NOVPUBThe Black Mask has Cheongho’s body.
And for decades, he’s been carrying Seong Hyeong-woo’s corpse.
‘That training belt must have been with Cheongho’s body. If so, does that mean Cheongho and Seong Hyeong-woo were in the same place?’
A hypothesis I thought might not be very pleasing to the Hojok emerged.
Considering Seong Hyeong-woo's Gwangrim, I didn’t have a good feeling about this.
I decided to ask about something that needed clarification.
"How does this compare to where Unsa was?"
"They passed through the same place."
"Do we know the time?"
"We can't pinpoint an exact time, but it's highly likely they were in the same space around the same time."
Unsa, Seong Hyeong-woo, and Cheongho’s training belt were all close by.
It couldn’t have been a coincidence.
The Black Mask doesn't like to gather valuable pieces in one place like that.
The Black Mask prefers to gradually accumulate pieces and tighten the opponent’s grip, until they can’t even twitch a finger when they realize what’s happened.
To avoid a situation where everything could change in one move, any potential clues would be scattered around and fake clues would be hidden, creating confusion for the opponent’s mind.
The example of how only Muji-gi was found in the TC research lab was one such case.
‘If the Black Mask preferred to collect and manage everything in one place, Muji-gi and Unsa would have been together. But they weren’t even in the same place or on the same path.’
Considering all of this, the idea that those three were in one place seemed strange.
There must be a reason behind such an unusual event.
‘There must have been a reason for them to be in the same place, even if only for a short while. Unsa likely provided the power, Seong Hyeong-woo acted as a vessel for the precious Gwangrim, and Cheongho... What was his role there?’
If Unsa and Seong Hyeong-woo used their respective powers and skills, then what about Cheongho?
It would be easy to assume Cheongho played the same role as Unsa, pulling power, but my thoughts were different.
If more power was needed, they would have kept one of them safe and brought Muji-gi, not placed Unsa and Cheongho together.
The sense of unease I had about Cheongho was beginning to solidify.
"Jo Eui-shin, you’ve got something on your mind. Speak up."
"It’s hard to say. I’m not sure yet."
"Is it hard to say because you’re unsure, or is it difficult because you’re not sure and also don’t want to say it?"
It sounded like the same thing, but it wasn’t.
Strictly speaking, it was closer to the latter, but I found it hard to respond.
"Both."
"So it’s a difficult guess, huh?"
Hwang Ji-ho, who had been wearing an unreadable expression, softened his tone and relaxed the tension around his eyes, almost as if trying to reassure a child.
"Even so, I want to hear it."
"It might be wrong."
"And what’s the problem with that? I won’t blame you, so relax."
He said that, but he’d been nagging about missed messages and other things. It wasn’t like he wouldn’t scold me if my guess turned out wrong.
It was clear that the old tiger wouldn’t say much if my guess was wrong.
Hwang Ji-ho, when it came down to it, seemed to ignore or laugh off the real moments when he should be scolding or giving advice.
Still hesitating, Hwang Ji-ho added.
"As the leader, I didn’t even know the threat my friend was facing or that I couldn’t save them. This time, Cheongho might be saved by someone other than the Hojok. I trust you."
He said that, and it was hard to remain silent.
It felt too early to say anything, but I decided to speak on what I was certain about.
Before I spoke, I asked one more question.
"Have you found any family or blood relatives of Han-i yet?"
"No. At least within my reach, I haven’t found any of Han-i’s blood relatives. If they do exist, they’ve either died without participating in society or are simply surviving somewhere, doing nothing."
I asked again.
"Do you remember the conversation we had after I used my skill in the Sky Tower?"
"I remember. How could I forget the moment my benefactor collapsed before my eyes?"
Hwang Ji-ho spoke with a frown.
It had been a while since that incident, so it seemed like it still bothered him.
Though there were extra words in his sentence, it made it easier to talk if he remembered it.
"I asked, 'Did Shin-in and Cheongho become human?' and the response was positive."
"That’s right. Both of them were reborn as humans."
"No, that’s not what I meant."
What I was thinking now, based on that conversation and the information that Hwang Ji-ho must have gathered from it, seemed entirely plausible.
But Hwang Ji-ho didn’t remember it.
Given how emotionally close he was to his friend Cheongho, it must have been hard for him to judge things coldly.
To put it in Hwang Ji-ho’s own words, the Hojok might need help from someone other than themselves.
"Yes, they became human, but whether they died and were reborn, I’m not sure."
Eunho became human, but he didn’t die.
In this world, Eunho was simply in a deep sleep.
Hwang Ji-ho, who had stayed by Eunho’s side while he slept for a long time, should know that well.
And Unsa had referred to Cheongho’s 'corpse' as 'body' instead.
‘By now, Hwang Ji-ho must have realized. Plus, there are more clues.’
Han-i is currently having the same dreams she had when Eunho was human.
Both of them met the higher being, Cheonsin, who had their eyes covered in the dream.
The difference between humans and the Trueblood, and how difficult it was for Cheongho to become human as opposed to Shin-in.
The communication with the astral universe.
Cheongho’s actions and Unsa’s words.
The circumstances surrounding Eunho’s awakening.
And the commonality between Cheongho and Han-i.
When I put all these together, the answer was clear.
"You don’t mean..."
"Cheongho might not have been reincarnated."
Hwang Ji-ho’s eyes widened.
He seemed shocked, but it was different from his usual reaction.
His eyes were wide open, not covered with his usual calm demeanor, and they seemed to shine.
"I think Cheongho is in a deep sleep, like Eunho."
Maybe Cheongho, like Eunho, was still asleep, living in a human’s dream?
My guess was a cruel one for the tigers.
I had given them hope, saying that their friend was alive, but now that friend was captured by the Black Mask.
It was like crushing that hope, but surprisingly, Hwang Ji-ho was pleased.
"Thank you for telling me."
"Why are you thanking me?"
"Jo Eui-shin, why are you feeling sorry? It’s natural to be happy if there’s a chance your friend is still alive."
Hwang Ji-ho, unlike when he first called me, looked quite pleased now.
This carefree old tiger didn’t even properly listen to what I said and just felt happy.
Actually, there was one part of my guess I couldn’t say.
‘The reason why Unsa, Seong Hyeong-woo, and Cheongho were together might be...’
Could it be that Unsa used Seong Hyeong-woo’s Gwangrim on the living Cheongho with his power?
I couldn’t know what effect it would have on the deeply asleep Trueblood.
But if Seong Hyeong-woo’s Gwangrim worked, Cheongho would have been asleep, seeing his past, regrets, future, and fear.
During the final exam preparation period, Class 0 of the second year formed a study party, just like always.
A total of twelve people participated.
The participants were Kwon Lena, Kim Yoori, Dokgo Miro, Maeng Hyo-don, Mok Woo-ram, Min Green, Sa Wolseum, Song Daeseok, Jin Jeongmook, Han-i, Hwang Ji-ho, and me.
Except for the two attention-seekers and the two who refused to go to school, everyone else was there.
So, we rented the largest study room for the exam period.
Today, since it was the weekend, we would have our study meeting in the rented place.
‘Since everyone has their schedules, it’s rare for all twelve to show up, but there’s no harm in securing a large place.’
Kim Yoori always made sure to prepare plenty of snacks in case the school refusers showed up suddenly.
Whether she knew how hard being the class president was or not, unfortunately, after the exam preparation period started, I hadn’t seen any of those four even once.
Also, some kids were frequently absent.
Like Song Daeseok, who was busy with the association project, and Sa Wolseum, who had joined other study parties.
"During the summer vacation, we’re planning to do group training for capturing the wanted criminal, Choi Pyeondeuk. With the Korea-China-Japan Youth Exchange coming up, there are a lot of bad people doing things, right? We plan to train to hunt them down."
Sa Wolseum shared news about the wanted criminal hunting party.
After joining that study group following the midterm exams, Sa Wolseum seemed to plan on continuing to be active there.
The hunting party set its goal in line with the Korea-China-Japan Youth Exchange.
‘There are also goals unrelated to the Youth Exchange, like rooting out moles planted by other schools or betting agencies, uncovering scalpers for the major games, and hunting international wanted criminals who might cause disturbances during the exchange...’
There were some unsavory goals, but I decided not to point them out.
Meanwhile, I received messages from the attention-seekers, still following the school refusers.
[Gu Seulbi] We’re in big trouble. We might become super famous and get a lot of attention.
[Ong Gildong] I think I’m the first to take the lead as a fellow thief, sorry. But there’s some risk involved. If anything happens to us, we hope you’ll carry on the thief’s will!
[Gu Seulbi] Oh, stop talking as if our lives are on the line. Master Merlin said if we’re unlucky, we might sleep a bit longer, but there won’t be any major problems.
[Ong Gildong] But if we, people who are already in the spotlight, take a few days off, it’ll cause a huge loss to society! So we need someone to take our place.
[Gu Seulbi] That’s true...
[Ong Gildong] Exactly, we are important!
[Gu Seulbi] Right!
Did they forget I was in this chatroom?
I decided to ignore them, not wanting to disturb them, and left a message saying I’d check in after the exam period.
Since they seemed busy with their own event, I figured I wouldn’t see their faces until the final exam was over.
‘I bet it has something to do with the leaders of the two factions. They planted clues to coax the school refusers into following them.’
According to Merlin, it didn’t seem too dangerous, so I decided to leave them be for now.
I’d need to check if they’re still awake during the exam period since falling asleep during that time would be a big deal.
‘Honestly, the Martial Artists they got to attend school have been attending consistently. It’d be nice if they followed their example.’
Jin Jeongmook faithfully showed up at the study party and studied quietly.
When I told him about the attention-seekers, he responded seriously.
"They sent a letter? Tell them I hope they study hard with the exams coming up."
Jin Jeongmook, who was drawing something on rice paper, spoke.
I thought he was practicing his drawing to relax, but when I looked closely, it was writing.
It seemed like he was studying, but his calligraphy was still a mess.
‘I wonder if Han-i’s power couldn’t do anything about Jin Jeongmook’s terrible calligraphy...’
Then I realized I hadn’t seen Han-i.
There was still time until the study meeting started, but she had come early on the day she had promised, which made me uneasy.
"Where’s Han-i?"
"I was with her during breakfast at the dorm. She said she was just stopping by Taeho Kwon’s small group meeting..."
Kwon Lena trailed off.
Now that I thought about it, Hwang Ji-ho was also missing.
