Chapter 623: Long tail (2)

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Central area, Student Association Hall.

Looking at the clock, Do Wonwoo was lost in thought.

It has been hours since the problem with the boundary, but there was still no news from the outside.

Students who collect information with their insight skills couldn’t find people coming and going inside or outside the school.

‘It may not have been an hour outside, but it’s enough time for news to spread. Even if the association or player teams don’t move, the students’ families and security teams would have by this time.’

Do Wonwoo recalled a list of students who had ties to leading professional player teams.

Out of them, he singled out those who were currently in school.

Starting with Yeom Junyeol, the son of the Red Lion’s team master, there were many students who had connections with player teams both big and small.

Considering the tier of those player teams, it didn’t make sense that there weren’t teams trying to get inside.

‘The problem doesn’t seem to be the boundary alone.’

Do Wonwoo didn’t know in detail, but as he expected, there was a fierce battle between the frozen otherworld, the Pig Clan, the huge army, and others outside Eungwang High’s boundary.

The students using their insight skills inside the command room found it strange and were anxious about the lack of support.

Do Wonwoo agonized over how to inform them about the possibility of a prolonged situation.

At that time, Ji Myungsoo spoke.

“I think Siwan would’ve finished dealing with the otherworld soon.”

Ji Myungsoo chose positive news, perhaps intending to ease the atmosphere.

Starting with that, the students began to talk of Sung Siwan’s record of attacking otherworlds.

“Siwan often follows his older cousin. He’ll probably break even if he’s in charge of the attack team alone. Though it might take some time.”

“Wow… An SSR-rank otherworld? Is Sung Siwan sunbaenim’s cousin a professional player?”

“He’s a player, but he’s not part of a team. He’s a congressman.”

“Wait, is he Congressman Sung Gukeon?”

“There’s only one player in the National Assembly so I think that’s right.”

When the tension and anxiety in the student association room somewhat disappeared, they heard the news that Do Wonwoo had been waiting for all along.

It wasn’t as good news as support coming from outside, but it was enough to raise morale.

“Wait, someone’s coming toward Exit 2… It’s the sophomores!”

“There are quite a few of them. I guess they were all moving together.”

The room was full of life at the news of the sophomores’ arrival.

Do Wonwoo wanted details, asking how many people were there and whether there were any injuries.

There were a few students with minor injuries, but none looked serious.

Do Wonwoo’s questions continued.

“What about Class Zero?”

“Yes, and they’re with Professor Jegal too! He’s wearing a doll costume but… Did the kids in Class Zero dress him up?”

Jegal seemed to have taken off the head of his costume, but not the body.

Class Zero would’ve wanted him to keep it even in this emergency.

Ji Myungsoo ignored the clothes and spoke.

“Another teacher with the Spiritual Word skill is here. We don’t have to worry about the Demon Race anymore.”

It was widely reported that the person who identified himself as Invidius’ priest was weak against that skill.

According to the students’ testimony, the moment the priest was attacked with Spiritual Word, he was incapacitated and unable to resist.

The captured demon was currently trapped in the student association warehouse with his robes peeled off and all kinds of binding items used along with Do Wonwoo’s Iron Chains.

‘It was frightening when the demon tried to escape. I didn’t know the Demon Race’s tenacity was that much.’

The demon tried to escape about an hour after his capture.

Gong Cheonghwon already crushed his feet, incapacitating him from walking, and he didn’t have many energy waves left.

However, after he recovered somewhat, he began to release the binding items one by one.

The student association members in charge of monitoring him noticed something strange and reported it to Do Wonwoo.

As soon as Do Wonwoo received the report, he gathered people and headed to the scene.

When he arrived, the only thing binding the demon was the chain from his light skill.

— The owner of the chain is here…!

Invidius’ priest stared at Do Wonwoo, not bothering to hide his hatred.

Through the chains that tightly bound the demon, he saw energy waves flashing.

It was a sign that power from his stigmata was about to explode.

It was such a fierce force that the students, except for Do Wonwoo and Ji Myungsoo at the front, felt terrified.

When Do Wonwoo was about to use his light skill to build a wall and prepare for battle…

Someone rushed in and blocked him.

[Stop.]

Gong Cheonghwon’s Spiritual Word was heard.

With the short words of Gong Cheonghwon, the demon’s stigmata lost strength like a bubble.

The priest tried to raise his energy waves in an attempt to disobey the order, but when Gong Cheonghwon repeated his words, his fingers stopped and he could no longer move.

Gong Cheonghwon turned his back on the now-quiet demon as he apologized.

— I didn’t know he would do this while I was on patrol for a while. I should’ve kept an eye on him. I’m sorry.

— No, I’m the one who asked you to patrol outside in the first place, sir.

Gong Cheonghwon shook his head, saying that it wasn’t Do Wonwoo’s fault.

Looking at the stone-hardened demon, Gong Cheonghwon’s eyes drifted to the stigmata engraved on his skin.

— I’d better use my skill on his skin just in case. Could you break off his chain for a moment?

— I heard that your Spiritual Word skill is mainly expressed through verbal words. Will it be okay?

— Yes, I’m not as good at writing as Professor Jegal. I’m better at spoken word.

Gong Cheonghwon said as he looked at the stigmata densely carved on the demon’s skin as seen through the gaps in the chain.

He seemed to intend to cover up all the scars that Invidius left on the demon priest using Spiritual Word.

However, Do Wonwoo was worried if Gong Cheonghwon could do it, but his worries were unnecessary.

— I have to put a lot of effort into it.

The demon was still unmoving.

Through that process, Do Wonwoo learned how effective Spiritual Word was against the Demon Race.

‘It’s been a long time since the Demon Race was violent in Korea, and I can’t believe I’ve only now learned such an effective means to subdue them.’

Even the skill user seemed surprised that it works very well.

Gong Cheonghwon said he only learned about it today.

‘I’m a little bothered.’

Do Wonwoo recalled the image of the demon gathering strength in his stigmata to break the chains.

He doesn’t know how many students would’ve been sacrificed if they faced the demon head on without the power of Spiritual Word.

It was a stroke of great luck that Gong Cheonghwon was headed there at that time.

‘If Professor Gong Cheonghwon hadn’t come, the damage would’ve been unimaginable. Is this a coincidence?’

Gong Cheonghwon said he wasn’t coming to school today.

Do Wonwoo remembered hearing that Gong Cheonghwon was scheduled to be at the charity event at the nursery orphanage today.

‘Maybe it’s not luck or coincidence.’

Do Wonwoo recalled a moment not long ago when he doubted if it was luck or coincidence.

It was when Yoo Sanghee was threatened to do something against her will.

Jecheondaesung, the head of the Monkey Clan, helped them reveal the truth.

If Jecheondaesung hadn’t appeared at that time, Yoo Sanghee would’ve been used for a terrible experiment, and the royal lineage trapped in the tank might still be sealed in the water.

Looking back on what happened that day, Do Wonwoo suddenly remembered the crow mask who was with Yoo Sanghoon.

‘Why am I thinking of that crow mask?’

On that day, there was a person other than Jecheondaesung who saved them.

It was the man wearing a crow mask.

He decoded the unidentified energy poison and knocked out all the demons who threatened them.

At that moment, Do Wonwoo had a lightbulb moment.

‘Yeah, that man used a Spiritual Word skill to subdue a demon!’

Do Wonwoo realized the intersection between the two cases.

“Sorry we’re late, Wonwoo hyung.”

Then, Yeom Junyeol spoke to him.

Yeom Junyeol seemed to have come to report what the sophomores went through.

A woman in an old travel suit was standing next to him.

‘We’ve been introduced before. Was she Chokryong, Yeom Junyeol’s teacher?’

Do Wonwoo was concerned about what the sophomores went through on the move, but there was something that bothered him more.

Yeom Junyeol introduced the man in the crow mask as ‘a person he respects’ during the TC Research Institute incident.

It was highly likely that Yeom Junyeol and the man in a crow mask had known each other for a long time.

A simple guess would lead him to believe that the man is a Dragon Clan or a member of the Red Lion, but Do Wonwoo didn’t think so.

‘I haven’t heard of anyone from the Dragon Clan or the Red Lion who has Spiritual Word skill. But since it’s a rare ability, they could just be hiding it.’

Above all though, it was unlikely that a Dragon Clan or a Red Lion would wear a black crow mask.

The Dragon Clan is proud of their dragon origins, and so were the Red Lion team members.

They’d at least wear a red mask or something related to dragons.

While Do Wonwoo was reasoning in his mind, Yeom Junyeol began to explain the incidents that they went through.

Yeom Junyeol said that there was something he couldn’t reveal, so he omitted some of the detailed processes from his explanation.

In conclusion, Yeom Junyeol successfully dominated an otherworld from the Iranus’ priest.

It was unbelievable from Do Wonwoo’s point of view since he’s got a gauge of how strong a demon priest is, but Do Wonwoo knew that Yeom Junyeol wasn’t the type to lie.

Ji Myungsoo, who had a surprised face at the explanation, didn’t seem to doubt it either, but he asked another question.

“What happened to the garden, Junyeol-ah?”

“It seems to be an otherworld embodied by earth power through an otherworld simulator, so it disappeared when we turned off the power.”

It was regrettable, but Yeom Junyeol showed no signs of that.

They don’t know why, but he looked excited.

It seemed to be because he succeeded in dominating a garden.

‘But it doesn’t look like he spent much of his energy waves.’

Rather than having consumed energy waves, Yeom Junyeol looked in better condition than usual.

There may be some secret in the process that Yeom Junyeol cannot reveal.

“The Class Zero kids took some photos inside the garden. I’ll show you them later.”

“Oh, come to think of it, what are those guys doing now?”

“They’re hanging out with Professor Jegal.”

“I should hear from Chansol and Jegal-ssaem later on too.”

At that moment, Do Wonwoo felt a chill.

Suddenly the air seemed to cool down.

It seems that Ji Myungsoo felt the same way as he talked to Yeom Junyeol.

“Doesn’t it feel a little cold? Can you call Hongryong?”

“Ah, yes. Let’s go outside because it’s small here.”

The moment they opened the door of the student association room, they felt an abnormally cold air.

Do Wonwoo looked out the window in a hurry.

Outside, he saw the frozen boundary of Eugnwang High.

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