“Well then, we’ll get going first. Wooram, if you need anything, contact me through my device, alright?”
“…”
“Yes, thank you. Goodbye!”
“Goodbye.”
They left Wooram and Seunghyun here.
Maybe they thought Wooram would be more comfortable talking to a fellow freshman?
The senior members of the Jiikhoe went out of the dormitory.
‘But why was Park Seunghyun with Sung Siwan and Gye Idam? I don’t think my playable character was close with the members of the Jiikhoe though…’
Although I don’t use him that much, Park Seunghyun was also a playable character of mine.
The Jiikhoe didn’t have a playable character or any significant NPC related to Seunghyun.
If I were to think of one NPC, there was only Choi Pyeondeuk who Kim Shinrok replaced as the adviser.
But…
‘That badge is from the Jiikhoe.’
Looking at Seunghyun’s shirt, he clearly had a badge of the Jiikhoe.
It was at the bottom of his shirt.
“Did you join the Jiikhoe?”
“…Yeah.”
Park Seunghyun grabbed the hem of his shirt and hid the Jiikhoe badge in his fist.
He spoke again as if trying to give an excuse.
“There were fewer freshmen who joined the Jiikhoe this year. I applied because they extended the recruitment period during the vacation. All the Jiikhoe seniors seem like very nice people… and looking at its history, I think it’s a very meaningful organization.”
Come to think of it…
Usually, in Eungwang High, the Student’s Association, Student Council, and the Jiikhoe were equally divided.
But this year was different.
It’s because of none other than Joo Soohyuk and Ahn Dain.
Joo Soohyuk is part of the student council, while Ahn Dain is with the Student’s Association.
With those two’s overwhelming charisma, the students who idolize them wanted to join their respective organizations.
‘That must’ve been one of the reasons why the Jiikhoe disappeared in the game in the second year.’
There were relatively few applicants to the Jiikhoe this year.
On top of that, the Jiikhoe would be completely destroyed because of a different scenario.
‘…In the next year, the Jiikhoe was abolished and the system of resignation was revived under the leadership of Choi Pyeondeuk.’
The student council and student association actively tried to stop this, but they failed.
This was because Do Wonwoo, Oh Hyeji, and many others who were part of the two organizations had died.
Although the alumni of Eungwang tried to prevent the abolition of the Jiikhoe, the power that they could exert over the school was very limited.
On top of that, the board of directors was influenced greatly by Choi Pyeondeuk.
Meanwhile, the Chairman of Hwangmyeong Foundation, sitting as the chairman of the board, was negligent.
In the end, the Jiikhoe was helplessly abolished.
‘Hwang Jiho’s to blame for it given his negligence, but I understand that he was planning to avenge the Red Tiger during that time. He wouldn’t have had the time to care about student organizations in Eungwang.’
I rationalized Jiho’s negligence, but I still couldn’t help but feel heartbroken at the thought of what happened to the Jiikhoe.
“Euishin, don’t you want to join the Jiikhoe? Maybe it would be nice if we have someone from the newspaper department working with us.”
With a cheerful voice, Seunghyun suggested for me to join.
It was the exact opposite of how he acts inside the game.
Seunghyun was always down and depressed because of the fact that he was illegally admitted to Eungwang High.
But I don’t wish to join the Jiikhoe, nor recommend it to other students.
It was a pleasant proposal from my playable character, but I regrettably had to refuse.
“We’re a bit busy in the newspaper department so I don’t think I can make it work.”
“Alright… Let me know when your schedule opens up.”
“Okay. Ah, did your friend also join Jiikhoe?”
“Yep. He’s also playing with the soccer team, but…”
The freshman who was close with Seunghyun was selected by the soccer team to play in the exchange match with the military academy.
They must be quite busy.
‘Sanghoon must be very busy too.’
Sanghoon only replies in short messages like “K.”, “No”, or “?”.
That makes it hard to tell whether he’s busy or not.
But still, I’m sure he’s focused on basketball practice.
If I get the time, I’ll stop by to cheer him on and maybe give him some snacks.
“Oh, I didn’t mean to get caught up chatting. Sorry… So, yeah… Ah, I’ll let you know all about the facilities and rules.”
“Alright!”
Seunghyun explained many things to Mok Wooram, occasionally glancing at memos given by the Jiikhoe.
Wooram nodded vigorously as he listened to Seunghyun.
When they got to the part about dormitory rules, I felt like Wooram paid special attention.
“…Those are the main dormitory rules. Class Zero students are especially distributed all throughout the building. We’ll also be giving a print-out of the complete dormitory rules.”
“Understood! I’ll make sure to check and read it carefully.”
Seunghyun looked relieved at Wooram’s sincere answer.
He’s a new member of the Jiikhoe, so having an unidentified new Class Zero freshman join here inevitably made him nervous.
“Are you interested in becoming an officer who regulates the dormitory? You seem to be very interested in it. If you want to join the Jiikhoe, I’ll welcome you!”
“I’m not interested in Jiikhoe at all.”
Mok Wooram replied flatly.
“Instead! I will do my best to keep this place neat and be in my most courteous behavior as this is the place where my muse resides.”
Seunghyun looked dumbfounded.
He must’ve realized by now why Wooram’s a part of Class Zero.
“O-oh, yea alright… Well then, do you need anything? Do you need help with unpacking your things?
“No thank you, I’m fine. I didn’t bring any luggage. The school gave me a box of supplies already.”
“…Do you really not need anything else?”
Come to think of it, Wooram’s wearing the school sportswear.
It doesn’t seem like he brought his own clothes.
Although it’s still the middle of vacation, it’s not uncommon for students to wear the school’s gym clothes since it’s very comfortable.
I bet Mok Wooram’s bank account has 0 balance, but I know he doesn’t care.
He seems to be thrilled with the idea of living in the same dormitory with Kwon Lena, his muse.
Seunghyun encouraged Wooram to avail the dorm equipment that Jiikhoe provides, but Wooram doesn’t seem to be interested.
“I heard you received your own device. I’m staying in the dormitory all throughout the vacation, so don’t hesitate to give me a call if you need anything.”
We all walked together to the 17th floor where Seunghyun left us.
‘Since he doesn’t have any luggage, I don’t think I need to be considerate about giving him time to organize his things. Should I talk to him now?’
As I was lost in my thoughts, I glanced at Wooram only to see him looking at me as if he wants to say something.
I could see what he wanted to say.
“You wanna hang out?”
“Of course! Exactly what I wanted to say! C-can we go hang out and talk with L-Lena-nim too?”
Lena-nim…
Don’t tell me he’s planning on calling her ‘Lena-nim’ once they meet.
* * *
At the Player’s Association.
With his vacation being cut-short, Hong Gyubin was once again immersed in his work.
His clothes were the same as yesterday’s because he stayed up all night and hasn’t gone home since.
The first employees who arrived in the morning were shocked to see Hong Gyubin.
“I had a shot at a vacation… but now I don’t.”
“Team Leader Hong, I heard that you went on a trip to China…”
“Team Leader, I heard there were some incidents while you were in China. Is it related to that?”
“The government and the association aren’t on good terms these days. The Satellite Team is openly figuring out invasions, and…”
“Team Leader… You really have no time to rest.”
At that moment, an association employee knocked with a specific pattern.
The signal sent was “—.—— “, the Morse code for the letter Y.
‘It’s Manager Yoon!’
‘Deputy Manager Yoon?!’
Everyone shut their mouths and quickly sat in their respective desks.
It’s still early in the morning and the other employees aren’t in yet, but they were careful not to piss off the overly sensitive Deputy Manager Yoon.
The reason for Deputy Manager Yoon’s sour mood was that his ex-girlfriend started dating Team Leader Park of PR Team 2.
On top of that, Team Leader Park had some sort of rivalry with PR Team 1.
“Team Leader.”
Just as the employee warned, Deputy Manager Yoon soon appeared in the office.
With his eyes looking stressed, he immediately approached Hong Gyubin.
“What is it, Deputy Manager Yoon?”
Although he prompted Deputy Manager Yoon to speak, Hong Gyubin’s eyes never left the screen which showed various information about the affiliates of Namgung Group.
Deputy Manager Yoon gave his report in a low voice.
“The hospitalized chief of the Gwangil Police Station committed suicide.”
Hong Gyubin raised his head.
‘He committed suicide at the police hospital…?’
Because of the incident, Police Chief Inspector Kim had his hand amputated in order to undergo a regenerative procedure.
The injured Chief Inspector Kim tried to testify, saying that there was a “Mr. Choi” who communicated with him.
However, when he found out that he’s been played by the “fake director” ploy, he began to avoid all questions asked by the association.
It must’ve been difficult finding out that the cards he held were actually insignificant.
‘But still… I don’t think that’s enough reason for such a man to kill himself. There’s a possibility that he was murdered and it’s disguised as a suicide…!’
As if having the exact same thought as Hong Gyubin, Deputy Manager Yoon asked quietly.
“I heard that the Tiger Clan is interested in this case. Are they behind this? I’m asking if they did this in retaliation.”
Hong Gyubin thought about what Deputy Manager Yoon’s said, but he shook his head.
“The Tiger Clan is not one who easily kills off people. Even if they would kill a person, they wouldn’t make it this open.”
“…Ah, so far, the other officials were also crippled.”
“If the Tiger Clan wanted to punish him, they would’ve kidnapped him and made him disappear without anyone knowing.”
Hong Gyubin knew that Eungwang High had a deep relationship with the Tiger Clan.
Ever since Jegal became a professor at Eungwang, Hong Gyubin had been investigating every single case related to the Tiger Clan.
That’s why he’s somewhat knowledgeable of the Tiger Clan’s methods and strategies.
‘I bet Chief Inspector Kim knew something he shouldn’t. Or maybe he found out something that he shouldn’t. If he didn’t have any connections, he wouldn’t have been sent to the police hospital anyway.’
In Hong Gyubin’s head, Mr. Choi’s malicious smile came to mind.
His picture in the current affairs magazine gave Hong Gyubin chills considering what the man did.
On the day that Hong Gyubin visited Choi, all he got was that there was no evidence that the Namgung Group was directly related to this incident.
The heavy feeling of fatigue flooded in.
Since the investigation on this began, the status of the world collision had intensified.
On top of that, there’s an incredible burden on Hong Gyubin to find out what’s going on with Namgung Group.
“First of all, Chief Inspector Kim was a player. There’s a name for the enforcement department that we could look into. Deputy Manager Yoon, I’ll leave that up to you. And… take Employee Jung with you while you do all your investigation.”
“…”
“Do you have anything else to report?”
Deputy Manager Yoon spoke as he looked at the window behind Hong Gyubin.
The blinds were still down so he couldn’t see outside.
“I met a teacher you knew on my way to work.”
“…What?”
“Was he just waiting for you to go to work to have a little chat? That teacher’s personality… He doesn’t seem to want to contact you a lot because he’s worried that you’re too busy.”
Hong Gyubin immediately turned around and raised the blinds.
Player’s Association, the entrance to the PR Team building.
Jegal was out there, standing quietly.
“Looks like he’s waiting for nothing since you never left work since yesterday.”
Hong Gyubin immediately left his desk before Deputy Manager Yoon even finished talking.
‘I heard his return to Korea would be delayed even more though…!’
Hong Gyubin ran as quickly as he could.
When he arrived at where Jegal was, he greeted him with a sincere smile.
“Professor Jegal! What brings you here? If you’d contacted me, I would’ve met with you right away.”
“I had some time so I stopped by. I was going to briefly say hello to you when you arrive to work… but it seems like you’re very busy seeing that you never left the association.”
“I’m not busy! I was just about to get off work.”
Jegal looked at Hong Gyubin with a worried face.
“I heard from Euishin. He said that you helped a lot with Mok Wooram’s case.”
“Euishin?”
‘Why were Euishin and Jegal talking about that?’
He didn’t know much about Jo Euishin, but he’s aware that the kid has a lot of secrets.
Why did the secretive and non-talkative Jo Euishin mention something mundane to Jegal?
“I know Wooram wouldn’t have been able to cross the border if his ID card wasn’t taken care of. And even when he’s already here in Korea, you’ve given him a lot of help.”
Jegal held out a paper bag to Hong Gyubin.
“What is this?”
“I don’t know how to thank you enough…”
“I only did what I had to do. Professor Jegal, you don’t need to…”
Hong Gyubin’s words were cut off the moment he saw what was inside the paper bag.
“This is…”
It was the first print of the first edition of Jegal’s magazine made by the newspaper department.
