Translator: Wan ED/PR: Solarin
43. Things which don’t change (9)
As the weather was bad because of the typhoon, the air bus and general ground public transportation all naturally suspended their operation.
Each class homeroom teacher and advisor teachers of the Eungwang School sent a notice to the students asking them to refrain from outside activities.
The typhoon of this degree wouldn’t be difficult to overcome and move through with their strength alone for the Eungwang School students, but they were still teenagers.
The probability was low, but if they caused a superpower runaway during the typhoon, it would be difficult to solve.
So today’s club activities were pretty much put to a halt.
“Your upper-body balance is disturbed. Please straighten Your shoulders and pay attention to your power allocation.”
“Yes!”
General Club Hall, gym no. 2.
The gym, which was bustling with the students doing their club activities even during the vacation, under the influence of the typhoon, was empty.
Today’s club activities were limited to the school dormitory students, who received permission under the supervision of the advisor teacher.
The Taehokwon small group was holding their club activities accompanied by their current advisor teacher.
“Let’s stop here for today.”
Gong Cheonghwon, who checked the posture of the 2nd year club member, looked outside the window and spoke.
Thanks to the soundproofing there were almost no outside sounds audible. But because of the rain which poured diagonally thanks to the wind, gradually turned denser, making it seem dangerous.
“This typhoon’s power is pretty strong. It seems dangerous to even move within the school. Please rest in Your rooms.”
“Yes!”
The two 2nd year students who also belong to the Earthly Wings Council left, but Han Yi still kept training while looking at the wall alone.
Recently, she centered her training on her footwork, especially the Taehokwon’s basic posture ‘Tiger Step’, which she repeated it over 300 times a day.
When Gong Cheonghwon was about to recommend Han Yi who was absorbed in the training to stop and go back.
Han Yi suddenly turned her head and looked towards the gym no. 2’s entrance.
At the entrance stood someone who wasn’t a club member of the Taehokwon Small Group.
“Hwang Jiho.”
Hwang-ho stood at the entrance as if he just entered the gym.
But although he would have had to brace through the typhoon, Hwang-ho’s hair wasn’t drenched in even one drop of rain.
“Why are you here?”
“For a re-match.”
“… With who? Why?”
“With you.”
Why is this lunatic like this all of a sudden?
Han Yi almost openly showed a rigid look on her face, considering they were in front of Gong Cheonghwon, so she stealthily stopped her face from hardening.
Instead, she spoke stiffly.
“I don’t particularly like how you are playing with Taehokwon.”
A 1st year lunatic, who had outstanding overall skills and even his Taehokwon’s level was high.
She never saw him fighting using Taehokwon seriously.
It was actions like holding only a little finger in the blocking motion using the fist to cut it off or using two fingers in the posture which was using both hands.
Han Yi spoke with a bit of spite and indirectly showed intention to refuse the spar, but Hwang-ho on the contrary smiled brightly.
When he appeared in the gym, he had a dark face, but he had an attitude as if he liked Han Yi’s words.
“Got it. I won’t play with Taehokwon in the future.”
When he replied like this, his face somehow didn’t look like that of a teenager from the same class.
Starting from some point, he started to talk like an old man, as if he had some strange concept, so did his face became like this under influence of that?
Even though Han Yi’s expression wasn’t good, Hwang-ho seemed to simply be in a good mood.
“Let’s have a re-match.”
After Han Yi was forced to nod her head, Gong Cheonghwon, who was quietly observing the conversation of the two, softly spoke:
“Strangely, I don’t feel like stopping You. Good. I’ll act as a referee. Should I borrow You a Taehokwon uniform?”
Even though Gong Cheonghwon knew that the person asking Han Yi for a spar was a Jin, he spoke to him like to a student.
Instead of replying, Hwang-ho took off the school gym uniform jersey.
After he took off his jersey, Taehokwon’s uniform became visible, the pants were part of the uniform from the beginning with.
“There is no problem, eh? Then, take Your positions.”
The two put on some distance, faced each other and took on the preparations stances.
Unlike during the spar on the first lesson, after the Eugnwang School’s admission, Hwang-ho’s face looked serious.
Soon Gong Cheonghwon’s sonorous voice rang out in the gym.
“Start!”
* * *
Under the night sky embodied with superpower, the exchange of white and black started.
The result of deciding the White and Black after throwing the commemorative coin I received as the Stalemate Trophy during the chess tournament before.
Baek Ho-gun took white and became the starting player, and I took black and became the following player.
‘… The pace is fast!’
Like with his Great Swordmanship, Baek Ho-gun played energetically and without hesitation.
On the other hand, because I was overpowered by my hands turning cold and a headache, my hands gradually slowed down.
Ping.
Ping.
Each time the ‘ping’ sound of the chess clock repeated, the number of chess pieces quickly decreased.
As the number of moves piled up, I could clearly feel it even through my dulled thinking circuit.
Baek Ho-gun was an expert.
Among the people I played chess against in this world, he played chess the best.
And it wasn’t simply just that.
‘It feels like he looks into my head and plays…!’
It felt as if Baek Ho-gun clearly knew what move I was going to play.
Did you study my game records so carefully?
It felt as if Baek Ho-gun played against me in chess hundreds of time, or looked into my head when playing.
‘No way, was it because of it that you said there is no use to play at that time?’
At the time when Baek Ho-gun suggested it, it wasn’t long since I started to play chess again and my trauma was much worse.
It was mortifying, but if I played at that time, it would end up as a miserable match.
It was difficult to endure move after move, but the deadlock didn’t continue for long.
The mid-game stage passed swiftly like an arrow and we entered the end-game stage.
And.
“Check.”
It was Baek Ho-gun’s side, who declared checkmate.
The black king ended up surrounded by white chess pieces.
It was a complete defeat.
Since coming to this world, I lost to Cheon Dong-ha before, but it was the first time I lost so overwhelmingly.
I knocked the black king on the chess board.
“… I lost.”
It was my main Playable Character, but I was bitter about losing in chess.
But I could do nothing but recognize if I lost to a chess Player of this degree.
“…”
After I stretched my cold hand, I and Baek Ho-gun shook hands.
Baek Ho-gun, who looked at my hands, whose warmth was returning little by little right now, spoke:
“…. I guess not yet, eh?”
What do you mean not yet?
Are you talking about the trauma?
Whatever ‘not yet’ was, I was angry now.
I picked up the black king that was knocked down on the chess board again as I wanted to fight.
“One more round…”
“That’s for today.”
Baek Ho-gun stopped me.
“Jo Uisin. Pay attention to superpower wave control when playing a match.”
Superpower wave control…?
What kind of sound is that suddenly?
Was I releasing the superpower wave outside?
There are sometimes people who, when they concentrate, leak out a superpower wave.
“When you play chess, you press your windpipe with your superpower wave.”
… Did I have such a habit?
… Was it a habit similar to biting one’s tip of the tongue or lips without realizing when they were nervous?
But I thought I didn’t do such things.
“If it was a habit that would impede on your life, other people would notice. But the fact it’s a habit that gives you pain doesn’t change. Correct it.”
Frankly speaking, I had no idea at all.
I had no idea I had such a habit.
However, there was no way that my main Playable Character was wrong, and even more so that he would lie.
After I nodded my head, Bake Ho-gun took a step forward as if planning to guide me out.
When I walked side by side with him, Baek Ho-gun abruptly threw a new topic.
“You asked me about the Nightmare before, right?”
Are you talking about the time when the 12 Zodiac Alliance Meeting ended?
At the time, the Yang tribe’s head[1] spoke like this:
— Currently a person participating in this 12 Zodiac Alliance, or perhaps a person around the magic circle, is the ‘Nightmare’ themselves. Be wary not to be swallowed by Nightmare.
All 12 Zodiac heads, even Hwang Jiho, were very wary of the ‘Nightmare’s’ existence.
“Why is that?”
Those words filled me with uneasiness.
If I was to point out my weakness besides chess, it would be ‘dreams’.
I was someone who never saw a dream and only understood its dictionary meaning of the concept of the word ‘dream’.
Because the dream domain was no different from the unknown for me and when the topic of dreams came out, I had nothing to say.
‘… It seems that the concept of ‘dreams’ is often mentioned around me these days.
During the trip to China, Mun Saeron, and yesterday Jang Namuk had a nightmare.
It appeared in the Player’s Trajectory, and even the Replay’s explanations.
There was something which bothered me.
“Don’t worry. Keep doing what you want to do and what you have to do.”
Baek Ho-gun hasn’t changed since the previous time.
* * *
Yu Sang-hun’s room.
The two people, Jang Namuk and Yu Sang-hun read research papers, articles and etc. related to the superpowers and dreams.
“Higher beings can give a revelation through dreams, but… It doesn’t seem to be it. Because I already had a connection with a higher being.”
“Is that so? Ah, I guess it’s related to those eyes.”
Because Jang Namuk was wearing glasses, the starlight in his eyes was covered.
Yu Sang-hun, who glanced at Jang Namuk’s glasses, turned his eyes to the materials again and didn’t ask more.
“No matter how I think about it, it’s strange. The dreams are the Player’s inner domain. Superpowers to interfere with an opponent’s inner domain or oneself are rare. In addition, because the activation conditions are extremely complex, they had to meet in person.”
“It would be related to a person that we both know.”
As Yu Sang-hun belonged to Eungwang School and Jang Namuk belonged to the Military School, there were fewer people they both knew than they expected.
Even though they roughly summed it up like this, they couldn’t get a hold of it at all.
Suddenly, Jang Namuk recalled Jo Uisin, holding Sun and Moon Cheongryong Fan and holding a ritual of byeoksa.
And the advice he gave on the Tao Sihu’s case of ‘Seed of Curse’.
“Shouldn’t we just talk with Uisin?”
Jang Namuk, who spoke like this, sunk into guilt and shame at the fact that he was only receiving help from him in reality and in dreams.
However, if it was just him who had a nightmare, he would never bothered Jo Uisin with it.
But as Yu Sang-hun was also harassed by the nightmare, he couldn’t be stubborn when he himself couldn’t find a solution.
“… Let’s consult Uisin. If we dreamed about the entrance exam, shouldn’t it be also related to Uisin?”
“…”
Yu Sang-hun didn’t reply straight away.
Jang Namuk hesitated and then asked.
“… Sanghun-ah, why did you call only me today?”
“Jo Uisin didn’t appear in the dream.”
Yu Sang-hun put aside the paper of materials that weren’t helpful.
“He didn’t have a nightmare, so it’s a bit too much to involve him.”
Jang Namuk was surprised and a bit happy that Yu Sang-hun had the same thoughts as him.
Finally, the two decided to call Jo Uisin for each other sake.
* * *
While playing chess, it rained pretty hard.
I saw a lightning crash down outside the byeoksa’s barrier.
‘It’s useless even if I wear a raincoat.’
I thought about using Gwangrim to use the power of a character, who possessed the ability to create barriers, but I decided to save it.
Considering my body’s statistics right now, even this degree of rain wouldn’t be a big problem.
“I’ll see you off.”
Thankfulness soared at my main Playable Character’s suggestion, which was overflowing with kindness and consideration, but I shook my head.
“No, it’s fine. In any case, as we’re inside the school…”
At that moment, the device rang.
Because I set it to vibration mode, I felt the ringing against my ear.
In front of my eyes, a hologram ‘Caller: Jang Namuk’ floated up.
Why is he suddenly calling me?
“Pick it up.”
I decided to accept the hospitality.
If I took too long to pick up Jang Namuk’s call who sent a thankful message at dawn and said he had a nightmare, he might be worried.
[Hello? Uisin-ah, can you talk right now?]
“Uh, what’s the matter?”
[There is something I wanted to consult you about, so…]
Jang Namuk told me about the dream and what he saw in it.
I was at a loss at the word ‘dream’, but hearing the content, I quickly gathered my wits.
I also knew very well about the content that Jang Namuk said to have dreamt of.
That team was exactly like the development when one chose to do nothing and observe during the ‘Tutorial of the nameless supporting role’.
“I didn’t appear in the dream?”
[Yeah.]
“… Was there anyone else? No one appeared in my place?”
[Uh? We are certain that Son Mingi and supervisor teacher-nim were there, but… It seems like there was and wasn’t. Frankly speaking, I’m not sure. I’m certain that there was no you, Uisin.]
Jang Namuk’s words continued.
[Today I met with Sang-hun to talk about it, and he had exactly the same dream.]
“Yu Sang-hun?”
[Yeah. Two times.]
Yu Sang-hun twice.
Jang Namuk once.
The dream with the same development as the in-game tutorial.
I had an ominous premonition.
“Yu Sang-hun said he had a nightmare twice? When?”
The days Yu Sang-hun had a nightmare were the same as the days when I chose Yu Sang-hun through the ‘Replay’ function.
Did I really show Yu Sang-hun and Jang Namuk their matching endings in the game through the dream with ‘Replay’?
Did it mean I showed them such a nightmare?
[And when I looked with my ‘eyes’, both of us were clouded with a black fog.]
The black fog was only visible with the Star Maiden’s Eyes.
Hearing those words, I couldn’t consider it a coincidence.
Because the color of my superpower wave was black.
*~*~*
[1] Yang tribe — sheep/goat tribe
Translator’s note: Haaa…. I know that author-nim likes parallel and repeating situations, but isn’t it too much…? It feels like having a nail hammered into your head and them asking ‘Do you see it? Do you see it?, and then you answer ‘Yes! I was enlightened!’, all this while the poor readers, who aren’t the travelers from the future, stare at you in incomprehension.
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