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It was late in the evening when I returned to my dorm.
I remotely turned on the heater in my dormitory room before I left the mansion, but I might have set the temperature too low.
The air still felt cold.
Only after I placed the paper crafts made by the descendants, those of which I cannot determine if they were tigers or cats, did the heating system seem to function properly.
‘I should show them how it looks.’
I took out my device and sent a few pictures to Eunho’s descendants.
Dingdong.
I checked my inbox, and the message I was anticipating was there.
I sent him a message early in the day, but perhaps he was too busy, he only responded now.
[Hong Gyubin] Sorry for the late reply, Euishin-ah.
[Hong Gyubin] …Did you contact me after hearing the news?
I was unsure what Hong Gyubin was talking about.
I haven’t really seen much news about the association.
[Hong Gyubin] Me and my team are removed from all cases involving Namgung Group.
The news was heavier than I thought.
A service company exerting force on Eungwang Nursery, the suicide of Inspector Kim from Gwangil Police Station, the revelation of the Namgung C&T worker during the Playlist finals, and an otherworld simulator found in the underground of a broadcasting station — all these were cases related to Namgung Group.
All of which were being investigated by Hong Gyubin.
‘They must’ve found out that Hong Gyubin was Namgung Gyubin. The timing is a bit weird though.’
I’d understand it if it were during the start of investigations, but investigations by Hong Gyubin were already in full swing.
It wasn’t strange that they’d make Hong Gyubin step down, but the problem was the timing.
[Me] Did your birth origin become a problem, Team Leader?
[Hong Gyubin] Hahaha, looks like I don’t have to say it. Yeah, I knew you’d know it.
Hong Gyubin laughed, but I know he invested blood, sweat, and tears in his work.
Perhaps Hong Gyubin had already profusely protested this.
After all, if he has less work now, then shouldn’t he be able to reply faster?
He was probably busy trying to come up with measures and trying to put them into action, though it seems like all his efforts ended in vain.
[Hong Gyubin] I’m thinking of what I can do right now. First of all, I should work to support the students involved in the TC case so they can go back to school already.
Hong Gyubin joked that Employee Jung can’t concentrate on his work as long as Eungwang High students were in the association.
He seemed to be making the mood lighter, so I decided not to ask any more about Namgung.
[Hong Gyubin] I caught all the mercenaries hired at the request of a permanent researcher at TC Research Institute.
[Hong Gyubin] They’re mercenaries, so they’re driven by money. They had no reason to be loyal. I guess they want to reduce their sentence.
[Hong Gyubin] And then I found something interesting.
The mercenary who Hwang Jiho had knocked down seemed to have decided to negotiate with the association.
Usually, when this kind of situation occurs, the people who hired the mercenaries opt to pay them more money to keep their mouths shut, but it seems that wasn’t the case here.
Though it’s still possible that those mercenaries were paid to feed false information to the association.
[Hong Gyubin] These are people who were hired to fight against a certain royal lineage.
[Hong Gyubin] They did combat training assuming that they’d have to suppress a ‘master of sticks’
[Hong Gyubin] They were ordered to capture them but to exterminate the royal lineage if capturing him was impossible.
The royal lineage seemed to refer to Jecheondaesung.
Those mercenaries were hired to capture him.
‘They knew Jecheondaesung would come one day to search for Wu Zhiqi. If they caught Jecheondaesung, they could’ve used him as another ‘energy source’ like his sister.’
No matter how good those mercenaries were, they cannot possibly catch Jecheondaesung.
But with energy poison present, although it cannot kill him, it impedes the use of abilities.
If it were an ordinary person, they’d lose the function of their brain and arms.
However, on that day, Jecheondaesung and the other royal lineages took an antidote made by Hyangrok.
In exchange for their insides melting, they were protected from the energy poison.
[Hong Gyubin] Those guys were frustrated that the royal lineage wasn’t handicapped by the energy poison, and the person used skills other than using a staff.
Instead of Jecheondaesung, the mercenaries faced Hwang Jiho.
Hwang Jiho also uses a staff, an iron rod to be exact, but he always said that physical attacks aren’t his specialty.
Hong Gyubin mentioned the other cases before wrapping up the conversation.
[Hong Gyubin] RIght now, I’m tracking funding going to TC Research Institute. I’ll call you when I find something.
[Hong Gyubin] Tell me right away if there’s anything up with the professor. And next time when you get an automated message, you can just call me ^^!
Even though he was in such a busy and hectic state, Hong Gyubin didn’t forget to ask about Jegal.
I wouldn’t have forgotten about it either.
‘I should only call him if ever Jegal is in danger then?’
Year Two Class Zero will release a 3D photobook of Jegal at the Eungwang High Festival, so perhaps I shouldn’t talk about that yet.
Hong Gyubin will be busy, so even if I mention this, there’s no guarantee that he’d be able to go.
The next message I checked was from the group message room of the newspaper department.
[Moon Saeron] Link to the results of my overseas coverage!
[Moon Saeron] I’ve covered a lot!
Mon Saeron excitedly revealed her thoughts but later spoke in a rather depressed tone.
She must be bothered that she didn’t discover much about Phantom Thief Neon, which was the original purpose of her trip.
[Moon Saeron] …But I didn’t find out much about Phantom Thief Neon.
[Moon Saeron] With that much want for attention, shouldn’t he have made a few more incidents by now? Why’s he so quiet?
As expected, the best information source in PMH, Moon Saeron’s insight was amazing.
But that attention-seeker was in fact causing some trouble.
He’s working with a fellow attention-seeker, with the mission to be in the spotlight of Year One Class Zero.
They repeatedly stalked our class, and they were the culprits who stole the attendance records not long ago.
I’m worried that they’d cause more trouble that I wouldn’t know of.
[Moon Saeron] Although I failed on the Neon coverage, I met Yeom Junyeol’s teacher so it’s okay!
[Moon Saeron] I didn’t expect he’d come all the way to the newspaper department office though LOL
Moon Saeron attached the full text of the interview conducted.
…So Yeom Junyeol and his teacher were in the newspaper department office while I was away?
Yeom Junyeol didn’t say anything when we had dinner last night though.
I checked my message room with Yeom Junyeol and found the answer.
[Yeom Junyeol] Euishin-ah, I went to the newspaper department office today. Saeron wanted to interview me and my Dragon Clan teacher so…
[Yeom Junyeol] I wanted to introduce you. What a shame. If I knew this would happen, I would’ve told you in advance.
[Yeom Junyeol] Let’s meet up when you get the chance.
[Yeom Junyeol] (Stamp)
So Yeom Junyeol was supposed to make a surprise appearance at the newspaper department office.
But even if he had told me in advance, I still wouldn’t be able to meet him because I had to go to the Tiger Clan’s garden.
‘So this is what he meant when he said he’d see me at school…’
He sent a stamp showing Hongryong with a regretful face.
A similar set of messages arrived, addressing me as That Word and Teacher.
After responding to Yeom Junyeol…
‘I haven’t taken a picture yet.’
I took photos of the three paper tigers that I placed in my room and sent them to Eunho’s descendants.
The descendants were happy, thanking me for showing them my room, and I felt sorry for not taking care of them well.
I gazed at the paper tigers in my room for quite a while before opening my device again.
I put in a new device code.
‘…I should contact them.’
I called the device code, and after a few seconds of ringing, the other line picked up.
I suppressed my nervousness and tried to speak as calmly as possible.
“Hello, I am Jo Euishin. We met earlier today.”
I heard an unmistakable voice from the line.
[We heard from Hwangho-nim that you would be calling. Hello…]
The couple’s voices were a little lower.
Maybe they kept wandering in the cold autumn air after they left us.
Imagining them like that, I couldn’t find the next words to say.
‘…Would my request be like digging through their wounds for no reason?’
I wanted to meet this couple and ask for a favor.
Even if my request is ultimately a stepping stone to catch the Black Screen, I can’t say with good conscience that it would be for the good of this couple.
Because even if we stop the Black Screen, it wouldn’t return the life of the child that they lost.
The thought of it seems to heat my head, but my fingertips had gone cold.
[…Jo Euishin?]
Maybe it’s because I was silent for too long, but the voice on the other line called for my name.
It sounded like they were worried about me, which only made my fingertips go colder.
I better be prepared if I want to meet this couple in person.
I managed to squeeze words out of my throat.
“…Would it be possible to meet and talk?”
***
The next day.
Although I fell asleep late last night because I met with the tiger couple, I went to school as usual and spent a normal day.
Bang Yoonseob delivered cookies to Choi Younghee just as I ordered him to, but it was sloppy.
Maybe it was too kind to call it a delivery since I heard he only put the cookies in front of the girl before running away.
I wanted to give him that chance to talk with her, but I guess that jerk can’t handle it.
And then, after school…
“…Jo Euishin, what the hell are you up to this time? I didn’t expect you to call the couple right away.”
For similar reasons, Hwang Jiho and I were absent from the newspaper department for two consecutive days.
But today’s activities were different from yesterday’s.
We weren’t headed to the bamboo forest but to the Light Skill Research Hall 4 located in Eungwang High’s research center area, Eunyeonggwan.
“The couple asked to meet with Kim Shinrok. They said they intend to allow him to torture the bear depending on his behavior.”
“Are they with Kim Shinrok now?”
Hwang Jiho shook his head.
“No, they will meet only when I’m present.”
Just as he said, Kim Shinrok was alone, in the basement of Eunyeonggwan.
I thought Jeokho would be there, but I didn’t see him.
‘No, he might be hiding behind smoke like yesterday.’
Kim Shinrok looked somewhat anxious yesterday, a stark difference from his calm demeanor today.
But perhaps he’s only putting up a front.
‘…They’re here.’
Ten minutes after Hwang Jiho and I arrived, the couple appeared.
With Hwang Jiho in between, Kim Shinrok and the couple greeted each other.
The couple tilted their heads and stared at Kim Shinrok for a long time.
“So this child has grown up like this.”
“You were so small and immature the last time I saw you…”
“…”
Kim Shinrok was unable to speak.
“I hear you have the ability to torture people regardless of their blood.”
“That’s why Hwangho-nim said he will entrust you with the torture of that dirty bear.”
There’s a possibility that this couple would attack Kim Shinrok.
Anyone who knows about the couple’s history and Kim Shinrok’s history would think so.
But the couple made an unexpected suggestion.
“Torture us from here on.”
“If you are truly a good torturer, prove it to us.”
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