Chapter 248

After Moon Saeron mentioned ‘that word’, everybody else started to say it.

“Ah… you mean the Red Wall Thief of the Hwanmong Auction! Now that you mention it, they do have a lot of similarities.”

“Seems like there are several strange auctions like the one we encountered under River Thames.”

“So many rare items started to appear after the collision of the two worlds, yet the laws and systems to manage them were created a little late. I think that’s why auctions and thieves are a more common thing than we thought.”

“But do the self-proclaimed Phantom Thief and the Red Wall Thief have the same motive?”

Every time ‘that word’ comes up, I feel like being punched in the gut.

Although that’s one of my concerns, I’m more bothered by what the kids from the newspaper department are saying.

That playable character was just someone who does whatever he pleases.

If that Phantom Thief hears a rumor going around that some people are curious about his motives, he might be interested enough to go back to the Korean Peninsula.

‘Don’t tell me that Phantom Thief is going back to Korea earlier than expected…!’

I felt appalled.

I tried to change the topic to stop the idea of publishing such an article, but Moon Saeron gave a fair statement.

“That’s going too far. Even though the case of the Hwanmong Auction was a big incident, it only made a mess within Korea.”

As expected, my playable character Moon Saeron gave a very realistic remark.

However, what she added later was somewhat disappointing.

“But it would be nice if the Red Wall Thief gains global recognition!”

It wouldn’t be nice at all.

It’s been more than half a year and I wish everyone would forget it already, and now she’s saying she wishes ‘that word’ gains global recognition?

I know that’s not really possible, but I was in agony when I thought of the possibility of hearing the word Red Wall Thief even outside Korea.

“Jo Euishin?”

Hwang Jiho’s voice brought me back to reality.

I’m still quite alright hearing ‘that word’ from everyone else, but it’s really going to drive me nuts if I hear this damned old man say it.

The thought of this old man shouting ‘that word’ with his resonant voice made my eyes twitch.

My already shriveled hands tightened.

“Why.”

“…I can feel a sense of mystery in your attitude right now. Hmm.”

“Idon’tknowwhatyou’retalkingabout.”

Hwang Jiho narrowed his eyes.

As if coming to his own conclusion, he lowered his voice and spoke to me.

“Don’t worry about your identity. I have no reason to reveal my benefactor’s secret self.”

I think he would’ve revealed it if I hadn’t caught him.

But that’s not my biggest problem right now.

‘My playable character doesn’t know. I can’t believe this old man figured it out first!’

Unlike the crisis that hit me last time, Olmu wasn’t in my embrace now.

The only thing I could do was turn my face away from Hwang Jiho, who seemed to be looking at me with an amused face.

“Hmm, should we pick an article to put on the front page now?”

It was Moon Saeron who saved me from the crisis.

Fortunately, the topic of the conversation changed with her remark.

“That’s right. We’d be a lot busier once the second semester starts.”

“We’re going to be training for defense against attacks from the other world, and we’d have to take care of enrollment matters…”

“Yep, I think the quality and volume of the materials we gathered today, and the drafts that we wrote are already good. I don’t think we need to find more stuff to write on.”

It’s a tradition for the newspaper department to have a freshman determine the articles that would be on the front page of the newspaper to be published during the second semester.

The senior students, especially those in year three, are busy preparing for graduation so they have no time to read the articles written by freshmen.

“Well then, let’s decide on what article we’re going to put on the front page! I’m thinking of having a main article on the front page, and a small one together with it…”

After the meeting, I felt like my world was falling apart.

I felt dizzy as I looked at the two pictures on the hologram.

“The monumental main article, which will be on the front page of the newspaper released on the second semester of Eungwang High, has been decided!”

The main article that will be on the front page of the newspaper…

The title of the article was “Red Wall Thief vs Phantom Thief.”

* * *

After parting ways with the newspaper department, my memory of how I arrived back at the dormitory was vague.

Hwang Jiho seemed to have suggested for I to go to the mansion instead of eating low-quality bean noodles, but I seemed to have ignored him and just returned to the dorms.

‘I thought everyone would forget it by now, but now ‘that word’ is set to be published in the newspaper!’

Although it’s possible that not many students would read the school paper, if even 10% of the student population does, that’s still 200 people.

Thinking of 200 or more people seeing and knowing ‘that word’, my world began to crumble even more.

As I was in a daze, several messages poured out into my inbox.

Dingdong. Dingdong. Dingdong.

Looking at the notification window, it seems like the messages were sent by one person.

I checked my inbox, thinking that I should put it in silent if it was just Hwang Jiho spamming me.

[Woo Kihwan] Bread

[Woo Kihwan] Bread

[Woo Kihwan] Brea d

The culprit was Woo Kihwan, the leader of the Year Three Class Zero zombies.

He’s just constantly texting me the word “bread.”

As if he’s writing in a hurry, there’s even a typo in the last message.

‘Did his language skills deteriorate because of his extended primitive life?’

It’s amazing for this savage to send a message using a device that his brain can’t even comprehend.

However, I don’t really understand what he’s saying.

[Me] Hello, sunbaenim. What are you talking about?

[Woo Kihwan] Bread where

Reading Woo Kihwan’s message feels like analyzing ancient hieroglyphics.

In the end, I just thought of it as the primitive man Woo Kihwan giving in to his natural instincts and appetite.

‘Maybe he’s curious about where the bread he stole last time can be bought?’

The scene of Woo Kihwan attacking Bbang Shuttle and robbing him of the cornbread back in Joo-Oh Island came to mind.

It’s already an open secret within Eungwang High that Bang Yoonseob was my Bbang Shuttle.

It’s also widely known that I personally chose the place where Bang Yoonseob would buy all the bread and pastry.

‘It looks like the Year Three Class Zero seniors and Bang Yoonseob have no interactions except for the encounter at Cheonik Mountain. It doesn’t seem like they know each other’s device codes.’

If Woo Kihwan knew Bang Yoonseob’s device code, he would’ve bothered Bbang Shuttle first before making a fuss and sending me these messages.

[Me] (Link)

[Me] The cornbread was bought here.

I kindly uploaded the mail order address of the bakery.

Soon enough, Woo Kihwan responded.

[Woo Kihwan] T.Y.

No messages came after that.

Hoping the primitive men of the class zero seniors would gain back their language skills once the second-semester started, I fell asleep.

* * *

When the Yellow Tiger arrived at the mansion, the descendants and Shinsoo greeted him with crestfallen faces.

“Yellow Tiger-nim… where’s Euishin oppa?”

“Yellow Tiger-nim, you said you were going to meet Euishin oppa today so we all thought you’re bringing him back home with you!”

Whimper….

The Yellow Tiger shook his head as he thought of Jo Euishin who seemed to be very busy with his side activities.

Jo Euishin seemed to have gotten tired from the meeting with the newspaper department.

He seemed to have felt uncomfortable, but that’s all that Yellow Tiger could conclude.

‘I think the conversation wasn’t the only problem. There might be other things, but I don’t have any clues.’

The Silver Tiger’s descendants love talking with Jo Euishin.

That’s why the Yellow Tiger didn’t force Jo Euishin to come to have dinner with them because he knew that Euishin was already tired, and he’d be exhausted from talking with the descendants all night.

“He seemed tired so I let him rest.”

“Is Euishin hyung sick? Then he shouldn’t be left alone!”

“There’s nothing wrong in Jo Euishin’s body.”

“Yellow Tiger-nim… Does Euishin oppa take his customized medicine well? But why is he feeling exhausted?”

“I make sure that he takes all the medicine.”

Woof! Growl…!

The Yellow Tiger’s tea time was compromised from all the interrogation of the descendants and Shinsoo.

While the Yellow Tiger drank peach tea made with dried Dohwa and Cheondo peaches, the White Tiger sat across him.

It’s been difficult to see White Tiger’s face around the mansion these days because he seemed to be taking frequent walks.

‘Come to think of it, I haven’t seen the mountain spirit lately.’

Especially when the White Tiger was around, there were no signs of that spirit’s mischievous tail.

‘After the descendants’ prank on the moon rabbit, they didn’t do many pranks. It seems like the mountain spirit has calmed down too.’

With the thought that the White Tiger has successfully disciplined the mountain spirit, the Yellow Tiger felt satisfied.

As he was handing a cup of tea to White Tiger, a message arrived on his device.

[Annoying Rat] Yellow Tiger. Busy?

The Yellow Tiger’s mood was greatly disturbed by the sudden message from the Prankster.

* * *

A few days later, I heard ‘that word’ again.

“You said that you talk with Yeom Junyeol sunbaenim, right Euishin? Then does sunbaenim know that you’re the Red Wall Thief?”

Saeum of April’s choice of words never fails to do damage to my mental well-being.

I carefully chose my words so it took me a moment before I answered.

“…No, he doesn’t know.”

“Ah, I see. Then I won’t tell him until you reveal it to Yeom Junyeol sunbaenim yourself!”

Hearing the kind Saeum’s answer, I was able to take a deep breath.

Today was the day we agreed on with Yeom Junyeol.

Yeom Junyeol contacted us separately, but in the end, we all decided to meet up.

“Hello. You guys are early.”

Yeom Junyeol arrived soon.

He looked quite happy.

“Hello, Yeom Junyeol sunbaenim.”

“Yeah, hello.”

Perhaps it’s because of the consistently good weather that results to Hongryong being in his top condition, or because he succeeded in his assignment twice this morning.

Anyway, seeing my playable character happy made me happy too.

“As I told you last time, I called the other kids and told them to come if they’re free. I don’t know, but everyone seems busy… But Yuri, Jiho, and Hani told me they’ll come.”

“I see. So Yuri is coming too.”

“Yes. I called them right away.”

Come to think of it, Yeom Junyeol and Yuri both belong to the student council.

The student council isn’t really that big anymore, so it’s highly likely that everyone in it knows each other.

So why didn’t Yeom Junyeol contact Kim Yuri on his own?

“Do you and Yuri know each other? Oh right, you’re both members of the student council!”

“Yeah, I sometimes hear stories about Class Zero from Yuri.”

“Then it would’ve been nice if you’d contacted Yuri in advance though…”

Saeum seemed to have the same thoughts as me.

Yeom Junyeol looked awkward.

“My mother got married as soon as she graduated from high school.”

The romance between the same-aged couple Yeom Bangyeol and Yeom Junyeol’s mother, who was a descendant of the Dragon clan, was quite famous.

It’s said that they got married at a young age, but it’s my first time hearing that they got married right after graduating high school.

The Dragon Clan greatly cherishes all their descendants, so it’s a big deal that they let Yeom Bangyeol wed Junyeol’s mother so quickly.

Yeom Junyeol continued speaking in a slightly smaller voice.

“…She’s very wary of me having friends of the opposite sex because she’s afraid that I’d follow her footsteps.”

The case of Yeom Junyeol’s mother seemed to have traumatized the Dragon Clan.

So that’s why he didn’t contact Kim Yuri on his own.

My playable character is so considerate.

Yeom Junyeol must’ve been worried that Kim Yuri would be harmed for no reason.

‘If the Dragon Clan is on the close lookout for Yeom Junyeol, then shouldn’t he stop referring to me as his teacher?’

Considering that Yong Jegun also noticed right away that Yeom Junyeol and I have a teacher-student relationship, it seemed true that the Dragon Clan keeps a close watch on him.

While I was deep in my thoughts, the other kids from our class arrived one by one.

Kim Yuri arrived a little early, while Yellow Tiger arrived precisely on time.

However, Hani was nowhere to be seen.

“You called Miro to a later time, right? But why isn’t Hani here yet…”

“It’s not like Hani to be late like this. Did something happen?”

The other kids looked worried but seeing Jiho’s relaxed appearance, it doesn’t seem like something was wrong with Hani.

And after a few minutes…

Hani arrived safely.

Together with Dokgo Miro who stuck to her side.

“Hello, guys! Thanks for coming. I’m Dokgo Miro.”

Dokgo Miro greeted us like an ordinary student and nothing like a “backstreet king.”

Even though she was just smiling, her face seemed to be full of life, and her voice was clear with a high tone that made my ears ticklish.

She’s completely different from the passive appearance seen in the game and more like the energetic appearance we see on the television screen.

‘She’s the King who smashed a police station to pieces on her own with a baseball bat?’

On the other hand, Kim Yuri didn’t bother hiding her excitement and joy at all.

She initiated a conversation with Dokgo MIro right away.

Kim Yuri’s social skills were fully demonstrated even though it was her first time meeting Dokgo Miro.

She quickly exchanged names and device codes with Dokgo Miro.

“I heard that you and Hani have known each other for a long time.”

“Yep, Hani and I are best friends!”

“…Oh is that so?”

Hani expressed her doubts with a subtle face, but Dokgo Miro stood her ground.

“Did you get upset because it’s been a while since we contacted each other? Don’t be like that, Hani. I’ll feel hurt!”

Dokgo Miro speaks with a smile and her face and an overflowing aegyo and affection.

As she said those words, she clung to Hani again.

Just as Dokgo Miro said, they seem to be best friends who are comfortable enough to joke with each other.

Even though Hani doesn’t respond.

With that, Hwang Jiho stepped in.

“It seems that Hani’s question is reasonable.”

“Hmm?”

This old man’s trying to make a mess.

“The person that is Hani’s best friend is none other than me.”

Perhaps it’s because this tiger got a little too warm from the weather, but Hwang Jiho just spout some incredible nonsense.

Hani and I looked at him with straight faces.