Translator: Wan ED/PR: Solarin
61. Rival (1) [1]
Saturday, Eungwang School.
In the Korean Peninsula, which had a 9 hour difference with the Britain, it was morning.
Though it was Saturday, matching the weekend, students coming to Eungwang School to do club activities, doing homework or self-studying, or dormitory students emptying their heads and blankly loitering around the school, were seen around.
Maeng Hyodon and Bang Yunseop, who finished morning training with Tak Geosan, were mixed among them.
“Damn it, I planned to skip morning training today, but because of that class 0’s hogu…”
Bang Yunseop, who packed his bag in the locker room, grumbled.
Usually, he would be so tired because of the training, he wouldn’t be able to grumble properly, but seeing his mouth being lively, it seemed he had energy to spare today.
Maeng Hyodon, who was sucking a paperpack milk at the side, looked at Bang Yunseop with a pathetic face, and said:
“If you’re going to skip training, you shouldn’t have come to school. That fucker from our class got a bonus for doing a good job from the daoist[2]… teacher-nim and is overflowing with enthusiasm.”
“Ah, I had an appointment at school today. Why did he leave his other part-time jobs and do work for the pseudo daoist?”
“That fucker is also doing other part-time jobs.”
The topic changed to the things related to Mok Uram.
Mok Uram stopped Bang Yunseop’s escape several times, and was being showered in Tak Geosan’s favor.
Every time Mok Uram caught Bang Yunseop, Tak Geosan would give him a bonus in addition to the promised reward, and deeply touched by it, Mok Uram would do his job even more diligently.
He also got a side gig commissioned by Jo Uisin of catching him smoking, so recently Bang Yunseop shuddered just at the thought of Mok Uram.
Because Mok Uram’s persistent pursuit, his ability to detect presence got a bit better, but he wasn’t even a little grateful.
‘I thought it would be fine if it was in front of the school gates! How could I know that hogu fucker would come all the way…’
Bang Yunseop recalled the person he made appointment with, who he made unexpectedly to wait.
He was annoyed that the person he was meeting with saw the miserable sight of him being caught and dragged away by Mok Uram, and he was annoyed that the person he was meeting[3] with caught him skipping morning training with Tak Geosan to make an appointment.
He was most angry at the fact that he made that person, he was meeting with, wait.
Bang Yunseop shouted at Maeng Hyodon as a way of venting his anger.
“Why are you going this way?! The dormitory is the other way! Don’t follow me!”
“I’m going to buy bread at the convenience store in front of the school and go train again. The bread at the dormitory store is all sold out and eaten by the 3rd year class 0 for a day, so there is nothing to eat.”
“That bastard’s bread! Aaghr!”
Starting with the 2nd semester, every time the 3rd year class 0 was defeated by the strong homeroom teacher Im Yeonhwa, they would relieve their accumulated stress by devouring bread.
They usually ate a lot too, but over their repeated defeats, Woo Gihwan gang gradually increased their bread consumption.
Seeing her cute student’s high calorie and carbohydrate intake, Im Yeonhwa, worried over youth obesity, raised the training intensity even more.
As the result, the 3rd year class 0 became stronger, challenged and was defeated by their homeroom teacher even more often, and ate even more.
Anyway, for such reasons, Maeng Hyodon seemed to plan to visit the convenience store instead of going to the dormitory store to buy snacks and do more personal training on his own.
Bang Yunseop was irritated that the genius bastard who was already on the brink of obtaining a derivative skill was spending time every day training.
Though he was annoyed seeing that, he was also disappointed in himself that he didn’t put in the time to work hard.
‘… Even so, that appointment isn’t for playing, so today should be okay. I’m not playing!’
Thinking of the schedule with the person he was meeting today, he suppressed his negative thoughts.
Maeng Hyodon and Bang Yunseop walked three or four steps apart, but they sometimes exchanged words, which one didn’t know if it was a conversation or an argument.
The topic of the conversation was the destruction method of the capture skill displayed by Mok Uram.
“Yunseop-ah.”
Someone called out to Bang Yunseop behind them.
As they talked, at some point they passed through the gate.
After explaining the situation, the other party was understanding, but because of Bang Yunseop, the person, he was meeting, waited throughout the entire training time.
On that topic, he was so engrossed in the conversation with Maeng Hyodon, that he almost made the person, he was meeting with, wait again.
“Ah… Did you wait long?”
The person he was meeting with lightly shook her head.
An awkward silence fell.
Even after this ordinary looking female student became somewhat close with Bang Yunseop, she didn’t speak more at all.
The person Bang Yunseop promised to meet with was the innocent victim, swept in the illegal admission incident that turned Eungwang School upside down at one point.
During the mid-term exams, Bang Yunseop coincidentally ended up sitting in the reading room with this female student and studied.
After that, they ran into each other a few more times, and somehow with such a trigger, they ended up holding something like a study group together.
This morning, they also planned to meet to study at the study café close to school.
“…”
“… Ah, sorry.”
Because he felt bad about a lot of things, Bang Yunseop first apologized.
The female student had a face that couldn’t be read, but looking closely, it wasn’t a face of being very angry.
Maeng Hyodon didn’t do anything to break the atmosphere like saying goodbye for no reason, and quietly stepped back.
When Maeng Hyodon turned to look at Bang Yunseop and the female student for the last time, the two were walking side-by-side talking about something.
But it seemed that Bang Yunseop was holding a one-sided conversation.
‘Did that bastard have a girlfriend?’
He met with Bang Yunseop often, but because they never had a proper conversation, Maeng Hyodon didn’t know about his surrounding situation very well.
Moreover, Maeng Hyodon recognized the female student as the innocent victim involved in the illegal admission scandals at the school, but had no idea she had exchanges with Bang Yunseop.
‘Looking closely, I think I saw her face somewhere.’
Maeng Hyodon thought, recalling the female student’s face.
When the illegal admission case exploded, Maeng Hyodon had no reason to be interested in others, not a long time after he started to attend the school.
But when seeing the female student’s face again today, he felt a sense of déjà vu somewhere.
‘Her face feels a bit familiar. Where had I seen her?’
Maeng Hyodon diligently tried to move his stone head, but he wasn’t able to properly recall anything.
The same-age kids and places they could meet were limited to the elementary and middle schools Maeng Hyodon attended, his home, and the sports competitions he often participated in.
Even so, his memory wasn’t very good.
‘We didn’t attend the same middle school… And no kids from the school close by went to the Eungwang School.’
The only one who got into the Eungwang School from the Tallae Middle School was Maeng Hyodon.
Even if he included all middle schools in the vicinity, the only one who got into the Player special highschool was Maeng Hyodon.
Tallae Middle School’s side even hang a banner with Maeng Hyodon’s name, who they treated very poorly, and boasted.
‘I feel like they act even worse towards Players.’
Thinking about his middle school days, Maeng Hyodon became bitter.
Like a roughly thrown stone will roll in the direction opposite of the one you wanted, at some point his thoughts flowed in a different direction, but Maeng Hyodon didn’t realize it.
When Maeng Hyodon bought bread and drinks at the convenience store and was about to leave.
“Hey.”
Someone called out to Maeng Hyodon.
Turning around, he saw a male student with the convenience store bags full of food, same as Maeng Hyodon.
It was a person Maeng Hyodon knew.
“You’re vice president’s friend, right?”
The person who spoke to Maeng Hyodon was Yu Sang-hun.
Yu Sang-hun was from the class next to them, and because he had exchanges with Jo Uisin, he often came to play, so they were acquainted.
When Maeng Hyodon asked if Yu Sang-hun was coming from the Basketball Club’s training, Yu Sang-hun nodded and added:
“Uh. Because the 3rd year class 0 robbed the entire store in the central zone, I came to the convenience store.”
It seemed that the 3rd year class 0 not only crossed the dormitory store but also the central zone store.
Maeng Hyodon thought it was good that he came to the convenience store, as he walked, gobbling up the strawberry[4] cream bread.
Seeing it, Yu Sang-hun also took out a shrimp[5] fishcake and started to eat it.
While they headed to school, eating, Yu Sang-hun hesitated, and then asked.
“… Is Jo Uisin at the dormitory? I couldn’t contact him.”
“He is not at the dormitory. Why?”
“No, it’s nothing.”
Yu Sang-hun looked like he had something he wanted to say, but he immediately shut his mouth.
Maeng Hyodon thought it was somewhat strange for a moment, but thinking he asked because of Jo Uisin’s birthday, he didn’t bother with it very much.
After that, the two people ate snacks without words, while walking.
* * *
The party venue was illuminated by the several colors of pumpkin lanterns.
The party participants in a swan mask started to walk this way.
At a glance, the person wearing a swan mask was wearing a white blazer that looked ordinary, but upon closer inspection, it was densely decorated with very small crystals.
It wasn’t just that, the fine pattern on the bowtie gave off a feeling of elegance, even if it was overflowing with personality.
‘I can’t guess the brand. Are those order-made clothes?’
Order made clothes.
At those words, I felt uneasy about something.
Because the certain phantom thief I knew would appear wearing hand made clothes every time he was about to commit a so-called ‘phantom thief’ act.
“Hello, what a pleasant night. I have something to ask the gentleman wearing the crow mask. May I have a moment of Your time?”
It was a polite, but extravagant greeting to the point my face felt a bit ticklish.
The greeting aside, the biggest problem was that greeting was spoken in Korean.
The discomfort gradually intensified.
When the other party used Korean, Seong Gukeon looked this direction with wariness.
I worried whether I should ignore him, but I feigned composure and replied in English.
“… Please speak.”
“Thank You for offering me a moment of Your precious time. Gentleman in the crow mask…”
Before even someone in the swan mask parted his lips, as if my body and mind instinctively sensed danger, my fingers unknowingly twitched.
“What do You think of the Red Wall Phantom Thief?”
My fingers curled up in fear, hearing ‘that word’.
There was but one person, who would wear an eye-catching hand-made costume at this party venue, and would ask about ‘that word’ the moment he discovered a crow mask.
Phantom Thief Neon.
That cringey bastard was right now standing in front of me, wearing a swan mask!
“… Red Wall Thief? You mean that righteous thief, who brought light to the Fantasy Controversy case?”
My vision darkened.
After my fingers, the world and space time started to shrink.
Following Phantom Thief Neon, Seong Gukeon also said ‘that word’.
“Accompanying Person knows well, eh? Yes, I’m asking what He thinks about that Red Wall Phantom Thief.”
What I think? I think about curling up.
The words were on the tip of my tongue, but speaking so openly and revealing my true nature was a mistake I couldn’t make.
When I worked hard to choose my words.
Ding… Dong…
A sound of a bell rang out long in the party venue.
People headed to the stage covered with blue curtains.
“It’s the bell announcing the start of the auction.”
At that moment, all lights in the party venue went out.
I thought it was part of the opening show, but the Phantom Thief Neon suddenly clicked his tongue.
“No! You can’t steal my first move!”
The Phantom Thief Neon shouted like this with a shrieking voice and quickly moved towards the windows.
What the hell was happening?
Soon my doubts were resolved.
Crash!
Clang!
The windows on the left and right of the platform were broken at the same time.
On the one side, neon superpower wave exploded, on the other, I saw numerous animal shadows.
From the light of the explosion, a boy appeared, from between the animal shadows, a girl appeared, and they both shouted loudly.
Both of their voices and surroundings were loaded with the bright lights of superpower waves.
“The new and outstanding phantom thief holding the whole world attention, Neon, appears!”
“The disciple of the most outstanding druid of Celts, Merlin, is here!”
Because the two extremely eye-grabbing people appeared at the same time, the lines they spit out at the same time were buried in the wind.
Most of the people probably couldn’t understand what the two were even saying.
With eyes covered by a mask, the two glared at each other like they wanted to kill.
As for me, who knew the two people’s identities, my head hurt.
Because both of them were my Playable Characters.
*~*~*
[1] Rival — This title follows suit with the last one and is hangulization of the English word ‘rival’. The stage is yours.
[2] daoist — changed from ‘ascetic’.
[3] person, he was meeting with — in Korean it could also be interpreted as ‘promised other’ or ‘promised opponent’.
[4] strawberry — Hm, if I was to interpret it through the title’s lenses. 떨기 (tteolgi) as it’s use here could also mean a ‘shrub’. And wood element and earth element have a destructive relationship.
[5] shrimp — 새우 (saeu), 우(u) is the same syllable as in Tao Wonu (도원우) name. And 새(sae) could also mean new *gives a knowing look*
Translator’s note: Bang Yunseop… It’s okay, not all can live by eating poison, you should eat what you can when you can.
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