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Chapter 65: Chronos History (9)

The terror surged within me as I struggled to grasp the situation. Desperately, I reached into the ghost’s coat pocket, my fingers encountering something unexpectedly rigid. "Is this a card?" I questioned aloud. Extracting two cards, I proudly displayed them before the ghost, whose attempt to stifle laughter was apparent as she bit her lip. "Huhuh..."

I asked, "Is there another one in your clothes?" The ghost merely shook her head, leaned in close, and then vanished into the corridor.

After she went away, I gave Lee Jin-Sung a reassuring pat on the shoulder and handed him the cards. “Look at this, two cards, each worth a whopping fifty points."

“Is it gone?" he asked anxiously.

“Yes, it\'s gone," I confirmed. Only then did Lee Jin-Sung dare to open his eyes, letting out a sigh of relief.

“You seem really frightened. Can you continue?"

‘Hmm... how many scores do we have?’ Surely, we must have amassed around two hundred fifty points by now. However, my member’s state was more important than the score.

‘Well, this should be enough.’

“If you\'re unable to continue, we can exit now," I offered. When Jin-Sung heard this, his expression briefly brightened and then quickly turned solemn. He asked, “How much further do we have to go?”

“I am not sure. But I reckon there are at least two or three more rooms left.”

“No... I don\'t want us to quit because of me,” said Jin-Sung with resolve as he released his grip from my arm. Goh Yoo-Joon, meanwhile, helped him to his feet. “Let\'s move on.”

As we progressed, we collected every card we could find. With no more rides to enjoy in this area and the others immersed in the fun rides of their choosing, time was on our side...

“It’s coming! Run! Hyung, it\'s coming!"

“Relax, it won\'t touch us. Wait, he\'s in a wheelchair, right? If he charges, he\'ll have to stop just before hitting us," I reasoned calmly.

“You\'re eerily composed! Are we done here? I\'ve checked everywhere," Goh Yoo-Joon asked.

“Yes, we\'re finished here. Let\'s head to the next room,” I declared. Before my words could fully settle, Goh Yoo-Joon grabbed my arm, dragging us toward the next room. “Damn, this is getting scarier. Why does it feel so endless?" He grabbed my arm so strongly that it might just pop out. Meanwhile, I was still clutching the card in my hand.

Stepping into the last room, we discovered everything bathed in an eerie red glow. No flashlight was necessary here. “This room..." The scene unfolded before us—a rusty old bed, tattered curtains, and a bedspread with a suspicious bulge, as if hiding a human.

Goh Yoo-Joon grimaced, pointing at the bed. “Do we have to uncover that?"

“Perhaps it\'s just a prop," I speculated.

“Or is that what you\'re hoping for?" asked Yoo-Joon. Given our track record of finding funny stuff, it seemed we had no choice but to investigate it. But first, a thorough search of the surroundings was in order.

“There is light in here, and nowhere else but that bed has anything to emerge from... let\'s search a bit more," I suggested, giving Jin-Sung a playful slap on the back and freeing myself from his grasp. After a moment of hesitation, Lee Jin-Sung feigned searching the drawers, allowing me to explore more freely. Eventually, he mustered the courage to open drawers near the bed while occasionally gasping, probably upon discovering mannequin parts.

“This is the last room, so let\'s be thorough," I said as I was pulling out a card wedged between some books, and then chaos erupted.

“Grrrrrgh! Aaaagh!" The blanket was flung off the bed, revealing a grotesque figure that lunged toward Lee Jin-Sung.

At the same time, all the ghosts we had previously encountered in each room swarmed into this cramped space. "Aaaagh!" Lee Jin-Sung, paralyzed by fear, emitted a scream and bolted outside, skillfully evading the figures. However, his loyalty remained intact, as he didn\'t forget to grab me and Goh Yoo-Joon with his strong arms, dragging us out with him.

The complex locking mechanism, meant to be pushed and pulled, resisted our escape attempts. In his panic, Goh Yoo-Joon kicked it fiercely a few times, causing it to clatter open.

“Waaah! Huff! Huff..." Once outside, Lee Jin-Sung released us and gasped for air, relief washing over him.

- You guys made it out!

In stark contrast to the turmoil we had just endured, the writer’s voice was extremely chill. With our faces flushed red from the recent scare, we handed the cards to the writer.

“Here are the cards. Ugh, I am getting sick.”

“That last part was beyond terrifying. It\'s going to invade my dreams tonight.”

“I\'m pretty sure I\'ll be haunted by it for a month. Ugh, I hate this so much," Goh Yoo-Joon confessed, trembling and visibly shaken. While we exchanged light banter before the camera, the writer calculated the points on the cards and expressed his admiration.

- You\'ve gathered them so earnestly. Four hundred twenty points!

“What? Where did we drop eighty points? We combed through every nook and cranny!" I exclaimed. The writer responded with a calm and slightly awkward smile.

- Hyun-Woo, you didn\'t seem frightened at all. We had prepared so much. Some must have been missed in the dark.

“But, did the other members not arrive yet?"

- Joo-Han and Yoon-Chan did come, but they chose another ride when they heard you three were inside.

My gaze drifted to the central clock of the amusement park. There were six minutes until the end of the game. It seemed that we had spent so much time in the haunted house that we almost didn’t have time for any other rides.

“Maybe we should take one more ride and then head to the gathering spot?" I suggested.

Hearing my suggestion, Goh Yoo-Joon shook off his fatigue and nodded in agreement. We went to a children\'s ride next to where Joo-Han was taking a break and then made our way to the designated meeting spot. “Let\'s just head there. There\'s no time for anything else."

Despite the ordeal, our steps were light with the prospect of escaping last place and possibly contending for the MC position. This optimism was fueled by our impressive haul of four hundred twenty points.

- Everyone, you\'ve done well. The competition is now concluded. Please, gather at the designated location.

After Lee Won-Jae announced this, Joo-Han and Park Yoon-Chan, both donning headbands, rejoined us at the starting point. We then casually recounted our experiences on the rides. After listening for a bit, the director interjected at the perfect moment.

- I\'m glad to see you all enjoyed yourselves as intended.

The others cast annoyed glances at me and Lee Jin-Sung. Unfazed, we simply shrugged.

“Why? We had fun, right?” asked Jin-Sung.

“Exactly. We had a blast. Be wary. The rankings are still up in the air," I chortled.

Joo-Han mocked us. “You two vanished after the mid-game check. Did you just give up and go for a carousel ride?"

“Not at all!" I shot back a sharp look at Joo-Han before abruptly turning away.

‘Let them mock as they please. Our score might just turn everything upside down.’

- Our shoot of Chronos History at Tinta Land is drawing to a close. Who do you think will take first place and secure the Countdown MC spot?

“I bet on Yoon-Chan. He was consistently on a lot of rides," answered Joo-Han.

“I think Joo-Han hyung will win. He only chose the rides with the highest points even with Suh Hyun-Woo and Jin-Sung," Goh Yoo-Joon guessed. It seemed like Joo-Han, Park Yoon-Chan, and Goh Yoo-Joon were forming their own exclusive league, while Lee Jin-Sung and I weren’t even considered as contenders.

I glanced at the director and noticed that he was looking at the three with a significant, almost delighted expression.

- Now, let\'s announce the rankings. Who will be first and second? Starting with fifth place, it’s Yoon-Chan.

“What?" The other members who were preparing to turn toward me and Jin-Sung suddenly shifted their attention to Park Yoon-Chan. He himself seemed unable to believe he was in fifth place.

“Yoon-Chan is last?” asked Joo-Han.

“I\'m fifth? Really?” inquired Yoon-Chan. The members repeatedly asked in disbelief, to which the director nodded. After that, Jin-Sung and I put on an exaggerated display of triumph, and he boasted, “See! We told you we had fun, right, Hyun-Woo hyung?"

“Absolutely. No one enjoyed themselves as much as we did. Right, Jin-Sung?"

Ignoring our banter, Joo-Han asked, "How does someone in second place at the mid-game check end up last?"

- I\'ll explain that later. You guys just need to know that Yoon-Chan has to face the penalty for coming in fifth.

“What? What\'s the penalty?"

- I\'ll tell you that later too. And in fourth place, it’s Joo-Han!

Following Park Yoon-Chan, Joo-Han was fourth. With this turn of events, Joo-Han and Park Yoon-Chan no longer expressed surprise at their rankings. “Director, what did these guys do after the mid-game check?"

“How did those who were last manage to score so high in such a short time?"

After the mid-game check, we hadn\'t even ridden any rides with other members, except with each other. Hence, filled with skepticism, Joo-Han and Yoon-Chan continued to question us. The director simply smirked and announced the next ranking.

- Third place is Jin-Sung.

“Ah! So close. Third place, huh? Ah...”

- You were very close to second place.

“Hyun-Woo hyung, when did you ride one more?"

“Just before coming here."

“Wow, I was so out of it that I couldn’t do anything else."

- It\'s good to see that even those who don\'t like rides enjoyed themselves

Hearing this, Jin-Sung looked at the director who was smiling mischievously. Our rank had skyrocketed just from that one visit to the haunted house. If Goh Yoo-Joon was first, and I was second, then both of us would secure the MC spots.

“Incredible..." I murmured softly. Had I not caught on to Director Lee Won-Jae\'s hints, I would be dealing with the penalty right now. When I realized that I hadn’t done much since riding the Tintacoaster, or whatever it was called, I was somewhat moved.

- Since the top two winners have been decided, I won’t drag this out any longer. Hyun-Woo is second, and Yoo-Joon is first."

“Yes!" Goh Yoo-Joon let out a long sigh of contentment and approached me for a handshake. I shared the same victorious expression with Goh Yoo-Joon.

“But Director, how did Yoo-Joon hyung and Hyun-Woo hyung score their points?" Park Yoon-Chan asked.

- They participated in the Scream Challenge, a summer special at Tinta Land, scoring a whopping four hundred twenty points.

“The Scream Challenge? Was that the spot where we could earn a ton of points earlier? Ah, we should have gone in there."

- Joo-Han and Yoon-Chan tried to take on the challenge but couldn\'t because these three were already inside.

Joo-Han looked disappointed, and Park Yoon-Chan shook his head. “That place is too scary to even approach. I wouldn’t have gone in for more points."

At that moment, a cameraman nearby held up a large sketchbook for us to see. Joo-Han glanced at it and said, “Yes, it was a big hit last year too. The Tinta Land Scream Challenge, becoming even more special and terrifying this summer, is open only for a month, from August 1st to 30th. It’s a haunted house event. If you love scary things and are confident you can make it to the end, be sure to try it out."

As usual, the competition came to a close with a plug for Tinta Land. The director raised his thumb in satisfaction and then wore a meaningful smile.

- Now, all that\'s left is to reveal the penalty for Yoon-Chan.