Ghost Story Club

Squeak-Squeak-Squeak-Squeak-Squeak–

A grotesque monster with a ghost’s head attached to the body of a duck doll frantically walked toward us.

Jinhee stared at it indifferently and kicked it away when it got close.

Squeak-

[Ouch! It’s wrong to hit your friends!]

The doll with the head of the ghost attached on its neck, rolled away in the distance as it spoke in a mechanic voice.

It seemed Jinhee’s words that she wasn’t afraid of anything weren’t only an empty boast.

‘Come to think of it, during the incident with Fourincess, Jinhee was perfectly fine for a long time even after listening to the song many times in the place she works…’

Perhaps she was mentally extremely strong.

“Bunting. It’s a bunting. What a shame.”

[T/N: In the game of baseball, bunting is an act by the batter of hitting the ball fairly slowly and only a short distance, to put it into a position that causes difficulties for the fielders (the players on the opposite team whose turn it is to throw and catch the ball), and helps the batter’s own team to score.]

The little ghost girl put her hands on her chest with a regretful expression.

“That’s amazing. Ghosts really do exist.”

Jinhee muttered, holding the glow stick in her left hand and the baseball bat in her right, while staring at the ghost girl with a surprised expression over her shoulders.

‘Ghost?’

My mouth that opened to let out a remark stopped as I remembered something.

Since they were ghosts, it means that they were originally people, living breathing people just like us.

Then, is the Demon King a kind of ghost as well?

[Fun- Creek– Hula- Click– Exciting. Anything is fun♬ Fun- Creek… Fun- Click…] 

The body of the duck that had been kicked by Jinhee, was struggling on the floor, trying its hardest to get up.

The head attached to the neck rolled side by side, such a bizarre scene made me think of the movie Frankenstein.

The creepy image of the duck doll with a human head on its body looked more like a monster than a ghost. It seemed like a creature of someone’s crazy imagination.

However, since Jinhee’s understanding of this situation was still low, I didn’t bother to ask her to attack it instantly. I thought it would only make things more troublesome than helping her.

‘…I’ll have to ask Gyeongwon once I’m done with this mess.’

Thud.

The head of the female ghost was kicked by Jinhee once again. This time, it hit the wall and rolled on the floor.

Perhaps it finally understood that it couldn’t move its body without the help of the remote. So it began to move its hair like tentacles and tried to separate its head from the toy’s body.

[Gaaaah…]

As I had predicted before, it couldn’t speak when it wasn’t attached to a body and only had its head. After detaching itself, the head slowly rose into the air, making a groaning sound.

It soon turned to us and laughed loudly.

“I think it’s pissed.”

Jinhee snickered as she gave it a provoking glare. Before we could comprehend, the head suddenly flew towards us with a snapping sound.

Bang!

Jinhee was quick to respond. With a grunt, she hit the side of the head with the baseball bat like lightning and made it fly away far.

“Ah! A direct hit! A direct hit!”

The ghost girl screamed excitedly at the cool display of strength and cheered loudly.

I was also astonished at the scene that unfolded before my eyes.

Jinhee’s strength and instincts were truly animalistic.

[Grrrrrrr.]

The head of the ghost let out a strange, deflating groan as it flew through the air.

Just before hitting the wall, it found its balance in the air and floated up before glaring hatefully at Jinhee.

“How many times do I have to hit it?”

“….I don’t know. You’re thinking of hitting it again?”

[Grrrrrrr…]

Swish.

The ghost with only its head opened its mouth wide before rushing at Jinhee again. The speed of rushing towards her was twice as fast as it was before.

“Jinhee, watch out for the hair! That thing’s hair is very sharp!”

“I know!”

Just as I warned Jinhee, the hair of the ghost stretched out towards her, aiming for her neck.

However, Jinhee ran straight at the ghost in response.

“It’s dangerous Jinhee!”

She’s heading straight for the ghost!

However, I was worried for no reason.

Swish.

Bending her waist backwards just when the head of the ghost reached her, she narrowly avoided it.

“Safe!”

Swish-

While Jinhee slid on the floor bending her knees, the little ghost girl shouted excitedly from the other corner of the clubroom.

“She dodged the head in time! Safe!”

It seemed that the ghost girl was taking the current fight as if witnessing a baseball match.

Jinhee bent her waist once again, leisurely dodging the head floating in the air towards her before turning her body around.

Before the head of the ghost could get its balance, she hit the back of the ghost’s head with the baseball bat once again.

Baaaaang!

[Grrrrrrrr!]

The head of the ghost began to spin in the air like a baseball ball going for a homerun.

“It’s troublesome to use the bat and hit the head with one hand. Hey, catch it.”

Jinhee threw the glow stick she was holding into the air before grabbing the bat with both hands.

“Uh, uh.”

In a panic, I flapped both of my hands to catch the glow stick flying towards me in a shaky posture. However, thanks to my poor athletic ability and bad eyes-to-hand coordination, it bounced off my hands.

The glow stick, which I couldn’t catch, bounced off towards the direction of the ghost girl who was relaying the situation like a baseball commentary.

Clench!

The ghost girl caught the glow stick with both hands before shouting with a determined and excited expression.

“The! Strongest! Korean! Team!”

[Grrrrrrrr-]

The head of the ghost regained its balance in the air as if it was not affected by gravity.

After finding its balance in the air, it glared hatefully at Jinhee as it took its stance for attacking.

[Grrrrrrrr-]

It charged forward again, waving its hair around frantically like tentacles.

“Huh, shit!”

This time, it flew downward, above the ground but lower than the waist. Therefore, Jinhee couldn’t duck down to dodge.

“Ah! It’s flying down! Flying down! Flying down!”

Seeing no way, Jinhee had no choice but to turn around and run away.

Thud, thud.

“Huuuh, huff, huff.”

Steadying her breathing like a professional athlete, Jinhee ran around the enclosed clubroom, turning in every direction in every corner of the clubroom.

[Grrrrrrr-] 

“It’s chasing fast! It’s fast, but you can do it!”

Seeing Jinhee changing directions several times to dodge it, the ghost suddenly increased its speed as if it was angry and rushed forward with full speed.

Swish!

As if she had been waiting for this exact moment, Jinhee also increased her speed and ran towards the sofa in front of her.

Thud, thud.

Stepping on the sofa, Jinhee jumped upwards before doing a big backflip.

Swoosh-

[Grrrrrrrr-]

Because it was flying down, the head of the ghost hit the sofa squarely while Jinhee dodged the ghost in the dark with a backflip.

Thud.

Soon, Jinhee landed safely behind the head of the ghost that looked disoriented after hitting the sofa hard. Bending her knees with her hands touching the floor for balance, she took the standard pose of a superhero.

Bang!

“Ah! As I’ve said many times! The Korean professional baseball team has reached the 8 million mark, and now we’ve reached the era of spectators! This is the first time that we’re seeing such a spectacular match in a long time!”

Jinhee swung the baseball in her hands once again, aiming for another homerun.

[Grrrrrrrr!]

“Jinhee, you’re awesome!”

I also spread my arms and started cheering beside the ghost girl, who had been doing so from the very beginning.

“The strongest Korean team!”

“Jinhee is the strongest!”

The head of the ghost was disorganised after hitting the sofa and couldn’t regain its balance for a moment. Taking the time it was trying to come to its senses, Jinhee swung her bat and sent it flying towards the ceiling.

Baaaaang-!

“Let’s go! Let’s go! Let’s go!”

[Grrrrrrrr.]

The head, that was stuck on the ceiling, glared at Jinhee resentfully before taking its position to fly down.

“It only has a head, but it’s still so strong.”

Wiping the sweat off her forehead, Jinhee picked up the cushion on the sofa, before throwing it at the head that was rushing towards her.

Smack.

The sharp hair ripped the cushion into pieces, and the cotton inside scattered throughout the dark clubroom.

Through the darkness, I saw Jinhee swinging the baseball bat at hand and hitting the head for another homerun.

Baang-!

[Gaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah-]

“Awesome!”

When I jumped and cheered loudly, the ghost girl beside me also jumped up excitedly.

“Awesome game!”

“Lee Jinhee, fighting!”

Jinhee, who was wiping her sweat after hitting another homerun and panting, glared at me.

“Oi, stop cheering. Have you lost your mind?”

“Uh, sorry.”

At the strong distaste, I immediately put my hands down and stood up straight.

However, the ghost girl didn’t seem to hear her and swung the glow stick as she jumped around the clubroom and commented at every movement like doing a live commentary.

“As you can see, the fight is happening in an enclosed space. The situation is very disadvantageous for the player. But the player is strong in her resilience and fighting with all she has got!”

In the meantime, the head of the ghost, that had been once again sent flying away, opened its eyes wide and took the stance to attack again.

The moment the ghost was about to attack, something clicked in my mind and I hurriedly shouted at Jinhee.

“Jinhee, hit the front side of the head!”

“Hmm?”

Jinhee stepped sideways as the head flew towards her and leisurely dodged it as she threw a question at me.

“Front side?”

“Yeah, the front side!”

Until now, Jinhee had been hitting the back or side of the head where the hair was gathered.

I thought the reason the ghost was still able to attack her after being hit by a baseball bat and sent away flying like a homerun was because those tentacle-like hairs protected the impact.

“It will be hard to hit the front side. Unless it got stuck somewhere.”

I grabbed the remote before declaring.

“Just make it fly down one more time! I’ll make it get stuck!”

“Okay.”

Grabbing the bat tightly, Jinhee stepped forward again, facing the ghost.

The ghost girl smiled brightly as if she was glad to see her determined expression.

“She’s determined to do this. Even though she is facing a ghost with only a head, her courage and determination as she fought without even blinking an eye is really amazing, she’s so cool. She’s really so cool…”

[Grrrrrrr-]

The head flew towards her again with tremendous speed while groaning along the way.

Having already done all the moves she could do, such as sliding down on the floor, backflipping upward, and throwing an obstacle, Jinhee couldn’t understand what else she should do.

“Front… Fuck, huff.”

[Gaaaaah.]

Not finding any solution, she quickly started running toward the opposite wall.

The head of the ghost chased after her at a frightening speed, murderous intention dripping from it as it rushed forward.

[Grrrrrrrrr.]

“Huff, huff.”

“Although it won’t help telling this, the enclosed space is too narrow for the player to proceed for a smooth game. If this space was spherical, that head would have already won. This is why the shape of the field is important.”

[Gaaaaak.]

“Hiyah!”

Jinhee ran straight toward a blank wall.

Using the speed and recession she gained, she kicked the wall and jumped up.

“Oh no!”

Is she trying to do another backflip?

However, the head of the ghost already suffered this trick before, I didn’t think it could be fooled once again.

Just as I thought, the ghost didn’t stop and flew upwards to Jinhee, who had jumped up!

[Grrrrrrrr!] 

However, using the wall, Jinhee, who had jumped up suddenly twisted her waist in the air and performed a double side kick.

Jinhee’s bare feet, flying straight into the air, slammed on the head from the front.

Smack!

[Geaaaah.]

“A clean shot!”

It was indeed a clean shot. However, instead of weapons, what she used was her bare feet wearing only socks, not even shoes. She didn’t even have any protective gear and was wearing a school uniform and a skirt.

The ghost seemed to be going crazy in anger, as it began to wave its sharp tentacles-like hair everywhere, cutting through Jinhee’s stockings.

“Aaahh!”

Jinhee frowned in pain.

But the kick she just threw at it from the front seemed to do some damage as the head looked disoriented for a moment before tumbling down on the floor.

[Grrrrrrrr….] 

The swollen face rolled on the ground with its hair spreaded around.

Quickly pushing the levers of the remote control, I moved the duck doll that had its head beheaded toward the ghostly head that was rolling on the floor.

Squeak-Squeak-Squeak-Squeak-Squeak.

The duck doll walked towards the ghost with only its body.

The doll’s head was stuffed with cotton and was designed cutely for the children, and the core mechanical devices that operate its movements were all inside its stomach. Therefore, although it lost its head, it could still move properly even in its current state.

It was a perfect plan.

[Grrrrrrr.]

I made the duck doll approach the ghostly head, which was rolling around on the floor. I thought it would be a hassle to get the head attached to the doll’s body, but the doll’s body was pulled toward the head and slowly merged together as if they were magnets.

[I’m small and cute, so you can take me anywhere you want~]

The moment the head opened its mouth, an automated message resonated through the clubroom.

“Hey! Don’t let it go!”

Jinhee shouted at me and grabbed the bat with both hands before taking her stance.

In a panic, I quickly pressed the button to make it dance hula.

Squeak.

A cheerful melody rang out, as the duck doll began to flap its wings and shook its butt. The head of the ghost also had no choice but to move along the body and dance.

[Let’s dance together every day!]

The ghost head desperately tried to move and detached itself, but the commands from the remote control and the commands from the head overlapped. In confusion, it could only stay in its place and shook its body and butt.

“Direct hit!”

Baaang—!

“Awesome! Awesome! Awesome!”

The baseball bat in Jinhee’s hand hit the ghost straight to the face!

Boom~!

At just one single hit, the ghost head exploded like a bomb as flesh and blood scattered everywhere.

[You have come across and survived a B-rank ghost story – Resentful Head Ghost.]

[You have earned 15 Ghost Story Points.]

[Your member have displayed extraordinary strength and succeeded in defeating the Resentful Head Ghost!]

[You have earned 70 Ghost Story Points.]

[You will receive 10% bonus points for each contributing member.]

[Contributing member (1 member): Lee Jinhee]

[You’ve earned 85 ghost story points.]

[You have received an additional 10% bonus point, 8 points.]

[Current Ghost Story Points: 217 + 85 + 8]

Ding~

[Current Ghost Story Points: 310]

“Yes, we did it! Yes~ Let’s go, let’s go… everything is over.”

The little ghost girl next to me, who had been jumping up and down and doing a live commentary of the whole situation began to fade away.

“19 years, it’s been 19 years since I left this world and waited to see my favorite team win… Now that I’ve witnessed such an excellent performance, I feel like my dream has been accomplished…”

The English letters on the girl’s white uniform, ‘Eagles’, slowly began to fade as well.

“Not trying to be rude but….. seeing a young highschool girl such as yourself fighting against a scary ghost… is amazing….. really amazing…”

[You have come across and survived a D-rank ghost story – Fangirl of Korean Team.]

[You have earned 5 Ghost Story Points.]

[Your member has shown a spectacular performance and succeeded in making the Ghost Fangirl pleased!]

[You have earned 20 Ghost Story Points.]

[You will receive 10% bonus points for each contributing member.]

[Contributing member (1 member): Lee Jinhee]

[You have earned an additional 10% bonus point, 2 points.]

[Current Ghost Story Points: 310 + 25 + 2]

Ding~

[Current Ghost Story Points: 337] 

The Korean baseball team last won in 1999.

Which means the little fangirl has been waiting for 19 years since then.

“…I hope you go to a good place.”

Soon, the girl disappeared and the glow stick fell to the ground.

Jinhee approached the glow stick and picked it up.

“The last one?”

In the clubroom where only silence flowed after two out of the three ghosts disappeared.

We slowly looked around.

“Here he is.”

The little boy was hiding behind the sofa, crouching on his knees.

He was really young, a little bigger than the duck doll.

Without hesitation, Jinhee walked briskly towards the boy.

“How old are you?”

The little boy who had been quiet up till now slowly opened his mouth.

“Tick, tock.”

“This guy.”

Annoyed but frustrated, Jinhee lightly patted the little ghost boy on the head with the glow stick.

“Is that all you can say?”

“Tick.”

[You have come across and survived a D-rank ghost story – Clock Imitator.]

[You have earned 5 Ghost Story Points.]

[Your member has shown incredible skill and succeeded in repelling the imitator ghost!]

[You have earned 20 Ghost Story Points.]

[You will receive 10% bonus point for each contributing member.]

[Contributing member (1 member): Lee Jinhee]

[You have received an additional 10% bonus point, 2 points.]

[Current Ghost Story Points: 337 + 25 + 2]

Ding~

[Current Ghost Story Points: 364]

After all the ghosts were repelled successfully, light slowly began to leak in from somewhere into the clubroom.

“Look over there.”

The door and window, which disappeared during the game, reappeared in the enclosed room that had been nothing but a completely sealed space.

The empty paper boxes that we put on the window perhaps weren’t stuck properly, so the corner became slightly loose before falling down completely, letting the bright afternoon light shine in the dark clubroom.

“The door appeared.”

“Huuu. It’s been a while since I’ve run around this much.”

“You worked hard, Jinhee.”

“You did too.”

T/N: If you like my work, consider supporting me on Kofi.