Once we exited the garden, we were transported back to the party hall.
I was nervous about the possibility that we’d face more demons outside, but there was no one in here at all.
Did they not expect us to get past Balor?
Or maybe they were afraid to get caught in his Eye of Death too.
‘I’m sure they’ll still come after us.’
Balor’s eye wasn’t pierced by the Spear of Lugh just as the myths said.
It only let out light for a short moment that blinded Balor’s eye.
Once Balor recovers and the owner of the garden comes back and gives new orders, I’m sure we’ll have a lot of demons in our trail.
In any case, the painting of the genius mentioned by Neon in his grand announcement was already recovered, and the treasure that was supposed to be auctioned was taken away, both right under the demon’s noses.
‘The auction was stopped… and they humiliated themselves in front of high profile guests. They tried to auction stolen goods so serves them right.’
It wouldn’t be the retrieval of Imoogi’s Exorcism that would upset these Fomorians the most.
It would be because of the Spear of Lugh, the weakness of their Devil King Balor, being taken away.
They were confident that no one would be able to touch it, so they kept it in a somewhat sloppy manner before it was auctioned.
However, the Spear of Lugh shone in my hand and blinded Balor.
‘My Use Objects skill level was high enough, and the support from Midhir helped me handle it.’
Immediately after escaping Balor’s sphere of influence, I carded the Spear of Lugh and kept it in my item window.
I wished to hold it in my hand until we left England or the demon’s territory at least, but it was very mentally exhausting.
The myths even mention the bloodthirsty Spear of Lugh needing a sedative to be able to put to rest.
‘If I were the Fomorians, I’d go after me for sure. The biggest clue to get to me would be Phantom Thief Neon and Goo Seulbi.’
Despite my concerns, the two of them didn’t seem a tiny bit concerned.
These two are smart enough to understand the situation, but they were too busy bickering.
“The power of the Spear of Lugh… I don’t think that treasure is something that I can handle. I see now why Master Merlin told me to just search for it, not retrieve it.”
“You’re quick to give up. A thief doesn’t give up easily!”
“That’s why I keep telling you I’m not a thief! You’re defeated too, aren’t you? I heard he took what you’re after.”
“Ouch, you’re poking me where it hurts. However, vitriolic remarks are also what thieves have to endure!”
I was refraining from butting in as much as I could to prevent myself from being embroiled in all this thief talk, but I decided to talk to them.
“What are you going to do now?”
Perhaps it’s because I’ve been silent for a while, but Goo Seulbi and Phantom Thief Neon immediately stopped bickering and paid attention to me.
As if it were coordinated, the two turned their heads perfectly in synch.
Goo Seulbi spoke first.
“I’ll retreat with the kids. Instead of helping them, I decided to lead them to Master Merlin through dreams.”
Goo Seulbi hesitated before talking further.
“Thanks. I wouldn’t have gotten out safely without you. I want to repay you with something, but I can only make potions with buff and debuff effects so…”
“I’m late to express my gratitude as well. A thief never forgets a favor.”
They seemed to want to give me something in return.
Just a thank you is enough, but as expected, my playable characters are better than most.
‘If they really want to repay me, there is something I want to ask them…’
The word ‘reward’ reminded me of Midhir’s words.
— I was reunited with Étaín, but the memories of the times we spent together were never recovered. Help my child not to go through the same thing.
I couldn’t understand his words right away, but when I thought of the situation of “his child”, I could roughly guess what he meant.
‘If they continue on this path, their high school days would just pass by.’
Midhir was talking about Phantom Thief Neon, but neither of these two want to go to school.
And I respect my playable characters’ decisions.
‘These two don’t really need to go to school.’
One kid is already better than most professional designers, and the other is being taught by the famous Merlin.
In other words, they don’t need to attend school to acquire knowledge in their fields of interest.
‘Still… I wish they would.’
I know my fingers and toes might curl up permanently if Phantom Thief Neon goes to school, but I still wish he would.
I wouldn’t urge him if Choi Pyeondeuk was still in school, but Eungwang High is different now.
High school is only three years of a person’s life.
Jobs would take long years, but it would be very different from the three years of high school.
I hope they can use that time to expand their world, make connections, and meet friends of the same age, as well as learn knowledge in unexpected fields.
“I’m afraid I have to admit that I am completely defeated this time, so I’ll have to see you again. It’s unfortunate that I couldn’t return the painting to its original artist in Korea myself, but that’s not important.”
Fortunately, neither of them seemed to intend to stay in the demons’ lair any longer.
I finally brought up the point I’ve been contemplating in my head.
“What about your retreat? Don’t you want to go to school?”
Phantom Thief Neon looked so surprised that his swan mask was almost distorted when I mentioned the word “school”
“Did you find out my true identity?!”
Phantom Thief Neon’s voice trembled as he answered in an exaggerated voice.
Goo Seulbi didn’t make as much fuss as he did, but I saw her grip her oak cane tighter.
“I’m still a young thief, so I’m pretending to be a high school student. I haven’t finished growing, you know? The same goes for you. We can grow as thieves as much as we want!”
“That thief just revealed that he’s a high schooler.”
“I know that you guys are high school students. You’re both from Eungwang High.”
Eungwang High-Class Zero to be exact.
I don’t know what year Neon is in, but I’m sure Goo Seulbi is in Year One Class Zero.
“How did you know that?”
“You pulled a prank on the main gate clock tower last April Fool’s Day. It’s the same trick as the one with Big Ben.”
“Keuhk, it was such a wonderful work that I couldn’t give up that kind of motif!”
“So he did that kind of thief play at school too…”
Watching Neon pull an exaggerated act of being in pain, Goo Seulbi rolled her eyes.
Oh my goodness, it seems like Goo Seulbi’s being discouraged to go to school.
“…There must be a reason why Master Merlin told me to follow you. So? Why did you bring up the topic of going to school?”
“I think Eungwang High is a great school. But in the end, what’s important is that it’s a school. I don’t wish to waste the golden years of my life bound by fixed schedules and rules!”
“I don’t 100% agree with him, but I don’t want to go too if I don’t have to. I don’t have a very good memory. If I wish to live with other people, I need to be put in a place I don’t like with people I don’t like first.”
Both had their own reasons, but in essence, the reason boils down to ‘freedom’
‘Freedom…’
Eungwang High respects freedom.
It has this unconventional school policy that if you take an exam and prove your abilities, you can graduate even if you don’t attend class at all.
People say that Eungwang High had that rule before it even became a player-specialized high school after the occurrence of otherworld collisions.
At first, the founder of Eungwang High was met with resistance after they lobbied for this school rule.
That school rule is related to the nature of Hwang Jiho.
In the Gaecheon Myth, Hwang Jiho asked the Heavenly God to be able to exist anywhere.
The reason Hwang Jiho wished for such a thing is revealed through a conversation with Joo Soohyuk inside the game.
Player Master High School, when Joo Soohyuk became a second grader.
Hwangho, who hid his identity and age, asked him in a sophomore-like tone.
[Soohyuk-ah, what are you doing?]
[Huh? I was reading Gaecheon Myth.]
[Gaecheon Myth? Which part?]
Joo Soohyuk showed the hologram he was reading.
Hwangho quickly read the text.
[…It’s the scene where Baekho heads to the ‘place closest to the sky’ alone to knock down foreign enemies.]
[Yep, but there’s something here that I don’t understand.]
[Which one? I’ll explain it to you if I know it.]
The old man said those words in the game, but the myth was his lived experience, so he most definitely knows it.
Joo Soohyuk felt like it was quite strange, but he was happy with his classmate’s kindness.
[I don’t know why Baekho charged alone. There’s a part that says Cheongho will later be lost while protecting Shinin (Son of God), but there’s no explanation of what happened to Hwangho or the other tigers.]
Hwangho’s next line in PMH didn’t come out immediately.
After a short pause, Hwangho spoke again.
[…The Bear Clan sided with the foreign enemies at this time. The Tiger Clan would’ve had to divide their forces to suppress the Bear Clan, conquer the foreign enemies, protect Shinin, and erase the source of darkness that covered the Korean Peninsula.]
In the game, the old man explained briefly what was never mentioned in myths.
He managed to speak less angrily, but I guess the look of nostalgia was present on his face as he brought up the old story.
[Baekho chose the most dangerous path and decided to erase the source of darkness on his own to regain the light on the Korean Peninsula. Cheongho said she would stay by Shinin.]
[What about Hwangho?]
[He had to make a choice. No matter how powerful Hwangho is, he wasn’t blessed yet with the gift to exist anywhere during that time.]
[I see. It was after the battle that the Heavenly God came down from the open skies to give his grace.]
Hwangho nodded, affirming Joo Soohyuk’s words.
[As for Hwangho… He must’ve chosen to protect Shinin with Cheongho. There were a lot of foreign enemies and bears that wanted to kill him.]
[Shinin had been the symbol of the Korean Peninsula. He’s the one that the enemies would’ve aimed for first.]
At this point, Hwangho in the game had his head slightly down.
A shadow was cast on his face.
[Hwangho’s contribution protected Shinin. Cheongho went through a rough patch, but she survived. But the same wasn’t true of other places.]
[…Jiho-ya?]
The scene darkened, and so Hwangho’s expression wasn’t revealed.
After a few seconds, Hwangho raised his head high again and shamelessly resumed his high school student act.
[I like the policy of this school. Students don’t have to attend school.]
[Hahaha, you’re related to the chairman, right Jiho? I think that autonomous schooling is a good policy too.]
[That rule won’t change until the day this school closes.]
As long as Hwang Jiho is the chairman of the board of Eungwang High, I won’t have to worry about what would happen to these two.
When I explained to them the school policy of Eungwang High, the two didn’t look convinced.
“It might be okay if it’s for a limited time. I’ll think about it.”
“…Me too.”
Maybe it’s possible that they’d still go
