NOVPUBOn the day Maeng Hyo-don's biological father caused an incident, the Tiger Mansion.
The mastermind had intended to incapacitate Maeng Hyo-don before Teacher's Day.
According to Jeokho’s report after checking the recording devices, Maeng Hyo-don's biological father had brought players whose abilities were too weak to kill Maeng Hyo-don. This meant the mastermind’s strategy wasn’t enough to guarantee Maeng Hyo-don’s death.
In other words, it would have been difficult for the mastermind to kill Maeng Hyo-don with the current setup.
The mastermind wasn’t particularly interested in saving Maeng Hyo-don, but neither did they want him dead.
‘The mastermind couldn’t have been unaware of this. The plan’s success was likely based on Maeng Hyo-don getting severely injured but surviving. And with the assassination of Seong Guk-eon approaching, it’s odd that they moved at all.’
It seemed the goal was simply to immobilize Maeng Hyo-don, but what bothered me was that this was happening so close to the planned assassination of Seong Guk-eon on Teacher's Day.
As Maeng Hyo-don's attack became a variable in the operation to prevent Seong Guk-eon's assassination, I weighed my options and made a few adjustments.
"Maeng Hyo-don will visit Tanrae Middle School on May 15th. We can’t lower our guard until then."
"Understood."
Up to this point, Hwang Ji-ho nodded without question.
But merely watching Maeng Hyo-don wasn’t enough.
"I want the bodyguards sent by the Ho clan to be placed carelessly. Make sure they’re easily identifiable as being from the Hwangmyeong Foundation."
"So, it’s not just about protecting Maeng Hyo-don."
"Right. There’s a bigger plan. I’ll ask for help from Ham Geun-hyeong."
Someone who knew Maeng Hyo-don’s situation, genuinely wanted to protect him, and had the strength to do so.
Someone who wouldn’t be surprised if they became involved in this incident.
Ham Geun-hyeong fit that description perfectly.
It wouldn’t be suspicious if the homeroom teacher became concerned about their student and took action.
"Well, the Ho clan could protect him without calling Ham Geun-hyeong."
"If we do nothing, it will raise suspicions, and if we don’t leave any openings, they’ll take drastic measures. I want to protect Maeng Hyo-don safely while also seeing how they’ll react."
"Seems like Hyung has already figured out how they’ll respond."
Eun-ho wanted to hear my thoughts, but Hwang Ji-ho interrupted.
Hwang Ji-ho’s eyes sparkled as he tried to figure out what I had learned.
"You said we need to keep an eye on Maeng Hyo-don until his visit to Tanrae Middle School. Does it have something to do with Seong Guk-eon uncovering corruption at that school? But that was a while ago."
Hwang Ji-ho made a plausible guess by linking it to the Seong Guk-eon assassination, but it wasn’t quite right.
Hwang Ji-ho didn’t know much about Maeng Hyo-don’s circumstances or his relationships, so he couldn’t make an accurate guess.
I spoke the answer I had in mind.
"Maeng Hyo-don’s middle school teacher must have discovered something. The mastermind must have noticed it too. If we want to know what that is for sure, we’ll need to watch what happens that day."
My mention of Maeng Hyo-don’s middle school teacher seemed to raise some questions from the Tigers.
Apparently, it was strange that I suddenly brought up the middle school teacher.
Jeokho was the first to openly ask.
"Isn’t that middle school teacher just a normal human with no special abilities? That ruthless scoundrel wouldn’t let anyone who discovered something live."
That was true.
If this situation had gone as it did in the game, the middle school teacher would have fallen into the hands of the mastermind by now.
But at this point, there was a reason why the mastermind couldn’t easily kill the middle school teacher.
"Of course, the mastermind plans to kill him. But there are two players who would act if that happens, which is why they’ve delayed the timing."
"Two?"
"One is Maeng Hyo-don, and the other is Seong Guk-eon."
If the middle school teacher died, Maeng Hyo-don wouldn’t just sit back and do nothing.
It was impossible for him to accept that someone close to him had died without trying to find out the truth, especially if it seemed like an accident.
To accept death, he’d need to confirm whether it was truly an accident and see if there was anything he could do.
If Maeng Hyo-don had a good sense, he’d realize something was wrong during that process, and he had many people to help him.
"Maeng Hyo-don is a student, but he has connections with many people at Eun-gwang High, including Tak Geo-san. Even if it’s disguised as an accident, Maeng Hyo-don would notice, and the people around him would help."
If that happened, it wouldn’t cover up the teacher’s death; it could expose the secret instead.
Seong Guk-eon might also move.
"Seong Guk-eon uncovered corruption at Tanrae Middle School last year. Since then, he’s been regularly requesting personnel and accounting data from Tanrae Middle School and nearby schools. If the teacher from Tanrae Middle School dies, he’ll find out."
No matter how cleverly it was disguised as an accident, it would be hard to deceive Seong Guk-eon.
Seong Guk-eon was skilled at uncovering cover-ups and deceptions.
Hwang Ji-ho furrowed his brows and trailed off.
"If that’s the case, then the purpose of the attack on Maeng Hyo-don..."
"They probably wanted to either kill him or incapacitate him for a long time so he couldn’t contact the teacher. If they couldn’t kill him, they would still want to injure him badly enough that Maeng Hyo-don wouldn’t focus on the teacher. If they bought some time, they could cover it up."
"Even if Maeng Hyo-don died, no one would suspect it had anything to do with the teacher’s death, so it would be difficult to investigate."
And on Teacher's Day, Maeng Hyo-don was supposed to meet the teacher.
No one would listen to the teacher, but Maeng Hyo-don and Tak Geo-san were different.
The mastermind probably wanted to take care of Maeng Hyo-don, Seong Guk-eon, and the teacher in that order, but now that the sequence was disrupted, they’d likely try to eliminate all of them at once.
If Seong Guk-eon, Maeng Hyo-don, and Tak Geo-san died or went missing, there would be chaos, but the death of a regular middle school teacher would be buried.
When the mastermind couldn’t handle things covertly, they would cause a big incident that would bury the truth.
"We need to move Cheon Dong-ha’s assignment. Instead of keeping an eye on Eun-gwang District, he should watch Tanrae Middle School."
"Didn’t you say the enemy would use Transference? You also mentioned that Cheon Dong-ha’s Gwanglim would be able to see the Transference process."
"According to my thoughts, there will likely be Transference near Tanrae Middle School too."
They would be dealing with tough players, and like with Seong Guk-eon and Jeon Mu-young in the game, they’d probably try to use Transference to the Garden.
Even without Transference, an attack would still occur.
‘If Transference happens there too, the Pomor Demon Clan will have more work to do.’
I sorted out tasks for the Pomor Demon Clan in my head and spoke.
The Pomor Demon Clan would first be tasked with monitoring Eun-gwang District, but I needed to confirm the situation near Tanrae Middle School as well if I was going to use them there.
"I want Cheon Dong-ha to verify everything through his eyes. We need to know where problems are happening and who is moving."
"Then we’ll need to choose someone to watch Eun-gwang District. It’ll be easier to move if we know when the eyes disappear."
I was able to respond to Jeokho’s comment right away.
It was certain that Cheon Dong-ha could confirm things with his wide field of vision, but there was someone sensitive to the line of sight on our side.
That person was Yong Je-geon.
"I’d like to ask Yong Je-geon to watch Eun-gwang District in place of Cheon Dong-ha."
"...Yong Je-geon will like that. He had been persistently trying to join the operation while annoying Kim Shin-rok."
"If a close friend of my son joins the plan, I’ll feel more at ease."
No one among the Tigers opposed calling Yong Je-geon, but, except for Jeokho, there was no enthusiastic response.
Seeing their reactions made me a bit worried.
‘There’s another close relative I should call besides Yong Je-geon.’
The relative I wanted to call wouldn’t be as welcomed as Yong Je-geon, though.
But that relative would significantly increase the likelihood of success, so I definitely needed to call them.
I also needed to contact them for future scenarios.
"Hyung, speak up."
When I was waiting for the right timing, Eun-ho softly spoke to me.
This gave me the opportunity to speak.
"I want to call the leader of the Demon Horse Clan, Heukma."
As expected, the Tigers didn’t seem pleased with the idea.
Although we had been cooperating with the Demon Clan, we hadn’t trusted them enough to ask for their help in important operations, like rescuing Unsa.
But I was able to persuade them by explaining the plan.
"Alright, Jo Ui-shin."
Hwang Ji-ho was the first to agree, and the other Tigers followed suit.
Before calling Heukma, Hwang Ji-ho added.
"If calling Heukma makes this operation safer, I’m all for it."
Inside the Garden, after joining Hwang Ji-ho.
Though injured, the plan was proceeding as scheduled.
Hwang Ji-ho, Jeon Mu-young, and I were heading toward where Unsa was.
Though Hwang Ji-ho led, the direction was still guided by me.
"This way."
"It looks like a blocked path at first glance..."
Jeon Mu-young spoke, noticing the direction I pointed was obscured by clouds and mist.
The structure of the Garden was complex, and the concentration of energy users was getting thicker, making it feel like we could easily get lost if we let our guard down.
However, with the life-and-death vision engraved in my mind, I had no trouble finding the location.
Without this vision, we would’ve likely gotten lost— the energy of the Garden was that oppressive.
‘Even though Unsa is ancient and from a strong lineage, there’s a lot of energy here. It’s probably related to the secrets the mastermind wants to hide. The enemies here are likely strong. I wonder if Maeng Hyo-don will be alright?’
If I knew the location, Ham Geun-hyeong would have already rescued Maeng Hyo-don.
The location would have been found by Heukma.
‘Heukma must have secured Maeng Hyo-don’s location and moved on to the next target. I left traces with the life-and-death vision to find the former Korea branch leader...’
Heukma was deeply connected to life and death.
When he captured a demon priest before, Heukma had fixed the priest between life and death, reading fleeting memories like a phantom light.
Heukma could easily find the former Korea branch leader’s corpse on his own.
Still, the energy of Unsa would obstruct the search, so I used my life-and-death vision to leave a strong trace of death to assist Heukma.
So, I wasn’t worried about the former Korea branch leader.
The real problem was still with Maeng Hyo-don.
‘Could there be more reasons why the mastermind is targeting Maeng Hyo-don? Maybe it’s related to the secret his teacher discovered.’
I was lost in thought, so deeply focused that I almost replied "Uh" instead of answering properly.
Hwang Ji-ho snapped me out of it.
"Are you thinking about something else?"
"...Yes."
At that moment, I almost slipped and forgot to act like Seong Guk-eon, but Hwang Ji-ho’s next words jolted me back to reality.
"Jo Su-hyeok from the Ju-O Group and his secretary Kim Cheol have entered the Garden."
How is Jo Su-hyeok here?
Did he follow Maeng Hyo-don?
If Jo Su-hyeok had been investigating Maeng Hyo-don, we would’ve noticed.
"They must have jumped into the Garden while following Ham Geun-hyeong."
Why would Jo Su-hyeok follow Ham Geun-hyeong?
Hwang Ji-ho answered my unspoken questions.
"Jo Su-hyeok is a sharp student. He probably figured out that Maeng Hyo-don needed protection and traced Ham Geun-hyeong to this place."
Jo Su-hyeok was in a much more dangerous situation than he realized in the game.
Even so, he had been skillfully digging for clues and battling through this entire situation.
It wouldn’t be odd for Jo Su-hyeok to enter the Garden to protect Maeng Hyo-don.
‘I should’ve anticipated Jo Su-hyeok coming!’
I felt the urge to secure his safety, even at this late stage.
Just as I was deep in thought, Hwang Ji-ho spoke again.
"That kid is strong, and he knows how to take care of himself. Don’t worry, he won’t get hurt."
It was meant to reassure me, but Hwang Ji-ho’s words felt unusually significant.
We continued walking until we finally reached our destination.
Beyond that door, Unsa was waiting.
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[TL Note:]
Dear readers, I hope you’re enjoying Ex Rank Supporting Role’s Replay in a Prestigious School as much as I enjoyed translating it! I’d love to hear your thoughts—are you enjoying the story so far? Do you have any feedback or notice any issues with the translation? Your comments and likes mean a lot and help improve the reading experience for everyone. Please don’t hesitate to leave a comment, and feel free to hit that like button if you’re enjoying the journey so far! Thank you for your support!
