Translator: Wan ED/PR: Personal Ghost
65. Things that have to be hidden (9)
The Pledge of Three Knights’ team mark were the family crests of the first team masters intertwined.
Underneath it, Mok Uram’s name was written.
Just checking half of what was in the envelope, I was petrified by the content.
‘… The assassination has already been attempted?!’
In the writings Seodol called an ‘assassination plan’, a report was included.
Based on that report, they attempted the assassination during the first practice lesson at the Olympic Park, but it failed.
There were two elites of the Pledge of Three Knights, who were there as assassins.
One of the two wanted to use a tamed Enemy to lure teacher Ham Geunhyeong-nim, and they planned to infiltrate the otherworld in the meantime to assassinate Mok Uram.
They also made a plan in a case they failed to lure out teacher Ham Geunhyeong-nim, so it seemed they were very thoroughly prepared.
‘However, no one had any idea that there was an assassination attempt that day…. Was it because the Eternal Lake team came?’
That day the Eternal Lake members appeared wearing team capes saying they were going to cheer for Kwon Lena.
As Kwon Jane’s good-for-nothing actions were becoming more severe day by day, it wouldn’t be strange if she really appeared to cheer for Kwon Lena.
However, it also wouldn’t be strange if she had also some other intentions, like protecting Mok Uram.
Didn’t Jared Lee formerly belong to the ‘Pledge of Three Knights’, and Mok Uram was the disciple of the artisan, who created Kwon Lena’s violins?
The report detailed the reasons for the failed assassination, and as expected, the Eternal Lake was mentioned.
However, it was the only cause of their failed assassination.
‘… Another variable besides the Eternal Lake?’
At the time, the assassins were said to observe the five otherworlds that occurred around from a nearby rooftop.
It was to figure out which otherworld was the 1st year class 0 going to attack, but they observed something unexpected.
Each of the five otherworlds possessed a powerful superpower wave, but if looked at from the distance, that superpower wave was said to take on a certain shape.
That shape was a seal of the Crow Demon King Sillentium.
‘The Crow Demon King must have touched those otherworlds to contact me…’
I had no idea if it was a coincidence or not.
But it was clear the assassination would fail even if the Eternal Lake team didn’t come that day.
There was a high chance that the Crow Demon King would remain an onlooker during the assassination, but there was no guarantee of that.
As an enormous variable occurred in the assassination plan that had to be carried out secretly and meticulously, it was wise to give up the plan or postpone it.
‘More than a failed assassination plan, the future events are more important.’
They didn’t give up yet.
They stopped at the failed assassination attempt, but it appeared that the assassins still remained in the Korean Peninsula.
But the report that should have arrived in Britain was stolen by Seodol and entered my hands.
‘Mok Uram doesn’t often go out, but it’s not like he doesn’t do that at all. It will be dangerous if he goes out alone.’
Mok Uram had many different flaws, but he was a kind bastard.
Knowing that someone tried to kill that bastard, I couldn’t leave that alone.
“Looks like You have read the entire thing. How is it? My gift — You’re grateful, correct?”
Considering the context only, which was about assassination and things like that, it was the worst, but the thing itself was really worthy to be grateful for.
A classmate was under the threat of assassination, so it was natural for me, as a class vice president to express thanks to the information provider.
I decided to thank him and to try to dig a bit more into this assassination matter.
“Yes, thank You. May I ask where did You get Your hands on it?”
“Remember the trash that messed with me in China? While playing in Britain, I looked into this and that, and got my hands on it.”
Seodol answered politely, but he suddenly turned serious.
The words spat out with a casual language were full of anger and annoyance:
“Ha, because of Britain, I recalled the bad memory of being hit by a horse hoof again. Why do I have to feel so dirty?”
Thinking about it, Seodol and Heuk-ma made a bet over catching the Enemies on the Halloween party.
I didn’t look into it and forgot about it, because I wasn’t curious about the results, but I guess that Seodol lost and was smacked by Heuk-ma.
“There is an unsophisticated and sensitive Jin, one of the 12 Zodiac, the head of Ma tribe called Heuk-ma. You be careful too[1].”
I need to be careful?
Even so, he was providing good information on his own, so I decided to nod.
As if angry that he was smacked, Seodol talked about Heuk-ma behind her back, and as if he was satisfied with me just listening, he talked to his heart’s content, relieving his feelings.
Around the time Seodol’s feelings were relieved, I threw an additional question.
“Do You know perhaps why those people are targeting Mok Uram?”
“It seems to be related to Mok Uram’s talent.”
Because Mok Uram was an extreme hogu, it didn’t particularly show, but he had an amazing talent.
Both in the case of his superpowers as a Player, and skills as a violin artisan.
It was to the point, that he passed the highest difficulty entrance exam in Korea, even when talking nonsense, and was a disciple of the world’s only superpower violin artisan.
“It seems that the ‘Pledge of Three Knights’s’ stance is ‘if we can’t put them under us, it’s better to get rid of him’. Um… Frankly speaking, I’m not curious about Mok Uram, so I didn’t look into it properly.”
I seriously doubted those words.
Didn’t Hong Gyubin describe Seodol in the past as such:
— That Cunning goes crazy for human drama. He is the most extreme human praise chanter I know. I get horrible goosebumps when he uses respectful speech unlike himself and says ‘I — like it very much’. If a human possessing a bit of a dramatic background also had quite good superpowers, he would probably suddenly stick to them.
Mok Uram’s life was nothing but ordinary.
He became a disciple of the superpower violin artisan and traveled, and after his master died, he wandered the world to find his muse.
Mok Uram’s hogu travel road was quite miserable, and in the midst of it, he faced a threat of assassination.
In addition, that threat of assassination was still present.
Wasn’t this enough for a dramatic background?
Mok Uram’s superpowers and his talent besides superpowers were outstanding, so wasn’t it somewhat strange for Seodol to say he had no interest.
Seodol sighed as if Mok Uram didn’t strike his heart at all.
“I like people who head for the future even while suffering hardships and ordeals. But Mok Uram’s mind is a bit like a flowery field.”
… That was true.
I didn’t know about the past, but after finding his muse, Mok Uram’s head was exactly like a flowery field.
Might not be the case for things related to Kwon Lena, but it seemed he wasn’t particularly bothered by things outside of that.
Seodol slated him using a casual tone:
“He is a human who even if shoved in a ditch, wouldn’t know it’s a ditch. There is no fun watching. Ah, I don’t really like how he dresses either. If he was less flowery-minded, I would style him.”
Mok Uram was probably lucky to avoid Seodol’s interest, but just hearing the reasons, it was the worst.
The reason why all people, who knew Seodol, including Hwang Jiho, avoided him became even clearer.
This rat was a harmful one.
Seodol was about to talk, but stopped talking.
Seodol quietly looked at me, his gaze giving off a seriously icky feeling.
“I very much like humans like Kwon Jane, Hong Gyubin and Jo Uisin. I also very much like the Ho tribe! Speaking of which, accepting my blessing…”
“Enough.”
The wide back covered my vision and Seodol’s unpleasant gaze disappeared.
It appeared that Baek Ho-gun decided to cut off the conversation as Seodol started to talk about useless things.
As expected, he had consideration and observation skills worthy of my main Playable Character.
Seodol quickly twisted his body and whined, while he tried to look at me from behind Baek-ho[2].
“Baek-ho, we meet after such a long time, but You speak so crudely. I want to talk to Jo Uisin more. I have still a gift left!”
The gift he said he thought I would hate?
Frankly, I didn’t want to accept it.
However, if it contained important information like someone’s assassination plan, I couldn’t miss it.
Baek Ho-gun turned his head and looked at me, as if to ask for my opinion.
“…”
When I nodded, Baek Ho-gun moved a step.
Thanks to that, half of Seodol’s face was visible.
“What gift is it?”
“Ah, have You ever thought of becoming ‘Neuru’ ambassador next season?”
What sound was that?
Was he talking about one of the world’s top five prestigious brands ‘Neuru’ under Wang Chansol’s company?
There were times when Players became ambassadors of prestigious fashion brands, but weren’t they always people of Kwon Jane’s rank?
What premium brand ambassador was a 1st year highschooler?
If it wasn’t necessary, I didn’t want to sell my face.
“Or this season’s model! Ah, I thought about it myself, but I already have the first drafts of designs, You know? It would mainly focus on the accessories that can be worn together with Eungwang School’s uniform, so it won’t be too bothersome. How about a tentative name ‘Unnamed Supernova Edition[3]’?”
Seodol clamored with passion about something, but my answer was set.
I replied straight away, without any thinking.
“I hate it.”
As Seodol have thought, I very much didn’t like his gift.
When I cut it off with ‘I hate it’, Baek Ho-gun was no longer leaving Seodol alone.
“Jo Uisin said he hates it.”
“Of course I thought that He would hate it. So I personally came to try to persuade Him! This time I’m obsessed with color black, but Players with black superpower wave aren’t common, so…”
Paaaa…
A pure white superpower wave bloomed around Baek Ho-gun.
Seeing his hair, which he dyed black, when going out, turning white, Seodol shut his mouth.
I guess he wasn’t stupid enough to impudently show off in front of the Ho tribe’s best warrior.
“Thank You for the first gift. Then see You next time.”
“… I didn’t give up yet! I’ll contact You again and give You another gift!”
Grrrrr!
As Seodol’s words got longer, I heard the growl of a beast again from somewhere.
The timing was strange, but considering the circumstances, it wouldn’t be strange if Seodol made some sounds out of excitement.
As the sound of a beast grew lower and the density of the superpower wave emitted by Baek Ho-gun grew denser, Seodol finally retreated.
On a quiet walk trail again, I thanked Baek Ho-gun, who got rid of Seodol, and Snare, who kindly waited.
As thanks, I made another suggestion.
“Let’s walk a bit more, and then go back.”
“Got it.”
Woof woof!
There was an event on the way back today and it became a few times longer, but it ended safely.
My dormitory room I returned to.
Perhaps because the days were becoming shorter, it felt a bit dark and cold.
If I expected it, I would remotely turn on the dormitory room’s lights and heater before leaving the mansion.
After hurriedly turning on all lights and heaters, I decided to unlock the device and check messages.
‘Uh, this…’
A message from an unfamiliar number caught my eye.
The sender was the Crow Demon King’s agent, MITRON’s patissier.
* * *
Hwang Myeong-ho great mansion[4], Eun-ho’s side building.
Inside the empty side building, Eun-ho sat in the drawing room, with all windows closed.
After it turned completely dark, someone entered through the front door.
“You’re back. It’s a bit late. I guess the walk prolonged.”
Baek-ho, who entered the side building, wordlessly nodded and sat down opposite of Eun-ho.
Eun-ho prepared Baek-ho’s share of tea and said:
“Baek-ho hyung-nim didn’t speak much in the past too, but it got even more serious now.”
Baek-ho didn’t reply to Eun-ho’s words and picked up his tea cup.
Eun-ho’s words continued.
“Many things have happened after I fell asleep, but I think the Ho tribe’s Members almost didn’t change. Even though Cheongho-nim became human, She still has Her old personality, doesn’t She? However…”
Eun-ho stopped talking in the middle.
It was rare for eloquent Eun-ho to hesitate over his words like this.
“…”
“…”
While the two people emptied their cups, neither of them said anything.
Instead of preparing next cup of tea, Eun-ho took out something he had prepared.
Baek-ho quietly observed the things laid out on the table.
What Eun-ho took out was a case containing a chessboard and chess pieces.
Finishing setting them up, Eun-ho said:
“Baek-ho hyung-nim, please play chess with me.”
*~*~*
[1] You be careful too — casual tone here.
[2] Baek-ho — yes, Baek-ho in raws. (suspected typo)
[3] Unnamed Supernova Edition — it’s written in English, and as a reminder 무명 (mu-myeong), part of Jo Uisin’s alias, literally means ‘without name’. This is another instance where I wonder if I should translate his alias as ‘Unnamed’ instead of ‘Unknown’, but I always bounce back from it. Partly because of my consideration of MTL readers who are used to ‘unknown’, and partly because 무명 (mu-myeong) could also mean ‘without fate, zero fate’, so I feel like ‘unknown’ represents those multitudes of possibilities better.
[4] Hwang Myeong-ho great mansion — I usually just skip over it, treating it as the nature of the Korean language, but here it was put side by side with ‘Eun-ho’s side building’, so the contrast felt bigger. There is no possessive particle for ‘Hwang Myeong-ho great mansion’ making it sound like ‘Hwang Myeong-ho’ is the name of the mansion.
Translator’s note: Heh, yeah I guess ‘that’ has to be hidden.
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