NOVPUBNear Tanraejung, at the Youth Prospective Player Support Center.
Maeng Hyo-don was well aware of the existence of this center.
All students who used energy abilities at Tanraejung attended that place.
Of course, Maeng Hyo-don was not included in that "all."
‘I almost ended up attending it myself.’
When a test at school confirmed that Maeng Hyo-don had energy abilities, he was immediately encouraged to join the center from his first year.
Though it was called an "encouragement," it was essentially a semi-coercion.
At school, there were unofficial school events where the administration would strongly push students into external activities without their full consent, and attending the center was one of those.
By attending the center, students would learn to handle their abilities, receive items, and benefit from various perks without having to spend any money, making it easy to attend even under semi-coercion without complaints.
However, Maeng Hyo-don was an exception.
‘At first, I wanted to go too.’
Maeng Hyo-don’s father had forbidden him from attending, claiming it would bring about strange influences.
Though he made this excuse, his father’s true concern was that, despite the center being free now, there might be hidden costs later with various other reasons added on.
Moreover, Maeng Hyo-don wasn’t allowed to stay away from home for long, as there would be no one left to run errands for his father.
Teachers had tried to convince Maeng Hyo-don’s father, but they couldn’t reach him. His father would often find fault with their tone, and the teachers would end up insulted.
One teacher tried to pressure him through a home visit, only to be met with such harsh resistance that the stress was taken out on Maeng Hyo-don instead.
—The apple doesn’t fall far from the tree. Now I know how important family environment is.
Caught in the middle, Maeng Hyo-don became the target of his father’s frustration, while his first-year homeroom teacher also seemed to have failed with the center’s pressure.
The reason the school applied pressure on students not attending the center was that it made the school look like they weren’t managing the students properly.
But over time, Maeng Hyo-don’s thoughts began to change.
While Maeng Hyo-don couldn’t attend the Youth Prospective Player Support Center due to his father’s opposition, students who had already attended began to form factions and isolated him.
Students attending the center, receiving full support from their parents, felt superior to Maeng Hyo-don in terms of physical abilities and energy power, and their jealousy and inferiority complex were vented at him. 𝒏𝒐𝒗𝒑𝒖𝒃.𝙘𝒐𝒎
‘Then I started participating in tournaments, and the thought of going to the center completely disappeared...’
Maeng Hyo-don’s father opposed him attending the center, but he fully supported Maeng Hyo-don’s participation in tournaments.
As long as he participated and brought back good results, he would win prize money, which his father would use for gambling and buying alcohol.
Whenever Maeng Hyo-don brought back prize money, his father’s behavior would quiet down for a while, and Maeng Hyo-don grew fond of participating in tournaments.
Later, the center repeatedly tried to persuade him to attend, claiming that the factions there were irrelevant, but Maeng Hyo-don, already overwhelmed by his father’s behavior, couldn’t pay attention to them.
Considering his situation, the one who guided him to the best path was his homeroom teacher from middle school, who was now his mentor.
"Didn’t Hyo-don attend that center?"
"No, he probably never went. The center’s curriculum wasn’t part of the regular school education, so there was no obligation to attend. Besides, Hyo-don was busy preparing for tournaments."
At Jo Su-hyeok’s question, Maeng Hyo-don’s middle school teacher answered smoothly.
It seemed that whenever the center issue came up in Hyo-don’s absence, this teacher would stand firm, responding like this.
Now that Maeng Hyo-don thought about it, he realized that during the time his homeroom teacher was in charge, the center’s staff never managed to pressure him with their threats and coaxing.
Though Maeng Hyo-don hadn’t known at the time, his mentor had certainly stopped them.
Jo Su-hyeok’s questioning continued.
"Did all the students from Tanraejung who use energy attend that center?"
"As far as I know, all the students except Hyo-don attended."
"I’m also curious about how many Tanraejung students, aside from Hyo-don, went to specialized high schools for energy abilities, like Player Meister High School."
Even though Jo Su-hyeok was a current teacher at Tanraejung, asking such a question would probably make most teachers hesitate.
As a teacher, it was natural to know where the students went after graduation, but keeping track of all that information for the entire school was rare.
However, Maeng Hyo-don’s middle school teacher answered without hesitation.
"Counting Hyo-don, there are less than five."
His middle school teacher had carefully researched the entrance results of Tanraejung’s graduates while assisting Maeng Hyo-don with his admission to Eun-gwang High School.
The teacher was precise, even naming the high schools the graduates attended.
Though these schools specialized in energy abilities, they were nowhere near the cutoff line for Eun-gwang High School.
Moreover, these schools focused more on item creation rather than combat, making them less related to energy power and combat skills.
"Tanraejung has been open for several decades, yet the numbers are surprisingly small. Given the number of students with energy abilities, it’s not like there are too few students..."
This wasn’t just the case with Tanraejung.
Other middle schools in the area shared similar issues.
There were a decent number of students with innate abilities, but not many grew strong enough to attend specialized high schools for energy powers.
There were only two exceptions so far.
One was Maeng Hyo-don, and the other was a student currently under the care of Maeng Hyo-don’s middle school teacher.
The latter student attended the center and was said to possess enough skill to enroll in Eun-gwang High School.
This student was exceptional enough for the middle school teacher to realize that something unusual was happening, prompting him to take action.
‘Something’s odd about that center.’
Jo Su-hyeok must have discovered something specific, though Maeng Hyo-don couldn’t fully grasp it. However, from the conversation, it seemed that the others had also realized something.
Especially when the center was mentioned, Jo Su-hyeok’s face grew dark, and Kim Cheol seemed to have guessed something, too.
"We need to leave here quickly. The group behind this incident is larger than I expected and has likely been planning this for a long time. Targeting Hyo-don isn’t the ultimate goal; it’s just a means to an end, so they’re probably preparing something far worse."
Ziiiing.
Jo Su-hyeok activated his clairvoyance, looking far into the distance as he spoke.
Currently, Jo Su-hyeok was scouting for the garden strategy, but he looked as if he were seeing the shadowy figures behind all this.
Seeing Jo Su-hyeok looking far ahead, Maeng Hyo-don thought of Jo Eui-shin.
Jo Eui-shin sometimes had the same intense gaze when he was suspicious.
Perhaps Jo Eui-shin had been targeting the shadowy figures behind all this from the start.
‘I can’t do what they do.’
Maeng Hyo-don thought coldly.
Though Jo Su-hyeok and Jo Eui-shin were talented and known for their academic excellence, they both possessed knowledge, wisdom, and insight far beyond the level of regular school studies.
Maeng Hyo-don, who struggled with high school math and couldn’t even understand half of the current conversation, knew he couldn’t do the same.
But there was one thing he could do.
‘If it’s just fighting, I can...!’
Maeng Hyo-don decided to focus on physical action, knowing his mental skills wouldn’t help much.
He gathered all the energy from his body and heightened his senses.
Jo Su-hyeok’s clairvoyance allowed him to see far, but it wasn’t all-powerful.
Clairvoyance was like using a telescope to view a specific area; it could focus closely on a designated spot, but the range was limited.
Jo Su-hyeok was skilled at quickly adjusting the area of his vision to cover as much ground as possible, but there were still potential blind spots.
Having heard this while spending Christmas Eve with Jo Su-hyeok, Maeng Hyo-don decided to stay alert.
He didn’t have a skill like clairvoyance, but Maeng Hyo-don had good instincts and a lot of battle experience, making him sensitive to signs of danger.
Suddenly, he felt a chilling sensation, as though a sharp needle had pierced his body.
‘Something’s coming.’
This garden was filled with clouds and mist.
The area Jo Su-hyeok was keeping an eye on was the sky above filled with clouds and the ground obscured by fog.
This left an area Jo Su-hyeok hadn’t watched.
Maeng Hyo-don realized that something was approaching from a place Jo Su-hyeok hadn’t observed.
It was beneath the ground.
"Step back!"
At Maeng Hyo-don’s shout, the players reacted immediately, jumping back from their positions.
The ground they had been standing on began to crack.
Krrrkrkrkrk!
The players managed to dodge successfully, but not everyone was so lucky.
The middle school teacher hesitated while walking and, unlike the players, couldn’t move fast enough.
"Ah..."
The middle school teacher was dragged toward the collapsing ground.
Maeng Hyo-don, who had been the first to react, rushed toward the teacher.
"Teacher!"
He had anticipated the movement and successfully grabbed the teacher’s hand, but the ground where Maeng Hyo-don had stepped began to crumble.
He tried to jump toward another foothold, gripping his teacher’s hand tightly, but his balance was unstable.
The obstacles didn’t end there.
Grrrk!
As the ground collapsed, the enemy appeared.
It was unclear whether the enemy had been created by the collapsing force or if it had been concealed until the shockwave hit.
An enemy, seemingly covered in rocks like armor, swung its long arms at Maeng Hyo-don from below the ground.
‘It’s targeting me. It’s coming this way!’
Maeng Hyo-don, despite knowing the attack was aimed at him, struggled to respond.
If he moved carelessly, the teacher might fall.
Before Maeng Hyo-don could make the best decision, the enemy’s long arm flew toward the opposite side.
Boom!
"How dare you harm my student!"
Even on unstable ground, Tak Geo-san’s strike sent the enemy’s long arm flying.
However, the enemy didn’t just have one arm.
Another attack was coming, and the ground kept crumbling, leading into an endless abyss.
"Hyo-don!"
From a more stable position, Jo Su-hyeok stretched out his hand toward Maeng Hyo-don.
As soon as Maeng Hyo-don saw the hand, he jumped up.
Paf!
The force from Maeng Hyo-don’s jump caused the surrounding platforms to crumble and scatter, but he successfully reached Jo Su-hyeok’s outstretched hand.
Maeng Hyo-don reached out with his free hand toward Jo Su-hyeok.
In that moment.
Crackle!
"Aah!"
"Ugh...!"
As soon as their hands touched, a powerful spark erupted, sending them both flying backward.
Maeng Hyo-don was shocked to see himself pushed back, watching Jo Su-hyeok’s hand retreat from his reach.
"Energy fields are repelling each other!"
The enemy targeting Maeng Hyo-don hadn’t only destroyed the ground.
Since Maeng Hyo-don and Jo Su-hyeok were using skills, energy fields surrounded their bodies.
It seemed the enemy had used a special energy technique to create this situation, making it impossible for their energy fields to connect.
‘If this goes on, we’ll both fall with the teacher! Wait, hold on... You said the energy fields are repelling.’*
Since the middle school teacher had no energy field, there was no repulsion happening for them.
Maeng Hyo-don focused all his strength into his hand holding the teacher.
"Hyo-don...! If you do that..."
The teacher widened his eyes, realizing what Maeng Hyo-don was about to do.
"Jo Su-hyeok, hold on tight!"
Whoosh!
Maeng Hyo-don threw the teacher toward Jo Su-hyeok.
The recoil from the throw made Maeng Hyo-don fall faster.
Tak Geo-san, who was fighting the enemy, was shouting, but his voice didn’t reach Maeng Hyo-don.
Only after Maeng Hyo-don confirmed that Jo Su-hyeok had safely caught the teacher did he allow himself to look down.
He knew a trap awaited, but he was ready to fight.
Preparing for the landing, Maeng Hyo-don shifted into combat stance.
