Chapter 974

The Eternal Lake had both the justification and the power to attack the Oath of the Three Knights.

With the Sub Team Master nearly being kidnapped and Seo Dol moving alongside them, it seemed like a fight worth taking on.

However, the Eternal Lake chose not to engage.

‘If the world’s top ten pro player teams go into a full-scale war, the entire player base will be hit hard. That’s what the dark forces likely want. And if the fight escalates, there’s a chance Kwon Lena, Kwon Je-in’s disciple, could get caught in it.’

That being said, the Eternal Lake didn’t do nothing.

Since the failed kidnapping attempt of Jared Lee, the Eternal Lake had been tracking and monitoring the movements of the Oath of the Three Knights.

Thanks to that surveillance, they managed to gather critical information this time.

“The senior knights, and possibly the Grand Cross, will likely move. It’s uncertain which of the three will act, though.”

There are only three Grand Cross knights, the highest-ranking of the Oath of the Three Knights.

The three knights, whose names are embedded in the team’s title, each hold equal authority as team masters and use their powerful abilities to form one of the top ten teams in the world.

They had once defeated one of the Grand Cross knights, the Yellow Rose Knight, using a clever strategy, but they were not to be underestimated.

‘Seo Dol drove the Yellow Rose Knight to the point of capture at the amusement park, but if Yong Jegyeon hadn’t already removed the spring trap in advance, it would’ve been difficult. We have to be cautious of them.’

The Oath of the Three Knights knew of the cooperation between Seo Dol and the Eternal Lake and had preemptively prepared countermeasures.

That countermeasure was the spring trap, and if someone as skilled as Yong Jegyeon hadn’t been involved in the treasure hunt, removing the spring trap would’ve taken a lot of time and effort.

Even after winning once, the Oath of the Three Knights was still considered one of the world’s top ten pro teams, and when dealing with teams like the Red Lion or the Eternal Lake, one had to be cautious.

Did Hwang Ji-ho think the same way? He spoke with a clear sense of discomfort and wariness.

“The fact that this knight faction is targeting events hosted by my school is already quite displeasing. But the possibility that they might target our classmates directly is even more troubling.”

The “classmate” Hwang Ji-ho was referring to was none other than Mok Woo-ram.

The Eternal Lake had anticipated that Mok Woo-ram could become a target again from the very beginning and had taken precautions.

They had discovered those who were investigating Mok Woo-ram.

The investigators were members of the Oath of the Three Knights’ intelligence team, who had gotten involved with the merchants previously linked to Mok Woo-ram and were caught by the Eternal Lake’s team.

‘Even after taking significant losses, they’re still targeting Mok Woo-ram.’

The reason the Eternal Lake was targeting Mok Woo-ram wasn’t entirely clear, but there were suspicions.

The image of Jared Lee’s younger self, tangled with enemies in a limp body, flashed in his mind, and it sent a chill down his spine.

One of the Grand Cross knights, the Water Shadow Knight, possessed a unique divine skill, using it along with intelligence to replicate Jared Lee as an enemy.

Through this process, Jared Lee went mad and deteriorated.

What restored him was Kwon Je-in’s performance.

‘Jared Lee and the replicated enemies were indistinguishable in appearance or abilities. Even Jared Lee himself was unsure if he was human or an enemy. But the only one who cried upon hearing the performance was Jared Lee…’

It was Kwon Je-in’s enchanted violin performance that brought back Jared Lee’s true self.

And now, with the passing of Master Craftsman, Mok Woo-ram was the only one capable of crafting enchanted violins.

The Oath of the Three Knights had asked Mok Woo-ram to join their team and requested the creation of an item.

As I suspected, the Oath of the Three Knights had realized that there was some secret between enchanted instruments and enemy replication and likely wanted to use the items Mok Woo-ram made for that purpose.

‘And when Mok Woo-ram refused to cooperate, they became persistently aggressive, even trying to kill him. The Oath of the Three Knights targeted Mok Woo-ram in both China and Korea. There’s something they need to stop, even if it means killing him.’

After the failed assassination attempt, the Oath of the Three Knights lost two senior knights with great power.

Even after losing such powerful players, they chose to attempt the assassination again rather than retreat or give up.

There was no doubt that Mok Woo-ram had something to do with why the world’s top ten pro player teams were acting like this.

“Taking advantage of the China-Korea-Japan exchange event, the Oath of the Three Knights might target Mok Woo-ram. How does this relate to Jeokho’s report?”

“I’ve heard that the Oath of the Three Knights is responsible for the special curriculum at the Chengdu Player Training Center.”

It wasn’t uncommon for pro player teams to get involved in player training center curricula.

After all, wasn’t Kwon Je-in an honorary teacher at Eungwang High?

And though the Oath of the Three Knights operated from the UK, it wasn’t surprising that foreign coaches and directors often took on roles in national teams, like in sports.

But something about this bothered him.

‘This is the first I’m hearing of it. Why hasn’t this been disclosed? If a top-ten pro player team is responsible for player training centers, they would surely promote it actively.’

The Eungwang High Newspaper Club had even done overseas reporting and had plans to visit the Chengdu Player Training Center, so they had conducted prior research.

At that time, they had heard nothing about the Oath of the Three Knights.

The fact that no one had heard about them, even without promoting it, was strange.

It was only after Jeokho conducted his investigation that they finally learned about it, which meant someone had been deliberately hiding the Oath of the Three Knights’ involvement.

‘The Oath of the Three Knights was also at the explosion site at the Chengdu Player Training Center. There must be a connection to the explosion, but if they’re still running the curriculum, has the explosion incident not been noticed by the Chinese authorities? Or did they intentionally cause the explosion from the start?’

Many possibilities came to mind, but he wondered if the latter was true.

Causing an explosion to draw attention, destroy facilities, and cause damage seemed pointless unless they gained something from it.

“China has a large population, and with that comes a large number of players. Therefore, there are a variety of players, and they’ve been focusing on developing curricula tailored to each type of player. It seems like they recruited foreign pro player teams as part of that effort.”

“The Oath of the Three Knights has been running this curriculum for how long?”

“It’s about the same time Jared Lee joined the Oath of the Three Knights.”

That must mean it’s been over ten years.

Thinking about what the Oath of the Three Knights did to young players before Jared Lee lost his reason sent a shiver down his spine.

“We did a primary investigation on students who completed the curriculum, but it seems none of them experienced what Jared Lee went through.”

Hwang Ji-ho, as if reading his mind, tried to reassure him.

The white tiger, who was truly reading his thoughts, kept silent, either laughing or expressionless, and it made the contrast stark.

However, unfortunately, Hwang Ji-ho’s words didn’t end on a positive note.

“But there have been a few cases similar to the youth pre-player training centers in the Korean Peninsula. A few players lost their abilities entirely.”

Hwang Ji-ho projected a hologram with a list.

As he scanned the unfamiliar names, he mentally counted them.

Each time he counted, he imagined a streamer from the training center crying after losing their abilities, and it disappeared quickly.

After reviewing the list and the reports, Hwang Ji-ho brought up a new hologram.

This one also contained a list, and he recognized a few of the names.

“Do these players on this list have a connection to the Oath of the Three Knights?”

“Yes.”

Some of the players expected to be selected for the China-Korea-Japan exchange event were on the list.

Seoul’s population is around 10 million, but Chengdu’s population exceeds 16 million.

Because of this, the scale of the player training centers was also considerable, and many more players from Chengdu’s training center had no connections to the Oath of the Three Knights.

However, the number on the list seemed large relative to the pool of players to be selected.

“This time, in Korea, there were no proper agreements with the government or other schools, so all the representatives were selected from Eungwang High. But in China, the selection was based on the player training centers, so the competition was fierce. Despite that, the players who had their hands on them were selected.”

It’s similar to how players who went through the enchanted centers in Korea were selected.

It wasn’t a selection process that could be carried out independently by a single school, so the government, other schools, and associations had to collaborate and invest time, money, and resources.

The Oath of the Three Knights had succeeded in making their influence felt and getting the players they wanted chosen.

“You seem to have a lot to say. I thought it was a lighter topic.”

By the time the meal was finished, Hwang Ji-ho casually made that comment.

Considering the information gathered so far, he might have to worry about both China and Japan, though he might not realize that yet.

Since the meal was over, I decided to bring up Ahn Da-in’s story to cut off Hwang Ji-ho’s carefree attitude.

“I have something to say about Ahn Da-in. It’s related to the Japanese representative…”

The materials sent by Gye I-dam weren’t something I could review during the meal, but since I’d eventually have to, I decided to reveal them now.

Baek Ho, who must have already read my mind, seemed calm, but as expected, Hwang Ji-ho reacted strongly.

“How dare someone speak so disrespectfully about my family?”

Golden particles lightly drifted around Hwang Ji-ho.

Just as this happened, I received a message from Moon Sae-ron on my device.

Sae-ron had gone to Japan, both to meet her father and to report on the China-Korea-Japan exchange event, and it seemed like she had some good results.

Sae-ron, clearly furious, sent me all kinds of materials.

Unlike Gye I-dam, who had sent web-based posts or comments, Moon Sae-ron had sent various magazine and newspaper articles and recorded broadcast materials.

“Hwangmyung Group is trying to make Ahn Da-in into a Cinderella.”

Sae-ron hadn’t just sent the materials to me; she had also sent them to Hwang Ji-ho.

Since Hwang Ji-ho had already made a declaration about his family in front of Jeo Su-hyuk, and this matter also involved the Hwangmyung Group, it made sense that she would send it to both of us.

“It reminds me of the world you met, I-shin. Whether they have abilities or not, the way they spread gossip to socially ruin someone is quite similar.”

For the first time today, Eun-ho, who had been unusually quiet, checked the materials beside Hwang Ji-ho and spoke.

Other than greetings, Eun-ho had been almost silent today.

It seemed like he was observing something, mostly keeping an eye on Baek Ho.

Thinking about what happened in Hongcheon, I wondered if he was going to scold me or Hwang Ji-ho, but it was unexpected.

Had Baek Ho done something that would make Eun-ho angry while I was away?

If he reads this thought, I hope he stops teasing his good little brother.

“……”

“Baek Ho, if you have something to say, go ahead.”

“No.”

“Really?”

Eun-ho seemed ready to break the silence, but he decided to let it go.

To prevent the atmosphere from worsening over Ahn Da-in’s issue, I decided to speak up.

“I have a suggestion.”