Episode 147

Cool breeze under the bright sun.

It was a morning that made me feel better in the clear fall weather.

Noblesse Academy students used their break time to walk around the campus.

“Well?”

“Why are there so many people here?”

The crowd that caught the attention of the students who were walking like that. Moreover, if what they were holding was a smartphone and a digital camera, they couldn’t help but be interested.

“Has anything happened?”

“Isn’t that what it is? A friendly match?”

The students came up with a rumor.

It was a ghost story that if you lose in a friendly battle with the special squad, you will be cursed and an accident will happen.

Because it is a ghost story based on a true story, it quickly went viral.

“… Would that be it?”

“Oh, I just threw it. To be straight.”

Naturally, reporters would not have flocked to such a ghost story. Besides, there was a strange expectation on the faces of the reporters.

It wasn’t until the students got a little closer that they could see beyond them that a place like a press conference had been prepared.

However, there were no seats for reporters, so everyone stood.

“No, why did you come so early?”

Then Rosalyn’s distinctive high-pitched voice was heard. Along with their eyes, the cameras turned all at once.

She smiled and looked directly at the camera.

“Oh, if I had known it would be like this, I would have left the auditorium empty. I was just going to make a brief presentation and finish it, right?”

She smiled cheerfully and waved her hand lightly. The reporters followed the gesture and withdrew little by little.

In the meantime, more students were walking around the campus, and the crowd grew.

“Anyway, thank you for coming! Then, I will announce the final selection for this World Youth Hunter Championship!”

“ah… !”

“Hasn’t that been decided yet?”

The students finally understood the meaning of this place. A few reporters frowned.

“Shh!”

“Students, please lower your voice because the audio is mixed.”

The students glanced at the reporters in displeasure, but soon shut up. It was not my intention to grant their request.

“come… !”

“Your teacher is making an announcement himself.”

“But why six? Aren’t there five people to be selected?”

Six students who were candidates for the selection, led by Kang Tae-min, followed. The tumult quickly died down at their appearance.

After the 7 of them took their seats, Rosalind took the mic again.

“Hey, take a good camera angle! Make sure the academy name comes out! Okay, that’s it! Now, let’s listen to our proud special class homeroom teacher, Taemin Kang!”

The students laughed at her words. In case the children were nervous, she was considerate.

Taemin Kang accepted the microphone with a light smile and opened his mouth.

“Right now, my students have scales hanging on either side of them.”

Everyone’s eyes widened at the sudden remark. We’re talking about the representative, but suddenly what’s the point of Libra?

“On one side it carries the weight ‘Youth’. My students are still immature and lacking.”

Journalists’ hands were busy.

Since there was no place to sit, they had to write and deliver articles on their smartphones.

Of course, Taemin Kang did not wait for them to write down his words.

“On the other hand, on the other side, there is the addition of ‘national representative’. I told the students which of the two weights was heavier.”

Only then did people open their mouths a little. I understood what Kang Tae-min compared.

Although he was labeled as a youth, it meant that he would place more importance on the meaning of representing the country.

“As you can see, there were six candidates. Among them, three who were winners of domestic competitions were automatically qualified.”

The camera quickly moved to capture Lee Noah, Ko Min-soo, and Pyo Soo-ho.

“However, the final selection was five people, and one could not go to the world competition. I thought deeply as a teacher, director and coach.”

The camera again caught the three on the other side, Song Dae-beom, Yuhwa-rin, and Joo Da-hyun.

Kang Tae-min stopped breathing briefly and looked away. Everyone present thought there would be a dropout at the end of that gaze.

However, Kang Tae-min’s gaze went in an unexpected direction.

“As a result, student Pyo Su-ho was selected as a substitute.”

Everyone opened their mouths with a grumpy face.

“Pyo Soo-ho… ?”

“The sword master’s son is missing?”

“No, you’re third in the individual exhibition, right? Isn’t it unconditional advance?”

Soon, the murmur intensified as if to fill the void in the sound. Kang Tae-min didn’t care and passed the microphone to Pyo Soo-ho and said,

“I will listen to the reason from my own mouth.”

“Oh, thank you.”

Pyo Soo-ho was handed the microphone and cleared his throat lightly. Maybe it was because he had dark skin and black sunglasses, but when he held the microphone, a strange picture came out.

“It was definitely not an easy decision.”

The murmur died down as he raised his voice. Everyone wanted to know why he gave up as CEO.

“I consulted with the teacher separately. And I came up with several reasons.”

Pyo Soo-ho gave career counseling to Kang Tae-min, not Lee Lu-ah. Because he knows his secret.

“First of all, as everyone knows, I am not originally a special class. I am here as an exchange student. In other words, I am the one who received the teachings of Teacher Kang Tae-min the shortest. That is the first reason.”

Then, Pyo Soo-ho leaned out and looked the other way.

“If the tournament had not been stopped midway, I think the team event would have been a victory for Noblesse Academy. It was just luck that I became the representative. That’s the second reason.”

At those words, Yoo Yu-rin flinched. It was because she was the one who brought up the story to Pyo Soo-ho.

Of course, it was not for criticism, but for the purpose of confessing one’s faults, but it was inevitable that the body would react.

“Lastly, the strategic aspect, the other friends each have their own fighting style. But Noah and I both use swords, right? To be honest, Noah wields a sword better than me. That’s the third reason.”

At those words, Inoa touched her face as if embarrassed. I had already heard that he would say this, but it was because he was embarrassed to hear it in front of so many people.

“Well, I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t sorry. Still, with the teacher’s consideration, I think I can broaden my knowledge even as a substitute. That is all!”

Pyo Soo-ho continued talking cheerfully. He was put on the list as a reserve member to fill in if one of the other five representatives had a problem.

Even though I couldn’t participate in the competition, I was given the opportunity to see it in person.

As the microphone returned to play for a moment, the chatter grew.

“Is the sword master really going to be there… ?”

“Your love for your children is such extreme sincerity.”

“I don’t know if this is a discord between the sword master and the teacher.”

The reporters who spoke in such a worried tone had a different intention. They hoped to create a feud. Conflict always makes for a good story.

Creating conflicts that do not exist is what the media often does.

“Oh, I didn’t expect this to be so crowded.”

Just then, like the parting of the Red Sea, the crowd retreated to both sides and a man walked.

“Oh, sword master… ?”

“Why is Pyo Ji-hoon here?”

Could it be that he came to protest? A few reporters laughed and expected a commotion.

However, the strongest who arrived was not only the Sword Master.

“Oops, you’re a little late.”

“Hey, get on the road.”

Afterwards, the Emperor Chang and the courtiers arrived with a slight gap. People looked around with faces that didn’t know why.

Only the camera was busy trying to capture the appearance of the strongest players.

“Don’t tell the stupid people to get out of the way, can’t we just run?”

“Am I the last in this?”

A voice came from above.

Maje and Kwon-seong quickly came down and took their seats.

While everyone was dumbfounded, Taemin Kang took the microphone.

“Thank you for being in person. Actually, you don’t even have to come here… .”

“Heh heh, but everyone says they want to show their faces, so I have to fall for it.”

“It’s nice to live a painting when everyone gets together.”

Joo Tae-ji and Pyo Ji-hoon took their seats, shaking their heads. Kang Tae-min lightly bowed his head to express his gratitude and continued.

“They are instructors who have decided to help us ahead of this World Championship.”

“Go, Instructor… ?”

“The strongest teach directly?”

“This is unprecedented!?”

Previously, the strongest had no reason to teach students directly. It wasn’t just because they were busy.

The strongest had entangled interests with the guilds they founded, and each of their actions was related to profit and loss. If the strongest people announced that they were teaching students, the loss would naturally increase.

But now things were different.

‘Because the association’s recommendations have reduced dungeon raids.’

The emergency standby was lifted, but the threat of Nobody still remained. Socially, it was an atmosphere that welcomed the waiting of the strongest people after experiencing the Chimera incident.

Kang Tae-min decided to use the free time they had for the education of the students.

“Each of the strongest will take on one student and give individual guidance.”

Taemin Kang quickly continued his presentation.

Pyo Soo-ho and Pyo Soo-ho, Joo Tae-ji and Joo Da-hyun, Ko Min-soo and Jung Jun-hyeok, Yoo Hwa-rin and Yohanna, Song Dae-bum and Hwang Ye-ri, and so on.

“I will be in charge of student Inoa.”

Kang Tae-min decided to teach Inoa himself. It was done for the sake of Eruah and also for himself.

“We ask for a lot of support from the people.”

When Kang Tae-min finished his presentation, cheers and applause broke out.

* * *

“You need to cheer up.”

Rex put the porridge bowl on the table. Seongsu Kim stared blankly at the bowl and then lowered his head again.

“You wouldn’t have to check it yourself.”

Rex said in a dry voice. He found his old home with Pete’s help.

There, the family he so longed for did not exist. There were only unfamiliar buildings and strangers who were completely different from the landscape he remembered.

Afterwards, I tried to check the certified copy, but I couldn’t find his resident registration number, nor the personal information of his wife and daughter.

He was, on record, a ‘non-existent’ person in this world.

“Why… .”

Seongsoo Kim murmured softly.

Burying his face in his lap, he trembled.

“why… !”

The voice grew louder like a seizure.

Rex took a step back as if he was used to it. It was because after he returned to Rex’s hideout, he completely abandoned food and drink and excreted only emotions.

“Why is this happening to me and my family!”

He groaned and stirred his limbs. The table topped over and the porridge bowl broke and the contents spilled out.

However, Rex’s expression did not change at all.

“I, I… just family… I wanted to come back… .”

Such a riot soon ended as he was now weak. Seongsu Kim muttered infrequently and sobbed lowly.

Rex had never learned how to deal with situations like this.

“Is family really that precious?”

“… what?”

“I don’t have a family, so it’s hard to understand exactly how he feels.”

Kim Seong-soo frowned, but soon relaxed. Come to think of it, I had never heard of the stories of those who helped me.

I didn’t want to hear it, but I didn’t want to stop it either.

“Hedman was by my side. If we assume that there is no head, can we understand your feelings a little bit?”

Seongsu Kim stared blankly at her and shook his head.

“No, no… I do not understand. I don’t understand.”

He gritted his teeth and clenched his fists. My fingers were not white, and my nails dug into my skin, and blood oozes out.

“It took over 10 years. I endured only with the will to come back. But nothing? You can understand that feeling?”

“… I wanted to help, but it’s too hard for me.”

“… No, there is one way.”

Seongsoo Kim looked at the broken pieces of dishes on the floor and said.

“Kill me.”

He wanted to be freed from this bondage of pain. I wanted to give up on life and return everything to nothing.

However, he did not have the courage to die himself. He was a necromancer who lived in denial of death.

“Don’t give up. Head will help you.”

“Are you helping me? what how!? Killing me will help… !”

Kim Sung-soo raised his voice again.

No Name has not been seen since his return. I didn’t care where it went. Her situation was too painful for her to care about others.

“Wouldn’t it be better to explain that yourself?”

The voice of No Name that I heard then.

The two turned their heads at the same time. No Name and Pete were coming out of the portal.

Kim Seong-soo let out a laugh mixed with self-deprecating meaning.

“What are you going to help me with? Are you going to kill me yourself? If so, I want you to do it quickly.”

“No, it is not. I want my wish to come true.”

No Name let out a laugh. It was a laugh filled with pure joy, not self-help.

“Dear family, if you had a chance to return to your desired home, would you choose it?”

“what… ?”

“If you want to hear more details… .”

No Name took out a black medicine bottle and shook it.

“You must restore your strength first.”

Kim Sung-soo’s eyes shook.

But the trouble was short-lived. He snatched the vial at once and drank it.

“It’s good to see you’re desperate.”

No Name was even more willing.

Tap the screen to use advanced tools Tip: You can use left and right keyboard keys to browse between chapters.

You'll Also Like