LIGHTNOVELONLINE Chapter 109
Chapter 109
We carefully chose the material and detailed design of the rings to match any outfit so we could always wear them. Now, we began the full-scale crafting.
“You can engrave initials or dates in English on the ring. Do you have anything in mind?”
“Something to engrave… maybe ORCA or the debut date?”
“The debut date hasn’t even come yet. Isn’t it a bit ambiguous to engrave it now?”
As Gyun Seong-ha said, the debut date had been confirmed only recently.
Since it didn’t feel right to commemorate a date that hadn’t arrived yet, we decided to go with the group name.
To easily distinguish the ring owners, we also decided to engrave each person’s name or initials.
Kang Ji-woo went with ‘JU’, Ban Yo-han chose ‘YH’, Seo Moon-gyeol picked ‘GYEOL’, and I chose ‘ON’.
As for Gyun Seong-ha…
“Seong-ha, isn’t it a bit long in English? Let’s shorten it to ‘Daeng’.”
Why ‘Daeng’, you ask?
(개)견 → 멍 → 댕
…That’s why.
“It’s only one letter difference.”
I thought he wasn’t going to do it.
However, when we practiced engraving on thin metal plates before directly engraving on the ring blank, Gyun Seong-ha practiced writing ‘DAENG’ instead of ‘SUNGHA’.
If I caught him, he would probably make an excuse and pretend ‘Daeng’ never happened, so I acted like I didn’t notice.
Among us, Seo Moon-gyeol was undoubtedly the most skilled.
The designer helping us was so impressed with Seo Moon-gyeol’s practice engravings that he couldn’t stop praising him.
“Wow, the spacing is perfect. Have you done this kind of work before?”
“No, it’s my first time.”
“Moon-gyeol is really good with his hands.”
Despite saying this, Kang Ji-woo was surprisingly clumsy with such delicate work.
“Well, as long as he can cook.”
Gyun Seong-ha frowned, seemingly struggling, and Ban Yo-han… after a few attempts, he seemed to get the hang of it and did reasonably well.
“Now, let’s try engraving directly. Just do it as you practiced.”
With the designer’s help, Kang Ji-woo and Gyun Seong-ha managed to engrave without making a mess.
“Raon did a clean job too.”
“Thank you.”
After that, we opened the workshop windows wide for ventilation, welded the long, thin silver plates into ring shapes, hammered them into form, and polished them with a grinder.
The rings, with a twist in the middle and ‘ORCA’ and individual initials engraved inside, gleamed brilliantly, leaving no trace of their former rough appearance.
Once the designer finished the final touches, the rings were complete.
While waiting for the designer to finish polishing all five rings, the production crew called us into a separate room in the workshop one by one for a short break.
They asked me a question.
“Raon, do you have any intentions of giving your heart to Seong-ha?”
I thought about what Gyun Seong-ha had done for me throughout the day.
“I… well…”
* * *
After Kang Ji-woo, all the members were called in by the production crew, and the shoot resumed.
By the way, the designer who finished the work had left earlier after greeting us, who were having sandwiches for dinner. Lucky him.
“We just checked everyone’s feelings individually. Now, we’ll reveal the results immediately.”
“Hyung, I can trust you, right?”
“You saying that means you didn’t give your heart to Seong-ha.”
“Shut up….”
“…”
When even the noise subsided and the tension reached its peak…
“…Unfortunately! No one succeeded in winning the other person’s heart.”
‘I knew it.’
“Therefore, Ji-woo, who succeeded in interfering, wins alone and obtains a wish ticket to use on a member.”
“Wow!”
Kang Ji-woo burst into laughter, raised his arms, and spun around, savoring his victory.
The remaining four of us exchanged disappointed and bitter glances.
“Ah, Yo-han hyung. I asked you to let it go just this once. Just once.”
“I also said I don’t like haunted houses.”
That’s right.
Although the production crew didn’t tell us explicitly, it was almost certain that the penalty involved entering a haunted house.
Especially since it was the Halloween season, they must have put a lot of effort into creating the haunted house, and not sending us there until now meant…
They intended to send us there as a penalty.
Considering Ban Yo-han, who had openly stated he didn’t like haunted houses, and Seong-ha, who didn’t give in to Seo Moon-gyeol, it seemed everyone had anticipated the penalty to some extent.
No one was willing to sacrifice themselves for the other, resulting in such a catastrophic outcome.
Should I be glad that these people aren’t foolish even in such matters, or not….
“But it’s surprising that Moon-gyeol didn’t give in to Yo-han.”
“Exactly. I thought he would definitely give in.”
“The kids told me not to….”
“Did we make a mistake? Can we blame ourselves for this?”
Anyway, the reason Seo Moon-gyeol didn’t give in to Ban Yo-han was very typical of him.
As the atmosphere calmed down a bit, the production crew continued.
“As you might have guessed, the other four will enter the haunted house as a penalty and find the rings you just made.”
“Our rings?”
“Yes. We’ve hidden your rings in cases throughout the haunted house. You need to find them.”
“Why do you do such things…!”
“We haven’t even worn the new rings yet….”
Ignoring our strong objections, the production crew continued.
“And since Ji-woo expressed his willingness to participate in the haunted house earlier, he will join the ring search.”
When we looked at Kang Ji-woo, who seemed to be volunteering for trouble, he grinned.
“Since I’m here, I thought it would be a shame not to participate.”
A bold guy indeed.
A while later, we stood at the entrance of the haunted house with mixed feelings.
### Chapter 109
We called it a haunted house for convenience, but according to the guide, this horror attraction was set in an abandoned school, and the interior was decorated accordingly.
The ghosts we would encounter were probably ghosts of students or teachers.
“We’ll divide into teams by playing rock-paper-scissors. Those who play the same will enter together.”
This meant that if four people played the same, the remaining one would go in alone.
“If you don’t play, you go in alone. Rock-paper-scissors!”
Ban Yo-han and Seo Moon-gyeol played rock, Kang Ji-woo and Gyun Seong-ha played scissors, and I played paper.
“…”
Ban Yo-han laughed and patted my shoulder as I stared in disbelief at my outstretched hand.
Who said I’d be lucky when I returned to the real world?
[……. Luck +1]
Was it you?
“What will you do? Can you go alone?”
“Do you want to switch?”
“No?”
This jerk.
“Instead, Raon, you can decide the order.”
“Then I’ll go first.”
“Really?!”
Gyun Seong-ha was shocked.
“Of course.”
That way, there would be more rings left to find.
“You must find at least one ring inside. Even if you reach the exit, you can’t leave without a ring.”
Shortly after, I received a flashlight from a Latte World employee and entered the haunted house with a cameraman who looked anxious and uneasy.
“….”
It was dark.
“Uh… Raon, why isn’t the flashlight on?”
The cameraman was more scared than I was.
“I pressed the button, but it won’t turn on. Is it broken? Should we go back and get a new one?”
However, as we continued to walk deeper, holding onto the metal handle attached to the wall, the flashlight suddenly turned on.
And the light was red.
Somewhere, a metal door slammed shut.
I felt the cameraman flinch.
“Wow….”
A cold breeze from the air conditioner blew, and a nauseating smell of blood wafted in.
They even simulated the smell.
The light wasn’t very bright, but I could see that we were in a corridor-like space.
The width was quite narrow, making it impossible to stretch out my arms fully….
When I shone the flashlight upwards, I saw a student hanging on the wall, head drooped as if dead.
“Wow, that scared me.”
“Ahh! Ahh!”
The cameraman, who had been more startled than me, asked curiously.
“…Raon, were you scared?”
“It’s not real, so it’s not too bad.”
If it had been a real person hanging there, I would have been scared, but common sense dictated it was just a mannequin, right?
Rather than physical fear like the roller coaster earlier, this wasn’t as scary once experienced.
“I was scared for no reason… Ah!”
“Aah! Oh, oh!”
As we turned the corner, a ghost of a female student with loose hair screamed and ran toward us from a distance.
Reflexively, I stepped back, and something slimy and unpleasant slid down from the ceiling, touching the back of my head. A chilly breeze brushed my ankles.
The female student ghost, instead of running into us, opened a door in the wall and entered a classroom as if nothing had happened.
Nearby, I heard small creatures scurrying around….
“Ah, ah… Ah….”
“Are you okay?”
Having someone next to me who was much more scared seemed to help. I was startled for a moment by the ghost, but after recognizing it, it wasn’t as scary.
The cameraman, practically crying, urged me to quickly find the ring and get out.
Of course, I wanted to find it quickly too.
“Trust me, just follow me closely.”
I opened the classroom door the female student ghost had entered.
“Are you going in?”
“I have to.”
I told the cameraman to stay by the door if he was too scared and entered the room.
Maybe because it was a confined space, the stench was particularly strong.
The female student ghost was now sitting at the only tidy desk in the chaotic classroom, reading an old novel.
I kept an eye on her while scanning the surroundings for the ring.
“Excuse me, I’ll just find the ring quickly….”
At that moment.
[The trait 《Semmelier》 has detected impure intentions from the cabinet.]
…Cabinet?