Episode 201
“… A few days ago, a meeting was held in the family. They say they will appoint me an elder soon.”
As I sat on the bench and was silently contemplating, Hwang Ji-hak sneakily approached me and uttered these words.
Hwang Ji-hak’s level now is in his early to mid 50s.
Although there are some shortcomings, considering the future growth, it is at a level comparable to that of an elder.
Perhaps, in connection with the Baekgwi Nights incident, a rapid change was taking place within the family as well.
As I nodded with a slightly surprised look, Hwang Ji-hak, Tomb-dum told me the following words:
“Soon we will be leaving the academy.”
“… … .”
“Then, I want you to give me strength.”
“I?”
It was also an unexpected suggestion. As he is a talented person supported by his family in the midst of it, there must be many talents that crawl by Hwang Ji-hak’s side.
It is not easy to come up with a reason to look for me aside from such people.
“I originally thought so, but this incident convinced me. The power of the family should be united without any more useless disputes.”
It’s definitely not wrong. In order to face the crisis in the future, it was necessary first of all to forge internal solidarity.
Hwang Ji-hak seemed to have decided to do it with his own hands.
“It is possible if you are. And, one day, after that came true… … .”
Hwang Ji-hak blurted the end of his words and gave me a meaningful gaze.
I couldn’t fully grasp the meaning, but at least I could tell that there was goodwill and trust in me.
“It’s roughly like that. There’s nothing bad about you, right?”
Yes.
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My goal is to get to the end by passing all the events that will follow and the variable of Hell difficulty.In the process, it could be said that the strength of the three great masters was absolutely necessary.
‘However… … .’
This is a proposal that was not planned from the beginning.
Without even thinking deeply about it, I opened my mouth to convey the meaning of refusal.
Then he stopped thinking about it and hesitated for a while.
‘… … .’
Why am I not leaving the academy?
It was just that somehow it felt like it had to be.
Yes, there is the main character, Ha-on Yoo, and the place where all the stories are set was the academy.
But is that really true?
I don’t know if it was the influence that had been sagging before, but I have a slightly different thought now.
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Maybe in fact, now I don’t even need to be there.It may be more beneficial to the world to exercise my discretion in a completely different place, rather than hanging around the academy and Yoo Ha-on and getting involved in the situation.
I was confined to the title of exorcism and was obsessed with everything, but there were no restrictions on my actions here.
You can go anywhere you want to go, and you can do anything you want to do.
It was indeed a natural fact.
“I didn’t mean to burden you, so you can decide what you want.”
As I listened to Hwang Ji-hak’s words, I pondered over and over again.
Including external possibilities that had not been considered before, while calculating the profit and loss.
And then, he came to a succinct conclusion.
“sorry. I think that would be difficult.”
There were a lot of concerns, but in fact there was no particular reason.
I simply wanted to be still here and by the side of Haon Yoo.
“… Right. I get it.”
“But if there is anything else you need help with, I will always cooperate.”
“It is the same with me. I hope to maintain a good relationship in the future.”
So Hwang Ji-hak left, and I sat a little longer on the bench to think about the conclusion I had just reached.
‘I don’t think it’s difficult.’
I was even more drawn to it. That was my honest answer now.
And, coincidentally, by the time I reached that conclusion, I stumbled upon one of the parties. It was Yoo Ha-on.
“… You seem to like this place.”
“It’s not like that, but it’s easy for me to organize my thoughts.”
People don’t pick it up, and it’s moderately quiet. It was the best place to focus on something, regardless of other uses.
Perhaps it was the same with Yoo Ha-on, and she sighed and sat down next to her.
And then he started talking to me.
“Something strange happened.”
“What’s going on?”
“Before heading to Cheongga, I had a fight with a monster called Horonggyo… … .”
If it was Horonggyo (號瀧鮫), it was definitely an S-rank youkai that appeared on the other side when I subjugated Yusakbi.
It was said that Yoo Ha-on and his party also belonged to the subjugation squad, so it was obvious that he was talking about that time.
“That Horonggyo (號瀧鮫) was talking about my parents.”
“… … .”
Certainly it was unusual. Because it meant that the yokai, no one else, was referring to the biological parents she didn’t even know.
However, I soon realized the point of contact and was able to understand the situation.
‘Well, maybe we’ve met before.’
Yoo Ha-on’s father, Yu-baek, how many people really know who he is?
I don’t know, but I’ll probably do it almost never. Because he was that special.
‘Even if you know, if you were that close to him, you wouldn’t have any intention of coming out of your mouth now.’
With such thoughts in mind, I listened to Yu Ha-on.
“He said he knew it at a glance and said he wanted to avenge that time, or if he could only do this… … . Those were unfamiliar sounds.”
“… … .”
“But thanks to you, I learned one thing. It seems to be milky. My father’s name.”
Hearing up to that point, it was clear that the Horongkyo youkai had encountered Yubaek before.
After hesitating for a while, Ha-on Yu moved his gaze to me and quietly brought out the main point.
“You know, too, right? About my parents.”
“… … .”
it should be
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Most of them I had heard of through the original, too, and right now, Han Kang-yoon’s father, Joo-un, was also closely related to Yu-baek.“I think I am ready to accept the past now. So, sooner or later, I plan to follow my parents’ footsteps.”
“… I see.”
“Can you come with me then?”
Yoo Ha-on didn’t ask me for anything more than that.
It may be that he wants to find out with his own hands, or he may simply have postponed the turn for me.
But whatever it was, my answer was already decided.
“… I don’t know too much detail. Even if it doesn’t matter.”
“Thank you.”
As long as Yoo Ha-on is the main character of this world, it is a fact that we will find out someday anyway.
But that was just this moment.
I made an appointment to meet with Yoo Ha-on soon, and immediately got up from the bench.
While feeling the flow of time drifting away without a pulse.
***
Time passed smoothly.
As the new semester began, life at the academy itself became very busy, but nothing caught my eye.
In a way, that was natural.
I’m just one of those seniors who don’t know when to leave now, and I don’t have anything else to do at this Chunghwa Academy.
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Meanwhile, people started to leave us one by one.“Thank you for that. Next time we will meet at a higher position.”
“It’s not like we’ll never see each other again anyway.”
As mentioned earlier, Hwang Ji-hak graduated from the academy early and returned to his family.
And Guilford, who likewise chose to graduate to pursue his own will.
To be honest, the empty seats of those two came closer than I expected.
“Isn’t there something very wrong with you? I didn’t feel like this when I was in middle school.”
Hearing Hansol’s sigh, I nodded softly.
Unlike middle school, where the next path was decided, now you have to decide where to go by your own choice.
Perhaps the feeling stems from such a difference.
“They have already made a decision. It is not unusual to feel that distance.”
“I heard it and it seems like that… … .”
Hansol wrinkled his brow as if his worries had increased, and he stretched his chin.
It’s a situation where friends are leaving one by one, so he must have a lot to think about too.
And I had to think as well.
About how we are going to move from now on.
‘The last night of the White Ghost, and the secrets about it… … .’
The time will soon come when everything will be revealed.
After that, I chatted with Jeonghan-sol for a while, and then, following Seo Ji-an’s contact, I went to meet her.
He seemed to be busy for a while, and he seemed to have something to say.
As expected, Seo Ji-an has delivered a very large-scale news to me.
“I talked to my brother. I’m going to hit him in the not-too-distant future.”
“… Is it confirmed?”
“yes. I can’t turn it back now. That one time will change everything.”
Seo Ji-an’s declaration of war against Empress Seo, the owner of Daejin Industries.
What I thought was only a distant future was a moment that had come to reality.
“What is the date?”
“I can’t give a definitive answer because I have to look at the situation. I’ll let you know when the exact date is decided in at least two weeks.”
If that’s the case, there’s still plenty of room for it. At the same time, calculations began to flow in my head.
‘… It’s roughly decided.’
His future steps, the outlines for him were gradually being drawn out.
First, with Yoo Ha-on, he gets an answer to Yu-baek and, watching the situation, is involved in the succession battle of Daejin Industries.
And after completing all possible preparations, all you have to do is wait for the final White Ghost Nightfall to come.
“Can I help you with something?”
“Right now, there is nothing. It’s something I have to decide for myself in the first place.”
But soon Seo Ji-an hesitated for a moment and added one last word.
“… Still, if you stay by my side, I might calm down a little. Because it’s a big fight.”
“That’s definitely what you should do.”
As much as he risked everything he had achieved so far, the cold-headed Seo Ji-an seemed to be quite tense.
Previously, she took over Daejin Industries and promised to fully cooperate in the crises to come.
Of course, I can’t just watch from afar.
‘In the game, I didn’t have to worry about it, but in reality, that kind of power is a big help.’
It’s not just about slaying a monster.
In order to effectively respond to them and protect the country and its citizens, such financial power was absolutely necessary.
At my words, Seo Ji-an responded with a subtly happy response and nodded her head.
“There may be no contact for a while.”
“Okay. In the meantime, I will prepare myself.”
Things I had only dreamed of are coming to reality one by one.
So much time has passed, and so much has changed.
But nevertheless, my purpose remained the same as at the beginning.
‘If you fail once, it’s over. You have to focus even more.’
To complete the ending safely in this world of Hell difficulty.
At least for now, there was no need to think about anything else.