Chapter 428: Trust and tests (7)

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In front of TC Research Institute.

The surroundings were dark after Do Wonwoo paralyzed the entire place with his lightning technique.

In the dark, Yong Jegun quietly stood and watched the building.

The occasional energy wave from under the lab makes his smile deepen.

‘I want to go and see for myself though, but I can’t do that. It’ll be wiser to wait and have Junyeol-ie tell me everything later.’

Something interesting is obviously happening underground.

Yong Jegun wanted to run down there, but he used reason to contain himself.

He constantly persuaded himself in his mind.

‘If I move freely, Euishin’s plan will be ruined and our Junyeol-ie will be upset, and maybe Euishin won’t let me watch his future activities… No, but can’t I just intervene even if Euishin doesn’t let me?’

Yong Jegun came to this place even while Kim Shinrok, who hasn’t visited the dragons’ territory in a long time, was back home.

If he knew this would happen, Yong Jegun thought that it was much better to be back home watching Kim Shinrok interrogate Cadmus.

But his mind changed soon.

‘I can watch the interrogation on video later, but this one won’t be recorded.’

The moment Yong Jegun resolved his will to wait and see…

Fwaaat!

Three lines of energy waves shot from under the ground.

The energy waves themselves weren’t a threat, but it made Yong Jegun worry.

‘…It’s not energy wave from the kids.’

Then that means something will happen soon.

As Yong Jegun smiled wider at the energy waves shot by the demon, an alarm from his device sounded off.

— Beeeep!

The satellite detected the otherworlds and alerted all devices near it.

The Player SAT-K detected three otherworlds, consistent with what Yong Jegun sensed.

Yong Jegun was convinced that the otherworlds spawned after the three lines of energy waves were released.

‘No way that’s a coincidence. How did that happen? It seems like a skill or a light skill that I don’t know of.’

Yong Jegun opened his mouth as energy waves were released from the otherworlds.

He soon sensed the cold and the poison that began to encroach on the surroundings.

‘…I don’t think I should approach it. But I can’t just let it be.’

Yong Jegun wrapped his body with energy waves.

Energy poison, from the name itself, penetrates through energy and cannot be blocked with energy waves alone.

Oddly enough, it seems like Yong Jegun wasn’t aware of this.

‘Should I wait and defend until the player team comes to attack…No, I think the otherworlds are spawning too fast. It’ll be inefficient if I play defense. I can’t attack three otherworlds at once too.’

However, Yong Jegun didn’t seem even a tad bit worried.

‘If he’s got me waiting here, then he has every variable under control.’

Fwaaaak!

Just as expected, those ‘variables’ soon came.

Tigers leaped through the air and arrived on the scene.

Yong Jegun knew those tigers well.

“Oh, Cheongho’s students are here. Hi? I see you’re here to attack the otherworlds.”

“Yong Jegun…!”

Yong Jegun sees Cheongho’s students in a positive light.

They haven’t had any exchange before, but they were acquainted with Kim Shinrok.

Cheongho’s disciples treated everyone who wasn’t Cheongho or auditory-pleasing musicians the same, and Kim Shinrok was no exception to that.

They never persecuted Kim Shinrok for being a half-descendant of the Bear Clan.

So Yong Jegun made a suggestion out of goodwill and courtesy.

“I’m gonna attack those otherworlds now too. Wanna bet on who will succeed first?”

“…What bet are you talking about?”

“On who will succeed in attacking the otherworld first. Doesn’t matter if there are four of you.”

Cheongho’s students exchanged wary looks.

“If I win, you’ll tell me why you’re at Eungwang One Light Nursery so often.”

“What?!”

“Why would you…”

Cheongho’s students were clearly displeased.

Nevertheless, they didn’t refuse Yong Jegun’s offer right away which revealed their intentions.

‘Hwangho-ssi must’ve ordered them to cooperate with me. They don’t want to bet, but they’re afraid that I won’t cooperate if they refuse.’

Yong Jegun decided to lure the students with something he knew they were interested in.

“How about the album that Jein released at the school festival when she was still a student?”

“Gasp.”

“Jein wrote down her thoughts on the songs with her own handwriting.”

“Kwon Jein-nim’s handwriting… Her thoughts…!”

The album that Kwon Jein released as a student had no fixed price.

There’s no balance between its supply and demand since it wasn’t sold in the first place.

People only tried their best to look for it.

Cheongho’s students lined up all night at the time of the limited album’s apparent sale at the Eungwang High festival but eventually failed to purchase it since the actual album hasn’t been seen until now.

But here comes Yong Jegun saying that he has the album with Kwon Jein’s handwritten thoughts.

Cheongho’s students trembled as if they were shaken by an earthquake.

However, they shouted in a firm voice.

“…We can’t, we won’t!”

“Keuhk, to think that one of the albums is in the dragon’s hands…”

“Yong Jegun was a teacher at Eungwang High at that time…”

“I should’ve become a teacher when Kwon Jein-nim was a student too.”

“We asked Hwangho-nim for that album but he didn’t give us one.”

As Cheongho’s students’ frustration went on, Yong Jegun’s ecstatic smile turned wider.

Seeing his face made the hairs on the tigers stand up.

“…”

They had just rejected his offer but Yong Jegun’s mood still seemed sky-high.

The students became worried that they made a slip of the tongue, but it didn’t seem like they did.

Didn’t they just give up on Kwon Jein’s limited edition album in order to preserve their master’s secret?

Yong Jegun spoke as if he read exactly what was on the students’ minds.

“I know just how much you guys love Jein’s musicality. I guess Eungwang One Light Nursery has a secret that’s more important than your fanship.”

Cheongho’s students were pricked.

But they really couldn’t afford to take that bet, so the situation was really tight.

The four tigers belatedly realized that they were being played in the palms of Yong Jegun when suddenly…

Shwak!

Someone more agile than Cheongho’s students appeared, his golden eyes shining under the moonlight.

It was Hwangho in his 20’s appearance.

“What are you doing here when otherworlds had just spawned? I sent you here first too.”

“Hwangho-nim!”

“Have you dealt with those guys?”

“The number of ‘mercenaries’ coming after Do Wonwoo was considerably higher than I thought. It took me some time to take care of.”

Hwangho spoke as he recalled the faces of those he just dealt with — the mercenaries hired by the TC Research Institute to mix in with the security team.

They were all excellent players with skills good enough to battle against other players, not just enemies.

‘…They didn’t panic even though they knew I was of royal lineage. Did they know they’d be dealing with one someday?’

Hwangho first used his staff, but the mercenaries fought back quickly as if they knew that Hwangho would use it.

They seemed to have been trained specifically to go against staff martial artists.

‘Those mercenaries even tried to use energy poison. It would’ve been annoying if I hadn’t used my boundary skill right away.’

There are a few people of royal lineage that use staff.

Hwangho then began to get a sense of what was going on underground.

He also knew that their benefactor, who was already dealing with things underground, already took notice of it too.

“It’s been a while since I saw Chairman Hwangho at that age. Wanna bet with me?”

Hwangho completely ignored Yong Jegun.

Instead, he threw a carefully sealed medicine bag toward him.

The medicine bag contained an antidote to energy poison created by the Deer Clan head Hyangrok.

“What’s this?”

“Take it before you enter the otherworld.”

Seeing Hwangho and Cheongho’s students take the same medicine, Yong Jegun followed suit.

His expression changed subtly.

“…It tastes bad. You endure eating this? I feel bad inside.”

“Your insides will melt a little. They said it’s improved from before, but it’s not perfect yet.”

“Will I die if I don’t eat this?”

“If you get poisoned, your energy and abilities will be paralyzed. I won’t stop you if you want to fight enemies without energy waves.”

They circulated energy waves throughout their bodies to recover their internal organs.

Hwangho faced the direction of the nearest otherworld and spoke to Cheongho’s students.

“Yong Jegun and I will enter one otherworld each. Deal with the remaining one.”

Hwangho hurried into one of the otherworlds.

He didn’t want to waste another second to attack so that he could head underground as soon as possible.

***

The demon sneered, not believing my words that those otherworlds will be attacked.

But I wasn’t bluffing.

Way before we went to this place, I already knew about the three frozen-type otherworlds.

It would be a blunder on my part not to prepare for them.

‘It would’ve been dangerous if we didn’t find the clue in Imoogi’s Exorcism.’

In the meantime, the number of letters bounding the demon increased one by one.

The power from every character closed the mouth of the demon.

When he can no longer speak, I talked to the demon.

“Are you waiting for backup?”

The demon didn’t show any signs of agitation.

Just before we entered, Hwang Jiho found the mercenaries who tried to come after Do Wonwoo.

Those mercenaries wanted to chase Do Wonwoo even though they knew what kind of skills he has.

It wasn’t new that there are players who are arrogant enough to think that they can deal with Do Wonwoo.

“Those guys can’t come.”

But those mercenaries didn’t stand a chance against the head of the Tiger Clan.

I engraved the last letters on the skin of the demon.

Jiiik….!

Jegal’s Spiritual Word burned the skin of the demon.

The veins of the demon who tried to act calm suddenly popped up.

It seems like he finally felt humiliated when he saw the inscriptions carved into his skin like a tattoo.

But it’s already too late for him.

As long as these letters are engraved, the only thing left for him is to wait to be brought to the Tiger Clan’s torture chamber.

I dealt with the demon and confirmed Do Wonwoo’s safety.

Now it’s time to head to the next destination.

“…We can’t leave him, can we? I’ll drag him.”

He’ll “drag” him and not “take” him?

His choice of words were a little odd, but he did exactly what he said.

Yoo Sanghoon grabbed the demon’s ankle and began to drag him.

The demon’s body collided with everything on the way, but Yoo Sanghoon didn’t care.

‘His body’s stiff so he’d feel the pain all the same.’

What the demon feels is none of my business.

While we were on the move, Do Wonwoo seemed to want to ask me something, completely ignoring the demon we were dragging around.

“You, what…”

It seems like Do Wonwoo wanted to ask about my identity, but he didn’t follow through.

He must’ve judged that now wasn’t the time to ask about that.

After taking the lead and removing the purple vines blocking our path, we finally reached our destination.

TC Research Institute Underground Botanical Garden.

It was a laboratory hidden in the deepest part of the institute.

Woooong…!

Over the door made of otherworld ore, ominous energy waves fluctuated.

“I know you’re inside. Come out.”

I shouted at the door and stared right at the lens installed in it.

The door soon opened hastily.

Crash!

When the door opened, several figures in white lab gowns popped out.

Among them was the person I was looking for.

“…Sanghee-ah!”

Yoo Sanghee was mixed among the researchers.

And a syringe was aimed right at her neck.

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