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Joo Soohyuk invited two relatives.
First was Joo Soogyeom, an older cousin, and the other was Joo Soori, a younger cousin.
Joo Soori follows Joo Soohyuk, her oppa, very well.
The Joo family has produced many outstanding talents, among which were Joo Soohyuk and Joo Soogyeom who were extra special.
The two people were smart and handsome and branded as the future of the Joo-Oh Group, while the Oh family was eager to tie their daughters to one of the two.
From Joo Soori’s point of view, the kind Joo Soohyuk is better than the friendly yet has a scary side Joo Soogyeom.
But changes formed in Joo Soohyuk.
‘Soohyuk oppa got weird when he entered Eungwang High.’
Joo Soohyuk became more mature as he became a high school student, but he sometimes had this stupid look on his face.
The strong Joo Soohyuk looks fine even though he’s lost energy, but Joo Soohyuk is far from regular.
There was something in Eungwang High that made Joo Soohyuk look like an ordinary student.
‘I’m sure it’s because of his reading buddy.’
Joo Soori begged Joo Soohyuk to tell her stories of Eungwang High, and she finally found out the cause.
Joo Soohyuk regularly exchanges with someone through books, and he seemed to be greatly influenced by this person.
Collecting small clues in their conversations, Joo Soori narrowed down the person to be Charcoal Marksman Ahn Dain.
What Joo Soori first thought to be a bad friend, she corrected her thoughts right away.
Pictured at the school event, Joo Soori saw that Joo Soohyuk and Ahn Dain matched so well.
‘I can’t believe there’s another person as perfect as Soohyuk oppa…’
Ahn Dain came from a family that had connections with players and business circles, and she wasn’t short of Joo Soohyuk in terms of talent, character, reputation, and academic background.
Joo Soori quickly became a fan of Ahn Dain.
Joo Soori began to admire the world of the two.
She wanted to get close to Ahn Dain, but she didn’t have a lot of chances.
She came to the Eungwang High Festival, but she couldn’t meet Ahn Dain in person because she was busy preparing for the festival event.
Then, while touring the central district, Joo Soori discovered a “library tour” conducted by the library department.
‘Those two only talk about books.’
Joo Soohyuk is great at socializing and is interested in various fields so it could be said that he’s a great conversationalist.
But when it comes to Ahn Dain, he only talks about books as if he were broken.
He talks about old books that Joo Soori hasn’t read yet because they’re too difficult, books that couldn’t be understood by non-players, and rare books that were not in the study in their mansion.
Joo Soori knew that she couldn’t miss this opportunity.
“Soohyuk oppa, I want to go on the library tour!”
However, the library tour was for people who had advanced reservations due to safety issues.
She could make a reservation now and attend tomorrow, but it was difficult for Joo Soori to come to Eungwang High for consecutive days.
She was only able to come because Joo Soogyeom also came, making it easy to protect her.
‘It’s going to be hard for Soogyeom oppa to come again tomorrow. I have to go today!’
Joo Soori asked Joo Soohyuk to check if they could participate in the library tour today.
He personally asked Heo Chaeah, the president of the general club and member of the book club, to get permission.
The library department expressed their pleasure to accept Joo Soohyuk’s relative, the young Joo Soori, who wanted to participate in the library tour.
Joo Soori was excited at the thought of taking a step closer to the world of the two people that she admired.
That is until she was separated from the party and lost her way.
***
The missing visitor on the library tour is Joo Soori.
Joo Soori is Joo Soohyuk’s cousin and the daughter of Joo-Oh Group’s next leader.
She was at the baseball stadium on Children’s Day, and also at the Kimopolea incident.
The news of the disappearance was appalling when I thought of the incidents that Joo-Oh Group went through in PMH.
“Looking at the recording devices, Joo Soori didn’t follow the guide’s instructions and went on her own just before she went missing.”
“She went on her own to avoid the guide and the bodyguard from Joo-Oh?”
“No one noticed while Joo Soori was walking to the blind spot of the recording device. The first person to notice was Joo Soogyeom who was accompanying her.”
Joo Soogyeom was at the library tour?
Along with the bitter feeling arose questions.
Joo Soogyeom is a player of Joo Soohyuk’s caliber.
No matter how talented Joo Soori is, I don’t think she can deceive Joo Soogyeom’s eyes.
Rather than simply losing her way, it’s possible that she was kidnapped.
With an ominous foreboding, I hastened to the library.
“Where did she disappear?”
“The Eungwang High Records Cultural Center in the main building of the Central Library. She disappeared while moving to the passageway leading to the newly added data room.”
I clicked my tongue as I tried to recreate the library map in my head.
The Culture Center stores press releases related to Eungwang High and is located in the corner of the main building.
The staircase was near the area.
Press releases are usually checked through the school’s website, and elevators are used to move through floors, so there weren’t a lot of people who frequented that area.
The biggest problem is that the stairs also lead to the basement.
‘There are dangerous books in the basement.’
Although they were tightly sealed, the underground library is full of books containing energy and magic.
Some books are believed to have been written by superior beings, and some are books written by royal lineages with leather covers stained with their blood.
“Check if she went to the basement.”
“…The recording device had an error so the record for five minutes before and after she disappeared can’t be checked.”
“There’s no secret in Eungwang District that the Guardian can’t know.”
Hwang Jiho grinned at my words.
“I see you remember that I’m the Guardian of the territory! I thought you forgot because you treat me poorly.”
I’ve never treated him badly.
I decided not to retort, thinking that Hwang Jiho would say more useless things if I did.
“I can’t confirm it.”
“Do you mean Joo Soori went out of Eungwang District?”
“It’s not likely, but I can’t conclude for sure. My prediction is different. Joo Soori is wandering in a subspace. The entrance of that could be at the library.”
A subspace.
There was such a gimmick in PMH, but it was only triggered under very strict conditions.
Did Joo Soori accidentally fall into one?
There were so many strange things about her disappearance.
Hwang Jiho’s words continued.
“We have notified the Joo-Oh Group. During the search, Joo Soohyuk, Joo Soogyeom, Oh Hyeji, and the bodyguards were given an hour on the condition that they were accompanied.”
After an hour, the players dispatched by the Joo-Oh Group will enter Eungwang High armed.
From the Joo-Oh Group’s point of view, having the next president’s daughter missing would usually mean that they’d send police right away, but given that they gave an hour of free search, they seem to trust Eungwang High a lot.
But it’s only an hour.
On the other hand, Hwang Jiho didn’t seem worried but he looked serious.
“This body is here and you are here. There’s no way we can’t find her.”
That’s true.
His confident words somehow calmed my nerves.
‘He must be organizing a search party.’
The main building of the Central Library, Eungwang High Records Cultural Center.
Teachers and students were busy moving in the normally quiet area of the library.
Joo Sooyhuk was talking to someone in a suit, perhaps Joo Soori’s bodyguard.
‘I think he’s a decent player.’
Ham Geunhyung and Heo Chaeah were forming a search party as well as they scanned the library map.
The search seemed to be carried out by the student council.
Cheon Dongha, president of the student council, scanned the library with his Eye Embracing Heaven and Earth light skill.
“I can’t find Soori inside the library.”
“It’s either she’s in a place where you can’t see with your eyes, or she’s not in the library.”
“We organize another search party in case of the latter.”
Cheon Dongha looked around and found us.
His face brightened as if he was relieved to see the mythical tiger beside me.
While Ham Geunhyung and Cheon Dongha were organizing the search party, I found that there weren’t as many people as I thought.
Shouldn’t we call more people because of this emergency?
In particular, I thought it would be better to call the strong homeroom teacher of Jegal.
“The search party is small.”
“The main power in the school is now concentrated in the old school building.”
“Why?”
“Class Zero alumni were caught by teachers quietly trying to do something with the place. Teachers have been assigned to two groups. One group will chase the Class Zero alumni and a group who will deal with the old building.”
Class Zero again…!
They didn’t attempt formal ordinances unlike when they were still studying, but they learned some exorcism skills and made a fuss.
The visitors seemed entertained by what looked like a performance, but from the school’s perspective, it was not.
There was a possibility that another incident will occur, so a standby team is also needed.
‘…A ghost in the Tiger Clan’s territory.’
Strangely, there are no real ghosts in Eungwang High, a place filled with ghost stories.
Seeing that those Class Zero alumni are still obsessed with the old building even after graduation, perhaps there really is something.
At that moment, Joo Soogyeom suddenly spoke.
“You’re Hwangmyeong Group’s…”
Joo Soogyeom talked to Hwang Jiho.
They must’ve met outside in conglomerate gatherings.
The two shook hands and greeted each other.
Joo Soogyeom recognized me next.
Unable to ignore him, I also greeted Joo Soogyeom.
“So you two are friends.”
“We’re in the same class.”
Joo Soogyeom seems to have taken it for granted that I’d participate in the search.
I don’t know if it’s because I’m close to Joo Soohyuk or because I’m with Hwang Jiho.
Hwang Jiho initiated a conversation with him.
“I’m sorry about this incident. We’ll find Miss Joo Soori for sure.”
“The rule was bypassed from the beginning and we were allowed to participate in the tour. The bodyguard and I were there, but we still lost Soori.”
Hwang Jiho’s putting up his high school student act in front of Joo Soogyeom!
It felt odd hearing Hwang Jiho speak in formal language.
Listening to the conversation between the old man and the chain smoker, my head started to hurt and I decided to turn to another place.
Then, my playable characters fortunately caught my eye and my mind was purified.
“Thanks for coming, Dain-ah.”
“No, it’s my job as a member of the student council. I’m sorry I’m the only one who could come. The others are busy.”
“I heard that the student council is also taking care of the incident with the seniors. I’m grateful that they sent you.”
Oh Hyeji welcomed Ahn Dain with pleasure.
She must be busy preparing for her class event, but she ran here after hearing the news.
Now that the title hero and heroine are here, there won’t be any problem.
“Sorry about this, Dain-ah. It’s in the middle of the festival.”
“…It’s alright. You must be worried about your cousin. I’ll do my best to find her. May I know what happened before she disappeared?”
Joo Soohyuk naturally talked to Ahn Dain.
She was avoiding Joo Soohyuk, but when it came to the emergency, they actively talked to each other.
Oh Hyeji watched happily as Joo Soohyuk showed Ahn Dain a picture of Joo Soori and explained what happened before she went missing.
Although Yoo Sanghee called her tactless, there was no doubt that Oh Hyeji was rooting for the two as well.
“We speculate that there’s a subspace in this library. The principal is currently working on a list of books that could create it, but we’ll start the search around the area first.”
Professor Ham Geunhyung explained the search plan by distributing tables with library maps through our devices.
The search team will be in groups of two to look at the blind spots between bookshelves and books related to energy waves.
The place I was assigned to was a section of the underground library.
“Sorry to have you search a dangerous area. Still, I wanted to leave it to you since you have experience of going to the basement library.”
I’ve been to the basement library before.
I once pretended to be Jegal and took care of the remnants of Choi Pyeondeuk’s group by joining hands with Hong Gyubin.
…But how did Professor Ham Geunhyung know that I’ve been there before?
Perhaps the professor is just pretending not to know, but in fact, my identity has almost been revealed.
I had a lot of things I wanted to ask him, but I decided to prioritize the search for Joo Soori first.
“I will take the lead, Jo Euishin.”
In the underground library.
Hwang Jiho, who was assigned to be my pair, took the lead at will.
The underground library was newly expanded so it was wider than I remembered.
The number of books also increased.
Books containing energy and mana have therefore increased as well.
As I was following Hwang Jiho from a step away, I heard a system notification sound in my head.
<Skill Destiny activated.>
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