Late at night, at the beaches on Joo-Oh Island.
The coast where Woo Kihwan and his party had landed was neatly cleaned.
It’s almost as if there’s no trace left of the barbecue party on the wide beach.
No one else was talking a walk.
Yoo Sanghoon stood in front of the waves.
The weather was still warm, but the breeze coming from the night sea was a little cool.
“Sit.”
Yoo Sanghoon sat on the sandy beach, opening the lid of a plastic bottle drink that he got from the refrigerator in the resort lobby.
If Yoo Sanghee or Jang Namwook had seen this image of him, they would’ve nagged him that he’d be covered in sand sitting down like that.
But it’s only me and him here.
And I can’t really scold him.
I sat about one step away from Yoo Sanghoon.
“…”
“…”
It looks like Yoo Sanghoon was waiting for me to speak first, but I can’t really think of anything to say.
Should I apologize for the nightmares?
Then shouldn’t we talk about the details of the nightmare first?
Do I have to explain why “I” don’t appear in the nightmare that they had?
‘I’m not supposed to mention the PMH game or the exclusive menu skill…!’
I think it’s best to just gloss over the topic, but it seemed to be unfair of me to do that.
I don’t think Yoo Sanghoon or even Jang Namwook would like that.
“Why are you making that face?”
Yoo Sanghoon turned his face and threw in the first word.
As Hwan Jiho pointed out during our morning tea time, I don’t really hide my facial expressions well.
“Jang Namwook and I decided not to think too much about that nightmare anymore.”
“…Oh?”
“It’s not like we’ll be seeing that dream again.”
I accidentally made a silly sound.
Yoo Sanghoon smirked.
“It doesn’t matter if I had that nightmare because of you. After all, it’s thanks to you that the events in that dream didn’t come true.”
Yoo Sanghoon said it doesn’t matter.
That must be the conclusion that Jang Namwook and Yoo Sanghoon came to.
All of a sudden, I felt at ease.
I felt suffocated since I knew the ‘Replay’ function’s effect.
But hearing those words from Sanghoon, it feels like I can breathe again.
Seeing Yoo Sanghoon acting as if nothing had happened, I felt even more sorry.
“…I’m sorry.”
“No need. I told you, it doesn’t matter.”
Yoo Sanghoon spoke as if he really didn’t care about it anymore.
He began to drink from the bottle in his hand before speaking again.
“Did you use some kind of skill? Are there any side effects? Jang Namwook’s worried about that.”
“I’m not sure about the side effects.”
“You didn’t get a nightmare?”
“I don’t get dreams at all.”
“Good for you. Energy wave can influence the brain so it’s easy for players to get dreams. Sometimes it’s annoying to wake up in the morning because I can’t sleep that well.”
After that, we talked about trivial things like the stuff that we do at school.
The topic of the conversation suddenly turned to the sports exchange exhibition with the military academy set for the second semester.
He seemed to have found more motivation when he heard that Do Sihoo was one of the first-year students who were selected to play for the military academy’s basketball team.
“I won’t lose to a fellow freshman.”
“I’ll be there to cheer you on.”
“Come and cheer for all three games.”
There would only be two games if one team wins twice in a row though.
Yoo Sanghoon must be expecting that they’d play all three games.
I said okay and we slowly got ready to get back to the resort.
But then…
I could feel something powerful coming from the other side of the dark sea.
I sprung up and spoke to Sanghoon.
“Something’s coming.”
“What?”
Yoo Sanghoon seems to not have detected it yet, but he followed me and also took out a weapon item card.
I took out my rod and activate my skill.
<Skill “Glare” activated.>
Energy wave opened my vision and increased my concentration.
Using the skill that helps the Tiger Clan to see in the dark, I saw through the flow of the movement of the energy wave in the dark.
I began to see something approaching from the other side of the sea.
Something was running on top of the water!
‘Is it using an item? Perhaps a skill or a light skill? Or is it using energy wave control to run on the sea?’
I don’t know exactly what it is, but considering the power that I could sense, it’s clear that we’re dealing with someone of royal lineage.
I wondered if I could deal with it on my own.
‘Should I call Hwang Jiho? … Oh? That person is…’
With the glare skill, I started to recognize the face of the person approaching.
I retreated my rod and returned it to the item window.
And then, I turned on my device.
“What are you doing?”
“I need to call someone.”
While Yoo Sanghoon obviously looked puzzled, the person approaching from the sea at a frightening speed finally reached us.
Someone who ran barefoot over the sea was holding slippers in one hand.
That someone looked relaxed as if they’d just come to the beach for a little walk.
“Hello? Professor Ham Geunhyung, can I talk to you?”
[Yes. What’s the matter?]
“The person that you’re looking for is here.”
Ham Geunhyung, who was conducting a search even at this late hour, quickly answered the call.
In the meantime, the person who just arrived spoke to Yoo Sanghoon.
“Hello! Have you seen my students?”
The identity of the person walking over the sea was none other than the strong homeroom teacher Im Yeonhwa.
Unlike her students who arrived here looking like zombies, Im Yeonhwa had a clean appearance.
* * *
The other teachers know just how strong Im Yeonhwa was.
However, they were still worried when the teacher couldn’t be contacted after an attack from the other world had occurred.
The teachers decided to search for her in the nearby uninhabited islands and even in the sea.
There was no one on the uninhabited island where the Third Year Class zero students had their boot camp.
Just as Woo Kihwan said, only the devastating food shortage remained there.
The teachers, who were searching in groups of two in the nearby islands, heard the good news.
Ham Geunhyung, who received a call from Jo Euishin that Im Yeonhwa was found, spoke to Yong Jegun who was still flying around in the air.
“Professor Yong Jegun, let’s go back.”
“Mmkay, let’s go.”
Although Yong Jegun answered brightly, it bothered Ham Geunhyung a little
He seemed to be quite annoyed to not be hanging around and playing, and he also seemed too lazy to help to look around for Im Yeonhwa.
But now, he looked very excited.
‘What happened? When did his mood change?’
It’s only been an hour since they started the search though.
He remembered that Yong Jegun flew somewhere alone, saying that he thought he found something.
After a few minutes, he returned empty-handed though.
‘What could’ve happened?’
While Ham Geunhyung was thinking about it, Yong Jegun lightly flicked his finger.
Flick! Fwaaa!
Yong Jegun created something with his spatial skill and gestured for Ham Geunhyung to ride on it.
“Let’s go. Get on.”
“Thank you.”
Ham Geunhyung, who easily climbed on the scaffold made by Yong Jegun, paused for a moment.
It’s because Yong Jegun had his signature ecstatic expression on.
‘…Why is Yong Jegun making that face?’
That ecstatic expression was notorious even among the teachers.
Yong Jegun of the Dragon Clan plays well with the children, but sometimes it gets too much.
That expression is usually on his face when he gets too excited.
Being in service as a teacher for a lot of years already, Ham Geunhyung is well aware of this tendency of Yong Jegun.
He vows to keep a close eye on him for the safety of the children.
* * *
Im Yeonhwa appeared completely dry when she arrived at the island.
She finished taking a shower and changed her clothes in an empty room.
She looks completely different from the dirty Class Zero seniors who were still asleep in their rooms, not knowing that their strong homeroom teacher had come to find them.
Im Yeonhwa, who took out a watermelon aide from the lobby fridge, looks completely at ease.
“Professor Im Yeonhwa, where were you the whole time?”
“Hmm? I’ve been looking for my soldiers who escaped.”
“The other teacher couldn’t contact you as well…”
“Maybe the solar charging panel broke during the otherworld attack. My battery was drained. I couldn’t even take pictures, and I couldn’t get on social media. It frustrated me! But above all, I couldn’t see my cute students!”
Cute students?
I decided to scratch that phrase out of my brain.
Noh Youngmi, who arrived first among the teachers, asked something.
“…It’s a surprise that Yeonhwa couldn’t catch up with the kids who were in training. I guess Woo Kihwan has improved a lot.”
That’s what I thought too.
How could Woo Kihwan and the others escape from the clutches of that strong homeroom teacher?
“Oh, those kids are still a long way off! What happened was, after the attack from the other world, I felt strangely heavy and I couldn’t get enough strength to move. But it got a lot better when I rested for a while!”
I guess that was an effect of the frozen point.
Im Yeonhwa’s not a superhuman after all.
But she recovered from the energy poison with just a little bit of rest?
Although there are players who have passive abilities that can heal poisoning, I don’t think Im Yeonhwa has it.
Or if she does, I don’t think it’s that strong.
“Well then, I’ll be going in first.”
“Right, sleeping too late can make you weak. Go to bed early!”
Perhaps because she’s the teacher in the subject ‘Understanding the Royal Lineage 101’, Im Yeonhwa greeted me anxiously.
Most of them seem to be worried that they’d become even weaker after knowing that they’re weaker than Im Yeonhwa.
Yoo Sanghoon and I headed to our assigned floors.
When we turned our backs, I could still hear the conversation between Noh Youngmi and Im Yeonhwa.
“…So, what are you going to do once you catch those Class Zero students?”
“Hmm? I’m going to do what I planned in the first place.”
“What you planned?”
Im Yeonhwa spoke brightly.
“We’re going to train until the end of the vacation. And add the time that they took off while escaping too.”
I bet the deeply asleep Woo Kihwan and his classmates would go crazy once they hear this news.
* * *
A peaceful morning came upon the resort.
While most of the kids, including myself, stayed up all night playing, the Class Zero seniors slept very well and woke up exactly in time for breakfast.
The hungry primitives rushed to the restaurant as soon as they opened their eyes as if they were waiting for meal time all along.
That’s when…
They met with the strong homeroom teacher.
Right when the Class Zero seniors made eye contact with Im Yeonhwa, they tried to escape with a grotesque scream, but they were quickly suppressed.
Since Im Yeonhwa wanted to continue their boot camp, the primitives were on the verge of being dragged back to an uninhabited island.
It was the other teachers who tried to stop this from happening.
“Exams are just around the corner. Let’s just rest up during this trip.”
“These kids cried a lot yesterday and they looked so pitiful. It must’ve been so hard for them.”
“Yeonhwa-ya, you should have some fun too.”
Following Ham Geunhyung and Kim Shinrok, Noh Youngmi, who was considerably close to Im Yeonhwa, actively tried to stop her too.
In the end, Im Yeonhwa surrendered.
“Hmm, Jihwa unnie also tried to stop me too. Well then, shall we enjoy our break?”
When Im Yeonhwa announced that they should take a break, the Class Zero seniors exclaimed with relief.
However, during all that, Woo Kihwan’s eyes still seem to be quietly sinking.
It looks like he’s planning another escape.
Of course, I wasn’t the only one who noticed.
“But! You’re not allowed to run away from Joo-Oh Island and play on your own. If I catch you, you’ll be in big trouble.”
I don’t know exactly what kind of trouble the teacher was referring to, but Woo Kihwan’s eyes immediately laid down and he showed an attitude of obedience.
“It must’ve been difficult to keep track of schedule during the boot camp and decide on the perfect time for a secret rendezvous. But don’t worry, they’ll be watched very closely while they’re here.”
Hwang Jiho added so.
It will be necessary to cover the mouths of those who witnessed the frozen point and the attack from the other world.
‘Looking at the situation, if Hwang Jiho speaks properly with Im Yeonhwa, then she could take care of Woo Kihwan and the others.’
Meanwhile, our classmates who witnessed the series of events showed an unusual attitude.
“…Looks like the seniors from Third Year Class Zero are on good terms. I envy them.”
“It seems like they underwent really intense training, but none of them let go!”
“Maybe they want to spend the vacation altogether too.”
“It must be fun to train as a whole class.”
My classmates are envious of the Class Zero old jerks!
Objectively, the only thing that is worth being envious of is their attendance.
Well, there were also some of us who don’t envy the seniors at all.
“…You’re envious of that?”
“I’m satisfied with what we have right now. In fact, I’m in such a happy state.”
Song Daesok and Mok Wooram were seen glancing at Min Geurin and Kwon Lena respectively.
Those two guys seem to be happy as long as those two women are with us.
“What could the other kids, who were supposed to be in our class, be doing?”
Kim Yuri was talking to herself, but Hwang Jiho kindly answered.
“I know for sure where one person is. It’s possible that you guys know her face too.”
“Huh? Really? Who? What are they doing?”
“Tell us!”
While eating the coconut shaved ice dessert, Kwon Lena and Saeum stopped to ask Hwang Jiho.
Jiho pulled up a hologram.
The hologram showed the website of the survival audition program “Playlist”.
He then played a video.
“I think this Year One Class Zero student passed the screening and is confirmed to advance to the finals. The preliminary round hasn’t been aired yet, but I’ve heard something about filming the daily life of a student as part of the show.”
The video shown by Hwang Jiho was of the pink-haired Dokgo Miro dancing.
