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It’s Yoo Sanghoon’s first time returning to the school since the TC Research Institute incident.
The association did not really hold him, but Yoo Sanghoon couldn’t bring himself to leave Yoo Sanghee alone so he stayed with her as her guardian.
It’s a good thing that Yoo Sanghoon is back in school since things were finally settled, but the issue was the guy next to me.
‘When I came to school with Hwang Jiho out of all days!’
Beside me was the teenager Hwangho, Hwang Jiho.
When Yoo Sanghoon and I went to see Do Sihoo, he met Hwangho in his 20s.
Jang Namwook even referred to the 20s Hwangho as Hwang Jiho.
It was a situation where Hwang Jiho’s identity was almost completely revealed, but this old man didn’t do anything to deny it actively.
“It’s been a while. Did the association matter work out well?”
“Yeah, it’s alright.”
“That’s good. You must have a lot to talk about with Jo Euishin, right? I’ll go in first.”
Hwang Jiho said some words before going into the classroom out of consideration.
Yoo Sanghoon interacted with Hwang Jiho casually, but perhaps he was comparing him to his 20s version, he stared at Hwang Jiho until he was completely out of sight.
“He shrunk. He looks shorter and younger.”
As expected, there’s no way a man from the neighboring classroom can be deceived.
Yoo Sanghoon wasn’t a dull guy, and it was expected that he’d recognize him.
“Hey, let’s talk for a bit.”
But he doesn’t seem to care that much.
While walking along the peaceful trail, Yoo Sanghoon grumbled, saying that he lost in basketball training because his body was stiff.
He was clearly not interested in Hwang Jiho’s identity, but I decided to ask anyway.
“…You’re not gonna ask about Hwang Jiho?”
“His age was changed, and he was speaking comfortably with Jecheondaesung. I assume he’s an old royal lineage.”
One mistake though, Hwang Jiho wasn’t controlling his apparent age last time, he was in a completely different alter-ego appearance.
Although it’s’ a subtle difference, I decided not to point it out.
Hwang Jiho is not just any royal lineage, but a 5000-year-old tiger who lived in a mythical age.
He was on equal footing with Jecheondaesung.
But looking at Yoo Sanghoon’s attitude, he seems to be speaking about some old neighborhood uncle.
“Even the student representative is a descendant, so it won’t be strange if he’s a royal lineage. Hey, you’re close with the student rep too.”
Listening to Yoo Sanghoon’s words is kind of…
Well, Yoo Sanghoon doesn’t care, so I decided to stop caring as well.
That old man didn’t have any intention of hiding his identity in the first place, so what use is there for me to think about it?
For now, Yoo Sanghoon and I decided to drop the topic of that old man.
“Since you helped me, I thought I should tell you how things are going on.”
The time for the start of classes was near, so there weren’t many students on the trail leading to Cheonik Mountain.
Since there weren’t any people around, Yoo Sanghoon got to the main point.
I expected that this would be the reason why he called me, but something caught my mind.
‘Yoo Sanghoon and Yoo Sanghee’s past… Can I really listen to this?’
I know a lot of stories from PMH and from research to save my playable characters, so I wonder where my reservation was coming from.
Still, it was complicated to think about the Yoo siblings’ agony at the Research Institute.
As if he had read my thoughts, Yoo Sanghoon smiled.
“Yoo Sanghee-ssi said it’s okay to tell you. If there’s any problem, I’ll take responsibility.”
If there comes any problem, I should resolve it.
But this bastard Yoo Sanghoon still doesn’t call her “noona”?
He called her “you” last time, so I thought he’d at least call her noona or something.
Since Yoo Sanghee was already brought up, I decided to ask about her.
“Is Yoo Sanghee sunbaenim in school today?”
“No, she decided to rest for a while. She’s not feeling well ‘cause of that strange project. Our parents are worried, so she should regain good condition before the CSAT.”
Considering what Yoo Sanghee went through, it’s not strange for her to take a break.
However, because of her personality, even if she had physical problems, she would force herself to go to school…
‘Is her condition worse than I thought?’
I was reminded of the trashy researchers who took her hostage.
Well, that crazy project in itself is enough for anyone to lose their mind.
Those researchers were comfortable in messing with Yoo Sanghee’s energy waves and body since they can leverage Yoo Sanghoon as a threat.
‘I should trust Do Wonwoo.’
Whatever punishment the association will impose, I know Do Wonwoo wouldn’t just let it slide.
Do Wonwoo is no longer angry, but there’s no way he’d easily forgive those who deceived and caused pain to Yoo Sanghee.
I’ll watch quietly for now and support Do Wonwoo’s revenge.
‘What’s more important than revenge right now is Yoo Sanghee’s safety.’
Fortunately, Yoo Sanghee’s parents returned from their overseas business trip.
I hope Yoo Sanghee gets the rest that she deserves.
After explaining Yoo Sanghee’s condition, Yoo Sanghoon brought up the main point.
“That TC lab has been doing unapproved research for a long time.”
Just as regulations exist on studies on humans, the same exists for players.
In this case of energy studies, those that may affect the body and mind of the subject player must first be approved both by the government and the association.
The research that Yoo Sanghoon mentioned must be on players.
“There was a Demon Race among the researchers too so it was a mess. And then they got interested in Yoo Sanghee-ssi since she’s got an order from a superior being since she was young.”
Not only that she has an order from a powerful superior being, but they also saw her as a suitable experimental subject because she had healing abilities and she did not collapse easily.
On top of that, Yoo Sanghee had a huge weakness — Yoo Sanghoon.
They said they demanded Yoo Sanghee’s cooperation under the pretext that she was indebted to them for Yoo Sanghoon’s life.
“Yoo Sanghee-ssi isn’t stupid so she set a period when she ‘d cooperate, but those bastards fooled her.”
Yoo Sanghee agreed to cooperate for only two years.
She was 17 when her light skill was unsealed, and she was a third-year student now.
Their relationship is supposed to be cut off already, but it failed.
The institute started the artificial descent project and the higher-ups wanted to keep Yoo Sanghee for it.
“…They cheated her and used me as her weakness.”
They said that it was easy to deceive Yoo Sanghee because of the two students who lost their energy waves, and they were in the same class as Yoo Sanghoon.
Yoo Sanghee ended up working on a dangerous project again.
The researchers conducted more radical experiments than in the past, and Yoo Sanghee has become increasingly exhausted.
“They said she could be punished for participating in an unauthorized study, but the association said it would be resolved with a team of lawyers.”
If it is established that Yoo Sanghee was forced to participate, she wouldn’t be punished.
No, even if that isn’t recognized, there won’t be a big problem.
Despite her participation, she was also exploited as an experimental subject without financial gain, so she’s technically a victim as well.
I would’ve dealt with those researchers with my own hands if we had the time back then, but what a shame.
‘I wonder what Wu Zhiqi thinks.’
Yoo Sanghee thought that the sealed tank was simply a kind of energy source.
She used Wu Zhiqi’s energy waves to amplify Akea’s order, just as the researchers told her to do.
Perhaps from the perspective of the sealed Wu Zhiqi, someone was taking her energy intentionally.
Yoo Sanghee must’ve suffered damage too from swallowing energy that didn’t fit her body.
“The association wants to investigate more than interrogate people. It wasn’t just one or two experiments so…”
As Yoo Sanghee’s inspection was prolonged, Yoo Sanghoon stayed in the association longer too.
“Thanks. If it weren’t for you, Yoo Sanghee-ssi would’ve been stuck there.”
His words gave me an odd feeling.
Wasn’t it because of me that Yoo Sanghee was deceived by those researchers?
It kept bothering me throughout our walk back to the classroom.
When we parted ways, everyone was already in the classroom except for those who still aren’t attending school.
“Guys, I almost forgot something because of the CSAT event!”
Kim Yuri erased everything that was written on the board except for the CSAT event and wrote something else.
Autumn picnic.
The kids saw the phrase and looked bright.
The autumn picnic seemed to be a more exciting thing than preparing an event for those ungrateful Year Three sunbae-jerks.
“Last time, the Year Two Class Zero sunbaes went on a preliminary survey about the fall picnic! There were 13 candidates, so the survey alone took a whole week.”
“Thirteen places would cost a lot for transportation. I need to save up in advance.”
“Hey, aren’t you working more part-time jobs than me? Why are you worried about costs?”
Mok Wooram’s words worried me too, but just how many days of picnic did the Year Two sunbaes have in mind for them to choose thirteen places?
Even if our Class Zero sunbaes have good attendance, there’s no way Jegal can allocate that much time for a picnic.
Never mind them, we decided to take care of our picnic first.
Some kids haven’t experienced going on a picnic, so I wanted to do well with the preparations.
“You said you met Grandpa Song at a picnic last spring, right? I wanna go on a picnic too…”
“I can take a day or two off in advance.”
Unlike Min Geurin, Song Daesok didn’t openly express his expectations, but he participated by floating some good locations that he heard from his fellow researchers.
I’m sure Song Daesok wanted to go on a picnic too.
On the other hand, there was someone who couldn’t enjoy the meeting.
“I want to wear a class shirt too! I want Hani to write something on it too.”
“Hahahaha! I want that one too.”
“I want to write on Hani’s too. I’ll think of something cuter than ‘Hani Honey’!”
“Hahahaha! Hani wrote one on mine last time, so this time I should…”
“…”
Hani was caught between the King of Alleys and Hwang Jiho, her face almost dead.
If Hani would write anything on their shirts, perhaps it’s “Stop Laughing”
Dokgo Miro and Hwang Jiho shared opinions, but it seems like we’re going to pick lots this time.
By the time the meeting was over, I got a message on my device.
‘…It’s about time.’
It was from the object of the promise that was delayed due to a mishap last time.
[Sung Siwan] Euishin-ah, do you have time this week?
[Sung Siwan] I wanted to talk about what we were supposed to discuss last time. Hahaha
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