Translator: Wan ED/PR: Personal Ghost
19. Eternal Lake’s team master’s performance in Korea (4)
Off-limit zone, old school.
As if he came here in a hurry, Yeom Junyeol’s hair was disheveled.
“Can I call you master-nim?”
“Yeah, I’ll become your master. That was a flawless first pitch.”
“Thank you, master-nim! Though it seems that the first pitch was just a bonus. If you had told me in advance, I would have thoroughly prepared for the conquest and aim for the highest otherworld’s clear contributor.”
The highest contributors of the otherworlds’ clear on the Children’s Day Jamsil Baseball Stadium were Yeom Bangyeol, Cheongryong and Yong Jegeon.
Out-performing those three to aim for the highest contributor wouldn’t be a simple matter.
As expected, Yeom Junyeol’s desire for improvement was extraordinary.
“I did my best to organize my thoughts on why master-nim put on such conditions. Do you wish to hear them?”
I didn’t teach him even a single thing yet.
Hearing him chant master-nim made my insides feel ticklish, but I nodded.
“You put on three conditions. Me throwing the first pitch was necessary to call my dad’s Red Lion team and the Yong tribe. If I threw a first pitch, there is no way they wouldn’t come.”
“Yes, that’s right.”
After I nodded my head, Yeom Junyeol smiled as he continued to speak.
“The second request was to sit until the end. That’s because the Yong tribe members who usually come to throw a pitch leave before the 5th inning starts. The otherworld appeared after the 5th inning ended. So it was to stall for time until then.”
Yeom Junyeol’s words continued to the conclusion.
“The third was to keep the first pitch a secret until that day. It was probably the most important condition. Is that right?”
I didn’t reply and waited for Yeom Junyeol to explain his reasoning.
Receiving my gaze and as if understanding my meaning, he spoke straight away.
“If the matter of knowing about the otherworld appearing was simple, there wouldn’t be a need to trouble yourself to hide it. You could call the Player’s Association to prepare. If you used an anonymous letter or the name Red Wall Thief to give a warning, even the Association would move. However, you didn’t do that.”
I think I would rather request a favor from Hong Gyubin rather than use the Red Wall Thief’s name.
Leaving me feeling complicated, Yeom Junyeol unfolded the hologram and displayed statistics data.
It was a statistical diagram comparing the number of otherworld outbreaks through the last 5 years in Seoul on 5th of May and the number of otherworld outbreaks on this 5th of May.
“That day, the number of otherworlds which occurred in Seoul increased over 50% in comparison to the 5 years norm on the same day and month. Even the PlayerSAT-K which boasts the best accuracy among the present satellites and underwent several extremely big inspections, failed to catch three SR+++ rank otherworlds. It’s weird to think of it as a coincidence.”
Next hologram came out with a picture.
It was an organized content extracted from articles about events on the Jamsil Baseball Stadium that day.
It displayed the list of sold-out seats on Jamsil Baseball Stadium and the picture of Ju-Oh group and TC group’s next heads’ with their families.
“It’s hard to believe, but I think that those otherworlds were made by someone in some way that can’t be detected by satellites and formed small otherworlds everywhere in Seoul to hinder the Player’s Association. The three otherworlds, which appeared that day without warning phenomena, were terrorist attacks aimed for 26 thousands people filling the Jamsil Baseball Stadium and Ju-Oh and TC groups’ next heads’ families.”
Yeom Junyeol closed the hologram and spoke confidently while looking at me, who was wearing a crow mask.
“The reason it had to be kept a secret was because it was necessary that the otherworld form and appear at the designated place and on ideal time. It was master-nim’s move to deal with this matter without the culprit noticing, right? I think you can’t block this incident by directly aiming at the culprit, because you still haven’t figured out the culprit’s identity.”
Excellent.
All of them were correct.
Unlike me who figured it out with the progress of the game, Yeom Junyeol inferred up to here only with the very limited information he had gathered.
‘It’s amazing he thought straight away about the Otherworld Summoning, the ability which makes and forms otherworlds. In this world it’s a concept that destroys common sense.’
Existence of ‘Otherworld Summoning’ is still an absurd concept in this world.
If we compare this world with my previous one, it would be treated like nonsense, similar to claiming that ‘meteorites can be artificially summoned and dropped on Earth’.
If Yeom Banyeol or the Yong tribe members were here, they wouldn’t be able to suppress their pride about Yeom Junyeol.
“Worthy of my disciple. All correct.”
“Thank you…!”
Now that I’m also Yeom Junyeol’s master, I could show my pride.
Yeom Junyeol smiled brightly as if he felt good about being called a disciple.
“Okay, I figured out what the culprit is trying to do, but I don’t know who they are. Please cooperate.”
“Of course, master-nim! If master-nim permits, I will talk to dad and uncle Cheongryong to ask for help!”
I hope he won’t do that.
When Yeom Bangyeol and Cheongryong learn that I involved Yeom Junyeol in this risky event, they would beat me up to a half-dead state.
And then they would kill the remaining half because some guy out of nowhere suddenly became a master.
“… Yes. I’ll tell you if it’s needed. It’s still not the time yet.”
“Yes…! I trust master-nim. Because master-nim is a hero who, in addition to people who suffered because of the Fantasy Auction, continues to save children and citizens who visited Jamsil Baseball stadium!”
He didn’t use Red Wall Thief, but even so my face was burning…!
Even more so, as I knew very well that Yeom Junyeol isn’t someone who speaks what he doesn’t believe in himself.
Let’s change the topic.
“Aren’t you going to ask for my identity? Aren’t you suspicious? There are many bastards around who would like to use you. You don’t know if I’m not one of those bastards.”
“How can a disciple doubt his master?! Even a hero who saves countless people.”
Contrary to my expectations, Yeom Junyeol was serious about this question.
I had yet to teach him anything, but I guess my actions until now left a very deep impression on him.
Adding to his words, Yeom Junyeol spoke while looking at me with eyes filled with expectations.
“I believe master-nim will one day tell me. Once I meet master-nim’s expectations and become strong enough to handle master-nim’s identity, please be sure to tell me.”
“… Okay.”
He looked curious.
He spoke so much up till now, how could I blindly say no?
“Then let’s start the first lesson.”
“Yes!”
An hour later.
The vertical, emitting heat[1] pupils opened and stared at the flame I made.
Yeom Junyeol’s form became closer to a dragon than of a human, and his hair and eyes gradually changed to red.
It seemed he was getting close to his concentration’s limits.
“Goes!”
Paaa–!
With Yeom Junyeol’s voice, dozens of fire balls poured at me.
With his maximum fire power he attacked the flame above my palm, but he couldn’t shake the flame at all.
Before they hit me I only put on the shield made of flames and absorbed all of Yeom Junyeol’s attacks.
“Ack…!”
Did I use too much power?
The Red Dragon which embodied Yeom Junyeol’s power gradually turned transparent.
“Shall we end it here for today?”
“No, I can do more!”
Red Dragon materialized again.
Yeom Junyeol took a deep breath and prepared to release a supernatural wave this time.
‘Seems it will take longer than I thought.’
What I asked of him was ‘Superpower Swallowing’.
In principle, the holders of the same supernatural powers from the Nature category like fire, water, electricity, wind, earth, could snatch the initiative over the activated ability when facing each other.
‘It’s called ‘swallowing’, but it’s not about completely manipulating the opponent’s ability, but only stealing initiative over the superpower manifested outside at that moment.’
For example, currently Yeom Junyeol created fire balls with Flame Art to attack me.
When using Player’s Trajectory I had the same Flame Art skill like Yeom Junyeol so I could attempt to swallow his superpower.
‘One of the methods for the Superpower Swallowing was to use an identical skill and overwrite it or to release a superpower wave. Both of them required strong mental power.’
If I’m successful in Superpower Swallowing, I could take initiative over manipulating the fireballs that Yeom Junyeol made.
No problems usually occurred when failing, but in case the superpower wave flew backwards, the mind[2] could suffer damage.
‘Yeom Junyeol is overflowing with talent and is also a Player with a certain degree of experience piled up, so the training method with this degree of risk is effective for him.’
I asked Yeom Junyeol to try Superpower Swallowing and steal the initiative of the Flame Art activated by me.
As a result, the failures continued for around an hour.
‘My level and mental power may be superior, however this flame is only the size of my palm. And he can’t swallow it at all. Yeom Bangyeol… what the hell have you been doing?’
The training method I used was something that Yeom Bangyeol or Yong tribe members who possessed Flame Art could use.
‘Is it because if it gets out of control, Yeom Junyeol’s mind could get hurt?’
Yeom Junyeol received a blessing from Dragon King, so his body wouldn’t burn, but his mind was different.
The backlash of supernatural waves caused by the Flame Art could injure Yeom Junyeol’s mind.
Perhaps worried about that, Yeom Bangyeol and the Yong tribe members didn’t do Superpower Swallowing training.
Maybe, in addition to Superpower Swallowing, they refrained from all even slightly dangerous training methods.
‘Was Yeom Junyeol dissatisfied with that and so he took me as his master?’
Even now, as if happy with this painful training, Yeom Junyeol was smiling.
With the same eyes as Red Dragon, his supernatural wave poured towards my flame.
Crack!
With Yeom Junyeol’s power’s interaction the flame above my hand turned to black, and it was about to move towards Yeom Junyeol.
It was a sign of superpower backflow.
“Stop!”
I clenched my fist to extinguish the flame and then ran to Yeom Junyeol.
After erasing power, Yeom Junyeol pushed the desk and collapsed onto the classroom’s floor.
Red Dragon wrapped around him gradually turned transparent until it disappeared.
“Let’s end it here today. Your superpower wave became weaker than at the beginning.”
Looking into Yeom Junyeol’s eyes, it didn’t seem that he had suffered any big mental damage, but blood trickled down from the corner of his lips.
I guess I was more unreasonable than I thought.
‘… If Yeom Bangyeol or Yong tribe saw this scene, I think they would come to try to kill me.’
Even Yeom Junyeol, as if knowing his body was on his limits, had a frustrated expression.
“I wanted to at least make you draw your ‘dragon’. Yet, I couldn’t even swallow that palm sized flame.”
Was Yeom Junyeol perhaps concerned about the Fire Wall which appeared during the Fantasy Auction and Red Dragon’s traces remaining on the invitation letter?
‘Yeom Junyeol probably knows that if I take out Red Dragon against the current him, the training itself won’t work.’
I took out a recovery item card.
Yeom Junyeol also had them, but if Yeom Bangyeol and the Yong tribe learnt that the number of recovery items changed, they would have a seizure and sweep through the Eungwang School.
“Rest for the time being. And be careful not to use recovery items for at least three days in case of incidents. Rest is also studying. Make a clear image of swallowing my flame in your head when you meditate.”
“… You won’t throw me away for being a stupid disciple, right?”
Yeom Junyeol had a down cast expression.
It was an expression I couldn’t even see in the game.
I guess today’s complete lack of results gave him a strong shock.
No way I would throw away my Playable Character.
“As I said, I’m taking you as a disciple. See you next time.”
“Yes? Wait…!”
If we stay here any longer, Yong Jegeon may come searching for Yeom Junyeol.
⟨Using active character’s Gwangrim ‘Time without Traces’.⟩
Immediately I used the Gwangrim of the best character for covert actions in the game, ‘Colorless Man Jeon Muyeong’, the same character I used when I entered the off-limit zone.
Yeom Junyeol, who saw me gradually turn transparent and disappear, made a surprised expression.
When I was leaving him in his still half-dragon form in the classroom, I heard Yeom Junyeol’s voice.
“As expected from master-nim…! He can disappear like that, huh? I can receive lessons from Red Wall Thief-nim, it’s completely like a dream!”
Before crossing the classroom’s door, my hands curled up at those space-time twisting words.
… He used it thinking I’m not around, and it wasn’t used to call for me, so I decided to turn a blind eye to it.
***
Night, dormitory room.
After finishing my individual training and returning to the dormitory room, it was quite late.
When activating the device, it was full of new messages again.
The messages came from several people, but the most eye-catching were those from Yu Sang-hun and Hwang Jiho.
‘Let’s check them in turn.’
The chat room for the three, with Jang Namuk and Yu Sang-hun.
Jang Namuk earnestly described the process of me and him meeting during Children’s Day and the incident that occurred.
As a bonus, he attached nagging targeted at me and Yu Sang-hun.
Yu Sang-hun’s messages weren’t particularly expressive, but he seemed regretful for some reason.
[Yu Sang-hun] is that so?
[Yu Sang-hun] call me next time — —
[Yu Sang-hun] are you busy this weekend?
‘It’s been some time since the three of us got together. Should we meet?’
It wasn’t our intention, but we left Yu Sang-hun out and met to play and even eradicate Enemies without him, so he might have been sad.
I sent a message ‘Not busy’.
I knew that if I send it like this, Jang Namuk will make weekend plans on his own.
‘Next, Hwang Jiho… the messages in the middle seem useless, so let’s check the last ones.’
[Hwang Jiho] Hey, come to my house after classes tomorrow.
Tomorrow was a day without club activities, so I should go.
I also wanted to hear about the Moon Palace Guide.
And I have to see Snare again.
[Hwang Jiho] It seems that Kim Sinrok caught a clue.
A clue?
[Hwang Jiho] Do you know about Minor Creature?
… Unexpectedly, that being came out already.
*~*~*
[1] emitting heat – could also mean emitting ‘excitement/eagerness’.
[2] mind – please remember that the western, hard distinction between ‘mind’ and ‘spirit (or soul)’ doesn’t appear in the east. So mind here could also mean spirit or some very general term on the soul.
Translator’s note:
*takes out secret collection of cheering sticks*
(Junyeol… Junyeol… Junyeol…)
Did you see a mistake? 🐞
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