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nPlayers Association, Korean Branch.

nOffice of Regulations Enforcement Department.

nAssociation players who have been informed in advance of the approximate appearance time and location of the “Other-world appearance without foreshadow”.

nThey were working even on weekends, looking at holograms.

nGyu-bin Hong, who had secured this information, was looking pretty clean and well for a person who had been on night shift for a few days.

n“Senior. What are the results of the observation of the ‘Other-world without foreshadow’?”

nThe satellite management team wanted to mobilize all available resources to observe the Other-world.

nHowever, Ji-hwa Lim, the team leader of the satellite management team, shook her head after reading all the reports she received from the team members.

n“It’s a failure. We didn’t find anything.”

n“Oh……”

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n“I thought someone would succeed.”

n“Ugh, I want to cry.”

n“When do we leave work?”

nSighs came from all over the place.

nJi-hwa Lim asked something, rolling up the sleeves of her blouse.

n“What happened to the psychic poison that the head of the Tiger clan informed me of? Have you observed it?”

n“Not at all. The resources I pulled from “that project” didn’t even work. The satellite couldn’t catch it at all.”

nOn the central screen, the flow of force observed on Cymopoleia was numerically deployed.

nAll the staff looked at the screen with anxious faces, but they could not find a number that indicated psychic poison.

nBecause of the SSR class item used by the Crow mask, they did not see any difference before and after the disappearance of the poison.

n“Other-world appearance without foreshadow, psychic poison, and the head of the Pig clan…… This is a complete disaster.”

n“It’s shocking that Jeo Palgae betrayed humanity.”

n“He was a complete nuisance in the ‘Journey to the West’. His true colors just revealed itself.”

n“Yeah, he was a bastard since he got fired from being the navy general. He became a pig since he tried to rape a maid in the moon palace.”

nThe team members raised their voices in anger.

nAs the team was stretched out in exhaustion, Ji-hwa asked Gyubin quietly.

n“That crow mask that defeated the head of the Pig Clan…… is he an Original Clan? Or a descendant?”

n“The informer’s identity cannot be revealed.”

n“Um, I’m so curious. Oh, well.”

nThere were three people in the association who knew that the crow mask was the Anonymous Supernova.

nGyubin Hong and his subordinates Mr. Yoon and Mr. Jung.

nGyubin’s gut instincts told him that something bad would happen when many people knew the identity of Ui-shin Cho.

n‘It’s not based on my foresight skill, but I just feel like it.’

nGyubin thoroughly managed the information provided by Ui-shin Cho.

nRecently, the team leader of the PR 2 team, who considers Gyubin as a rival, seemed to pry those around Gyubin, so he was extra careful.

n‘By the way, Ui-shin, how much do you know? How do you know where to go and what to do?’

nThe world was slowly facing new threats, but countermeasures were being prepared.

n‘The technical partnership proposed by the Tiger and the Rabbits is probably related to Ui-shin, as well.’

nThat was also the reason behind his sleepless shifts.

n“Let’s set the press policy.”

nGyubin faced the hologram screen again.

n* * *

nMyung-ho Hwang’s mansion.

nJiho was waiting for me with a serious face.

nHe didn’t even say hello to me.

n‘Is he angry because I did something that was likely to fail?’

nBut the return was bigger than the risk.

nI had better think of an excuse before going into the parlor.

n‘Before that, I should say hello to our Olmu.’

nI waited for Olmu to rush at me, barking brightly,

nBut Olmu just sat on the mat I had presented and looked up at me.

n“Olmu?”

nOlmu did shake her tail at me.

nShe looked up at me with shining eyes and a wagging tail, so it did look like she was happy to see me.

nBut my Olmu did not run toward me or signal me to hug her.

n“Come, Olmu.”

nI approached her and held out my hand.

nWhimper…….

nOlmu avoided my hand and turned her head.

nI blinked a few times to make sure I wasn’t imagining things, but still, Olmu was still turning her head.

nThis has to be a dream.

nI don’t dream, why am I seeing daydreams?

nWhen I was trying to escape reality, I heard Jiho’s voice.

n“I told Shinsu what you did. I’ve never seen Shinsu so sad and angry.”

nSo the cause of this was Jiho, huh?

n“Shinsu won’t bother you, considering the injuries you suffered. That’s great.”

n“The injuries are all better.”

n“Your psychic wave is more unstable than usual. You’ve consumed quite a lot of power. Shinsu should be sensing this too.”

nMy Olmu was worried about me.

nHer consideration made my heart melt, but it was a bittersweet feeling.

nHow can I reassure Olmu?

nI was half panicking when Ho-gun Baek came along.

n‘He’s my playable character, he might help me settle things with Olmu!’

nThat expectation quickly vanished.

n“…….”

nBark bark!

nOlmu went into Ho-gun’s arms without hesitation.

nHo-gun headed to the parlor with Olmu in his arms.

nI was unable to move because of shock.

n“I did not inform Seo-ho, Yiho and Jae-ho. You won’t meet the three today. Let’s move, Ui-shin Cho.”

nMy shock became greater at Red Tiger’s words.

nToday, there is no greeting from the three siblings, no affection from Olmu.

nThen why did I come here?

nI set foot in the parlor with my heart sinking to the floor.

n‘Everything’s so healthy.’

nToday’s tea is sandalwood honey tea.

nRefreshment is brown rice gangjeong(Korean traditional dessert) with perilla seeds.

nIn front of me, however, was a strange-colored liquid placed in a medicine decoction pot.

nThere was also a bowl for me to drink in.

n‘Does he want me to drink this and die? Why is there poison in front of me?’

nThe aroma of the liquid literally screamed ‘I am NOT TASTY.’

nIt was nasty enough to make Olmu sneeze and wriggle into Ho-gun Beak’s arms.

n“What were you thinking. Why did you do such a thing?”

nAs soon as I sat down, Jiho immediately jumped to the main point.

nSandalwood is effective for calming Hwa-byeong(Korean somatization disorder, used to be in DSA-4), but it didn’t seem to work for Jiho, since there was anger in his voice.

n‘Let’s not make excuses.’

nI explained the details of the plan I set up.

nThe three Tiger clan, who swallowed tea without a sound, and a Shinsu were listening carefully.

nWhen I finished speaking, Jiho opened his mouth.

n“Oh, I understand very well.”

n“What?”

n“That you don’t know what you did wrong.”

nIt’s not like that.

nI decided to apologize quickly.

n“I’m sorry to run a risky operation without prior consultation.”

n“Ui-shin Cho.”

nJiho Hwang closed his eyes, slowly facepalming.

nRed Tiger also said a word.

n“If you say it like that, Golden Tiger will be angrier.”

n“Red Tiger, you don’t have the right to say that, remember?”

nJiho glared at him, and Red Tiger laughed, embarrassed.

nDid I make the same mistake as Red Tiger?

nBut Red Tiger and I are in a completely different situation.

n“Ui-shin Cho, you are the benefactor who saved our descendants. And although a short time, we built a relationship. There are not many humans who are as close as you are to the Tiger clan.”

nJiho lowered his hand and looked at me.

n“Take care of your safety.”

nI knew Jiho Hwang wasn’t just saying that.

nStill, I didn’t know what to say.

nJiho looked at me and pointed his chin.

n“It is an elixir I commissioned. It’s from the Deer clan. Drink.”

nThe Deer clan ran the ‘secret store’ in the game.

nIn the game, you could use the secret store after solving complex, troublesome and long quests.

nJiho, of course, already could use that.

n“Can Ui-shin Cho, a human, handle that taste?”

n“Rest assured. I asked them to make it for humans.”

nIt was just an expensive and good elixir when I looked at it from the outside of the game screen.

nThe smell and Red Tiger’s worry…

nEverything told me this elixir had a disgusting taste.

n‘What can I say to someone who’s worried about me?’

nI am used to pain, so I probably can handle this tastelessness.

n“Thank you. I’ll drink this.”

nSaying that, I took a sip.

nI looked into the abyss of taste.

n‘What the hell! This has to be poison!’

nI almost spat it out, so I had to cover my mouth.

nJiho was trying to kill me with this taste.

nBark bark!

nOlmu, who was quiet in the parlor, barked for the first time.

nI think it means to keep drinking.

n“If I drink it all, will you play with me again?”

nWhimper…….

nOlmu seemed to be thinking about it.

nI don’t know if Olmu’s sadness and anger will disappear, even if I do drink all of this.

nOh, well.

nI had no choice but to drink all this painful poison and think about the next move.

n“Okay. I’ll drink it all.”

nArf!

nOlmu barked a little brightly and wagged her tail.

nI think I can withstand this tastelessness thanks to Olmu.

n“Well said, Ui-shin Cho.”

nBang!

nJiho placed a paper shopping bag with gold specks on the table.

nnumerous disposable pouches were filled with the liquid of the same color as the elixir from the Deer clan.

n“As you said, drink it all.”

nThis wasn’t all of it?!

nJiho hurled a K.O. punch at me.

n“Drink this every day for a week. You’re not going to break a promise you made with Shinsu, are you?”

nI had no choice but to drink poison for a week.

nJiho smiled with satisfaction as he looked at me.

nThat Asshole.

nI tried to talk about later countermeasures, but I was told to go in and rest.

nIt was true that I was tired, and I have taken the world’s most tasteless elixir, so I have not the energy to speak.

nI had a shopping bag full of poison in my hand, and Olmu didn’t play with me, so I had no energy left.

n“I told you to be careful.”

nHo-gun Baek said, on our way to the dorm.

nHe must have worried about me too.

nSaying what he needed to say, he fell silent again.

nThen he added a word before parting ways.

n“Next time we meet, shinsu will be feeling better.”

nThat made me feel better.

n‘Every time I come back from the mansion, my dorm room looks extra large.’

nI came back to my dorm room.

nI felt like the first time being alone for a long time.

nI had been to the party on board and Myung-ho Hwang’s mansion.

n‘I didn’t have time to be alone except when I fought.’

nSuch thoughts were erased as soon as I heard a system alarm.

n〈Skill ‘Power of Destiny’ has been activated.〉

n* * *

nMeanwhile.

nJi-ik Hall Recreation room.

nSeung-hyun Park and a student in a gym suit were playing chess.

nSeung-hyun was helping a friend that was participating in a beginner chess class that will be held by Stalemate starting tomorrow.

nHe was explaining the rules.

n“Yeah. The pawn can’t catch the piece right in front of it.”

nJe-gun Yong appeared, adding to Seung-hyun Park’s words.

n“Oh, Mr. Yong! Hello!”

n“Hello.”

n“Yeah, hi.”

n“I heard that you didn’t live in the school…… Oh, did you come to see Mr. Shin-lok?”

n“Haha, no, I just have something else to do today.”

nJe-gun turned to Seung-hyun.

n“Seung-hyun. Were you in your dorm yesterday?”

n“Yes. During the day, I did my homework in the study room of Ji-ik Hall.”

n“He means homework and play games. He played all night till the ending.”

n“I see.”

nJe-gun, who heard Seung-hyun’s answer, changed his expression.

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nIt was that ‘ecstatic expression’ many Eun-kwang students and staff said was ‘weird’ and ‘why does he ruin his face like that?’

n“Thank you for answering. I’ll be off then. See you guys at the chess lessons.”

nAs Je-gun tried to leave the recreation room, he was caught by kids playing all over the place.

n“Hang out with us a little more. Where are you going?”

n“I have someone to look for.”

n“In the dorm?”

nJe-gun Yong nodded.

n“Yeah. I need to know where Kyung-gu was during the weekend.”

nYong Je-gun seemed to be looking for Kyung-gu Kwak, a second-year student of the Student Council.

nWhen the second-graders told them the location of Kyung-gu, Yong Je-gun thanked them and disappeared.

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