Chapter 718: Hidden piece (10)

After we parted ways with Class 3-0, Hwang Jiho (in the form of Hwang Myeongho) and I headed to the Silver Hall with Im Yeonhwa and Woo Kihwan.

Now that a big secret is out, there will be a lot to talk about.

‘Woo Kihwan will graduate soon, but he’s going to a university run by the Hwangmyeong Foundation so the chairman still has room for intervention.’

Perhaps Im Yeonhwa would claim to be Woo Kihwan’s security because she’s concerned about her weak student?

Woo Kihwan will have a seizure if he’s branded as a student who’s weak enough to require security, but if the strong homeroom teacher and the stronger chairman would push for it, he won’t be able to do anything.

Worried a little about the weak primate’s mental health, Baekho-gun and I went to the mansion.

As soon as we arrived at the modern annex, a mental attack was launched at me.

“Did you have a good fight, Red Wall Thief hyung? I’ve been waiting for you since it’s almost time for your medicine.”

I thought it would be okay if I worked with Baekho-gun, but it seems like Eunho disliked that I fought at all.

I wanted to go to my dormitory to avoid that word and the medicine, but there were many problems to deal with.

Just before taking the medicine, Hwang Jiho appeared and laughed, making me feel worse.

“Hahahaha! You must be cold because we went hiking on a cold day. Drink up.”

I don’t see the young and nice Hwang Yuho.

Instead, Hwang Jiho’s appearance made the medicine even more distasteful.

No, wait, both people are the same old man…

“Are you curious about my young alter ego, Jo Euishin? I’ll tell you after you drink your medicine.”

I couldn’t avoid the medicine anyway, and I was curious about Hwang Yuho, so I decided to take it.

As soon as I chewed the pills, I felt like I was paralyzed by the pain of the taste that spread throughout my tongue.

No, it would be more accurate to say that my mind died for a second.

“Hahahaha! I’ll let you know since you took it so well. I minimized the movements of my alter egos in preparation for the fight with Im Yeonhwa. Hwang Yuho and Hwang Jiho were temporarily suspended.”

He can move again now that the fight is over, but it seems like Hwang Yuho is taking a nap in a corner of the annex.

I’m relieved that there wasn’t any problem.

Since the topic came up, Hwang Jiho explained his confrontation with Im Yeonhwa.

Im Yeonhwa was as strong as ever.

Eunho’s eyes opened in surprise when he heard that the teacher had broken Hwang Jiho’s magic circle.

“To physically break Hwangho-nim’s magic circle without any weapon… I thought only Baekho hyungnim could do that.”

On the other hand, something must’ve happened to Jeokho as he looked lost in thought.

Still, when he heard Im Yeonhwa’s superhuman performance, Jeokho returned to his senses.

‘Did something happen to him? Did he run into the masked couple or Ahn Dain while on the way?’

The other tigers must’ve noticed it too, but they didn’t point it out.

Jeokho listened carefully and talked after a while.

“…Is the homeroom teacher truly human?”

“She is. Is it strange that there’s someone as strong as her? There are many excellent people in the school. The other senior teachers too. Jo Euishin too.”

It’s a little strange that my name was mentioned, but Hwang Jiho was right.

Starting with Do Wonwoo, there were many strong players among the humans who attended Eungwang High.

The same goes for the teachers.

Jegal, Professor Ham Geunhyung, and others.

I happened to receive a powerful skill too, but there were a lot of strong human players.

“Just as there are weak royal lineages, there are strong humans.”

Hwang Jiho said and looked at Eunho.

“Eunho is on the weak side in terms of physical ability and skills. But if he competes at Eungwang High purely on the basis of strength, he’d barely be at the top.”

“You speak highly of me. There’s a gap in the level of students every year so it’s hard to tell.”

Eunho acknowledged Hwang Jiho’s evaluation.

I heard that Eunho is one of the weak people among the tigers, but is it this much?

In terms of strength alone, I might be stronger than Eunho.

‘But Eunho doesn’t look easy.’

As expected, Eunho continued still with a gentle look.

“There will be little that force can accomplish anyway, so there will be little situations where I will lose to young students.”

“Hahahaha! Not many tigers can beat you either.”

Eunho has beaten Hwang Jiho before, so it’s obvious.

In the end, it seems meaningless to distinguish royal lineage and humans on the basis of strength.

In general, it’s true that royal lineage are stronger than humans, but since the former is very small and humanity is big, there will be many counter examples such as Im Yeonhwa.

‘That’s that. Anyway, I can’t find the right time to go back to my dorm…’

Don’t tell me I’ll have to stay at the mansion until tomorrow again.

I have to assert that I’d go back after we talk about important matters.

Before I knew it, the topic changed.

“Ah, I heard that Shinsoo follows Ahn Dain very well. As expected, she cares well for Shinsoo too.”

“That’s right. She was happy to see Shinsoo at the school festival.”

“Ahn Dain accepted that she’s a member of the Tiger Clan, and she’d be happy to know about Shinsoo.”

My ears perked up at the mention of my genius warrior and PMH’s heroine, but the words that followed woke me up even more.

“Why don’t you introduce the two, Red Wall Thief hyung?”

The sudden that word attack caught me off guard, but when I came to my senses, I managed to make an appointment with Ahn Dain and Olmu.

And, well, the opportunity to return to my dorm became increasingly unknown as I was set to have a meal with the descendants.

***

December 31st.

It was the last day of the year, but I was still in the tigers’ mansion.

Since various clothes and daily necessities were at the mansion, the excuse of getting personal items in my dorm room didn’t work.

I tried telling them that it’s not good for me to keep resting without training my body, but unfortunately, that excuse didn’t work either.

When he heard it, Eunho responded softly.

— Wouldn’t it be better to train with Baekho hyungnim? I heard you fought with him a while ago. I’m sure you learned and felt something at that time, so it would be nice to develop that further.

Instead of returning to my dorm and training alone, he suggested that I train one-on-one with Baekho-gun, the best martial artist of the Tiger Clan.

But shouldn’t we hear Baekho-gun’s opinion first?

The latter, who happened to be next to him, answered.

— If Jo Euishin wants.

How can I refuse when Baekho-gun said so?

So, I trained battling with Baekho-gun at the Silver Training Hall.

And there was another tiger who suggested training.

— Jo Euishin, if you want, this body is willing to train with you.

— Never mind.

Hwang Jiho’s proposal was immediately rejected without much thought.

Does he need to waste his energy training with me when he has a lot of work?

Hwang Jiho laughed when I politely said my reason.

— Hahahaha! You’re refusing in consideration of this body? Admirable.

Although Hwang Jiho smiles and pretends to be relaxed, I know that he’s actually busy.

I got to know it better the longer I stayed in the mansion.

Even late at night, Hwang Yuho stops moving in the middle of scooping some Neapolitan ice cream.

‘The next year will be busy too. Will it be okay?’

Still, I was in no position to urge him to rest, so I just watched.

In the meantime, Hwang Jiho didn’t forget to make me drink medicine after each meal of the day.

This old man seemed very busy and tired so I wish Hyangrok would make some for him too.

Besides Hwang Jiho, the other tigers also seemed busy.

Eunho learns little by little what happened to this world when he was asleep, and he’s working on new things these days.

— When I awoke a long time ago, during the age of myths. I’m looking back on the events back then.

Eunho made a chronology with a neat handwriting.

Events were recorded in days and hours.

Eunho’s work was interesting, so the other tigers sometimes spoke to him.

After their conversations, Eunho sometimes revises the chronology and he also corrects wrong points in the tigers’ remarks.

— Do you want to read it with me once it’s done?

I was very interested in the Myth of Gaecheon, so of course I wanted to see it.

It’s still hard to say it to the tigers, but there were some things that bothered me that I wanted to check.

As if he read my mind, Eunho spoke.

— If it’s Euishin hyung, then I’m sure you’ll figure something out.

It was a meaningful word, but rather than the content of his sentence, I was immersed in the joy of not being called that word for the first time in a while.

I’m glad he changed it before the year ended.

Meanwhile, I received a thank you from Sanryeong as well.

— Thank you, Jo Euishin!

Sanryeong was excited to hear that Class 3-0 and the homeroom teacher wouldn’t come after him anymore.

There will be no raids aimed at the energy of the universe as long as the Chairman and I are around.

‘Instead, there’s a chance that I will be targeted.’

It’s a hassle to deal with the seniors, but it will be more cumbersome to find and protect Sanryeong whenever he’s attacked.

Sanryeong, who’s become increasingly visible, had a child-like appearance so it was a little too much to neglect him.

I don’t want to see any child bullied by those primates.

Of course, in the case of Sanryeong, I thought he deserved a little beating because he had teased those seniors so much.

— Do you have to call Jo Euishin my benefactor now as well?

I wasn’t in any position to be called that since Hwang Jiho’s stake in the operation was larger.

When I explained it like that, Sanryeong nodded but looked sad.

Did he want to call me a benefactor like the tigers?

‘There are others who call me that other than the tigers. I have a lot of messages on my device with that word, and there’s no need for Sanryeong to add to that.’

Numerous messages arrived on my device at the end of the year.

The most impressive yet sad one was Kim Yuri’s.

[Kim Yuri] Honestly, I wanted to see the sunrise with you and the other kids… ㅠ▿ㅠn/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

[Kim Yuri] Let’s all go next year!

Kim Yuri wanted to watch the sunrise with us.

However, when she found out that something big was going to happen on Christmas, she knew that it would be difficult for the kids to hang out at the end of the year so she gave up her plans.

The media is still talking and reporting about that day, so it’s best to stay lowkey for now.

‘Just as Kim Yuri said, all of us should go next year.’

Should I work with the attention-seekers to make our classmates attend school?

I answered messages while on the move and I arrived at the appointment place.

Someone said he wanted to see me before the year ended.

The tigers were planning a party before I left, so they urged me to return quickly.

I arrived half an hour early, but the person was already waiting for me.

“Euishin-ah, over here!”

My student and senior, Yeom Junyeol, welcomed me.