Episode 76: A Midnight Walk
Because it was late at night, the Thieves’ Club and Kim Ho and his group dispersed as soon as they left the leadership room.
Go Hyun-woo went to the infirmary to get treatment for his internal injuries.
The members of the thieves’ club said they were sleepy and went to their respective dormitories.
Meanwhile, Dang Gyu-yeong had something to say to Kim Ho and something he wanted to ask him.
So I asked my junior, who was just starting to walk away, in a casual manner.
“Want to take a walk?”
“Yeah.”
It was before dawn, so the sky was still a deep blue, almost black.
Two people walked in step along the road illuminated by streetlights.
Even the road you take every day can feel different if you walk it alone at this time.
Perhaps because of that, there was no word exchanged between Dang Gyu-yeong and Kim Ho for a while.
Then, Dang Gyu-yeong hesitated for a moment, then turned his head to the other side and began to speak.
“I… I’m sorry. I got caught.”
The core of this quest, infiltrating the deep dungeon, was successful, but the content of the quest was to ‘get out of the basement without being caught until the end.’
However, they were caught by Kwak Seung-jae at the end and received a penalty point, so the ending was poor.
It was even more shoddy for a request that the leader of the thieves’ club was directly involved in.
Kim Ho let out a deep sigh.
“Senior, I’m a little disappointed. No matter how delicious the jerky is, you should have focused until the end.”
“Oh, no? I was concentrating the whole time!”
“You seemed to enjoy it so much. Aren’t you more focused on the jerky?”
“Hey, seriously! This is honestly something that Kwak Seung-jae did well—”
Dang Gyu-yeong got angry and blocked Kim Ho’s path, but then noticed a mischievous smile on his lips.
Since we’ve become a little closer, he starts teasing me like this every now and then.
If the dark-skinned men in the club had done this, I would have immediately started a discipline crackdown, but when this junior did it, I somehow found it cute.
So I just lightly shoved her shoulder.
“Hey, don’t tease me.”
“You don’t have to feel too sorry. I don’t really care about a penalty point.”
Even if the penalty is only 1 point, it doesn’t mean that it won’t affect your grades.
If you pile them up one by one, they will get bigger.
However, Kim Ho seemed to be the type who wasn’t obsessed with grades, and he acted like it wasn’t a big deal.
He changed the subject and asked a question about Kwak Seung-jae.
“Senior Kwak Seung-jae’s tracking ability is truly amazing. He followed me all the way to the temporary storage facility.”
“What I’m saying is, he’s been a total idiot since he first entered school, idiot.”
Kwak Seung-jae has outstanding detection and tracking skills, and he has a strangely good intuition. Since his freshman days, he has been able to arrest second- and third-year members of the thieves’ club.
In terms of skill, the thieves in the second and third years were better than him, but even so, he was caught once or twice out of ten.
“It got more difficult once I became a sophomore.”
When Kwak Seung-jae was a freshman, he would get caught once or twice out of ten times, but now that he is a sophomore, the number has increased to two or three times out of ten.
“And today is the second or third time… … . I’m afraid there might be a misunderstanding.”
It was Dang Gyu-yeong who was earnestly appealing that he was not as incompetent as he seemed.
He cleared his throat loudly and brought the conversation back to its original direction.
“Anyway, it’s true that our service was poor, so I’ll help you with the follow-up. Is that okay?”
“I would appreciate it if you could do that.”
“Let me see your hand for a moment.”
Actually, there was something that had been bothering me for a while.
Dang Gyu-yeong examined Kim Ho’s outstretched hand back and forth.
Pale, colorful burn marks.
It is an aftereffect of [Inferno Fist].
I don’t know what trait it is, but last time I used Inferno Fist, it was very clean, but this time, there was a trace.
You must have had a hard time in the Black Room.
We will talk about what happened inside later.
There are more pressing issues to address now.
“Seungjae must have seen this?”
“I think so too.”
Kwak Seung-jae left all the responses to Oh Se-hoon, and he himself took a step back and observed their every move.
During that time, Kim Ho’s gaze was focused on him much more frequently than on other people, so it is impossible for him to have overlooked the burn marks.
“This might catch you. Did you use Inferno Fist a lot? In the Black Death Room.”
“To be honest, I left it a bit messy.”
If you can say that, you must have written a lot.
There would probably have been chaos, with things burning and being destroyed here and there.
If the swordsmanship club succeeds in conquering the Black Temple, the scene will be saved as a replay.
It remains as meaningful evidence.
Of course, even if there is such evidence, it does not immediately lead to the conclusion that ‘Kim Ho learned Inferno Fist and used it in Heuksabang!’
There are more than one or two fire magic spells.
However, as these circumstances accumulate, the suspicions of the leadership will deepen, and the likelihood that the academic side will grant permission to use the [Magnifying Glass] item will also increase.
Once you confirm with the magnifying glass that Kim Ho has mastered Inferno Fist, things get extremely annoying from then on.
So, we need to take precautions in advance to prevent the investigation from progressing.
“The key question is whether or not the Heuksabang replay can be made private.”
“I hope you can put some effort into that part.”
“Let’s do that. If you get caught, it won’t be good for us either.”
If Kim Ho was caught, there was a risk that the group that received one penalty point each today would also be involved.
On charges of colluding in deep infiltration.
So, it would be beneficial for everyone if replays disappeared, not just for after-sales service reasons.
It is still unknown how the fencing club will turn out, but Dang Gyu-yeong intends to make full use of his influence.
Dang Gyu-yeong cautiously added a suggestion to it.
“While we’re at it… … Should I help you out a little by ignoring the bid and going in?”
“No, that’s my job. Just toss it all to me.”
But Kim Ho cut it off very firmly.
Dang Gyu-yeong pouted his lips.
I heard this kid is secretly stubborn too.
If you just ask for help, I will help you.
“I know you’re capable, but I’m still worried. Do you think you can handle it?”
“Yes. If I couldn’t handle it, I wouldn’t have even started in the first place.”
“… … Okay, I understand.”
Since he was so sure, if he doubted him further, it would be the same as ignoring Kim Ho, so Dang Gyu-yeong reluctantly nodded.
The mood became a little awkward due to the firm refusal, and silence followed for a while.
Dang Gyu-yeong walked while looking down at only the tips of his feet, then opened his mouth even more cautiously.
“… … Kim Hoya, I have a question.”
“Just ask.”
“You… … . What do you want to gain by doing that?”
It’s only been a month since Kim Ho entered Yongsal Academy.
In the meantime, they had already broken several school rules, big and small, and clashed with the Emerald Tower, a mid-level club.
And now he is trying to create friction with the swordsmanship club, one of the biggest forces within Yongsal Academy.
What does he hope to achieve by doing so?
What kind of outrageous things do you plan to do next?
Of course, Dang Gyu-yeong also recognizes that his duty is as a thief.
I am not in a position to tell anyone what to do.
Still, Kim Ho was a junior whom I really liked.
I wanted to prevent him from crossing the line he shouldn’t have crossed and meeting a miserable end.
I asked about the purpose with such a worried mind,
“World peace.”
“You’re messing around again.”
Dang Gyu-yeong’s expression became grim.
I asked because I was worried, and then he said something completely out of the blue.
Last time, didn’t you say you graduated 200 times?
Maybe that strange sound is Kim Ho’s own way of saying no.
Because I had that feeling, when similar questions and answers came up in the past, I just shook my head and moved on.
But this time, I wanted to hear a proper answer.
‘Let me ask you just one more time.’
Dang Gyu-yeong gently pulled Kim Ho toward him, looked him in the eye, and asked again.
“I’m asking you seriously. Can you tell me?”
“… … .”
Dang Gyu-yeong looks up, and Kim Ho looks down.
The two remained silent for a while.
Perhaps he felt a little sincerity, as Kim Ho slowly turned his gaze away from Dang Gyu-yeong, looked into the distance, and opened his mouth.
“I told you that I graduated over 200 times.”
Dang Gyu-yeong was about to say, “That noise again?” but when he saw Kim Ho’s serious expression, he closed his mouth again.
I thought I’d just listen to it, whether it was a lie or not.
“Would there have only been good things during the 200 times? Especially when the numbers were single digits, I was very immature and had more bad things happen.”
“For example?”
“For example, someone dying, someone getting hurt, and things like that.”
“… … .”
Kim Ho spoke lightly as if passing by, but Dang Gyu-young’s heart sank as he listened.
The 200th graduation number is obviously a lie, and if so, then this must be the painful past hidden behind that lie, deeply engraved in my heart.
“I’m sorry. I guess I asked the wrong question.”
“It’s okay. It’s all in the past. But I decided one thing for sure back then.”
“… … What is that?”
Kim Ho still stared into the distance and answered in a calm tone.
“I will never let anything that is mine be taken away. I will never let any of my people die.”
“I will not let any of my people die… … .”
Dang Gyu-yeong repeated those words softly.
“Is that what you want?”
“yes.”
“It’s difficult.”
“It’s difficult.”
All aspiring heroes attending Yongsal Academy live in uncertain futures.
You never know when you might be sent into the middle of a battlefield and find yourself in a life-or-death fight.
In a place like that, it would be difficult to even hold on to your own life, and yet you even want to take care of your own people.
Kim Ho added.
“So you have to get stronger until it gets easier.”
To become faster and more overwhelmingly stronger.
Dang Gyu-yeong now seemed to understand a little.
So that’s why you’re going that far.
If you protect yourself by looking at what others think, it may be comfortable in the short term, but you will end up fighting a more difficult battle later on, and you may even end up losing someone.
On the other hand, if you bicker with other clubs and break a few school rules now, you will definitely get what you want in the end, even if you get into all kinds of trouble.
Kim Ho judged that the latter would be less regrettable.
‘Thank goodness, this will be okay.’
After hearing everything, I felt a sense of relief.
If Kim Ho’s goal is to protect someone, then preventing them from being harmed is also included in the goal.
If so, you will know how to restrain yourself so as not to cross the line that should not be crossed.
Dang Gyu-young’s lips curved gently.
“I liked it.”
If the side Kim Ho just showed was truly his true heart, she would be willing to be his accomplice in the future.
Before we knew it, the dormitory was coming into view.
Even though they had walked a long way in a circle, Dang Gyu-yeong felt regretful that it was already time to part ways.
I would have liked to go around one more time and chat about small stuff, but I decided to stop here for today.
Because today isn’t the only day.
“It’s late. Let’s go in and rest.”
“Take a rest, senior.”
“Okay, see you Monday!”
“?”
Kim Ho tilted his head.
It seemed like we were going back to what we had planned for Monday.
But I ask if anything comes to mind.
“Why Monday?”
Dang Gyu-yeong smiled playfully.
Are you just kidding? I’ll kid you too.
“Don’t tell me.”
