Hwangmyeong Mansion.
Hwang Jiho seemed to enjoy reminiscing the past as he explained in great detail about the match where he met Silver Tiger for the first time.
Red Tiger would sometimes get a word in, most of which were additional explanations about how young Hwang Jiho was and how much he liked kimchi soup.
In retort, Hwang Jiho also kindly reenacted the harsh words of Red Tiger in the past.
“Huh? Red Tiger-nim said something like that?”
“Red Tiger-nim always speaks respectfully though, even to us!”
“Hey, there’s no way Red Tiger-nim said those words.”
The descendants raised their voices, saying that they couldn’t believe it.
I witnessed Red Tiger cursing back when White Tiger attacked his son, Kim Shinrok, so I kind of believe it.
‘If I didn’t hear him curse that time, I would’ve thought that this old man is exaggerating.’
In that sense, only the positive traits were inherited by his son.
However, even Kim Shinrok seemed to suspect his ears when he heard the alleged old way of speaking of his father.
“…?”
Kim Shinrok rapidly looked at Red Tiger and Hwang Jiho, confused.
After a few moments of sheer confusion, he nodded to himself, seeming like he thought that the old man was just exaggerating and teasing his old friend.
On the other hand, Hwang Jiho looked very pleased with the descendants’ reactions.
“Hahahaha! Red Tiger changed the most among us in terms of our way of speaking! Red Tiger was famous for being a foul-mouthed troublemaker.”
“Yellow Tiger hasn’t changed at all. He always laughed like that, even before. It always made Blue Tiger angry.”
Seeing that Red Tiger isn’t denying it, Hwang Jiho must be telling the truth.
Instead, he took a jab at Hwang Jiho too.
“…Yellow Tiger-nim looked scary when I first met him, but he laughs and smiles well now.”
“So Yellow Tiger-nim has always been like that!”
“Ah, we heard about Blue Tiger-nim a few times from his disciples! When other members of the Tiger Clan caused trouble, they said that Blue Tiger-nim always helps Silver Tiger-nim to fix it.”
When Blue Tiger was mentioned, Kim Shinrok added to the conversation.
“I don’t know much about what happened before I was born, but I remember that my teacher, Blue Tiger-nim, was always busy.”
“Blue Tiger helped Silver Tiger a lot. At that time, I was afraid that Silver Tiger would pass over the position of clan head to me, so I kept away from the work of Tiger Clan.”
Just like the Chairman in PMH, this old man seemed to hate working before.
Well, he wasn’t the clan head at that time.
“Yellow Tiger stayed away from work but always caused trouble when he does, making Silver Tiger and Blue Tiger so busy. Yellow Tiger used to be relatively quiet, but when he’s made to work, he would play jokes and pranks one by one.”
“Hahaha! But didn’t you always go along with my playfulness? Blue Tiger was always on Silver Tiger’s side, and White Tiger avoided bothering his brother.”
Yellow Tiger and Red Tiger were the troublemakers, and Blue Tiger and Silver Tiger cleans up after them.
White Tiger must’ve taken a step back.
As expected, my playable character avoided hanging out with this playful old man.
“But the pranks that you and I played were always futile. In the end, you learned the works of the Tiger Clan, just as Silver Tiger wanted.”
Hwang Jiho nodded at Red Tiger’s words.
“That’s right. Silver Tiger always knew exactly what I was thinking about and worked it all out. He knew how to make me take on such a heavy responsibility.”
“How did Silver Tiger-nim do it?”
“It’s quite a long story. To cut it short, well…”
Hwang Jiho was silent for a while before his gaze landed on me.
He looked at me and seemed to be reminded of something.
“Let’s compare it to chess. Silver Tiger seemed to embrace himself as a chess piece. It was very difficult to accept Silver Tiger’s plan even though I knew his intentions.”
Someone who confidently embraced himself as a chess piece.
Those words reminded me of my past.
Like how my close hoobae used himself as a chess piece to destroy his family.
Silver Tiger’s way of speaking and the hint given by the transcendent universe all remind me of my hoobae.
I felt my throat dry up at the thought, and just in time, Hwang Jiho poured me another cup of tea and continued his story.
“Shall we go back to that day again? There were more things that happened after Red Tiger was brutally defeated by White Tiger, and White Tiger was scolded by Silver Tiger.”
“You mean the moment you were defeated by Silver Tiger more pathetically than I was.”
“Hahaha! I wasn’t as bad as you.”
The two confidently said they would meet in the final round, but ended up being brutally beaten.
The two tigers seemed similar in the situation, but a strange pride confrontation began between them.
Yellow Tiger and Red Tiger began to describe which one of them suffered a greater defeat, but from how I see it, they really both were on the same level.
However, I didn’t try to stop the two tigers because their detailed descriptions made the story more vivid.
I listened with joy to how my main playable character won in front of the Heavenly God.
At the same time, a hypothesis continued to solidify in my head.
‘…Maybe my hypothesis is right.’
I listened closely to their stories to find more clues.
The gentle Silver Tiger with amazing skills made White Tiger’s weapon.
In my memory, it reminded me of my hoobae who is dexterous and fresh.
The two continuously overlap with each other.
* * *
The hall where the Heavenly God shone his light.
The weapon aimed at Yellow Tiger’s vital point was sharply lit.
All the weapons made by Silver Tiger had this sophisticated and unusual feel to them which make it feel like they were made with iron needles.
‘I could use my boundary skill to redirect his energy. I can’t block him at all with just a staff.’
Silver Tiger seemed to know how to control his energy, and there’s no doubt that he can overpower Yellow Tiger even if he uses magic.
It was futile to fight further.
Yellow Tiger, who was pointed at by hundreds of weapons, collapsed on the ground and raised his hands.
“…I lost.”
The crowd erupted at Yellow Tiger’s self-forfeit.
Yellow Tiger was completely defeated by Silver Tiger.
The unexpected victory surprised the audience.
Fwaaa…!
Soon, the light from the heavens fell on Silver Tiger’s head.
Silver Tiger spoke with a bright smile as the light shone on him.
“It’s a relief. If you didn’t admit defeat, I would’ve had no choice but to hurt you.”
Yellow Tiger felt slight anger rise at those words, but he was busy observing and trying to decipher the trap designed by Silver Tiger which led to his defeat.
Silver Tiger has not moved a step since the start of the battle.
He walked out finally and removed each of the traps he installed so that Yellow Tiger would be released.
The latter looked so much like a tiger caught in a trap.
As soon as he was released, Yellow Tiger touched the trap and looked at Silver Tiger before bombarding him with questions.
“What happened while you were counting to five? What happened in those five seconds?”
Before the start of their match, Silver Tiger made a suggestion.
He suggested that if Yellow Tiger doesn’t move from his original position in five seconds, Silver Tiger would end the match in just five seconds.
It sounded very suspicious, but the endlessly curious Yellow Tiger accepted the suggestion.
And now, he was brutally caught in a trap and lost.
“Hmm, come to think of it, something was unnatural. Did you prepare all of that while I was preparing?”
Yellow Tiger gave a plausible guess.
Silver Tiger didn’t deny it, but he didn’t give out details either.
“I didn’t break the rules. Yellow Tiger-nim, you also intended to use the ground that White Tiger destroyed earlier. It’s quite similar to that.”
“…I see.”
Yellow Tiger was angry, but he managed to change his mind.
And that’s when he started bothering Silver Tiger.
Yellow Tiger followed Silver Tiger, his eyes shining.
“Let’s fight again. I’m calling for a rematch!”
Silver Tiger only smiled vaguely.
It bothered him more than getting a rejection, but then Blue Tiger and White Tiger appeared.
Yellow Tiger’s eyes sparkled at the sight of White Tiger.
“Alright then. White Tiger, fight with me! I’m better at using energy than physicality, but I will fight according to the rules set by Heavenly God!”
“What an arrogant tone.”
White Tiger stood between Yellow Tiger and Silver Tiger.
He looked at Yellow Tiger with cold eyes.
“You wish to fight me when you couldn’t even win against my dongsaeng.”
White Tiger was about to lift his wooden sword, but Blue Tiger stopped him.
Blue Tiger shook her head, lightly grabbing the handle of the wooden sword.
“White Tiger, did you forget what Blue Tiger said? A lot of people are watching here.”
“…I don’t wish to let that bastard off.”
“I’ll take care of it. At this rate, Silver Tiger will be bothered even more.”
Yellow Tiger immediately intervened.
White Tiger seemed to want to deal with him and so he couldn’t miss this opportunity.
“Your martial arts seem very interesting. However, I want to fight Silver Tiger or White Tiger right now.”
Silver Tiger stepped up first before Blue Tiger could say anything.
“Alright. Yellow Tiger-nim, if you win against Blue Tiger, I will fight you again.”
Yellow Tiger’s eyes sparkled, satisfied with Silver Tiger’s suggestion.
He would get to fight Blue Tiger and get a rematch with Silver Tiger.
Of course, his hope was completely crushed as he was quickly defeated by Blue Tiger.
“Hahaha! I lost this time. I won’t lose next time!”
Those were the words of the loser Yellow Tiger as he lost.
Silver Tiger spoke to him.
“White Tiger hyungnim and I will fight in the finals. Come watch.”
“…Didn’t you say you don’t want to fight?”
“Yes.”
Then what do you want me to watch?
Yellow Tiger’s face looked disappointed and Silver Tiger spoke soothingly.
“If my guess is correct, a precious person will come down from the heavens today.”
“The Heavenly God…?”
“The sky must be open for the Heavenly God to come down. Today is not that day. Someone else will be here.”
Silver Tiger’s persuasion succeeded and Yellow Tiger stayed in his seat to see who this ‘precious person’ will be.
And when Silver Tiger forfeited in the finals and White Tiger’s victory was decided, that ‘precious person’ came down from the sky.
“My father had difficulty delivering his voice, and so I came down instead.”
The Son of God’s voice rang on the ground.
In addition to him, there were three more standing behind him.
Silver Tiger saw them and knelt.
“Greetings, Son of God, Pungbaek, Usa, and Unsa.”
