Ham Geunhyung received an elusive order from Chairman Hwang yesterday.
It happened while he was on the way to the broadcasting station where his students were watching the live broadcast of Playlist.
— Where are you right now?
Famous for neglecting school matters, this was the first time that Chairman Hwang called him.
Still, the Chairman suddenly asking for his location triggered his sense as a player.
Instead of letting the situation’s unexpectedness wash over him, Ham Geunhyung reflexively conveyed his location.
After hearing Ham Geunhyung’s answer, the chairman gave an order in a clear voice.
— Get off the air taxi immediately and head for the station. I’ll send an exact location through a device message. The main gate will be crowded, so through the other buildings nearby…
Ham Geunhyung got off the air taxi and started running while listening to further instructions.
The station was where his students were, and perhaps he was flexible to situations, Ham Geunhyung immediately complied without being too flustered by the sudden orders.
The moment he reached the location tagged by Chairman Hwang and tried to scout the inside of the broadcasting station with his light skill…
The voice of a superior being suddenly resonated in his mind, as if he were waiting.
— With my arrow, take down that dragon who broke his oath.
While the short order went down on him, a bright light flashed in front of his eyes.
Beyond the blinding lights were Yong Jegun and Jo Euishin.
In the hands of the bloodied Jo Euishin, he was holding a light-filled shrine filled with the power of the superior being who had just ordered him to take down a dragon.
What was in that shrine was the arrow of the Sun God Apollo.
Jo Euishin was using his light skill.
‘I thought only one person can use a superior being’s power in a light skill…!’
Superior beings can give orders/protections to multiple people.
However, they can only let one person borrow their power in the form of a light skill.
The grace and blessings of superior beings can be enjoyed by many, but they can only have one agent.
As far as Ham Geunhyung knows, that fact hasn’t been refuted ever since collisions between worlds occurred.
‘Why in the world is this kid…?’
Ham Geunhyung was well aware that his student possesses incredible power, but he didn’t know that it was at an extraordinary level where it ignores the rules of this world.
Ham Geunhyung was flustered, but he luckily decided to prioritize knocking down the being that threatened his student’s and his fellow teacher’s life.
After knocking down the dragon who broke his oath, Ham Geunhyung left his student’s safety to Yong Jegun and headed to deal with enemies in the basement.
He had a lot of questions about Jo Euishin, but there wasn’t one student in there that wasn’t in crisis that day, so Ham Geunhyung continued to fight.
— Come and report to me as soon as the situation settles. Any time.
Right when he arrived back at Eungwang High, he received another message from the chairman.
The chairman clearly expressed that he’d receive a report even at the break of dawn, but Ham Geunhyung couldn’t go right away.
After he accompanied the students, he and Jegal had to discuss media response guidelines with Hwangmyeong Foundation’s public relations team, and after that, he had to deal with the people from the association and the Red Lion team members.
The situation was completely settled in the morning, and Ham Geunhyung had to report to work without getting a wink of sleep.
When he entered the classroom for the attendance check, the Year One Class Zero kids looked strangely excited.
‘Are Jo Euishin and Song Daesok going to be absent today?’
Song Daesok submitted a report of absence through the association’s research institute, including evidence of attendance and the reason for his absence.
Jo Euishin didn’t get in touch, but he received a message from Yong Jegun that Jo Euishin was resting.
‘I thought Song Daseok would be absent the most since he got a job at the institute, but it looks like Jo Euishin’s absence is more frequent.’
Gong Cheonghwon, the teacher for General Enemy Studies, asked about Jo Euishin’s safety a few times.
Although attendance wasn’t really graded, it seemed worrisome that most students were often absent without prior notice.
After finally finishing his day’s work at school, he finally headed to the Chairman’s office.
“I’ve been waiting for you. Take a seat first before you report.”
Eungwang High’s Silver Hall, the Chairman’s Office.
Ham Geunhyung arrived around the time that Hwangho received a call from Kim Shinrok that Jo Euishin and Sung Gukeon had taken off.
Ham Geunhyung finished his report in a professional manner without hesitation in front of Hwangho’s Hwang Myeongho alter ego.
“That’s all for the report.”
Ham Geunhyung decided to omit everything that would put Jo Euishin in a more difficult position.
He briefly explained that he found Yong Jegun in battle, he gave some help, neutralized the enemy, and then headed to the basement to help Jegal.
It was a brief report, and Hwangho did not seem satisfied at all.
All the explanations that Hwangho wanted to hear were missing.
“There are a lot of omissions in your report. If I had your eyes, I’d have seen so much more. After breaking through the station’s boundary, didn’t you see the identity of the opponent, as well as Yong Jegun and Jo Euishin’s condition?”
“…”
“The Red Lion Team failed to secure internal video data. I need a considerable level of a report to make up for that.”
Doubts arose again in Ham Geunhyung’s mind at the persistence of the chairman.
He put his thoughts aside for a while in front of the urgent situation, but he didn’t fail to find the chairman’s order suspicious.
It was like he knew that Cadmus would appear and go after the dragon and the descendant.
‘My day at Hongcheon could’ve ended a lot later. There was a good chance that I wouldn’t have made it on time. There were too many variables, so I don’t think the chairman was elaborately setting up a trap to get Cadmus.’
Ham Geunhyung decided that it was impossible for him to grasp the chairman’s reasons or sources of information with what he currently knows.
So instead of finding out the cause of the chairman’s persistence, he decided to focus on the consequences of his reports.
Ham Geunhyung asked carefully.
“Will the reports I am making here reach the ears of student Hwang Jiho?”
Ham Geunhyung knows that the Year One Class Zero students are generally close to each other, except maybe for some kids like Song Daesok.
However, he also knows that the students who had been attending school since day one would have a special bond since they’ve been with each other the longest.
That’s why he mentioned Hwang Jiho, a relative of Chairman Hwang.
Hwang Jiho and Jo Euishin were two of them.
“…That’s quite an unexpected question.”
Hwangho stared at Ham Geunhyung with a blank look on his face.
It seemed like he never imagined Hwang Jiho’s name being mentioned.
Ham Geunhyung experienced a time when the Chairman was largely neglectful of matters concerning the school, so he didn’t find his question strange at all.
“Wouldn’t it be natural to ask since the two of them are in my class?”
Hwangho didn’t answer for a while.
He was lost in thought before opening his mouth again.
“I see. Jo Euishin must’ve been hurt enough to worry about Hwang Jiho finding out.”
Hwangho made a conclusion on his own, but Ham Geunhyung didn’t respond.
He seemed to be hesitating to reveal information that would put his student in trouble.
With that, even though he didn’t hear the answer he wanted from the report, Hwangho smiled and told Ham Geunhyung that he was free to leave.
When he was left alone, Hwangho murmured while looking through the report submitted by Ham Geunhyung.
“I see our homeroom teacher is both a good player and professor.”
He didn’t hear anything from Ham Geunhyung, but since it seemed like Yong Jegun’s mouth was itching, he knows that with a little push, he could get all the information he needed.
He did feel a little anger at Yong Jegun for stopping Kim Shinrok from getting Jo Euishin, but he decided to push it down because he knows that the dragon was a valuable source of information.
Dingdong.
At that time, a message arrived on his device.
He hoped that it was a message from his heartless benefactor, so he checked it right away.
[Annoying Rat] Hwangho, are you busy?
[Annoying Rat] I’m busy.
“…So what?”
Hwangho looked at the message sent in a formal tone with a disgusted face before reaching to turn off his screen.
However, a message arrived before he could close the hologram, which effectively stopped Hwangho in his tracks.
[Annoying Rat] There’s a party in the U.K., and I’m going to be there.
The place where Jo Euishin was headed.
And the head of the Rat Clan was in England.
It couldn’t be a coincidence.
‘Don’t tell me the reason why Jo Euishin is heading to the U.K. is because of this annoying rat?’
Instead of leaving his message on read, Hwangho replied to Seodol after a while.
[Me] Tell me about that party in detail.
* * *
“Ah, it’s been a while since Hwangho replied to me!”
Beyond his device screen, Seodol looked inexplicably happy.
His enthusiasm was met with a soulless reply.
“Congratulations.”
In front of him was a Korean boy, sitting at a working desk and focusing on his sketches with charcoal in one hand and bread in the other.
The boy, who had declared his desire for the Imoogi’s Exorcism, has been working so hard lately that he had no energy to deal with Seodol, chief designer of a high-end luxury fashion brand and clan head of one of the 12-point alliances.
Seodol knew that the boy was busy, but he persisted and bothered him.
“I wasn’t going to ask since I thought it would break the excitement, but it seems like I have to since the time before Halloween is almost up. What are you doing? I’d like to help you too.”
He had received a message back from Hwangho, but instead of replying immediately, he changed his subject of interest to the boy.
Hwangho must be exploding on the other side of the Earth, but Seodol couldn’t care less.
“I’m making an advanced notice.”
“A notice…?”
“Yes. I’m going to make a big announcement to the world before I fulfill a great achievement.”
Seodol looked at the boy strangely.
This world had far too many pretentious idiots who would reveal their evil plan just before they commit it, and of course, they’d deal with the consequence of their arrogance.
Seodol felt sorry as he thought that the adorable human before his eyes might just commit a stupid act.
“The opponent isn’t easy. The location in itself is like that too but… don’t you think sending an advance notice would be dangerous?”
Seodol switched from informal to formal language.
It was a sign that Seodol was losing interest.
“I know that very well. But if you’re a mysterious thief like me, you have to take the risk and send a notice!”
Even after hearing Seodol’s words, the boy replied stubbornly.
“It’s a gentleman’s noble way of duel to give a heads up before a big event!”
The boy jumped from his seat and clenched his fist, and the hem of his pure white morning coat fluttered.
Working with charcoal while wearing white clothes is considered an act that should be avoided, but the stubborn boy wanted to wear the white morning coat that morning.
“The oddness of sending out bizarre notices! A splendid and elegant costume worthy of being branded a thief! A free and fresh track record that cannot be caught by that bold action!”
While the boy proudly preached his “thief philosophy”, every point he made was accompanied by finger guns that seemed to be shooting fireworks from his overwhelming passion.
“That’s what I am aiming for. Therefore, I can’t not send a notice.”
‘This kid’s a weirdo.’
Seodol thought so, but he still liked the boy’s strangeness.
He smiled softly and spoke formally again as if he’d never spoken informally just a few seconds ago.
“How cool! Then I’ll actively cooperate with the making of this notice!”
“I knew Designer Seodol would understand!”
As such, a joint preview of a thief and a world-class designer was created.
