Suffering a year of dreams through the replay function made Jeokho emotional.
No, he’s always been emotional when it comes to Kim Shinrok…
Jeokho poured out a stream of gratitude without a break like he wasn’t just in a bad condition a few minutes ago.
Shouldn’t he rest up now?
But Jeokho looked excessively healthy, perhaps because of the medicine made by Hyangrok.
His continuous words made me want to run away though.
I wanted the other tigers to stop him, but the clan head encouraged him openly.
“Hahahaha! That’s right, Jo Euishin. You are the Tiger Clan’s benefactor. Don’t forget your gratitude, Jeokho.”
That old man intentionally embarrasses me.
I hope Jeokho’s lightning would hit him next time.
Hwang Jiho has several alter egos anyway, I’m sure he’ll be fine.
“I think Jeokho will want to drink the tea you prepared.”
“Hmm? Ah, I’ll prepare some tea.”
As expected, Baekho-gun was the only one I could trust.
At his words, Kim Shinrok began to make tea.
It’s usually Hwang Jiho who prepares the tea, but Kim Shinrok brewed the omija tea in consideration of Jeokho.
By the time Jeokho picked up the teacup, the baptism of gratitude finally ended.
“Hahahahaha! Yeah, let’s cut him some slack. We just need you to know how we feel.”
Hwang Jiho spoke as if he were granting me some grand form of kindness.
I wanted to push a scone in his laughing mouth.
Thinking so, I looked at the scones and realized that they had dried persimmons in them.
Kim Shinrok must’ve chosen scones that suit his taste.
Baekho-gun looked at the refreshment table with a serious look on his face, and Kim Shinrok noticed it.
“I’m sorry, Baekho-nim. I thought only Jo Euishin and I would be here today…”
“No need to apologize. You didn’t plan to come here either, right Baekho? You did well, Shinrok. Baekho, eat a lot.”
Jeokho pushed the bowl of dried persimmon scones toward Baekho-gun.
I guess he’s still upset from the time Baekho-gun knocked out Kim Shinrok.
The replay function may have deepened his resentment as his affection for his son has grown.
Now that it’s come to this, I’ll have to sit next to Baekho-gun and eat the dried persimmon scones for him.
“I think Jeokho’s condition is very good, so let’s listen to him. What did you so?”
Jeokho, who was in the middle of praising Kim Shinrok’s tea-brewing skills, looked troubled.
He organized his thoughts for a while before putting down his teacup.
“I’ve seen so many things that I don’t know where to start…”
“You experienced a year in your dream, correct?”
“Yes, I died on Christmas Eve.”
Jeokho spoke calmly, but Kim Shinrok was not.
I vividly remember Jeokho’s avid fan cursing in the PMH fan forum before dropping the game when the scenario where Jeokho died in vain in the snow was shown.
Jeokho’s big fan dropped PMH and never looked back.
“Last year’s entrance exam was in December, so it’s been a little over a year.”
“I will organize what I remember chronologically and submit it as a report.”
“That would be great. Jo Euishin, do you have any questions?”
I had a lot of questions regarding the replay function.
For the detailed questions, it would be more efficient to refer to the report that Jeokho would prepare.
So I decided to ask about the “snow,” the reason why we used the function in the first place.
“I want to ask you something about the snow on Christmas Eve.”
Christmas Eve in PMH, students were hosting a charity event.
That’s when Eungwang High became covered in snow.
The only clue about the unidentified snow was the words that Jeokho uttered to himself.
Pungbaek, Usa, and Unsa.
As soon as the snow began to fall, Jeokho’s fog dissipates and he is hit by snow.
‘I don’t think the snow got rid of his smokescreen. If it did, Jeokho would’ve been more wary. I think Jeokho got rid of it on his own so he could feel the snow…’
Jeokho seemed to realize something after the snow hit his skin.
My speculation was based on belief so I’m not quite sure.
If Jeokho didn’t voluntarily release the smoke, he wouldn’t have been able to figure out what the snow was.
“The snow? It wasn’t snow that came that day…”
Not snow?
Did Jeokho see something else?
I was certain that it was snowing that day, and when I began thinking of other possibilities, Jeokho suddenly stopped talking.
Jeokho looked confused.
“…No, I think I was mistaken for a moment. It snowed that day.”
“Well, we’d better talk after you get your body checked thoroughly.”
“No! I think I was just confused because it started snowing just before I died.”
Jeokho’s attitude was strange.
The snow indeed started before he died, but something bothered me.
‘Wait, does he remember that Ungnyeo came to him?’
Just before Jeokho died, the Sad Bear Goddess Ungnyeo appeared in a red dress.
After Ungnyeo appeared, Jeokho’s hand moved a little, so perhaps he remembers seeing her.
Hwang JIho examined Jeokho’s body and allowed him to continue.
“I’ve been hit by the snow from the three of them.”
“You were hit by their snow. Even if Pungbaek and Usa were like that, Unsa doesn’t get angry at Jeokho easily. If the three of them are upset at the same time, snow and hail would pour down.”
The young Jeokho seemed to be more troublesome than I thought.
Kim Shinrok tilted his head, confused.
Jeokho spoke confidently.
“The gentle Unsa didn’t get angry very well. But Hwangho manages to anger him without difficulty.”
“Hahahaha! There were far fewer times than you at least.”
“I can’t say that four or five times is much less. Hwangho’s sense of numbers seems to be bad now that he’s aged.”
From what I’m hearing, it seems like Hwang Jiho was as bad as Jeokho.
Hwang Jiho only laughed, not denying a single word.
“Hahahahaha! So, what did you feel in the snow?”
“It was quite similar to the snow from Pungbaek, Usa, and Unsa but there was a difference. It had malice and fraud comparable to retaliation for mischief.”
“So is it possible that the snow wasn’t their doing?”
Hwang Jiho asked in a rather bright voice.
He seemed to be hoping that his old comrades weren’t the ones behind the snow.
But Jeokho shook his head.
“It had evil energy, but I think it was from their decision to have that. I felt Pungbaek and Usa’s energy from the snow.”
In the garden in the bamboo forest, the tortured bear talked about the twins who dealt with wind and rain.
Pungbaek and Usa deal with wind and rain respectively, and the two looked similar enough to be mistaken for twins.
I know the tigers were prepared to hear this news, but the grief was shown on their faces.
“I can’t believe Pungbaek and Usa made it snow in our territory…”
Jeokho took a sip of his omija tea.
Baekho-gun was the first to speak again.
“And Unsa?”
When asked by Baekho-gun, Jeokho shook his head.
“I didn’t feel Unsa’s energy.”
The old man, who was demoralized by Jeokho’s earlier revelation, raised his head.
He put down his teacup.
“That’s strange. Pungbaek and Usa’s powers cannot make rain. They can’t turn rainwater into snowflakes.”
“Yes, I know that well. But when I felt it on my skin, I couldn’t sense Unsa’s energy. More importantly…”
“More importantly?”
Jeokho pondered, seemingly unsure if what he’ll say was certain.
“…The sky was pure white.”
“What does that mean?”
“Unsa’s specialty is summoning dark clouds. But the sky was covered with white clouds. It didn’t match the snow at all.”
There’s a simple explanation for the existence of dark clouds.
The larger the droplets in the cloud, the more they absorb light instead of reflecting it.
As a result, less light passes through the cloud, making it appear dark.
In other words, the thicker and denser a cloud is, the darker they appear.
Rain and snow are from heavy water vapor, so they usually fall from dark clouds.
Mythical beings and their powers often ignore the laws of physics though, but it certainly is strange that the clouds were pale white.
“You didn’t feel Unsa’s energy, and you didn’t see dark clouds.”
“I’d be more certain with another round of replay. But…”
“No, Jeokho-nim. Please think about your body. Jo Euishin must be tired today too.”
“I am worried about the benefactor too. Don’t worry.”
Jeokho seems to be refraining from going on another round of replay because he’s worried about me.
I think his son is unhappy that he’s not worried about his own body though.
Anyway, even if our physical conditions were perfect, we still can’t use the function repeatedly.
“I can’t use the function again right away. It needs to reload.”
Even when I tested it on Son Minki, there was a waiting time until it can be used again.
Jeokho is acting nonchalantly, but he must be mentally exhausted.
He confused his dream with reality when he first opened his eyes, so I don’t know how long it will take for him to recover.
“Then we’ll have to find out more about Unsa. Jeokho, take a rest today and come to my study tomorrow.”
“Understood.”
Are we wrapping up for the day?
I’ll have to ask to see the report that Jeokho will submit later.
Also the records about Unsa and…
While I was thinking about my next course of action and what to say before we parted ways, Hwang Jiho asked me something.
“Do you have any more questions for Jeokho?”
“I want to read his report first.”
“Okay, then…”
It somehow felt ominous.
I tried to say that I’d go back to my dorm right away, but Hwang Jiho beat me to speaking first.
“You said you couldn’t reveal your source before we headed to the bamboo forest, but you got important information, Jo Euishin. You said you’d analyze it. I’m sure you stayed up all night analyzing that data.”
Hwang Jiho began to talk as if he was watching me analyze what was in the data chip.
“That data seems to be related to Principal Hwangbo Yoon. Otherwise, you wouldn’t have asked to talk to her all of a sudden, and the principal wouldn’t have accepted it right away.”
“…Jo Euishin-gun met Principal Hwangbo Yoon? I can count on one hand the number of students she met in her office.”
Kim Shinrok said with a surprised face, finding it strange that I met his boss who usually hides her face.
Hwang Jiho’s sharp question continued.
“Let’s hear why you stayed up all night yesterday, Jo Euishin. Also why you went to the student council hall with Sung Siwan and Gye Idam.”
