Mok Wooram had recently heard about the “Class Zero prank on the first day of admissions” from Park Seunghyun.
On the night of the first admissions, a long-haired lady fell between the rooftop and the 17th floor of the dormitory building.
The Class Zero freshmen played a violent prank in the dorms on the first day, but it’s said that they behaved after being scolded by Sung Siwan and Ham Geunhyung.
Mok Wooram found this strange.
There seemed to be no students in their class who would play such a cruel prank.
‘I think maybe Jiho would do something like that but… It’s still strange.’
Mok Wooram trusted his gut instinct.
His perspective in life so far didn’t help him escape the life of a pushover, but he did successfully meet his muse.
Thinking that this case was extremely related to his muse, Mok Wooram’s head was filled with more thoughts than usual.
‘Was it really a person who fell? Maybe it was a scarecrow or a dummy?’
After some thought, Mok Wooram decided that it was definitely a female student.
There were more than one or two students who say they definitely saw a female student falling between the 20th and 17th floors of the building.
It seemed impossible to deceive the senses of several players in the school.
‘He said the problem was after the dormitory orientation. And according to the dormitory rules, even students who study at Eungwang High are prohibited from entering after 8 o’clock.’
That means the girl who fell must be a dormitory student.
That narrows down the list to two.
‘The only two female dorm students in our class are Lena-nim and Hani… and Hani has short hair.’
To get more clues, he decided to ask Kim Yuri about the number of students in their class on the first day of admissions.
— Pres., I heard that there were fewer students in our class who attended school during the first few days. How many people were there on the first day of admissions?
Kim Yuri readily replied.
— It was me, Hani, Euishin, and Jiho! … Ah, Euishin and Jiho were called to the Chairman’s office in the middle of the day, so I guess it was just me and Hani.
Hearing those words made Mok Wooram sure.
Kwon Lena fell off the roof on her first day at school as a joke, but she couldn’t attend further until she got her act together.
But Mok Wooram couldn’t guess why she fell.
‘Is it related to the energy violin?’
In the past, Kwon Jein once asked Mok Wooram’s teacher to make a violin as a gift.
She mentioned that she’d give the violin to a family member if they show interest in it, but somehow the violin ended up in Kwon Lena’s hands.
‘But my master’s muse lost all her family during the great otherworld attack in Manchester… and there’s no other noteworthy information on the web about her…’
Mok Wooram’s reasoning was eventually met with obstacles.
Coming all the way here, all he could do was worry about Kwon Lena.
“…They’re taking so long. What could be the problem? Well, Euishin is on it so I guess everything would be alright though!”
Saeum of April spoke in a peaceful tone.
Jo Euishin also saved Mok Wooram once, so Mok Wooram could guess why Saeum trusts him that much, but he couldn’t be relieved until he personally confirms the safety of his muse.
The thought of Kwon Lena falling from the dormitory building kept replaying in his head.
“…I will be heading out for a moment.”
“Ah, Euishin said we should wait here though…”
“I’m sure it’s alright if at least one of us is left here. If anything happens, please contact me through my device.”
“Ah, alright. Euishin didn’t say the two of us should be left here. Be careful!”
And so Mok Wooram headed to the freshmen dormitory building.
While going up in a hurry, he saw a burst of flame coming from the rooftop and he began to climb faster.
And, on the rooftop, he discovered Kwon Lena.
* * *
“…What are you doing here?”
“I climbed the wall of the building to come here. On my way up I saw a fireball coming from the roof so I hurried and…”
He saw Hongryong and sped up.
No, that’s not the problem.
‘He has been climbing the wall before I even used my light skill. Why the hell did he choose to do that instead of riding the elevator.’
While I was thinking of what I should ask him first, Mok Wooram held the railing with one hand and wiped his tears with the other.
His posture was stable enough that it was difficult to think that he was hanging from a 20-story building with one hand.
He took a breath and began to speak.
“I heard about the prank on the first day of admissions, and they say it was our class who did it. But I don’t think anyone in our class is capable of doing such a thing. And if it’s not a joke, then the person who really fell was…”
Mok Wooram guessed that it was Kwon Lena.
Perhaps a wave of sadness came to him again at that thought, Mok Wooram burst into tears once more.
“…Lena-nim looked down and anxious throughout the exams. I couldn’t calm down because I suddenly couldn’t contact Lena-nim. I was even more anxious after waiting for the vice president for a long time but you wouldn’t come back.”
Is that why he came here?
To see if Kwon Lena is standing on the rooftop?
But it would’ve been safer and faster to use the elevator than to climb the walls, so why in the world did he do that?
You need a leap skill of at least level 5 to climb faster than an elevator.
“…Why did you climb the walls?”
“What am I going to do if Lena-nim falls while I’m riding the elevator!”
Mok Wooram shouted in a rage.
I don’t blame him since it’s truly difficult that a classmate, his muse, Kwon Lena tried to make this choice.
At first, Mok Wooram seemed to speak calmly, but he seemed to be greatly anxious and panicked.
“If I climb the walls of the dormitory, I would be able to catch Lena-nim if she falls. I spiraled up the building so that I could catch her no matter which side she falls from!”
Mok Wooram must be very skilled to be able to do that.
Based on extremely objective and cold reasoning, I think he reached a conclusion and took reasonable action, but I was surprised that the result of it still sounded crazy to think about.
Indeed, Mok Wooram was an unusual talent who could be assigned to Class Zero in just one interview.
‘But I hope he stops hanging from there and just comes up.’
Anyway, I felt oddly proud of Mok Wooram’s physical abilities while I worried about my playable character, but now is not the time for that.
‘…Now Mok Wooram knows both my secret and Kwon Lena’s.’
Mok Wooram seemed to have arrived right after I used my light skill.
‘That word’, the silent oath, the auction.
Mok Wooram must’ve heard everything.
And he was crying, which makes me very sure.
He’s probably saddened to learn about Kwon Lena’s situation.
“I can’t believe there’s nothing I can do when Lena-nim is in so much pain…”
Mok Wooram burst into tears again, and there’s no sign of it stopping.
‘He really cares about Kwon Lena.’
I didn’t like the fact that this crazy guy uses my playable character for inspiration, but what he did today was indeed laudable.
If I were late today, Mok Wooram would’ve gotten Kwon Lena.
After much consideration, I remembered something that Mok Wooram could do.
“I think it’s better if you stop calling her ‘-nim’ from now on.”
“…Is that all?”
“Yeah.”
“…I will do my best.”
Mok Wooram nodded his head.
“Well, then I’ll leave Lena-nim… No, Lena. I’ll leave her up to you.”
Mok Wooram said so and prepared to climb down.
I thought he wouldn’t leave here without Kwon Lena, but I was wrong.
“…She would be flustered to learn that someone else knows her secret. Please tell her later on when she’s calmer.”
So that’s why he didn’t approach even after Kwon Lena and I finished talking.
Mok Wooram climbed down with tears still falling from his eyes.
He could’ve just waited until we left and then ridden the elevator down, so I wonder why he chose the troublesome route.
Mok Wooram’s thought process is indeed extraordinary
* * *
The next day, Kwon Lena took a break from school.
When he learned of Kwon Lena’s absence, Mok Wooram also left early and tried to climb the dormitory building again.
The CCTV cameras were off today and so he wasn’t recorded climbing the walls yesterday, but if he does it again, I’m sure he’ll be caught.
I tried to stop him before he makes more work for Jiikhoe and Ham Geunhyung.
“I heard Kwon Jein sunbaenim took her yesterday. I think she’ll be staying at the Lake of Eternity Team Building.”
“…Lena-nim, no, Lena’s with my teacher’s muse?”
The aftermath of yesterday’s unstoppable wailing was the extremely swollen eyes of Mok Wooram.
He blinked once and fell into deep thought.
“Is Lena okay? Is she sick? I was surprised to hear from her yesterday.”
While waiting yesterday, Saeum eventually returned without meeting Kwon Lena.
I spoke softly, apologizing for keeping him waiting.
“She’ll be fine. I heard the Team Doctor of the Lake of Eternity Team is taking care of her.”
“Ah, come to think of it, Lena said she was tested there last time.”
I called Kwon Jein that day.
Yesterday, Kwon Lena was in such a bad condition that she didn’t even notice Mok Wooram’s presence.
She was under so much stress for such a long time, so it wasn’t strange for that to happen.
Kwon Lena said she was okay, but I recommended that she choose between calling the nurse’s office or calling Kwon Jein.
— …Yeah, I want to talk to Kwon Jein sunbaenim too.
Instead of being alone with her thoughts at the nurse’s office, Kwon Lena decided to talk to Kwon Jein.
Meeting the team doctor was just an excuse.
She really just wanted to talk with Kwon Jein.
‘Kwon Jein didn’t seem determined to talk about Kwon Lena’s birth secret though…’
Kwon Jein came running as soon as I called her.
She looked distressed at Kwon Lena’s condition.
She couldn’t speak properly when she saw her.
Still, now that the two could talk openly about the Hwanmong Auction, it’s still a big step forward.
I told the kids about Kwon Lena’s absence after the attendance check.
“Oh, right. Euishin, I wanted to prepare materials with you before we go to the student representatives meeting for the third quarter. Let’s have lunch together.”
“Alright.”
I nodded right away at Kim Yuri’s suggestion.
A meeting was scheduled for class representatives right after the examination.
We also had this meeting during the first semester, but this third quarter meeting was a little special.
Starting in the fourth quarter, the delegates selected in the last election will lead the meetings.
That means that this was the last meeting to be led by the third-year students.
‘They’ll probably still be present to support their juniors, but I don’t think they’d get involved anymore starting with the fourth quarter meeting. The newly elected representatives will do a very good job…”
I suddenly realized that graduation for the third-year seniors was just around the corner.
* * *
England, Manchester.
His stay in England was longer than scheduled, but Seodol enjoyed every moment.
He became closer to this strange Korean boy who turns out to have an excellent ability on top of his great aesthetic sense.
Today, he came to meet with the boy again.
“Did you do well on your midterms? Do you have any plans to go back to Korea now that your exams are done? Shouldn’t you show something to the kids who dared to underestimate your talent?”
As usual, Seodol whined to convince the boy to go back to Korea instead of a normal greeting.
Today, the boy was wearing a green matte velvet jacket embroidered with something that looks like either a dragon or a snake.
‘I think I’ve seen that before… Where have I seen that motif?’
The boy dressed in avant-garde answered Seodol with sincerity.
“As always, I will consider Mr. Prankster’s suggestion. But I still have something to do before I return home.”
“So what in the world is it?”
The boy always answered that question vaguely, but today, he spoke with a confident face.
“There’s something I need to get back from a great artist. I’ve finally got a clue, and I’m going to move soon.”
“What do you need to get back?”
“The hint is in my clothes.”
Seodol tilted his head and burst into admiration.
Looking at it closely, the design in the clothes worn by the boy today was depicted in a painting by a Korean artist.
“Dopoom (Loot), I will get back the ‘Imoogi’s Exorcism’.”
