Kim Yuri and I were not the only ones who reacted to Hwang Jiho’s unexpected remarks.
Yeom Junyeol stared at Hwang Jiho with a startled expression.
He seemed to be in awe at Hwang Jiho’s entire existence instead of just his remarks.
Well, descendants and people of royal lineage can somewhat recognize each other.
‘He must’ve noticed now.’
Yeom Junyeol didn’t immediately say it out loud to me or Saeum of April, but he gave a small glance to Saeum.
‘This happened too when Yeom Junyeol attempted to kill himself… I guess people of royal lineage can hide their identities as long as they don’t give off their energies.’
It was Hani who broke the awkward silence.
“Hwang Jiho, are you having a heat stroke?”
Hani and I had the same opinion.
This tiger’s mental state must’ve gone crazy because of the hot weather.
“Hahaha! My body is healthy. Don’t worry.”
“Your head is the problem, not your body.”
It’s like Hani’s reading my mind.
It feels like the other kids agree too.
Meanwhile, Dokgo Miro was looking at Hwang Jiho with wary eyes.
When she began to speak, I could feel that she was hiding a faint vigilance behind her face.
“You’re Hani’s best friend…? How long have you two known each other?”
“We met at Eungwang High.”
Following Hani’s answer, Hwang Jiho laughed as he spoke.
“Hahaha! It’s true that we first met around this area.”
So the Blue Tiger and Yellow Tiger met here around 5,000 years ago.
Even though we were in a strange situation, everyone was actually telling the truth.
“Hmm… It’s a bit hot today so I want to go in somewhere. Shall we go eat lunch?”
Kim Yuri, who looked at Hwang Jiho with a complex face, tried to shift the mood.
Yuri is currently being supervised by a chief sorcerer of the Tiger Clan.
It’s likely that she knows about Hwang Jiho’s identity and the “old guy” persona isn’t just an act.
While we were walking, Yeom Junyeol asked Saeum something.
“Professor Yong Jegun is the assistant adviser of Year One Class Zero, right?”
“Yes! It hasn’t been that long since he became the assistant adviser.”
“I heard that you all went to Joo-Oh Island recently… Did he come with everyone in your class?”
“Ah, do you want to see the picture that we took that day? Miro, come look at it too! I’ll introduce you to the other kids who didn’t come today.”
My student must be wondering if Yeom Junyeol knows the real identity of Hwang Jiho too.
In the picture, Yeom Junyeol was with our class, and looked like he was enjoying the trip to Joo-Oh Island.
When Yeom Junyeol saw the picture, he seemed to look relieved.
Seeing Hwang Jiho and Yong Jegun in the same frame must’ve relieved him somehow.
Yeom Junyeol bought us lunch and we talked about the upcoming second semester.
“So, Miro, are you going to school in the second semester?”
When Yuri asked Miro, the latter answered as if she already has prepared for the question in advance.
“There’s still a lot of things I need to take care of. I want to focus on practicing too.”
In the game, Dokgo Miro started attending school in the second semester.
Did things change because of the Playlist show?
Dokgo Miro, unlike her appearance in the game, looked lively.
It’s not that Dokgo Miro won’t be attending school for no reason.
She said that she was doing it so she could achieve her dreams, so the other kids couldn’t say anything in protest.
“In the end, we’re still in the same class so I hope we all get closer to each other.”
“That’s right. Come to school whenever you want to.”
Saeum and Yuri said those kind words, and Hani silently nodded in agreement.
Dokgo Miro smiled brightly at the sight of Hani being close to her classmates.
It’s a pity that our class attendance won’t get better, but it’s not so bad.
After all, there’s another friend that my classmates and playable characters can hang out with.
* * *
As time passed, the start of school was just around the corner.
Students who stayed at home during the vacation, or left the dormitory for various reasons returned one by one.
So many things made it evident that the second semester is coming very soon, but the biggest indicator was Class Zero.
“Hey, all the snack bars are empty!”
“All the bread in the dormitory is gone too.”
“Just how big did those Year Three Class Zero jerks’ stomachs get during the vacation?”
“Geum Chansol and Wang Chansol got in trouble again? I heard Prof. Jegal scold them.”
“They got caught trying to lay a flower path for Professor Jegal to celebrate the start of the second semester.”
The Year Two Class Zero seniors are still crazy for Jegal, and the Year Three Class Zero seniors are still their savage selves.
I never would’ve imagined that the Year Three seniors would inhale all the bread in the dorms.
Woo Kihwan and his classmates fought for the last remaining sausage bread and ended up destroying the canteen’s signboard.
‘Was that bread really that delicious after going through extreme hunger?’
The change in the appetite of the Year Three seniors was quite extreme.
The Jiikhoe more than doubled the supply of bread, but it wasn’t enough to meet the needs of the hungry Class Zero savages.
“…Thank you, Year One Class Zero, for not changing.”
Park Seunghyun, who recently became part of the Jiikhoe, said so as he carried boxes of bread.
With the addition of Mok Wooram, the Year One Class Zero dormitory students increased.
Although Mok Wooram was a pushover, he wasn’t a troublemaker.
He wouldn’t do anything harmful, especially since Kwon Lena lives in the same dormitory.
“You look very busy. Want help?”
“No, it’s fine. I need to get used to this in case the Year Three seniors won’t be able to return here to help.”
Park Seunghyun responded bravely to my offer.
Most of the work has been shouldered by the freshmen, and Park Seunghyun seemed to be the busiest among them.
As the election season for the student council, Jiikhoe, and general clubs approached, the second and third graders of each organization began preparing for the leadership transition.
“Are the candidates for the next Jiikhoe president determined already?”
“Yep. Wouldn’t Gye Idam sunbaenim be the only candidate? Most of the Year Two Class Zero seniors are living in the dorms. No one can handle them except Gye Idam sunbaenim.”
I was surprised at first to hear that there’s only one candidate, but it made sense.
A president that Geum Chansol and Wang Chansol can sway cannot be trusted.
The current student association president is Do Wonwoo, Oh Hyeji is the student council president and Sung Siwan for the Jiikhoe.
Sung Siwan is skillful enough to overpower the GeumChanWangChan duo.
For that reason, it seems obvious that Gye Idam would be the next Jiikhoe president.
“I’ll go do some more work. See you around!”
“Alright.”
After parting ways with Park Seunghyun, the Year Two senior who would be the main character of the next scenarios came to mind.
‘Among the second graders, Yeom Junyeol, Kwak Gyungu, and Cheon Dongha will not lose to the GeumChanWangChan duo.’
However, those three commutes to school and already belong to the student association and student council.
It won’t be possible for them to take charge of the Jiikhoe.
‘There’s another second grader playable character of mine who lives in the dormitory though…’
The second grader Ma Jinseung lives in the dorms.
However, Ma Jinseung is already a part of the student council, and I guess he can’t beat the GeumChanWangChan duo.
Ma Jinseung was the typical ‘real-world weakling’, and he doesn’t really do well in defending against otherworld attacks.
They tried to set Ma Jinseung as Yeom Junyeol’s rival, given that he has an energy wave that is strong against fire, but it didn’t work.
Ma Jinseung was born with outstanding abilities, but he still hasn’t realized his full potential.
‘But in the game, he dies after getting an alias.’
The main characters in that scenario were Cheon Dongha and Ma Jinseung.
The purpose of the two in the game’s storyline was to drive Yeom Junyeol away from the enemy.
The Eye Boundary succeeded in its goals by using Cheon Dongha’s ‘Eye Embracing Heaven and Earth’, and Ma Jinseung’s abilities.
Although the two succeeded in driving Yeom Junyeol away, they both died.
When Yeom Junyeol later discovered the death of the two, Yeom Junyeol caused an energy wave explosion which eventually led to his death.
“Euishin-ah?”
I came to my senses.
Ahn Dain was right in front of me.
“Ah, sorry. Did you call me?”
“No, I’m just greeting you.”
Ahn Dain held various portable insect repellent sprays.
It was very in character for the title hero to be prepared against the hideous uninvited guests who constantly appear during summer.
Since we haven’t met in a long time, this is the first chance that I have to congratulate her.
“Congrats on getting your alias.”
“Thank you.”
During the vacation, Ahn Dain received an alias because of her activeness and performance.
Her alias was The Magic Bullet Marksman.
It suits Ahn Dain, who shoots bullets like a god, very well.
In addition to the youth retreat incident, Ahn Dain had accomplished a lot of quests and showed incredible performance for a freshman student.
‘Joo Soohyuk received his alias too.’
Joo Soohyuk and Ahn Dain received the same aliases that they had in the game.
Although the development of things is quite different, it seemed that the quests that the two accomplished on their own were the same.
After congratulating her, I showed her a new photo of Olmu and had a pleasant conversation.
It felt very rewarding to talk with a playable character who also recognizes the cuteness of my little Olmu.
* * *
On the first day of the broadcast of Playlist.
The Class Zero freshmen rented a Jiikhoe study room in order to see the first episode of Playlist together.
It’s a pity that we couldn’t watch it with the other kids because the show is aired late at night.
Thirty minutes into the broadcast, Dokgo Miro appeared for the first time.
A brief video of her profile passed by, and the scene changed to Dokgo Miro greeting the judges.
“Ah, she’s our classmate?”
“Yes! She said she can’t go to school often. Maybe we’ll meet once the show films in our school.”
Maeng Hyodon, who now returned safely from his training with Tak Geosan, pointed at the pink-haired girl and nodded.
Saeum of April also returned to the dorms after staying at their home for a while.
“Oh no, she seems nervous…”
Kwon Lena spoke in an uneasy voice as she saw Dokgo Miro’s appearance.
Having some experience of being on-stage herself, Kwon Lena must know well how Dokgo Miro was feeling.
Everyone seemed nervous even though we already knew that Dokgo Miro passed the preliminary round.
To be fair, Dokgo Miro’s gaze looked unstable, and her voice was quite shaky.
“I didn’t know that she was very shy. I understand her.”
Mok Wooram, who sat farthest from Kwon Lena, said so.
Saeum nodded in agreement.
“I didn’t really feel that shyness the last time we saw her. Perhaps she’s nervous because she’s in front of the camera?”
After Dokgo Miro’s song and dance performance, the judges discussed it for quite some time.
Opinions were divided between passing and failing, so the judgment was decided by a majority vote.
Dokgo Miro passed by a narrow margin of one vote.
When assistant MC Yeom Junyeol announced that Dokgo Miro passed, she shouted “Thank you!” several times.
“…..”
Hani was looking at Dokgo Miro’s face through the screen with her mouth closed and a face that seemed to be concealing something.
A related video was played after Dokgo Miro was announced to have entered the next stage.
It was a profile video that seemed to have been taken when Dokgo Miro was younger and compared to her current appearance, the middle school freshman Dokgo Miro was singing confidently.
‘What could’ve happened to Dokgo Miro all this time?’
Hani’s attitude and Dokgo Miro’s transformation ran on my mind.
* * *
Even after we returned to our own rooms after the broadcast, I still thought about the show’s Playlist.
The performers on the show were delighted that they could showcase their talents as people, not as players.
‘There’s my playable character too.’
The rap of ‘The Saint of Naejang Mountain’ was quite impressive.
Perhaps he had started to grow his hair back after returning to the civilized world, he performed with well-put short hair.
When a judge, who was a famous hip-hop musician, asked him to freestyle on the spot, The Saint of Naejang Mountain did so without hesitation.
The judges admired the freestyle rap and hit the pass button one after another.
‘I can’t believe he had that kind of talent.’
I felt that I should try harder for my playable characters and my classmates.
If this world can avoid the terrible ending that the game set upon it, all the players will be able to fulfill their dreams.
I suddenly remembered Yong Jegun’s words.
— If you’re going to wear the crow mask, you have to respect the Crow Devil and his beloved human’s preference.
— She said that simply wearing a crow mask is not enough to win the Crow Devil’s favor.
‘To win the Devil’s favor…’
Sidelentium, known as the Crow Devil, looks at the world through the eyes of crows.
The Crow Devil stays on the sidelines and keeps his silence.
He has so many eyes on this world that it wouldn’t have taken him that long to recognize me.
I might need to move faster in case I need the help of the Crow Devil.
While contemplating my next course of action, I fell asleep without realizing it.
