Morning, at the Hwangmyeong Mansion.
It was usually noisy at this time because of the descendants, but it was especially quiet since they were still in their rooms.
The first-born Eun Seoho and the second-born Eun Yiho are studying for the upcoming entrance exams.
The two were inspired by the image of Joo Soohyuk and Ahn Dain standing side by side on the podium at this year’s Eungwang High Entrance Ceremony, and so they said they would strive to get a perfect score on their exams to be like the two.
The youngest, Eun Jaeho, wanted to play with the mountain spirit or Shinsoo so that they wouldn’t disturb the others from their studies, but the mountain spirit seemed strangely discouraged lately, and Shinsoo was already busy following around White Tiger.
Eun Jaeho was a little upset that he had no one to play with.
On the other hand, Shinsoo was appealing for something by biting White Tiger’s leg and tapping his arm.
Woof! Woof!
“You can’t. I’m not going to take you.”
Woof!
“Your power is not the issue. It’s not as much as you had in your prime, but I know you’ve regained strength.”
White Tiger spoke calmly, while Shinsoo wagged his tail quickly as he looked at him with anticipating eyes.
However, White Tiger’s words shattered Shinsoo’s expectations.
“I can’t take you unless you want to show your true self to Jo Euishin. Your appearance right now is only a distraction for him.”
Whimper…
At the mention of Jo Euishin, Shinsoo was defeated.
Shinsoo was still reluctant to show his true form to Jo Euishin.
“Hahaha! You were cold to Jo Euishin yesterday, and now you’re regretting it.”
Yellow Tiger, who was having his morning tea time after an early breakfast, burst into laughter.
Grr….!
“Hahaha!”
Shinsoo took a threatening pose, but Yellow Tiger just laughed.
He was in a very bad mood after the first practice of Class Zero, which he participated in as Hwang Jiho, but it seems like his mood has gone up again after the weekend.
He was laughing excitedly until Shinsoo went to Eun Jaeho’s room.
That was when someone entered the front door.
“Come in, Red Tiger. Have you finished your investigation?”
A distinct red fog rose and scattered finely at the end of Yellow Tiger’s gaze.
When the fog had completely disappeared, the Red Tiger appeared.
“I’m home.”
“Alright. Go ahead and report.”
“To begin with… Jo Euishin has no history of being exposed to domestic or school violence. There’s no evidence of him suffering from long-term violence for him to get used to the pain or being hurt.”
“Not even with enemies or someone of royal lineage?”
“No.”
Yellow Tiger put down his cup of tea and was lost in thought.
“He said he never joined a sports club or attended an after-school academy, right?”
“Yes.”
“His medical records are clean, and both Hyangrok and Akea’s disciple have found nothing wrong with his body. I’m sure it’s not a disease. Hmm…”
“Maybe it’s just natural for him?”
Yellow Tiger shook his head at Red Tiger’s words.
“There are people who are born with high pain tolerance, but there’s no one who’s born who is used to suffering. Hyangrok said that Jo Euishin’s pain perception is normal. He was very stable even though his arm almost got cut off. As if he’s used to suffering.”
“…His arm almost got cut off?”
“Yes. It’s been on my mind since the time he almost got pierced by the Sangbosimgeumpa. You should know how that feels.”
“At that time, I thought the effect of his light skill protected him effectively…”
“Jo Euishin didn’t use the same abilities during the first practice. It’s not like a stab or a wound… No, it’s almost a complete amputation. Even with the recovery item, there’s a trace of his arm almost getting cut off.”
Yellow Tiger’s words reminded him of when he was stabbed by Jogangryeob.
As soon as the blade hit his body, he felt a pain that seemed to be crushing all his organs, blood vessels, and every cell on his body one by one.
It was a pain that even the Red Tiger couldn’t stand.
‘Didn’t the ability that he used have anything to do with pain tolerance or relief?’
Red Tiger looked visibly stunned, while Yellow Tiger spoke again, expressionless.
“There’s another mystery for us to solve after that “Sungheon” person.”
Yellow Tiger switched his gaze from Red Tiger to White Tiger.
White Tiger was dressed differently than usual, but he had his usual cool expression.
“Do you have any ideas, White Tiger?”
“…”
White Tiger did not answer.
He didn’t expect much, but the Yellow Tiger seems to intend to speak again to urge him to answer.
Before he could speak, the Red Tiger cut off the conversation.
“How about you? You are in the same class as him. I think you’ll know more about him and his past if you stick with him.”
Red Tiger’s words made sense, so Yellow Tiger was lost in thought again.
“I have no idea how he got used to feeling pain.”
After their first practice, he even called over the cadet from the military academy to perform a ritual.
He must be feeling tired, but he didn’t let it show.
He even offered to investigate the facilities to be used for the sports exchange exhibition the next day and made some plans.
Customized medicine relieves fatigue from the body, but not from the mind.
Jo Euishin ignored mental fatigue and continued to move diligently.
“But I can guess why he can endure the pain.”
Yellow Tiger ended his words as he gazed in the direction where Eungwang High was.
* * *
In the afternoon, after class, we walked to the Eungwang Stadium where the opening ceremony would be held.
The stadium was about an hour’s walk from the school.
There were shuttles operating today, but the majority of our class wanted to walk to the stadium.
Song Daesok expressed that he was tired and busy from his work at the association and so he didn’t want to walk.
However, Song Daesok still hasn’t reconciled with Min Geurin after the “seaweed + rice” incident during our first practice, so he eventually gave in and started walking behind Min Geurin.
While we were walking, something troubled my mind.
‘Saeum and Lena look awkward. Is Lena avoiding him on purpose?’
The kind-hearted Saeum was friends with everyone in our class.
He gets along well with Kwon Lena these days, but he’s still closer to Hani because they had spent more time together.
I thought they would get closer during the first practice, but it seems that they’re falling apart.
‘…Oh. Right.’
I remembered Kwon Lena’s reaction to seeing Hongryong during our first practice.
I’m sure that Saeum caught it too, and he must’ve asked Lena about “that word”.
‘If I intervene and make a bad move, the situation will become more awkward.’
My playable characters are falling apart, and yet I can’t think of a solution right away…!
Before I knew it, we arrived at the stadium as I was overwhelmed by the feeling of helplessness.
“Wow…! There are so many stands! Those are all cheering supplies, right?”
The kind-hearted Saeum was completely oblivious that he was being ignored by Kwon Lena as he pointed here and there.
Several stands containing headbands, t-shirts, cheering sticks, megaphones, and others were scattered all around.
All of them were stamped with seals of either Eungwang High or the military academy, and they were of higher quality than those created by the students.
‘I can’t believe there are so many merchants in here!’
Unlike outsiders, students distributed cheering supplies with the help of the student council.
Merchants seemed to have expected a huge flock of people to come to today’s opening ceremony.
There were a lot of Eungwang High alumni, and also aspiring Eungwang High students who bought some merchandise.
“It’s all wonderful. I’d like to buy one to remember this day.”
“Oh, this one looks nice. Doesn’t this thing shine when you inject your energy wave into it?”
“No! I want this one. It’s a battery. It’s an old type, but I want it.”
“Wooram… That stuff is all in the box you were holding earlier. Look carefully before buying anything. Saeum, Hyodon! You guys too!”
Kim Yuri hurriedly tried to stop the pushovers in our class from buying unnecessary stuff.
“I don’t remember giving anyone permission to do this. How fearless of them.”
Hwang Jiho gritted his teeth at the sight of the cheering items being sold on the stands.
“It’s the first day of the festival so I will let this slide. I won’t be tolerating this tomorrow. The profits that these people make today should be collected tomorrow too.”
With “Chairman Lee’s” brutal declaration, we all entered the Eungwang Stadium.
The line to the stadium was long, but school officials and students were able to quickly enter through a special entrance.
The seats assigned to our class were close to the entrance, and there were no obstacles blocking our view at all.
‘It’s a shame that we can’t watch with the other kids.’
But we have to do what we have to do.
I chatted with the other kids as we looked at the pamphlets distributed by the Eungwang High student council and the Player Military Cadet Association.
Before I knew it, it was thirty minutes before opening time.
Hwang Jiho and I stood up from our seats.
“We’ll be back.”
I had an ID card with the word “PRESS” written on it.
The newspaper department had selected members to participate in the coverage of the event prior to the event itself, but when Hwang Jiho and I belatedly applied, they still readily accepted us, saying that they needed more staff anyway.
Hwang Jiho and I were tasked to take photos around the stadium and to film some interviews with audience members.
“…Oh right, you and Hwang Jiho are working with the newspaper department. Did you say you’re going to take photos around the stadium?”
Hani looked disappointed when I announced that we’ll leave.
“We’re going now. We’ll be back after so make sure to reserve our seats.”
“…”
The look of disappointment completely washed away from Hani’s face when Hwang Jiho spoke.
* * *
Hwang Jiho and I separated after a while.
I found an unexpected combination.
‘That’s Im Yeonhwa and Hong Kyungbok.’
They were both teachers, but I don’t think I’ve ever seen those two interact before.
They seemed to be quite close, and they seem to be having an amicable conversation.
I didn’t use any hiding skills, but I tried my best to mute my footsteps to avoid being seen by them.
As expected, I failed.
“Oh, you’re covering for today’s event. Work hard.”
“Hmm! I thought you were a kid from my class.”
Hong Kyungbok smiled kindly as usual, while Im Yeonhwa was still as crude as ever.
“Hello. How are the Third Year Class Zero seniors?”
“My cute students asked me to play with them since they got impatient from waiting for the event to start! We’re playing hide-and-seek right now.”
These people…
“Hide-and-seek?”
Im Yeonhwa explained brightly after I asked.
“If I find all the kids before the opening ceremony starts, I win. The loser will duck-walk all around the stadium. I agreed to it because I thought it could help with my cute students’ training of course!”
It’s less than thirty minutes before the ceremony starts.
I wonder if she can find them all.
I don’t think she has time to relax here, but Im Yeonhwa still looked confident.
“There’s so much time left still. I’m going to start finding them when it’s ten minutes before the event. That way, the kids will suffer in hiding a little bit longer.”
She doesn’t seem to think that she’d lose at all.
Anyway, the strong homeroom teacher and her poor students seem to be getting along as usual.
But I think it’s one-sided for Im Yeonhwa.
She’s the only one who thinks her students are cute, and her students do not see her the way she thinks they do.
“Those kids…”
Hong Kyungbok’s gaze was fixated on something behind me.
When I looked back, I saw students dressed in uniforms from the Military Academy walking toward us.
There were some familiar faces among them.
