Ghost Story Club

“I have the link for their website too, would you like to check it out?”

The official website link of the Clover Corporation was soon sent in the group chat.

[Ahn Gyeongwon: clovercorporation.net]

When I clicked the link, a sentence as large as the phone’s screen flashed before my eyes.

Clover Corporation

Our existence is a blessing for humanity.

“….. That’s really being too arrogant.”

I’ve bought and used a lot of products from this company many times in the past, but this was the first time I’ve visited their official website.

Clover Corporation is a South Korean multinational company that has various subsidiaries in electronics, finance, heavy industry, construction, biotechnology, services, education, healthcare, and sports. Our goal is to elevate human consciousness to a higher level through the advancement of technology.

Clover Corporation has made great strides in the growth of humanity over the past 20 years.

Be thankful that we exist.

After reading such presumptuous wordings, the members showed a dumbfounded look.

“I knew Clover Corporation was great but……”

Rather than saying ‘thank you’ to consumers for buying their products, they are saying to ‘be thankful’ for their existence.

“That’s really arrogant.”

“…..But still, the consumers made no complaints even though they say such things.”

Clover Corporation, which has achieved rapid growth based on its extraordinary technological capabilities.

With the amount of capital and technology they possess, they have the ability to run several countries without hindrance.

If they lie down and stick out their stomachs and say, ‘Without us, the country will collapse,’ the President would also come and bow down to them. That’s how much power they possess currently.

“The company was founded in 1999 by a person named Chun Sungjae in South Korea. The company is only 20 years old but has shown incredible growth and become a huge company that has taken over other companies in the entire world.”

“Samsung was the best when we were young……”

“Stop recalling your old memories.”

Gyeongwon began explaining while pointing to the printed materials.

The main content was roughly about how impressive Clover is globally, and there was no need to embellish it since everything is true.

Most of the members, already aware of the facts, nodded their heads indifferently while listening.

Indeed, as a Korean, it was impossible not to know.

The tons of documentaries they kept making, filled with nationalistic pride and calling them an “immortal success story” and whatever, I heard them so many times growing up that it was almost stuck to my ears like a never ending caller tune.

Nowadays, products from Google and Microsoft are all considered second-rate or third-rate, and only Clover Corporation is being recognized as an overwhelmingly dominant conglomerate, to the point of being unmatched with anyone.

“By the way, this Chun Sungjae, the person who founded the company, was only 20 years old at the time, which made it even more of a sensation. He is referred to as an overwhelming genius who is beyond human understanding. If the Clover Corporation and the ghost stories are somehow intertwined, it’s probably because this person might have something to do with it.”

I nodded.

The MineCraft ghost stories.

As the Chairman of the company, he must have known about it. Even as an individual, he has an intelligence unprecedented in human history.

He must surely be aware of the existence of ghost stories to some extent.

Soon, Gyeongwon attached a photo of CEO Chun Sungjae on the whiteboard with a magnet.

“This is what he looks like. Everyone knows, right?”

“Of course.”

A typical upper-class elite, with a sharp genius-like appearance.

Hair that is always gelled and slicked back, with shiny gold-rimmed glasses.

And a sharp jawline.

Along with a flawless image for always wearing a fancy suit.

Aside from exuding the impression of being sharp and indifferent, he gives off a vibe of a flawless businessman in a suit.

‘He must be in his late 30s now.’

As the Chairman of the world’s number one company, he’s not only younger than I expected but also very stylish, making him quite popular as an individual.

He has been featured on the cover of Time magazine and has circulated widely internationally.

‘With a 3cm long picture….’

Sensing the members’ envious gazes, Gyeongwon finished explaining and organized the printed materials.

“That’s all for the briefing on the Dogma of Void and Clover Corporation. Does anyone have any questions?”

“Hmm.”

Stroking my chin, I decided to ask about their connection to the ghost stories.

“So, are there no scary rumors or theories going around about them on the internet or anywhere?”

“There’s almost no information regarding the Dogma of Void, and there are a lot of rumors about Clover torturing aliens… It’s just some silly memes that follow them for being the number one company in the world. There aren’t any proper articles about them.”

“I see……”

I nodded and motioned for him to take his seat.

“Thank you for your hard work.”

Gyeongwon went back to his seat and started organizing the stack of papers before putting them away.

I decided to slowly move on to the next topic for today’s CA session.

“Next, I would like to hear how things are going with the infiltration of the staff Soccer Club, which I had asked Teacher Hwaeun about before.”

“Uh, yeah?”

Teacher Jang Hwaeun flinched, she looked visibly flustered.

During the last CA session, I had asked Teacher Hwaeun to infiltrate the suspicious force within the faculty members.

That club outwardly claimed to be a Soccer Club of teachers and staff, but in reality, they were people associated with that religious organization.

‘Judging from her reaction, it seems like there hasn’t been any fruitful progress.’

“I, I tried to get together with them once……”

The Teacher explained in a flustered manner.

“We usually get along very well, but whenever the topic of joining the Soccer Club comes up, everyone starts subtly avoiding the conversation……”

“First of all, since it’s a club formed with the teachers and other staff of the school, is there a reason why you can’t join as a teacher? It should be fine if you asked about it, have you asked them?”

“Well, I didn’t ask directly… but……”

The teacher explained with the same flustered expression.

“Maybe they don’t want to…. You know…? I mean, they clearly know I’m the teacher assigned to this club……”

“Hmm.”

That’s true though.

Even if Teacher Hwaeun somehow forced her way in, they would be suspicious of her and refuse to accept her as their own.

At that moment, Jinhee suddenly leaned forward and asked the Teacher.

“Then, do you have any other method in mind?”

“Uh, huh?”

Teacher Hwaeun became even more flustered being questioned by Jinhee.

The other members also had a look of curiosity in their faces as they let out a ‘hmm?’ and leaned forward.

It was surprising seeing Jinhee actively taking an initiative in this kind of thing.

“You should think of something. You promised to help, remember?”

“R, right~?”

The teacher nodded, she appeared to be out of breath.

“I promised to help, right?”

“Of course.”

Jinhee responded nonchalantly as if it was obvious.

“I remember clearly you promised to help.”

“Right, right. I did. I did……”

I wonder if the previous ghost story with her friend Kim Eunjung had caused some kind of change in her attitude.

Jinhee began pushing Teacher Hwaeun further with no way out.

“You even promised to protect us from scary adults who tried to kill their students, remember?”

“Y, yes~! I should protect you~! I’m your teacher after all~!”

Teacher Jang Hwaeun was sweating nervously with a flustered expression. Soon, Jinhee nailed down her final point with an indifferent look.

“Then tell me. Do you have another method in mind?”

“Ye, yeah~! That’s right, that’s right! I was about to say that~!”

Teacher Hwaeun, who had been struggling to explain herself and smiling cowardly, suddenly clapped her hands together.

“Th-there’s the new science teacher, Miss Han Ari, who was assigned to your first-year class this time, right?”

Miss Han Ari, the new science teacher.

The young female teacher, who was hired urgently by the school to fill in the vacant position of the previous middle aged science teacher after he messed with the midterm question paper and got fooled by me.

She was not much older than us, and she was a completely new and inexperienced teacher who was recruited right after graduating from college.

Among the students, instead of her real name, we call her Teacher Chick.

“There are a few female teachers who stick to her and treat her exceptionally well, you know? But they’re all part of the teaching staff. Isn’t that suspicious?”

“Hmm… It is suspicious.”

I nodded while crossing my arms.

“Do you think they’re trying to make her follow that religion?”

“Yeah, I think so! It seems like they’re trying to recruit her as one of their own. She’s still a young teacher who doesn’t know much about the world! They’re probably trying to get her on their side–”

“So you’re saying that before the teaching staff make Teacher Han Ari their own people, you will approach her first to make her join our club?”

“Right~! Right! Correct~”

Teacher Hwaeun nodded her head with a desperate expression and humble smile, as if trying to convince us.

“I would build a friendly relationship with the new science teacher Miss Han Ari before the staff! We would become like sisters to each other~”

And if the teaching staff somehow managed to get Teacher Han Ari in to their Soccer Club, we could subtly gather information from them through her.

Or we could also go ahead and invite her to join our club and use her as a new source of information.

“….. Well, not half bad.”

“Right? Right?”

It wasn’t that the plan was good, more like we had no other way.

Even so, this half-baked plan seemed like a much less burdensome way than directly infiltrating the teaching staff, the Teacher also desperately nodded in agreement.

“This method is much less suspicious, so it’s a better alternative~”

“Is there a way to become close to the new science teacher?”

“Of course~! She’s a very sociable person~”

Teacher exaggeratedly waved her hands as if asking us to believe her.

“Her seat is right across from mine~ We’re already like sisters to each other!”

“Hmm…..”

A 10-year-older, unmarried older woman, who can eat two chickens at one go, and perhaps also ostracized by her other colleagues, is trying to get close to a much younger colleague than herself at work.

‘I wonder if it’ll be okay.’

I’ve never experienced social life, so I couldn’t really imagine what that would feel like.

For now, I nodded.

“Then I have a favor to ask. Please make sure to get close to her by the next CA session next week. It would be a problem if the staff members whisk her away first.”

“Of course~ Of course~ Trust me.”

Teacher Jang Hwaeun placed her hand on her waist, showing her confidence.

I deduced that the CA session was about to end and slowly wrapped up the meeting.

“Everyone has worked really hard for the past week.”

The club members nodded in agreement.

Since the midterms, we’ve already solved several ghost stories in just a week. It felt like a month had passed, not a week.

“Once today is over, it’ll be the weekend, and Monday is Children’s Day, so a substitute holiday. Let’s all take a good rest during that time. Forget about ghost stories and just relax for these three days.”

“I’m going to switch off my phone~”

Jinhee said in a playful tone, but I waved my hand.

“That’s fine, but make sure to receive calls. You never know what might happen, so check the group chat frequently. Also, I occasionally report my situation there sometimes.”

“Ah, you guys. Do you not know anything? This is called ‘relaxation drill’.”

“Is there really such a stupid thing in the world?”

Dukhun and Jinhee began bickering on the side.

“I really hope nothing happens, hehe.”

Gyeongwon smiled while pushing his glasses.

“I have encountered so many of them that now I’m sick of ghost stories.”

“And I have something to announce about the point distribution.”

I looked at the members and made a serious expression.

“I just used the points I earned in the previous ghost story for my personal growth. For that, thanks, everyone.”

The members showed confused expressions.

“If there’s anyone who thinks it’s unfair, I’ll give up the position of President right now.”

“No, no, it’s fine.”

Dukhun hurriedly waved his hand.

“I was just joking, don’t worry. But I was wondering that maybe we should change the way we calculate and distribute points.”

“Hmm. How?”

Gyeongwon crossed his arms as he asked.

“Last time, we decided that when everyone earns points, I will either give out physical rewards or level you up. But honestly, after thinking about it again, I feel that converting points into physical rewards is just too wasteful.”

There were already so many important aspects where we could use the points, and to spend them on action figures that we could buy from any shopping mall…

This part definitely needed to be changed.

“I agree that it’s wasteful, but Prez was the one who suggested that method first.”

Gyeongwon lifted his glasses as he spoke.

“There should be a reward that is appropriately motivating for everyone, but I’m still not planning to buy things like lottery tickets. That’s why we’re using points as rewards.”

“That’s right. And I also don’t plan on buying you guys lottery tickets. There are too many variables.”

As I had explained to the members before, minors can’t buy lottery tickets, and right now, it’s hard to choose a trustworthy adult who can handle a large sum of money.

“I don’t know if we can get help from the Detective regarding this, but there are a lot of ghost stories about winning the lottery, so for now, we’ll hold off.”

“There should be rewards that can motivate everyone, but as Prez said, giving out points as physical rewards feels wasteful. But you’re not planning to buy lottery tickets to get a large sum of money either, right? So, what exactly are you thinking of changing the reward system to……”

The members looked puzzled.

Beside them, Teacher Jang Hwaeun was giving a somewhat more amicable smile than usual. She seemed a bit confused as she looked around, unable to follow the conversation.

“…. Legally and socially, there’s no problem, and it doesn’t attract anyone’s attention either. It’s literally something that goes unnoticed.”

I paused for a moment before saying.

“I know a place where a scammer has buried a lot of money.”

“…….”

“In a field.”

At my words, the members showed a blank expression for a moment.

“I can go and dig it up.”

Things like lottery tickets, stocks, and bitcoins always leave social records.

And we don’t know what effect that will have on our causal relationship as we fight against large corporations and fake religious organizations.

So, money that no one knows about and is not tied down to anything.

I can bring it forth.

“Uh… Where is it buried?”

Dukhun asked curiously.

“I can’t tell you.”

I answered firmly.

Leaving aside the issue of trust, I needed money that I could completely keep to myself and manage on my own.

Money that a criminal in prison buried in the playground.

I remembered it being discovered and causing a huge uproar on Children’s Day, which is two days later, in my previous life.

I could get that money on my own without going through an adult.

“I’m going to go get that money during this holiday. Then, I’ll add that money as our club’s fund and distribute it little by little to the members who will help me solve the ghost stories in the future.”

The members swallowed their saliva.

With this, there was no need to check the rewards that changed depending on which rank of the ghost story will be solved, and there wouldn’t be any waste of precious points on physical rewards.

“What do you think? Compared to the 4 billion in three years, cash that’s given right away for solving a case definitely feels more appealing, right?”

The points that would be left, leveling them up appropriately with them would be an added bonus.

The offer was tempting enough that they couldn’t refuse, but since they were only high school students who weren’t used to receiving money in exchange for labor, they looked slightly burdened.

After a while, Gyeongwon nodded his head with a hesitant expression.

“Well, sounds good, but… I’m not particularly greedy for money, so any method is fine with me.”

“Me, me too…..”

Even though they were saying that, I was sure they were already thinking about where to spend their next allowance in their heads.

Coming from a place where I used to get 20,000 to 30,000 won from my mom to buy reference books, suddenly receiving 1 million won and being able to spend it all at once is definitely tempting.

[Your understanding of the character Oh Dukhun has increased by 5.]

“Just think of it as a friendly salary. Don’t feel uncomfortable about money getting involved between us.”

When we move up in grade, there would be a lot to worry about, such as managing the new junior members, various programs, external activities and other things.

“Well, it might be overwhelming since I’m suddenly changing the system like this, but that’s how it has always been from the beginning. We go through trial and error and develop into a better method.”

The members nodded their heads in understanding.

It seemed like they were thinking of leaving it entirely up to my opinion.

Just at that moment, the bell rang, and I stood up from my seat.

“Then that’s it for today. Let’s hope that Teacher Jang Hwaeun brings back more fruitful results in the next CA session.”

“What? Ah? Haven’t you already done so many things without your teacher’s help……”

Jinhee giggled as she watched Teacher Hwaeun struggling to get up in a panic.

“Teacher, there are many things you don’t know.”

“R, really……?”

A remark aimed at someone who has a constitution that is easily swept up in ghost stories.

‘Next time she gets possessed, I should record it on video or something.’

Along with Teacher Jang Hwaeun, who was scratching her head in confusion, we left the clubroom and went downstairs to the classroom for the closing ceremony.

Now, let’s welcome a 3-day break.

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