Chapter 217

Gong Cheonghwon has the order of Blue Tiger?

I opened the special menu window right away.

[Name] Gong Cheonghwon

[Title] Teacher, Jeongeum (Positive Sound), (Failed to load information.)

[Order] (Failed to load information)

[Light Skill] (Disabled)

I opened the status window, but very little information was available about this character.

The Player SAT-K gave an alias to Gong Cheonghwon, which was Jeongeum.

It literally means ‘positive sound’, or ‘the right sound’.

I assume that the information that failed to load under the “title” category was something that already appeared in the PMH game.

The information available in the status window is odd to me.

How could Gong Cheonghwon have possibly overpowered all those people from the service company all by himself? Without using light skills at that.

“Answer me….!”

Meanwhile, Hwang Jiho was agitated and urged the teacher to answer.

He was more agitated than usual.

He was letting loose more power that he usually keeps hidden.

Hwang Jiho’s hair and eyes were completely golden at this point.

His mana and energy wave overflowed across the room.

‘This is odd…’

On the other hand, Gong Cheonghwon looked extremely calm despite Jiho’s threatening aura.

“You are Hwang Jiho, a classmate of Hani, correct? Hello. I didn’t know Hani had a classmate who belonged to the royal lineage.”

Gong Cheonghwon pointed out the fact that Jiho was of royal lineage with a very gentle expression.

Hearing that, Hwang Jiho’s face lost its spite for a moment, but I could see him talk with gritted teeth once again.

“Answer my question.”

“Are you asking about my order? I don’t think I’ll be able to answer.”

“….Answer me or your neck will soon be removed from your body.”

Hwang Jiho threatened the teacher, but he seems to be bluffing.

Perhaps it would’ve been believable if the teacher was tied up and helpless.

And I’m sure he wouldn’t dare do that. Not to Hani’s teacher, not when this teacher could possibly have Blue Tiger’s order.

“It’s difficult.”

Gong Cheonghwon’s voice echoed through the abandoned factory.

It was a voice that sounded like music, which did not match this situation at all.

“The rule of the order is that there should be mutual consent. Isn’t that right?”

“Why are you stating something so obvious? Go ahead, tell me how you got that order.”

“I don’t know.”

Hwang Jiho’s face hardened even more upon hearing Gong Cheonghwon’s answer.

Seeing this, Gong Cheonghwon continued to speak.

“I’m also curious about who, how, and when my order was given.”

* * *

The subordinates that Hwang Jiho called over to the abandoned factory arrived.

Gong Cheonghwon was summoned by “Chairman Lee”.

It seems that Hwang Jiho wants to interrogate the teacher more, but while assuming the identity of Hwangmyeong’s chairman.

‘…I don’t know what he’ll bring up.’

Having missed the timing, I was still accompanying Hwang Jiho.

Jiho uttered one sentence to me, and that was him stating that we’ll be going back to the mansion.

Besides that, he has been completely silent.

‘He must be frustrated that he didn’t get any information from Gong Cheonghwon.’

After their conversation, Hwang Jiho shouted at Gong Cheonghwon, accusing him of lying.

Jiho looked depressed.

On the other hand, I had other ideas.

‘It’s not perfectly making sense yet, but I have a strong clue on how to find Blue Tiger and the Son of God.’

Gong Cheonghwon received Blue Tiger’s order.

The fact that Gong Cheonghwon doesn’t know how, when, or who he received the order from could mean one of two things; either his memory was erased or something that ignored the rules of this world has occurred.

Either way, Gong Cheonghwon is an important factor in finding the whereabouts of Blue Tiger.

Fwaa!

When we arrived at the front door, someone suddenly entered first ahead of me and Jiho.

It was Red Tiger.

It seems like he ran all the way here instead of riding an air shuttle.

Looking back on the events today, I instantly knew Red Tiger’s intention.

However, we were too late to stop him.

“White Tiger!”

Hit!

The Red Tiger landed a punch right on White Tiger.

Although he didn’t bleed, the White Tiger took on the full punch on his face.

However, his eyes and face looked cold as usual.

From the look on his face, it seems like Red Tiger was the one who was hit instead.

He opened his mouth.

“……, …….!”

What did Red Tiger just say?

For a moment, I thought the Red Tiger had said something bad.

Did I mishear it? I doubted my ears.

The ever so gentle Red Tiger always spoke like a gentleman to everyone and even enemies.

He was like that in the game, and even in this world.

But…

‘Did I hear it wrong? What the hell was he talking about….!’

What came out of Red Tiger’s mouth just now was the lowest and most vulgar curse words that one could ever use.

They were curses that I never heard of in my life, but I was sure that they were curse words.

In a split second, however, Red Tiger switched back to his normal polite way of speaking again.

As if he had come back to his senses.

“I can’t believe you did such a thing to my son! And to think that you are his teacher….!”

“….”

“Why are you not saying anything!”

The Red Tiger raised his fist again as he became more agitated by White Tiger’s silence.

However, this time, White Tiger defended himself.

He grabbed Red Tiger’s arm.

I guess he didn’t want to get hit twice.

“…Let go.”

“Use a weapon, or hit me with lightning instead. Hitting me with your fist would only hurt your hand.”

White Tiger let go of Red Tiger’s hand.

He was right.

White Tiger’s face was blank, but Red Tiger’s fist was bleeding red.

‘….!’

‘It’s not that the White Tiger didn’t want to get hit, but he was worried about Red Tiger’s hand…!’

As expected, my main playable character has a soft heart for his friends.

The Red Tiger weakly lowered his hand.

He had no intention of hitting White Tiger with his lightning after all.

…Woof! Woof, woof!

An angel appeared from nowhere, seemingly sent by the heavens to stop this brewing fight.

As the white cotton ball ran toward the two tigers, the atmosphere quickly subsided.

“…Stop it, you two. We have a lot to discuss.”

Hwang Jiho added a word as he looked back at the door, where Kim Shinrok had just arrived.

Kim Shinrok was at a loss as he witnessed his father and his teacher in the middle of a confrontation.

“Kim Shinrok, you better prepare some persimmon dish for White Tiger today.”

Hearing those words, White Tiger’s cold face twitched just a little.

It’s as if he’d rather be struck by lightning than have to eat Shinrok’s dish.

* * *

“Geurin…!”

Song Daesok was away from home for a long time due to his training, but it took him less than 5 minutes to run to Min Geurin’s house.

Seeing the Min Geurin unable to speak properly, Daesok looked horrified.

Crouching under the covers on the bed, Geurin was hiding her swollen eyes with her AR glasses.

“What the heck happened!”

Daesok was closer to tears than Geurin.

“I’m ok… I-I couldn’t move at that time and I became a burden to the other kids…”

Geurin spoke in a hushed voice but didn’t explain the whole story.

…

When Min Geurin’s parents informed Daesok about the situation, Daesok almost had a mental breakdown.

The Team Leader of the Satellite Management Team, Im Jihwa also panicked when she heard about what happened.

‘This is bad…!’

Im Jihwa accompanied Daesok back home to talk to Daesok’s parents.

She felt like her heart was collapsing.

A student named Min Geurin, a friend of Daesok, was also worried about his condition.

However, as the team leader of the satellite management team, she couldn’t help but worry about the leftover work to be done.

‘This is really bad…!’

Song Daesok was the centerpiece of the satellite management team recently.

The web application and algorithms that he created so far have all been amazing, but they know that Song Daesok’s true asset was something else.

His knowledge and understanding of player satellites, his flexibility to link numerous indicators, his insights close to novelty…

All these suggest a new direction for the association’s ongoing satellite project.

Such abilities came from Song Daesok’s frightening levels of concentration and the speed at which he acquired satellite knowledge.

However, as long as Song Daesok has Min Geurin to worry about, he won’t be able to think and concentrate properly.

‘We can’t just force Daesok to work in these conditions!’

Actually, the team leader intended to take Daesok back to the association’s laboratory after a day off, and Daesok was actually willing to do so.

But the team leader can’t bear to just do that.

‘We have to step down for now.’

Im Jihwa had a good sense.

Although it is true that Song Daesok loves satellites, he doesn’t love them as much as he loves this Min Geurin.

One wrong move here would destroy Daesok’s passion for satellites.

If that happens, the association would forever lose the asset that is Song Daesok.

Judging so, Im Jihwa tried to muster a smile and said…

“Daesok, don’t worry about the research for now. Focus on looking after your friend. Stay beside her always.”

“…Thank you so much, team leader.”

“If you need anything, don’t hesitate to call me, okay? I’m always available.”

The team leader added that Daesok could return whenever he likes.

Im Jihwa turned her back, swallowing any regret she may have had.

‘Alright. This is one of the times when I should use my head…! If the association can’t use its power to directly help Daesok, we just need to be creative about it!”

Boarding the player car, Im Jihwa immediately made a phone call.

“It’s me. Something happened with Daesok.”

Since then, numerous players in the satellite management team’s laboratory have been furious.

Soon, they voluntarily formed a team to begin their own investigation.

And it wasn’t just the association that actively moved.

Painter Hong Kyungbok and the students of Eungwang High’s art department also joined in.

On top of that, those who heard the news began to move one by one.

* * *

West Seoul Park, Lake of Eternity Team Building.

The Lake of Eternity team members, who were excited to take Kwon Lena for a picnic under the guise of a coincidence, were drooping.

The sudden call this morning was the one to blame.

“…Lena was supposed to be taking a lesson today.”

Kwon Jein said with a melancholy look.

The recent incident in the youth retreat has kept her busy.

She barely managed to find the time to reschedule Lena’s lesson, but suddenly Lena was unable to come.

Kwon Jein and the members of the Lake of Eternity Team looked gloomy as the decrease in the frequency of Lena’s lessons meant they had fewer opportunities to meet with her.

“I can’t believe Lena is taking a break from lessons… Could she be sick or something?”

“I don’t think so… I don’t feel so good about this.”

“I’ll look into it. Leave it to me.”

A separate investigation was then begun under the command of the youngest official in the Eternal Lake Team.

Jared Lee, in his attempt to appease Kwon Jein, said something.

“Jein! I think we still have some blueberry stuff that Lena made last time…”

“Oh, thank you.”

When Jared Lee confirmed that Jein’s expression showed relief, he went out to the hallway to contact the team chef.

Just when he was about to contact the chef, his phone rang.

The caller’s code was restricted to display on the phone, but he accepted the call anyway.

“Hello?”

[It’s been a while.]

The speaker seems to have an awkward Korean speech.

Jared Lee could not recall who the voice was.

But when he realized who it was, he hastily lowered his voice.

“…I told you not to contact me, didn’t I?”

[That makes me feel hurt a little bit.]

Jared Lee replied, thinking that he was unsure whether the other man’s Korean was a ploy or he was just inexperienced.

“I don’t intend to return to The Oath of the Three Knights.”