(T/N: “Min Geurin” was previously called as “Min Green” in some s. From here on, the more accurate translation for the name (Geurin) will be used. Happy reading everyone!)
[Uhm… Did Daesok bring his personal pillow? Because that kid won’t be able to have a good night’s sleep if he’s given a different one…]
“Yea! I saw it when we were playing around in the male students’ tent, Daesang’s backpack was the biggest because of the bulging pillow.”
Kwon Lena, who was sitting on the bed while hugging her knees, laughed out loud as she reminisced about today’s events.
Min Geurin laughed along as she listened to Lena’s story via video call.
“… So Hwang Jiho laughed as he usually does, while Daesuk excitedly played around well by himself.”
[Daesok did?]
Min Geurin’s surprised face can be seen over the screen.
After seeing Geurin’s shocked face, Kwon Lena sent more photos to her via hologram.
“I’ll send you pictures and videos of Daesok! He was going out of the line and clapping off-beat during the recreational activity!”
[Send it to me!]
After that, they talked about tomorrow’s schedule and then finished up the call.
Kwon Lena thought of taking more pictures and videos of Daesok tomorrow and sending them to Min Geurin, but she couldn’t help but feel disappointed.
“It would’ve been nice if Hani and Geurin were here.”
Hani was busy with her volunteer work at the nursery school.
She said, ‘I’m busy but I’m glad I got to talk with Teacher Gong Cheongwon,’ but still she couldn’t help but feel sorry for not being able to come to the retreat.
“I wanted to go on a trip with Hani and Geurin… Should I talk to Euishin about this…? I think he’ll be able to come up with a good solution.”
She wore a suspicious smile as she was thinking about how she should consult the vice president.
Kim Yuri went out of the shower room installed in their dorm room.
“You done washing up?”
“Yea. Did you wait long because of me? Sorry.”
“No! I was on a call with Hani and Geurin earlier.”
Kim Yuri thoroughly blow-dried her hair before greeting good night and lying down.
She was wearing a long-sleeved shirt as she buried her face on her pillow, without bothering to put a blanket over herself.
“I don’t think it’s going to be cold tonight…”
Kim Yuri was persistent to wear her long-sleeved shirt even if it’s very warm.
There may be a reason for it, but Kim Yuri doesn’t want to talk about it so we don’t bother forcing her to answer.
After much consideration, Kwon Lena lowered the air conditioning temperature and fell asleep in her cardigan.
* * *
The morning of the retreat’s second day started with a wake-up call trumpet, accompanied by a pop song in the background.
Song Daesok, who slept well thanks to his personal pillow, successfully woke up in time and moved together with the kids to have breakfast.
The breakfast menu consisted of canned baked beans, boiled egg, sour bread, fresh cabbage with mayonnaise, and carton milk.
Hwang Jiho’s mood fell to the ground as he ate the bad-tasting food, while the other kids ate lifelessly as they eventually accepted that they wouldn’t have any good food during the retreat.
“We stayed up late last night chatting around! I didn’t realize that I fell asleep.”
“Even if we sleep in and wake up late, we’d still feel tired.”
“That jerk is right.”
“Even so. It’s a waste if we don’t have a good time when we’ve already come this far.”
Saeum of April reluctantly suggested last night for us to watch a movie together, and Song Daesok and Maeng Hyodon passionately started choosing which movie to watch.
They couldn’t settle on whether to watch an action movie or a thriller movie, so they decided to just watch them both.
“But hey, if we stay up too late, the instructor would go crazy on us.”
“No problem with that! Many stories of the previous Class Zero came up yesterday so I contacted Geum Chansol and Wang Chansol sunbaenim* and they sent me a file called ‘Tips for Surviving a Retreat’. Should I forward you the file?”
(T/N not sure if this came up in the s already, but sunbaenim is a term used to address people with seniority)
What did you say!?
Did Saeum of April get poisoned by those jerks from the previous Class Zero students?
When the hell did Saeum start getting in contact with those kids?
“What kind of tips did they tell you?”
“The retreat instructors only check through their windows whether the students are asleep or not, but they use a skill that enables them to make shadows that lurk around to make the illusion that they’re doing rounds.”
The faces of the Geum and Wang duo flashed through the hologram behind Saeum of April, but I tried to ignore it.
‘Well… There’s no way the ever so kind Saeum of April would turn out like those jerks from the Class Zero sunbaenims. He’s the warm-hearted kind of person who has the pure and innocent desire to hang out with the other kids from our class during the retreat.’
After eating my breakfast, I took a stroll on the mountain path and took a bath in the forest. Not long after, the class-by-class experience activities started.
Pottery, Korean paper crafting, flowering, Taekwondo, Korean mask dance, and yoga were some of the activities that our class could choose from.
“Hahaha!”
“That bastard’s full of energy even though he didn’t eat much.”
Hwang Jiho struck the brass with the Maeguchae* like crazy with his amazing skills.
(T/N a mallet that comes with a Korean musical instrument)
“Hahaha! Busoe*, the sound is still too small!”
(T/N: Sangsoe and Busoe – a duo who plays a traditional Korean musical instrument. Sangsoe is the lead while Busoe accompanies.)
The Sangsoe between the two was Hwang Jiho, and I was the Busoe so it was difficult for me to follow the beat.
I cursed internally as we managed to finish the performance even though Jiho was offbeat the whole time.
Even so, the whole performance was a mess.
Kim Yuri and Kwon Lena chose the Janggu and carried the tune beautifully, however the nervous Maeng Hyodon hit the Samulbok on the wrong beat with all his might. With the strength that Hyodon put into hitting the instrument, its leather strap broke.
(T/N: Janggu and Samulbok – traditional Korean percussion instruments)
On top of that, Song Daesok swapped positions with Kwon Lena in the middle of the performance, saying that he wanted to play the Janggu. However, as soon as they swapped, Daesok managed to break both the Goonggulchae and Yeolchae. Countless accidents occurred in our mess of a performance, but it was fun.
(T/N: Goonggulchae and Yeolchae – tools used to hit the Janggu)
Day turned to night after we finished all the class-by-class activities.
The no-fun recreational activity where we had to collect points was conducted today as well.
After that—
“Hey, can I look around in your tent?”
“Can I come too?”
Yoo Sanghoon and Joo Soohyuk spoke as we were on our way back from the evening roll-call report.
I enthusiastically agreed with the two, who were making excuses as to not return early to their dorm.
“It’s wider than I thought.”
“So this is what it looks like in person. I’ve only seen pictures of it before.”
After looking around the vicinity of the tent, we all went in.
The kids from my class set up the hologram on the wall of the tent to watch some movies.
Joo Soohyuk asked something after he saw a movie title.
“Can we watch this? I haven’t seen this movie before.”
“Sure thing.”
“Hey, sit over here.”
“I’ve seen this five times already.”
Yoo Sanghoon said so, but still readily sat down on his seat.
The two sat along with the other kids from Class Zero and ate and shared the bread that Bang Yoonseob bought. We were all somewhat acquainted with each other so the other kids from my class made room for the two to sit, and share some of their snacks.
The movie chosen by the students was an action film starring a Hallyu Wave* star player who was good at basketball. Yoo Sanghoon complimented this movie a lot in the past.
(T/N: Hallyu wave refers to the “Kpop” or “K-culture” wave.)
The movie with a relatively short running time ended quickly.
“Hey, this won’t do!”
“It’s not a good movie for a person who likes to anticipate the film’s climax if the death of a character is too obviously foreshadowed in the beginning! Ah…”
“That jerk died in the end.”
The other kids in the class who didn’t know the movie’s ending let out a sigh, while Joo Soohyuk who was immersed in the movie muttered something.
“M-my favorite character…”
Joo Soohyuk’s words drew the other students’ attention.
“I guess the heroine reminded you of Ahn Dain… The actress who played her character has a haircut similar to Dain’s!”
Joo Soohyuk was visibly embarrassed by what Saeum of April pointed out.
“What! How could that… How could you know that?!”
“We’re talking about 1st Year Class One’s president, Ahn Dain. Is there anyone who doesn’t know her?”
“Are you two still not dating yet?”
“Hahaha! I’m sure everybody knows of your feelings for her except Dain herself!”
Aside from Saeum of April who was keen on rumors, Maeng Hyodon, Yoo Sang Hoon, and Hwang Jiho were shocked by the revelation. Joo Soohyuk’s face turned red as he was too stunned to speak.
“Who’s Ahn Dain?”
Joo Soohyuk didn’t know whether or not he should be surprised by what Song Daesok just said.
The movie streaming suddenly got cut off.
“Server failure? What the hell, the movie was almost over though!”
“We bought the most expensive streaming service out of all the other ones though… That’s a bit strange.”
Saeum of April pressed the refresh button several times, yet nothing appeared on the screen.
“I don’t think it’s connected to the web… I was about to report the concern, but the message wasn’t sent!”
“Is it because we’re on an island?”
“… We can’t receive real-time satellite information too?”
It was possible that what happened was a simple communication failure, but the news of the satellite information not being received made the students uneasy.
In particular, Yoo Sanghoon’s face suddenly hardened.
“There’s only one other time that something like this happened… It was during Eungwang High’s entrance exam.”
“No way… are you part of the 13th group as well?”
“That’s right.”
Song Daeseok, who knew a lot about the satellite, soon also had a stiffened face.
That time when the bear tribe attacked.
The gym where the 13th group took the practical test for Eungwang’s entrance exam, was completely blocked from communication from the outside.
And during that time, the association’s satellite hadn’t detected any abnormalities within the area.
‘It’s starting now…’
I looked at Joo Soohyuk.
His eyes were filled with energy waves.
His insight and detection skill ‘Seer’ was activated.
“…There are now several invasions occurring in three different places! One on the north side of Seokmo Island, one on the side of Gijang Island, and two on Sangju Mountain! The rank is SR++ — no, it’s greater than that. I think it’s been a while since it started. I can see the enemies through the gap between the two worlds!”
“It’s better than SR rank? This is so unexpected!”
“Since communication with the satellite is blocked, it’ll be hard to notice! Shouldn’t we hurry and alert everyone? Hold on, all the dorms and even the private houses are far away from each other. What should we do about the teachers, the other students, and even the other islanders!?”
Song Daesok made a horrified face as he deciphered the current situation.
I looked at Yoo Sanghoon and Joo Soohyuk and said something.
“First of all, the dorm of male students is close here. You guys should alert them of the attack from the other world. You practiced team play in your class right?”
“Got it. Sanghoon, I’ll mark the point of contact between the other world. Take out the map!”
“Okay.”
As Joo Soohyuk and Yoo Sanghoon marked the maps and designated the points of contact, Maeng Hyodon shouted something at me.
“Vice president! Let’s go too!”
“No. We have to do something. Let’s call the teachers, wake the other female students, and evacuate the other residents. As soon as we’re done, let’s join the battle to protect this world from the enemies.”
“There’s a possibility of other occurrences that can be caused by the other world. Be careful.”
He opened up the map that we downloaded and pointed out the location of each dorm which was checked in advance.
“Hwang Jiho, you go to the retreat instructors’ dorm. And…”
Maeng Hyodon was in charge of the dorm where the faculty, and Kwon Lena and Kim Yuri stayed,
Song Daesok was in charge of the dorms where the first and second class were staying.
“Lastly, Seum and I will lead the other residents’ evacuation.”
“… Are you aware that Seokmo Island has over 2000 residents? You’re saying you two will handle it alone?”
“I-I have flight skill, so if we cooperate well…”
Seum of April spoke with closed fists even as he lost his confidence.
He probably realized that we can’t split such a large number of people between ourselves.
“Go quickly. You have the map memorized right? Our top priority is to evacuate the civilians, and to have the players concentrate on defending our world from the attacks.”
I gradually conveyed the words that I’ve been practicing over and over again before this day.
I reaffirmed the nervous students as I actualized an item from one of my cards.
“Be careful everyone.”
* * *
Mr. Kim was the keeper of the island.
He was the only player living on Seokmo Island.
After his early retirement at age 40, he lived a leisurely life as he accepted the association’s offer for him to relocate to Seokmo Island.
His job was to protect the island from low-rareness enemies that manage to slip in once in a while, but it’s been 2 years since he’s seen an enemy.
‘I had such a time as well…’
Mr. Kim looked relieved as he remembered that there were high-school players on a retreat on the island.
He felt young just by looking at the young and energetic players.
Mr. Kim picked up the cheap beer that he was drinking and entered the lighthouse where he lived.
Unfamiliar objects were detected by his old radars.
[Handling caution]
[Do not open unless instructed to do so]
The huge box had some odd cautions pasted on it.
It was the size of about a few people.
‘Perhaps, is this a surprise present for the Eungwang High students? But why is the sender not Eungwang High?’
Usually, Eungwang High prepares a special event, and their name is listed as the organizer.
Maybe they didn’t list their name on it so they can surprise the Eungwang High students.
‘Hmm, I should check the TV.”
Today’s player-specialized channel will air its most popular variety show — “Player’s, Attention!” It will star “Double-sided mirror, Choi Jina”
Mr. Kim tried to display a hologram connected to the TV, but it stopped without him realizing.
The old radar displayed a bright red text.
It was the ominous sign that was witnessed in the game ten years ago.
‘Enemies? I can’t believe they’re approaching in such large numbers…!”
Did this radar finally break?
As he had such thoughts, he tried to communicate with the players on the island, but…
There was no answer.
The device messenger didn’t work, and the landline calls weren’t connecting as well.
“No, what in the world is this?!”
Mr. Kim held his item card and tried to run out of the lighthouse but…
Boom Boom Boom!
He heard a strange sound as he glanced back.
Mr. Kim saw the unidentified boxes from earlier, shaking and then smashed.
* * *
Song Daesok sprinted and arrived at the designated accommodation of the female students from 1st year Class two.
His hands were shaking in the dark.
It was uncertain whether the other students accomplished their tasks properly, but they all had to run according to what they were tasked to do.
‘I’m glad Ahn Dain, the president of 1st Year Class One, responded cool-headedly, but…’
As Song Daesok knocked on the 1st Year Class One female students’ dorm, Ahn Dain immediately came out and moved along with the other students.
It was impressive that she calmly took out her item card and led her classmates to the site of the invasion.
The problem was Class Two.
‘This is crazy. Why did they place the dorms so far away from each other?!’
The dorm of the female students from Class Two was the furthest.
Song Daesok’s feet were quick thanks to his training with Min Geurin.
Although it’s true that he’s not as fast as Geurin, his legs felt strangely heavier and the dorms of Class Two felt farther.
‘This doesn’t feel right. It’s just like that time!’
Min Geurin went missing that day.
The other students, who pretended to be close to Daesok, turned away their attention as if they were trying to draw Daesok’s attention to what they were looking at.
Not long after Min Geurin transferred to their school, she was tricked to go to the unfamiliar abandoned factory along with the other students.
‘This feels similar to that situation…!’
Daesok’s target were the kids who tricked Min Geurin – a kid he’s never met before and whose name he doesn’t even know. He felt heavy as he didn’t know what kind of trouble Geurin was in.
The dorm finally became visible from where he was running.
Daesok, who felt as if he was running for a whole month, knocked and shouted as hard as he could to wake the students up from their sleep.
Bang Bang Bang!
“Wake up! There’s an attack on our world! An unexpected attack!”
But no response can be heard from the other side of the door.
Had they already evacuated? Or perhaps already helping with the defense?
He thought for a moment, but he couldn’t come to a rational conclusion.
‘We were lucky to have responded as soon as the communication was cut off. The attacks seem to be on the north-side. This dorm is a bit farther south of the male students’ dorm. If they evacuated right away, we would’ve encountered them.
Since we had a lot of activities today, it’s possible that they slept more deeply without them realizing.
However, it’s odd that none of the 20 players staying in this dorm heard Daesok’s shouts.
Daesok grabbed the doorknob and shouted as loud as he could.
“Hey! I’m coming in!”
Creak –!
The old door-hinge made a loud sound.
Right in front of the opened door…
As he lit up the room with his device’s flashlight, he saw students lying here and there.
‘Are they asleep?’
There were no signs of attack.
Daesok, relieved with what he saw, tried to wake up the kid closest to the door by tapping their shoulder.
“Wake up! Hey! Let’s hurry up and join the other players in protecting this…
Spaak!
At that moment, he felt a sense of static electricity in his hand.
It was the effect of forcibly activating ‘Information Reading’, Daesok’s intuition skill.
‘I’ve never used this skill on my own though…?’
The only thing he could decipher from the situation was that his ‘Information Reading’ skill was still low in level.
Whether it’s for players or enemies, the status window was either not visible at all, or only partially visible.
As he wondered, Daesok opened his ‘status’ window to check.
A chill went down his spine when he saw the status update on his window.
His physical and mental strength were gradually decreasing.
‘I’ve been cursed! I was attacked!’
The air became suffocatingly heavy.
There were already 20 students who couldn’t move.
