Chapter 929

Jo Eui-shin was provided with information no one had asked for.

"Hey, Eui-shin, do you know the dragon scale avatar isn’t sold in the cash shop?"

"Ah, Jegeon-hyung!"

"There's a hidden dragon's paradise in Zeta, where the dragon kin live. If you raise their affinity and solve some quests, you can get their scales. Jun-yeol and the other dragons have been collecting scales for a few days and made the avatar for you to wear."n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

Yeom Jun-yeol tried to stop him, but stopping Yong Je-geon was impossible.

It seemed like dragon-related items weren’t cash items.

I never expected that such an effort was put into creating an item.

In PlayerZ, there are avatars that can be bought with real money, but some avatars can only be crafted using in-game currency.

Even without spending money, players could still earn avatars through the game, which created opportunities for those who spent big to have something to do as well.

"If it’s an item that requires raising NPC affinity to gather materials, it must have taken a lot of time..."

I felt a bit heavy-hearted, as it seemed like I had wasted Yeom Jun-yeol's precious time.

Not only Yeom Jun-yeol but the other dragons must have had a hard time collecting scales too, but they likely regarded wasting time for descendants as a joy of dragon life, so I decided not to worry about it.

"The game’s dragon kin made me feel a sense of camaraderie. So I just enjoyed the game, and I made an avatar with the materials that came up."

There were plenty of media featuring dragons, but choosing Player Z specifically seemed like a way to give me an avatar gift.

The excellent senior, Yeom Jun-yeol, must have added those words to make sure I wouldn’t feel burdened.

Given he said that, I couldn’t outright reject it or show that I felt awkward.

After a moment of hesitation, I added a suggestion along with my thanks.

"How about we play together next time when you have some free time? I’ll wear the avatar you gave me then."

"Really? Then, after the exchange competition, let’s play together!"

Yeom Jun-yeol replied brightly, and it seemed like this response was the right one.

Though I wasn’t sure if Hongryong would join the shield soldier party, it was confirmed that I would personally play the game with Yeom Jun-yeol.

Seeing him so happy, I felt a little reflective.

Had I only been making Yeom Jun-yeol train so much all this time?

Now that I thought about it, we never really hung out outside of school events or important incidents.

Beyond the teacher-student relationship, Yeom Jun-yeol was one of the closest seniors, yet I hadn’t paid much attention to him.

"I have a contact at SZ Games, so I had the chance to hear some things. After the shield soldier’s broadcast, more people are raising bards and infantry as sub-characters. The sales of the star avatar series in the cash shop also skyrocketed..."

Yeom Jun-yeol seemed to have looked into PlayerZ, telling me about behind-the-scenes details that only someone connected would know.

As a star player, Yeom Jun-yeol had connections and knew a lot of things.

However, as Yeom Jun-yeol was excited, he exaggerated a bit, making it seem like all these phenomena were because of that broadcast or my influence.

"It’s not exaggerated."

"I didn’t say anything."

"You thought it, didn’t you?"

Yong Je-geon chuckled and presumptively guessed my thoughts.

If Kim Shin-rok had been there, he would have thrown a thumbtack at him in my place, but it was a shame.

If only it had been Yong Je-geon, I could’ve said something, but with Yeom Jun-yeol, who wore a face of no malice, I had no choice but to listen.

"Yeah, Eui-shin. I didn’t exaggerate. Did you see the replay view count? It was nearly a million. If they upload an edited version, it’ll be even higher."

The edited video hadn’t been uploaded yet, but after the live broadcast, the replay video would automatically go up, so the unedited full video was already uploaded.

Since the rest time wasn’t edited, and the after stories were included, the video was nearly 20 hours long, yet the views had already grown that much.

It was probably because the video was so long that people were watching it in chunks, causing the views to increase like that.

"When I looked at the most viewed parts, it was when Eui-shin and Sang-hoon used Gwangrim. Everyone seemed impressed by what the two of you did. Since Eui-shin had nearly half of the shares, it wasn’t exaggerated."

Yeom Jun-yeol kept talking about PlayerZ with a smile.

Even though it was about the game, the more I listened, the more I felt like it was getting unbearably hot.

Yeom Jun-yeol, with his big heart, was praising the bard’s performance that I played, exaggerating how impressive it was.

In the middle of Yeom Jun-yeol’s praise, occasionally Yong Je-geon would say something to mess with my head, making it hard to stay focused.

"Looks like it’s going to be fun. I’m glad I applied for the training camp coach."

"Je-geon-hyung... No, Yong Je-geon seonsaengnim, I’ll rely on you during the training camp."

"Of course."

By the time we reached the assembly point, I was already feeling exhausted.

It was mentally draining even before the training camp started, and I wasn’t sure if I’d be okay going forward.

Thankfully, there weren’t only people like Yong Je-geon at this training camp.

The playable characters who had arrived early at the gathering spot were chatting, and just watching them was a form of healing.

However, the topic of their conversation wasn’t great.

"Is Jiik-hwaeng not coming?"

"He said he couldn’t come. The Gwangrim that Idam uses would be great for fighting players, so I really wanted him to join. But he refused, saying 'Now that the break’s over, I can finally go to war.'"

"War?"

"Maybe he’s playing a game? I saw him order a lot of devices. He doesn’t come out of his dorm room much either."

Kwak Gyeong-gu and Heo Chae-ah were talking about Jiik-hwaeng.

It seemed everyone was thinking Jiik-hwaeng was holed up in his room playing games because he mentioned war.

I knew well how terrible Jiik-hwaeng was at games.

I didn’t know what he was doing, nor did I care, but I was sure he wasn’t in his room playing games.

If that stubborn, talentless guy was doing something, then...

"Eui-shin, hey, I took a lot of pictures before leaving Olmu, do you want to look?"

"I’ll look!"

At Anda-in’s voice, I immediately stopped my unnecessary thoughts. Thanks to Anda-in, who was the first to speak to me at the gathering point, my exhausted physical and mental state quickly recovered.

Some of the photos Anda-in showed were taken alone with the angel, and some were of us together.

When I asked him to send all the photos to my device, Anda-in kindly agreed.

"You said it's the divine beast of the Ho-jok clan. It really does look like a puppy."

"Yeah, Jun-yeol. We can't lose."

"Yes? Ah, I’ll do my best."

Nearby, some of the dragons, who had seen the angel’s photos, were talking about it, but I was too busy saving the photos of Olmu to pay attention. I divided the folders, saved all the photos, and even backed them up when Anda-in spoke to me again.

"Eui-shin, you visited the mansion, right? You should’ve come with me."

At that moment, my mind, which had been sucked into the angel’s photos, snapped back to reality.

This training camp also included Ju Su-hyeok. If he heard this, would he misunderstand for no reason?

I didn’t want to see the look on Ju Su-hyeok’s face as if he’d fallen into space.

Thankfully, when I looked around, I didn’t see Ju Su-hyeok.

Seeing him talking with Maeng Hyo-don reassured me, but unfortunately, Moon Saeron, who had visited for an interview, was staring at me with a sharp, axe-like gaze.

"Hey…!"

Moon Saeron spoke in a low voice to avoid drawing Ju Su-hyeok’s attention, but the way he spoke with his teeth clenched made it sound threatening.

Though he didn’t say it outright, I could tell he was giving me a hint to finish the conversation quickly and avoid any misunderstandings.

I hurried to finish the conversation.

"It’s hard to see my parents once the training camp starts, right? I didn’t want to interrupt, so I came separately."

"With your parents? Eui-shin, didn’t you hear?"

What was he talking about?

Before the conversation could continue, the assembly time had arrived. As Yeom Jun-yeol counted the number of people present with his eyes, he spoke.

"It seems everyone is here, so I’ll begin the orientation. I’m Yeom Jun-yeol, and I’ll be representing the Yeonggwang High School team for the Korea-China-Japan Youth Exchange."

When Yeom Jun-yeol gave a polite greeting, I clapped without realizing it.

It wasn’t just me; Yong Je-geon also clapped, so it wasn’t only me.

"Today, after we move to the training camp, we’ll introduce the coaching staff and the selected members, and we’ll check the training courses for each event. The actual training will begin tomorrow, so we hope to finish all preparations today."

Yeom Jun-yeol politely conveyed all the necessary information, and we were ready to move to the training camp.

We had gathered in front of the central student council building, and the training camp location was in the landscaping area.

"I’ve never been to the landscaping area before. I’m nervous! What’s over there? You must’ve seen it with those eyes!"

"My ears hurt. Lower your voice. You’ll see when we get there."

Although Ma Jin-seung was a third-year student, it seemed like he was seeing the landscaping area for the first time, as he asked loudly to Cheon Dong-ha.

The landscaping area was close to the central district, but it had the mist-covered Cheonglang Lake, surrounding forests, and complex roads, making it a place students didn’t visit often.