EX(173).txt
Translator: Wan ED/PR: Solarin
38. Youth training camp (4)
Maeng Hyodon, who departed a bit late.
From the moment he came out of the tent and ran, there was no one in his view.
He was even heading towards the same direction as Hwang Jiho and Song Daeseok until the middle, but as if their feet were amazingly fast, he couldn’t see even their silhouettes.
He didn’t meet any kind of Enemy yet, and couldn’t even hear the satellite warning, but Maeng Hyodon’s sharp senses were informing him:
It’s dangerous here, and it will soon lead to battle.
‘Teacher-nim stays there. It’s fine. I said it’s fine!’
When he drew near to his destination, while persuading himself like this over and over, he, unknowingly even to himself, approached the teachers’ lodgings and raised his voice.
“Teacher-nim! It’s Maeng Hyodon! Teacher Ham Geunhyeong-nim! Otherworld appeared!”
At that, the lights turned on almost immediately in two places in the teacher lodgings.
The door opened, and two people came out.
One, the 1st year class 1’s homeroom teacher, Kim Sinrok.
The other one, the 1st year class 2’s homeroom teacher, No Yeongmi.
The two teachers were looking at holograms.
It seemed that after hearing Maeng Hyodon’s words, they checked satellite information straight away and realized already that communication in this place was currently completely cut off.
“Can you please summarize what happened?”
“So that’s, that… We were watching a movie, and it suddenly wouldn’t load, and we checked, but I think communication isn’t working and…”
While at No Yeongmi’s words, Maeng Hyodon was summarizing while rambling.
“Hyodon, may I speak instead?”
An Dain, who appeared leading the 1st year class 1 female students who were armed as they materialized their item cards, coherently summarized the situation.
Unlike Maeng Hyodon, who fumbled with his words and couldn’t organize them, her words sounded perfectly logical, and as he listened, even Maeng Hyodon calmed down.
‘Song Daeseok that fucker is fucking quick. You’re saying he got there in such a short amount of time and explained everything?’
While Maeng Hyodon was amazed, An Dain soon wrapped up.
“… Sang-hun went towards Gijang Island and Su-hyeok towards the Sangju Mountain. Because there is one more otherworld in the direction of the Sangju Mountain, I’m thinking of cooperating with that side.”
“That’s how it’s, eh? Currently, Our class 2 vice president and lodgings leader, student Mun Saeron is making a night news coverage, so she won’t be in lodgings… If I knew about it, I wouldn’t allow her go news-gathering.”
No Yeongmi, who heard An Dain’s entire explanation, organized her thoughts and replied.
“Then I’ll lead the class 2’s female students and student Song Daeseok to the Sangju Mountain. Teacher Kim Sinrok-nim, please head towards Gijang Island first, and student An Dain, You please go to the Sangju Mountain first.”
If they moved according to her words, the two otherworlds, which occurred at Sangju Mountain, were against the 1st year class 2’s homeroom teacher No Yeongmi, who was here, Ju Su-hyeok and An Dain.
The 1st year class 1’s homeroom teacher, Kim Sinrok and Yu Sang-hun, would go to the otherworld which occurred at Gijang Island.
When Maeng Hyodon was organizing the information in his head, Kim Sinrok spoke up.
“I’ll do as teacher No Yeongmi-nim says. Hyodon, what are you going to do?” [1]
Kim Sinrok asked softly, with a gentle face.
“… Teacher Ham Geunhyeong-nim?”
“It seems teacher Ham Geunhyeong-nim returned late even last night, so he is probably patrolling, huh?”
“Then I’ll go find homeroom teacher-nim!”
Maeng Hyodon shouted without hesitation.
There was no way that homeroom teacher-nim would be easily defeated, but it was dangerous to move at this hour without information.
“I’m not keen on recommending moving alone, but…”
“There are two more people from our class in this building. I’ll move with them.”
“Teacher-nim, there is no time.”
An Dain was looking towards the north with a bit of anxious eyes.
As An Dain said, there was no time to worry.
Kim Sinrok and No Yeongmi looked at each other and nodded their heads.
“Do You know Our class student Mun Saeron?”
“I had an interview with her before, but…”
“If You find Mun Saeron, please move together.”
“Yes!”
When he replied like this, and they were about to depart, An Dain brushed past Maeng Hyodon and said a word to him.
“Take good care of Yuri.”
He felt a strange energy from An Dain, who spoke like this, worthy of the rival who was said to match against Ju Su-hyeok.
“Uh, Okay. Don’t overexert Ju Su-hyeok!”
“… Ok!”
At those words, it seemed that An Dain was momentarily embarrassed, and she burned red in the darkness, but that might have been Maeng Hyodon’s hallucination.
As they ended the conversation like this, and each moved towards their destination.
To find the class girls, who were using the 3rd floor of the teacher lodgings, Maeng Hyodon started to run up the stairs with big strides.
‘If there is so much noise, wouldn’t you usually look outside?’
Kim Yuri was of a pretty outstanding sort, even among the Eungwang School’s Players.
But it was a bit strange, she didn’t open a window to check outside.
Maeng Hyodon clenched his teeth with an uneasy mind, and ran jumping the stair steps.
At last, he found the two people’s names written on a paper nameplate in the corridor lit up only by the emergency light and knocked at the door.
Bang! Bang!
“Hey! Wake up!”
He sensed a trace of presence as if something was moving inside, but the door didn’t open.
‘… Should I crush in first and ask next, like the class 0 seniors?’
When, as he recalled an anecdote about seniors crushing the training camp’s stage, Maeng Hyodon was about to break the door.
“Wait a moment!”
As if sensing a superpower wave, a voice stopping Maeng Hyodon came from the inside, and the door soon opened.
‘Both of them are here!’
Maeng Hyodon was instantly relieved, but his expression hardened straight away.
Because Kim Yuri, who was curled up on the bed and trembling, came into view.
“It seems that Yuri had a bad dream. I was about to call teacher-nim, because she was trembling so much… Hey, Hyodon? What’s happening?”
While looking at Kim Yuri, Maeng Hyodon was recalling the reason why he departed later.
Benefactor, who saved him from hell.
Suspicious vice class president.
He said strange words before he departed from the tent.
— If something happens to Kim Yuri, please pass down those words.
‘If something happens? You talk as if knowing that something would happen, you know?!’
Kim Yuri with a pale face, discovered Maeng Hyodon late, waved her small hand and seemed to try to stand up.
‘… First, let’s inform them what is happening right now.’
Maeng Hyodon calmed down his mind and started to pass on the situation with his poor speaking skills.
***
Sawol Seeum activated the Flight skill and followed after me, who started to run using Min Geurin’s skill.
“I had no idea Uisin is so fast! If it’s so fast, then surely the evacuation of all residents…”
Sawol Seeum tried hard to speak brightly, but he shut his mouth, as if knowing it would be difficult, and hung his head.
“Ev-even if we don’t do the evacuation, if the defense team plays their role well until support comes, it won’t be necessary to eventuate, correct? Everyone will be safe, correct?”
I ran without answering, and the voice of Sawol Seeum, who was following after me, got quieter, as if his throat was gradually tightening.
‘It should be fine if we came this far, right?’
After I, who ran without a word, stopped, Sawol Seeum lowered his altitude and descended straight in front of me.
“Uisin?”
“We have to do the evacuation. Especially the south-west island, all residents at the Maeuamri coast, had to move to the shelter in the center of the island.”
“Yes? However… the otherworld formed on the north side, you know?”
“Look towards south-west while floating.”
About now, in Seongmo Island’s south and west direction, or between Jumon Island and Jangbong Island, those things would be coming flocking.
They were aiming there because it was where the ‘Player’s Lighthouse’, the place where the sole Player on this island and island protector lived, and where private houses were close.
“The sea looks strange. A wave? A boat?… Uh?”
Sawol Seeum, who opened his eyes wide and looked towards the sea, spoke with a voice full of horror.
“… Are those all Enemies?”
Right now, this island was on the brink of being raided by the Enemy group.
We could distribute duties, but there were many residents at the coast who needed to be evacuated.
In particular, there was a high chance that the injured Enemies would deviate from the battle front to aim for the civilians around, to absorb their life force.
“Uh, what should we do? All the kids and teachers-nim went towards the north!”
“Calm down. If you look closely, their movement speed on the water surface is slow. Those Enemies can’t move freely on water. They’re slowly drawn to this island because of some sort of ‘command’.”
The Enemies, discovered by Sawol Seeum, were Jin’s family member to come and fulfill their mission on land.
They weren’t weak against water, but they weren’t strong either.
“There is time to evacuate.”
“However, even if it’s only the residents on this side, there are hundreds of people. Ho-how are we going to do it?”
“Use Gwangrim.”
Sawol Seeum opened his eyes wide and stared at me.
It was an expression of disbelief.
“My… Gwangrim…?”
“Yeah. I’m talking about the Gwangrim that even among Sawol family members, only you, the successor, can use.”
“Uisin, how do you…”
“Pass those words to those in the south-west area. ‘Head towards central shelter’.”
Why did I know that Enemies were heading towards the south-west?
And how did I know about Sawol Seeum’s Gwangrim?
He seemed to want to ask a lot of questions, but the virtuous person he was, he spoke resolutely as if he decided to prioritize saving lives.
“… I’ll try!”
A superpower wave spread out around Sawol Seeum.
The superpower wave, in the form of a friendly[2] swarm of lights, wrapped around him and after he gave shape to his Gwangrim, the swarm of lights started to move according to his will, but…
Sawol Seeum’s Gwangrim didn’t activate.
The ‘special conditions’ necessary to activate his Gwangrim, weren’t met.
“My apologies, um, I think it didn’t work! I’ll tr-try again!”
One time, two times, three times….
All attempts were futile.
Sawol repeatedly said he was sorry with his eyes filled with tears.
‘I thought it may turn out like this, but I hoped it wouldn’t come to this.’
I calmed down my mind and took a deep breath, while I prepared to say those words.
***
Kim Sinrok, who was moving with An Dain until the middle of the way, but now was alone because the road split.
He was surprised by this strange phenomena, but wasn’t worried.
On this island, there was the Ho tribe’s head, Hwang-ho, and teacher, who could fight on an equal footing with decent Jin people, Ham Geun-hyeong.
‘There may be injured, but it doesn’t seem there will be particular problems, eh?’
Was thinking like this the cause?
Kim Sinrok ended up surrounded before he reached his destination.
He couldn’t sense any hostility or trace of presence.
He was hit with the uncomfortable and humiliating feeling of unilaterally becoming a prey and being captured without any proper cause-and-effect.
Kim Sinrok tasted such feelings a few times in his long life.
“Witnesses had to be killed, but sacrifices had to be alive, to be pulled over, you know? I kept agonizing over how I should do it. I made preparations, but instead, someone made a mistake? Why are Eungwang School’s brats like this, or why so many people are moving around? Is it for real… There are too many things to worry about in this world. Anyhow, I was waiting for you to be alone.”
Currently, the status of one was said to drop because of the wrath of Heavenly God, but at the time Kim Sinrok was born, his parents were Myth category Ho tribe member and Myth category Ung tribe member.
Born with the talent which overwhelmed ordinary Jin people, there were only two types of beings that could easily trample over his extraordinary perception, Ho tribe and Ung tribe.
And among the two, the Jin tribe, which would commit such actions, was certain.
‘… It’s an Ung, huh? The Ung tribe caused this situation!’
At last, he recalled the moment when he was confronted with the Trainer category Ung.
At the time, it also followed by a complete communication failure like this.
‘It’s a major event, eh?’
At the time, this phenomenon occurred in the Eungwang School.
Unlike Eungwang School, which had various barriers and facilities, this island’s defenses against the Jin people’s invasion and otherworlds were below the usual standard.
It was unknown when the communication would be restored.
‘It seems difficult to wait for Hwangho-nim’s support.’
If Hwang-ho discovered the Ung, wouldn’t those guys be dead by now?
Clearly, Hwang-ho was far away from here.
In addition, according to An Dain’s explanation, Hwang-ho was said to head towards the training camp instructor lodgings, but that was the opposite side of the island.
“Who are you bastards? Reveal your identity.”
He tried to materialize the weapon card while speaking like this, but the card didn’t change into the weapon.
For the descendant, Kim Sinrok, who was facing against the Ung, from whom he originated, it was impossible to even hold a weapon.
Kim Sinrok knew that fact, but seeing the card that didn’t even budge, his mood turned even more miserable.
“What should I do? Should I say it, should I not?”
“We will respect Your choice.”
“Please, make Your worries short.” [3]
At the side of the Ung, who fell into thoughts, a man and a woman appeared and replied, while prostrating themselves before him.
Kim Sinrok tried to shoot the thumb-tack he hid in his fingers, at their vital points, but he couldn’t make an attack motion against them.
Three Ung.
The status of the man and woman, who just appeared, seemed to be lower, but they were the Ung tribe members, whom Kim Sinrok couldn’t defend against.
“As I’m hunting down Ungnyeo’s son, should I set some example? No. Even though we achieved our goal, it was a failure, and from the moment the Bear of Hatred, who was acting as a head, went insane, we were in a state almost no different from being disbanded, so there is no need for something like this, right? Even so, because we are still called as one.”
The Ung, with muddy eyes[4], continued to mumble.
Ungnyeo, Bear of Hatred, who acted as the head.
The two had one thing in common.
‘Ung’s Eight Immortals…!’
As he finished his short worries, he started his self-introduction.
“Okay. You will die in any case, so it shouldn’t be a problem, even if I say it. This one is Bear of Anxiety. One of the three Ung of the Eight Immortals who didn’t turn insane.”
While Bear of Anxiety revealed his identity, Kim Sinrok’s mind was spinning fast.
He considered the Ung tribe members, while fully utilizing the information he obtained, and came to a conclusion.
‘… I can escape. If I abandon all will to resist or attack and concentrate only on escaping, then I can use skills and Gwangrim. I can get out!’
At least, if he can go to the place where Hwang-ho is, it would be a victory.
Kim Sinrok put his hope into this, put strength into his legs and was about to aim for a gap.
But, the man and the woman spoke, as if they read Kim Sinrok’s mind.
“If You escape, the students will die.”
“Let’s show You the hostages.”
The Bear of Anxiety’s confidants unfolded a hologram.
On the screen, the scene of one of the class 0’s male student stumbling between the female students, who collapsed without strength, and trying hard to wake the children up, was revealed.
“We had placed and hid family members around them. We have no idea about the male student, who still have energy remaining, but there will be casualties among the fainted female students, correct?”
If he overpowers them fast, it was possible to block family members.
However, for Kim Sinrok there was no ability to overpower those Ung tribe members.
Even in this overwhelmingly disadvantageous situation, Kim Sinrok spoke calmly.
“How can I trust you that you won’t hurt the students?”
“There is no problem, even if You don’t trust Us.”
“Please try weighing the value of Your life and the life of the students.”
The man and the woman shot the superpower wave into the sky.
After that, a loud noise burst out from the hologram.
Puk! Puuk!
On the screen, all windows of the lodgings suddenly shattered, and the pieces of broken glass poured inside.
His eyes saw the male student get in the way between the window and the female students and glass fragments pouring down on him.
And beyond that window, there were Enemies wrapped in an ominous light.
Kim Sinrok could do nothing but accept that even if he ran away from them, they had the ability to hurt students.
‘… that male student, Song Daeseok, is in the same class as Hwangho-nim and benefactor. And that cold teacher No Yeongmi-nim always praised the talented 1st year class 0’s students, right?’
The result of weighing the values of lives came out immediately.
Kim Sinrok gave up on escaping, and strength left his body.
When he learned he was a descendant, who couldn’t be welcomed by anyone, he thought that one day he would die at the hands of the Ho tribe or Ung tribe.
In fact, the last year, he was in a near-death state because of the Ung tribe.
So he could accept this situation easily.
‘… If possible, I wanted to die at the hands of Ho.’
As if Bear of Anxiety, confirmed that Kim Sinrok gave up on escaping, he was clearly seen raising his hand.
When Kim Sinrok saw that the superpower wave of the color of dirty water was about to pour towards him.
‘This…!’
Kim Sinrok doubted if what he was seeing wasn’t a phantasmagoria.
Between the pouring superpower wave and Kim Sinrok.
Red smoke and jade light were blocking the way.
***
There was a special condition to Sawol Seeum’s Gwangrim.
There must exist a subject Sawol Seeum deeply respects and adores, and he must want to sincerely spread that subject’s words wide.
It was a Gwangrim worthy to be used by the descendant of the last dynasty’s messenger.
In the game, the only one who met those conditions was Ju Su-hyeok.
“My apologies, it-it may work if I try it ag-again!”
“A classmate isn’t enough to activate your Gwangrim, huh?”
“Uisin is a precious class friend, but, but…”
As if he didn’t have strength left to spare to activate Flight skill, Sawol Seeum sunk to his knees and sat on the ground, on the verge of tears.
He repeatedly gathered power to activate Gwangrim and failed.
‘… Is there really no other way?’
Sawol Seeum continues the bloodline of a person, who had served the king.
Just a friendly and close classmate, Jo Uisin, wouldn’t be able to meet the conditions of the Gwangrim.
After I hardened my resolve, I stopped Sawol Seeum, who tried to activate Gwangrim, and said:
“…. Is the school life fun?”
“Yes? Na-Naturally it is…”
“I’m glad.”
“Why— Suddenly like this…?”
“Do you remember the words ‘See you at school’?”
Sawol Seeum’s words stopped.
Instead of that, he looked up at me, who stood with my back to the moon, with surprised eyes.
Sawol Seeum blinked very slowly, as it seemed he doubted if the words I just said were an auditory hallucination.
‘I should just show you it quickly, right?’
⟨Using Gwangrim ‘Player’s Trajectory’.⟩
These days, I kept Jo Uisin’s outer-appearance, but I decided to borrow the appearance of the Gwangrim’s active character after a long time.
The eyes of Sawol Seeum, who saw my appearance change, gradually got bigger.
⟨Using active character’s Gwangrim ‘Summoning of Hongryong’.⟩
Paaa!
From the subspace crack, an enormous fire dragon came out and hovered around Sawol Seeum.
And I, who had an appearance of the grown Yeom Junyeol, opened my mouth:
“I’m- Red Wall Phantom Thief.”
*~*~*
[1] “I’ll do as teacher No Yeongmi-nim says. Hyodon, what are you going to do?” — First sentence, directed at No Yeongmi uses a formal tone. The second sentence, towards Maeng Hyodon, is casual.
[2] friendly — or warm.
[3] “We will respect Your choice.”, “Please, make Your worries short.” — Those guys use formal tone. Even to Kim Sinrok.
[4] muddy — could also mean something/someone is corrupt, impure.
Translator’s note: Kim Sinrok. I need that weight you used to judge the value of lives for just a little moment. I need to fix something. RIGHT NOW.
(Wait a moment. Bear of Hatred is insane? Why keep a secret from him then?)
Did you see a mistake? 🐞
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