Dispatches from the Graduate School of Ghost Stories - Chapter 12

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Urban Legends and Graduate School (12)
Even if your opponent is only an elementary school student
Thursday afternoon, two o’clock. A peaceful hour when drowsiness creeps in.
[♪♬♪♬♩]
The quiet Research Laboratory suddenly erupted into frenzy at the sound of the Fate Symphony ringing out. So Hwi-young picked up her smartphone, its screen completely shattered, and checked the caller ID.
“Yes, Professor. This is So Hwi-young.”
Yu Jong-hwa heard the Professor’s voice crackling through the receiver, clearly mentioning “materials.” He had a bad feeling about this.
“…I understand. It’s going to take a while to get there. We might not be back until next week. Yes, we’ll head out right away.”
Hwi-young hung up the phone.
Drawing a deep breath, she announced the emergency to her colleagues in a voice as rough as someone who’d been chewing locomotive boilers.
“Everyone! Grab the tools!”
“Wait, what’s going on? Tools?”
“We’re going into an urban legend!”
Yu Jong-hwa glanced over to see that Lee Ju-ho had already gotten to her feet, shovel in hand. The instruction to grab tools was no exaggeration.
So Hwi-young opened her Golden Backpack and began stuffing items that Lee Ju-ho brought over into it hurriedly.
“Did we lose a hammer last time?”
“Yeah.”
While his seniors moved about busily, Yu Jong-hwa downed the last of his coffee and saved the document he’d been working on.
Only two weeks in this Research Laboratory. He’d barely mastered the basics when this sudden catastrophe fell on him.
He looked at the countless copies of receipts displayed on his screen and asked Hwi-young a question.
“We already have so much to do. Do all three of us really have to go?”
“I don’t want to go either. But this one requires as many people as possible.”
“Where is it, Hwi-young?”
“Yeongrok Elementary School!”
Lee Ju-ho nodded and pulled several bags of salt from the storage closet.
‘Why do we have this much salt in the Research Laboratory?’
Yu Jong-hwa felt queasy at the quantity—enough to start a salt factory—but helped his seniors pack the supplies.
“It’s a good idea to keep some clothes here at the Research Laboratory beforehand. Pack several sets of underwear, and bring at least one heavy jacket.”
“My goodness, how many days will we have to spend inside Yeongrok Elementary School?”
“Probably four days. If we’re unlucky, maybe a week. Still, there shouldn’t be anything fatal there. It’s on the mild side.”
The moment Yu Jong-hwa heard So Hwi-young’s answer, he sent a message to his family saying he wouldn’t be in contact for a while. Then, realizing something, he cried out.
“What?! I don’t even have underwear right now!”
“Don’t worry. I bought plenty of new ones ahead of time.”
Yu Jong-hwa struggled to escape the business trip, but no matter what he said, So Hwi-young had an answer ready.
He eventually fell silent, and following his seniors out of the Research Laboratory, he left with nothing but resentment toward the Professor in his heart.
Elementary schools always seem bright and lively, but surprisingly, they’re also the origin point of numerous urban legends.
They say the land was once a common burial ground, so an elementary school was built to suppress its spiritual force. Or that an unjustly murdered child wanders among the students. Or that a groundskeeper killed a giant serpent and cursed the school. Every neighborhood has at least one such tale passed down through generations.
But if you ask what the most famous urban legend from elementary school is…
“When we were in school, there was always one thing like this, wasn’t there? The Seven Wonders.”
“There was. At our school, we said bronze statues ran around.”
Yu Jong-hwa answered, recalling the bronze statue that stood in his alma mater. It was so long ago that he couldn’t even remember whose statue it had been.
“At our school, they said you could hear the sound of jump rope coming from the gymnasium in the middle of the night.”
Lee Ju-ho also chimed in as she reminisced about the past. Hwi-young, apparently from the same elementary school, laughed and shot back.
“That was you, though, wasn’t it, Ju-ho?”
“I didn’t do it every night.”
For this reason, the current Urban Legend Phenomenon was a perfect example of how a story begun in jest could take on concrete form.
Perhaps because the “Seven Wonders of the World” were so famous, the elementary school students, unable to let go of that prestige, had agonized for so long that they created seven urban legends of their own. Some of these fabricated legends were fairly convincing, but most were nothing more than baseless rumors.
Yet at Yeongrok Elementary School, even the most absurd rumors manifested as Urban Legend Phenomena.
As Yu Jong-hwa traveled to the abandoned elementary school on the outskirts of Gyeonggi Province, he received a brief explanation of the Urban Legend Phenomenon they would encounter.
“Do I really have to fight King Sejong?”
“No. Admiral Yi Sun-sin will handle that. What we’re doing is, well, I guess you’d call it Toto.”
“…What, gambling?”
“It’s legal.”
Hearing an explanation didn’t necessarily mean understanding it.
Yu Jong-hwa, having lost faith in So Hwi-young’s credibility, looked to Lee Ju-ho, but she offered no reassuring words either.
“Actually, this is our first time entering Yeongrok Elementary School ourselves. We received items that came from there through another Research Laboratory.”
“They said it’s really difficult to obtain things from there. Someone brought items back while complaining the whole time.”
Rule number one for surviving an urban legend:
Don’t carelessly remove objects. In urban legends, failure to pay the Fair Price guarantees retaliation. In other words, only items that have been properly “given” by meeting the urban legend’s demands can be safely taken out.
“We’ll pretend to be alumni when we go in.”
“Your friends got together after so long, and you all decided to visit your old elementary school together. Since that’s the scenario, don’t forget it and act well.”
“We can’t use our real names.”
“I’ve heard that you’re supposed to use an alias inside an Urban Legend. Why is that?”
It seemed to be common knowledge for the professor and for anyone familiar with the Urban Legend Phenomenon. He’d have to come up with another name. Yu Jong-hwa, looking uncomfortable, asked the seniors.
Lee Ju-ho and So Hwi-young answered in turn.
“If they learn your real name, they say they can follow you back into the real world.”
“I don’t know the exact reason. I’ve just heard that names are that important.”
It seemed the seniors had never had the Urban Legend Phenomenon discover their real names. Yu Jong-hwa grew melancholy, recalling the contract with his own name written on it.
“I understand. What should I call you both?”
They looked at each other, and So Hwi-young spoke first.
“I’m Kim Jong-young, and this is Kim Jong-ho.”
Why? Yu Jong-hwa crumpled his face in confusion.
“First of all, why the Kim surname?”
“Because it’s the most common. You can pick whatever you want. But if it sounds too made-up, the Urban Legends might get mad, you know?”
“And what about the ‘Jong’? Is it like a Research Laboratory naming convention?!”
“Yeah. There was supposedly a researcher who did all sorts of stupid things but didn’t die and actually graduated. A legendary hero. We took it from there.”
“I heard that researcher’s name was Kim Jong-mal.”
“You’re making fun of me, aren’t you?”
What parent names their child “End of Days”?
Yet the seniors’ expressions were serious. That researcher seemed to be a real person.
“Hey, Jong-hwa. That won’t work. Your name already has ‘Jong’ in it.”
“Then I’ll use a different name. Just give me a moment to think.”
About five seconds passed when Lee Ju-ho suddenly raised her hand.
“How about Kim Jong-sik?”
“Oh, that’s good. It rolls off the tongue. Let’s go, Jong-sik!”
“I hate that!”
And so Yu Jong-hwa acquired a distinctive new nickname.
A village bus without a route number carried the three to the front gate of Yeongrok Elementary School. They stood before a stone marker with the school’s name written in Chinese characters. The dark green characters were nearly stripped of their paint.
“There’s… no security here?”
“The bus that brought us here is managed by the government.”
He had no idea.
Apparently, since no one lived in this village anymore, they’d stationed only perimeter patrol officers.
It was fortunate—there’d be no police officer stopping them to fill out an investigation report.
“Alright, I’ll open the gate.”
“Go ahead.”
With the senior’s permission, Yu Jong-hwa slowly opened the rusted school gate.
Looking out at the empty Playground, children’s laughter drifted in from somewhere.
The three of them turned their heads in unison toward the sound.
In the Sandbox at one corner of the Playground, several young children were running and playing.
When their gaze turned back to the school, the dilapidated, dreary elementary school had somehow transformed into something vibrant and lively, welcoming them.
In the classroom windows, the silhouettes of teachers conducting lessons flickered briefly in and out of view.
“We’re in properly.”
“Jong-young, you’ll handle it, right?”
“Of course.”
Three full-grown adults gathered on the Playground whispering to each other looked considerably suspicious.
A teacher who’d been watching the children in the Sandbox approached them and asked in a stern voice.
“Who are you? You don’t look like parents.”
“Hello, teacher! We’re former students who graduated from here, and we came to visit the school together!”
Yu Jong-hwa blinked in disbelief, watching So Hwi-young perform with an overly friendly demeanor.
‘Why does that senior act so well?’
Even though he was sure she’d read his gaze, Lee Ju-ho said nothing and simply stood behind her, silent.
“We’re in class right now, so I’m afraid you can’t go inside the school.”
“Then would it be alright if we stopped by during the break?”
Hwi-young sent a harmless gaze and persuaded the “teacher.”
Yu Jong-hwa, looking at the plain face of the woman in glasses, unconsciously lowered his gaze, then hastily looked up again.
The woman was barefoot, and both her feet were turned backward.
The teacher’s footprints in the sand were oriented in reverse—not approaching them but moving away, opposite to how normal people walked.
As they spoke with the teacher, the children, who felt curiosity toward these unfamiliar adults, stopped playing and gradually approached them.
“Children. You shouldn’t approach strangers.”
The teacher clapped loudly once and warned the children.
Yu Jong-hwa noticed something odd about her hands, and looking closer, realized her left and right hands had switched places.
No matter how docile an urban legend might seem, it was still an urban legend.
If the teacher hadn’t left, an intruder would face her wrath—and the consequences wouldn’t be pleasant.
Fortunately, before the teacher’s anger could fully ignite, several children grabbed hold of Lee Ju-ho and began chattering at her.
“Big sister, do you go to our school?”
“I’m a student here. Well… not anymore. I used to. A long time ago.”
“Then, sister! Are you good at dancing? I’m good at it. Can you copy this? Okay?”
Once one child started, a flood of haphazard questions came tumbling out.
Whether because of the urban legend or because they were children, the conversation ricocheted wildly from topic to topic.
The barrage of endless questions left him dizzy. No—the headache wasn’t simply from the noise. As the children drew closer, a strange chill crept over him.
Startled by the unfamiliar sensation, Yu Jong-hwa looked down at his legs.
A small child was tugging at his pants with one hand, calling to him.
“Hello…?”
“Brother.”
The child’s hand was bitterly cold. Yu Jong-hwa tried to hide his unease and bent down to meet the child’s eyes.
“Yes…? What is it?”
“Brother, you look like a dog.”
Yu Jong-hwa’s hands flew to his mouth in shock.
Stripped of words by the unexpected assault, he spun his head about desperately, searching for an adult who might take his side.
The seniors looked at him with pity. The children’s eyes gleamed with the certainty of stating a fact.
The boy seemed unsatisfied with his reaction. He picked up a stick and drew a grotesque figure in the sand of the playground—a scrawl that barely resembled a four-legged animal.
“We have a dog that looks like this at home. He’s huge.”
“That… I see… I understand.”
“No, he looks like a pig!”
Another child shouted angrily, as if personally offended.
The teacher approached the stunned Yu Jong-hwa and bowed her head.
“I’m truly sorry…”
Receiving an apology somehow made it worse. He had just heard an insult so harsh that even an urban legend would concede it was over the line.
“It’s all… right. Children can be like that.”
“Why don’t you visit the Principal’s Office? Since you seniors are here, I’ll ask the principal if we can have you give a career talk to the children.”
“Thank you!”
So Hwi-young, suddenly jumping in, offered her gratitude with enthusiasm.
Yu Jong-hwa had borne the brunt of the insults alone, but the outcome was good enough regardless.
“That one’s name is Dwae-ji.”
The children pointed toward the school gate, where an enormously fat yellow cat sat perched on the boundary between school and outside world, staring at them with an unwavering gaze.
“Yes… thank you.”
The three of them—now So Hwi-young, Lee Ju-ho, and Yu Jong-hwa—followed the teacher’s unsteady gait toward the Principal’s Office.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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