Dispatches from the Graduate School of Ghost Stories - Chapter 17

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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 (17)
Be quiet in the library
Yu Jong-hwa reached back into his memory. The layout of Yeongrok Elementary School before heading out to the Sports Ground had been ordinary.
Near the main entrance on the first floor, there was a small Lobby space where a statue of the school’s founder stood.
On either side of the Lobby were plaques for the Infirmary and the Overnight Duty Room, and specialized classrooms that required ample space—like the Music Classroom and Science Classroom—were clustered together on the first floor.
He understood at once why Lee Ju-ho had said the “structure changed.”
The Lobby space near the glass doors remained unchanged, but the plaques on the classrooms flanking the hallway were different.
[Library>
The plaques displayed white lettering on a blue background, indicating that both classrooms had been converted into libraries.
“……So it really is angry with us, isn’t it?”
“Of all things, a library. Looks like we really did cause a lot of chaos.”
So Hwi-yeong spoke matter-of-factly, crossing his arms.
Yu Jong-hwa expected his senior to pull something from his bag and resolve the situation, but instead he simply stood there, glaring down the hallway.
“Would it help if we sprinkled salt or something……?”
“Not everything can be solved by brute force. Here, the only option is to avoid meeting it as much as possible.”
Lee Ju-ho shook her head, offering an unexpectedly practical answer. She retied her sneakers and explained the Urban Legend of the library.
“You’ve heard plenty of stories about children who died at school and came back as ghosts, right?”
“Yeah. Like the ones who fell from the Rooftop and bounce around on their heads…….”
“Similar. The story here goes that a girl was crushed to death when a bookshelf collapsed, and rumors spread about it.”
“Was that actually a real incident?”
If it had truly been a real tragedy, Yu Jong-hwa felt sorry treating the dead child like a frightening ghost they needed to avoid. At his question, Hwi-yeong clicked his tongue and reproached him—to worry about the four of them instead.
“That’s not the issue. What matters now is that the girl is definitely an Inexplicable Phenomenon at this school. And a very dangerous one at that. Her lower half is crushed, so she crawls after you on her elbows.”
“Late at night, if you look into the library through the window, there’s a female student sitting at a desk with her face propped up in both hands, reading a book. The moment your eyes meet hers, she starts crawling toward you in that exact position.”
Ju-ho explained it firmly, warning Yu Jong-hwa. Once the conversation ended, So Hwi-yeong ordered them to skip the hallway and ascend the central staircase instead, moving to a different floor.
The three climbed the stairs in single file. In the quiet depths of the elementary school in the dead of night, only the regular rhythm of their footsteps echoed.
After climbing one flight, they looked to the side and found a familiar hallway again.
At the start of the hallway, plaques indicating classroom purpose were posted, but both sides still read “Library.”
“……Does the ghost run fast? I’m pretty confident in my speed.”
“Speed isn’t the problem. It doesn’t breathe. It’ll chase you all the way. Of course, we could play tag until morning……but Jong-hwa, how about we sleep on the stairs tonight.”
“There’s a record of a security guard finding someone and kicking them out.”
“It probably wasn’t a gentle eviction. Other methods…… would be difficult for us.”
The three sat side by side on the stairs and began reading the documents So Hwi-yeong had pulled out, illuminating them with a flashlight.

These guidelines have been prepared based on the standards of certified professionals and expert researchers authorized for official access.
How to handle encounters with Inexplicable Phenomena
―Library…… 5P
The documents, seemingly a hundred pages thick, consisted of official guidelines drafted by a Government Agency in the front section, and reports written by people who had actually investigated Urban Legends in the back.
The seniors said they knew most of the guidelines, but it appeared the library wasn’t a frequently occurring Inexplicable Phenomenon.
“The government guidelines are sparse and unhelpful, so the ones written by other researchers are better. They’re written by people who actually survived.”
“The civil servants tested it too when they wrote it.”
“They only wrote it based on consultation.”
Lee Ju-ho quickly flipped through the pages and opened to page five. There was a faintly printed photograph of a library plaque alongside the guidelines.
How to Handle Library Encounters
1. Conduct an Exorcism Ritual of a religion you are familiar with to temporarily halt its movement. If you have blood relatives who are shamans, attempting Chanting Sutras can also be effective.
As Yu Jong-hwa read the excerpted passages from representative scriptures, he exchanged glances with his seniors. Both shook their heads.
“Sanskrit, Latin, Hebrew, and ancient Sino-Korean. Of course, there’s no one here who can read any of it.”
“……Do you need to know things like that to investigate Urban Legends?”
“Some people do.”
“If you know someone who understands religion or shamanic beliefs well, bring them to the lab.”
The seniors were genuinely interested in recruiting new talent. Since Yu Jong-hwa was an incompetent newcomer who couldn’t meet their expectations, he quietly searched the guidelines for any part that might be useful.
4. Hold a doll with two legs upside down while kneeling, facing the ghost in the library, and repeat: “Please take my legs and ease your resentment.” Continue repeating until the ghost approaches and tears off the doll’s lower half. If the ghost says “Okay,” you can evade pursuit for approximately one hour. If you hear “This is inconvenient,” you can choose either to have your own lower half torn off or to escape faster than the ghost.
Repeat this until the ghost approaches and tears off the doll’s lower half. If the ghost says “Okay,” you can evade pursuit for approximately one hour. If you hear “This is inconvenient,” you can choose either to have your own lower half torn off or to escape faster than the ghost.
“Hwi-yeong, do you have a doll in your bag?”
“Let me check—they say ones with long legs work best, but I don’t have anything suitable…….”
“It says here that civil servants hid several emergency evacuation dolls. They even attached talismans to them!”
“Since the school structure keeps changing, it’ll be hard to find them. For now, let’s worry about that if we get caught.”
With Ju-ho’s words, they stood up from their seats.
“Right. Can’t be helped. Keep your eyes on the ground as much as possible. Don’t even glance at the windows.”
“But if we do run into it?”
“It’s already angry, isn’t it? Of course we’ll run into it. Run. Our first priority is to escape to an area where other Inexplicable Phenomena exist. The doll carries too much risk, so let’s not try it carelessly.”
“The Music Classroom is best, and the Women’s Restroom on the fourth floor, the Science Classroom, and the Art Classroom are fine too.”
“If we can get back out to the Sports Ground, should we make a break for it?”
“All the doors are probably locked. That’s why we can’t get to the Pond or the Gymnasium. Even if we could, I don’t want to go near the Pond.”
They agreed that whatever happened, if they spotted another classroom with an Inexplicable Phenomenon, they’d rush in. Then they stepped into the corridor.
Moonlight filtered in from somewhere, and the hallway—lit by no electric lights—glowed in faint, eerie blue.
She followed slowly behind the seniors, trusting the sound of their footsteps, but a creeping dread made her cheeks prickle.
It felt as though someone were watching them walk, their gaze fixed and steady.
“Damn it.”
Lee Ju-ho, who had been leading, stopped quietly. So Hwi-yeong swore low under his breath and positioned himself beside her.
The seniors stood facing a window that blocked the end of the corridor.
Above their heads, Yu Jong-hwa’s gaze pierced through the glass and found a single figure seated at a desk.
There was no wall blocking the path, no window leading outside. Walking in a straight line down the corridor, they had arrived at its end—only to find the Library spreading out on both sides, long and vast. It was impossible. Yeongrok Elementary School was a small, linear building. During the day, there had been nothing but a wall at the end of this corridor.
Yu Jong-hwa’s eyes rolled slowly across the Library, independent of his will. Bookshelves, lined up as though they should reek of dust, occupied a space claimed by only a single presence.
The child sat at a wide desk, chin resting on both hands, her head turned toward them.
The child laughed.
“Move! The moment you see stairs, take them!”
“Don’t look back!”
So Hwi-yeong’s cry behind Lee Ju-ho spurred Yu Jong-hwa forward. All three broke into a sprint.
Lee Ju-ho pulled ahead fastest, with Yu Jong-hwa chasing close behind. So Hwi-yeong lagged at the rear, barely keeping pace.
The sensation of something pursuing them was undeniable, yet there was no sound. That very silence unnerved her—she found herself wanting to confirm the ghost’s presence, to hear it. Yu Jong-hwa’s foot caught awkwardly for a moment. Then: tap-tap. A crisp echo of his own footfall mirrored behind him, felt suddenly and vividly.
Rat-a-tat-tat-tat-tat-tat. Giggle. Squeak. Hey there.
Rat-a-tat. Screeeech. Screeeeeech, hey there. Kyaaaaaahhh! You can’t hear me?
Thud-thud-thud. Thud-thud-thud-thud!
The dull percussion of worn bone and rotted flesh striking the floor drew closer in an instant. Between the heavy thuds came the sound of fabric and a body dragging across the wood, mixed chaotically with sharp, piercing wails calling them. The ghost laughed at them and shrieked in delight. Yu Jong-hwa felt the faint vibration through the wooden floorboards, sensed the ghost’s presence. It was a hunt without purpose—malice meant purely to savor the chase.
“There are no stairs!”
Mental exhaustion weighed heavier than physical fatigue. Yu Jong-hwa screamed in despair at the school’s bizarre structure, where the Library simply continued on and on.
“J—no, Jong-hwa! I can’t run anymore!”
So Hwi-yeong’s legs had given out. He gasped, calling out to those ahead of him. Yu Jong-hwa’s instinct was to turn and pull him forward.
“Don’t look back.”
Lee Ju-ho tapped his shoulder sharply, then slowed her pace and waited until So Hwi-yeong caught up.
She hoisted the now-ashen So Hwi-yeong against her side and began running again.
“Man, I’m dying. You two aren’t even human.”
“Yeah. We went hard.”
Hearing the senior’s calm voice, Yu Jong-hwa felt a flicker of belief that things weren’t hopeless. Then, at last, a sign appeared ahead, marking the entrance to another space.
“Seniors! The Science Classroom!”
“Good! Get in, now!”
Supported awkwardly in Lee Ju-ho’s grip, So Hwi-yeong barked the order at Yu Jong-hwa, his voice suddenly sharp and commanding. Yu Jong-hwa caught his breath, clutching his backpack tight against his chest.
Yu Jong-hwa shoved the sliding door hard, and the moment the seniors were through, he slammed it shut—bang—behind them.
The Dead Girl’s laughter, which had been tickling at their ears, cut off abruptly.
The smell of formaldehyde mixed with various reagents stung their noses.
That strange, faint scent of the Science Classroom, encountered after so long, stirred memories of elementary school days.
“I think I can guess what the Science Classroom’s Inexplicable Phenomenon is without an explanation.”
Yu Jong-hwa sighed, staring at the Human Anatomical Model abandoned in one corner.
Inside a glass cabinet that stretched to the ceiling were Preserved Specimens packed full—dissected frogs, chicks, insects suspended in solution.
As if struck by an earthquake, the specimens began shaking violently, their heads slamming against the glass.
So Hwi-yeong pulled a shovel from his backpack and distributed one to each of them.
“Alright, kids. Time to work.”
Soon, a shower of glass shards burst outward, scattering in all directions.
The faded specimens poured out, reeking of putrefaction, toward their invaders.

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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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