I accepted title hero Joo Soohyuk’s kind offer and so our class is now set to watch the Korean Series game.
Joo Soohyuk initially handed out six tickets but said he would get more seats if there were more people who want to go.
There are currently ten students in our class constantly attending school.
We need four more tickets if everyone’s going to come, but exactly only six people expressed their intention to watch the game.
“I want to go! I want to hear Miro sing!”
“If Miro’s coming then I’m coming.”
“…I want to go.”
Min Geurin, Song Daesok, and Hani immediately expressed that they wanted to go.
Song Daesok is only tailing Min Geurin, while the latter seems to be sincerely looking forward to Dokgo Miro’s performance.
‘It’s not really Dokgo Miro’s performance we’re going to be watching, but it would be nice to watch her sing the national anthem in a meaningful place.’
According to Joo Soohyuk, all the finalists of Playlist will come to sing the National Anthem so it’s not really a solo stage either.
But if she gets a chance to sing it as a soloist one day, I and my classmates would surely be present to watch her.
“Oh, then I’ll go too! I’ve never been to a baseball stadium so I’m not really sure, but aren’t these seats super expensive?”
“I want to hear Miro sing and I want Lena ni– I mean I wish to watch with Lena too.”
Kwon Lena and Mok Wooram also expressed their intention to come.
Kwon Lena looked visibly brighter after the re-test.
Mok Wooram is also glad about this change, but he still seems to be struggling with not calling her “Lena-nim”
On the other hand, the other kids said it would be difficult for them to come with us.
“Ah, sorry, I’m set to spend this weekend with my family. I have to buy my aunt’s present that Uncle Semin asked for…”
Saeum of April spoke with an apologetic expression.
‘At this point, he should call her Auntie Oh Hyejung.’
Oh Hyejung said she’d definitely send me an invitation once her marriage with Semin of April was confirmed, but since I haven’t received anything yet, the marriage must not be set yet.
Still, seeing that Semin of April asked Saeum to buy a gift for her, I can feel that invitation would soon reach me.
“Ah, I can’t go too. These days the old man… I mean when I’m having a duel with the teacher, I keep feeling like a skill would be activated but I don’t know yet. That man should be guiding me at times like these you know? I saw the baseball game last time, so I’ll pass on this one.”
Maeng Hyodon also expressed his intention not to attend.
“I saw you training with Yoonseob lately, and he looked so tired… Is it okay that you guys don’t get rest?”
“…It’s fine.”
“Honestly, I wanted to hang out next weekend so I asked my teacher to meet this week instead. I think I won’t be able to come to the baseball game.”
“…Teacher?”
“Yeah, I’m learning energy wave control and dealing with my light skill.”
Kim Yuri and Maeng Hyodon, who were both undergoing personal training, seem to understand each other well.
Maeng Hyodon was still a bit awkward, but at least he’s much better than the first semester.
‘Kim Yuri’s still being taught by Tiger Clan’s chief sorcerer.’
As the class president, Kim Yuri sincerely wanted to learn how to control her abilities.
“We’re going to the Playlist broadcast next week, and Halloween is just around the corner so I’ll have to work hard this week!”
The mention of Halloween reminded me of another important thing.
‘I should get ready to leave the country soon. I should gather everything I need in advance, including geographic information, and the exclusive menu should be set too, and…’
My Halloween is going to be spent abroad.
To be exact, I’m planning to participate in a party that will be held in a royal lineage’s castle.
‘There are other things to do besides preparing to leave the country.’
We’re going to watch the baseball game this Saturday.
The Playlist broadcast is Wednesday.
The Halloween is Saturday after that week.
And then there’s another indispensable thing in between.
‘I have to go lay flowers…’
This Sunday is the anniversary of my family’s death.
In this world, there is a burial chamber that holds the fake remains of my family.
Although those are fake remains, I can’t miss out on that day.
Whether it’s this world or the real world, there’s no one else to lay flowers for my parents and younger siblings other than me.
Maybe old friends would come to my parent’s grave, but no one else would give flowers to my younger siblings who passed away at such a young age.
My thoughts were interrupted by Hwang Jiho’s laughter.
“Hahaha! Yours truly would be busy on that day. It seems like I won’t be able to watch the Korean Series with you people. Don’t be too disappointed.”
Hwang Jiho’s high school self seems to be very busy these days.
But is there anyone in our class who’s disappointed?
“…Who said we’d be disappointed?”
“Daesok! You can’t say that!”
Song Daesok’s tactless comment completely captured what I felt.
* * *
Hani wandered around slowly in her dream.
Her legs were heavy and her energy wave wasn’t cooperating so she couldn’t use her leap skill.
As she struggled to move forward, she encountered someone who was blindfolded.
“Who…?”
The person’s eyes weren’t visible as they were covered with a cloth embroidered with five colors.
Nevertheless, Hani was convinced that the person was looking at her.
That someone moved their mouth as if trying to tell Hani something.
However, the person’s silhouette was suddenly surrounded by a shaking faint light.
Their surroundings were dark which made it more difficult for her to read the person’s lips.
‘Are you…?’
Hani tried to speak, but her voice didn’t come out.
Jwiiing…!
Hani slowly returned to reality as she felt the vibrations on her wrist.
She woke up from the vibration of her band-type device.
‘It’s that dream again…’
She has been having the same dream ever since the first day of admissions.
The only time she doesn’t have that dream is when she doesn’t get enough sleep.
She can’t help it.
‘I think the dream’s becoming clearer.’
As her mind gradually relaxed, Hani began to analyze her dream.
Hani tried to guess the identity of the person whose eyes were covered in her dream.
‘It must be a higher being. Someone who has influence strong enough to interfere with human dreams for a long time. It must be a god.’
Hani recalled the lessons in the textbooks about superior beings that she borrowed from the school library.
She only has a few clues so she couldn’t pinpoint exactly which god it was, but Hani didn’t give up.
‘It’s still hard to lip-read, but I think I’ll be able to deduce something based on the five-colored blindfold cloth.’
After thinking about it for a while, Hani stretched her body and got ready to get up from her bed.
Today was the weekend and it was still quite early, but she had to go to Taehokwon’s morning self-training and then watch a baseball game later in the day.
‘…It’s going to be obvious if I choose this over watching Miro’s performance.’
When they were still in elementary, Dokgo Miro pushed away Hani with harsh words.
– I’m planning to debut as a solo idol, so I’m going to be on my own now!
– I’m scared to be on the stage, but maybe I’d get used to it better if I’m alone.
– I hope the other kids don’t pay attention to me.
– Don’t sit next to me. Go somewhere else.
Since then, Dokgo Miro and Hani went their separate ways and spent their time in school alone.
Dokgo Miro still visited the nursery, but she always made sure to avoid visiting on days when Hani was there.
Dokgo Miro was mostly alone and she always pretended to be okay whenever Hani was watching, Hani heard of her going around some places and calling herself King of Back Alleys.
The young Hani couldn’t understand and hated seeing what Dokgo Miro was doing.
However, now that she’s a high school student and could look back at the past more objectively, she feels something different about Dokgo Miro.
Instead of the pain that she felt before, it’s more of a feeling of incompatibility now.
‘ If the strange story on the SNS of one of my elementary school classmates is real, then Miro is…’
Hani stopped her thoughts as she left the freshmen building.
Instead of thinking of Dokgo Miro, she decided to focus on practice.
* * *
Saturday, in front of Jamsil Baseball Stadium where game three of the Korean Series will be held.
The whole area around the stadium was covered in red and white, symbols of the Joo-Oh Dragons.
Cheering resounded from all over the stadium.
I could feel everyone’s eagerness and expectation for their team to win as the team’s mascot waved to the audience and cheering towels and balloons were distributed everywhere.
‘They’ve been a runner-up 10 times in the last 15 years, but they’ve never won yet. I’m sure they really want the team to win.’
Considering the team’s performance and the players’ records, no one could deny that the Joo-Oh Dragons is a strong team.
Nevertheless, the team never won a championship.
Forever Second-Place, Forever the People’s Champ.
Those words were always used to describe the Joo-Oh Dragons, and they’re considered a trigger button for the team’s fans.
‘A lot of the players became unable to play after the Children’s Day incident in PMH, so the team’s spirit was completely crushed.’
But things are different now.
The Joo-Oh Dragons seem to really have a shot at winning.
“… There are so many people.”
“Oh, Geurin, come sit between Daesok and me.”
“Come here, Geurin!”
Min Geurin was slowly adapting to crowds in school, but it seems like it’s different with complete strangers.
She pressed on her hoodie and moved between Kwon Lena and Song Daesok.
Mok Wooram smiled at the scene of his kind-hearted muse.
“Let’s buy some snacks before sitting down.”
“I agree. My bank account is not at 0 Won today! Le– Lena, do you want anything to eat?”
“There are so many delicious-looking foods…”
Kwon Lena looked around, her gaze stopping at Hani who looked quite down.
“I want to eat something sweet. I can smell some churros, shall we go buy some?”
“…Let’s go.”
Hani quickly cheered up a little at Kwon Lena’s suggestion.
We lined up in front of the churros house when…
Our surroundings suddenly became noisy and a crowd began to form.
“What the? What is it?”
Min Geurin stepped forward and tried to look far ahead, but the source of the disturbance couldn’t be seen from the huge crowd.
The tall Song Daesok looked forward and confirmed it instead.
“I think it’s the people from Playlist? Aren’t they supposed to sing the National Anthem? What are they doing here?”
“There’s still time left so maybe they’re looking around.”
“Oh? I think they’re coming here?”
As the number of people increased, Min Geurin began to take cover behind Song Daesok.
And soon, a celebrity appeared among the crowd.
It was my playable character, the Saing of Naejang Mountain.
“…”
The Saint of Naejang Mountain made a sudden appearance and stared at Kwon Lena’s violin case.
