around is creepy, haha…”
Her awkward smile wasn’t her true feelings.
Ghosts can’t be exposed to the world.
As an exorcist tasked with ‘secrecy’ in the Association, she couldn’t let this slide.
Only I knew the truth.
‘A real ghost?’
Spirit Exorcism had countless ghosts, and after so long, I couldn’t pinpoint which one.
Still, I couldn’t just sit back.
A commotion would be bad, and besides…
‘It’s fun.’
My heart raced for the first time in a while.
Then—
“Stop yapping about ghosts, you loser!”
Crash!
A male student hit the floor.