Chapter 177

Before departing for the youth retreat—

At Hwangmong Corporation’s mansion.

“You seem to be deep in thought. Speak. Is it about that ‘Things that I Knew’ thing?

As I looked up from the island map and the retreat schedule, all the tigers focused their attention on me.

I remained motionless and only stared at my screen while the Red Tiger finished up his report.

“There’s one variable I want to get rid of first.”

“A variable?”

“Let’s not make this information available to ‘that person’.”

Hwang Jiho looked very uncomfortable after hearing those words.

“Even if I were ‘that person’, I would make the same decisions as he did. We’ll figure out the schedule of the youth retreat, the location of the accommodations, the location of the students to sacrifice, the movements of the teachers that would interfere. We’ll do this so the timing of the attack could be set.”

I looked over to the Red Tiger and spoke.

“Specifically, in order to track Kim Shinrok, we would have to check the information of the other classes’ teachers.”

The 1st Year youth retreat was divided into five.

The location and date of the retreats were all different.

If two groups aim for one place, the youth retreat would all be rescheduled or even canceled, so the five groups have to decide on one place only.

Since the target was Kim Shinrok, it was clear that the Black Screen was aiming for the retreat which included classes 0, 1, and 2.

“The date of the youth retreat was disclosed on the school website, but the exact schedule throughout the retreat was not provided. We don’t know what time the meal breaks are, or even the roll calls. The assignment of accommodations and their time-specific schedules would be given at the entrance ceremony. That is…”

Hwang Jiho spoke as he displayed a hologram with pictures of the school’s faculty and staff.

“…Do you think there’s a traitor among the homeroom and co-homeroom teachers, the vice-principal, or even the principal who approved this trip?”

I shook my head after going through all the names and faces of the staff.

“I think it’s not among them.”

The people who appeared on the hologram were the homeroom and co-homeroom teachers of classes Zero, One, and Two. In addition, all the other teachers mentioned all died in the game.

“I think they didn’t get the information from within the school, but from outside.”

“Outside..? Ah.”

Hwan Jiho nodded as if he belatedly realized what I meant.

Choi Pyeondeuk and his party seem to have raised the suspicion that the traitor was a staff from inside the school because they have been on Eungwang’s radar for a long time now.

“Is there anyone from the outside who knows about Eungwang High’s youth retreat?”

“Yes.”

When I answered the Red Tiger’s question, I expanded the hologram that was floating on the table.

“The instructors of the youth retreat.”

“Why, these people…!”

“The evidence would come out if we look into it, but these instructors have been benefiting greatly from the rebates from the teachers for a long time now. ‘That person’ has connections with such teachers, so they would recognize each other once we cross the bridge. The instructors don’t have much income, so they earn money by handing over classified information. It’s unclear whether they are involved in Shinrok’s assassination attempt, or the students to be sacrificed.”

It was a headache not knowing how much money these instructors received, or how involved they are in the plan

I looked in the direction of Hwang Jiho and said something.

“It won’t be easy to predict how these people will behave. A hostage can be a student, a teacher, or even a civilian. If anyone is excluded in advance, it would be more difficult for us because ‘That person’ can still change his plans. In case something happens, we have to overpower all the instructors first.”

Hwang Jiho replied confidently.

“And then?”

“Of course, we have to go to the female students’ dorms. Class One would be okay, but maybe Class Two wouldn’t. It’s possible that poison energy would be released.”

“There’s no question about that.”

Hwang Jiho placed a medicine wrapped in Korean paper on the table.

“I got a toothpaste version of an antidote from the Nok Clan.”

So Jiho prepared something like this beforehand…!

He’s been working really hard, I see.

“Is it consumable by humans too? Would mass production be possible?”

“I had it tested, and unfortunately there are some side effects. If it’s not someone from the royal lineage who will use it, it’s not going to be easy for them.”

“What kind of side effects are there?”

“Instead of having the poison driven out of the body, the person’s internal organs will be damaged. Unless the person has a history of being healed by the royal lineage, it’s possible that they would die from multiple-organ failure even if they weren’t reached by the poison energy.”

After hearing the explanation, the medicine seemed less like an antidote and more like poison instead.

Antidote drugs can be poisonous too if consumed wrongly.

“What about you? Will you be able to eat that?”

“What do you think of this body? Of course, there’s no question that I’ll be able to consume it.”

We had such a conversation a few days ago.

Hwang Jiho was confident, but I don’t know what went wrong because he arrived late to the dorms of the Class Two students.

I saw a character indicator move like lightning towards the Class Two dorms on my exclusive map. It seems like Jiho was late.

‘I wonder if Daesok and the other Class Two students are okay….’

I felt anxious, but I couldn’t make it seem obvious as Saeum of April was still in the middle of using his light skill and conveying my message.

Saeum of April stopped using ‘King’s Word’ to see if it succeeded in delivering my voice.

He walked towards me as warm energy waves scattered from around him

“…The evacuations are done now!”

“You did a good job.”

“Yes…! Thank you!”

Saeum of April smiled at what he had accomplished, yet he looked very tired.

As I reached out my arm to support the staggering Saeum, he spoke helplessly.

“I-I’m sorry… I’ve lost all strength in my body…”

“It’s okay. Go ahead and rest for a moment.”

This was inevitable as this was the first time that he used this light skill this way.

I carried Saeum, who closed his eyes for a while, and I flew towards the sky.”

The character that I’m using is Saeum of April.

I used his flying technique to move to the next destination.

‘Let’s calm down. There’s still a lot of things to do.’

Even as I tried to calm my heart like that, my head was filled with thoughts of the next destination where Kim Yuri was about to use her light skill.

* * *

Screeeech!

Energy wave stormed around Kim Yuri.

This was caused by the higher beings who consistently whispered in Kim Yuri’s ear.

[Cheonho’s message has been delivered. Please use your light skill immediately. Your existence is on the line.]

[We do not want to hurt you. Even if that wave overflows and overturns the mountains, you will be safe in the protection of our power.”

[The ‘Precious Green Noble Lady’ is worried about you.]

[Hmpf, I’m not worried about anything but I won’t let anyone who’s connected to my power be overwhelmed by my strength.]

Kim Yuri was even more frightened by the voices of the higher beings from afar.

They always whispered to Yuri that they would protect her.

This meant that Kwon Yuri would be protected if she activated her light skill, but its effects on others were uncertain.

Perhaps the gods would do her a favor and save those who were close to Yuri.

But what about those who were close in vicinity but did not personally know Yuri?

Those who were complete strangers to her?

What would happen to those people?

Those people might suddenly disappear without a trace.

“What should we do? Yuri’s energy wave is… ahhk…!”

“Hey, you should step back!”

Kwon Lena and Maeng Hyodon tried to step closer to Yuri.

Hyodon walked closer to Yuri one step at a time, enduring the energy pressure that weighed down on Yuri. However, Lena couldn’t endure it and she collapsed from where she stood.

Yuri’s heart shook as she saw the scene.

Kwa! Brreak!

The aggressive sound of the great energy wave resonated.

The energy wave, which had only been radiated previously, finally took on a coherent form.

This is an indication that her light skill had already been triggered.

“No! I can’t…!”

As Yuri desperately tried to control her energy wave, its aggregation suddenly stopped.

Yet the pain still remained and dominated Yuri’s body.

At that moment.

“President!”

Maeng Hyodon ran like the blade-like dash of energy wave and was suddenly in front of Kim Yuri.

Hyodon shook Yuri’s shoulder as he spoke to her.

“The Vice President predicted this would happen. He said that if anything happens, remember the words that the Vice President said to you!”

Yuri’s eyes opened wide.

She started to remember the words that Vice President Jo Euishin said to her.

— You’ll be fine.

— Yes, it doesn’t matter even if my energy goes crazy. They said that it’s okay for me to use my light skill as I wish.

— It will be okay. Do you think Ham Geunhyung and the kids from our class would suffer easily?

Yuri recalled the faces of those who were worried about her.

Her parents who were hospitalized yet couldn’t sleep properly as they were worried about her.

Ham Geunhyung, who was worried about her ever since the light skill sealing ceremony.

Min Geurin who drew the seal with her sign pen.

The classmates who kindly gave snacks to her.

And Kwon Lena and Maeng Hyodon who didn’t hesitate to approach her even in this situation.

Looking back, it was odd that Euishin laughed as he said those words to her before.

It was suspicious both objectively and subjectively, but still, she felt somehow relieved.

After remembering the faces of those people, Yuri finally liberated her light skill.

Boooom!

As soon as Hyodon supported Yuri’s collapsing body, swarms of energy wave emanated from her body and took the shape of magnolia flowers.

Tens of thousands of energy waves in the shape of white petals flowed into the sea.

The enemies who had just arrived on the beach and marched towards the civilians’ houses, stopped at the fantastic display of light skill.

As the magnolia petals submerged into the sea—

Rooaaar…

A roar that seemed to shake the heavens and earth resonated, and soon strong winds started to pour out.

Hyodon and Lena frowned as they tried to look beyond the strong winds.

“My goodness…”

Kwon Lena muttered with a frightened face.

The sea continued to move in the area where they looked.

The movement of the waves was beyond explainable.

The sea appears to be preparing to swallow the whole island.

Screeech!

Grooowl!

The sea had simply buried the hundreds and thousands of enemies easily as if it were quenching nothing but bubbles.

The enemies, which failed to invade the lands, jumped towards the sea in a desperate attempt to survive. However, the sea was moving not only on the beach but also to the island.

“Perhaps, is this Yuri’s light skill…? It’s similar to the light skill that I saw in the data from the Seogu Elementary School incident.”

Hyodon, who mindlessly listened to Lena, finally came to his senses.

He was aware of the Seogu Elementary School incident because Hyodon was also included in the test range.

He felt horrified as he remembered how the tsunami swallowed all the buildings and the people

“Let’s go! Let’s head upward as high as we can!”

“…Okay!”

Hyodon carried the fainted Kim Yuri and ran as quickly as he could.

“There’s someone there!”

Lena shouted.

As Lena said, they saw someone standing on the empty coast.

Someone staring head-on at the enormous energy and huge tsunami silently took out an item card and actualized it.

Kwon Lena, who saw the item’s silhouette, looked shocked.

“No way… Is that…?”

The item that the unknown person held in his hand was a violin and a bow.

When the violinist lifted his bow and stroked the strings, the energy wave took the form of a magnificent tone and spread widely in the air.

Looking at that figure and hearing that tone, Lena knew who the person was for sure.

“Kwon Jein sunbaenim!”

Kwon Jein, the blue violinist who could order the asleep to sing, stood fiercely as she faced the sea and the grand army of enemies.