Translator: Wan ED/PR: Personal Ghost
16. Central Library basement stack room (1)
[Narrowly missed the ball, yes, landed in right field. The 2nd base and 3rd base runners are running. The 3rd runner is home! This inning only, the TC Knights are 5 points behind.]
“Ah, really! Don’t skip even one day of bullpens and fire up! Burn everything up! If you can’t protect 3 points, you’re going to lose again! If the starter does well, bullpens are wasted and if the starter can’t, then it’s just all wasted the same!”
Ok Toyeon dropped down on the sofa while calming down the seething rage inside her.
As she lied down and angrily chewed on the hoduchaltteok[1] with all her might, the crunch-crunch sound echoed in the wide living room.
“This To looks quite free.”
“Ack, goodness!”
Suddenly hearing a voice, Ok Toyeon jumped, startled.
The owner of the voice was the face which she saw quite often these days, Jeok-ho.
“How did you come in? No way, did you use a skill to break in? That’s against the rules! No matter how good of sworn friends we are, there should be a business ethic!”
“Ok Toyun let me in. She said ‘You can hit her a few times if it doesn’t kill her, so she comes to her senses’.”
“Toyun unnie…”
Ok Toyeon swallowed the remaining rice cakes in her mouth.
Recently, her tribe member Ok Toyun was glaring at her with very scary eyes.
Just thinking about it made Ok Toyeon feel chills, and she unconsciously corrected her sitting posture on the sofa.
“I’m also not that enthusiastic about coming to the To tribe’s domain. In the future, if you have something to say, send someone to the Eungwang District.”
“This is a case I had to speak about in person. Because of that stupid contract I made with Hwang-ho I can’t enter the Eungwang District.”
“Yes. That contract is stupid, so you made it.”
“Hey!”
Jeok-ho’s words were harsh, while maintaining a polite tone as before, so they properly scratched Ok Toyeon’s insides.
“I’m busy. So please get to the point.”
“I’m busy too! Because… I’m busy?”
Jeok-ho didn’t reply and quietly glanced at the big screen, which was still transmitting a live baseball broadcast.
Thanks to TC Knights’ defense’s ridiculous mistakes and slapstick comedy, they handed over another point.
In this inning only, they were 6 points behind.
Ok Toyeon felt a surge of emotions when she saw the score change again, but she closed the screen without a word.
“Um, um! I was thinking of keeping my mouth shut, but I’m going to say it first.”
Paaa—.
Above Ok Toyeon’s fingertips unfolded a map showing the flow of powers existing at the Korean Peninsula, observed from the Moon Palace, the ‘Moon Palace Guide’.
Jeok-ho, who saw the movements of all kinds of energy streams[2] and light clusters, frowned.
“See? This is a power flow seen with Moon Palace Guide. It seems that recently the number of Jin people coming to the Korean Peninsula has increased. And it seems that even the number of higher beings watching has increased.”
“This…”
“Feast your eyes. Because the Moon Palace Guide can be only unfolded by the To tribe’s head.”
Ok Toyeon added one more thing:
“But anyway, the tail hunt comes first!”
***
Eungwang School’s teachers’ annual salaries are high.
Eungwang School’s teachers were also excellent players.
They were also allowed to conquer otherworlds as a side job if it didn’t hinder their school work.
Most of Eungwang School’s teachers were wealthy enough that it wasn’t difficult for them to possess at least two Player Cars.
But there are exceptions everywhere.
That exception was Jegal Jaegeol.
“Geun-Chan, isn’t teacher Jegal-nim wearing the same clothes he wore the previous year? I want him to wear new clothes. This time our company changed dozens of designers to new ones, so I picked the best designs among them.”
“Our teacher Jegal-nim looks cool no matter what he wears, so it is not an issue… but I see the same clothes too often. Anyway! Sir Wang-Chan, your ability to remember such trivial things is truly amazing.”
“Geun-Chan, you can’t remember such trivial things because you’re stupid, so what is there to it?”
“So you’re so smart that you forgot the invisibility item last time? Is that right?”
The Eungwang School’s head of the school affairs department, Jegal Jaegeol, always appeared frugal.
Jegal Jaegeol donated most of his salary and rewards for conquering otherworlds.
His clothes were always clean and neat, and he never committed TPO, but the students of the 2nd year class 0 weren’t satisfied.
It was a common mindset among all students to want the teacher you admire to dress better, eat better and live rich.
“Geun-Chan, there is little time to the end-of-day meeting, you’re prepared, right?”
“Naturally right, Wang-Chan. Who am I? Did you, on the other hand, pack all supplies? If you fucked it up like during the student representative meeting, you’re dead.”
“Don’t worry, Geun-Chan. When did I ever make a mistake in a matter related to teacher Jegal-nim?”
“During teacher Jegal-nim’s birthday party last year, when you said to throw him higher and ended up smashing him up into class 0’s seniors’ floating airship.”
At those words, Wang Chansol gasped and then hissed.
“… Yikes.”
“What ‘…Yikes’. You didn’t really forget, right? What did you fuck up again? Hey, look me in the eye when I speak. Wang-Chan, you son of a bitch!”
When Geun Chansol grabbed Wang Chansol by the collar and started shaking him.
The classroom’s automatic doors opened and Jegal Jaegeol entered to carry out the end-of-day meeting.
Looking around the classroom, he spoke with a troubled expression.
“You had been quiet for a few days, so… it’s not good if the class president and vice president fight.”
“Yep!”
Clang-clang—!
At Jegal Jaegeol’s words, Geun Chansol flung Wang Chansol far away and answered brightly.
The sound of a few empty desks capsizing rang out, but Wang Chansol showed off a perfect falling technique and landed on the classroom floor.
As if familiar with this situation, the other 2nd year class 0 students weren’t particularly concerned.
Jegal Jaegeol had a worried expression, wondering if Wang Chansol didn’t get hurt.
“Right. Teacher Jegal-nim. Please stand there for a moment.”
“Okay?”
Standing before the teacher’s desk, Jegal Jaegeol had a feeling something weird was about to happen.
Before he could pinpoint the reason, Geun Chansol’s bright voice rang out in the classroom.
“Let’s go, guys!”
Pop-pop-pop!
The smoke burst out with the sound of exploding firecrackers.
The students of the 2nd year class 0 moved in a perfect and orderly manner.
Jegal Jaegeol was about to reflexively respond.
However, thinking he may injure his students if he uses his powers incorrectly, he canceled the kotodama skill activation and shut his mouth.
In a moment, his vision turned pitch-black.
***
Eungwang School’s 2nd year zone staff room.
The staff room’s automatic door opened and Jegal Jaegeol in wrinkled here and there clothes and with disheveled hair entered.
The end-of-day meetings just ended.
The fellow teachers roughly guessed what happened, but decided to ask out of courtesy.
“School Affairs Head-nim, what happened?”
No matter how you looked at this, it would have been 2nd year class 0 doing.
Quite a few teachers who had remained in the staff room had the same thoughts.
Jegal Jaegeol avoided their gazes and said:
“Nothing unusual. I struggled a bit, but everything is fine.”
“Hahaha, you ended up like this and it’s still fine? The 2nd year class 0 kids were quiet for the past couple of days. But it didn’t last a week.”
“Phew, when I saw the names of the 2nd year class 0 kids on the list of students taking my previous class, I got stomach-aches.”
There was one teacher who couldn’t be a part of this conversation.
That teacher gritted his teeth while staring at the floor.
‘Can’t you see that miserable state?!’
That teacher, to not get caught glaring at Jegal Jaegeol by any chance, instead glared at the innocent floor.
He, who didn’t think he himself looked miserable here, was a follower of Choe Pyeondeuk.
‘Choe Pyeondeuk-nim was the best. Do whatever you want while getting rich, how cool is that?!’
But there were a few things that even that great Choe Pyeondeuk couldn’t have as he wanted.
One of those things was students’ public opinion and the other was this pathetic head of school affairs.
‘I’m telling you, those immature dicks and bitches don’t know anything and are so prideful because they accidentally entered the most prestigious highschool, so they ignore Choe Pyeondeuk-nim. And that hogu-like head of school affairs, I’m telling you, who tries to find fault with everything.’
That will end today.
With this scheme, they will have student’s public opinion under their control and that head of school affairs will be kicked out of Eungwang School.
‘Choe Pyeondeuk-nim, who is currently sleeping on money in some far away place and receives favors from high-ranking people, will be delighted!’
He let his imagination run wild, while he passed the time.
When he got from nonsense delusions of Choe Pyeondeuk’s splendid return to taking over the school and eating Hwang Myeong Foundation and even himself becoming a right-hand man of chairman Choe Pyeondeuk…
At last Jegal Jaegeol was alone.
Staring into the air, Jegal Jaegeol was alone, lost in his thoughts.
Thinking about how peaceful he is not knowing about the fate awaiting him, a sneer leaked out of the Choe Pyeondeuk’s follower.
‘All recording devices in the staff room are turned off. Now I just need to carry it out!’
In his hand he was holding a hologram player.
It was recording the state and the curse’s progress of the hostages, currently locked up in the central library basement stack room.
‘Even that hogu isn’t stupid, so he will know what situation those hostages are in when he sees it.’
Swish!
The follower threw the hologram player onto Jegal Jaegeol’s desk.
Jegal Jaegeol looked up.
“What is it?”
“See it all from the beginning to the end and then talk.” [3]
Player in his hand, Jegal Jaegeol unfolded a hologram.
One second after another passed as Jegal Jaegeol watched the hologram, but his expression was calmer than expected.
‘No, his face is like this, but students’ lives are on the line, so his insides have to be turning upside down!’
That attitude had to be merely that hogu’s bluff.
The follower came to such a conclusion.
“From now on, you will follow me to the designated location without anyone noticing, you hypocrite bastard. If you don’t answer ‘yes’, all dicks and bitches here will die. Of course, I’m telling you to not try any nonsense.”
The blessing Jegal Jaegeol received from the higher being, Thoth, was closer to a curse.
He couldn’t tell a lie, so the moment he says ‘yes’ here, Jegal Jaegeol’s actions will be limited.
“… Yes. Let’s go to your designated location. Please, don’t touch the students.”
Success!
A triumphant smile spread out on the follower’s face.
***
Eungwang School’s principal’s hobby was collecting rare and old books.
She was an oddball, who took it one step further from there and spent all her salary and sold her private possessions to buy books all around the world and then donated them to the Eungwang School’s library.
The principal’s property was added to the school’s library’s assets, so Eungwang School didn’t have to worry about the lack of books.
Without discriminating between that or this book, the principal collected them all.
She realized that many of the books found in otherworlds, existing in the past or touched by the powers of the higher beings or Jin people, were dangerous.
The books were filled with supernatural powers, magic, holy powers, etc…
But to preserve the books that were valuable resources in research of supernatural powers, the principal created an off-limit stack room.
In consideration of her maniacal hobby, this place was very close. In the Eungwang School central zone library basement stack room.
In the center of that gigantic stack room, five students were sitting on their knees and trembling inside the hexagram shaped magic formation.
As if they saw and heard something that wasn’t there, they mumbled something or closed their eyes and covered their ears, and slammed their heads against the ground.
“Come, Jegal Jaegeol!”
Red and black hexagram magic formation.
On each of its six vertices, stood a teacher wearing a hood.
“Are the students safe?”
From the other side of the dark stack room, Jegal Jaegeol’s voice was heard.
“If you, bastard, follow our words, they will be safe.”
“Planting curse seeds was difficult, but it was a worthy struggle.”
“The elite bitches and bastards, who acted like such great people before Choe Pyeondeuk-nim, ended up like this!”
The students were cursed with ‘Stains of guilt’.
In the mini-tests rankings those students remained at the bottom.
They, who had never missed 1st or 2nd place in their entire lives, couldn’t bear the bitterly painful failure at Eungwang School.
Hence, they nodded their heads at followers’ enticement and suggestion to leak mid-term exam questions.
And in the place where the exam questions were handed over, the central library basement stack room, unbeknownst to students, a secret seed of the curse was planted inside them.
The stains took over their eyes as their feelings of guilt grew bigger and their sense of hearing was also influenced to isolate them.
“Here, say it clearly. You’re going to bear five curses of those morons and six curses we will give you, you’re gonna carry all of them!”
“If you don’t take them, the future for those young students is finished!”
Even if Jegal Jaegeol displayed his superpowers, overpowered all teachers and then successfully rescued the students, according to the followers’ words, those students wouldn’t have a future.
Even the students who didn’t fall for the followers’ enticement.
However, they manipulated their grades.
In the process of releasing the curse, this fact would come to light.
They wouldn’t be able to stay at Eungwang School anymore and it would be impossible for them to transfer to any other highschool.
“Teacher-nim, teacher-nim… please help me.”
“Please…!”
“It won’t happen again. This time only, only this time, please help!”
The students who suffered for many days from the curse, cried out.
They, who had nothing but fear and survival instincts remaining, couldn’t afford to think rationally.
However, among them was also the student whose curse’s progress was slower thanks to An Dain.
Unlike other students, that student still had some remaining reason.
That student recalled.
Among the teachers that An Dain admired was Jegal Jaegeol.
“… Don’t, teacher Jegal Jaegeol-nim. Don’t do this, please!”
At those words, the six followers burst out into laughter.
The six teachers were certain.
Rather, if the student begs him like this, this hogu-like teacher will choose students for sure.
However…
“Okay. I won’t do that.”
Followers’ laughter stopped.
The build and the voice of the person who was wearing Jegal Jaegeol’s clothes changed at some point.
It seemed that he was using a voice modifier, but to their horror they had no idea how he changed his build.
‘No way, did he use a transformation category ability or item?!’
How did he manage to do it in such a short time?!
Did he perhaps know from the beginning?
No.
If it was Jegal Jaegeol, there is no way he would have let students face danger even for a moment.
No matter if said students had a guilty conscience, he wasn’t a person who would let students suffer to dig a trap like this and wait.
“You, you, who are you…!?”
The one they thought was Jegal Jaegeol.
In the darkness, appeared a person wearing a crow mask.
*~*~*
[1] hoduchaltteok – Glutinous rice cakes with walnuts.
[2] Energy streams — qi streams/ qi flows. I’m using energy, because depending on the context, the qi related things may be called ‘powers’ or ‘spirituality’ or… a lot of different things, but most of them will have qi relation.
[3] Follower conversation with Jegal Jaegeol — Everyone in this scene spoke politely before, and our *Jegal Jaegeol* also uses a polite tone towards the follower, but the follower uses a casual tone, which here would be really impolite.
Translator’s note: Haa… You know how like 90% of Korean pronouns are gender-neutral? The principal here was referred to by a pronoun, which is usually translated as ‘he’ (though in reality, its meaning is ‘the person I was referring to before’). Thank gods, that this translator remembered that the principal was specified to be a woman about 500 chapters later. Would be a shame really if I needed to cope through 500 chapters to just fix the pronoun if I didn’t remember that, right? Hahahaha…
*~*~*
Did you see a mistake? 🐞
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