Chapter 436: Trust and tests (15)

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Do Sihoo told the story and everyone including him was calm except for Jang Namwook.

Jang Namwook couldn’t believe that such a thing was buried in Do Sihoo’s memories, and he seemed to feel his friend’s pain.

Hwang Jiho asked Do Sihoo.

“Did you catch the person who forced you to use your light skill?”

“The ones that got caught were people I knew, but the voice that I heard then was unfamiliar.”

“The one who forcibly activated your skill wasn’t among them.”

Do Sihoo’s story continued.

After his light skill was forcibly activated, the King of Ships came forward and rescued him, putting an end to Do Sihoo’s kidnapping.

The King of Ships was severely injured from rescuing his son to the point that it left him with recurring aftereffects, forcing him to step down from the front lines.

Since then, no attempts to kidnap Do Sihoo again were made.

Since everyone thought that the cause of Do Sihoo was a conflict of interest within the TC Group, the King of Ships stepped down from the front line so that his son wouldn’t be targeted again.

Though the real reason was different.

‘Do Sihoo wasn’t kidnapped again because they successfully sealed Wu Zhiqi already. And there was someone who secretly went after Do Sihoo again.’

Everyone, including Do Sihoo himself, thought that his issue with water was something simple.

‘Maybe the real reason Do Sihoo is weak in water is because of Wu Zhiqi’s grudge.’

I’m not the only one who thought so.

It’s strange not to think so when we’re all aware of Do Sihoo’s desperate struggle against water.

I felt choked up when I remembered that Do Sihoo jumped into the water to save Jang Namwook and Do Wonwoo.

“…”

Meanwhile, Jecheondaesung didn’t utter a word until Do SIhoo finished speaking.

Do Sihoo waited for him to speak, but after the silence stretched for a few seconds, Do Sihoo spoke again.

“I’m sorry for using my skill on your —”

“Stop.”

Jecheondaesung interrupted Do Sihoo, perhaps his thoughts were now organized.

He was startled by himself too and began to speak more kindly.

“Don’t apologize for something that’s not your fault. If you do, then I should be apologizing to you as well for the grudge that my dongaseng left on you for nearly ten years.”

It wouldn’t have been easy for him to pull himself together right away even if he knew that Do Sihoo wasn’t at fault.

Indeed, enlightened beings are beyond ordinary.

Jecheondaesung looked at Do Sihoo with an apologetic face.

“We’ll visit Wu Zhiqi once she regains consciousness. If I mediate, that kid will listen to your words.”

…Will it really end that way?

Didn’t Jecheondaesung put the gingoju on the line so that his sister can be found?

It seems like he’s trying to help Do Sihoo escape Wu Zhiqi’s grudge now.

The 20s Hwang Jiho asked to confirm.

“This man is the one I tried to protect. You’re not going to hurt him in my absence, are you?”

“Hahaha! If I do that, then I would essentially be betraying you.”

He said those words with a smile, but the weight of Jecheondaesung’s words was enormous.

Equating attacking Do Sihoo to betraying Hwang Jiho.

That means that if Jecheondaesung tries to hurt Do Sihoo, Hwang Jiho will get possession of the gingoju.

Jang Namwook, Yoo Sanghoon, and Do Sihoo looked clueless about what it meant, but Hwang Jiho and I managed our expressions to hide our shock.

After letting go of those heavy words, Jecheondaesung addressed Do Sihoo as if nothing happened.

“Come to the Special Luncheon next time. Your friends are looking forward to seeing you there.”

After that, we chatted with Jecheondaesung for a bit.

He only asked about our identities and shared words of blessing, completely erasing the tension that flowed in the room when he first appeared.

After asking for each other’s names and device codes, it was already very late in the evening.

“Children need to sleep well to grow well. Go to bed now.”

“You talk as if you’ve raised a child. You don’t even have a descendant.”

“Hahaha! Are you still angry because I came without notice? Forgive my poor manners.”

The two clan heads don’t seem to care that we’re in the room with them.

Jang Namwook and Do Sihoo exchanged weird faces while looking at them.

“Jiho and Jecheondaesung know each other?”

“Uh, that guy’s Jiho? Class Zero’s Hwang Jiho?”

“Did he get a lot taller?”

“…I don’t think that’s possible.”

Do Sihoo is a bit more quick-witted than Jang Namwook in this regard.

Being a son of a chaebol family, Do Sihoo must’ve heard some rumors related to the Hwangmyeong Group.

“…”

Yoo Sanghoon, who can clearly distinguish the 10s and 20s Hwang Jiho, observed the situation quietly.

Yoo Sanghoon might come to our class these days to check on Hwang Jiho.

However, he’s the type who doesn’t point out things.

How nice would it be if Yoo Sanghoon just pretends he doesn’t know it…

“Namwook and Sihoo, stay at the hotel with me today. I think we’ll have to wait and monitor Sihoo’s condition.”

“Ah, sure!”

“I took care of the hotel fees. Feel free to stay here until tomorrow.”

Jecheondaesung, Jang Namwook, and Do Sihoo remained at the hotel.

Yoo Sanghoon said he wouldn’t come home yet since his parents are on a business trip and he has to go to the association to visit Yoo Sanghee.

I wanted to offer to go with him, but I stepped down when he said that only family, lawyer, and their homeroom teacher could visit.

‘If I use my connections with the association, I might be able to go through…’

But if I do, I think Yoo Sanghee, who’s already in a tight spot, would feel burdened.

If things wouldn’t work out for Yoo Sanghee and Do Wonwoo, then I’ll intervene.

We were about to step out of the suite when…

“I think you were there earlier too, Euishin-ah.”

As if he waited for a moment where my defenses are down, Jecheondaesung suddenly shot me a question.

How should I answer this?

It’s a natural thing to assume that I was the man in a crow mask who was with Yoo Sanghoon earlier.

Should I have disguised Yoo Sanghoon more thoroughly?

I regretted it, but it was too late.

Jecheondaesung spoke with confidence.

“If that’s the case, then you have a considerable level of transformation skill. You looked like a completely different person.”

“Don’t bother him with useless words. Didn’t you say these children should sleep well to grow well? It’s latte so they need to get some rest.”

The 20s Hwang Jiho cut off Jecheondaesung.

Jecheondaesung laughed it off, seemingly thinking that Hwang Jiho was helping me.

“See you next time, Jiho-ah.”

“Sure, see you.”

Jang Namwook regarded him as Hwang Jiho until the end.

***

The next day, in my dormitory room.

I checked the news as soon as I opened my eyes.

Thankfully, yesterday’s events didn’t appear in the headlines.

The most notable topic was an article on Yeo Raehun’s new single.

Yeo Raehun’s debut single is said to have set a new record in the Korean music industry, even topping charts overseas.

A media company, that was famously in a bad relationship with Yeo Raehun’s agency, deliberately posted a picture of his bald head and gave negative observations, but their actions backfired quickly.

They essentially advertised the fact that Yeo Raehun is the Saint of Naejang Mountain to people who didn’t already know.

‘…Wait, this isn’t the time for this!’

Is it a relief that the TC Research Institute case wasn’t reported on the front page of the news?

I belatedly entered “TC” in the search engine and found an article.

‘It’s about the power outage and the otherworlds. This one couldn’t have been prevented.’

The article only contained simple facts.

Because of the power outage, sudden spawning of otherworlds, and the quick response to them, yet the number of casualties is zero, the case is being investigated.

The comments in the article were also the usual — ‘Thankfully there are no casualties’, ‘Thank you for your hard work’, and others.

‘…The association must’ve buried it well.’

However, there’s still a lot of work to be done.

There were many things that caught my mind from the facts that I learned last night.

‘Yoo Sanghoon’s awakening, Do Sihoo’s forced light skill activation… There might be a connection between those two.’

An external force stimulating one’s powers.

‘The key to the answer is the demon who colluded with the TC Group.’

The demon caught in this incident fell into Jecheondaesung’s hands.

The interrogation could be smoother because this demon is lower in rank compared to Avaritia’s priest.

‘I should check up with Jecheondaesung since I have his device code now.’

I checked if there were other noticeable articles while I prepared to go to school.

Other than the ones about Yeo Raehun, there was one more thing.

‘An article about rising players! It has Joo Soohyuk and Ahn Dain’s aliases.’

The two were steadily making their names known by solving cases and attacking otherworlds.

Some of their accomplishments from PMH disappeared.

I felt sorry for the two, but it can’t be helped.

‘…The two are saving people whether they're the main characters or not.’

Just yesterday, Ahn Dain protected the student association members and Joo Soohyuk’s loyalty saved Do Sihoo.

As expected of the title hero and heroine.

While trying to look up more articles about the two, a message arrived.

[Hwang Jiho] Did you sleep well?

[Hwang Jiho] I hope you did since I sent you there to rest well.

…Should I go back to reading articles?

I almost ignored him out of reflex, but I decided to respond.

‘We have a lot to talk about from yesterday so it can’t be helped.’

Hwang Jiho tried to take me to the tigers’ mansion last night just as he usually does, but I managed to escape his claws.

It was late at night so it wasn’t polite to visit, and I added that I wanted to organize my thoughts and rest by myself.

We had a lot to talk about, but it felt like I was extending my stay at the tigers’ mansion for too long now.

[Hwang Jiho] I got in touch with Yong Jegun this morning. He was in the association all along.

Yong Jegun must’ve gone after dealing with the otherworld.

He’s acting like a good professor.

…But most likely he’s in the association to satisfy his own musings.

[Hwang Jiho] Yong Jegun said he didn’t feel signs of the “eye”

[Hwang Jiho] The Demon Race like to observe, but they don’t seem to like being seen. It seems that there’s no “eye” in their place.

One of the most worrying problems has been solved.

It was nice to hear, but not completely.

It’s a ridiculous reason, but I’m at least glad that no one saw the student association members or Yoo Sanghoon in that place.

When I was almost at our classroom, Hwang Jiho sent more messages.

[Hwang Jiho] I’m going to talk with the two painters about Imoogi’s Exorcism. You come too.

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