There’s no doubt now, with what Jang Namwook saw with the ‘Eye of the Star Maiden’.
‘So the Demon Clan is involved in planting the seeds of curse.’
The appearance of the Demon Clan wasn’t often dealt with in the game.
The people in the Demon Clan were higher than the other families of the royal lineage, and they usually live freely except in some cases.
It was difficult to predict the behavioral patterns of the Demon Clan just by looking at their habits, as well as determining between the good and evil acts that they’ve done.
Nevertheless, there was one demon who we can definitely say is an enemy.
‘Someone from the demon clan celebrated when Jegal died in the game.’
I can vaguely remember the patterns engraved in the robe of that particular demon.
Avarita of Greed, one of the seven major sins and an upper rank in the clan.
The robe worn by the demon gave the impression that they are one of the highest priests.
‘I think they’re related to this accident with Do Sihoo. Though I’m not sure if the priests of Avarita was involved in the assassination of the four major groups.’
It was difficult to judge whether this case was an attempted assassination of Do Sihoo.
The fight between the four major groups was yet to begin, and considering the trends of the four’s actions recently, it might as well start now.
But after all, Sihoo’s injury was healed with a simple recovery item.
It’s impossible that they were that clumsy if they aimed to assassinate Do Sihoo.
Jang Namwook, who adjusted the bridge of his glasses, opened his mouth again.
“Sihoo uses electricity as a combat technique. Other than that, the military curriculum also includes general sports skills.”
“It’s the same for Eungwang High. General physical training also improves overall ability.
Namwook nodded after Jiho spoke.
“Yeah, it’s just as Jiho said. We also have ‘body skills with weapons’ added to our training curriculum to improve our overall abilities. Today, our schedule was supposed to start with the ‘world transition simulator’ at a low level, and clear it using only close combat skills….”
Do Sihoo said that he had been to the place where Joo Soohyuk trained with double swords for a while, and he chose the double swords as his own weapon.
The initial attack proceeded without difficulty, but the problem began inside the boss room.
“When the boss was just around the corner, Sihoo’s movements suddenly slowed down. After that, his movement stopped completely and he collapsed after being attacked by the boss… Even so, the simulation wasn’t forced to end.”
“Even if the simulator was supposed to be forcefully terminated?”
“Yeah. The conditions for forced termination was at default and standard settings. Sihoo’s HP dropped to zero at that time.”
Inside the ‘world transition simulator’, if the player’s HP runs out the game should automatically be over.
But anyway, no matter how strict the forced termination conditions were set, enemies inside the simulation are not programmed to give a fatal blow to players.
In the first place, if a player’s vital signs falls below a certain level, the player is not forced to see the simulation to the end. Instead, the entire simulator is automatically shut down, as well as a call to the nearest medical facility is automatically transmitted.
“I looked at Sihoo with the ‘Eye of the Star Maiden’ when his movements became strange. That’s when I saw the seed.”
“What about the others?”
“Right after Sihoo was injured, the boss enemy in front of him was blocked by the others. But the other kids who went near Sihoo, their movements also slowed down.”
The instructor, who was monitoring the training, had to intervene and try to stop the operation of the simulator. However, only an error message appeared and he failed to do so.
“The boss’ rareness is a bit low so death wasn’t really plausible to happen even in the worst case scenario. But if we didn’t intervene, Sihoo would’ve been really injured. Someone who knew machines well figured out how to shut down the simulator just so he could live.”
“Someone who knows machines well?”
“The driver of the tilt-rotor from before. The simulator was wirelessly powered, so she had to use a shovel to destroy parts of it.”
Is it a genius from the research institute under the Ministry of National Defense?
But what was she doing there with a shovel?
Perhaps, she chose a field shovel as her weapon?
Or do they always just carry around shovels in the area?
“Thanks to her, Sihoo wasn’t very badly injured. It’s a relief.”
Jang Namwook added sincerity to the very conventional remark.
“…Although she seemed more concerned for the broken simulator than the injured Sihoo. But anyway, she might not be aware of how hurt Sihoo was even though she was at the scene.”
The more I hear about her, the more she sounds like an unusual cadet.
Jang Namwook opened the carrier that he brought after explaining the situation.
Inside it was daily necessities such as towels, oil for cleaning supporters, and recovery item cards.
“These are all of Sihoo’s personal things he brought since May. Some of them are already used up.”
I asked Jiho, who was looking down at the carrier in front of us.
“Hey.”
“What?”
“Are you feeling something from inside?”
“Exactly. I can feel the remains of energy wave, but I can’t know for sure with just this thing. When energy wave turns to mana, it becomes more difficult to detect.”
The objects were all inspected by the strict military academy, so it’s difficult to find traces of it with just these items.
‘We still have time until midnight.’
The curfew for using light skills in this world follows 0 o’ clock of Greenwich Standard Time. That means it’s technically 9:00 in Korean Standard Time.
“Stay back here.”
There was no reason for me to be reluctant in using my light skill around Jiho, who already knew about it. The same goes for my friend, Jang Namwook, who doesn’t hesitate to risk his life for his friends.”
<Light Skill, ‘Player Identity’ used.>
Fwaa!
Thanks to my practice on using the Player Identity skill, I’m now able to control it so that only one character card spawned on my finger.
The character that I chose was a female shaman, the main character in the ‘Dragon King’s Lady’ scenario.
* * *
Underground of Eunyeonggwan, Light Skill Research Building 4 of Eungwang High.
In front of the boundary floor not visible in the facility map of the building.
The Red Tiger stood against a wall.
Beyond the boundary, there’s also Kim Shinrok, son of the Red Tiger.
— I’m going to interrogate the Shapeshifter today.
Before they came here.
Shinrok reported like so.
Although he had trust in Kim Shinrok, a true torture specialist, he was worried about him dealing with the descendant of the Bear Clan – the Shapeshifter who is also the right-hand man of the Clan Head.
After much consideration, the Red Tiger asked if he could come with Shinrok. Shinrok couldn’t believe it, but he nodded his head along with his tiger-like face.
The father and son moved to the basement, where the Shapeshifter was detained.
Shinrok had been putting tacks and mechanical pencil leads in the gap of the Shapeshifter’s fingernails, as part of the torture. When they reached the area, Shinrok hesitated a bit.
— It’s going to be hard for me to concentrate if you’re watching. I’ll call you if something happens, so can you wait outside?
In the past, Shinrok wouldn’t have made it as obvious that he was uncomfortable. Now that he verbalized his feelings, the Red Tiger nodded his head willingly.
— I’m sorry. You came all the way here…
— If you have time after, I mean… A high-quality alcohol arrived at my place. If it’s okay with you, if you’re not busy, I’ll make some snacks and…
Shinrok’s gibberish was actually him trying to invite Red Tiger over for drinks.
Although the place smelled like blood of the Shapeshifter, Red Tiger was deeply moved at his son’s invitation.
‘I can’t believe the day has come when my son asks me to share a drink with him first!’
Both Red Tiger and Shinrok have lived a long life, but for a long time, Red Tiger was tied down by something, and he wasn’t able to properly fulfill his duties as a father.
After the world transition lately, he came down to help the Tiger Clan in the chaotic situation. Even so, he couldn’t act immediately as a father to Shinrok. Not when he was uncomfortably referring to him as ‘Red Tiger nim’.
The Yellow Tier occasionally held drinking parties, but Shinrok always left whenever the Red Tiger arrived.
‘I should thank Yellow Tiger.’
Red Tiger recalled a contract with Yellow Tiger a long time ago, back when the Bear Clan betrayed him.
If it wasn’t for that contract, they wouldn’t be like this today.
As he was recalling the distant past, Red Tiger felt something familiar.
Tap, tap.
The person walking approached without hiding the sound of his footsteps.
The only people who know this place is the Tiger Clan and the descendants, so Red Tiger wasn’t very wary.
When the other person came close enough for him to identify who it was, Red Tiger spoke.
“White Tiger, are you here to interrogate the Shapeshifter?”
“Yes.”
The White Tiger held Shinsoo in his arms, his face looking blunt.
Red Tiger greeted Shinsoo too.
“Can you wait for a moment? My son is testing some things inside right now.”
The White Tiger stopped and let Shinsoo sit on the floor.
Shinsoo flapped his tail, looked up at the two tigers, and run around before his nose hit the boundary.
“You always call him ‘son’ now these days.”
“I can do that now that I know that my son regards me as his father. I decided to call my child ‘son’ too.”
“Do you talk often with the kid?”
“Yes. The school is on break just in time, so we had a lot of opportunities to meet…”
From there, the Red Tiger was the only one who spoke.
He talked about what he and Shinrok talked about, how he reacted to his story, and what the two of them were good at.
The more he spoke, the more he seemed like he was bragging about his son.
It was when the Red Tiger was explaining how Shinrok retrieved information from the Bear people they caught last time.
The White Tiger, who has been silently listening to Red Tiger, suddenly opened his mouth.
“Stop talking.”
“…Excuse me?”
When Res Tiger looked behind, the door opened.
Squeeeek…
Shinrok came out of the door, his face swollen.
The sight between the door was the right side face of Shinrok, the side which resembles the Red Tiger.
Shinrok walked out of the door and bowed his head.
“…I didn’t mean to eavesdrop on your conversation. I’m sorry.”
“… It’s alright.”
The two were awkward again.
Bark bark!
Shinsoo came between the two excitedly.
The Red Tiger and Shinrok, out of embarrassment, both looked towards White Tiger for help. However, the White Tiger left the two alone and went inside beyond the boundary.
When he crossed the line, the smell of blood faintly flowed in the air.
Shinrok cleaned up the mess, but the smell of blood didn’t seem to go away.
“Euu… Euuk…!”
The Shapeshifter, who didn’t open his mouth despite Shinrok’s harsh torture, trembled loudly the moment he saw the White Tiger.
“…”
The White Tiger looked down at the Shapeshifter, with his eyes sinking cold.
“I heard you weren’t talking. But I know you said something to Euishin.”
When Jo Euishin borrowed the power of the White Tiger, the Shapeshifter said something.
After a sound of a sword rang briefly, a large sword with a dark red handle appeared in the White Tiger’s hand. The Bear’s Claw.
It was when the external enemies, along with the Bear People, fought for supremacy over the Korean Peninsula.
It was a sword that repeatedly humiliated the Shapeshifter.
The Shapeshifter looked at the Bear’s Claw, as if possessed by something.
“Tell me the meaning of it.”
The White Tiger added another word when he saw that the Shapeshifter couldn’t take his eyes off the sword.
“We don’t know what might happen to your head.”
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