Chapter 47

Translator: NovelMultiverse | Editor: NovelMultiverse

 

It was getting worse.

The vision went completely dark red.

Now, even in the dark, she felt it clearly that her vision was stained with an ominous color.

The darkness could no longer protect her.  

‘I can’t stay alone anymore. I’m going crazy!’  

She had been desperately looking for places with people.

The most crowded place was the self-study room of the Intellectual Center.

If she was mixed in with the students studying all night, even if her vision changed strangely, she felt a little relieved.

‘When the exams are over, it may just disappear. Maybe it’s just because of test stress.’

She had been looking forward to it throughout the midterm exams.

That stain, that sound, blood that rose up at every corner.

When the exams were done, it will magically disappear.  

‘It’s still the same…’  

No, it seemed it got more severe.

Now that the exam period was over the study rooms were empty.

She didn’t know where to go. 

‘What should I do, what should I do…?’

The dormitory cafeteria was the next best place with the most students.

It looked like she had been sitting at the cafeteria all day, but she couldn’t even eat the moon rabbit rice cake served as a special meal.

But when dinner is over and the cafeteria closed, where would she go?

If she went home, her parents will be worried.

Should she run away from school and go to a 24-hour cafe…  

“Can I sit in front of  you?”  

The dark red stain and tinnitus magically disappeared.

Andain was in the clear vision.  

“Dain…?”

“We haven’t been able to meet during the exam period. Let’s eat together.”

Andain was smiling with a light smile.

It was a rare smile.

Did something good happen?

Unbeknownst to herself, she felt relieved and followed Andain and smiled.  

“I’m going to the central library in the central area after I eat. Would you like to go together after we eat? Joo soo…… No, I was recommended a book by a kid I know….”

“No!”  

She heard a terrible word and raised her voice again.  

“Ah······.”  

She kept doing things she regretted to Andain.

The feeling of sinning and guilt flowed through her thoughts.

It was a rather loud voice, but fortunately, the dormitory cafeteria was busy, and the students gathered after the exam were busy chatting and did not draw attention.

She looked around and lowered her voice.  

“I’m sorry, Dain. But never….go to the central library.”  

Andain blinked her eyes and nodded.

The operating hours are shorter than that of the central library, but she thought it would be possible to use a library dedicated to first-year students or a library at the Intellectual Center.

She changed the subject before she thought deeper.  

“T-today. Would you like to watch movies all night? We can talk too. In my room or in your room!”

“Sure. Want to come to my room?”

“Okay, ······! Dain, thank you so much….”

She was able to laugh after a very long time, thinking that there would be no stains or tinnitus at least until tomorrow.

*    *    *

An old school’s classroom filled with dust.

After the embarrassing entrance of the Red Phantom Thief, Yeom Jun-yeol reached out into the air and summoned the Red Dragon.  

Shhhh-.  

A gap in space that appeared at Yeom Jun-yeol’s fingertips.

In the gap, the epitome of his power, the red dragon spouting flames from its mouth appeared.

However, neither hostility nor murderous intent was felt.

After experiencing a few battles, he knew that it was a bluff.

He just didn’t know the intention. 

‘The level is still low. The size of the red dragon and the power of the surrounding fire is not very high.’

The moment the red dragon took a motion to breathe fire in his direction.

Yeom Jun-yeol stopped it.  

“I guess you are not a Dragon tribe.”

“Dragon tribe…?”

“There were several times the Dragon tribesmen acting as a fake Red Phantom Thief to prevent me from finding the real Red Phantom Thief. I am a descendant of them, so I was stopped before even beginning my attack, so I knew right away.”  

Did the Dragon tribe do such stupid things behind the scenes?

Doing stuff like that is why Yeom Jun-yeol was saying he wanted to have him as his mentor.

He could probably bet a picture of Snare…a copy of Snare’s picture on the fact that his father probably had something to do with the whole fake Red Phantom Thief nonsense.

“I’m sorry that I attempted to attack you all of a sudden……Although you seem to have noticed that I wasn’t going to actually attack.”

“No, it’s alright. I’m sorry that I pretended to be you as well.”

“It’s okay. Thanks to that, the Illusion Gate was revealed, and Seum was able to come to school.”

His playable character Yeom Jun-yeol was such a good guy.

Since he suffered annoyance because of him, even if he wanted to punch him, he had nothing to say.  

“Do you know why I was looking for you?”

“I heard you wanted to make me your mentor.”  

Yeom Jun-yeol had a slightly surprised face but was delighted.

“Yes… will you make me your disciple?”

Seeing that reaction, he thought he must really want to make him his mentor.

It is him who nurtured the character by putting Yeom Jun-yeol in countless free quests in the game.

He had a rough sense of how to help him grow.

Still, there was something to ask before that.  

“I have conditions.”

“Yes. I’m listening!”

Yeom Jun Yeol had a face that he usually only showed when filming a CF.

His conscience hurt because it seemed like he was using that good dragon tribe descendant, but he couldn’t think of a better way.

“May 5. Throw the first pitch at the Jamsil Baseball Stadium and watch the game until the end. Instead, you have to keep the fact that you will be throwing the first pitch on that day a secret.”  

May 5 every year.

Children’s Day Jamsil series, one of the best box office cards in Korean professional baseball, boasting a cumulative audience of 8 million per year, will be held.

Two rival teams who considered Jamsil Baseball Stadium as their home stadium would play.

Joo oh Dragons.

TC Knights.

In each Children’s Day series, both teams play as the home team every other year.

If the Joo oh Dragons of the two teams become the home team, it was customary to follow the symbol of the team and pick a dragon tribesmen to do the first pitch on Children’s Day.  

“······You are talking about the Jamsil Derby Match for Children’s Day between the Joo oh Dragons and TC Knights? When Joo oh is the home team, the dragons do go to the game and show off their Gwanglim and do the first pitch every two years.”

“Yeah. Switch with the dragon tribe selected as the first pitch. When the game is over safely, I will be your teacher.”

The Red Lion Team, which was also among the top 10 teams in the world, was the most popular team in Korea.

The same was true of the dragons behind the team.

Since the Joo oh Dragons has a dragon attached to the team’s name, they actively attracted the dragons and Red Lion team members to be the first pitch.  

“······The dragon tribe brothers and uncles hated being there, so they always snuck out around the 4th or 5th inning. Are you really going to make me your disciple if I do the first pitch and watch the game until the end?”

“Yeah. Don’t forget to keep it a secret until that day.”

“I will!” 

Yeom Jun-yeol answered vigorously without questioning further.

He thought he would ask and question more.

As he looked silently, Yeom Jun-yeol said with a confident face.

“When we become master and disciple, I think there will be opportunities to get to know you. Is this condition some type of test?”  

In some ways it was.

He didn’t doubt that Yeom Jun-yeol will play the role well. 

“May 5th will be the day you become my mentor.”  

He added very useless words after the cool words.  

“Please wait, Red Phantom Thief.”  

His mind roughly went blank.

If he becomes Yum Jun-yeol’s mentor, he will stop him from calling him with that title.

*    *    *

Next day.

The students took a rest after the exam.

The crazy atmosphere that dominated Silver Light high school had calmed down.

Emotions were just mixed with the test results.

There was also a complaint on the general bulletin board saying that the water temperature of the Han River was still too low to go swimming just yet.

‘It might sound like a joke, but it would be hard to because of Song Man-seok’s Han River Cycling Team anyway.’ 

With a bitter smile, he read several bulletin board posts.

It was time to go to school early in the morning and spend time in the classroom.  

Slide~.

The sound of the automatic door opening and closing was heard.

The guy who entered the classroom talked without saying hello.  

“Why did you call me so early for? Is it something difficult to say through the device?”  

Hwang Ji-ho, who he was waiting for, had arrived.

Before the other kids came, he went straight to the point.  

“From two weeks before the start of the midterms to yesterday. Students who have undergone a comprehensive eye examination in our school health office and have applied for a device replacement. Among them, students belonging to the editorial department of the school magazine. I need a list of students who meet more than one of these three conditions.”  

The curse was triggered right after the midterms.

‘If I forcibly blocked this job, there was a possibility that I would put a curse that I had no idea about on a kid I didn’t know.’  

So even though he knew it, he had to neglect it.

There was also the reason that the students who suffered this curse deserved it.  

‘It was probably difficult to overcome the temptation.’  

Every student wants to get high grades on the exam.

It is natural to want to take an easier route.

Doing that sometimes they make the wrong choice.  

“There was a problem between the school magazine editorial department and the newspaper department. Does that have anything to do with it?”

“Yeah.”

“After hearing the story of Moon Sae-ron, I dug into the school magazine editorial department, and it was indeed strange.”

Did he dig for information himself?

He felt that Hwang Ji-ho’s attitude had really changed.

It felt like he was talking to a different person than the chairman who answered with ‘what about it’ when school affairs were an absolute mess…  

“I’m not sure if the people who have the editorial department backs are related to the Choi Pyeon-deuk party.”  

For him, that is probably the case.  

“From the minutes of the academic affairs meeting, it is speculated that Choi Pyeon-deuk actively supported the work promoted by the party… but they don’t have personal ties with key people and have never gained any advantage.” 

Hwang Ji-ho has lived for over 5,000 years, but it seems it was a little difficult to understand.

It was rather difficult to understand even among the humans.

“They are ‘followers’.”

“······Ah, they had such a thing.” 

All the party of Choi Pyeon-deuk, who were connected with a high-ranking person, were caught.

Choi Pyeon-deuk was decaying in the basement of Eun Young-gwan, and the others were thrown out of Silver Light high school after being judged by the law.  

‘But it’s not over.’  

If the villainy gets too much, followers will be created.

Even if they don’t get paid for anything, there are some who are satisfied just by doing something for their idol.

Choi Pyeon-deuk had followers because he was very good at committing all kinds of evil deeds and as a villain.

“Cho Eui-shin, perhaps the students who meet the conditions you are talking about are….”

“Yeah. They are students who were influenced by those followers.”

“Why are those followers doing that in the editorial department?”  

It had to do with the history of this Silver Light high school.  

“Do you remember the reason why the Intellectual Society was established 15 years ago? Because of the Intellectual Society, their plans were delayed and the directors were all fired.”

“······Yeah I do. I also remember the face of the student council president who spoke with me on a one-to-one basis.”

“The signature campaign, which was signed by all the students, didn’t work. It was only after the student council brought the case to the media that the board of directors were put into a corner.” 

This was Hwang Ji-ho who was involved in that case.

Seeing that he eventually helped out the student council president in the end, he must have roughly investigated the case himself.

Hwang Ji-ho did not refute.

“The followers who saw that incident thought to themselves. They wondered if it would help them if they took control of the school’s well-known media club. That’s why they made the school magazine editorial department 10 years ago.”

“······How does it help them by dominating a high school club?”

“It’s different if it becomes the only official media club for Korea’s top prestigious high school. Even if you use the names of students and talk about bullshit, there is no place to actively write contradictory articles. Also, from the outside, it looks plausible as ‘the opinions of all students in Silver Light’.”

“Right. The media club is difficult to mess with. It is difficult for teachers or student organizations to impose sanctions unless they are blatantly and consistently submitting false articles. It could be seen as a type of media control.” 

Hwang Ji-ho’s eyes narrowed a little.

He decided to continue to be an explainer.

“For example, let’s say 100% Choi Pyeon-deuk was found to have done something wrong. However, if they say the students are also wrong, they could make it seem like both sides were at fault. If the public opinion is raised in the way by seeing the article that made it seem like both sides are at fault then things will look better for them. Spreading a few subtle manipulated evidence can make the victims lose their minds too.”

“……I understood why they were doing this even after Choi Pyeon Deuk has disappeared.”

Hwang Ji-ho, who heard him so far, seemed to have come to the same guess as him.

It seems like he was confused because he didn’t fully understand humans, but when he threw a clue, Hwang Ji-ho immediately understood, because of his old age.  

“When Choi Pyeon-deuk was active, they would have wanted to be helpful, and now that he is gone, they would like to glorify his past. Maybe they are doing this in case Choi Pyeon-deuk comes back as well.”

He nodded at Hwang Ji-ho’s words.

Originally, villains are good at thinking in vain.

In the game, the group of followers made a mess of things so they couldn’t easily change their attitude now that Choi Pyeon-deuk’s party had been kicked out of the school.  

“I got it. Do you need anything other than the list?”

“Get ready to select new teachers to be fired. And watch the pigs well.”  

If the school intervenes heavily in this matter, it will fail.

It also bothered him to use the power of the tigers who had a lot of work to do.  

‘If I make a mistake, Jaegal Jaegeol might notice and try to stop what I’m trying to do.’  

He thought about what to do.

*    *    *

After school.

Today, the first quarter student representative meeting was held.

The participants in their class were Kim Yu-ri, the class president, and him, the vice-president.

In the case of Kim Yu-ri, she was also a member of the student council, but if there were overlapping positions between class executives and other student organizations, participation as a class executive is given priority.

That’s why the student council president, leadership manager, intellectual society president, and general club president.

In principle, representatives of each student organization were elected in advance in the second year, and in the third year, they were not allowed to serve as class executives.  

“I think the facilities are really good no matter how many times I visit the student hall.”  

The hallway of the student hall in the central area he had arrived in with Kim Yuri.

In the hallway, a hologram containing the history of Silver Light and the activities of student organizations unfolded.  

“If you have any questions, just ask!”

Kim Yu-ri, who was familiar with the geography of the student hall, walked ahead of him because she was a member of the student council, and guided him through the student hall.  

“Oh right. Eui shin! Have you read the material?”

“Yeah. Well done. Sorry for not helping.”

“No it’s okay, I didn’t say anything to you, and I did it alone anyway.”  

While chatting with Kim Yuri and moving to the conference room A for the student representative meeting, someone suddenly spoke.  

“Hey, Cho Eui-shin.”

“Yoo Sang-hoon, why are you here?”  

Yoo Sang-hoon was in the same class as Andain.

In the game, the class president of the first-grade class 1 was Andain, and the vice class president was one of the illegal admitted kids.

Did Yoo Sang-hoon become the vice president?

“Were you a class executive too?”  

They were in different classes and they weren’t the type to talk about how their respective class was doing so they didn’t know.

Yoo Sang-hoon was usually less talkative unless it was about basketball.  

“Yeah. I became the vice president after that one illegally admitted kid got expelled.”

Seeing the expression of reluctance, it seemed that he was forced to do it.

There were few talents who could stand next to her, not be discourage by Andain’s spirit, and serve as the vice president.

Those who had been illegally admitted probably endured because of their pride.

And that would be why, in the game, they and Choi Pyeon Deuk tried to harass Andain.

“Ah, I don’t want to go to the student representative meeting.”  

Yoo Sang-hoon was frowning.

He hated to be bothered, but did he have some other reason?

“Shh!”  

At that moment, Moon Sae-ron appeared happily and put a finger on her lips.

Moon Sae-ron was the vice president of class 2 of the 1st grade.

In the game, there was a description stating that she chose to be vice president because she had to go to the student representative meeting to hear various rumors.

‘The class 2 class president was Joo Soo-hyuk.’ 

Moon Sae-ron pointed at the end of the hall with her other finger.

“······And I liked the part where the main character opens the window and says’ It’s okay even without the sun.’”

“Oh, me too…! After that, there was also a line saying “until the moment the flowers fall”

Joo Soo-hyuk and Andain.

Two people were pretending to be holding a book appreciation party in a corner of the corridor and having a thing together.

Apparently, they recommended each other’s books and read them after the exam.

But how do they remember the script like that?

Did they memorize the whole book?  

“······You get what I am saying right?”  

Moon Sae-ron sent a signal with her eyes asking not to disturb the two.

Kim Yuri was surprised to see Andain and nodded her head with a very happy face.  

‘They must have spoken very well with each other even after I left.’

When he was feeling happy for them. 

Thud.  

Someone bumped into his shoulder.

Was it bumped on purpose?

The hallway was so wide, so why?

“Get out of the way, freshman.”  

It was one of his playable characters that bumped into his shoulder.

It was the student council president, Do Wonwoo, the Wedge of Steel.

‘This is my first time seeing him in person.’

It was the character that he used on April Fool’s Day to deal with the illegally admitted students.

A character who only acquired their skills without talent but only through hard work.

The leader who supported Yoo Sang-hee, a student council officer who becomes increasingly insane after Yoo Sang-hoon’s death, hunting the demon species.

It was Do Won-woo, the president of the student council, who never graduated and died a valiant death protecting the school until the very end like some character from a cartoon.  

‘Was his character like this originally? Why was he so rough?’  

Suddenly, Do Won-woo looked at Yoo Sang-hoon next to him and suddenly had a bright face.

“Oh, my brother-in-law also came.”

What kind of bullshit was that?

When Moon Sae-ron sparkled hearing the word, brother-in-law…  

Shh!  

An attack on Do Won-woo’s stomach and back came at a terrifying speed with the sound that cuts through the wind.

It was Yoo Sang-hoon who punched him from the front, and Yoo Sang-hee who struck him from the back.

Do Won-woo not bothering to avoid the attacks, staggered after receiving both attacks.  

“Hey Wonwoo, if you want to go crazy, go crazy alone. Why are you talking about bullshit in front of your juniors?”

“Crazy bitch.”

Yoo Sang-hee, who was smiling, and Yoo Sang-hoon, who had a rotten face, matched very well.

The timing of the attack was the same, you could tell they were siblings.

“Haha……Ha, the beating of love from future family members does not hurt!”

What was he talking about when he looked like he was going to fall over from extreme pain?

His playable character, the student council president of his school, was really a crazy guy.

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