Translator: Wan ED/PR: Solarin
39. Tossed coin (2)
Eungwang School’s residential zone, 1st year dormitory building, 17th floor, public lounge.
After parting with the children, Maeng Hyodon couldn’t go to his room and sat here alone.
‘I couldn’t do anything.’
In 1st year class 0, seven people participated in the youth training camp.
Jo Uisin, who even in that emergency situation, gave instructions, and together with Sawol Seeum, safely evacuated the residents.
Song Daeseok, who even though was injured, protected the other class children, and Hwang Jiho, who rescued them later.
Kim Yuri’s Gwangrim eliminated an enormous number of Enemies, and Kwon Lena calmed the madness of the sea together with Kwon Jane.
Maeng Hyodon did nothing.
If one had to nitpick, he passed Jo Uisin’s words on.
‘What can I do if something like this occurs again in the future?’
Maeng Hyodon’s chest tightened.
Besides fighting and eating well, Maeng Hyodon didn’t have any special talent.
Yet that ‘fighting talent’ was only for close combat, so if he was confronted with a situation like last night, there was almost nothing he could do.
Recalling the approaching tsunami, an army of Enemies and the collapsed Kim Yuri, his vision turned dark.
As he chewed on that day’s events with a distressed mind, he suddenly remembered the performance of the owner of superpowers similar to his.
‘… Right, pseudo ascetic grandpa!’
Tak Geosan, who had nothing but close combat abilities, split the sea from far away and eliminated Enemies while moving around freely.
‘I have nothing but close combat abilities. But if I reach that level, I will also be able to do something…!’
His thoughts ended here, as Maeng Hyodon wasn’t able to stay still.
Dusk, when the summer sun was setting.
Maeng Hyodon started running blindly.
Supporting his father.
Surviving the Fight Club.
After those two goals disappeared, Maeng Hyodon was living a comfortable life at Eungwang School.
He formed a new goal now.
‘Become stronger, so I can also fight with them!’
Maeng Hyodon broke through the humid air and ran towards the 1st year zone’s building, the honorary teacher room.
It was mid the summer break, and in addition, Tak Geosan was cooperating with the settling of this event with the Association, so it was unknown when he would return to school, but Maeng Hyodon was determined to wait for him no matter what, just like Tak Geosan did for him.
***
Entrance of Hwang Myeong-ho’s main mansion.
I saw Snare with shining eyes, waiting.
I felt the fatigue I accumulated being washed away.
“Snare! Were you waiting for me?”
Woof woof!
Snare barked with a bright voice and ran around my feet.
Though I hurt Snare, because of my low intelligence the previous time, I’m welcomed like this!
I was puzzled, but I was also bursting with happiness thanks to the kind, generous and cute Snare, whose mercy was as wide as the sea.
“Yes! Divine Beast was waiting for Uisin hyung.”
“We wanted to eat breakfast with You, but because it’s late we ate first. Eat dinner with us.”
“Hyung, please play with us, after eating dinner!”
Besides Snare, Eun-ho’s descendant also showed me their affection, so my mind was instantly warm.
Woof! Woof woof!
“Uh? What? There is something there?”
Snare suddenly wanted me to follow it, and started to walk, while gently wagging its tail.
The place Snare guided me to, was Snare’s room.
On the door hang a colorful felt nametag, made with awkward craftsmanship, so I guess it was made by the descendants.
It seemed they made the room, after the gifts I bought gradually multiplied.
‘And it seemed that there is something you want to show me…’
After I entered the room when I received Snare’s invitation, the things lying in the center of the room caught my eye.
Their identity was the empty pouches, with not even a droplet of content left.
‘Aren’t those Nok tribe’s elixir pouches?’
Looking at the mark with deer horns, it was certain.
I froze in place in shock.
“Snare, did you throw them all away…?”
Did Snare made such a choice, because it hated to drink them so much?
At the thought that I made kind Snare commit even such a cumbersome act, my heart broke.
Woof? … Woof? Woof woof!
“Ha, hahahaha! I tried not to laugh, but! Hahaha!”
Hwang Jiho, who seemed to be in a poor mood this entire time, started laughing.
Snare was making some kind of gestures with its paws, trying to convey a message to me, but because of my decline in the thinking power and shock, all I could think of was that this geezer should stop laughing, and that Snare was cute.
“It didn’t throw them away, it drank them.”
Through the background noise of laughing Hwang Jiho, I heard a voice without warmth.
It was Baek Ho-gun, who just returned.
Woof!
Snare barked shortly and deeply as if saying it was correct.
Are you saying that Snare drank all the elixir I bought?
“If you didn’t buy them, it wouldn’t drink them.”
After hearing Baek Ho-gun’s addition, my heart was deeply moved.
“Snare! I’m sorry! I didn’t know and… I made you work so hard to drink them!”
Woof woof!
I hugged Snare, who ran into my arms.
As I held Snare in my arms and headed to the drawing room, there were earlier guests there.
One was Yong Jegeon, and the other was an unknown man with red hair.
“Hi, chairman Hwangho-ssi. I am happy you let me accompany you. In this deep happiness, I dragged here someone, who was making excuses about work and about to flee.”
“….”
The face of someone, who was dragged here by Yong Jegeon, looked somewhat familiar.
‘It’s a face that’s an amazing mix between Jeok-ho’s and Ungnyeo of Grief’s faces…’
Especially the eyes.
The right single-eyelid eye, which wasn’t covered by hair, was like Jeok-ho, and the left double-eyelid eye, resembled Ungnyeo of Grief.
As my thought got to this point, an answer came out.
“Teacher Kim Sinrok-nim?”
“Ah, it’s your first time seeing that face? This one is his real face. Isn’t it much better? As he continues to change his identities, he also changes his face, but if he doesn’t do that and just lives exposed like me…”
“Stop.”
Kim Sinrok tried to stab Yong Jegeon’s ribs, but Yong Jegeon lightly avoided it.
It was an excellent reflex, worthy of my Playable Character.
‘You should cover it if it’s such a face.’
Because anyone who sees it will be able to recognize him as the son of Jeok-ho and Ungnyeo.
“Kim Sinrok, you also listen to the story and then go.”
“… Yes.”
At Hwang Jiho’s words, Kim Sinrok replied with a stiff face.
His face stiffened even more when Jeok-ho entered next.
“Then let’s talk about the event this time. Everyone, let’s take a seat.”
While everyone took their seats, an automatic maid brought tea and refreshments.
The tea was summer flush ice darjeeling tea, harvested in the rainy July.
The refreshments were plum grain dasik[1], made from dried seasonal plums and grain powder with honey.
It was served in the glass tea set and tableware, each with a handle decorated with gold ornaments.
“I’ll summarize what I witnessed and the reports I received. If there is any omitted information, add it.”
Hwang Jiho summarized the event’s outline and its process.
The information collected by Jeok-ho, and things I said ‘I know about’.
‘Otherworld’s Summoning’ observed by Ok Toyeon through Moon Palace’s guide.
Cooperation with Player Association to block Dark Mastermind’s eyes.
Some of the training camp instructor’s deviations.
Otherworld conquest, with the students at the center.
Evacuation of the residents.
Enemies targeting the island and Kim Yuri’s runaway.
When the explanation reached this point, Hwang Jiho stopped his summary for a moment and asked me.
“It’s certain that Kim Yuri went into runway at that time because the Jeop cut off her blessing?”
“Uh. The Jeop was erasing the pressure of the higher beings through the blessing. She had to be thinking of releasing the blessing at the time she needed, to cause Kim Yuri to go into runaway.”
“I’m glad the connection with that butterfly was cut with this matter, eh?”
When forming a blessing, both sides’ approval is needed, but it wasn’t the case when releasing.
The blessing could be withdrawn by the bestowing side at their own discretion.
Heavenly God bestowing the blessing to the Ung tribe and then withdrawing it was a primary example.
“Then let’s continue the story.”
Hwang Jiho beating up the instructors, eliminating the bomb, and rescuing the people suffering because of Superpower Poison.
The Ung tribe members targeting Kim Sinrok, and Jeok-ho and Yong Jegeon’s confrontation with them.
Lastly, the impostor and one of the Ung’s Eight Immortals, Bear of Anxiety, were mentioned.
‘The existence of variables is annoying.’
The matters of Ung tribe members targeting Kim Sinrok and Sawol Seeum were mostly a butterfly effect resulting from almost all my actions, but…
There were parts that bothered me.
‘The flow was similar to the game, but it seems the difficulty of the same events had risen.’
The difficulty of the otherworlds called by the Otherworld Summoning was higher, and the Superpower Poison got stronger.
There was a mention that starting with Choe Pyeondeuk, instructors brought up useless procedures and checks while interrupting evacuation, but there was nothing about trying to blow up the central shelter.
‘As things aren’t going according to their plans, they play stronger moves?’
Hwang Jiho, who finished the summary, passed to the next topic.
“That’s all I had to say. Jeok-ho, how is impostor?”
“The head shaman locked him up in the barrier. As ordered, the arms and legs weren’t cut off and every time they recover, they are destroyed again. The bone joints are painstakingly crushed one after one.”
I almost choked when I heard that calm explanation.
They can elegantly enjoy refreshments, while hearing such a report?
I guess they aren’t battle tribes with more than 5 thousand years of history for nothing.
I stroked Snare in my arms, to sooth my mind.
“Interrogation?”
“He said he won’t speak to me or the head shaman. He only opened his mouth with Baek-ho”
“Baek-ho.”
Baek Ho-gun opened his mouth.
“Nothing but useless sounds. I’ll try to interrogate him a bit more.”
I guess he only said nonsense even when he opened his mouth.
“Search for Bear of Anxiety?”
“Cheong-ho’s disciples, who were waiting on the Son of Heaven, are chasing him.” [2]
“Tell them to do it in moderation and return to the Divine Realm. Because they might return to target the lost ‘sacrifices’ again.”
Sacrifices.
I didn’t know what the usage of the sacrifices was or what was exactly their meaning, but I knew who the Dark Mastermind was targeting.
‘The class 1 and 2’s female students. They target an unspecified number, but they especially aimed to capture An Dain.’
But because Superpower Poison wasn’t effective on An Dain with her special constitution, Dark Mastermind’s plan collapsed.
That plan was also used this time and my plan was to send Hwang Jiho to that place.
‘Because in the game, An Dain gathered the class 2’s female students and moved together with them, there were no major problems.’
This time the plan was to send Hwang Jiho, instead of An Dain going to class 2’s side.
But Hwang Jiho was late because he was caught by the ankle by an unexpected incident, and thanks to that, Song Daeseok and class 2’s children were hurt, and the impostor aiming for Sawol Seeum appeared.
Because of the variables involved, the harm ended up bigger.
“The next thing I want to talk about is related to Jo Uisin.”
When I fell into thought, the arrow turned to me.
“You guys, did you feel anything before I joined you?”
“Nothing.”
“Nothing.”
Jeok-ho and Kim Sinrok replied at the same time.
The timing matched perfectly, truly worthy of the father and son.
“Ah, are you talking about that light? It was quite obstructed, so it was difficult to sense it amidst the battle. But it was quite a familiar power.”
“Right, eh…?”
It seemed that Hwang Jiho was talking about ‘Light of Heavenly God’.
“Jo Uisin, that day you used Baek-ho’s power to repel the impostor.”
“It wasn’t Hwangho-nim who dealt with the impostor? And when You said Baekho-nim’s power…”
“When I appeared, Jo Uisin had already beaten down the impostor.”
As if everyone had the same thought as Kim Sinrok, their gazes poured towards me.
As Hwang Jiho spoke with such conviction, it didn’t seem like I’ll be able to hide it.
“You have an ability to use Baek-ho’s power. A thing that uses the power of a mythological Ho tribe member, wouldn’t be a skill. It must be a very powerful Gwangrim. There are no Gwangrim rankings, but if we were to evaluate the rarity of that Gwangrim, it would have to be EX rank, right?”
Hwang Jiho’s words continued.
“Jo Uisin, you have a Gwangrim that can use the powers of other beings. Is that right?”
It seemed difficult to avoid the eyes of that bastard, who observed me even before I entered the school, any longer.
“Yeah, that’s correct.”
After I expressed confirmation, Hwang Jiho’s eyes sparkled very ominously.
“With it, besides the Gwangrim, I learned one more of the benefactor’s secrets, eh?”
Besides Gwangrim?
Before I could even express my doubts, Hwang Jiho spoke.
“A long time ago, yeah, in the old days when I still smoked. At the time, I personally witness the power of the Sawol family founder, who didn’t have a name yet. It was thanks to the fact that though during the times of the last dynasty, our world was already almost separated from this world, there were times when they sometimes intertwined.”
If we’re talking about old times when tigers smoked.
The record of tobacco first entering the Korean Peninsula was in 1618.
If he talks about that time, it would be around the first half of the last dynasty’s reign[3].
“What guided the residents’ evacuation was the ‘The King Said’ power that the members of the Sawol family and the founder possessed, right? And that power’s activation condition needs the messenger’s will to carry a voice of ‘the person they held in high regard’.”
Hwang Jiho knew even that about Sawol family’s power?
“So even if there are people with achievements worthy of receiving the respects of the heir of the Sawol family, only people connected to him, can use that power. In Sawol Seeum’s short life, there is only one person worthy of that.”
“… Only one Person?”
“Yeah. The day the Fantasy Auction was crashed, a person, who used the power very similar to the descendant of the Yong tribe and rescued Sawol Seeum, would like this, right? Jo Uisin, you have the ability to use the powers of different people. And made Sawol Seeum use, ‘The King Said’.”
Hwang Jiho’s eyes sparkled more than before.
“I came to one conclusion.”
As I already guessed what words would come out, my hands and feet were shrinking.
Even now, I wanted to summon Hongryong and shut that bastard mouth.
“Jo Uisin, you’re the Red Wall Phantom Thief, eh?”
In the end, ‘that word’ came out of that ruined bastard.
*~*~*
[1] dasik — Korean’s traditional tea confectionery
[2] “Cheong-ho’s disciples, who were waiting on the Son of Heaven, are chasing him.” — Jeok-ho’s sentence.
[3] last dynasty — They’re talking about Joseon dynasty, which reigned from 1392 to 1910. In 1897 Joseon Kingdom was replaced by Korean Empire, and then it was annexed and occupied by Japan in 1910.
Translator’s note: Hwang-ho… let’s come back to the topic of your unhealthy habits from centuries ago for a moment.
Did you see a mistake? 🐞
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