The video of a red wall that was filmed at a distance with very low quality.
A newspaper article summarizing the activities of the mysterious righteous man who shut down the Hwanmong Gate.
The clues to the Red Wall Thief that Yeom Junyeol first encountered felt faint and far-fetched.
But he didn’t give up his search for the Red Wall Thief.
In return for all his efforts, the Red Wall Thief himself visited Yeom Junyeol.
— Do you know why I was looking for you?
— You said you wanted to have me as your teacher.
The Red Wall Thief, who seemed to know his thoughts well, agreed conditionally to become his teacher.
The condition was that Yeom Junyeol should throw the first pitch at the Jamsil Baseball Stadium on the game on Teacher’s Day, May fifth.
As a result of Yeom Junyeol’s fulfillment of this condition, many people were saved from a crisis, and the Red Wall Thief finally became his teacher.
Even after he became his teacher, the Red Wall Thief’s identity was still concealed as if he were behind a thick fog.
Although he had a lot of clues, they weren’t enough to reveal the Red Wall Thief’s identity.
‘The Hwanmong Auction incident that involved Lena and Saeum. The incident where Hyodon was involved in Eungwang District. …They’re all related to Year One Class Zero.’
The actions of the Red Wall Thief involved the Year One Class Zero of Eungwang High.
Their meetings were also almost always on campus.
With those two facts, Yeom Junyeol guessed that his teacher was someone from school.
Yeom Junyeol believed that he would someday be able to learn the identity of the Red Wall Thief.
If he becomes a reliable student, if he becomes strong enough, his teacher will tell him who he is.
And then a time came when he revealed his aspiration to the Red Wall Cliff.
— I’m sure you’ll tell me one day, teacher. If I meet your expectations and become strong enough to handle your identity, you will definitely tell me.
Yeom Junyeol’s expectations were shattered in the worst way possible.
The attack of a dragon and a dragon slayer.
In front of the dragon slayer, Yeom Junyeol was completely helpless.
The Red Wall Thief sacrificed himself to save Yong Jegun, and his identity was finally revealed.
‘This is not how I wanted to know…! I’m still short of meeting my teacher’s expectations!’
The true identity of the Red Wall Thief was his Class Zero hoobae, Jo Euishin.
Seeing that Yong Jegun was wearing Jo Euishin’s school uniform and the crow mask he usually uses, it was obvious that Yong Jegun already knew.
Considering Yong Jegun’s sharp mind and reasoning, it wouldn’t be odd if he saw through the Red Wall Thief’s identity before Jo Euishin himself revealed it.
Thinking like so, Yeom Junyeol realized how lacking and helpless he was.
Jo Euishin used Ham Geunhyung and Kwak Gyungu’s light skills while pretending to be Yong Jegun.
‘Both Jegun hyung and Professor Ham Geunhyung are stronger than him. But… I think the light skill that Euishin used is much stronger than Gyungu’s!’
Jo Euishin could use other people’s abilities aside from Yeom Junyeol’s.
In addition to that, he learned another shocking fact.
Jo Euishin used Kwak Gyungu’s 100 Seconds of Grace to heal himself, but when Yeom Junyeol was staring blankly at the consumed Jo Euishin, Yong Jegun said something.
— This is Gyungu’s power. I would’ve thought Gyungu was in front of me if I weren’t looking properly.
— I sensed this before. Back during the Kimopolea incident.
Yeom Junyeol recalled the conversation he had with his teacher before the Stalemate Cup chess tournament.
— Are you coming to the shipboard party of the Joo-Oh and TC Groups this weekend?
— Will something happen? Should I come to the party too?
— No. Don’t come.
He couldn’t see the expression of his masked teacher, but he remembered how insistent his teacher was that he don’t come.
While making a depressed face to see if Jo Euishin would change his mind, his teacher said something to soothe him instead.
— If you weren’t there last time, people would’ve gotten hurt. Thank you. But you need to sit this one out this time.
The voice showed great consideration for Yeom Junyeol.
It made him so happy that he didn’t think further.
On what kind of risk Jo Euishin might have taken.
‘And there was an unexpected otherworld that spawned at Kimopolea. It was Soohyuk’s relatives and Wonwoo hyung with the other Eungwang High players who solved it. And…’
On the list of the players who participated in resolving the situation that day, the Nameless Supernova was included.
It was highly likely that Jo Euishin did something else aside from attacking the otherworld.
He doesn’t know exactly what it is due to a lack of clues, but it’s clear that he did something dangerous enough since he insistently told Yeom Junyeol to not participate in the party.
And he had to use Kwak Gyungu’s light skill.
‘Gyungu’s light skill is not for fighting. He could’ve used mine, Jegun hyung’s, or Professor Ham Geunhyung’s abilities, but given that he used Gyungu’s he must’ve suffered an intense injury that couldn’t be healed by recovery items…!’
Yong Jegun’s clothes worn by Jo Euishin were completely torn by the Dragon’s Fang and all the blood that came out of his body.
Looking at his appearance made Yeom Junyeol desperately realize how helpless he was.
‘The reason why teacher, Euishin-ie, taught me how to stifle my presence is… To prepare for a situation like this…’
Yeom Junyeol looked down at Jo Euishin, his mood as miserable as it could get.
All the incidents related to Jo Euishin flashed in Yeom Junyeol’s mind.
From the incident during the entrance examination to the youth retreat.
No, maybe there are more incidents that Yeom Junyeol has no clue about.
‘Maybe it was Euishin who saved all his classmates in all the cases where the Year One Class Zero students are involved.’
Yeom Junyeol felt his blood dry at the thought of Jo Euishin throwing himself into dangerous situations without a second thought.
Considering Jo Euishin’s personality, it’s certain that he would continue to do that, and so Yeom Junyeol’s eyes darkened.
“Yeom Junyeol sunbaenim, are you hurt?”
Jo Euishin’s words caused more hurt to Yeom Junyeol.
The crushing pain eventually made him cry.
He failed to hold back his tears, but he couldn’t cry any further.
The reason why his teacher, Jo Euishin, did these things was that Yeom Junyeol was helpless.
Nothing but an object that needed protection.
Yeom Junyeol, who thought that he would only gain his teacher’s sympathy but not his trust if he cried further, took a hold of himself.
After leaving Jo Euishin to Yong Jegun, Yeom Junyeol headed to the studio where the filming of Playlist is happening.
‘It’s a show that Euishin tried to protect by doing all that, and so we have to finish it safely to the end! On top of that, Miro, Euishin’s classmate, is a contestant too.’
He had the urge to go back to their home and talk to Jo Euishin more, but he couldn’t go now.
If he leaves this stage, Yeom Junyeol will really have no face to show his teacher.
And so he walked straight, steeling his resolve.
When he reached the studio, he saw a red cape bearing the Red Lion’s team logo.
Seeing that there is hardly any Dragon Clan in here, they must be wary of the dragon slayer.
“Junyeol-ah! I heard what happened. Don’t worry about anything else. Just focus on finishing the broadcast first. …Oh?”
One of the Red Lion team members who came looked surprised.
“Junyeol-ah, did you call Hongryong earlier?”
“No, I didn’t engage. Why, what’s the matter?”
“It could be just me but…”
The Red Lion team member looked straight into Yeom Juneyol’s eyes.
“No wonder, Junyeol… I can feel Hongryong’s energy in your eyes.”
* * *
The final broadcast of Playlist has begun.
After the commercial, the main broadcast will begin, but it wouldn’t start with the live broadcast right away.
Along with Choi Jina and Yeom Junyeol’s opening comments, the journey that the contestants went through so far was showcased and digested, showing not only the three remaining players but all those who participated.
At the same time, the editing was elaborate to make the final three contestants stand out.
Soon after the video, the stage where Dokgo Miro, Yeo Raehun, and the Namgung employee stood appeared on the screen.
It was the start of the live broadcast.
[Playlist, the last playback begins!]
Woahhh…!
As soon as Choi Jina and Yeom Junyeol finished their remarks, the audience’s cheers could be heard from the screen.
The Dragon Clan and members of the Red Lion team had their cheering sticks with dragon decorations on their hands.
The cheering stick seemed to be emitting light in response to energy waves, and their brightness was varied.
But since this group has everyone with a strong energy wave, the light coming from the cheering sticks was blinding.
If anyone else saw the scene, they would think that Yeom Junyeol was a contestant in the show instead.
‘…Aren’t people supposed to cheer on the contestant and not the host? But when did things ever go as normal? I want one of those too.’
Thinking like so while staring blankly at the screen, a dignified voice with a strong energy wave was heard.
Looking in that direction, I saw Cheongryong and Yeom Bangyeol holding a cheering stick, and it was shining so bright that it looks like it could explode anytime.
“As expected of my son…! It’s perfect!”
“There is no way that Junyeol would falter just because of such a thing. I never doubted him!”
Yong Jegun, who was watching the show beside me, said something.
“Haha, Cheonryong and Yeom Bangyeol look very excited.”
Yong Jegun was also holding cheering sticks.
Looking at its light, he’s just as excited as those two.
Like the star player that he is, Yeom Junyeol hosted the live broadcast with his perfect appearance.
Seeing Yong Jegun happily watching him made me feel better too.
The first stage was a joint performance of the last three contestants.
Yeo Raehun and Dokgo Miro finished their parts stably, but the Namgung employee was singing in a trembling voice.
‘That person warned everyone to run away before everything started. I’m sure he knows something. Hwang Jiho must’ve seen it too.’
In addition to Hwang Jiho, players from the Red Lion team are in the station as well, making it difficult for the other Namgung employees to pull out that contestant safely.
The performance sounded a bit unstable due to the sluggishness of the Namgung employee, but Dokgo Miro and Yeo Raehun worked hard to compensate for a decent opening stage.
The next things shown were the interview videos and the pre-recorded performances.
When Yeo Raehun’s performance was being shown…
I turned on notifications from my device because I was worried about the other kids who were watching live, and my device began to spit out notifications nonstop.
It was loud enough to be disruptive to the others watching the broadcast.
‘Should I turn it back off?’
Just when I turned on the hologram screen to turn off the notification sounds, I saw a pile of messages.
Almost all of them were from the other kids, but the volume of the messages sent by Hwang Jiho was overwhelmingly high.
Even now, messages kept coming up nonstop.
[Hwang Jiho] Jo Euishin, where are you?
[Hwang Jiho] I heard you were taken by Yong Jegun. What does that mean?
[Hwang Jiho] I thought you’d appear with Yong Jegun when the live broadcast started.
[Hwang Jiho] I just finished tracking your device.
The old man, who proudly boasted that he abused his power as the chairman, sent another message.
An ultimatum.
[Hwang Jiho] I will send someone who can enter the Dragon Clan’s Territory to come get you. Just you wait.
