Chapter 283

[Yoo Sanghoon] What are you guys up to?

On my dormitory room bed.

I was lying down on my bed and checking the messages in my inbox when I saw the suspiciously lengthy message sent by Yoo Sanghoon.

Normally it would’ve been Jang Namwook who would analyze why Yoo Sanghoon sent uncharacteristic messages with more than three words in them, but Namwook was still busy with all the work he has.

On behalf of Jang Namwook, I sent a “?” message, and surprisingly, long messages came one after another.

[Yoo Sanghoon] You both left your seats.

[Yoo Sanghoon] Euishin left from the very beginning, and Namwook midway.

[Yoo Sanghoon] Isn’t it related to the communication signal being blocked right before the opening remarks?

Yoo Sanghoon had senses as sharp as a knife.

I’ve prepared excuses for the communication signal being blocked during the opening ceremony and the performance of the ritual.

Sports facilities that accommodate a large number of people should have an evacuation system in preparation for an unexpected otherworld occurrence, and in the case of the Eungwang Stadium, it had an R++ class boundary just like in Jamsil Baseball Stadium.

However, after the incident at the Jamsil Baseball Stadium, there was an opinion that major stadiums across the country should have at least SR++ rank boundaries in preparation for unexpected circumstances.

The problem was the budget, but the upgrade of the boundaries was underway thanks to the support of the business community, as announced by the Joo-Oh Group and TC Group.

In the case of Eungwang Stadium, the construction began under the leadership of the Hwangmyeong Group, so it was easy to cover the communication interference as a problem encountered while constructions were still underway.

‘Well, having questioning people like Yoo Sanghoon is inevitable.’

Even if Yoo Sanghoon doesn’t run his mouth to others, the incident is already deeply related and personal to Do Sihoo.

I was just about to change the subject subtly, but Yoo Sanghoon hit the bull’s eye.

[Yoo Sanghoon] I didn’t see Do Sihoo too. Is it related to him?

Just in time, Jang Namwook went online and checked the message.

He responded in a quite freaked-out manner.

[Jang Namwook] Sanghoon, how did you know that?

[Yoo Sanghoon] Just thought so.

[Jang Namwook] Ah… TT

Although there wasn’t anything weird in particular with the conversation, it felt a bit unfamiliar that Yoo Sanghoon was taking the lead.

His messages were consistently long, and even if he noticed that Namwook and I were trying to avoid the topic, he kept pushing it.

‘What’s going on with him?’

Before I could ask anything, Yoo Sanghoon sent another message.

[Yoo Sanghoon] That bastard said something weird to Yoo Sanghee. Is it related to that?

[Jang Namwook] No. It doesn’t have anything to do with Sanghee noona… What’s going on?

[Yoo Sanghoon] He’s telling me to choose my career path carefully. I guess Do Sihoo is just talking nonsense.

What did Do Sihoo say to my playable character?

It didn’t seem like Yoo Sanghoon mentioned it for nothing, but his messages got shorter and shorter, while Jang Namwook’s messages became very long.

With ten lines of mixed encouragement and challenging messages sent by Jang Namwook, I decided to check my other messages.

[Park Seunghyun] (Photo)

[Park Seunghyun] First match, first MVP!

The photo showed the first-year striker and Park Seungyun.

The first-year striker was still wearing his uniform and the MVP medal, and his hair was noticeably messy.

Today’s MVP is quite tall for a freshman, so I thought Park Seunghyun, who was quite small and had a somewhat timid personality, would be intimidated.

However, looking closely at the picture, the two actually looked like close friends.

‘Park Seunghyun didn’t have a friend like this in the game.’

Persistent harassment not only causes victims to suffer but also changes their personalities.

Victims of bullying tend to have defensive and introverted personalities, so perhaps that’s why Park Seunghyun didn’t have close friends inside the game.

It took Park Seunghyun a long time to open his heart and become close to Joo Soohyuk in the second semester.

Even so, he was conscious of interacting with Joo Soohyuk inside the school, perhaps because he was afraid that the fact that he was illegally admitted to the school would be uncovered.

‘But he’s much different here. He even joined the Jiikhoe, and he’s taking good care of Mok Wooram… He’s very different from the Park Seunghyun that I knew.’

I felt that Park Seunghyun changed a lot after the April Fool’s Day incident.

After looking at the photo, I sent a congratulatory message to Park Seunghyun for him to relay to his friend, and a thank you message for taking care of Mok Wooram.

In the next message room that I checked, the topic was also the freshman striker chosen as the game’s MVP.

[Moon Saeron] I interviewed today’s MVP!

In the newspaper department’s group message room, photos and interviews taken by the members were uploaded one after another.

The freshmen members had to choose photos to attach to the article that we’d release about the opening ceremony, but they felt that all the photos were worthy of being put on the front page.

The photos showed the empty stadium before the event, the countdown to the opening ceremony, White Tiger’s sword dance, the Playlist’s filming, and the soccer match.

Although the photos were divided by event, it wasn’t easy to decide which ones to include in the article because all the photos looked nice.

[Moon Saeron] Don’t you think it’d be nice to just pick a group photo, and then we can release the other photos in another album?

[Moon Saeron] All the players in the student council and student association are popular, so I think people will line up to buy it if we sell it.

Moon Saeron was right.

The cheering squad was overflowing with perfect players, such as my playable character and title heroine Ahn Dain, and vice-president of the student association Ji Myungsoo.

[Moon Saeron] I think the one that left the best impression was the guy that reenacted the White Tiger scene from the Myth of Gaecheon. I think we should publish his photo first! LOL

Moon Saeron’s words awakened me.

Since it was my main playable character that reproduced the mythical feat, it wouldn’t be strange at all to have him in the photo book, but it wasn’t exactly desirable for him to be published and attract unnecessary attention.

White Tiger’s identity is currently unknown.

What people thought was that he was a student belonging to Eungwang High.

Chairman Lee added the ritual performance to the schedule last minute so we didn’t have to give a fake student profile of White Tiger, but I’m afraid that if Moon Saeron digs into this, she might discover things that she shouldn’t

I decided to change the subject.

[Me] I’m going to write an interview article about Yeom Junyeol sunbaenim. Which picture should I include?

[Moon Saeron] Heol, Yeom Junyeol?! I wanted to interview him about Playlist, but looks like you beat me to it! TT

[Me] He said he doesn’t take any questions related to Playlist. I think it’s better to use the pictures taken during the broadcast.

The news of Yeom Junyeol’s interview changed the topic immediately.

After receiving recommendations from Moon Saeron, I checked the other messages.

The next one was from an unexpected person.

[Geum Chansol] Hey, Suspicious Vice President. Are you and your classmates close with Dokgo Miro?

Year Two Class Zero president Geum Chansol sent me a private message.

He usually sends a message through the group message room with Wang Chansol so I wonder what’s going on.

‘Is it something that he doesn’t want Wang Chansol to know?’

I wasn’t sure why Geum Chansol was trying to secretly talk to me about Dokgo Miro, but I decided to answer his question carefully.

I told him that we briefly met through Yeom Junyeol, and a strangely insidious answer came from him.

[Geum Chansol] I see. So you must not be very close.

I heard that the Class Zero seniors were caught by Gong Cheonghwon trying to terrorize Chairman Lee’s office and that they were scolded badly by Jegal.

Perhaps that incident made Geum Chansol act weirdly?

Well, he has always been weird.

The next message is from someone I also do not understand.

It was from Seodol, the strange royal lineage who whined for me to save his contact under the name “Prankster”.

[Prankster] I am about to return home from England. I have prepared two things that you could say are similar to a gift.

Things that are similar to a gift.

What does that mean?

I was more concerned about him speaking formally to me.

[Prankster] Oh, you ask what I am planning to celebrate my return? I am not sure if Jo Euishin would like it or not, but I think the other one perhaps Jo Euishin will hate.

[Prankster] What do you think?

How am I supposed to answer that when I don’t even know what he’s talking about?

Something that I could either like or hate.

Something that I would dislike.

I don’t know what it is, but I’m sure it’s far from a gift.

I was planning on leaving him on read, but a new message came just in time.

[Prankster] Please don’t leave me on read.

I had no choice but to do as this man pleased, so I sent him a quick response, saying that he could do whatever he wants to.

I moved on to the next message, and it was from someone who received the Prankster’s order.

It’s been a while since the sun set, but it looks like this man was still working.

[Hong Gyubin] I got the nursing officer’s confession just now.

[Hong Gyubin] He said that Do Sihoo’s body was planted with seeds and that he manipulated the test results.

Seeing that Hong Gyubin wasn’t typing like his usual self, it seems like the interrogation didn’t go as planned.

[Hong Gyubin] He’s still quiet about the person who’s behind all this.

[Hong Gyubin] I think he knows that the only name I am sure of is the executive who remitted the money. He’s asking to be pardoned in exchange for intel.

[Hong Gyubin] you know very well what’s going to happen if we hand him over to the military police.

The judicial officials within the military don’t go easy against player-soldiers who commit crimes.

From historical evidence, player-soldiers who committed crimes have all been thoroughly punished under the principle of zero tolerance.

[Hong Gyubin] I’m not willing to let this guy be pardoned. It’s not worth it.

[Hong Gyubin] Everything he told me was vague, but I’m going to hand him over to the military police sometime soon.

[Hong Gyubin] I’ll dig more into it for the rest of the time I have left.

Hong Gyubin spoke flatly.

I have no doubt about the association’s competence, but it may be better to take a more efficient route since our time is limited.

‘Wouldn’t it be better to call the torture expert?’

Should I suggest to Hwang Jiho to have Kim Shinrok take care of interrogating the man?

I sent a message to Hwang Jiho, and I got a reply almost instantly.

[Hwang Jiho] Why are you not resting?

‘Well, I just sent you a message.’

I thought I didn’t have to answer the obvious question, so I got straight to the point.

After that, I checked the next message, which was from Kwon Jein.

[Kwon Jein] Is Lena doing well?

As far as I know, Kwon Lena spent the weekend at the Lake of Eternity’s team building.

It seems that Kwon Jein has also noticed that something was wrong between Kwon Lena and Saeum of April.

I sent Kwon Jein a picture of me and my classmates from today.

Kwon Jein was very happy to see the photo, but I’m sure she noticed that Kwon Lena was standing from quite a distance from Saeum of April.

As I was about to close my eyes, I saw another message arrive from the free-spirited royal lineage.

[Ok Toyeon] Benefactor…

[Ok Toyeon] Let’s go watch baseball next year…

Not too long ago, the TC Knights were confirmed to be eliminated from the league.

Since then, Ok Toyeon has been messaging me every night, inviting me to watch baseball next year.

As someone who knows what would happen in the TC Knights’ future, I sent Ok Toyeon a short message and turned off my device.

‘As for Saeum and Lena… I don’t think I can do anything to help.’

I fell asleep as I tried to think of good ideas.