Translator: NovelMultiverse | Editor: NovelMultiverse
Players are always at risk of being injured.
It’s no exaggeration to say that players are responsible for the majority of hospital profits all around the world.
Recovery items only heal physical trauma, and if the degree of injury was high, it was only natural to consult a doctor with the correct recovery item appropriate for a player and their qualifications.
It’s common to have team doctors near teams who are regularly exposed in the defense against the other world and to always keep the nurse’s room open at the special player’s high school.
Students who get hurt during training process go there every day.
‘It’s not a big deal for players to get hurt a bit. Jang Namwook knows that. Even Ham Geunhyung was stopped from taking a recovery item back at Gari Mountain at Hongcheon.’
Above all, Namwook wasn’t the type of person to make a fuss and gossip about his friend’s injury.
That tells me that it’s not just an injury.
Ok Toyeon’s words came to mind.
— Has anyone you know passed away? Or have you ever been to a friend’s funeral? Even if you’ve never been in that situation, have you ever experienced someone close to you being severely injured or killed?
— Why do I see death around you?
He said that he could see omens pointing to death.
Ok Toyeon found the death phase in early July.
And after that, Do Sihoo was assassinated in the game.
My stomach sank and suddenly felt cold as if I swallowed ice.
‘Even if Do Sihoo got hurt, it shouldn’t be a serious injury.’
It might be an unusual injury, but it wouldn’t be serious enough to warrant hospitalization.
Knowing Jang Namwook, the injured Do Sihoo should already be in a safe space before he even thought of calling me.
“Is Do Sihoo ok? Is he hurt a lot?”
[His shoulder is fractured. He’s being cured with a recovery item. Sihoo is sleeping right now.]
We were silent again.
The talkative Namwook didn’t have a lot to say.
“Where are you right now?”
[It’s self-training period at the academy right now, but I’m training with my classmates. I’m in the dorms right now.
When I looked at the clock, it was just a few minutes past 9 PM.
I’m not entirely sure of the rules of the military academy, but it sounded easy enough to apply for an overnight stay during their self-training period.
“Should we meet personally so you can tell me what happened?”
[…Is it possible to meet right away? I think I could go out in an hour.]
I thought tomorrow was the earliest we could meet, but it seems like Namwook is really worried.
[I took care of what you said before while Sihoo was consulting the military doctor. I’ll take it with me.]
If he’s talking about what I said before, then I’m sure it’s about Sihoo’s personal things he brought with him since May.
I could guess why Namwook was in such a hurry because he didn’t bother to say any more details over the phone.
“Alright. Can you come here to Eungwang High?”
[I’ll go. Where should we meet?]
“Just go through the main gate for now. I’ll call you in ten minutes.”
[Alright, thanks. See you in a bit.]
I haven’t done anything yet, but Namwook thanked me and immediately ended the call.
There’s also one thing I need to prepare before Namwook called me.
I opened the device address book and searched for the contact information of someone.
‘The matter at hand is a bit private, but since Sihoo is involved, it’s really hard to say.’
After contemplating a bit, I called that person and the device screen immediately displayed ‘Calling.’
[Jo Euishin. I assume it’s a big deal since you’re calling at this hour.]
As soon as I called, Hwang Jiho immediately picked up.
Should I tell him about Sihoo right away?
I was at a loss for words at the moment due to Jiho’s very quick response.
[Jo Euishin? What’s going on?]
“A-ah, hello?”
[Yeah, talk to me.]
The old man seemed to be free at the moment, so I decided to tell him right away.
“I have a favor to ask. Give a military player permission to enter the school.”
[A cadet at the Player Military Academy?]
“Yes, just today. I need permission from you.”
[I think I know who it is. Is it another member from the Group 13 of the entrance exam, Jang Namwook?]
I knew he did background checks on me, but I’m surprised that he knows it off the top of his head.
Or maybe it’s natural for him to know Namwook since he also took the entrance exam?
[Only one cadet comes to mind that warrants you doing this. What’s the matter at this hour?]
“There’s something I need to discuss with him. Within school boundary.”
[You want to use the school’s boundary, for a matter that doesn’t concern the school?]
“Yes. It doesn’t have to be a security badge that has access to major security facilities in the school. I’m just going to use an empty training room.”
[Then there’s no need for you to do it within the school.]
No need to do it within the school?
It’s too late to rent a private training room.
And there would be no facilities on par with those inside Eungwang High.
I need to open my mouth and try to persuade him again.
[I’ll lend you the yard of the mansion. Bring the military cadet with you.]
I turned speechless again at the unexpected proposal.
* * *
During the self-training today, something strange happened to Do Sihoo that made him injured.
And only Namwook, who has been practicing his insight skills recently, was the one who detected the abnormalities.
The cadets who were training together, the instructors who were watching the training, and even Do Sihoo who was injured, all thought it was a simple accident.
Namwook would’ve sincerely conveyed what he detected to everyone and have them all seek a solution all together.
However, while watching Sihoo being taken to the medical office, something that Jo Euishin said before came to his mind.
— After May, replace all of the things that Do Sihoo brought in. Buy all identical items to his things. Bring me all his original stuff. Without him knowing.
— You need to do this alone. Don’t let the other cadets or the instructors notice.
There was no way that Jo Euishin, a friend who saved his life, would talk nonsense.
Namwook believed in Euishin and thought that there should be a reason why he should hide it from Do Sihoo.
Ever since they visited the baseball stadium, Namwook has been replacing Sihoo’s stuff one by one whenever he has the chance.
Since he has to be wary of Sihoo noticing, the task took longer to complete than expected, and it was eventually delayed.
‘There could’ve been a way to prevent this accident, but Sihoo is injured now because I took too long. I have to hurry up now!’
Fortunately, he was able to replace all of the personal items before 10 o’clock, the time when access to and from the academy was restricted.
Namwook applied for a night out and left the dormitory with his carrier.
“Where are you off to at this hour?”
Jang Namwook’s face hardened.
At the entrance of the public dormitory, was someone smiling while digging around the field with a shovel.
The person was roughly shoveling a flower bed near the dormitory’s entrance.
“How’s Sihoo? I didn’t get the chance to go the hospital ‘cos I’m a bit lazy.”
“He wasn’t hospitalized.”
“Really? Your expression looked like the guy was almost dying so I thought he was at least hospitalized.”
She said he was a colleague of Sihoo and knew him since he was young, yet Namgung Gyuyeon laughed heartily.
Namgung Gyuyeon belonged to a research institute under the Ministry of National Defense even before entering the academy.
She was the weirdo who drove the tilt-rotor to Gari Mountain unauthorized.
Currently, the gender ratio in the military academy is 9:1. Namgung Gyuyeon was one of the 10% of the female cadets. She’s a genius that treats rough and heavy equipment that even veterans find difficult to handle, lightly as if they were toys.
‘I know Gyuyeon is a good kid… But I don’t know just what she’s thinking.”
Namwook was having a hard time thinking of an excuse to the other kid.
“Careful out there.”
“Hmm?”
“It seems like you’re in a hurry so go ahead.”
“A-ah right… Contact me if something happens.”
“Alright.”
Namwook was concerned about the woman’s shoveling this late at night, but he decided to hurry to Eungwang first.
The woman pulled out her field shovel as she watched Namwook disappear with his carrier.
* * *
There were two things that stand out the most in the Hwangmyeong Mansion.
The golden fence and the maze garden.
Inside the golden fence surrounding the huge place, there were spare houses of unknown use. There’s also the maze garden in front of the main building where the clan and its descendants lived.
The place where Namwook and I are headed to was the yard between the golden fence and the maze garden.
“This is incredible…! Magic is wrapped around the fences, right? I can’t believe someone can consolidate such a high-density energy wave into this!”
Namwook was impressed as we passed through the golden fence.
“Come on in.”
The entrance to the maze garden was full of oak trees, which blooms fully in July and August, nicknamed Tiger Flowers.
Jiho was wearing the Eungwang summer uniform. He stood with his back against the tree in front of the entrance.
It’s vacation time so I’m not sure why he’s in uniform.
“This is my classmate, Hwang Jiho. This is Namwook, the military cadet I told you about.
When I introduced Jiho, Namwook asked me, ‘We’d be the same age if you’re in the same class as him right?’
“…Hey?”
“Hello. This body welcomes you.”
Namwook made a subtle expression at the unique way of Jiho’s greeting.
“Ah right, Euishin you’re from Class Zero right?”
I don’t know why he asked that.
Anyway, since the two of them introduced each other already, we got to the point of the matter.
“Tell me what happened.”s
Namwook took off his glasses and centered the carrier that he brought.
“My skill ‘Hundred Eyes’ told me something.”
“Is it a lower variation of ‘Clairvoyance’? It is said that ‘Hundred Eyes’ has better precision than ‘Clairvoyance’, but it still has the demerits of it.”
I knew that Namwook had some sort of insight skill, but was it ‘Hundred Eyes’?
As Hwang Jiho said, the ‘Hundred Eyes’ had a narrower range of application compared to Cheon Dongha and Joo Soohyuk’s Clairvoyance.
But what Namwook said, about the skill ‘telling him something’, seemed to have a hidden meaning.
“Yeah. That’s generally true. I was supposed to get the Clairvoyance skill before graduating high school, but the circumstances have changed.”
Namwook folded his glasses and put it in his shirt pocket before using his skill.
Fwaaa!
Energy waves flowed from Namwook’s eyes.
Looking at the subtle flow of energy around Namwook’s eyes, the pattern was slightly different from either Hundred Eyes or Clairvoyance.
“This is not Hundred Eyes nor Clairvoyance. This is…”
“This is a derivative skill of Hundred Eyes, ‘Eye of the Star Maiden.”
Jiho and I were shocked by what Namwook said.
Only one character that uses that skill came to my mind.
There was a theory that the goddess of justice left for heaven as she witnessed the corruption going on in the human world. That woman climbed towards Virgo and became a star.
The goddess was identified as Justitita, which means justice. The one that became the maiden of the star, Astria.
“You got Astria’s eyes?”
“Oho, I’ve never seen this in person.”
Sometimes, powerful orders result to the addition of derivative skills.
Case in point was Jegal’s derivative skill, due to the strong order from higher beings.
“I guess my light skill awakened lady Astria. It seems like she liked it. I got the derivative skill after receiving her order.”
There was still blurry starlight filling Namwook’s eyes.
Astria is often known to be blindfolded, but that depends on the sculptor who makes the statue. Sometimes, artists sculpt her with opened eyes.
Astria, the goddess of justice, has eyes that can carry out justice and truth fairly.
“The skill level is still low, and I can’t do anything much just by looking at something. But as soon as Sihoo got hurt, I saw it immediately with my eyes.”
Namwook stopped using the skill and took out his glasses once again.
“There was an energy wave surrounding Sihoo when he got hurt. It was in the shape of a seed… That’s all I can say. I guess it’s something like a ‘Seed of Curse’.”
Seed of Curse.
I have seen such item inside the game.
I haven’t seen it in person in this world yet, but I know what it can do.
It’s the same seed planted by the students of the school paper editing team to catch Jegal.
Translator: NovelMultiverse | Editor: NovelMultiverse
Players are always at risk of being injured.
It’s no exaggeration to say that players are responsible for the majority of hospital profits all around the world.
Recovery items only heal physical trauma, and if the degree of injury was high, it was only natural to consult a doctor with the correct recovery item appropriate for a player and their qualifications.
It’s common to have team doctors near teams who are regularly exposed in the defense against the other world and to always keep the nurse’s room open at the special player’s high school.
Students who get hurt during training process go there every day.
‘It’s not a big deal for players to get hurt a bit. Jang Namwook knows that. Even Ham Geunhyung was stopped from taking a recovery item back at Gari Mountain at Hongcheon.’
Above all, Namwook wasn’t the type of person to make a fuss and gossip about his friend’s injury.
That tells me that it’s not just an injury.
Ok Toyeon’s words came to mind.
— Has anyone you know passed away? Or have you ever been to a friend’s funeral? Even if you’ve never been in that situation, have you ever experienced someone close to you being severely injured or killed?
— Why do I see death around you?
He said that he could see omens pointing to death.
Ok Toyeon found the death phase in early July.
And after that, Do Sihoo was assassinated in the game.
My stomach sank and suddenly felt cold as if I swallowed ice.
‘Even if Do Sihoo got hurt, it shouldn’t be a serious injury.’
It might be an unusual injury, but it wouldn’t be serious enough to warrant hospitalization.
Knowing Jang Namwook, the injured Do Sihoo should already be in a safe space before he even thought of calling me.
“Is Do Sihoo ok? Is he hurt a lot?”
[His shoulder is fractured. He’s being cured with a recovery item. Sihoo is sleeping right now.]
We were silent again.
The talkative Namwook didn’t have a lot to say.
“Where are you right now?”
[It’s self-training period at the academy right now, but I’m training with my classmates. I’m in the dorms right now.
When I looked at the clock, it was just a few minutes past 9 PM.
I’m not entirely sure of the rules of the military academy, but it sounded easy enough to apply for an overnight stay during their self-training period.
“Should we meet personally so you can tell me what happened?”
[…Is it possible to meet right away? I think I could go out in an hour.]
I thought tomorrow was the earliest we could meet, but it seems like Namwook is really worried.
[I took care of what you said before while Sihoo was consulting the military doctor. I’ll take it with me.]
If he’s talking about what I said before, then I’m sure it’s about Sihoo’s personal things he brought with him since May.
I could guess why Namwook was in such a hurry because he didn’t bother to say any more details over the phone.
“Alright. Can you come here to Eungwang High?”
[I’ll go. Where should we meet?]
“Just go through the main gate for now. I’ll call you in ten minutes.”
[Alright, thanks. See you in a bit.]
I haven’t done anything yet, but Namwook thanked me and immediately ended the call.
There’s also one thing I need to prepare before Namwook called me.
I opened the device address book and searched for the contact information of someone.
‘The matter at hand is a bit private, but since Sihoo is involved, it’s really hard to say.’
After contemplating a bit, I called that person and the device screen immediately displayed ‘Calling.’
[Jo Euishin. I assume it’s a big deal since you’re calling at this hour.]
As soon as I called, Hwang Jiho immediately picked up.
Should I tell him about Sihoo right away?
I was at a loss for words at the moment due to Jiho’s very quick response.
[Jo Euishin? What’s going on?]
“A-ah, hello?”
[Yeah, talk to me.]
The old man seemed to be free at the moment, so I decided to tell him right away.
“I have a favor to ask. Give a military player permission to enter the school.”
[A cadet at the Player Military Academy?]
“Yes, just today. I need permission from you.”
[I think I know who it is. Is it another member from the Group 13 of the entrance exam, Jang Namwook?]
I knew he did background checks on me, but I’m surprised that he knows it off the top of his head.
Or maybe it’s natural for him to know Namwook since he also took the entrance exam?
[Only one cadet comes to mind that warrants you doing this. What’s the matter at this hour?]
“There’s something I need to discuss with him. Within school boundary.”
[You want to use the school’s boundary, for a matter that doesn’t concern the school?]
“Yes. It doesn’t have to be a security badge that has access to major security facilities in the school. I’m just going to use an empty training room.”
[Then there’s no need for you to do it within the school.]
No need to do it within the school?
It’s too late to rent a private training room.
And there would be no facilities on par with those inside Eungwang High.
I need to open my mouth and try to persuade him again.
[I’ll lend you the yard of the mansion. Bring the military cadet with you.]
I turned speechless again at the unexpected proposal.
* * *
During the self-training today, something strange happened to Do Sihoo that made him injured.
And only Namwook, who has been practicing his insight skills recently, was the one who detected the abnormalities.
The cadets who were training together, the instructors who were watching the training, and even Do Sihoo who was injured, all thought it was a simple accident.
Namwook would’ve sincerely conveyed what he detected to everyone and have them all seek a solution all together.
However, while watching Sihoo being taken to the medical office, something that Jo Euishin said before came to his mind.
— After May, replace all of the things that Do Sihoo brought in. Buy all identical items to his things. Bring me all his original stuff. Without him knowing.
— You need to do this alone. Don’t let the other cadets or the instructors notice.
There was no way that Jo Euishin, a friend who saved his life, would talk nonsense.
Namwook believed in Euishin and thought that there should be a reason why he should hide it from Do Sihoo.
Ever since they visited the baseball stadium, Namwook has been replacing Sihoo’s stuff one by one whenever he has the chance.
Since he has to be wary of Sihoo noticing, the task took longer to complete than expected, and it was eventually delayed.
‘There could’ve been a way to prevent this accident, but Sihoo is injured now because I took too long. I have to hurry up now!’
Fortunately, he was able to replace all of the personal items before 10 o’clock, the time when access to and from the academy was restricted.
Namwook applied for a night out and left the dormitory with his carrier.
“Where are you off to at this hour?”
Jang Namwook’s face hardened.
At the entrance of the public dormitory, was someone smiling while digging around the field with a shovel.
The person was roughly shoveling a flower bed near the dormitory’s entrance.
“How’s Sihoo? I didn’t get the chance to go the hospital ‘cos I’m a bit lazy.”
“He wasn’t hospitalized.”
“Really? Your expression looked like the guy was almost dying so I thought he was at least hospitalized.”
She said he was a colleague of Sihoo and knew him since he was young, yet Namgung Gyuyeon laughed heartily.
Namgung Gyuyeon belonged to a research institute under the Ministry of National Defense even before entering the academy.
She was the weirdo who drove the tilt-rotor to Gari Mountain unauthorized.
Currently, the gender ratio in the military academy is 9:1. Namgung Gyuyeon was one of the 10% of the female cadets. She’s a genius that treats rough and heavy equipment that even veterans find difficult to handle, lightly as if they were toys.
‘I know Gyuyeon is a good kid… But I don’t know just what she’s thinking.”
Namwook was having a hard time thinking of an excuse to the other kid.
“Careful out there.”
“Hmm?”
“It seems like you’re in a hurry so go ahead.”
“A-ah right… Contact me if something happens.”
“Alright.”
Namwook was concerned about the woman’s shoveling this late at night, but he decided to hurry to Eungwang first.
The woman pulled out her field shovel as she watched Namwook disappear with his carrier.
* * *
There were two things that stand out the most in the Hwangmyeong Mansion.
The golden fence and the maze garden.
Inside the golden fence surrounding the huge place, there were spare houses of unknown use. There’s also the maze garden in front of the main building where the clan and its descendants lived.
The place where Namwook and I are headed to was the yard between the golden fence and the maze garden.
“This is incredible…! Magic is wrapped around the fences, right? I can’t believe someone can consolidate such a high-density energy wave into this!”
Namwook was impressed as we passed through the golden fence.
“Come on in.”
The entrance to the maze garden was full of oak trees, which blooms fully in July and August, nicknamed Tiger Flowers.
Jiho was wearing the Eungwang summer uniform. He stood with his back against the tree in front of the entrance.
It’s vacation time so I’m not sure why he’s in uniform.
“This is my classmate, Hwang Jiho. This is Namwook, the military cadet I told you about.
When I introduced Jiho, Namwook asked me, ‘We’d be the same age if you’re in the same class as him right?’
“…Hey?”
“Hello. This body welcomes you.”
Namwook made a subtle expression at the unique way of Jiho’s greeting.
“Ah right, Euishin you’re from Class Zero right?”
I don’t know why he asked that.
Anyway, since the two of them introduced each other already, we got to the point of the matter.
“Tell me what happened.”s
Namwook took off his glasses and centered the carrier that he brought.
“My skill ‘Hundred Eyes’ told me something.”
“Is it a lower variation of ‘Clairvoyance’? It is said that ‘Hundred Eyes’ has better precision than ‘Clairvoyance’, but it still has the demerits of it.”
I knew that Namwook had some sort of insight skill, but was it ‘Hundred Eyes’?
As Hwang Jiho said, the ‘Hundred Eyes’ had a narrower range of application compared to Cheon Dongha and Joo Soohyuk’s Clairvoyance.
But what Namwook said, about the skill ‘telling him something’, seemed to have a hidden meaning.
“Yeah. That’s generally true. I was supposed to get the Clairvoyance skill before graduating high school, but the circumstances have changed.”
Namwook folded his glasses and put it in his shirt pocket before using his skill.
Fwaaa!
Energy waves flowed from Namwook’s eyes.
Looking at the subtle flow of energy around Namwook’s eyes, the pattern was slightly different from either Hundred Eyes or Clairvoyance.
“This is not Hundred Eyes nor Clairvoyance. This is…”
“This is a derivative skill of Hundred Eyes, ‘Eye of the Star Maiden.”
Jiho and I were shocked by what Namwook said.
Only one character that uses that skill came to my mind.
There was a theory that the goddess of justice left for heaven as she witnessed the corruption going on in the human world. That woman climbed towards Virgo and became a star.
The goddess was identified as Justitita, which means justice. The one that became the maiden of the star, Astria.
“You got Astria’s eyes?”
“Oho, I’ve never seen this in person.”
Sometimes, powerful orders result to the addition of derivative skills.
Case in point was Jegal’s derivative skill, due to the strong order from higher beings.
“I guess my light skill awakened lady Astria. It seems like she liked it. I got the derivative skill after receiving her order.”
There was still blurry starlight filling Namwook’s eyes.
Astria is often known to be blindfolded, but that depends on the sculptor who makes the statue. Sometimes, artists sculpt her with opened eyes.
Astria, the goddess of justice, has eyes that can carry out justice and truth fairly.
“The skill level is still low, and I can’t do anything much just by looking at something. But as soon as Sihoo got hurt, I saw it immediately with my eyes.”
Namwook stopped using the skill and took out his glasses once again.
“There was an energy wave surrounding Sihoo when he got hurt. It was in the shape of a seed… That’s all I can say. I guess it’s something like a ‘Seed of Curse’.”
Seed of Curse.
I have seen such item inside the game.
I haven’t seen it in person in this world yet, but I know what it can do.
It’s the same seed planted by the students of the school paper editing team to catch Jegal.
