After returning home, Sung Gukeon became very busy with fulfilling his schedule.
Though most of his activities were unplanned, such as meeting with a team master of a professional player team and executives who he had personal ties with.
Sung Gukeon’s chief aid, Jeon Muyeong, evaluated the situation.
“I’m glad we returned early that day. You owe it to your Class Zero hoobae, sir.”
“Haha! I am lucky when it comes to people.”
While they were in UK, painter Hong Kyungbok contacted them, saying that the Year One Class Zero students were planning a birthday party for Jo Euishin.
With that, the two decided that they should go home earlier.
Shortly after they returned, a sudden stream of contacts followed them along with a busy schedule.
The situation continued through the weekend and well into the following week.
On Monday alone, Sung Gukeon had several lunches with important people, and today’s lunch schedule didn’t end until late afternoon.
It was now close to dinner time.
“The number of professional player teams moving to Korea is increasing. It’s not easy having just one meal because there are too many of them.”
“You will be busier in the future, sir.”
Sung Gukeon is the only player among lawmakers in the National Assembly.
Other than his position as a lawmaker, he had a lot of seniors and juniors from Eungwang High who were personally close to him.
It was only natural for him to become busier as the number of professional player teams based in Korea had increased.
“We’ll have to wrap up the England case before we get any busier.”
“Which one, sir? The Fomorians or the painting?”
Jeon Muyeong asked, keeping in mind the Fomorian demons and the painting Imoogi’s Exorcism currently in the hands of Jo Euishin.
“The latter. Technically speaking, Imoogi’s Exorcism is not the case in England. It’s a work originating in this country from the beginning. It’s related to the clue related to Eungwang High.”
“I see. I will confirm.”
Jeon Muyeong took out his device from a briefcase and read new messages.
As the time he spent looking at the hologram went on, Sung Gukeon decided to ask.
“Did the Fomorians contact you?”
“Yes. A message from a borrowed-name device.”
“I thought Tuatha de Dannan would step up, but they must’ve failed in recovering the stone.”
Jeon Muyeong showed the message sent by the Fomorians.
They were again asking Sung Gukeon to destroy Lia Fáil, and their choice of words and tone were all polite.
Reading the message with grave eyes, Sung Gukeon found it abominable.
There was no way he could control his face as he read the message of a demon enticing him to destroy a sacred treasure.
“…Sir?”
Sung Gukeon cleared up his thoughts and regained his cool when Jeon Muyeong spoke.
He spoke out loud to shake off unnecessary thoughts.
“Even if the Lia Fáil is not in direct use, its symbolism precedes other gods. There’s no way the Tuatha de Dannan would’ve given up so easily.”
“I agree. If they failed to try to recapture it, they will try again soon.”
After expressing his agreement, their conversation paused for a while.
Sung Gukeon broke the short silence.
“No, I change my mind. It’s possible that they prepared a different arrangement instead of simply retrieving the stone.”
“A different arrangement…”
“We’d have to meet the Fomorians to get more clues. Though I don’t think we need any more involvement in the affair between the Fomorians and the Tuatha de Dannan. For now, that is.”
“…Do you plan on getting involved if there’s a need for it then?”
“Of course.”
Sung Gukeon floated a hologram and began reading some data.
It was about Celtic mythology and its transmission.
Texts related to the Fomorians and Tuatha de Dannan were mentioned.
‘He must be tired though…’
Since he hardly had any sleep, Sung Gukeon’s eyes were bloodshot as he scanned the data.
Jeon Muyeong handed him a bottle of water.
“Please go home and rest for today, sir.”
“Haha, I haven’t done much yet, what do you mean to rest? Ah, shall we go after an otherworld this week?”
Sung Gukeon had no intention of resting.
This time, the association’s otherworld spawn warning was floated in a hologram.
‘…I hope he rests first though.’
To make Sung Gukeon rest, Jeon Muyeong began plotting something.
If Sung Gukeon really doesn’t want to, then he can adjust their schedule so that it would be less burdensome.
A schedule that would at least relieve Sung Gukeon of having to read original material on Celtic Mythology and having to attack an otherworld.
Jeon Muyeong rummaged through their schedule and found something.
‘Looks like that elementary student came back home.’
Back when Jeon Muyeong carried out the ridiculous mission of infiltrating Gwangil Elementary School, he encountered a student who was able to see through his stealth skills.
When he reported to Sung Gukeon how a homeroom teacher mysteriously disappeared, Sung Gukeon showed some interest.
He even tried to meet the elementary student in person, but the child was almost always away at a relative’s house.
But today, that child seems to have gone to school from the address registered on his profile.
‘It would be less mentally and physically taxing to meet a talented elementary student than targeting an otherworld.’
Judging so, Jeon Muyeong made a proposal.
“Sir, I think the student from Gwangil Elementary School that I mentioned to you before had just returned home.”
“That kid? Isn’t it too late to meet him?”
“No, there’s still some time. I think today he has some afternoon classes.”
Fortunately, Sung Gukeon enthusiastically accepted the proposition.
Just as Jeon Muyeong intended, Sung Gukeon was able to take a rest until the classes at Gwangil Elementary School were over.
And, after the end of classes…
It was quite late, but they couldn’t see the student they wanted to meet.
“I think most of the students have already gone home. It’s quite late. Is something wrong?”
“…Let me check.”
With that, Jeon Muyeong infiltrated the school again.
Thankfully, this one didn’t take too long.
After confirming the safety of their target ‘Hwang Yuho’, Jeon Muyeong returned immediately.
“I heard that a relative of student Hwang Yuho is coming to get him today. He’s waiting for him.”
“A relative?”
“I heard that it’s a cousin who he has a considerable age difference with.”
“A cousin hyung you say… I don’t think that was in the data. I’ll have to check again later.”
It wasn’t long before they found out the identity of that cousin.
The person who was walking alongside an elementary school student with beautiful eyes was someone whom they met before.
Jeon Muyeong spoke brightly.
“So it seems Professor Kim Shinrok and Hwang Yuho are related.”
“…The age gap is quite far I think.”
“It could be twisted. The world is small indeed. It could be a coincidence.”
Sung Gukeon was silent for a while as they watched the two walk as they conversed naturally.
He was thinking of a different person and comparing him to Kim Shinrok.
The age wasn’t right, and their facial features were different.
But Kim Shinrok just kept reminding him of his old teacher.
Kim Shinrok had his left eye covered a little by his fringe, and the sight reminded him of his old teacher.
Other than their hairstyles, there were some overlapping parts too.
‘…Yong Jegun used to bother my teacher a lot. Maybe it’s because of that?’
Sung Gukeon followed Jeon Muyeong, suppressing the sense of deja vu.
Jeon Muyeong walked faster than usual to greet Kim Shinrok.
When they met, Jeon Muyeong immediately greeted him politely.
“We meet again, Professor.”
“…Hello.”
“You can speak comfortably, Professor.”
Kim Shinrok looked at Jeon Muyeong nervously.
It was difficult to think of it as the attitude of a professor meeting an old student, so Sung Gukeon took a careful observation of his appearance.
On the other hand, the student next to him greeted them with sparkling eyes.
He greeted Jeon Muyeong, and then Sung Gukeon, and he did it so brightly that it was difficult to think that this student was once isolated and bullied.
“Hello?”
The kid looked strangely excited.
It bothered Sung Gukeon, but he couldn’t ignore the child’s greeting, so he greeted him back.
Following that, Sung Gukeon naturally talked to Kim Shinrok.
“Hello, I see we meet again, Professor Kim Shinrok.”
Sung Gukeon greeted him in a friendly manner.
“It seems like it is fate that we met again like this, so how about we go for a cup of tea? Is there anything you want to eat?”
“Ice cream for me.”
“Haha, alright. Let’s go!”
Sung Gukeon naturally exchanged words with the elementary student.
Kim Shinrok stared bitterly at his old student, thinking that he grew up to be a good adult.
He felt even more bitter seeing Hwangho, the head of the Tiger Clan, interacting so naturally with Sung Gukeon.
* * *
One of the annexes of Hwangmyeong Mansion.
This old man Hwang Jiho only smiled excitedly, and he wasn’t doing a good job using his words.
He seemed to have no intention of telling me what was going on until after we arrived at the annex.
“So, what happened?”
“Well, nothing much. We ate together today. Sung Gukeon bought me ice cream. The combination of green tea and chocolate wasn’t bad at all.”
“I’m not asking about that.”
It wasn’t until after dinner did Hwang Jiho give me proper information.
This thick-faced old man shamelessly got ice cream from my playable character.
“I understand that Sung Gukeon has the ability to distinguish human and royal lineage. Did he use it?”
Eunho, who only played around with side dishes and talked about small things throughout dinner, brought up the topic for the first time.
Hwang Jiho answered Eunho obnoxiously.
“It’s not that he didn’t want to use it, but I think he didn’t find the right timing. Jeon Muyeong trusts Kim Shinrok completely, he can’t seem to bear to use it.”
An old student of Kim Shinrok, Jeon Muyeong’s trust must be quite strong.
“Still, this opportunity gave the four of us another chance to meet. Perhaps the two are curious about the teacher at Gwangil Elementary School. We can talk more about details then.”
Although I was convinced by Hwang Jiho’s words, I felt a little angry.
There wasn’t much to say in the first place, why did he have to drag it on for so long?
It was frustrating, but I decided to bottle it up to bring up another topic.
I’m here to talk about this.
“Since we finished eating, I want to talk about the reason why I went to England.”
Fortunately, neither Eunho nor Hwang Jiho tried to shut me up this time.
“Alright, let’s hear it. We’ve already heard about Imoogi’s Exorcism back on the plane.”
I explained in detail what happened in England, though this old man tried to add useless details.
After finishing my explanation, I brought up Imoogi’s Exorcism.
“There’s a high possibility that there’s a clue about frozen-type otherworlds in this painting.”
It would be quicker to show them.
I took out Imoogi’s Exorcism from my item window and actualized it.
I released my energy waves and the UR-rank item card began to turn into a real-life painting.
Fwaaaa!
The painting appeared, depicting Imoogi’s attempt to ascend through the clouds.
“Astounding…! So this is the work of Korea’s best painter.”
While Hwang Jiho uttered an exclamation, Eunho quietly observed the painting.
He was silent for a while.
“What’s wrong?”
Eunho answered a beat late at Hwang Jiho’s question.
His eyes staring at the painting were enveloped in energy waves.
“This painting, to me it… looks like a map.”
