Translator: Wan ED/PR: Personal Ghost
61. Rival (11)
Outside of the Garden led to the party venue.
I was worried, thinking about a possibility it would lead us to an encounter with Demons again, but there was none.
Did they not expect us to pass Balor?
Or they might have been simply worried about being swept by the Eye of Death.
‘Even so, they certainly will chase us.’
The Spear of Lugh didn’t pierce Balor’s eye like described in the myth.
I only momentarily emitted light and blocked the eye.
Once Balor recovers and the owner of the Garden passes on the situation and gives orders, they will chase.
No matter the process, the painting of a genius mentioned in the Phantom Thief Neon’s notice letter was retrieved, and the divine treasure that was to be put on the auction was snatched in front of their eyes.
‘The auction will probably be halted… They embarrassed themselves in front of all those guests. But as they wanted to hold an auction for stolen items, they were asking for it.’
But the biggest loss for the Fomori Demons’ hearts would not be the auction or ‘Imoogi’s Rise To Heaven’.
The biggest one would be losing the treasure opposed to the Fomori Demons’ current head and the demon king with most power Balor, the Spear of Lugh.
As they were certain that no one could use it, they put it up on the auction and somewhat shabbily secured it, but the Spear of Lugh emitted light in my hands and blinded Balor.
‘I was probably able to use it to this degree thanks to the level of ‘Use of Everything’ skill being high, and to Midir’s support.’
The moment we escaped Balor’s influence, I cardified the Spear of Lugh and put in in the item window.
I wanted to hold Spear of Lugh until I leave the Demons’ realm, no, until I leave the United Kingdom, for a peace of mind, but the mental power consumption was severe.
Didn’t even in the myths poppies were necessary to put the asking for blood Spear of Lugh to sleep?
‘If I was a Fomori Demon, I would chase after me. And the biggest clues would be the two people, the Phantom Thief Neon and Gu Seulbi.’
Even though I was worried, the two people didn’t show any dark complexions at all.
I would understand this situation if it was because there were two good heads, but the two were busy squabbling.
“Considering the power released by the Spear of Lugh… I don’t think the divine treasure is something I can use. Is that why master Merlin-nim told me to just take a look at the treasure?”
“You’re fast to give up, eh? But a phantom thief never gives up easily!”
“That’s because I’m not a phantom thief! And you, who is such a phantom thief, had your lead stolen, didn’t you? The item you were targeting was taken by that guy?”
“Stabbing where it hurts eh? However, such a cuttingly sharp tongue is also a virtue the phantom thief has to have.”
“Are you saying that sharp tongue is a virtue?”
I did my best to avoid talking to prevent from being swept into this phantom thief nonsense, but I decided to open my mouth.
“What are you going to do now?”
Perhaps because I spoke up after a long time, the Phantom Thief Neon and Gu Seulbi stopped talking right away and perked up their ears at my words.
The two turned their heads in matching motion, as if they planned it together.
The one to speak up first was Gu Seulbi.
“I’ll take the children and withdraw. In exchange for help, I decided to guide them into master Merlin-nim’s dream.”
Gu Seulbi hesitated, and then added a word:
“Thank you. I wouldn’t be safe without you. I want to repay you somehow, and I can make elixirs with buffs and debuff effects, but…”
“I’m also late to thank you. As a phantom thief I shall not forget the kindness I received.”
The two showed a want to give me thank-you gifts.
The thanks themselves were enough, but as expected, my Playable Characters’ kindness was extraordinary.
‘If they have to repay me, I would like to ask for something else…’
At the word repayment, the words Midir said came to mind.
— I got back Étaín, but I can never regain the memories and time I could’ve spent with her. Help my kid not experience the same thing.
Those words were difficult to understand when I first heard them, but reflecting on the situation of the one Midir called ‘my kid’, I had a rough guess.
‘If it goes like this, the two’s highschool days will just pass by.’
The kid Midir spoke about was just one, the Phantom Thief Neon, but both of them weren’t attending school.
Of course, I respected the choices of my Playable Characters, who decided they won’t be attending school.
‘There is no need for the two of them to attend school.’
One had already better skills than a decent pro designer, and the other was taught by the famous Merlin.
Attending school was not necessary for them to obtain needed specifications and acquire knowledge in the field of their interests.
‘Even so, I would be happy if the two of them were attending school.’
If the Phantom Thief Neon started to go to school, my hands and feet would all shrivel up and turn to dust, but even so, I hoped he would attend school.
If it was a school with trashes like Choe Pyeondeuk and illegal admissions, I would stop it, but the Eungwang School was different.
The highschool days are just three years of life.
If you flunk, it will get longer, but it won’t greatly increase over those three years.
I hoped that those two would meet friends of their age, learn knowledge in fields they couldn’t think of, and broaden their horizons during that time.
“It’s a pity, but this matter is all done. I promise we will meet again. I regret I won’t be able to return that painting to the Korean Peninsula’s artists with my own hands, but that’s not important.”
Luckily, it appeared that the two had no plans of hanging around the Demons’ den.
I brought up a topic about which I continued to think about in my head.
“What after you retreat? Do you plan to go to school?”
At the words ‘going to school’, the Phantom Thief Neon made such a surprised expression, that even the swan mask twisted.
“You’ve figured out my true identity!”
The Phantom Thief Neon answered with an extravagant tone and staggered.
Gu Seulbi didn’t make as much of a fuss as him, but her grip on the oak staff tightened.
“I’m still a young phantom thief, who has yet to finish his growth and shows traces of being a highschooler. You’re also the same. Us, the phantom thieves, can grow as much as we like!”
“The phantom thief disclosed himself that he is a highschooler with his own mouth.”
“I know you’re highschoolers. And that both of you are Eungwang School’s students.”
To speak precisely, that they belonged to Eungwang School’s class 0.
I didn’t know what grade was the Phantom Thief Neon, but Gu Seulbi was the 1st year class 0, living to her reputation.
“How did you know?”
“You’ve played a prank on the main gate’s clock tower on April’s Fool’s Day. It was similar to what you did on Big Ben.”
“Keuk, the phantom thief was caught because of stale art, huh! However, I can’t abandon the motif because the product is too cool!”
“That kid did even that phantom thief nonsense at school, huh…?”
Looking at the suffering Phantom Thief Neon, Gu Seulbi said with a fed up voice.
It was a big deal, because it seemed that Gu Seulbi’s desire to go to school disappeared even more.
“… I guess there is a reason master Merlin-nim told me to follow you. So? Why are you bringing up school?”
“I think Eungwang School is a cool school. But in the end, it’s a school in essence. I don’t want to waste the golden time of my life being restricted by decided timing and rules!”
“I don’t 100% agree with that kid’s thoughts, but If it’s exactly necessary to go to school, then I hate to go. I don’t have any particularly good memories with it. I hate to have to be in a place I hate with the people I hate only for some ‘social life’.”
The two people both had their own reasons, but fundamentally they were talking about ‘freedom’.
‘Freedom…’
Eungwang School respected freedom.
It had a shocking rule that if you just took exams and proved your ability, you could graduate even if you didn’t attend at all.
Eungwang Highschool maintained that rule before it became a Player special highschool, the ‘Eungwang Player Meister Highschool’ after the Clash of Different Worlds.
It was said that at first there was a lot of talk, but not matter what lobbying was put up, the founder, who founded the Eungwang School, successfully pushed that rule through.
‘… Even while he was neglectful, that rule alone couldn’t be touched.’
That rule was related to Hwang Jiho’s core character.
In the Gaecheon Myth, Hwang Jiho asked Heavenly God so he could exist anywhere.
And Hwang Jiho shared the reason he made such a wish through a conversation with Ju Su-hyeok in the game.
Player Meister Highschool, at the point when Ju Su-hyeok became a 2nd year.
Hwang-ho in PMH, who was hiding his true identity and age, asked with a tone suiting a 2nd year highschooler.
[Suhyeok-ah, what are you doing?]
[Uh? I’m reading the Gaecheon Myth.]
[Gaecheon Myth? Which part?]
After Hwang-ho in PHM asked, Ju Su-hyeok directly showed him a hologram he was reading.
Hwang-ho quickly read the holographic text and said:
[… It’s a scene where Baek-ho headed alone to the ‘place the closest to Heaven’ to defeat the foreign enemies, huh?]
[Ye, there is something I don’t understand in this part.]
[Which part? If it’s the content I know, I’ll explain it.]
Even though the geezer in the game had personal experience of it, so he knew everything, he expressed it in a roundabout way by saying ‘If it’s the content I know, I’ll explain it’.
Even though Ju Su-hyeok thought that something about it was strange, he happily considered the goodwill of a class friend anyway.
[I don’t know why Baek-ho headed to that place alone. There is a sentence that just after that Cheong-ho was gravely injured and was on a brink of death, but there is no explanation what happened to Hwang-ho or other Ho tribe members.]
The line of Hwang-ho in PMH didn’t come out right away.
He beat around the bush for a while, and then Hwang-ho opened his mouth.
[… at the time the Ung tribe took the foreign enemies’ side. The Ho tribe had to divide their defense force to suppress the Ung tribe, subjugate the foreign enemies, and protect Sinin, while they also had to erase the source of darkness that covered the Korean Peninsula.]
The geezer in the game spoke like this for a moment with a split-second expression he didn’t show till now.
The tone he spoke with was hardly less than geezer-like, but seeing he was bringing up an old story, I guess a face veiled by memories showed up.
[Baek-ho chose the most dangerous path and decided to erase the source of the darkness alone and return the light to the Korean Peninsula, and Cheong-ho said she will stay at Sinin’s side, protecting him.]
[And Hwang-ho?]
[He probably had to choose. No matter how powerful of a power he had, at this time he didn’t receive the grace to be able to exist everywhere.]
[Right. It was after this fight that the foreign enemies completely disappeared and Heavenly God came down and bestowed grace.]
PMH’s Hwang-ho nodded to Ju Su-hyeok’s words as if agreeing, and then continued to tell the story of that time.
[Hwang-ho… probably chose a path to protect Sinin together with Cheong-ho. Because the Ung tribe and foreign enemies were overflowing with the want to kill Sinin.]
[Sinin was the symbol of the Korean Peninsula, right? He probably would become a first target, huh?]
At the time, Hwang-ho in PMH slightly bowed his head.
In-PMH Hwang-ho’s face was covered by shadow.
[As result of Hwang-ho’s participation, Sinin was protected. Cheong-ho was gravely injured, but she survived. However, it wouldn’t be so in other places.]
[… Jiho-ah?]
At this time, because in-PHM Hwang-ho’s CG was darkened, his expression wasn’t visible for a split-second.
The in-PMH Hwang-ho raised his head again after a few seconds, and started to shamelessly act like a highschooler again.
[I like the rules of this school. There is nothing like the students belonging to this place not being able to go where they want to go, because they have to attend school.]
[Hahaha, Jiho, you’re chairman-nim’s relative, right? I also think the free attendance is a good rule.]
[That rule won’t be changed until the day this school closes.]
With Hwang Jiho as a chairman of Eungwang School, nothing like the things the two people worried about would happen.
While I reminisced on PMH’s story in my head, I diligently explained Eungwang School’s rules philosophy, and persuaded the two people.
“It may be okay if it’s for a short period of time. I’ll think about it.”
“… I’ll also think about it.”
Perhaps those two will now start to attend school.
*~*~*
Translator’s thank you note:
Hm, it’s a bit particular that Hwang-ho’s actions at the time were not recorded. And knowing the secrets from the future… a lot is omitted from this conversation. Anyway.
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