Yeom Junyeol looked both delighted and hopeless.
There were many strong players around Yeom Junyeol.
His father is a master at the Red Lion team, one of the top ten professional player teams in the world, and his mother is a descendant of the Dragon Clan.
Cheongryong, Yong Jegun, and Yeom Bangyeol were with him since he was young.
However, he’s the only one who has the light skill that can summon the dragon of flames.
‘This is my teacher’s Hongryong…!’
As soon as Yeom Junyeol made eye contact with the Red Wall Thief’s Hongryong, he felt as if he were looking up at a star beyond the sky.
He felt like he is far from his teacher’s league.
‘…He’s out of reach.’
Yeom Junyeol’s head eventually went down after looking at Hongryong for a while.
He unconsciously lowered his gaze away from Hongryong and his teacher.
Meanwhile, someone who knew that Yeom Junyeol will meet with the Red Wall Thief tonight was quietly watching the scene.
Yong Jegun hid behind a space and watched the Hongryong.
Yong Jegun felt ecstatic about the Hongryong summoned by Jo Euishin, the Red Wall Thief, and the feeling of frustration from Yeom Junyeol.
* * *
The space around one area fluctuated subtly.
It seems like Yeom Junyeol didn’t sense it, but there’s no way I am mistaken.
‘It looks like Yong Jegun’s hiding over there.’
It seems like he’s followed Yeom Junyeol here.
Perhaps he made sure to see Hongryong this time since he failed to witness it at the labyrinth-type otherworld last time.
Yeom Junyeol was unaware of his presence and continued to stare at the Hongryong that I summoned.
He bowed his head after a while.
“Teacher is this… Will this be my future?”
The character that I assumed using the Player Identity skill is indeed a grown Yeom Junyeol, but strictly speaking, this figure cannot be called Yeom Junyeol’s future.
The Yeom Junyeol that I am using through my light skill is someone that has gone through incredible loss.
This Yeom Junyeol is someone who suffered the loss of his friends, and this figure will not be Yeom Junyeol’s future.
I am going to teach him the abilities that this figure has without making him go through that loss.
After a while, I spoke sternly.
“No.”
With that, Yeom Junyeol’s head lowered further.
His voice was completely void of vitality.
“Right? Teacher, your appearance and presence are too far from what I am right now. I’m not even sure I can achieve what this figure has. There’s no way that that’s me in the future.”
…I misspoke!
I thought Yeom Junyeol would be happy and excited to see the Hongryong that I can summon!
Although he’s a very mature descendant, he is still in his teens.
His mental state might be shaking because of all the things and responsibilities he is juggling around.
I have failed to consider my student’s mental health.
The Hongryong that I summoned floated around Yeom Junyeol who looked restless.
“Teacher, your Hongryong is not lacking at all.”
I couldn’t stand seeing my student’s morale fall deeper, so I reached out my hand.
My hand easily reached his head since his head was still lowered and my appearance right now was the older Yeom Junyeol.
After patting his head, he looked at me with his eyes, his head still lowered.
“…Teacher?”
Cheongryong or Yeom Bangyeol might cut off my hand if they saw what I did, but I patted him one more time before retracting my hand.
“You will be better than this figure that you see before you. I will teach you well.”
Yeom Junyeol raised his head.
He looked incredulous at first, but beyond that, I can see his confidence.
Whether my sincerity was conveyed or not, Yeom Junyeol’s expression turned to show his determination.
“I apologize for sounding weak. My teacher trusts me greatly, but I didn’t even believe in myself.”
Yeom Junyeol raised his hand in the air.
Fwaa!
A subspace opened above his fingertips and soon the Hongryong appeared beyond the flames.
The Hongryong that he summoned was smaller and weaker than the one I did, but its eyes shone brightly as it looked at the Hongryong that I summoned.
Yeom Junyeol’s mindset reflects on Hongryong’s actions.
“Alright! Please teach me well today!”
I nodded with pleasure.
Yeom Junyeol would need to undergo intense training, but he never spoke lightly of himself again.
Although today’s class wasn’t very long and he hasn’t achieved anything big yet, Yeom Junyeol’s expression was bright the whole time.
Before parting ways after our class, he thanked me for being considerate of his schedule.
I think Yeom Junyeol will do his best to maintain his ranking during the midterm examinations.
I left the place as I thought about my good student.
My device suddenly rang.
Dingdong.
I haven’t checked who it’s from yet, but I knew who it was.
[Yong Jegun] Euishin, I won’t tell Cheongryong and Yeom Bangyeol that you patted Junyeol’s head.
Aside from my identity, Yong Jegun has another leverage over me.
I know he wouldn’t do anything bad to me, but I feel like he can use it to make me do things that he wants me to do.
As if it was an ominous premonition, Yong Jegun immediately conveyed what he wanted.
[Yong Jegun] It’s a shame that I couldn’t tell you what I feel about your dragon in person. Next time, I’ll go closer to you when you show it to me.
[Yong Jegun] ^^
I can imagine Yong Jegun’s ecstatic face from the “^^” emoticon that he sent.
I really may have to show him Hongryong sooner or later.
* * *
Sunday morning, the meeting time promised with Jang Namwook.
I decided to meet Jang Namwook earlier for the interview.
Jang Namwook arrived earlier than me, but he came with additional people.
Do Sihoo, who saw me before Namwook did, greeted me.
“Hey! I followed him!”
I can see that.
It’s somewhat nice to see Do Sihoo, but what I was worried about was the kid beside him.
It’s my first time meeting her, but I know that she’s the Namgung Gyuyeon that I saw in the picture a while ago.
“That kid is the Nameless Supernova, right? He looks less suspicious than what the rumors say.”
What in the world are the rumors she heard about?
She has a small resemblance to Hong Gyubin, but other than that, I had a strange feeling about her.
“Oh, right Euishin. These kids have plans around here today too. Sihoo will be examined thoroughly at the Hwangmyeong Eungwang Hospital, and Gyuyeon will meet with her friend from Eungwang High. They said they’ll stay with me and wait at the café together before their schedules, so…”
“Namwook might get bored on his own so we offered to join him!”
“I stayed a bit for our batch leader-yo.”
It looks like Do SIhoo and Namgung Gyuyeon got along well.
The two are children of conglomerate groups but they seem to identify themselves more as cadets.
‘Still, we can’t disregard those two’s backgrounds. Jang Namwook might get caught up in an incident again.’
As I watched the three people exchange jokes with one another, the more I felt déjà vu.
It was because of Namgung Gyuyeon’s way of speaking.
‘She speaks like one of my playable characters.’
Perhaps her friend in Eungwang High is?
Both usually add the word “yo” unnecessarily at the end of their sentences.
Well, it is a slang often used on the internet so it’s not really sure.
“Ah, it’s time. I think I have to go now.”
“My friend also told me they arrived-yo.”
“Okay, be careful and get home safe. Don’t stay out too late. Call me if your plans are going to be long. I’ll send you guys an overnight form.”
“Yep.”
As Jang Namwook nagged the two, Namgung Gyuyeon approached me.
“Hey, give me your device code.”
“Alright.”
It’s common for friends of friends to exchange contacts anyway.
What I heard from Hong GYubin and Jang Namwook gave me the impression that she’s an elusive freak, but now that we’re exchanging device codes, she seems more sociable than I thought.
“Ah, thanks for last time. Call me if you need anything. My brother and I are always free to help.”
Namgung Gyuyeon parted ways with us after that.
‘Did she notice my involvement in the latest incident? I think she knows that I’m the culprit behind her brother always working overtime. Well, considering my friendship with Jang Namwook and Hong Gyubin, it’s not too hard to guess.’
Perhaps it’s because she’s Hong Gyubin’s sister?
It’s not something that I should say, but Namgung Gyuyeon looked very similar to Hong Gyubin and both gave me a suspicious impression at first sight.
When the two went out of the café Jang Namwook put out two file folders with dozens of A4 papers.
He put one in front of him and the other one he pushed in front of me.
“Euishin, I prepared answers to the questions you gave me in advance. I also put answers to additional questions that I expected you to ask!”
Jang Namwook’s lengthy words were written in small letters.
As expected, the summary is likely the biggest obstacle I’ll encounter in writing this article.
As I scanned the papers through my device, Yoo Sanghoon arrived.
He came on time, but I was far from done with my work.
“I knew it. Jang Namwook has so much to say.”
“I agree. I know I’m a bit talkative too. That’s why I organized it in advance. I thought I made it short enough though…”
“Haha, what?”
Yoo Sanghoon scoffed when he saw the pile of papers in my hand.
After listening to Jang Namwook’s additional nagging for about thirty minutes, I gave up organizing the interview papers and decided to just play around with the other kids for now.
Jang Namwook made a reservation at a galbi buffet, and the special sauce with leafy vegetables, fresh vinegar, perilla leaves, and citron syrup was excellent.
Of course, the meat and ribs were excellent too.
Jang Namwook and Yoo Sanghoon, who would’ve eaten a lot at the dinner party last night, heartily ate today too.
I don’t know how many servings of meat I ate, but I remember that the grill was changed around seven times.
The next thing we went to was the coin batting center to help with our digestion.
“The loser buys snacks.”
“Alright!”
Perhaps Jang Namwook is still upset that Sanghoon completely beat us when we went to the VR game room last time.
Or maybe because of the crushing defeat in last time’s basketball game?
He readily agreed to the bet.
Unfortunately, however, the lowest batting average was from Jang Namwook, a fan of the Joo-Oh Dragons.
‘Liking baseball and being good at it are two different things after all.’
Jang Namwook seemed to have thought about using his Eye, saying that he couldn’t see the ball well, but the rules indicate that using energy waves is prohibited.
He had to buy us ice cream in the end.
Jang Namwook chose one that had an that showed the Joo-Oh Dragons, and Sanghoon and I chose some random flavors.
As soon as Yoo Sanghoon tasted the ice cream, his face became distorted.
“What is this?”
“Yongyong-ie.”
The ice cream with Joo-Oh Dragons’ logo had a Yongyong-ie, their mascot, stamp on it.
Sanghoon and I gave the stamp to Namwook with no hesitation.
Hanging out with them was surely fun, and I returned to my dorm room with high spirits.
Dingong.
As if he were waiting for me to arrive home, a message came on my device.
[Hwang Jiho] Come to the mansion.
Before I could ask why he sent another message.
[Hwang Jiho] We need to discuss something with Heukma. I can’t let you talk with her personally, but you may listen.
