Central Hall of Jiikhoe.
A long day was coming to an end, but most of the dormers were gathered without falling asleep.
None of them were injured.
All the students who participated in the battle were treated and examined in the nurse’s office by afternoon.
The students were puzzled by the flowing connection between the nurse’s office and Hwangmyeong-Eungwang Hospital.
They responded quickly as if they were equipped to deal with a surge of students after battle.
The school said they had prepared in advance for the physical fitness test to be conducted at the beginning of next year, but in reality, everything was Jo Euishin’s plan.
“There are a lot of people. Are they all here after getting examined?”
“I think so, seeing that the lights in the dorm buildings are mostly off.”
Park Seunghyun and Kim Hyungu, the freshmen dorm students from Jiikhoe, walked around the central hall filled with students.
Their job was to clean the hall where signs of battle remained and then decorate it to suit the Christmas atmosphere.
The work was very slow.
Other than the two of them, the people from Jiikhoe were doing other things.
At this rate, it was unsure whether they could complete cleaning until midnight.
“Can I help you?”
“I wanna help too!”
“Same here.”
Then, the kids from Class 1-0 offered to help.
Saeum of April, Kwon Lena, Hani, and Maeng Hyodon were there.
The two willingly accepted help.
“Oh, thanks.”
“Are all the Class Zero kids going to help? Oh, I don’t see Euishin and Wooram.”
“Wooram said he has something to work on at the workshop. Euishin said he’s outside the school.”
“I was waiting for Euishin since I thought he’d come back soon, but it looks like he’s not staying here today.”
Following the four students, the other dormitory students also offered to help.
As a result, most of the students who stayed in the dorms during Christmas participated.
Students who played games were sad that they couldn’t enjoy Christmas because of the battle.
Students who couldn’t sleep because of the time distortion inside the school’s boundary.
Students who wanted to be in crowded places were scared of solitary at this fickle time.
And students who remained to help deal with the incident.
Thanks to all of them participating, the central hall became more colorful than when just the Jiikhoe members decorated it.
“Wow, it’s done!”
“The seniors who went outside are coming. Are all the broken equipment replaced? Can we rest now?”
“I don’t think so. The foundation’s PR team asked me to send an affidavit by morning.”
“Wasn’t Siwan hyung going to write that as the representative?”
“Siwan hyung was in charge of the attack, but Idam hyung took charge of the defense. We know what happened better since we were in the Jiikhoe Hall.”
“Ah… How annoying…”
Kim Hyungu picked up an ornament with an unmotivated face as he tapped his foot.
It’s been a long time since he played soccer, so he felt a little sore.
After observing him for a while, Park Seunghyun spoke.
“I’ll do it. I didn’t do much so I still have energy.”
Park Seunghyun recalled being helpless during battle.
Since he faithfully followed Eungwang High’s combat curriculum, he thought he would do more than usual in practice, but it wasn’t the case at all.
He managed to fight at the start, but he faced a crisis immediately when a strong enemy appeared.
‘I would’ve been seriously injured if Euishin didn’t help me.’
Park Seunghyun heard about the fierce battles in the central district.
He was frightened when he heard that they had to deal with demons.
And, he knew that people of royal lineage flocked to Mt. Cheonik.
If Park Seunghyun had been there, he might’ve died.
Perhaps that’s why after Ham Geunhyung and Class 3-0 joined the Jiikhoe Hall, the freshmen students were ordered to wait.
Park Seunghyun’s turn to work did not come.
‘I wouldn’t have been ordered to stand by if I were as good as Euishin or Soohyuk. It’s not that upsetting, but it’s a shame. Still, I wanted to do something…’
Park Seunghyun felt pathetic.
He thought about Jo Euishin and Joo Soohyuk who were also freshmen but have established brilliance, but he wasn’t particularly motivated to achieve that kind of performance.
In the first place, Park Seunghyun chose to study at Eungwang High not to become a great player but to escape terrible bullying.
The bullying followed him to Eungwang High, but everything was resolved thanks to Jo Euishin.
Now that there was no one bothering Park Seunghyun, he didn’t feel as desperate as when he was preparing for Eungwang High’s entrance exam.
Still, he didn’t want to just watch while the other kids were fighting.
“Why are you thinking so much? I’ll write a report too.”
In the meantime, Kim Hyungu stopped what he was doing and looked at Park Seunghyun.
Then, Park Seunghyun suddenly remembered how his cousin, Kim Chul, grabbed him.
Kim Chul said he was looking for someone who uses a light skill similar to his.
He thought it was surprising because support and healing light skills were rarer than attack ones.
‘According to his cousin, someone has the same light skill but is greater than mine.’
Kim Chul revealed what happened on Kimopolea.
Because of energy waves, Kimopolea was almost capsized.
The security team of Joo-Oh and TC were almost wiped out, but then they heard an unidentified whistle.
They survived, releasing energy waves more powerful than they usually can.
‘The whistle got louder when the energy wave output peaked. Considering the sound and the flow that Chul hyung described… Ah, I dunno. I should’ve listened more carefully.’
Park Seunghyun couldn’t actively respond when Kim Chul grabbed him and bombarded him with questions.
Somehow, with the only keywords he heard, he kept thinking of the benefactor who saved him.
He thought of Jo Euishin who he saw use a power similar to Do Wonwoo’s iron chains.
Jo Euishin was also at the opening ceremony and at the Kimopolea incident.
Jo Euishin is his benefactor who identified his harassment that even teachers couldn’t recognize.
The benefactor that saved him without leaving any trace.
Park Seunghyun didn’t think it was weird if Jo Euishin was something more.
He had no solid evidence, but he kept thinking about him.
‘If I can use a power as good as Chul hyung described, I can help players in front. Should I talk to Cheol hyung again? Or…’
When Park Seunghyun’s troubles deepened, Sung Siwan’s cool voice rang loudly in the hall.
“Alright, everybody look here!”
The scattered dorm students looked toward him and saw a huge Christmas cake.
Gye Idam, the chairman of Jiikhoe, stood behind the cake with a cutting knife in hand.
“It’s somewhat delayed, but we’ll proceed with the Christmas event prepared by Jiikhoe. We’re going to cut the cake according to the number of students.”
All Christmas events prepared by Jiikhoe were supposed to be canceled.
However, the situation changed as the students volunteered and everything was organized quickly.
It so happened to be midnight of Christmas Eve.
Students counted down while looking at the second hand of the clock and shouted in unison.
“Merry Christmas!”
The students of Class Zero were among those who enjoyed the party.
“It turned out well! I thought we had to go to the lounge if they closed the main hall, but I think we can hang out here all night.”
“Yeah…”
“Let’s go get a piece of the cake, Hyodon-ah! You didn’t eat snacks earlier, so eat some cake at least.”
Hani, who quietly went to receive a plate of cake first, turned her head and looked toward the door.
At the end of her gaze was Mok Wooram who seemed to have come running with all his might.
“Wooram’s here.”
“He’s just in time for midnight. Merry Christmas!”
Kwon Lena greeted Mok Wooram with a smile.
Mok Wooram caught his breath and walked straight to her, his insides having mixed feelings.
‘I can’t believe she’s smiling when her precious violin was just shattered today.’
Kwon Lena did not show sorrow or distress in front of her classmates over the broken violin.
But it was different for Kwon Jein.
Mok Wooram happened to see her while heading to the conference room to greet Jared Lee.
— I lost the violin that you gave me, sunbaenim. I’m sorry.
— I don’t know why you’re apologizing, Lena.
Kwon Jein asked in a tone as if she really didn’t understand.
She was just happy and grateful that Kwon Lena was safe.
Compared to Kwon Lena’s safety, the broken violin was a very minor inconvenience.
Afterward, Kwon Lena hesitated and spoke in detail about how the violin broke.
While listening to the story, Kwon Jein’s eyes filled with tears, but for different reasons from Kwon Lena.
— I don’t regret sacrificing the violin to save my classmates. But…
— …But?
— At that moment, I regret that I didn’t improve enough to play my violin to save my friends. It’s because of me that the violin broke.
The tears that Kwon Lena held back finally flowed.
After seeing Kwon Lena like that, Mok Wooram couldn’t stay still.
So, he immediately left and headed to his workshop to make a gift for Kwon Lena.
Knowing Mok Wooram’s intention, Min Geurin offered to help.
“Merry Christmas, Lena. Will you take this?”
Mok Wooram got straight to the point.
Kwon Lena asked anxiously as she looked at the small box given by Mok Wooram.
“You didn’t buy something expensive from a stranger, did you?”
“No, I didn’t. I made this myself.”
“That’s a relief. I see! But I think we’re supposed to exchange gifts with the other kids later…”
Even after hearing that, Mok Wooram didn’t retreat his gift.
“This is not a Christmas present, but I hope you accept it.”
Kwon Lena carefully accepted the box in response to Mok Wooram’s serious attitude.
Mok Wooram urged her to open it immediately.
Kwon Lena felt dazed, but she was curious about the contents so she decided to open it first.
“Ah…”
Kwon Lena fell speechless the moment she opened the box.
Inside was a platinum-colored violin.
It was exactly like the energy violin that Kwon Lena remembered.
The only difference was that it was small enough to fit in her palm.
“Did you make this, Wooram-ah…?”
“I didn’t do it alone. Saeum and the others helped collect debris. Geurin went home and couldn’t participate in the work itself, but she picked out dyes and polish and also helped me with a rough scratch of the design.”
Kwon Lena couldn’t take her eyes off the little violin.
In the meantime, Mok Wooram continued sincerely explaining the gift.
“It’s a simple ornament that can’t make a sound or be turned into a card, but it’s a miniature of your violin I made with the debris.”
Kwon Lena silently held the violin miniature.
She couldn’t say thank you, afraid that tears would fall the moment she opened her mouth.
Mok Wooram said he was relieved that Kwon Lena was happy, but he still felt pain in the back of his mind.
‘The gift that I really wanted to give was different though…’
Mok Wooram felt the energy violin card in the pocket of his uniform suddenly become heavy, but he decided to ignore it.
