Translator: Wan ED/PR: Personal Ghost
65. Things that have to be hidden (12)
After classes.
Kim Sinrok prepared to leave work early.
Usually, he would work overtime, or spend time helping with the work of the Earthly Wings Council, but Kim Sinrok couldn’t help but leave work.
‘I would rather remain and work.’
Kim Sinrok didn’t like to leave work.
Rather, thinking about what was waiting for him after leaving work, his vision darkened.
The place Kim Sinrok had to go after leaving Eungwang School was Gwangli Elementary School.
His mission was to pick up the head of the Ho tribe Hwang-ho, in the appearance of the elementary school student Hwang Yuho.
However, it was only a surface reason, the actual goal was to secretly meet with Seong Gukeon, Kim Sinrok’s old disciple.
‘… But the two people may not come.’
Kim Sinrok tried to think positively, but that thought didn’t last long.
It was because Seong Gukeon’s Eungwang District’s regional office was close to Gwangli neighborhood, and an hour ago the picture of him visiting the office was put on SNS.
Considering how the two appeared last week too after staking out close to the school, it seemed they would take similar actions today.
“Leaving work?”
“You’re going early today.”
“Even though I tell You to go home every time, You don’t listen.”
Before leaving the faculty office, the fellow teachers each spoke a word to Kim Sinrok.
Kim Sinrok smiled, disguising himself as a kind-hearted teacher.
“I have some matter to attend to. Apologies for leaving early.”
“No, You always shoulder Your work alone, so You should have such days too.”
“I left early last week too…”
“Aye-aye, go.”
Leaving the hesitating Kim Sinrok, the teachers threw jest goodbyes.
Wiii.
At that time, the automatic door of the teacher room exclusive for the 1st year homeroom teachers opened.
Seeing the person, who appeared in the opened door, the teachers, who stood around Kim Sinrok, all sat down in their seats.
The being which appeared was Yong Jegeon.
Yong Jegeon’s relationship with other teachers was fine, but the teachers didn’t want to be involved in the pranks Yong Jegeon played on Kim Sinrok.
The teachers disappeared like a receding tide, but as if it was a common occurrence, no one, including Kim Sinrok, thought it was strange.
‘Humans are probably a bit bothered by that game dragon. But the senior teachers seem to have gotten used to him.’
Though among the teacher, who haven’t worked for long yet, Gong Cheonghwon didn’t treat Yong Jegeon any different from others.
Of course, Gong Cheonghwon was an exception among exceptions.
‘… If I revealed my identity, would other teachers treat me the same way?’
Kim Sinrok scorned at himself.
He wouldn’t act like an oddball like the game dragon, but a background was a background.
As the records were wiped out during the Gaecheon Myth, the stories of the Ung tribe weren’t properly conveyed until the current era.
But the Ung tribe’s image was the worst.
The attack of an Ung during the Eungwang School’s practice entrance exam was widely reported, and even after that there were many big and small incidents.
‘If I could hunt the Ung tribe with my own hands…’
When Kim Sinrok had turbulent thoughts, while he ruminated over the information he had obtained when torturing the Ung tribe.
Yong Jegeon discovered Kim Sinrok packing and immediately approached.
As if he wasn’t even a little deterred by the quiet atmosphere or Kim Sinrok’s complicated mood, Yong Jegeon smirked and asked.
“Teacher Kim Sinrok-nim, where are you going?”
Kim Sinrok was thankful that he always called him ‘teacher Kim Sinrok-nim’ in front of other people, but at the same time he was annoyed.
If he spoke like this when someone could see you, could you ignore him?
Kim Sinrok forcibly suppressed his indignation and superpower wave that were boiling up in him, and said:
“… Getting off work.”
“Already? Did something happen.”
“… I have a thing to attend to.”
“I know you have a thing, I’m curious what it is.”
“…”
Kim Sinrok, who couldn’t reply straight away, continued to speak with a smiling face he maintained with much difficulty.
He succeeded in wrapping up ‘It’s a personal matter, so I don’t want to tell you’ in a sociable way and saying it.
As Kim Sinrok thought he was luckily able to respond maturely to the game dragon, Yong Jegeon spat out the insides-scratching sound.
“I guess you’re going to do something that’s hard to speak about. Got it.”
What do you know to make such a sound?
If not for the eyes watching, he would’ve thrown a drafting compass at Yong Jegeon’s mouth.
But he couldn’t do with so many eyes watching.
Yong Jegeon started to spit out words no one asked for.
“A new member joined Stalemate today, so I have to go. A pity I can’t go with you. Come back safely, teacher Kim Sinrok-nim.”
“… Yes, then I’ll go first.”
Unlike Yong Jegeon, Kim Sinrok didn’t feel at all sorry, and he rather liked that Yong Jegeon didn’t get to act as he liked.
After joining with Hwang-ho at the Gwangli Elementary with infinitely lighter steps, Seong Gukeon and Jeon Mu-yeong approached them as he expected.
It was strange to meet an assemblyman so often, but thanks to Jeon Mu-yeong’s meticulously planned movement path, they were able to meet under the disguise of an extremely natural coincidence.
After finishing greeting, Seong Gukeon suggested buying Hwang Yuho ice cream, and the young-looking head of the Ho tribe happily nodded, so the four moved together.
Seong Gukeon led the conversation, while asking about Hwang Yuho’s school life.
“Right, so such things happened before the homeroom teacher changed? Ah, if you want to eat more, I’ll order them.”
“Yes!”
On the surface, it looked like a common conversation between a broad-minded adult and a pampered child.
Even the cafe part-timer was casting heart-warmed glances towards them.
But in reality it was a tug-of-war between the assemblyman and the Ho tribe’s head.
Only after Hwang-ho in appearance of Hwang Yuho emptied two bowls of ice cream, did the bizarre confrontation end.
In the atmosphere of ‘we’re going to end it here’, Kim Sinrok’s nerves at last relaxed.
‘… Looks like Seong Gukeon-gun doesn’t plan on bringing that up.’
In front of the Red Lion’s team building.
Kim Sinrok acted extremely awkwardly and blurted out words that didn’t make sense.
When he regained his cool later and thought about it alone, he belatedly came up with a plausible excuse, but it was already too late.
“Then see You next time, teacher-nim.”
Seong Gukeon said goodbyes to Kim Sinrok, as if nothing had happened and left.
He had an attitude of facing a revered teacher of his secretary.
Kim Sinrok had diligently thought of what excuse to make if he mentioned the matter of that day today, but it ended up meaningless.
With a dazed face, he headed to the place registered as the elementary school student Hwang Yuho’s residence.
“You worked hard, Kim Sinrok. Relax a bit and let’s talk. It seems that Jeon Mu-yeong was worried about you.”
Kim Sinrok looked at the Ho tribe’s head, who extorted ice cream again from his old students.
As Hwang-ho, who until a moment ago talked like an elementary school student, the sudden change of tone was pretty jarring.
“If we build a relationship of trust little by little, there will come a day when we will talk about our identities and cooperate with each other.”
His heart became heavy at Hwang-ho’s words.
The reason they played such a skit was so that one day they would cooperate with Seong Gukeon.
As such, Kim Sinrok wouldn’t be able to help but reveal his true identity.
Even if Seong Guekon doesn’t learn that his old master was a descendant, it would be revealed that the identity he is currently using, ‘Kim Sinrok’, was a descendant.
Just at the thought of it, Kim Sinrok’s face turned pale.
“If it’s difficult, you can switch to the next identity at any time.”
“… Yes?”
Hwang-ho looked at Kim Sinrok and spoke kindly.
“How about using the surname ‘Jeok’ for your next identity?”
When Kim Sinrok used a fake name, he always chose the surname ‘Kim’.
There were two reasons.
First, it was the most common surname in the Korean Peninsula, so it wasn’t eye-catching.
Second, because among the Ho tribe members no one chose the surname ‘Kim’ for the name of their fake identity.
As a result, Kim Sinrok was a fake name that didn’t seem to have any connection to anyone in the Ho tribe.
“With that surname, you can be a father and son with Jeok-ho on the family register. In such a case, wouldn’t it be good to use the name you first used? I mean the name Jeok-ho gave you?”
“… I think I would have to consult it with Jeokho-nim.”
Hwang-ho’s suggestion made him seriously happy, but Kim Sinrok replied cautiously.
At Kim Sinrok’s reply, Hwang-ho burst out laughing.
“Hahahaha! There is no need to consult. Jeok-ho will be very happy. No, he might be already organizing the family register on his own.”
He couldn’t imagine what Jeok-ho was actually thinking and how he was preparing.
However hearing what Hwang-ho said, Kim Sinrok felt his breathing become easier.
‘… Yeah, in any case, I can change my identity again.’
If he could hide his identity from his disciples, Kim Sinrok wished to do so until the end.
No, he had to hide it.
* * *
It was quiet in front of the Earthly Wings Council Hall.
Thanks to the class 0’s senior bastards acting comparatively meekly today, the Wings Council spent one day in peace.
So it seemed that today I would be able to talk with Gye Idam and Seong Siwan about the secret society.
‘Should I come a bit later?’
It seemed that the majority of the dormitory students, including the Earthly Wings Council, finished their club activities and went to the cafeteria to eat dinner.
The Newspaper Club ended its activities quickly today, so I ate dinner early.
Mun Saeron, who was gathering information abroad, declared her news-gathering would prolong, and she still didn’t return to Eungwang School, so it seemed that the club itself was influenced by Mun Saeron’s absence.
I had no idea who the hell she met for the news-gathering trip to be extended like this.
“Uisin-ah, what are you doing here? If you were called by the Earthly Wings Council, come in and wait.”
The one who spoke up to me was Bak Seung-hyeon.
Bak Seung-hyeon spoke up with a bright voice and guided me inside the Earthly Wings Hall.
It was in contrast to his passiveness, where he hesitated to ask about my device code when we first met.
Bak Seung-hyeon’s arms were full of things to eat and drink — he said they were many snack gifts given to the Wings Council.
The first thing I grabbed and ate was a coconut ginger waffle, and while piquant, it was sweet.
“It’s delicious.”
“Hyeon-gu bought it. He has been spending a lot, because his cousin hyung gave him quite a bit of pocket money.”
Now that I thought about it, Bak Seung-hyeon’s friend Kim Hyeon-gu was also in the Earthly Wings Council.
It was usually seniors who sent snacks to the Wings Council, but I guess the Wings Council’s members would also voluntarily fill up snacks.
With the story about Kim Hyeong-gu coming out, Bak Seung-hyeon started to boast about his friend.
If your friend was an ace striker, who played a major role during the exchange with the Military School, it was natural to boast.
Bak Seung-hyeon, who talked about Kim Hyeon-gu for a while, suddenly changed the topic.
“Ah, right. Do you know the title of the music piece used during the opening ceremony of the exchange with Military School?”
What music are you talking about?
There were quite a lot of various music pieces used during the opening ceremony, so I couldn’t pin point which one he was asking for.
I decided to give a simple answer.
“The music list was published on the Broadcast Club’s homepage.”
“I listened to all pieces published there, but… I’m curious about the title of the whistle piece that played during the byeoksa sword dance.”
That whistle sound was a reflection of ‘Army Conducts Marching Song’ used by me through the Player’s Trajectory.
As the real owner of the Marching Song, it was natural for that whistle sound to hang on Bak Seung-hyeon’s mind.
But the timing of the question was strange.
Bak Seung-hyeon continued to speak.
“Hyeon-gu’s cousin hyung is curious about that song’s title. Hyeon-gu said that if he learned what the whistle piece we heard then was titled, he would be given even more pocket money.”
… Who was Kim Hyeon-gu’s cousin that he was investigating it?
Kim Hyeon-gu was a person whose name didn’t even come out in PMH so I had little information.
I should look into it with Hwang Jiho later.
“Uisin-ah, do you have no plans on joining the Earthly Wings Council in the 2nd year?”
Around the time we were finished eating almost all of the snacks, while walking, Bak Seung-hyeon asked.
Not a long time ago, Yeom Junyeol and Cheon Dongha each offered me to join the Student Council and the Guideline Club, but this time the offer came from Bak Seung-hyeon.
I was truly thankful and deeply moved by the suggestion of my Playable Character, but my answer was set.
“It seems difficult.”
“Yeah… If you change you mind, tell me any time!”
Bak Seung-hyeon smiled and offered me one more drink.
At that time, someone approached the Earthly Wings Council Hall from outside.
As if the other party first discovered Bak Seung-hyeon, who was sitting close to the door, he spoke to him right away.
“Bak Seung-hyeon, I told you a few times to close the door to the Earthly Wings Hall…”
That voice was cut off in the middle.
The other party discovered me and shut his mouth right away, but I clearly heard the characteristic voice that seemed to have a metallic, iron sound mixed in.
‘… I heard that voice before.’
Rather than ‘I heard it before’, it was a voice that I couldn’t forget.
How could I forget the barking sound of the senior solider, who shouted my name and rank and grilled me dozens of times a day during my days in the army.
The voice I heard right now was exactly like the voice of a certain ‘Gye’ fucker.
“Ah, Idam hyung, my apologies! I forgot.”
Bak Seung-hyeon apologized with an embarrassed voice, but the apology didn’t seem to reach Gye Idam’s ears.
Gye Idam was looking at me with a crumbling expression.
*~*~*
Translator’s note: Kim Sinrok, I’m going to be honest. If there is one good thing about descendants being unable to attack their ancestry, it’s that you weren’t able to go on a killing spree and waste your life and happiness murdering people…
Anyway, hi, Gye Idam~
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