Eungwang High, around the west gate.
Immediately after the sudden appearance of the Pig Clan minions and the otherworld.
Who knew where the hell they’d been hiding, but a large number of players in short capes appeared to deal with the situation.
On the surface of their capes were the letters L and E, and a logo in the shape of a violin.
Ordinary visitors who recognized the team logo were immediately relieved.
Lake of Eternity, the professional player team led by Kwon Jein.
‘I heard about the attack, but seeing it like this…’
With her blue eyes, Kwon Jein stared at Eungwang High beyond the boundary where the sparks occurred.
The figure gradually became invisible as the boundary became increasingly opaque, but in Kwon Jein’s eyes, it was like she could still see her niece.
“Give the command, Jein-ah.”
At Jared Lee’s words, Kwon Jein regained her cool.
Kwon Jein had to act as the team master, not as Kwon Lena’s teacher or her family.
Kwon Jein pushed her worries deep in her heart.
“As we discussed before, we subjugate the enemies first.”
Kwon Jein pointed to the enemies rushing toward the boundary.
She was also worried about the frozen otherworld, but she remembered Jo Euishin’s words.
— A frozen otherworld will spawn while the enemies are attacking the boundary. Since it has a strong energy poison, I would like you to put off attacking the otherworld later and deal with the enemies first.
— What about the otherworld? We have to attack it eventually.
Then, Jo Euishin held out an envelope of medicine.
The envelope was engraved with a deer horn mark, the logo of the Deer clan.
What Jo Euishin handed over was a medicine from the Deer Clan.
It’s possible that the medicine was delivered via the Tiger Clan, but it’s unlikely that the exclusive Tiger Clan would send this through someone who doesn’t know the Deer Clan.
Jo Euishin spoke confidently.
— It’s an antidote for the energy poison.
— I see. You’re not telling me to take it right away, so I guess there are side effects.
As Kwon Jein expected, the antidote had some side effects.
Jo Euishin explained, his face a little dark.
— There are side effects. It’s eased compared to the earlier versions, but your internal organs will continue to be damaged while the medicine is working. You have to use a recovery item with it, so only those who can endure it should take it.
Being poisoned by energy poison handicaps a person’s skills and energy waves.
Choosing between gut and poison during a battle with enemies, any player would choose the same.
Kwon Jein soothingly said to Jo Euishin.
— I’m ready for that, and I can handle it.
— …Yes.
He sounded more conceited than soothed, but Jo Euishin looked somewhat at ease as if he understood Kwon Jein.
— Tell me more about the side effects.
Kwon Jein asked about the extent of internal damage.
Thoroughly prepared, Jo Euishin presented the results of experiments on civilians, royal lineages, and players.
Knowing the results well, it seemed that the antidote was experimented for a long time in advance.
Listening carefully, it seemed to be for royal lineage and humans, not enemies or tamed animals.
‘They’ve improved the antidote by experimenting with it. I wonder who they did it to? Maybe the Tiger Clan provided the test subjects, not the Deer Clan.’
Kwon Jein wondered for a moment, but she didn’t ask.
As Jo Euishin’s words lengthened, Kwon Jein forgot what her original question was.
Kwon Jein wasn’t curious enough about those who became experimental subjects of the Tiger Clan.
As Kwon Jein expected, the subjects were the bears caught by the Tiger Clan and those who were ostracized by society after committing evil acts.
Hyangrok, the head of the Deer Clan, wanted extensive experimental data, and Hwangho, the head of the Tiger Clan, wanted those whom he captured to suffer.
The two easily agreed.
Hyangrok had a child-like appearance and way of speech, so the experiment subjects mistakenly thought that they could escape.
But they were wrong.
Pleased with the subjects, Hyangrok said “The advantage of intelligent lab rats is that they can speak!”
Whenever the subjects complained of pain, Hyangrok would listen to them as if he cared, but he didn’t stop the experiments.
Rather, he’d conduct more diverse experiments to obtain a lot of feedback to the subjects that responded generously.
As such, Hyangrok used the experimental subjects frugally to extract as much data as he wanted.
Thanks to the experiment, Kwon Jein was able to know in detail the range of the side effects of the antidote.
— Me, Jared, and the executives can take it.
Kwon Jein made a conclusion considering her team’s abilities.
The amount of antidotes wasn’t enough, perhaps because it’s difficult to mass produce, but those selected by Kwon Jein can handle the side effects.
After the talk about the antidote, Kwon Jein asked something else.
— But why did you ask to postpone attacking the otherworld if we have an antidote?
— The Black Screen will do something by using the energy poison from the frozen otherworlds that will appear near each gate.
— What will they do?
— They’re going to use poison and cold air to freeze Eungwang High’s boundary.
Kwon Jein opened her blue eyes wide in disbelief.
During the entire operation, Kwon Lena will be inside the school.
She was worried about what could happen to Kwon Lena if the school froze.
‘But saving Lena alone…’
Kwon Jein naturally wanted to evacuate Kwon Lena to a safe place, but she couldn’t do so.
Once Kwon Lena is taken out, she will want to get her friends, Class 1-0.
It’s obvious too that she would want the members of the string club to be evacuated as well.
‘…I can’t repeat the same mistake.’
At one point, Kwon Jein left Kwon Lena alone in Korea to keep her safe.
And she knows how hard Kwon Lena suffered because of that.
She was safe from the threat that the Lake of Eternity had to encounter, but she was unhappy.
Although this situation is different, Kwon Jein couldn’t choose to make a similar judgment.
As if he knew Kwon Jein’s internal conflict, Jo Euishin continued to calmly explain.
— This will reduce or eliminate the remaining energy poison in the activated frozen otherworld. That’s when you should attack it.
— …You said you’ll be inside, right Euishin?
Jo Euishin looked overly calm.
Kwon Jein was guessing how much Jo Euishin cared about his classmates and how hard he was working behind the scenes for them.
However, even with the crisis facing Eungwang High, Jo Euishin didn’t choose to run away or evacuate only his friends.
— Yes.
Jo Euishin casually confirmed that he would stay inside.
He intends to fight that huge danger inside the school, so how could Kwon Jein speak weakly in front of him?
That’s why Kwon Jein came in response to all of Jo Euishin’s requests.
She looked at the situation, the number of enemies, and the speed of the expansion of the otherworld at the west gate.
“I don’t think I need to use my light skill at this rate.”
Fwaat!
Kwon Jein actualized a blue violin in her hand.
After that, the other members of the Lake of Eternity team drew their weapons.
“But I’m worried about Lena, so I’m going to use it.”
At Kwon Jein’s cheerful words, the team members’ faces brightened up.
Since Kwon Jein’s ability is usually expressed through performance, her energy waves are greatly influenced by her condition and emotions.
They thought that she’d be in a poor condition from her great worry for Kwon Lena, but she seemed to be in a positive mood as she looked like she made up her mind.
Jared Lee also spoke brightly.
“Yeah, I knew you’d say that, Jein. What song should we play?”
“It's Christmas Eve, so let’s play a carol.”
“Got it! Then shall we prepare some water? I don’t know about inside, but it’s too dry out here.”
Jared Lena held out dozens of item cards.
The rarity of the items was low, but it’s a must-have when invoking Kwon Jein’s power in an area without water.
The item card simply read “Water.”
Fwaaat! Shwaaaa…!
Jared Lee launched his energy waves and tons of water was actualized.
Kwon Jein’s performance started just before the water materialized from the card was poured out of the air.
The sound of sparks from the enemies colliding with the boundary and the screams of fleeing people were buried in the sound of the violin.
Fwaaa…
Then, the water that was about to pour began to move as if each drop was singing in response to Kwon Jein’s playing.
Kwon Jein’s light skill, Lullaby’s Hum, was activated and the water danced as one.
Along with the bright carol played by Kwon Jein, the members of the Lake of Eternity Team joined her.
Then, the lump of water became bigger and bigger as if it had absorbed surrounding water vapor.
“It’s a reindeer!”
“…Rudolph?”
The people running away admired the huge water reindeer.
As Kwon Jein continued playing the carol, a lump of water in the shape of a reindeer rushed toward the enemies.
The hooves of the giant water reindeer trampled on the Pig Clan minions.
The enemies tried to fight back, but their attacks were penetrated by a column of water from the reindeer’s horns.
‘I was hoping that Lena would have a great Christmas, and I was going to play this song with her…’
Kwon Jein’s desire to knock down all the enemies, attack the otherworld, and have a good Christmas made the water reindeer stronger.
By the end of the carol played with the team members, the enemies called by the Pig Clan were almost wiped out.
One of the pigs tried to launch a surprise attack on Kwon Jein, thinking that she was defenseless.
However, he was quickly counterattacked by Jared Lee and trampled on by the water reindeer’s hooves.
With the exception of the frozen otherworld, the situation in the west gate seemed to be settled.
‘Now that Euishin’s prediction happened, we can start attacking the… Ah!’
At that time, Kwon Jein’s thoughts were interrupted.
In the corner of her vision, Kwon Jein saw a butterfly.
A butterfly appearing at an unusual season reminded her of someone.
‘…Butterfly!’
It seemed that she was the only one who saw it.
The butterfly stayed in the corner of Kwon Jein’s vision and flew somewhere.
It fluttered its wings as if giving a warning and disappeared toward the bamboo forest connected to Cheonik Mountain.
