Translator: Wan ED/PR: Personal Ghost
53. Second attempt (3)
Some time ago, Mok Uram heard from Bak Seung-hyeon about the ‘prank played by the 1st year class 0 on the first day of school’.
The content of that prank was an incident where during the first night at the start of the day, a long-haired female student fell between the roof and 17th floor.
The surroundings’ opinion was that the 1st year class 0 played a prank on the first day in the dormitory, but after being greatly scolded by the Earthly Wings Council’s president Seong Siwan and the 1st year class 0’s homeroom teacher and the Student Department Head, Ham Geun-hyeong, they became meek.
Mok Uram found this strange.
Because among the 1st year class 0’s students, there were no people who looked like they would play such a violent prank.
‘If I had to pick, Jiho seems like one, but… even so, something is strange.’
Mok Uram trusted his instincts.
Because though Mok Uram’s instincts didn’t help him escape the life of a hogu, they led him to meeting his muse.
At the thought that that situation involved his muse, Mok Uram’s head operated heavier than usual.
‘Was what was dropped really a person? Wasn’t it a scarecrow or a dummy?’
At the end of short thinking, Mok Uram judged that it was an authentic female student.
It wasn’t one or two students at the dormitory, who saw a female student fall between the 20th and 17th floor.
It seemed impossible to deceive the motor sight and senses of all Players there.
‘The problematic incident was said to have happened after the dormitory orientation ended. And the according to the dormitory school rules, even if a student belongs to Eungwang School, the non-dormitory students are banned from entrance after 8 pm.’
If so, it meant that the female student, who fell down, was a student belonging to the dormitory.
The candidates decreased to two.
‘The two 1st year class 0 female student belonging to the dormitory are Lena-nim and Han Yi… And Han Yi has short hair.’
He asked the class president Kim Yuri about the number of 1st year class attending students on the first day of school to obtain a clue.
— Class president, I heard that the number of the 1st year class 0’s attending students was originally much smaller. How many were attending on the first school day?
Then Kim Yuri happily replied.
— I, Han Yi, Uisin and Jiho!… Ah, Uisin and Jiho were called to the chairman office in the middle, so there were only two people.
Hearing those words, Mok Uram became certain.
Kwon Lena fell from the roof on the first day of school, and though it was covered up as a prank, she couldn’t come to school until she mentally recovered.
Mok Uram couldn’t guess the reason.
‘Is it related to that superpower violin?’
In the past Kwon Jane asked Mok Uram’s master to make a gift violin.
She mentioned that ‘I plan to give it to family if they show interest in violins’, but somehow that supernatural violin ended up in Kwon Lena’s hands.
‘But it’s well-known that master-nim’s muse lost her entire family in the Manchester Great Otherworld Conquest…. There is no eye-catching information on the web…’
Mok Uram’s reasoning finally entered a stormy passage[1].
As he came this far, he could do nothing but worry about Kwon Lena.
“… Everyone is late. What happened? But nothing bad will happen, because Uisin went!”
Sawol Seeum’s tone was peaceful.
As Jo Uisin also saved Mok Uram, he could guess the reason for that trust, but he couldn’t relax until he confirmed his muse’s safety with his own eyes.
He frequently recalled the 1st year building’s rooftop, from which Kwon Lena was said to have fallen.
“… I’ll go out for a moment.”
“Uh, Uisin said to stay….”
“It will be fine if just one person remains. If something happens, I’ll contact You with the device.”
“Ah, alright. Uisin didn’t say that both of us should remain. Be back, please!”
As such, Mok Uram headed to the 1st year exclusive dormitory building.
While he was mindlessly climbing, he witnessed the scene of flames bursting on the rooftop, and started to crawl even faster.
And on the rooftop he finally found Kwon Lena.
* * *
“… What are you doing here?”
“I’m climbing the dormitory wall. Because I saw flames at the rooftop while climbing, I hastily came…”
He saw Hongryong and sped-up?
No, that wasn’t the problem.
‘That would mean that he was climbing the dormitory wall before I used the Gwangrim. Why the hell didn’t you use an elevator and are climbing the dormitory wall?’
While I hesitated where I should start asking, Mok Uram grabbed the railing with one hand and wiped his tears with the remaining hand.
The posture was so stable it was difficult to think he was hanging with one hand from the building.
Mok Uram adjusted his breathing and spoke, hanging as before.
“I heard that people from our class played a prank on the first day of school. However, I thought there is no person to play such a prank in our class. And, if it wasn’t a prank, the person, who fell down…”
Mok Uram guessed that the one who fell that day was Kwon Lena?
As if he was saddened again by that thought, Mok Uram suddenly burst into tears.
“… Lena-nim looked depressed and anxious throughout the exam period. So when I suddenly couldn’t contact Lena-nim, I couldn’t easily relax. Even waited for the class vice president for a while, but You didn’t come, so I became even more anxious.”
So did he perhaps come here in case Kwon Lena was standing on the rooftop?
Because Kwon Lena didn’t open her mouth for a long time, the two people were probably waiting quite a bit.
But using an elevator was faster and safer than climbing the dormitory wall, why did he do that?
Wouldn’t he need over 5 movement skills like Leap to move faster than a vertically moving elevator?
“… Why did you climb a wall?”
“What would I do if while I was moving using an elevator, Lena-nim fell?!”
Mok Uram shouted, terrified.
Knowing that a child from the same class, what’s more, Kwon Lena, who was his muse, wanted to make such a choice, it would be difficult for him to maintain composure.
Mok Uram at a glance looked to speak calmly, but he seemed to fall into panic.
“If I was moving using the wall, even if Lena-nim was to fall, wouldn’t I be able to catch her? I climbed the building in a spiral movement, so I could catch her whichever side she fell!”
Did it mean that Mok Uram had an ability to crawl up a dormitory wall in a spiral movement, and save the person falling from above while doing so?
He reached a conclusion through an extremely sharp and cold thinking and basic reasoning, and took action, but the actual result was an amazingly lunatic-like action.
Indeed, Mok Uram was an uncommon genius, who was allocated to the class 0 during the personal interview.
‘Even so, I hope he stops hanging and just climbs up or goes down.’
Anyhow, Mok Uram’s physical abilities and mindset of worry about my Playable Character were particular, but currently that was not a problem.
‘… Mok Uram learned about my and Kwon Lena’s secret.’
It seemed that Mok Uram arrived at the rooftop just after I used the Gwangrim.
As we mentioned ‘that word’, oath of silence and Fantasy Auction, Mok Uram would figure out my and Kwon Lena’s secret.
The proof of it, more than anything else, was that he was crying.
Wouldn’t it be sad to learn about Kwon Lena’s position?
“Lena-nim is in such pain, but there is nothing I can do…?”
The tears, which Mok Uram burst into again, showed no signs of stopping.
‘He really cares about Kwon Lena, huh?’
Though I didn’t approve that a weirdo was seeing my Playable Character as a source of inspiration, his today’s actions were outstanding.
Because in case I was late today, Mok Uram would catch Kwon Lena.
At the end of my worries, I came up with something Mok Uram could do.
“I think it would be better to not call her ‘nim’ in the future.”
“… Just that will do?”
“Yeah.”
“… I’ll do so.”
Mok Uram nodded his head after contemplating it.
“Then please take of Lena-nim… no, Lena.”
Mok Uram said that and then prepared to crawl down.
I expected that he wouldn’t want to leave Kwon Lena’s side, but it seemed I thought wrong.
“… I know that if She knows that the number of people, who know that secret increased, She will be flustered. Please inform Her later when She calms down.”
It seemed to be the reason why even after I and Kwon Lena finished the conversation, he didn’t approach.
Mok Uram wiped his still dripping tears, and headed down.
He could just wait until we went and then use an elevator, why would he use such a method?
As expected, Mok Uram’s thinking circuit was unusual.
* * *
Next day, Kwon Lena took a break from school.
After learning of Kwon Lena’s absence, Mok Uram wanted to leave school early to climb the dormitory building.
Yesterday the outer CCTV was turned off, so he was luckily not caught and fine, but if Mok Uram did that again today, he would be surely discovered.
I decided to stop him before he increased the work of the Wings Council and teacher Ham Geunhyeong-nim.
“Senior Kwon Jane-nim went to pick her up yesterday. It seems that she will stay in the Eternal Lake’s team building for a while.”
“… Lena-nim, no, Lena and master-nim’s muse?”
Mok Uram blinked his eyes, which were completely swollen from aftereffects of crying last night, while he fell into thoughts.
“Is Lena fine? Is her body not very well? I was startled when You suddenly called yesterday.”
Sawol Seeum was waiting yesterday, but in the end couldn’t meet with Kwon Lena and went back.
Because I felt sorry for making him wait, I spoke softly.
“She is fine. I heard that the Eternal Lake’s team’s doctor is her family doctor these days.”
“Ah, thinking about it, that Person was said to check Lena last time, right?”
After the discussion with Kwon Lena that day, I called Kwon Jane.
Yesterday Kwon Lena was in a state so bad, she didn’t notice the existence of Mok Uram.
She wasn’t able to sleep or eat well in the meantime, was under strong stress and cried for a long time, so her mind was unstable.
Kwon Lena persistently said that she was fine, but I offered her to either go to the infirmary or to call Kwon Jane.
— …. kay, I also wanted to talk with senior Kwon Jane-nim.
Instead of organizing her thoughts alone at the infirmary, Kwon Lena made up her mind to talk with Kwon Jane.
The team doctor was given as an excuse, but the main goal was to have a conversation with Kwon Jane.
‘It seems Kwon Jane didn’t make a decision yet to talk about the secret of her birth, but….’
The moment I called Kwon Jane, she came running straight away.
Seeing Kwon Lena’s state, she made a pained expression and couldn’t speak properly, so it seemed she didn’t have the confidence to speak just like before.
Even so, as the two would openly talk about the Fantasy Auction right now, they would take a step forward.
When I informed the children about Kwon Lena’s absence and the start-of-day meeting ended.
“Ah, Uisin-ah. I want to prepare materials together before the 3rd quarter student representative meeting, so let’s eat lunch together and talk.”
“Okay.”
I nodded to Kim Yuri’s suggestion straight away.
According to Eungwang School’s schedule, the student representative meeting was planned just after the situation ends.
Even during the 1st semester, the representative meeting was always like this, but this 3rd quarter student representative meeting was a bit special.
Starting from the 4th quarter the representatives selected in the last election would lead the meeting.
So it was no different from the last representative meeting for the 3rd years.
‘They would participate in the 4th quarter to support their successors, but they probably will be almost uninvolved. The representatives selected this time will do their job well and…’
I suddenly felt that the 3rds’ graduation was approaching with big strides.
* * *
England, Manchester.
His stay in England was longer than expected, but Seodol enjoyed every day of it.
He befriended a certain Korean oddball boy, and enjoying not only his outstanding sense of aesthetic, but even extraordinary superpowers, he shared exchanges with that boy.
Today, he also came to meet that boy.
“Did You do well on the midterm exams? The exams aren’t finished yet, but do You have no plans on returning to Korea? Shouldn’t You show something to the children, who dared to confront the standards of Your talent?”
Like always, Seodol was whining to go with him to Korea instead of greeting.
Today the boy was wearing a green matte velvet jacket with embroidery of something like a Jin dragon[2] or a snake.
‘I think I saw it somewhere… where did he take the inspiration from?’
The boy in avant-garde clothing prudently replied to Seodol’s words.
“As always I plan on following Cunning-ssi’s suggestion. But I have something to do before returning to the country.”
“So you have something to do?”
The boy always replied ambiguously to that question, but today he opened his mouth with a confident face.
“I have to retrieve a certain grand work of art. Because I at last found a clue, I plan to move in a bit.”
“Something you have to retrieve?”
“My clothes are the hint.”
The Seodol tilted his head and then burst into admiration.
Looking closely, on the clothes, the boy was wearing today, was drawn a being which appeared in the painting painted by the painter teacher and student, which Korea boasted about.
“I will retrieve the stolen ‘Death of Imoogi’.”
*~*~*
[1] stormy passage — idiom meaning ‘having a hard time’.
[2] matte and Jin dragon — 진용 (true dragon?), could also mean ‘true courage’ or ‘real appearance/ painting or a picture that copies the true appearance of something’. Matte in Korean literally translates to zero light/without light,
Translator’s note: *points at Mok Uram’s climbing incident* Do you understand now how I feel watching you, Jo Uisin? Do you?
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