The four major conglomerate families in Korea had one thing in common — each generation of their families is blessed with skilled players.
The head of the Hwangmyeong Foundation is one from the Tiger Clan, while the heads of Namgung, Joo-Oh, and TC Group were born players.
A feud between these four major groups would result in enormous economic and social losses.
Just as the incident of the “Joo-Oh Rebellion” where the conflict within the Joo-Oh Group caused more impact to the society than a lot of SSR-rank other worlds and enemies.
And so, after the Joo-Oh Rebellion, the Players’ Association has been keeping a close watch on the four major groups.
This fact made it possible for the Association to find out as soon as they received a report that one of the TC Group’s executives was involved in the mental interference of Do Sihoo.
‘I thought it was a type of curse that didn’t affect the person’s energy wave, which is why Do Sihoo’s test results always come back normal. I guess that’s not it.’
Hong Gyubin said that the nursing officer, who was bribed by a TC Group executive, manipulated the results of Do Sihoo’s energy wave test.
With that, Hong Gyubin uncovered the secret story of the TC Group.
— There have been signs of factions within the TC Group since a long time ago. Telecommunication, transportation, and otherworld industries will be separated from the TC Group.
Such was the rumor within the stock market.
But it seems like that humor turns out to be true.
There were signs of it inside the game too.
However, in the game, the factions within the TC Group haven’t actually been shed much light.
It was because the next head of the TC Group, who was leading the separation of the affiliates, became seriously injured in the Jamsil Baseball Stadium incident.
The head stepped down, and all the others disappeared one by one.
— Of course, it’s not revealed to the public because of the stock price issue. The group is divided into “pro“ and “anti” factions. The pro faction has been civil so far, but the problem is the anti-group.
— The pro faction has Do Wonwoo’s biological father and the King of Ships.
Hearing the explanation of the conflict inside the TC Group, I could approximate a causal relationship between the events.
Considering the ending for this world inside the game, it’s likely that Do Sihoo would be the next head of the TC Group.
It’s clear that the TC Group members are attacking Do Sihoo for their self-interest, at least regardless of the Black Screen’s intention.
— The King of Ships has already stepped back from managing the Group, but he holds a lot of shares and still has strong popularity and influence among the group.
— It would be most effective to remove the King of Ships himself, but it’s not easy. That’s why they’re aiming for his son.
Do Sihoo is an excellent man, but he tends to be reckless.
It’s a well-known fact that Do Sihoo has trauma related to water, but he still shows everyone that he wants to pursue his dream of being a marine.
The Demon Race took advantage of this image of Do Sihoo as a reckless man.
Their plan was to control Do Sihoo’s mind, make him kill others, and then commit suicide.
This would destroy the image and reputation of his father, the King of Ships.
According to the conventional wisdom of Korean society, even if the crime committed by one’s family member is irrelevant in law, one’s reputation and position would still collapse.
After listening to Hong Gyubin’s explanation, I told him about the Demon Race’s plan to use Do Sihoo to assassinate Do Wonwoo and the cadet representative from the military academy at the opening ceremony.
— I see. In addition to the adults, the young ones, Do Sihoo and Do Wonwoo are excellent men. They want to get rid of those two as well.
Hong Gyubin wasn’t surprised.
— The problem is that the person who was bribed by the TC Group executives belongs to the military.
Hong Gyubin believes that it was the nursing officer who manipulated the results of Do Sihoo’s energy wave test.
That nursing officer worked with Do Sihoo’s father when they were still cooperating with the Navy.
The King of Ships and Do Sihoo had a level of trust in him.
Hong Gyubin told me about the amount of bribes received, and I thought the amount was too shabby to break military law and make his friend’s son a murderer.
— The regulatory department will come forward in this case. The perpetrator and the victim are both players.
However, although the nursing officer is a player, he’s a soldier in the army.
Soldiers are under military law first before player-special law, and if they were to commit a crime, they would be regulated by military law enforcement first.
Can the association’s regulatory department really come forward on this one?
— I have a collaborator inside the military academy. With the help of that kid, I’ll be able to question him first.
As expected, there are exceptions that we can utilize.
If a player-soldier commits a crime that could cause serious casualties and a quick response was needed, there’s no need to wait for the military police to come first.
In the case of rogue soldiers arrested outside of military protection zones, it becomes possible for the association’s regulatory department to directly reprimand and interrogate them for a period of time before they’re turned over to the military.
The collaborator inside the military academy will help in preventing the nursing officer to escape while letting him go outside the area under military discretion.
“That kid you’re talking about sounds like a cadet.”
It would be a very dangerous act to do for a cadet, so I don’t know if it would be okay.
— I tried to stop this kid, but she just wouldn’t listen. My younger sister is a stubborn kid.
The collaborator is Hong Gyubin’s younger sister?
I took a mental note of asking Jang Namwook if he knows a cadet with the surname “Hong”.
‘Hong Gyubin and his sister will take care of matters there, so there would be no problem.’
The problem is on our side.
Back to the present, I stared at the Avaritia’s priest who was bound by the Spiritual Word.
The priest had been completely incapacitated and he could neither emit venom nor use his energy wave.
He was looking intently at the crow mask that I was wearing.
Because the Spiritual Word immobilized his whole body, including his vocal words, the priest is unable to speak.
Even if he tried to mouth words, only a weak groan could be heard.
Rather than holding resentment or hatred for the man who bound him, the demon’s eyes seem to be thinking of something last-ditch.
‘It bothers me even if he can’t say anything.
<Using Character’s skill, Spiritual Word.>
Fwaaa…!
Characters began to be written in the air one by one as I invoked Jegal’s skill.
As soon as I added a few strokes, the lips of the demon stopped moving.
The demon’s vocal organs are immobilized to prevent him from using a sound-activated skill, but his mouth was left mobile to prevent him from suffocating.
Even so, I thought it would be better to immobilize it because he could still breathe from his nose anyway.
The demon’s facial muscles froze and his mouth was left open.
“You don’t know who you’re up against. There’s no way that a man like you can compete against me.”
Hwang Jiho, who was in his 30-year old appearance, spoke to the priest.
Hwang Jiho began to wrap every inch of the demon’s body with his boundary.
‘Oh?’
The demon was rolling his eyes.
It was just for a split second, but I felt an energy wave materialize again from the body of the Demon.
‘This isn’t an energy wave from a regular demon. Don’t tell me he’s…!?’
Before I could use the Spiritual Word skill again, Hwang Jiho kicked the demon right in his throat.
“Quit bluffing.”
Hit!
When Hwang Jiho’s foot made contact with the priest’s Adam’s apple, the priest collapsed on the spot.
I could guess what the demon was trying to do at the end, but I don’t know if he failed or not.
“I apologize. I tried my best to hold back.”
Hwang Jiho clicked his tongue.
The reason why we held back from making the demon faint was to prevent it from making contact with a Demon God that appears through dreams.
The effort came to nothing, but I know Hwang Jiho and I did our best to hold ourselves back.
‘What was he trying to do before he fainted?’
The thing that the Avaritia’s priest tried to do just now was something that I failed to predict.
Still, I found nothing around the demon after I activated a detection skill and scanned the demon’s body.
“You go back first. I will leave this matter to my subordinates and return to my high-school student appearance.”
We couldn’t afford to take any more time.
The communication signal will be restored soon, and the Demon Race’s Eye will see the stadium again.
Until then, the priest needs to be imprisoned and transported in the vehicle that we prepared, and I need to return to being the newspaper clerk Jo Euishin.
‘…I’ll figure it out later. Whatever the hell that demon tried to do.’
I nodded my head.
Right when I took off my mask and wore my school uniform, the roof of the dome opened and the communication signal was restored.
I received a message from Hong Gyubin.
[Hong Gyubin] I secured the nursing officer.
[Hong Gyubin] I’ll get back to you after I interrogate him.
Hong Gyubin was set to work overtime again, but he didn’t complain at all perhaps because he was working with his younger sister.
* * *
The opening remarks by the student representatives were followed by the oath of players by both school’s team representatives.
By the end of the oath-taking, Hwang Jiho and I were able to rejoin the Class Zero students.
“Oh, he’s back with the vice president.”
“You should’ve returned earlier! The performance right before the opening remarks was amazing!”
“It was a reenactment of a scene from the Myth of Gaecheon, but the one doing the sword dance used a real ritual skill! I think that guy is from our school.”
Our classmates looked at us with pitying us because we didn’t get to witness the incredible sword dance performance.
Of course, I know very well how great the performance was.
After all, it was my main playable character himself who reenacted his great achievement.
The kids in our class did their best to describe the performance for Hwang Jiho and I, but as I listened to their chatter, I realized that the confrontation with the demon really was over.
“Euishin, Jiho, did you see that? A filming crew for Playlist is here!”
Saeum of April excitedly pointed to the podium.
On the platform stood Yeom Junyeol.
Yeom Junyeol was waving at our classmates, but I think I saw his face stiffen subtly when his gaze landed on Hwang Jiho.
It seems like the sight of the thousand-year-old mythical tiger sitting among teenagers made him uncomfortable.
Hwang Jiho spoke peacefully in a knowing voice.
“Dokgo Miro’s song is good. I gave permission for them to film here.”
Hwang Jiho seems to have known in advance about the show Playlist filming in the stadium, but he opted not to reveal it in advance.
In the show Playlist, the contestants were currently performing a mission in pairs.
Dokgo Miro’s partner was my playable character, the Saint of Naejang Mountain.
Although she’s been on the rise lately, Dokgo Miro has just recently redeemed herself from the bottom of the list.
She has been paired with the monk who had been in his top performance for consecutive weeks now.
“We will pack up the stage used for the opening ceremony and maintain the ground for the upcoming soccer match. In the meantime, the famous show Playlist will be filming a performance.”
All my classmates looked expectantly on the stage, and soon, Dokgo Miro appeared.
She wore the old white school uniform and came up to the stage.
Woooow–!
Cheers poured out for Dokgo Miro, who became famous in Eungwang High with her death match busking video.
Dokgo Miro smiled brightly and waved her hand.
As soon as the cameras were set up to take a test shot, I could see her face stiffen a little bit, but she acts much more natural now than before.
At that moment, I suddenly felt something odd.
I remembered what Hani said before.
— She was so nervous because everyone was watching her to the point that she couldn’t sing. She’s not the type to tremble in front of people, but I guess she does when it comes to singing. … But then, I only felt that because her expression was different and the atmosphere was different that time too.
However, unlike what Hani thought, Dokgo Miro wasn’t afraid of people – she was afraid of cameras.
‘Come to think of it, Hani seems to have a wrong idea about Dokgo Miro.’
Dokgo Miro found our class and waved to us.
Hani looked at Dokgo Miro with a complex expression.
