Dispatches from the Graduate School of Ghost Stories - Chapter 3

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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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Paranormal Phenomena and Graduate School Presents (3)
The Certificate
Yu Jong-hwa, who had been thinking only of escape, lifted his head at the sound of the professor calling to him.
“Given the nature of Paranormal Phenomena work, you may need to work night shifts or respond to urgent calls. From what I can see, your physical fitness looks solid.”
“Ah? Yes. I worked overtime quite often. My company didn’t have set working hours, so… haha…….”
“……You’ve been through a lot. But they paid you overtime properly, didn’t they?”
“Oh, no. There was no separate overtime pay…….”
“Come work in my lab. We’re in need of research assistants anyway.”
One professor, cutting off Yu Jong-hwa mid-sentence, raised his hand to claim the floor.
The other professors grimaced and murmured. A rare fool had stumbled right into their midst, and one of them was trying to snatch him up greedily. No one said it outright, but their expressions made it perfectly clear.
“My lab kids are good people! They can eat expensive meals. We have lots of money!”
“All the freshmen went there last time anyway.”
One had to wonder what kind of department ran perpetually short on manpower.
The atmosphere of the slave market grew heated. The professors began calling out conditions of dubious sincerity.
“We already have research assistants, so shift rotation is possible!”
Ah, so there were seniors already there. That was the most reassuring condition of all. The younger professor, seeing Yu Jong-hwa’s reaction, raised three fingers and attempted contact.
“Base salary three hundred thousand monthly. Hazard pay and travel expenses are paid per assignment, so you’ll be taking home around four hundred. Our research scale is large, so we’ve budgeted generously for salaries. No mid-year adjustments needed.”
“Ah. Then to you, Professor…….”
“Wait. 310!”
“315!”
For all the professors’ spirited bidding, the amounts they called out were rather paltry.
I’m not entirely sure what’s happening, but apparently I’m being auctioned off.
Even if it was the price of a life, the salary was quite decent.
Yu Jong-hwa sat stupidly, listening to the value of his employment being determined.
Professor Song, the youngest-looking of the interviewers, put forward a specific figure.
“350. Baseline hazard pay plus an extra hundred thousand monthly. Factoring in various bonuses, I’ll make it come out to nearly five hundred when you receive it.”
“I’ll take it!”
The moment the number lodged itself in his brain, Yu Jong-hwa bowed deeply from the waist in gratitude.
Is this right?
Yet lacking any real language skills or a background in science and engineering, he would gladly surrender his soul to the devil for a monthly salary of five hundred thousand won.
Though he had neither registered nor been admitted, his employment had been settled on those terms. He left the room to the grumbles of the other professors.
A staff member with an odd expression pitied the new hire and offered a silent prayer for his safe departure. The staff member kindly repeated the date the results would be announced and what preparations were needed.
“You’ll need to obtain the Paranormal Phenomena Handling Certificate before admission.”
Despite being a trendy department these days, there was a reason so few applied.
Admission to the Paranormal Phenomena Graduate School required the certificate as a prerequisite.
And since this certificate couldn’t be obtained through study alone, its nickname was the Innate Certificate.
Whether you pass was apparently decided before you were even born.
Yet Yu Jong-hwa felt no worry. He had something he believed in.
He brought his palms together respectfully and prayed to the Prophecy.
I’m more stubborn than you think.
If you want me to graduate, you’ll have to get me to pass the exam.
* * *
When he said, ‘I’m going to get my certificate this time,’ many people asked him what kind of certificate he was going for.
“The Paranormal Phenomena Handling Certificate.”
“A certificate like that… exists?”
This was the typical reaction.
It would be more familiar to web novel readers if he said he was getting a Hunter Certificate instead.
It was a shame that the world had Paranormal Phenomena breaking out instead of dungeons.
Paranormal Phenomena yielded almost no valuable ore or byproducts; what one could obtain with high probability was incurable disease and mental illness alone.
In short, they could be more hazardous than most dangerous materials.
Handling hazardous materials requires a certified credential.
Similarly, entering Paranormal Phenomena required a certificate.
And like other certificates, this specialized one was divided into grades. What Yu Jong-hwa had to obtain was the most basic of all—Grade 2.
Official designation: “Paranormal Phenomena Handling Technician Grade 2”
So what were the test subjects?
“Let’s see……. Grip strength, back strength, standing long jump, sit-ups, and shuttle running pass the required standards. Confirmed!”
“Yes. Thank you.”
“Once we do a hearing and vision test, you’re done.”
This concluded the first stage of the examination.
The test subjects differed little from police or fire service civil service exams. Since it was based on absolute standards, passing the set benchmarks was all that mattered.
That standard barely exceeded the average for modern adults. What surprised Yu Jong-hwa was that people actually withdrew from the exam at this point.
The privileged have never understood the hearts of the dispossessed.
The real reason it had earned the reputation of an “unprepared-for exam” lay in the second stage.
Yu Jong-hwa entered the classroom marked with a sign reading “Examination Hall.”
Nearly twenty people sat crammed in the narrow test space, their eyes fixed on the computer screens before them.
The format was deceptively simple.
“Are you human?”
A single sentence floated on the screen, with a small checkbox beside it.
It resembled the “I’m not a robot” verification tests one occasionally encountered online.
Several images would appear, and you simply had to click on those matching the given criteria.
“We will now begin the examination.”
The proctor announced the start in an even tone.
Yu Jong-hwa moved the mouse to answer the verification question and clicked the checkbox marked “Yes.”
The other test-takers remained silent, showing no particular reaction yet.
“Select the bird from the following.”
A white bird. This one’s a plastic bag. A magpie. Bread shaped like a bird….
Though one image contained an object of unclear form, the photographs on screen were generally distinct.
Once Yu Jong-hwa finished the classification without difficulty, the screen turned white again, displaying black text.
“Are you human?”
This time too, Yu Jong-hwa selected “Yes.”
Cattle, motorcycles, scorpions, tigers, roses—the objects the questions demanded varied, yet every classification was simple enough to click through in mere seconds.
The person sitting beside him let out a faint groan.
When Yu Jong-hwa glanced around, several test-takers already looked unwell.
The proctor observed this without intervening, and Yu Jong-hwa returned his attention to the screen.
“Select the chef from the following.”
A person holding a ladle. Click.
A pig’s head. Skip.
A spider flipping over? Skip.
Something wearing a white hat held a frying pan. Hmm, uncertain. The image was ambiguous. What if even one mistake meant disqualification?
A plate full of eyeballs……? Definitely not a chef.
Once Yu Jong-hwa finished all his selections, mercifully the screen turned white again and displayed the familiar sentence.
“Are you human?”
The person beside him now raised his hand, complaining of a headache.
The proctor offered no assistance.
The woman staring at the text on the white screen did not blink at all.
After a long silence, her eyes bloodshot and inflamed, she moved the mouse and clicked “No.”
“Thank you for your effort. The screen will now forcibly terminate. Please proceed to the treatment room according to the proctor’s instructions.”
The screen flashed red and then displayed in large letters that her examination had ended.
With a pallid face, the failed test-taker screamed and shot up from her seat. Only then did the approaching proctor seize her shoulder and guide her toward the door.
“I can’t leave! I’m… I’m Radio right now. I have to stay here.”
“You’ll be fine once you receive treatment. There’s no need to worry.”
The woman stopped abruptly, and in a voice utterly transformed—bright and crystalline in its clarity—she began speaking something rapid-fire.
“Good afternoon. This is your 44-minute traffic report. Currently, severe congestion is occurring on the Dongbu Expressway. A multiple-vehicle collision has been reported at Junction 57. Those listeners currently tuned to this broadcast are the fifty-eighth accident vehicle, so please approach the scene at speeds exceeding 140 kilometers per hour!”
Two security officers waiting by the door took her in hand and disappeared somewhere.
Yu Jong-hwa was bewildered, but the other test-takers, as if already aware of this situation, simply continued clicking quietly at their screens.
Now, occasional groans and stifled screams echoed from the examination hall.
“Are you human?”
Yu Jong-hwa selected “Yes.”
As more than half the examinees were expelled from the hall, Yu Jong-hwa realized the images presented by the test were growing progressively more grotesque and unclear.
The photographs laden with noise had reached a point where one could no longer discern what they depicted at all.
“Select the bear from the following.”
He understood the question and knew what form the object it demanded would take.
Yet he could not determine what any of the images before him actually represented.
He paused, stared at the screen, then—reasoning that at least he could match the color—selected the box that held a brownish hue.
Without revealing whether his choice was correct, the screen posed its question once more.
“Are you human?”
Perhaps, he thought, it was asking whether you still believed yourself to be human.
Yu Jong-hwa selected “Yes.”
“Thank you for your effort. Congratulations on your passing. Your Paranormal Phenomena Handling Certificate may be printed from the homepage after 14 days.”
The white screen displayed a simple congratulatory message along with important notices.
‘If you experience symptoms such as tinnitus, headaches, or hallucinations, please visit the psychological treatment room after the exam. Additionally, numerous cases of nightmares, auditory hallucinations, and depression have been reported following the exam, so please visit the treatment room before leaving the test site and fill out the medical questionnaire.’
“Once you’re finished, you can head to the treatment room.”
The proctor delivered the instruction toward him in a monotone.
Yu Jong-hwa was the sort of student who listened exceptionally well to others’ directions, so he rose from his seat at once and walked following the posted guidance.
Above the rigid gray door hung a simple nameplate that reminded him of his high school days, confirming he’d found the right place.
The door opened to reveal an infirmary lined with beds on one side.
“Doctor, I think I’m going to be sick. Help me.”
“The ceiling keeps folding and unfolding and playing rock-paper-scissors, doctor!”
The doctor in the white coat regarded the patients with a calm expression, then drew a curtain to shield them from view.
“Hello, are you finished with your exam?”
“Yes. I was instructed to fill out a medical questionnaire before leaving…….”
“It doesn’t seem like there’s anything wrong with you. That’s good. If your resistance were weak, it would’ve shown by now.”
The doctor handed him a form, and the questionnaire asked rather conventional questions about his mental state.
Yu Jong-hwa circled “no abnormalities” with his ballpoint pen for every item.
“Where do you work?”
“Oh, I’m here because of graduate school admission. They told me I needed a certificate to study Paranormal Phenomena.”
“I see.”
The doctor adjusted his glasses once and took the paper from him, slipping it into a drawer.
“You should consider coming back for Grade 1.”
“Ha ha…….”
He disliked the thought.
Once he graduated from the graduate program, this certificate wouldn’t matter to his life anymore.
He had no desire to take this strange exam ever again.
After returning home, he had a slightly unsettling dream that night.
And when he woke, Yu Jong-hwa remembered nothing. No headaches or auditory hallucinations. He felt clearheaded and began his day as usual.
The exam had been far easier than expected.
* * *
March 2026.
Yu Jong-hwa had succeeded in gaining admission.
Before the semester began, Yu Jong-hwa rented a studio apartment near the graduate school.
A believer in keeping commutes and travel to work as short as possible, he chose the adult’s way of buying time with money.
Though it was a hastily secured place, the landlord seemed mercifully decent. Yu Jong-hwa stamped the deposit contract without hesitation.
His now-depleted bank account wept, and so did he.
Yet it was a new semester with spring winds blowing in. He could manage this.
He wasn’t asking for much. Just graduate safely!
Yu Jong-hwa steeled his resolve and opened his one and only window.
The entire world was yellow.
A gust of fine dust battered his cheek as first-year, first-semester began.

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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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