To put it simply, I have to act on my own.
Jeon Muyeong expressed strong opposition for the very obvious reason that he couldn’t let a teenager hoobae alone in this Demon Race castle.
Sung Gukeon, on the other hand, sided with me.
Rather than being flustered by my unexpected behavior, Sung Gukeon spoke proudly.
— I’m sure you can handle yourself. I know you’re a kid who can do things on your own.
— But… shouldn’t we put this location into consideration?
The two continued their conversation, carefully choosing which words to use, conscious of the listening ears of the Demon Race.
They were careful not to say anything that could expose our names and our identities.
— He’s not a senseless kid. He’s wisely overcome the dangers of death. Since then, he’s had the opportunity to be able to do his best among strong people. I’m not trying to be cruel.
Sung Gukeon referred to the incident during the entrance exams for Eungwang High, and other cases in which I was involved.
Jeon Muyeong delayed his answer for a while, and he stared at Sung Gukeon and me in admiration.
—…Alright. I don’t think you’ll listen even if I tried to stop you. Be careful.
It seems like Jeon Muyeong looked at me and was reminded of Sung Gukeon’s turbulent high school life.
Sung Gukeon in his youth would’ve acted more outspoken than now, so I understood how it looks for him.
— Don’t forget the item I gave you.
The Messageless Pigeon, an SR — rank consumable item given by Sung Gukeon.
He means I could call for help any time.
Before I left the lounge, Sung Gukeon asked one more thing.
— About your acquaintance. Is it a friend your age?
Sung Gukeon didn’t ask for a lengthy explanation, but it was quite difficult for me to answer his question so I opted to gloss over an answer.
His words reminded me of a hypothesis that I could’ve fully predicted through my background knowledge from PMH and experience in this world, but I decided to ignore it for now.
‘It’s highly possible that Phantom Thief Neon is a student from Eungwang High.’
Eungwang High’s clock tower being decorated with neon signs last April Fool’s Day.
The ruckus that Phantom Thief Neon caused at Big Ben.
Considering the similarity of the neon sign tower and the means of the crime, the two incidents could be presumed to be the doing of a single culprit.
From those two cases alone, I think the possibility that Phantom Thief Neon is a faculty member cannot be ruled out.
There are a lot of strange faculty members at Eungwang High.
‘But I don’t think Phantom Thief Neon is an adult. There weren’t personal details listed about him, but his description mentioned him being a “boy”, and the CGI depicted him to have a young face.’
Let’s say Phantom Thief Neon really is from Eungwang High.
Due to his nature, he would’ve taken the entrance exam seriously, and there is no way that he wasn’t recognized as a potential Class Zero student from the interview stage, judging from his attention-hungry personality alone.
‘Phantom Thief Neon would definitely be assigned to Class Zero…’
And there are still many absentees from our class.
It’s possible that Phantom Thief Neon is one of them.
‘No, Phantom Thief Neon’s age hasn’t been revealed. Even if he really is from Eungwang High, he could be a sophomore or a senior!’
From Year Two and Year Three Class Zero in Eungwang High, their attendance has actually been impressive.
However, there were a few students who don’t go to school, just like Jung Haeon, Dokgo Miro’s fansite.
‘…Though I’m sure of the other person.’
Merlin’s disciple, the self-proclaimed great and wonderful druidess.
She was definitely in Year One Class Zero.
Technically, she only appears in her sophomore year in the game, but that means we’re in the same class.
‘Anyway, I have a total of four playable characters in here right now. It’s not safe for everyone.’
Jeon Muyeong and Sung Gukeon.
Phantom Thief Neon and the druidess.
I was worried about all four of them, but since I can’t replicate myself, I can’t protect all of them at once.
If I choose one of the two groups, I’d have no choice but to abandon the latter.
In the worst-case scenario, Sung Gukeon and Jeon Muyeong might fail to retrieve Imoogi’s Exorcism, and fighting in the open would pose great danger to their lives.
‘Those two wouldn’t lose easily, but I need to be prepared.’
The first thing I have to do is to find the whereabouts of the two intruders who disappeared.
The very first thing that came to mind was Cheon Dongha’s light skill, Eye Embracing Heaven and Earth, but it was too risky.
The demon king who leads the Fomorians is Balor, the one-eyed giant with the eyes of death.
‘If I use Cheon Dongha’s light skill, there’s a possibility that my eyes will meet Balor’s.’
Since our eyes would be meeting through light skill, there wouldn’t be an immediate death effect as compared to making eye contact with my actual eyes.
However, I would need help from at least Yoo Sanghee to recover.
For that reason, I decided to borrow a different playable character’s ability to chase those two.
‘I’ll use Moon Saeron’s.’
I chose Moon Saeron through my Player Identity light skill.
Among her abilities, I decided to use the tracking-derived skill Focused Coverage, which she will be able to use in her second year.
The derived skill that Moon Saeron learned was a good one, but the conditions for its activation were quite difficult.
First, the target to be tracked must already be within a certain distance.
If the target is too far away, it would be impossible to track.
‘I think it’s safe to use this. I’m sure they’re within range.’
The second condition is, information on the target to be tracked must be known to some extent.
The problem was the second condition.
In the case of Phantom Thief Neon, he was only mentioned as a mysterious guy, and even his name and age were unknown.
Still, it’s not a dead end for me.
‘I can’t track Phantom Thief Neon since I don’t know his name, but I know exactly what Merlin’s disciple is.’
Year Two Class Zero, attendance number 1, playable character ‘Goo Seulbi’.
She is a character that appears after Joo Soohyuk’s second-year high school life began.
Through her dreams, Merlin ordered her to investigate the event that we called ‘Collapse of PMH’s Concrete Layer’, and she began to go to school to fulfill that order.
Goo Seulbi approaches Joo Soohyuk, who was at the center of the incident, and her appearance and strange behavior caused friction with Hwang Jiho.
Though I think, from a player’s point of view, the NPC and mythical tiger Hwang Jiho was more suspicious.
When I chose Goo Seulbi as the target of the skill, the skill was activated based on the information I had.
Fwaaa!
A document in the form of energy waves spawned in my mind.
The target was found within range, and the focused coverage began to be drawn up.
Goo Seulbi’s expected route was written in the report.
Moon Saeron’s Focused Coverage skill had the advantage of consuming less concentration level and giving me the ability to move better compared to Cheon Dongha’s light skill, but it was less accurate in terms of capturing the target directly.
‘I could use it with the Map function in my exclusive menu. Even if I meet an enemy while on the move, I could use the function to go around them.’
The map function showed the surroundings that had been searched more than once in the game.
It’s my first time visiting this place, so there would only be a few routes available on my map.
Nevertheless, it’s useful to see if there are any enemies nearby.
‘Shall I go then?’
One step outside the area designated for guests by the Fomorians, I immediately felt the air become heavy.
Wallpapers, frames, and even rugs were so sophisticated that they looked like they could be displayed in a museum.
But I wasn’t in the mood to appreciate the works of art at all.
‘The things in here, each of these spaces are surrounded by energy waves. Is it because the place is owned by the Demon Race? It’s like…’
It might just be an outlandish feeling because I’m in the territory of a royal lineage.
However, the air at the party was still comparable to the Tiger Clan or Dragon Clan’s areas, but the air here seems to be different.
‘It’s like walking in an otherworld.’
It was a similar feeling to when we attacked an otherworld.
‘Is it a trick by the Fomorians in preparation for Neon’s infiltration?’
Feeling the same aura of an otherworld in a royal lineage’s territory isn’t a good sign.
It’s well-known that royal lineages can ‘dominate’ otherworlds, making them their own.
A garden.
I walked more carefully, contrasting the report from Moon Saeron’s skill and my mini map.
While I was stifling my presence, walking through several corridors and stairs…
‘…A strong energy wave! It’s overwhelming enough to be from people of royal lineage!’
I stopped in my tracks.
I held my breath, listening for anything I could hear.
As I turned up my senses to the extreme, I eventually heard a conversation from across the hall.
It was a familiar voice.
“I can’t believe I’m seeing you in a place like this. Haven’t you been busy lately?”
“…I’m not happy to see you either. Why are you talking formally to me? Makes me uncomfortable.”
“It’s because I’m glad to see you. We had an alliance, but we don’t see each other much, do we? You’ve been busy dealing with attacks from the Demon Race.”
“Alright, stop using formal speech now, will you? Nothing good has ever happened when you speak like that, Prankster.”
It was Seodol and Heukma.
Seodol had already revealed his face, his hand holding his mouse-shaped mask.
Heukma was still wearing the horse mask, yet it seems like neither of them intended to hide their identities.
‘I knew Heukma was here, but I didn’t expect Seodol.’
Why is Seodol here?
I knew that he was in England because he sometimes sends messages, telling me where he was even though I never asked.
A message from Seodol came to mind.
— [Prankster] I’m going to do something to celebrate my return, you know? The first one, I don’t know if you would like it, Jo Euishin-ie, but the second one, I think you won’t like it.
Could this be related to what he was talking about?
No, it’s impossible that it isn’t related.
“Why have you come here? Ah, don’t say. I want to find out on my own.”
“Don’t worry about it. Who’s going to tell you? Ah, I’m curious why you’re here. Tell me why.”
“I don’t want to say.”
Although the 12-point alliance had become a mess with the existence of a traitor, I guess it’s a miracle that it has been maintained ostensibly.
It seemed like Heukma and Seodol are still the “my-way” type of people.
