Translator: Wan ED/PR: Personal Ghost
13. 12 Zodiac Alliance Meeting (2)
With the Yang’s last comment, the 12 Zodiac Meeting turned upside down again.
戌[The guy who says dogshit is most dogshit] “I’m ashamed. For a moment, I thought that sheep bastard was cool.”
申[Strongest in the Universe Heaven’s Equal Great Sage] “You weren’t cool even for a moment, sir.”
戌[The guy who says dogshit is most dogshit] “Go clean the stables Heavenly Horse Keeper.[1]”
午[Sensitive Black Horse] “Are you coming to clean?”
申[Strongest in the Universe Heaven’s Equal Great Sage] “I saw enough of them. I said I saw enough of them!”
戌[The guy who says dogshit is most dogshit] “Why is the guy who started the fight first getting angry? You saw, so what are you doing now? See to your heart’s content and then get out to the stables.”
Monkey-dog[2] comedy continued.
Hwang Jiho still had a grave face after the word ‘Nightmare’ came out.
After looking at the chaos of a meeting, he asked me:
“Jo Uisin, is this much enough?”
“Yep.”
“Looks like you figured it out. I’ll think about Nightmare later. It’s time for me and the damn Moon Rabbit to get started.”
Ok Toyeon red eyes were looking downwards while she mumbled to herself:
“Aauu. And Nightmare isn’t even something random. They can’t really be here, right? For the time being, I should stay away from the other 12 Zodiacs.”
“You’re most welcome. On the condition of not approaching the Eungwang District for half a year, deliver Moon Rabbit Rice Cakes for a month to the Eungwang School cafeteria.”
“Deal!”
“We have a contract then. Even a pretext like coming to see Eun-ho’s descendants won’t work.”
Hwang Jiho laughed triumphantly, and Ok Toyeon lost her composure for the first time.
“Ack! That’s a bit… Ah, cancel it! Cancel! I want to meet them often!”
“You know that this verbal contract was already sealed, right?”
“… Eun-ho, please come back.”
I guess Hwang Jiho came out on top in this push-and-pull quarrel.
In the end, Ok Toyeon formed an awfully unfair contract as a price for thoughtlessly running her mouth.
On the condition of not approaching the Eungwang District for two months, they decided the Moon Rabbit Rice Cakes will be sold for 1/3 of the price in the Eungwang School’s cafeteria.
‘It’s a sweet deal from the students’ standpoint. Moon Rabbit Rice Cakes with free meals…!’
Hwang Jiho’s golden eyes sparkled as he smiled in a much better mood.
“Toyun unnie will kill me… The more I sell, the more I lose, ack!”
“If you die, I’ll give you grand condolence money.”
Hwang Jiho took on the brightest and most brilliant smile among those I saw today and then roared towards the pandemonium meeting.
寅[Tiger-nim] “As the host of the 12 Zodiac Meeting I order. Silence!”
Paat—!
Hwang Jiho’s roar pierced through the chaos and the cascade of letters and voices stopped.
The lively exchange of messages and shouts completely halted as if someone pushed a pause button for a moment.
I felt an enormous pressure of magic even outside.
The people participating in the conversation would certainly feel it more.
酉[Mt. Gyeryong’s Rarity Rooster] “Even when I see it, this mana makes my heart go faint.”
辰[Max Level Cheongryong] “If it wasn’t this much, I wouldn’t entrust my brethren and descendant to him.”
巳[Getting out] “Worthy of trusting and entrusting, Myth category Ho tribe member.”
亥[IAmZhuBajie] “My ears are pricking. That’s it, I’m telling you, yeah? Warn and then use it, I’m telling you. That’s it. A warning among us Jin people.”
未[SheepZzz] “Ah, I woke up.”
I guess, the head of the Yang tribe fell asleep in the meantime.
After the mood calmed down, Hwang Jiho infused his voice with magic and said gravely:
寅[Tiger-nim] “Let’s get to the point. A traitor emerged in the 12 Zodiac Alliance. They broke the nonaggression pact and attacked the Eungwang School’s barrier and a Ho tribe’s descendant.”
A silence fell for a short moment.
卯[Fucking Moon Rabbit] “We were also hit and… were almost completely destroyed? 12 Zodiac Alliance protection barrier was neutralized. It was certainly touched by someone among us, only the hand of a head would be worthy of that. But the culprit behind the attack would know that.”
寅[Tiger-nim] “I couldn’t accurately figure out what their aim is. All of you keep it in mind. The 12 Zodiac Alliance protection barrier isn’t absolute now.”
The one to break the silence was the Yong.
辰[Max Level Cheongryong] “… As the Yong tribe’s head, I proclaim. The Yong tribe will fully cooperate with the Ho tribe to catch the culprit. Aiming at the Eungwang School is the same as aiming at my brethren and descendant.”
The Yong tribe didn’t try to hide his anger.
From the blue flames that flickered in the 辰(Dragon) domain, I guess he was emitting a powerful supernatural wave.
辰[Max Level Cheongryong] “Know that if our descendants, especially Junyeol, gets hurt, then I’ll turn this so called alliance and your entire divine realms into a sea of flames.”
申[Strongest in the Universe Heaven’s Equal Great Sage] “Ah, I know, I know. And the Jin tribes without descendants will die from sorrow.”
辰[Max Level Cheongryong] “I would just die.”
戌[The guy who says dogshit is most dogshit] “If that monkey searches a bit…”
It seemed impossible for this pandemonium of a meeting to be serious for even a bit longer.
子[Cunning Rat] “The very first Clash of Different Worlds happened in Korean Peninsula. And the oldest myth in this Korean Peninsula records the Ho tribe’s divine realm. What is worth aiming for to even cause the rage of the Ho tribe and Yong tribe… and the To tribe as a bonus.”
酉[Mt. Gyeryong’s Rarity Rooster] “If not for Heavenly God-nim, I would want to invade to lay down right now.”
午[Sensitive Black Horse] “Now I have to worry about a traitor in addition to the demons? Agh…”
丑[Diligent Cow] “Our Jin people, fight, go! ^_^!”
巳[Getting out] “Next time, when the higher being-nim sends down a divine revelation, I should ask for a little consultation.”
未[SheepZzz] “Nightmare, traitor… if not for the Power of Earth, I would get out from Korean Peninsula straight away.”
The mood of the meeting slowly settled down.
Traitor or not, the Jin tribes would have to start moving in response to this, so it naturally affected the atmosphere.
寅[Tiger-nim] “Of course, we don’t plan on enduring this quietly. The moment the traitor is revealed, they will be immediately expelled from the 12 Zodiac Alliance and punished according to the pact.”
卯[Fucking Moon Rabbit] “Me too! I’ll turn everything upside down when I catch you!”
Hwang Jiho said some cool words, but Ok Toyeon’s foolishness completely didn’t live up to it.
Hwang Jiho finished firmly.
寅[Tiger-nim] “There is no need for something like courtesies between us… The next meeting will be the venue for the traitor punishment. That’s all.”
After Hwang Jiho’s words ended, the magic formation lost its light little by little.
At that moment.
⟨Dimension understanding of the Suitable Other Dimension Future Modification had raised.⟩
The system message I didn’t hear and see for a very long time.
⟨The skill level of ’Exclusive Menu of the Suitable Other Dimension Future Modification’ had raised from level 2 to level 3.⟩
Was it because I came into contact with the Korean Peninsula’s 12 Zodiac Alliance’s heads?
If not, was it because I successfully guessed the culprit behind key incidents?
In any case, I was always grateful for the level up.
‘Then let’s check it.’
With the level raise of the Exclusive Menu, the ‘Read logs again’ option opened up.
In the game, it was possible to read the conversation records again after entering a special map.
‘It seems that logs are erased after a certain number of conversations or time passes, but… It will be useful for double checking the information or to pinpoint data.”
The 12 Zodiac Meeting was also faithfully recorded.
While I was checking Exclusive Menu, the magic formation’s operation completely stopped and Hwang Jiho’s eyes and hair returned to their usual color.
“Hey, Jo Uisin. Then let’s hear what you have to say. But let’s change the place first. The magic power, supernatural power and divine power density is too high here, so we can’t stay here for long.”
***
1st floor, living room.
The tea served by the automatic maid was Songhwamirsu. It was a traditional honey tea made out of pine tree pollen with floating grass and pine nuts.
Songhwamirsu was put into a celadon produced with an inlay technique.
It was accompanied by refreshments, probably from the Moon Rabbit Rice Cakes set brought by Ok Toyeon.
“Mm… It seems that those guys didn’t say anything suspicious! Though everyone’s head seems to be weird.”
“There is no problem with the content. In this case, something outside of the content would be a clue to the problem.”
The two rice cake lovers, Ok Toyeon and Hwang Jiho ate azalea hwajeon as they spoke.
I guess they weren’t on good terms, but their tastes matched.
“Hwang Jiho, you’re right. I learned who one of the culprits is.”
“One of the culprits…? Does the traitor Jo Uisin found have a short tail, perhaps?”
Both Hwang Jiho and Jeok-ho were sharp.
I answered Jeok-ho’s question.
“Correct. I don’t know who the long tail traitor is.”
In the game. At the end of Ju Su-hyeok’s 1st year.
Jeok-ho gradually turned desperate in the worsening situation.
He started to suspect there may be a traitor in 12 Zodiac Alliance, but he couldn’t find evidence.
Only the Ung tribe was a genuine opponent. Besides that, nothing could be confirmed.
‘Jeok-ho had a bit of luck.’
One day, Jeok-ho by chance witnessed the teacher disciplining An Dain.
He was worried about An Dain, so he hid out of anxiety and listened to something pretending to be a discipline for a long time.
After he listened to the dog barking for almost an hour.
Jeok-ho realized that this teacher had a similar way of speaking like one of the 12 Zodiac Alliance heads.
The words, tone, intonation he used, the speed of talking, etc.
He copied so much that he seemed to be doing his impersonation.
‘It wasn’t completely confirmed, but Jeok-ho thoroughly investigated that teacher with a feeling of catching the last straws.’
And as a result…
Jeok-ho learned that this teacher is operating five illegal entertainment establishments in the Eungwang School protection zone.
And that he took over the deceased Kim Sinrok as the 1st year class 1 homeroom teacher and Wings Council advisor.
The teacher’s name was Choe Pyeondeuk.
‘Jeok-ho caught Choe Pyeondeuk by recognizing the way of speaking similar to one of the 12 Zodiacs heads. On the flipside, if you analyze Choe Pyeondeuk’s manner of speaking, then you will be able to catch the head.’
They say that a manner of speaking is infectious and tends to move from one person to the next.
Among the ‘high-ranking people’ which Choe Pyeondeuk encountered, the highest ranking person was the Jin tribe’s head.
I don’t know whether Choe Pyeondeuk did it intentionally or subconsciously, but he had a seriously similar way of speaking like that head.
But as Choe Pyeondeuk lived and died for high-ranking people, there was a big chance it was intentional.
‘It was worth enduring Choe Pyeondeuk’s disgusting lecture and listening to it.’
The fact that I wanted to hear Gong Cheong-hwon lectures was also a reason.
But if it was the only reason, I would use an earplug item or skip school.
However, I endured to the end and sat there, so I could hear that dog-sound.
‘During that time, I throughly analyzed Choe Pyeondeuk’s speech pattern.’
Words, tone, intonation, speed of talking.
I mobilized every Player’s sense and memorized it.
And with a help of that, I could search for the origin of Choe Pyeondeuk’s mimicked speech manner.
“The words Choe Pyeondeuk used. Among the people he had a chance to come into contact with, he would mimic the words of the highest ranking person.”
Adding a sentence ending like ‘I’m telling you’.
Making an ‘Ehem’ coughing sound.
Occasional breaks like ‘Yeah? And ‘That’s it’.
In addition, there was his tone and speed.
Among all the Jin tribe’s heads, there was only one being which possessed those characteristics.
“The Jin which possesses a very similar speech pattern to Choe Pyeondeuk is the Don tribe head.”
But judging from what he said during interrogation, Choe Pyeondeuk seemed to be only aware the other was one of the Jin people, but not that he was from the Don tribe.
In the situation where you are going to backstab the Ho tribe, there is no way the Don would reveal his identity to a guy like Choe Pyeondeuk.
Kim Sinrok and Jeok-ho retraced their memory and then nodded.
“… I wasn’t familiar with the Don tribe’s head’s way of speaking, so I didn’t recognize it. Now that I think back, he is indeed mimicking him.”
“The only time I heard Choe Pyeondeuk speak was during the interrogation… and now that I think about it, you’re right…”
The clue that Jeok-ho left behind, the manner of speaking, wasn’t the only evidence.
“There is one more piece of evidence.”
Due to chairman Hwang Myeong-ho’s indifference, the mess at the Eungwang School continued for a long time.
The reason it wasn’t ruined was thanks to the excellent teachers and students.
“The Heavenly Wings Mountain and residential zone for a long period of time suffered a wild boar infestation. However, before the Wings Council came into being, due to the managers and administrators’ laziness and embezzlement of money, it went completely unresolved.”
On the day I was hit by Maeng Hyodon’s bulgogi slap and returned Lee Lena the ribbon, I read and checked meeting records in the Wings Council room.
Even in the previous years’ records, there remained information about the formation of the wild boar eradication teams by the Wings Council.
“One of the biggest tasks of the Wings Council was ‘wild boar eradication’.”
In the game there was a free quest which no one did thanks to meager rewards.
‘Eradicate the wild boars invading the dormitory.’
It was a quest ordered by the Wings Council.
Perhaps Choe Pyeondeuk was ordered to take over as the Wings Council advisor so he could dominate and hinder the Wings Council.
“The culprit behind cutting Heavenly Wings Mountain ley lines. That was the Don tribe. The wild boars don’t possess great power, but if they slowly dug for dozens of years aiming for the mountain’s weak points, it would be possible to cut the ley lines. But the progress would be delayed for the past 15 years thanks to the Wings Council.”
They weren’t Enemies or family members, but it wouldn’t cost the Don tribe any effort to plant a suggestion in the wild boars and make them move.
And Eungwang School’s protection barrier doesn’t prevent wild animal invasion.
“Teacher Kim Sinrok-nim survived and Choe Pyeondeuk was subjugated, so they failed to seize control over the Wings Council. Also, it seems that the wild boar invasion suddenly stopped, perhaps because you started to investigate Heavenly Wings Mountain to protect divine beast Snare. They’re playing it safe.”
Because among notices on the party recruitment bulletin board, there wasn’t a wild boar eradication team from the Wings Council this year.
“The tail isn’t long, so… there is one more traitor among other Jin tribes. I still don’t know who the remaining traitor is.”
I finished sharing my thoughts.
Three Ho tribe members, one To tribe member and one Ung tribe and Ho tribe descendant.
None of them refuted my words.
“Those pig bastards.”
Ok Toyeon put down a half-eaten rice cake and mumbled.
“Do you think he is right? Pigs aren’t good at handling barriers. From what I hear about the Eungwang School’s entrance exam, the barrier seemed to be touched very delicately. They did it so cleverly that you didn’t know whether it was Ung Eight Immortals or 12 Zodiac hand. Then perhaps the guy with a long tail is a bit more skilled.”
Hwang Jiho didn’t deny that, so it seemed that Ok Toyeon’s words were right.
“My deepest apologies. I had been the Wings Council advisor for 3 years, but even so, I had no doubts about the wild boar movements.”
Kim Sinrok bowed his head with a dark expression.
No, without other clues, it would be difficult to notice.
Because wild animal invasions happen in most of the Korean Peninsula dormitories located in the mountains.
If you search SNS, it wouldn’t be difficult to find a picture of an elk or a boar’s surprise attack on the university dormitories.
Jeok-ho changed the topic as if to cover Kim Sinrok.
“We can start with the Don tribe to slowly catch that long tail. It would be difficult to observe movements of everyone in 12 Zodiacs, but it won’t be a problem if we narrow it down to the one Don tribe. For the time being, the Eungwang District would be clear.”
“Ok. Then shouldn’t we send at least one on their merry way? Those pig bastards, I’ll kill them all!”
After Jeok-ho and Ok Toyeon finished their words, Hwang Jiho spoke:
“My long indifference brought the situation to this point.”
It’s been a while since Hwang Jiho made an expression which made it difficult to guess his age.
“I like the eyes of my dear friends that changed, the descendants Eun-ho left behind, this school and the 1st year class 0 I’m currently attending. From now on, I’ll move with my utmost sincerity.”
Hwang Jiho patted Jeok-ho’s shoulder.
“Jeok-ho, don’t do anything too dangerous.”
Today’s 12 Zodiac Alliance Meeting.
Perhaps the biggest harvest was enthusiasm which returned to the bystander Hwang Jiho.
***
The walk towards the dormitory after eating dinner.
I went out with Baek Ho-gun to take Snare on a stroll.
Snare liked me and Baek Ho-gun the best.
Snare waited for us at the entrance with the leash in its teeth and pushed it in front of us to take it out on a walk.
It seemed to want to go home with me.
And then it would escort Baek Ho-gun on his way back to the mansion again.
‘The last time it worked with all its charms, but I just left it behind, so it looks like it came up with a different way this time.’
It’s unavoidable.
I couldn’t help but reward the cute and smart Snare.
We naturally have to go together.
Honestly, if not for the animal ban in the dormitory, I just wanted to take it with me and raise it, who cares about the divine beast or Ho tribe or something.
Woof! Woof–!
“You’re going to get hurt.”
Baek Ho-gun, who didn’t say a word for the entire day, spoke to Snare who ran around out of excitement.
Even the taciturn Baek Ho-gun couldn’t help it in front of Snare.
It’s okay. I understand.
Since Baek Ho-gun opened his mouth, I should ask about something I was curious about.
“What is Nightmare?”
The Jin people of the 12 Zodiacs had a much stronger reaction at the mention of Nightmare than the traitor.
From the conversation context I guess it was a ‘great higher being with authority to interfere in the present world’.
It was also powerful enough to swallow the Jin tribes’ heads if something went wrong.
“It’s not something you have to worry about even a bit, Jo Uisin.”
No-answer came out.
I looked up at Baek Ho-gun with the implication of protest, asking for a more detailed explanation.
However, Baek Ho-gun only said that:
“Don’t worry and do the things you want, the things you have to do.”
There were many things I wanted to do and have to do.
It was difficult to press more if my Playable Character said it like this.
***
After a long walk with Snare and a tearful parting, I had arrived at the dormitory.
I turned on the device notifications and all kinds of messages, videos and pictures poured out.
‘When will I check all of it?’
The entire content was about the basketball match between the Eungwang School and Military Academy’s Basketball Club 1st years.
When watching the match videos, I noticed quite a few familiar faces to my surprise.
‘Ju Su-hyeok and Bang Yunseop also participated!’
Come to think about it, the organizer of this basketball match was Tao Sihu, so there is no way that his best friend Ju Su-hyeok wouldn’t have come.
I saw the pile of bread prepared as a snack on the side of the court, so I guess Ju Su-hyeok ordered Bang Yunseop bread shuttle service for the occasion.
‘It’s not the amount you can buy with the bread fee I sent. Looks like Ju Su-hyeok’s treat.’
People gathered from each school divided into two teams and the four teams played basketball matches following a tournament method.
In the finals, the Eungwang School team A met with Military Academy team B.
In any case, it seemed that the teams which already lost, chose the replacements among themselves and made it into a big school battle.
‘My Bread Shuttle Bang Yunseop had an incident again…’
In the second quarter, Bang Yunseop alone contributed more than 30 points by committing all kinds of fouls and beginner level mistakes.
What was even funnier, this guy didn’t even do that on purpose. He worked hard, really putting all his might, but even so, it turned out like this.
And in the third quarter, Ju Su-hyeok replaced Bang Yunseop.
The all-powerful munchkin, Ju Su-hyeok, overpowered the competition with a brilliant play, while making up for Bang Yunseop’s mistakes with terrifying prowess.
‘He isn’t a main character without a reason… But I had no idea he could even play basketball so well.’
And the third quarter, which was nothing short from Ju Su-hyeok’s solo show, ended.
In the fourth quarter the Military Academy team selected Tao Sihu and he scored 1 to 1 with Ju Su-hyeok, stalling Eungwang School.
The Eungwang School ended up 2 points behind.
5 seconds remaining.
In that last moment, Ju Su-hyeok’s pass led to Yu Sang-hun’s 3 point shot and bloomed into a buzzer beater. The Eungwang School obtained a great reverse victory.
[Yu Sang-hun] we won. watch! go thank me when you see all
[Jang Namuk] Ah, that was really close… Pity…
Today Ju Su-hyeok was chosen as the game MVP, but Yu Sang-hun was the top scorer.
Jang Namuk seemed to be a good defender thanks to his high height, but he couldn’t beat them in skills.
[Yu Sang-hun] your bread shuttle cried
I saw an attached photo of Bang Yunseop with a puffy face.
In the past, when he was beaten up by Maeng Hyodon in the preliminaries, he also cried, so it seems he was a guy with weak tear glands.
Below my Bread Shuttle photo was a group photo.
The Eungwang School in white shirts and the Military Academy in black shirts.
The shirts’ colors were different but everyone looked good together.
‘Everyone looks good together, huh?’
As if no one held grudges against each over the victory or defeat, they wrapped arms around each other’s shoulders, not distinguishing between schools and acted friendly while smiling as they took a picture.
While I listened to the 12 Zodiac meeting disguising craziness as a talk, those guys lived their youth, huh?
‘If at least one was on a different day, I would have been able to go to both the 12 Zodiac meeting and the basketball match…’
However, life and time are limited.
It is impossible to have everything one wants.
I couldn’t feel it more clearly than in this period of Eungwang School’s midterm exams.
The midterms exams would start very soon.
*~*~*
[1] Go clean the stables Heavenly Horse Keeper — Heavenly Horse Keeper was a position given to Sun Wukong by Jade Emperor. Also yes, Great Sage Equal to Heaven is also Sun Wukong’s title, I allowed myself to shorten it here, but raws use the full title.
Additional details:
If you want more context, the story in “The Journey to The West” was that Sun Wukong was so powerful that the Heaven’s officials were like “Should we do something about this?”, so they decided to invite him to Heaven and give him a job to keep him busy and also be able to keep an eye on him. Sun Wukong was happy about getting invited at first and performed his duty very well. That is, until he asked what rank is he exactly in the Heaven hierarchy, and they told that he’s the lowest possible rank there is in Heaven which pissed him off so much that he stormed out from Heaven back to Flower Fruit Mountain. I might’ve misremembered something, but I believe that’s the gist of the story.
— The Ghost
[2] Monkey-dog – on monkey-dog terms would be the similiar to saying ‘on cat-dog terms’ in English.
Translator’s note: Jo Uisin, your Menu could level up also because you learned about Nightmare… No? We’re not going there? Yes? Baek-ho said not to worry…? … Well, if he said that, then of course we have to not to worry.
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