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At Hwangmyeong Mansion’s modern annex, inside the room with the lowest illumination.
Eunho, who was among piles of metal, fabric, and paper, blinked tiredly and stopped his hands.
He carded the workpiece as it changes its shape in response to his energy waves.
Fwaaa!
The rarity of the carded item was SR-rank.
In terms of money, it was rare enough to be valuable, but Eunho wasn’t satisfied.
Famous for his dexterity since the mythical age, the item was of lesser quality compared to the items of the finest materials provided by Hwangho that he used.
Confirming the item’s rarity, Eunho immediately destroyed the card.
‘It’s convenient to be able to grasp the level of results on an objective scale.’
After the collision of worlds, items with a certain level of energy become cardable.
Rareness doesn’t determine the item’s value, but it was a measure good enough for Eunho who had just woke up from a deep sleep.
‘Handling power isn’t the same as it used to be. I should aim for an SSR — rank item at least by Christmas Eve. What time is it?’
After checking the time, Eunho hurriedly left the workshop.
He prepared a cup of tea and turned on his device.
Then, a live broadcast of the announcement of Eungwang High’s next ambassadors was streamed on the hologram.
[Hello, I am Jo Euishin of Year One Class Zero.]
Eunho smiled wide when he saw Jo Euishin on the screen.
Jo Euishin calmly expressed himself in front of the camera, and his prepared remarks and gestures looked most natural among those he shared the stage with.
Indeed, Jo Euishin was competent to represent Eungwang High.
‘I wanted Euishin hyung to be the face of my company too.’
Eunho recalled his time as Cheon Sungheon.
Forcibly deprived of his dream, Eunho had little hope.
He just wanted Jo Euishin to start playing chess again one day and sponsor him.
This was achieved in a way that he couldn’t have imagined during his days as Cheon Sungheon.
Jo Euishin started playing chess again, and now he’s an ambassador for the school named after Eunho.
Eunho’s efforts and strengths weren’t a factor in the process, but the results made him feel like he achieved a lifelong dream.
Listening to the explanation of what an ambassador for the school is going to do, Eunho continued to think.
‘Dongha hyung was the ambassador in PMH. I have great hyungs.’
Cheon Dongha collected and sent materials and videos directly for EUnho who couldn’t personally come to the festival.
Among them was information that wasn’t available on the school website.
Cheon Dongha didn’t forget to take care of his younger brother even when he was busy.
However, what Cheon Dongha told him contained somewhat intrusive content.
‘It’s no coincidence that Dongha hyung will go on a business trip to the countryside this Christmas.’
Cheon Dongha will not be dispatched to the provinces as a guest researcher at Hwangmyeong.
This request was from the Cheon Family.
Cheon Dongha knew that something big would happen at Christmas so he tried to refuse right away, but it became difficult to decline after hearing the contents.
‘I can’t believe their child has to deal with generational issues. And on Christmas on top of that.’
Cheon Dongha’s father sowed seeds here and there before his death.
According to the Tiger Clan’s investigation, there were no other illegitimate children other than Cheon Eunha.
However, there was a person who raised suspicions over the credibility of the DNA test.
The Cheon Family could’ve manipulated the results in the middle, so the retest directly sampled epithelial cells for confirmation.
They pointed to Cheon Dongha as the subject.
It was to check if the two were biological brothers or not.
Cheon Dongha cared about Eunho even though he must feel complicated about the family situation.
While Eunho was making another cup of tea with a complicated mind…
Hwik.
Someone suddenly sat down opposite him.
It was Baekho.
After Eunho locked himself in the workshop, Baekho left to not disturb him, but he appears every time he would take a tea break.
He comes often, perhaps afraid that his brother would be lonely in the annex on his own.
“I prepared some for you too, Baekho hyungnim. Go ahead.”
“Thank you.”
Eunho smiled from his heart as he saw Baekho take the teacup.
‘They’re too great of hyungs for a heartless person like me.’
Eunho still thinks about the descendants who had never seen his face.
He said he would think about meeting them after the exam, but he didn’t intend to see them just yet.
After Eungwang High’s entrance exam, after Christmas, after New Year, after the entrance ceremony…
Eunho was ready to keep pushing it back if possible.
He was confident of hiding his identity as a royal lineage, but he would be forced to encounter them once the semester began.
But his disguise good enough to trick Yong Jegun would surely trick the descendants as well.
‘The problem is Jeokho-nim, but he’s not in his mind to pay attention to me now.’
Jeokho once made a fuss for him to see his grandchildren’s faces, but he was too worried for his son now to pay mind to Eunho.
Kim Shinrok was depressed when he heard that Yong Jegun wanted to ascend.
He ho felt uneasy as Christmas was just around the corner and his son was suffering like that, so Jeokho couldn’t afford to devote his heart to Eunho.
Jeokho even vented his anger yesterday.
— Yesterday, I was going to school and heard my son and Yong Jegun talking.
It didn’t seem that Jeokho coincidentally overheard Kim Shinrok and Yong Jegun’s conversation though.
He was worried about his son and followed him.
— What did you hear?
— They talked about Jegal’s selection as the school’s ambassador. Yong Jegun said it was a shame since he wanted to see Shinrok as a model.
Anyway, it was like Jeokho who expressed disappointment instead of Yong Jegun.
It was obvious how proud he would be of his good and precious son if he became the face representing Eungwang High.
Jeokho has been very gentle with Yong Jegun after his replay, and he seemed angry at that fact.
— The guy says it’s a shame but he thinks about ascension. My son could be the model next year, or two years or even a hundred years from now. If he’s so disappointed, he could just stay here and watch.
Jeokho’s face huffed and puffed up as he spoke.
Yong Jegun said he would become a superior being to give Kim Shinrok his power, so Jeokho couldn’t curse out the ascension itself.
The whole situation just seemed frustrating for Jeokho.
— Or he can just keep playing around in Eungwang High and be the ambassador himself. It’s a bit weird for a dragon to promote something from the Tiger Clan’s territory, but wouldn’t be okay since it’s Yong Jegun?
It wasn’t a bad idea for Yong Jegun to be Eungwang High’s ambassador since it could be appealed that the school hosts the Cintamani as a teacher.
Eunho agreed with Jeokho.
When Eunho would respond with a soft tone, Jeokho would say something in between a compliment and a curse at Yong Jegun while also pouring out his worries about his son.
He was smiling while hiding his inner thoughts, but Eunho envied Jeokho inside.
Eunho was in no position to openly worry about his descendants like Jeokho.
Knock, knock.
At that time, a small knock was heard.
Hwangho, in the form of Hwang Yuho, arrived.
“I have something to talk to you about, Eunho. Good, Baekho is here too.”
The young Hwangho’s face was dark.
Eunho took out a roll of cookies that Hwangho prepared for his Hwang Yuho alter ego.
“Traces of Cheongho and Shinin were found outside of Korea.”
A heavy silence fell among the tigers at those words.
If it was a situation where they didn’t know what they knew now, they would’ve been happy.
However, they were guessing that their friends were being used to lure them.
“There’s a way to bring Hwangho overseas, just as Euishin hyung predicted.”
“Yes. If we didn’t know about Hani and Gong Cheonghwon, I would’ve been prepared to go abroad by now. I would’ve arranged my alter ego and selected someone to take over my job.”
“If so, then you would’ve left the country before Christmas Eve.”
It was difficult to enter the country at Christmas, so whatever happened in Korea would be outside Hwangho’s control.
At that time, Baekho put down his cup silently and asked.
“What traces of them have been found, Hwangho?”
It was a reasonable question, but Eunho was surprised that Baekho spoke.
He thought he would comfort Hwangho by listening silently, but he suddenly asked a question.
Since it was related to the traces of their old friends though, it wasn’t really that strange.
‘It’s a clue that can make Hwangho-nim move overseas, so it’s not weird for Baekho hyungnim to ask that.’
Since it was a question he was also curious about, Eunho decided not to point it out.
“A taekwondo belt that I gifted. It was something that disappeared with them. They said there’s still traces of my power on it.”
***
Yeom Junyeol’s teachers were known to the public.
One was his father, the Red King Yeom Bangyeol.
And the other one was the wanderlust dragon, Zhulong.
(T/N: Zhulong, or the Torch Dragon in English, is a giant red solar dragon.)
Chokryong was known as an unmoving red dragon that looked over the world at the top of Jong Volcano.
But what was meant by “unmoving” doesn’t simply mean that he didn’t leave his spot.
It is said that he only looked at the world without breathing, eating, drinking, or falling asleep.
Chokryong was more of a god who watched the seasons change than a dragon.
Then, after the worldly collisions, CHokryong wandered around the world as a wanderlust dragon.
“Hello. So you’re the benefactor of the Dragon Clan.”
When Yeom Junyeol finished introductions, a woman in an old travel suit greeted me first.
It was as if the wind blew in the direction of her favor.
It was awkward to use the words Chokryong and Wanderlust Dragon at the same time, but the term suited the woman in front of me.
“You really are polite! I’m sure our Junyeol-ie has a lot to learn from a kid like you.”
Chokryong spoke affectionately at the end of the greeting.
Yeom Junyeol’s friendly personality seems to be from her.
‘Chokryong was painted as a dragon who looked at the world without saying a word, but she’s very different.’
I don’t know what happened after the worldly collisions, but Chokryong was different from what I knew.
She was also treated as a dragon god so it wasn’t strange if she were to be a superior being, but seeing her look at Yeom Junyeol with wide friendly eyes, she seem to have denied her divinity.
The choice to remain as a royal lineage may have something to do with her wanderlust.
‘She was on the front lines for Yeom Junyeol.’
After Yeom Junyeol’s death, when negotiations between the Red Lion Team and Dragon Clan coalition and the National Assembly broke down, the first to stand was Cheongryong and Chokryong.
At the same time as the war began, Chokryong died after being stabbed by Cadmus’ Dragon Tooth.
“I’m glad you think well of Euishin, Teacher Chokryong.”
“…Junyeol-ah.”
Chokryong suddenly looked very sad.
Was there something wrong with what Yeom Junyeol said?
My question was answered right away.
“I told you to call me grandma in private.”
“I’m sorry, Grandma. I guess I was nervous because it’s my first time introducing you to Euishin.”
I found out about an unexpected family relationship.
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