Near the area where the Player Military Academy’s cheering squad stood.
Jang Namwook, the current flag bearer and head of the cheering squad, faithfully kept his gaze on the audience seats.
However, his full attention is on the stage in the center of the main stadium.
When all the lights went out in the stadium, Jang Namwook turned his back immediately and used his Eye of Star Maiden to look directly at the stage.
Perhaps it’s because someone set up a boundary to counter an intuition skill, the area below the stage looked blurry.
He couldn’t see the entirety of the stage clearly but just made Jang Namwook certain.
‘…The fact that I can’t see clearly with this eye is proof that something is going on!’
Jang Namwook took off his glasses and tried to focus on only looking for Do Sihoo.
When he began to concentrate energy wave in his eyes, he began to see clearly.
Do Sihoo, as seen by his eye, had just knocked down all the staff members below the stage.
Jang Namwook tightened his grip on the cheering flag he was holding.
‘Sihoo is really there…!’
It isn’t known by everyone, but the center of the sports exchange exhibition between Eungwang High and the Player Military Academy is none other than Do Sihoo.
The idea of having an activity between the two schools started from Do Sihoo’s suggestion to Yoo Sanghoon of having a basketball game.
On top of that, Do Sihoo was a cadet from the Player Military Academy, but he’s like a younger brother to Eungwang High’s student representative Do Wonwoo.
Thanks to Do Sihoo, the two schools, which had little interaction at all, successfully coordinated with each other to host this sports exchange event.
It was obvious what would happen if Do Sihoo, the bridge between the two schools, killed the student representatives from Eungwang High and the Player Military Academy during the event he helped facilitate.
It was clear that the two schools would never interact with each other ever again if that happens.
‘It’s just as Euishin said. If anything happens, everything will be painted as Sihoo’s fault…!’
It’s going to be very difficult to find evidence otherwise when even Jang Namwook’s eye cannot clearly see the manipulation being done by the Avaritia priest.
On top of that, if Do Sihoo, son of the TC Group, would be proven to be manipulated by the Demon Race, there would be too many people that should be held responsible, mostly from the Player Military Academy.
On the other hand, there are a lot of witnesses to Do Sihoo’s recent odd behavior of seemingly attempting to kill himself.
That would fit the narrative of Do Sihoo being a man who lost his mind, and people wouldn’t doubt that he’s capable to kill others.
Do Sihoo was already being framed as the villain right from the start.
Jo Euishin’s prediction was completely correct.
— The ones controlling Do Sihoo will make him commit suicide in the end. He’d be a man who killed a superior cadet and his brother-figure in an open place due to inferiority complex and stress.
— If their plan succeeds, I think those who planned this assassination, and even those who weren’t involved, would see Do Sihoo’s death as the best-case scenario.
“Sihoo…!”
Jang Namwook couldn’t do anything but call his friend’s name in this terrible situation.
Just then…
Do Sihoo stopped moving for a moment.
His mechanical movements stopped for a split second as if he felt Jang Namwook’s sincere gaze.
Do Sihoo, who seemed to have come back to his senses, looked around.
Jang Namwook wanted to take Do Sihoo away from under the stage right then and there.
‘…No. I need to trust Sihoo and Euishin. If I interrupt now, Euishin’s plan might be disrupted!’
It was only for a short moment that Do Sihoo regained his senses.
It was difficult for Jang Namwook, who still lacks experience, to maintain the Eye of the Star Maiden at a high level for a long amount of time.
On the other hand, the moment Jang Namwook’s eyes couldn’t observe Do Sihoo anymore…
Do Sihoo began to move unnaturally as if he had lost complete control of his body.
Like a puppet being manipulated by threads.
Do Sihoo strode just below the stage where the two student representatives were standing.
Fwak!
At that moment, a warm lump of energy wave slapped Do Sihoo in the face.
“Ahk!”
Do Sihoo felt a sharp pain on his face, similar to the sensation of being slapped by his friend Jang Namwook.
He let out a short scream and touched the cheek where he was hit.
Do Sihoo sensed that the restraints on him had been temporarily loosened.
The energy wave that slapped Do Sihoo quickly disappeared.
He couldn’t see it clearly, but the lump of the energy wave, which was the size of a fast, seemed to have assumed a new shape.
The unidentified energy wave bothered him, but that wasn’t his best concern right now.
‘I can move my body…!’
However, a hundred threads were again about to wrap Do Sihoo.
After having a grasp of the situation, Do Sihoo knew that if he won’t be able to escape the threads on time, his body would be tied and manipulated again.
And god knows what would happen if they do.
‘…I’m not letting that happen!’
Do Sihoo activated his light skill.
A chain of light emerged around Do Sihoo’s body.
[Are you going to resist with that measly chain? Enough with the bluff. You know very well that your light skill is useless if your opponent is not in front of you.]
Do Sihoo heard the voice in his mind again.
As the voice said, the only people within the proximity of his light skill were the collapsed staff, Do Wonwoo, and his senior cadet.
It’s impossible to use his light skill against the one who’s controlling him.
However, instead of responding to the voice, Do Sihoo exerted more energy wave, strengthening his light skill.
The chain of light enforced with Do Sihoo’s energy wave prevented the threads from attaching to his body.
[So you choose to defend… but you can’t do that for long.]
Fwa!
The chain of light surrounding Do Sihoo was hit away.
Cheung!
But once the piece of chain was hit, it went back immediately to Do Sihoo.
A voice of astonishment rang in Do Sihoo’s ears
[Don’t tell me…!]
The chain of light and energy wave produced by Do Sihoo quickly swirled around him at an extremely high speed.
Do Sihoo tied himself with the chain.
The chain, which absorbed Do Sihoo’s energy wave, stopped moving only after Do Sihoo was completely restrained.
The chain tightly squeezed his body and caused considerable damage, but Do Sihoo only endured the pain with a determined shout.
“There you go! I can’t ignite the bomb now that my energy wave is sealed and my light skill is unusable! What are you going to do!”
* * *
All my playable characters had something in common.
They don’t give up easily.
Even at their very last moments, none of them joined hands with the black screen.
None of them felt frustrated or pessimistic about their inevitable fate.
No one gave up even if there was a time when they knew that they would be left behind and be sacrificed.
The White Tiger, the last playable character to fall, was the same.
The White Tiger faced the game’s bad ending carrying the will of all the playable characters that died before he did.
I have the most immense respect for my last playable character who stood in front of me.
I had absolutely no doubt that White Tiger’s words would trigger Saeum of April’s light skill, King’s Word.
‘Still, my Player Identity’s usable time has been greatly reduced. Perhaps it’s because I’m faced against a high-ranking priest of the Demon race?’
I’ve only invoked Saeum’s light skill once on Do Sihoo, but the time limit on my Player Identity skill was greatly reduced.
But this isn’t the time to save up on my light skill.
I pulled the Fate of the Unknown card out of my holster and held it in my hand, ready to use it any time.
“Alright. Let’s move to the next location.”
With my words, White Tiger wordlessly nodded.
* * *
Activities and interactions between player-specialized schools undergo a long process before being actualized.
The biggest concern during such interactions is securing a location.
Hundreds of students would have to enter the other school’s campus in order to use their facilities, which is too much to handle as the huge number of students would be difficult to monitor to ensure everyone’s safety.
As a result, events like this are almost always held in rented facilities that could accommodate thousands of players at once.
Eungwang Stadium was selected as the venue for the sports exchange exhibition’s opening ceremony.
The stadium was constructed by Hwangmyeong Constructions and is fully equipped, in the form of energy wave, against players going rogue or enemies suddenly spawning.
However, it was also possible to manipulate things so that the communication signal would be cut off inside the stadium.
Something bothered the Avaritia priest.
“…The dome roof closing wasn’t part of the original plan. And who in the world cut off the communication signal? It’s impossible to use the Eye at all.”
The Demon Race had the Eye they could use to observe from a distance.
The conditions of invocation and blockade of an “eye” were different for every clan, but for the Demon Race, their eye largely relies on communication signals.
This “Eye”, which is activated with electromagnetic waves used in wireless communication, was so excellent that other clans cannot detect them, let alone block them.
That’s except for two people – Dragon Clan’s Yong Jegun and Rat Clan’s Seodol.
Still, there are drawbacks to it.
Once the communication signal is cut off, the Demon Race’s Eye is also blocked.
In modern times where high-tech devices dominate, wireless communication is a must.
However, humans have the ability to turn it off whenever they like.
‘Hmm…’
Suddenly, an eerie feeling came over the Avaritia’s Priest, and he unleashed his energy wave in response.
Kwang! Geung! Fwaa!
A golden boundary and a purple venom intertwined in the air.
The Avaritia’s priest, who was almost caught by the boundary, clicked his tongue.
He was careless because he had been monitoring the entire Eungwang Stadium with the Eye just now.
He didn’t detect any suspicious movements, but the opponent seemed determined.
“Huh. Yong Jegun said he couldn’t feel the Eye at all when the communication signal was cut off on Seokmo Island. I see it now. That annoying eye is reliant on communication signal after all.”
In front of him was the Guardian himself, the mythical Tiger.
It was the Yellow Tiger assuming his 30-year-old form
“So you’ve noticed.”
“I did. How far are you willing to go, infiltrating my territory like this? And you came alone. Without fear.”
Although he pretended to be calm, the Avaritia’s priest tried his best to maintain his breathing.
‘Was he checking to see if there were any other Demons in the audience!? How long has he known I was here…?!’
He confirmed that the annoying beings from Eungwang High such as Yong Jegun weren’t present here, but he never sensed that the Yellow Tiger himself was here.
All people of royal lineage can determine whether someone is a fellow royal lineage, but the Eye cannot.
And so the priest couldn’t detect the Yellow Tiger, who blended himself in with the audience.
‘It’s foolish to try to deal with the Yellow Tiger inside his territory!’
Instead of responding properly, the Avaritia’s priest decided to threaten the Yellow Tiger.
“If you do not let me go, I will kill everyone in the audience.”
“…”
The Yellow Tiger squinted his golden eyes.
Until just now, the Avaritia’s priest had been pretending to be a staff and planted seeds all throughout the Eungwang Stadium.
He double-checked that all the seeds were planted without any problems, and he could sense at this moment that they were all still alive and rooted.
There are many excellent players in the stadium, but there are also those who are weak.
The seeds would cause a huge casualty that no two schools would ever think about working together again.
“I don’t think you’ve predicted that I would plant seeds even though you knew that I was coming.”
The Yellow Tiger didn’t react to the priest’s taunt.
The Yellow Tiger looked deadpan as if he was trying to discern if the priest was serious.
The Yellow Tiger spoke eventually.
“There must be something you can’t see even with your clan’s Eye. I thought maybe you had seen it coming, but you didn’t.”
The Yellow Tiger’s remark somewhat sounded secure.
The priest realized that the Yellow Tiger was hinting at something.
“Don’t you know yet? The son of the King of Ships has a friend that can see through the truth, and there are a lot of people who can see through all your shallow tricks.”
* * *
The agitation in the audience gradually subsided.
In front of the entrance leading to the stage, someone in uniform appeared as a white energy wave surrounded him.
Those who saw the person nodded silently and dropped their vigilance.
“Oh, the order of the event must’ve changed a little.”
“Oh right, I think I saw this on the updated version of the event schedule.”
“It seems like it…”
The kids in Class Zero recalled the event schedule written on the pamphlet.
“What is it? What changed? Aren’t they supposed to play the soccer match after the opening speech?”
Song Daesok, who didn’t get to see the updated event schedule, asked Saeum of April.
“Uh, what was written on the description again? Oh, right. There’s supposed to be a ritual performance that embodies a scene from the Myth of Gaechon.”
Someone dressed like a student was wearing a white tiger mask and holding a pure white sword.
