Year One Class Zero classroom.
It was close to the end of afternoon classes, but Jo Euishin still wasn’t showing up.
“Euishin must be resting today.”
“He didn’t attend afternoon class too?”
“Yeah, Professor Gong Cheonghwon was disappointed.”
At the words of Hani, who takes the same afternoon class as Jo Euishin, the worries of the Class Zero students deepened.
Jo Euishin sometimes doesn’t go to school.
However, it was strange for him to be absent when the CSAT and the picnic events were just around the corner.
Hwangho, in the appearance of Hwang Jiho, finally spoke when the children’s unrest grew.
“He seems to be in his dorm room. He must be very tired, we should let him rest.”
It wasn’t strange for Jo Euishin to be in his dormitory room.
Considering that the always-busy Jo Euishin finally took a day off, it was something to be pleased about.
However, some of the students questioned Hwangho’s words.
“How do you know that?”
“I’m a dorm student but I didn’t know.”
Maeng Hyodon and Saeum of April’s words intensified the feeling of incompatibility among the class.
Dokgo Miro, who was talking to Hani, looked at Hwangho with suspicious eyes.
Among the students in Class Zero, Dokgo Miro was most wary of Hwangho.
“…I’m sure he asked through the device messenger.”
“Euishin doesn’t usually reply to Jiho though?”
Min Geurin’s factual rebuttal immediately broke down Song Daesok’s suggestion.
It was Kim Yuri who finally settled the situation.
“Guys! About the date of the picnic, Professor Ham Geunhyung and Yong-ssaem said this Saturday is okay.”
“Oh, so it’s after the CSAT…”
At Kwon Lena’s words, the other students lamented too.
They were always worried about the weather for their autumn picnic.
One of the boundaries between autumn and winter in Korea was something called “the cold wave of the CSAT”
No matter how mild the weather in November was, it becomes cold on the day of the CSAT.
Even this year, the weather forecasts say that it would rapidly get cold starting on the day of the CSAT.
“It won’t be an autumn picnic then. It’s a winter boot camp.”
“I hope we can get in touch with the two of them by Saturday.”
“I don’t see those guys ever since the attendance records were stolen though.”
The students checked the weather forecast to see the expected temperature for the coming Saturday.
Hwangho, who laughed and mingled with the other kids from time to time, looked up and out at the window.
“…!”
Hani, who was sitting near the window, followed his gaze.
Hani looked outside to see if the attention-seekers were there, but there was nothing.
“What, what’s wrong?”
“Jo Euishin went out of his dorm. I think he’s headed to the central area.”
Hwangho was looking at the dormitory building.
Hani internally questioned how he knew that but decided not to ask knowing that Hwangho would obviously laugh at her.
Unlike the wise Hani, the other students couldn’t resist questioning Hwangho.
“Like I said, how do you know that?”
“Jiho is the chairman’s relative. Isn’t this abuse of power to spy on Euishin?”
“Hahahaha!”
Hwangho appeared to be laughing thoughtlessly, but he was flustered.
He was forced to track Jo Euishin’s location since he didn’t leave the school premises but he wasn’t answering his device messages.
Hwangho found that Jo Euishin was in his dormitory room.
Jo Euishin was exhausted the whole weekend, so Hwangho thought that it can’t be helped that he was tired.
‘I thought he’ll rest all day today.’
Hwangho was pleased with the benefactor taking a rest day, but a report suddenly came to Chairman Hwang Myeongho.
Principal Hwangbo Yoon submitted a letter of excuse that she would not be able to attend today’s staff meeting, and the reason was that she’d be “meeting with a student”
Hwangho was intrigued by the fact that the principal had an exchange with a student, so he checked who the principal will be meeting with.
Of course, the student was none other than Jo Euishin.
“Guys! Who wants to go on preliminary visits on the day of the CSAT?”
“Me!”
“The string club is off that day so I’ll go too.”
“Then I will go as well.”
While Hwangho was lost in thought, Kim Yuri changed the topic of conversation again.
Without knowing how hard the class president was working to cover things up, Hwangho tried to figure out the situation himself.
* * *
Central area, at the principal’s office located on the top floor of the administrative building.
As soon as I finished analyzing the data chip handed over by the former head of the association, I set an appointment with Principal Hwangbo Yoon.
Regarding the principles of the secret passage, the AI of the former head mentioned Hwangbo Yoon.
— Show this to her and Yoon will answer you.
Taking his words literally would mean that I should show the data chip to Hwangbo Yoon, but it was difficult to think so.
Data chips are generally homogenous in appearance.
Showing a random data chip to Principal Hwangbo Yoon wouldn’t elicit any reaction.
There was a high possibility that she’d think she was being pranked by a Class Zero student.
‘The former head wanted me to show the contents, not the chip itself.’
The former head hid important information among piles of dummy files, but even the latter was important.
The data chip was full of text, pictures, and video files.
They were contents of certain books.
As a result of my investigation, I found that it wasn’t just any ordinary books, but texts of ancient books known to have been lost.
‘Old books and rare books were preserved in an otherworld simulator hidden in Eungwang High.’
Principal Hwangbo Yoon was famous for collecting old and rare books.
She could ignore a request from a student for a talk, but it would be hard for her to reject a talk about something she’s interested in.
So when I asked for an appointment with the principal, I sent some scanned files as an attachment.
Needless to say, I got a response right away.
It was unlike the reluctant principal to do that.
“Hello.”
“Hi. You’re very polite. Have a seat.”
Perhaps because it was indoors, Principal Hwangbo Yoon wasn’t wearing a scarf that covers her face.
Thanks to the bright lighting of the office, the principal’s face was clearly visible.
I know people shouldn’t be judged based on their appearance, but she looked younger than Ham Geunhyung, and that professor was in his thirties.
No matter how hard I looked at her, I can’t believe that she was the same age as Painter Hong Kyungbok, who is 72 years old this year.
“I don’t think it’s the case, but I’ll ask you anyway. Did Siwan give those to you?”
“You mean Sung Siwan sunbaenim?”
“Yeah.”
Sung Siwan helped in the process of obtaining this data, but he didn’t technically give it to me.
I decided to tell the truth.
“No.”
Principal Hwangbo Yoon frowned slightly, making a serious expression.
A faint energy wave began to appear, telling me that she was wary of me.
She seems to know now where I got the rare book.
“Then I should check the source of the attached data. Depending on the answer, we can hand it over to the association.”
I intended to reveal the source to her right from the start.
The question was to what extent I should reveal.
‘I’ll cover up Sung Gukeon and Sung Siwan for now. I’ll leave out Imoogi’s Exorcism as well.’
Considering Hwangbo Yoon’s actions in PMH and the data from the former head, she must be an ally.
‘…If all the data I saw were true, then there’s no reason to doubt Principal Hwangbo Yoon.’
The data hidden in the electronic data-generated pile of rare books was the former head’s “lifetime” itself.
From the moment he awakened as a player to the moment he broke his contract that cost him his life.
All the records remained.
There was little that the former head could do in the face of the trend of the times and the enormous power against him.
He left the data for someone other than himself, recording everything he saw, heard, felt, and inferred.
It also included records of Hwangbo Yoon, a colleague trusted by the former head of the association.
Considering that the secret passage was still in place, it doesn’t seem like Principal Hwangbo Yoon has switched sides, but it wouldn’t hurt to be careful.
‘I’ll say what’s necessary first.’
I decided not to mention the two people and the painting just in case.
Of course, I don’t care enough about Gye Idam to cover for him.
I’ll talk about how that Gye Bastard opened the Student Council hall, and maybe he’d get penalized for it.
“This data was obtained while investigating some ghost stories of Eungwang High.”
I revealed the journey.
The rumors and stories actually existed, and it turns out the secret association actually existed too.
I talked about the otherworld simulator hidden and the confrontation with the AI of the former head.
That’s how I got the data.
Principal Hwangbo Yoon listened, and then she asked something.
“…So why are you showing me this?”
“That person’s AI advised me to.”
“Advised?”
“When I asked about how the secret passage works, he told me to ask ‘Yoon’.”
The sharp atmosphere from Principal Hwangbo Yoon was subdued.
“…He was the only one who called me that.”
Even in the data, the former head of the association referred to the principal as “Yoon”
“He’s a fool. I would’ve helped if he hadn’t baited me with a rare book.”
According to the records, it took the former head a long time to persuade Principal Hwangbo Yoon.
His plan was to bait the principal, who was a teacher back then, using rare books.
The principal dissuaded the former head, saying how dangerous it was to build a secret passage inside Eungwang High.
She was baited again with another rare book… and she eventually gave in but pretended not to know anything about the process.
“Did you help make the secret passage, Principal Hwangbo?”
“Yes.”
“May I ask how it works exactly?”
If the principal refuses to speak, I can bait her too with this compilation of rare books.
However, she answered unexpectedly quickly.
“…That man’s AI recognized you, so I guess I can tell you.”
Principal Hwangbo Yoon seemed to greatly trust the former head of the association.
She spoke softly, a tone of a teacher reading a textbook.
“It’s simple. If someone with a true name attacks, they are immediately put to sleep.”
