NOVPUBThe road leading to the bustling street in front of Eungwang High School.
Inside the air limousine, Ju Su-hyeok was reviewing various press materials and reports.
Kim Cheol drove more carefully than usual to avoid disturbing Ju Su-hyeok, who was gathering information for a friend and had an important schedule ahead.
When they arrived at their destination, Kim Cheol spoke up after a long time.
"We've arrived. Have a good time on your date."
"Huh? It's not a date, I'm just meeting a friend..."
Ju Su-hyeok, who had been turning off his hologram, was startled and looked up.
With a red face, his eyes darted around.
It was obvious that he was thinking, ‘How wonderful would it be if this was a date?’
Seeing Ju Su-hyeok's rare expression of embarrassment, Kim Cheol grinned.
Since learning about the benevolent Jo Eui-shin, Kim Cheol had gained enough peace of mind to make such jokes.
After stopping the car and opening the door for Ju Su-hyeok, Kim Cheol spoke.
"It was just a joke. I’ll be waiting nearby."
"Oh, it was a joke... Haha, I'll be right back!"
Ju Su-hyeok, still flustered, hurriedly left the car.
The person Ju Su-hyeok was meeting today was none other than Ahn Dain.
After the Maeng Hyo-don incident, Ju Su-hyeok had become more aware of his surroundings and started looking back at past events.
Among these, some were troubling and shocking.
One of them was related to Ahn Dain.
"Jiho said Dain is like family to him. He even mentioned she was close enough to stay at the mansion. I was really surprised at the time..."
It seemed that Ahn Dain was connected to the noble factions.
Moreover, Ahn Dain had a very cute dog and had become close friends with Jo Eui-shin, but recently, it seemed they had grown even closer.
After witnessing the two of them talking at school a few times, Ju Su-hyeok was convinced.
While Jo Eui-shin remained unchanged, Ahn Dain had been showing a familiar smile that she once reserved for Kim Yu-ri.
This was evidence that she had opened her heart to Jo Eui-shin.
Thinking about this made Ju Su-hyeok feel like he was being thrown into space, but for now, he tried to ignore it.
"...And Eui-shin stayed at Jiho’s mansion too. If I want to help Eui-shin in the future, I should collaborate with Dain."
To help the secretive Jo Eui-shin, Ju Su-hyeok knew he would need to use many different tactics.
Just like when he tracked down Han Geun-hyeong’s schedule to intervene in this case, Ju Su-hyeok planned to try various approaches.
So, he decided to meet Ahn Dain right away.
It was the first time he had made a personal appointment outside of school, not for a duel.
It was a bit awkward to take up Ahn Dain’s precious time on a Sunday, but since there were too many eyes at school, he thought it would be better to meet separately to talk about future matters.
"Anyway, it’s not a date."
Ju Su-hyeok thought to himself as he headed toward the meeting spot, sure that no one else would understand what was going on between him and Ahn Dain.
The meeting was set in front of a café, and through the glass window, Ju Su-hyeok saw Ahn Dain.
She was sitting in the corner, a place that wasn’t very visible, but Ju Su-hyeok’s keen eyes didn’t miss it.
‘It’s Dain...! I’m not late, right?’
Ju Su-hyeok immediately checked the time.
There was still more than 30 minutes left before their agreed-upon meeting time.
Ahn Dain seemed to be spending her time reading before meeting Ju Su-hyeok.
Ju Su-hyeok, reassured that he wasn’t late, stared at Ahn Dain in a daze.
‘...That’s the bookmark I gave her.’
In Ahn Dain’s hand, there seemed to be a dried-flower bookmark, with a red camellia flower blooming on it.
The sight of Ahn Dain with the camellia was so fitting that Ju Su-hyeok couldn’t tear his gaze away.
However, he noticed a look of concern on Ahn Dain’s face.
It didn’t seem to be about the book she was reading, and Ju Su-hyeok couldn’t help but feel a little heavy-hearted.
"Mm...?"
Ahn Dain must have felt his gaze, as she looked up and met his eyes.
In fact, there were many people in the café who had been watching Ahn Dain, but Ju Su-hyeok’s gaze was sharp, and she noticed it.
The two stared at each other blankly through the glass window.
The awkward exchange of looks continued until Ju Su-hyeok finally waved to greet her.
"Did you wait long? Sorry, I should’ve come earlier."
"It’s okay, I just wanted to read the book you recommended last time..."
The conversation quickly turned to the book.
If Moon Saeron had seen this, she would have sighed, wondering if they were turning what was supposed to be a date into another book club meeting.
Unaware of the supporters who were cheering for Ju Su-hyeok and Ahn Dain, the two of them immersed themselves in their world through the book.
Then, during their conversation, both of them sensed something and briefly stopped talking.
"Talking while standing isn’t great, is it? Let’s move."
"Yeah, where should we go? Should we head toward the school?"
Ju Su-hyeok and Ahn Dain nodded at each other and then walked together, chatting as they moved.
As they neared the school, the number of people walking around grew fewer.
Since it was Sunday, there was no one coming to or from the school, and the area became eerily quiet as they neared the main gate.
And then, when the number of people around them dropped to zero, Ju Su-hyeok and Ahn Dain moved like lightning.
Swish!
Ju Su-hyeok materialized a pair of small swords and threw them into the air.
At first glance, it might have looked like a wild swing, but Ju Su-hyeok had successfully hit his target.
The small swords pierced something and shattered, and immediately, Ju Su-hyeok activated his derived skill Double Sword, One Body.
The swords ignored the laws of physics and causality, returning to his hands.
"This is a scout item made using superpowers."
Attached to the small swords, which were about the size of a fingertip, was an item shaped like a camera.
Having received a lot of attention from a young age, Ju Su-hyeok had often encountered such scout items.
Before the self-destruct feature activated, Ju Su-hyeok swiftly swung the small swords to disable the item’s function.
Swish!
As Ju Su-hyeok threw and recovered his small swords, Ahn Dain finished dealing with her target.
Unlike Ju Su-hyeok, Ahn Dain didn’t pull out a weapon item.
Instead, she used her derived skill Full Body Gunization to shoot down the scout items.
The bullets that shot from her fingertips precisely hit and destroyed the scout items.
Ju Su-hyeok, who had observed the scene out of the corner of his eye, couldn’t help but admire her.
‘I didn’t hear any gunshots. The firepower wasn’t high, but with Full Body Gunization, she managed to silence it completely...!’
After confirming there were no more scout items nearby, Ju Su-hyeok apologized.
"These are scout items, but they also have simple attack functions. If they self-destruct, it could be dangerous. I should’ve met you at school if I’d known."
Ju Su-hyeok couldn’t tell whether the item was aimed at him or Ahn Dain.
Since both of them were prominent players, it was entirely possible that either one of them was targeted.
Ahn Dain, who was calmly observing the item she had shot down, spoke.
"I’ve seen this form a few times. When I was with my parents, I almost got filmed by one of these items. It’s probably for me."
It seemed Ahn Dain was sure someone was targeting her.
Ju Su-hyeok, shocked at first, then became angry.
‘Now that I think about it, Saeron warned us to be careful of our obsessive fans. Why didn’t I think of that?’
Moon Saeron had once warned them about their obsessive personal fans, often referred to as "bad fans."
In addition to the mysterious perpetrator, Ju Su-hyeok was furious with himself.
With Maeng Hyo-don, Jo Eui-shin, and now Ahn Dain, his friends were experiencing serious problems in places he didn’t know about, and he didn’t even realize it.
As Ju Su-hyeok struggled to find the words, Ahn Dain spoke again.
"Su-hyeok, I heard what happened to you yesterday."
Unlike Ju Su-hyeok, who had been oblivious, it seemed Ahn Dain knew something about him.
This made Ju Su-hyeok even more upset and sorry.
He suppressed his feelings and asked again.
"Did Jiho tell you?"
"Yeah, Jiho treats me like family. He probably told me right away because he didn’t want me to worry about you and Eui-shin."
But why did the noble faction treat Ahn Dain like family?
Ju Su-hyeok couldn’t help but wonder, but he didn’t ask.
In the meantime, Ahn Dain walked toward Eungwang High.
She was heading toward the training ground, a place they often used together.
Once she felt it was safe, Ahn Dain spoke to Ju Su-hyeok, who had been following her in silence.
"I have something to tell you about my background."
After the weekend, Monday.
Eungwang High was buzzing with excitement due to the Teacher’s Day event, but the incident over the weekend was causing a stir as well.
The attempted assassination of Seong Guk-eon happened right in front of Eungwang High, and the Center explosion was deeply connected to the players.
‘There’s a student at Eungwang High who used to attend the Youth Pre-Player Support Center, right?’
There were students who had attended the Youth Pre-Player Support Center and had come close to being chosen as super-powered players, but they were lucky enough to avoid it.
Some had left the center after a few visits, pretending to be ill or creating chaos to get expelled.
The latter group often ended up in the "Zero Class."
Before coming to Eungwang High, these students, who had lived like members of Zero Class, eagerly shared their stories of being kicked out of the center.
What they had done would have caused the students from the student council at Eungwang High to burst into tears if it happened here.
‘They must have been persistent. They didn’t want to miss out on potential talent for Eungwang High. Zero Class was like that even before they joined...’
Meanwhile, amidst all the chaos, there was another group in Zero Class that stood out, unaffected by the weekend incident.
It was the graduated Zero Class, led by Woo Gi-hwan.
The powerful homeroom teacher Lim Yeon-hwa and Woo Gi-hwan’s group clashed on Teacher’s Day.
Their battle at Cheon Ik Mountain was broadcasted live, and the ferocity of the fight became a huge topic of conversation.
‘I didn’t expect them to upgrade the trap they used on the Woosuk faction on Christmas Eve...’
To cut a long story short, Woo Gi-hwan’s group lost.
Compared to the weakly muscled Woosuk faction, Lim Yeon-hwa was just too strong.
Lim Yeon-hwa, who had conducted a surprise training session with her cute students, was much stronger than usual, and Woo Gi-hwan couldn’t even put up a fight.
No primitive could defeat Lim Yeon-hwa, who could easily jump out of deep traps and tear apart reinforced steel nets enhanced by superpowers.
And there was another piece of exciting news for Eungwang High.
"Jo Eui-shin, are you feeling sick? You look strange."
"I'm fine."
Yu Sang-hoon seemed suspicious but didn’t press the issue, thinking ‘If it gets worse, I can always call Yu Sang-hee.’ and moved on from the topic.
Yu Sang-hoon seemed particularly cheerful.
Could he be talking about the Korea-China-Japan Youth Exchange Tournament?
I had teased him a few times about the possibility of participating.
But my prediction was off.
"Hey, the official launch of Plajet is coming soon. Want to join?"
It seemed like the open beta period for the popular game PlayerZ had ended, and the official launch was just around the corner.
