Joo Soohyuk’s bodyguard and secretary, Kim Chul.
He entered their family’s big house for the first time in a long time for Chuseok.
His family gathered in a large house on holidays, but it wasn’t a place to discuss and update their family tree nor talk about complicated family matters.
They just gather for the holidays.
The memorial service table was set up neatly, and only those who had time would gather to talk and share holiday foods before parting ways.
Kim Chul went to the big house, not wanting to burden the other family members in explaining his absence.
“Aigoo, who is this! Isn’t this our Chul who works in a big company!”
“I don’t remember how many years it has been since I last saw you, hohoho.”
“I’m sorry I haven’t been able to visit all this time, uncle and aunt.”
Kim Cheol visited the big house on his vacation days after a long time.
Joo Soohyuk forced Kim Chul, who hasn’t been able to concentrate properly since the Kimopolea incident, to go on vacation.
He insisted at first not to go, but Joo Soohyuk didn’t withdraw.
— Ever since I got my alias, I’ve gone on a lot of otherworld attacks, and hyung has always followed me to protect me. You might get hurt in this line of work.
Joo Soohyuk worded it in a way that shows concern for Kim Chul, but to put it bluntly, the latter might be a disturbance to Joo Soohyuk’s performance.
Kim Chul felt that he was lacking and so took the offer to take a vacation.
He didn’t feel like staying at home alone so he went to the big house.
Kim Chul’s uncle and aunt didn’t question why the workaholic suddenly visited, rather they just gave him a warm welcome.
“Did my son tell you he’s entered Eungwang High this year? He’s Chul’s hoobae now.”
“Hyungu is already a high school student?”
“Yeah, haha. You were so busy you didn’t hear of it! They had some sort of sports competition at school recently. He even got an award!”
Kim Chul’s uncle bragged about his son.
Kim Chul reflected as he tried to respond.
He didn’t even know that his cousin was already a junior from his alma mater.
Kim Hyungu’s face came to his mind, the kid who wanted to pursue a career in soccer but couldn’t because he obtained his abilities and energy wave.
He must’ve changed his mind and decided to enter Korea’s most prestigious high school.
‘If he’s in Eungwang High, he must be living in the dorms. Should I go see him and give him some pocket money?’
After greeting all the elders in the family, Kim Chul headed to his cousin’s room.
He took some checks out of his wallet and put them in an envelope.
Hwiii, fwiii…
Kim Chul almost dropped his wallet at the whistle sound that suddenly came to his ears.
Compared to the sound that he heard before, this whistle was clumsy and didn’t have an energy wave in it, but it was almost the same melody as before.
Kim Chul ran toward the source of the sound.
Open!
He opened the door in a hurry, not taking his time to knock, and he saw his cousin Kim Hyungu.
Kim Hyungu, as if he knew that Kim Chul was coming, wasn’t surprised at all and instead greeted him brightly.
“Chul hyung! It’s been a long time. Sit here.”
Kim Hyungu stopped playing with the soccer ball and suggested his cousin to take a seat.
However, instead of sitting down, Kim Chul grabbed his cousin’s arm and asked urgently.
“Where did you hear that song?”
“Huh?”
“You were whistling something just now.”
Kim Hyungu answered innocently.
“Uhm, I heard it during the sports exchange exhibition with the military academy?”
Kim Chul knows the event very well since Joo Soohyuk mentioned it a few times.
He nodded his head and let go of Kim Hyungoo’s hand.
Kim Hyungu turned on his device and played a video.
“During the opening ceremony, someone from our school performed the sword dance ritual. That’s where I heard it.”
Kim Chul stared at the screen.
He saw a student wearing a white tiger mask performing the sword dance.
‘He’s using an unusual skill. I think this has something to do with the hero from that day.’
Kim Chul focused all his attention and tried to listen for the whistle sound.
However, he couldn’t hear anything.
“I think it’s on mute. Raise the volume.”
“Ah, there’s no sound recorded. They used some broadcasting equipment from Namgung Electronics, but there was some explosion or something and the sound device broke.”
It’s a pity that the sound wasn’t recorded, but Kim Chul’s face turned bright.
Without knowing what Kim Chul was thinking about, Kim Hyungu took the opportunity to boast about his MVP win in the first soccer match of the exchange exhibition event.
Kim Chul praised his cousin and added several checks to the envelope that he was about to give him.
He’s convinced that he had a clue as to who was the real hero who saved them during the Kimopolea incident.
* * *
We celebrated my first Chuseok in this world.
Chuseok is supposed to be celebrated with family, but my family doesn’t exist in this world.
Just as there is a record of matches that I never had, there were traces of a family that had never existed in this world.
They were all fakes though as a pretext that makes the existence of ‘Freshman Jo Euishin’ less questionable.
Fake pictures, fake remains, fake tracks.
Traces of a family that doesn’t exist were scattered in this world.
The death of my real family was already a distant past, yet I kept thinking of spending Chuseok with them.
‘I should’ve talked more with my parents. I should’ve played more with my siblings.’
It was embarrassing to say that that was the last Chuseok with my family.
The date was close to when I needed to leave the country for my tournament, so except for the day of Chuseok, I was mostly alone and rarely talked to my family.
The more I thought about the old days, the more I felt my hands turn colder and the more I felt suffocated.
‘Nothing will change even if I regret it. I’ll just do what I can do.’
I don’t have blood relations with anyone in this world, but there are people who are indebted to me.
As Chuseok approached, I asked the people I care about how they were doing and sent gifts, which made me think less of the past.
On the day of Chuseok, there were three other children in my class who were left in the dorms.
Meeting early in the morning, tasting the luxurious holiday menu together, eating the moon rabbit rice cake and songpyeon sent by Ok Toyeon, and studying, made me think less about the past’s Chuseok.
“The theme of the breakfast buffet was vegetables. I’m looking forward to lunch and dinner.”
“They said it’s fish for lunch and meat for dinner.”
“I want to eat gizzard shad. Is it on the menu?”
“There is an autumn gizzard shard on the menu.”
As lunchtime approached, the kids’ anticipation of the buffet grew.
I was worried that they would feel down about staying in the dorms and studying even though it was Chuseok, but everyone’s faces looked bright.
Mok Wooram was tactless, but he’s bright in nature.
Maeng Hyodon admired the dormitory meals that were at a higher level than usual.
Kwon Lena seemed to have stabilized a little in the past few days.
“Alright, I’ll be going first.”
“Okay, see you later.”
“Take care.”
I got up from my seat, and a message arrived right away.
It was Hwang Jiho.
[Hwang Jiho] …You didn’t come in the morning after all. I told you to come as early as you could though.
[Hwang Jiho] Come before lunchtime.
I didn’t say I would go early in the morning, so what’s this old man going on about?
He was the one who told me to come last night or early in the morning.
And isn’t Chuseok morning meant to be spent with close relatives?
I decided to visit after lunch because I didn’t want to interrupt a family occasion where the Tiger Clan would spend time together.
‘It’ll be okay to go now since guests usually come and go during the afternoon.’
I actually wanted to refuse his offer to visit on the day of Chuseok, but I couldn’t help it because of Olmu and the descendants.
I packed a holiday gift and headed to the mansion with heavier footsteps than usual.
* * *
Hwangmyeong Mansion.
When I arrived, Hwang Jiho in a golden coat embroidered with tigers delightfully welcomed me.
He suddenly put out a box of clothes wrapped in Korean paper.
“We also got you your own Chuseokbim. Put it on.”
“Why?”
“You got me a present recently, didn’t you? Think of it as me returning the favor.”
Isn’t this too much of a gift compared to the drinks I bought from the supermarket?
Still, it was difficult to refuse.
Especially when the descendants urged me to wear it.
“Shinsoo said he won’t come out unless Euishin hyung changes his clothes!”
“You want to meet Shinsoo don’t you?”
In the end, I had to accept my fate as I headed to change my clothes.
I borrowed a room and changed there.
I came out wearing the coat and the belt, and the tigers looked very pleased.
“It looks good on you.”
“Euishin oppa, it suits you!”
“…Thanks.”
As I replied in an embarrassed tone, Olmu, who was hiding somewhere all this time, finally came out and appeared in front of me.
This angel looks good in a hanbok too.
Olmu wore a saekdongjeogori, which made it worth it to wear this burdensome gift from Hwang Jiho.
(T/N: Saedongjeogori is a coat or a jacket in a hanbok worn by children which have striped sleeves in five colors.)
“You’re here, Jo Euishin. Everyone was waiting for you.”
“Hello.”
Kim Shinrok was here too.
He looked amazing in a red silk magoja alongside Red Tiger.
“Even if we’re all wearing hanboks, everyone seems to be from different eras.”
“Hahahaha! In the eyes of a 5000-year-old man, a few hundred years of difference is negligible. I only chose the design and color in consideration of who would wear it.”
Is that why he made White Tiger wearing a white silk dapo?
(T/N: Dapo is a type of hanbok that is either sleeveless or short-sleeved.)
The embroidered tigers on top of the dapo matched White Tiger’s straight posture very well.
“Euishin hyung, let’s take a picture. I’ll take one of you and Shinsoo too.”
“Let’s all take a group photo, including Mountain Spirit!”
With the descendants’ request, I had no choice but to join the Tiger Clan’s family photo.
Mountain spirit walked in the air in an improved hanbok and rushed towards us when it was time to take the picture.
After taking dozens of pictures, we all sat down to have lunch.
The topic that followed was this old man who forgot his real age as he told a story from the elementary school he attended.
“I punished the foolish humans who caused pain to our close friend, and I also gained something unexpected. I’m having a good time.”
I wondered what he obtained, but something else bothered me from what he said.
Hwang Jiho’s words were in the present tense.
“You’re still attending school?”
“Yes. I’m thinking of taking over Gwangil Elementary School.”
Nonsense came out of this old man’s mouth.
“I’m going to take the time to re-educate the students and replace all the teachers there according to my will.”
I don’t know what made him change his mind, but it’s clear that I don’t know why this old man is being ridiculous and continuing to pretend to be an elementary school student.
“A child with a very unique talent is attending Gwangil Elementary School. I got interested in him and I’m thinking of moving him to the nursery.”
“A unique talent?”
“His talent blossomed at a very young age, but no one seemed to have noticed because he doesn’t emit energy waves just yet. That’s the case for most children, except for me. I honed my light skill at the age of ten.”
A kid with a unique talent.
Suddenly, a playable character came to mind.
Hwang Jiho looked at me with a knowing face.
“If I let out just a little bit of energy wave, he says that I am like a tiger or I am making myself look like a tiger. He doesn’t see it with his eyes, but he feels it. He doesn’t understand yet the concept of energy wave or abilities, so he thinks that I look like a tiger.”
It was clear to me that the child Hwang Jiho spotted is my playable character.
Hwang Jiho continued saying useless things.
“Jo Euishin, you were donating to the nursery where that child goes to. Don’t tell me you already know his secrets.”
I didn’t answer.
It was common for Eungwang High students and teachers who make a lot of money by attacking other worlds to donate somewhere.
Maybe Jegal is donating to that same nursery.
I decided to answer brazenly.
“I donated because I heard about it from Professor Jegal. He’s the advisor of the newspaper department.”
“Hahaha! Alright, let’s leave it at that.”
After lunch, which I learned was prepared by Hwang Jiho himself, we moved to the living room.
The descendants were sent to another room, as the conversation we were about to have isn’t appropriate for them.
When everyone was seated, Hwang Jiho gestured toward me.
“I set my luck aside. I won’t be the one telling you the details since I do not know much.”
“I’ll say it.”
I looked at Kim Shinrok.
“There’s something that I want to try on you, Professor Kim Shinrok.”
I may end up using the Replay function on Kim Shinrok right here.
