NOVPUBAfter finishing breakfast at the Gicheonghwa Dormitory’s cafeteria, Han-i, instead of heading to the study cafe with Kwon Lena, made her way to the Taeho Kwon small group room.
She had gone to help the first-year students who had joined the Taeho Kwon group this year with their studies.
The first-year students had gotten along well, and no one had forced them, but during the exam period, they had formed a study party, and everyone had joined it.
When Han-i and the other second and third-year students found out about this, they decided to visit the Taeho Kwon small group room whenever they had time to help the first-years with their studies.
Since Han-i was planning to have a study session with the second-year Class 0 students today, she thought of stopping by briefly in the morning to help them with their studies.
‘It’s a good thing they moved to a larger room last year. Now, the juniors don’t have to struggle to secure a space for their meetings. If this many people join next year, the group will be upgraded to a full club...’
Taeho Kwon small group room.
Han-i sat down around a spacious table with the first-year students and recalled what had happened last year.
Yeonggwang High School had two types of extracurricular activities: official clubs and small groups.
For small groups, as long as they followed the basic application process, they were quickly accepted and could be formed or disbanded with relative freedom. However, due to the smaller number of members and lack of tangible achievements, they received less support.
Because of that, small groups had many shortcomings, but starting from last year, things gradually improved, and by the second semester, they were being treated almost like official clubs.
Since all small groups received better treatment, the Taeho Kwon small group also benefited from it.
‘It wasn’t the general club council’s decision, it was the school’s directive.’
Small groups were good in the sense that they were flexible, but they could also be seen as lacking substance.
In Yeonggwang High School, where there were plenty of clubs achieving excellent results, there was little need to invest more in small groups.
However, there were some small groups like Taeho Kwon or the Chess small group, which had clear goals and serious students participating, but those were in the minority.
Many small groups were created on a whim by friends, using the small group funds to play around and then disbanding near graduation.
Recently, a group of PlayerZ users created a small group called ‘EungwangZ,’ with a name that showed no effort, and bought merchandise with their support funds to display and even set up VR equipment.
One of the board members of the general club council suggested cutting back on small group funding due to such actions, but it didn’t work at all.
Chairman Hwang Myungho roughly said something like, "I’m giving students the opportunity to create memories with my money, so what’s the problem?" and the board members quietly shut up, and this news spread, significantly boosting the chairman’s reputation among students.
‘Since it was initiated by the Hwang Foundation, Jiho might be involved too? Jiho is a relative of the chairman.’
Though they were technically related, Han-i didn’t know that.
Even though she was only a second-year student, Han-i had a feeling that Jiho was no ordinary person.
If she had to choose the second most suspicious person in Class 0, after Jo Eui-shin, she wouldn’t hesitate to pick that oddball.
Hwang Ji-ho was absurdly strong, had maintained a 40-point average in all subjects since entering, and often did things that made no sense.
As Han-i had vaguely guessed, Hwang Ho had been involved in a series of events.
Since they were in the same class and practicing Taeho Kwon, Han-i was paying attention to the situation, and once she figured out Jiho’s true nature, Hwang Ho didn’t hesitate to act.
Cheongho’s disciples had secretly caused a commotion in front of Hwang Ho, asking if they were thinking of placing Cheongho in such a place, and Hwang Ho, empathizing with them, had built a few more buildings to offer as small group rooms.
Only Taeho Kwon small groups received special treatment, and to prevent Gong Cheong-hwon’s position from becoming awkward, he made a spectacular show of spending money.
While Han-i was lost in thought, she sensed a familiar presence.
“...!”
“A myth of the river’s origin is recorded in this document. Were you reading this?”
The oddball from the same class was standing nearby.
Hwang Ho didn’t speak until Han-i turned to look at him. 𝓷ℴ𝓿𝓅𝓊𝒷.𝓬𝓸𝓂
Because Han-i had a keen sense of awareness and understood speech well, many people forgot that she was hearing-impaired and often made the mistake of speaking from behind her, but there were a few people who never made such a mistake, one of whom was Hwang Ho.
Hwang Ho always turned his head to a position where Han-i could read his lip movements before speaking.
“How did you get here?”
“Did you forget that I was permitted by the instructor? I came in by myself.”
The question had been wrong.
Although Hwang Ho wasn’t an official member, he had been granted permission to attend any time, whether it was the small group’s study room or the training sessions, and the first-year students knew this.
Hwang Ho was very familiar with Taeho Kwon, and he occasionally offered helpful advice or demonstrated techniques to help the small group.
Even so, Gong Cheong-hwon had been particularly reluctant to have him involved in the second-year class 0.
Han-i asked again.
“Why are you here?”
“I suddenly thought of my friend this morning. I thought you’d be here, so I stopped by.”
The answer was absurd.
Yeonggwang High School had so many strange people that it wasn’t noticeable, but Hwang Ho had a tendency to speak nonsense like that.
The first-year students used to be shocked when they heard Hwang Ho’s nonsense, but now they just shrugged it off and didn’t pay it much mind.
This time, it was Hwang Ho who asked.
“There’s no common subject related to the myth of the river’s origin in the exam syllabus, and you didn’t choose any elective related to the Trueblood or mythology. Why are you reading a text unrelated to the exam during this crucial time?”
“...Just. It’s not like you only study during exam periods.”
During exam periods, one often developed an interest in topics they usually didn’t care about, like current events, news, classical music, or movies that weren’t fun but had artistic merit.
It was even joked on the player-related news program hosted by the two-faced mirror, Choi Ji-na, that during exam periods, the viewership and replay views went up, as people started watching those shows for a break from studying.
Of course, Han-i didn’t have a weak mind that neglected her responsibilities to focus on unnecessary things.
She simply avoided talking about her dreams, which she couldn’t share, and made up an excuse.
‘The dream involving the higher being is related to the myth of the river’s origin, so I thought I’d take some time to look into it... but mentioning this now might be awkward.’
With a smile on his face, Hwang Ho looked at Han-i, who was stumbling over her words.
It was strange that he didn’t seem suspicious about her vague excuse, but instead, he confidently spoke.
“I know more about the myth of the river’s origin than anyone else at this school. If you have any questions, feel free to ask.”
His calm attitude, without probing further, left Han-i relieved yet baffled.
He knows more about the myth of the river’s origin than the teachers?
The teachers at Yeonggwang High School were not only accomplished players but also experts in their respective fields.
For example, Im Yeon-hwa, a strong teacher, was also academically accomplished and had written authoritative papers on the study of Truebloods.
There were even scholars in the teaching staff who specialized in the myth of the river’s origin, so why was Hwang Ho so confident?
‘He’s strange, but he’s not lying.’
Whether it was boasting or not, I couldn’t tell.
Still, since she couldn’t ask a teacher about her dream, Han-i decided to make use of this opportunity.
She asked him a question.
“...I’m curious about the wishes mentioned in the myth of the river’s origin.”
“Hahaha! Ask away.”
Hwang Ho answered Han-i’s question without hesitation and even added some information she hadn’t asked about.
The more he spoke, the more immersed Han-i became in the myth of the river’s origin.
Unlike the dry list of facts in a textbook, hearing a story directly from the source made the myth from thousands of years ago feel almost real.
When discussing hypotheses and general beliefs, traces of deep contemplation could be felt, and when recounting the facts, it felt as though she was racing alongside a tiger.
“That’s enough. If we wait any longer, we’ll be late.”
“Ah...”
When Hwang Ho finished speaking, the time for their appointment had come near.
Even the first-year students, who had been interested in the myth of the river’s origin, sighed in disappointment after listening to him.
Han-i, too, felt a little regretful.
“Hahaha! Don’t worry. If you want to hear more, I’ll tell you anytime.”
With a short smile, Hwang Ho led the way out of the Taeho Kwon small group room.
As they headed toward the study cafe, Hwang Ho spoke.
“I’m so glad to see my friend taking an interest in the myth of the river’s origin.”
Because of that friend comment, Han-i missed the opportunity to thank him for explaining.
Seeing Han-i’s frown, Hwang Ho smiled again, as if something delighted him.
Han-i, now suspicious that he was intentionally blocking her attempt to thank him, but realizing they had already arrived at the meeting place, just let it go.
Han-i and Hwang Ji-ho arrived just in time for their appointment.
Han-i seemed deep in thought, while Hwang Ji-ho seemed overjoyed.
Although Hwang Ji-ho had been acting this way since hearing my suspicions about Han-i, I felt uneasy hearing that they arrived together.
‘Did the old tiger really say something unnecessary? I don’t think he crossed the line, but he seems too happy, so it makes me suspicious.’
I wasn’t the only one who was suspicious.
Dokgo Miro asked, voicing my concerns.
“Han-i, did he say anything weird again?”
“Hahaha! How could I say such things to a friend... well, maybe I did.”
“Seems like he did.”
Just from watching the conversations between the tigers, it was clear.
Hwang Ji-ho and Jeokho often spoke nonsense to each other, laughing as they tested each other’s reactions.
“Today, I didn’t say anything unusual. I just told them what I know about the myth of the river’s origin.”
Clunk.
As I was sitting next to Min Green, who was busy exchanging notes with Song Daeseok, I heard a loud sound.
Song Daeseok had let his chin slip and his hand had slid off the desk.
Min Green, worried, asked.
“...Did you hurt yourself?”
“Aah, hey, guys! If you apply in advance, you can bring outside food into the study room. Write down the snacks you want!”
When Kim Yoori mentioned snacks, everyone seemed more interested in that than in Hwang Ji-ho’s nonsense.
For someone who knew everything, it was an awkward situation.
Hwang Ji-ho’s true identity, his friend, and the myth of the river’s origin.
When thinking about all this, it became clear that Han-i was no ordinary person.
‘Those two must know about Jiho’s identity, so they probably understand what he meant by ‘friend.’ Maeng Hyo-don roughly knows too, but...’
Maeng Hyo-don was too absorbed in his math problems to care about Jiho’s words.
It wasn’t until Kim Yoori handed over the snack list that he finally looked up and responded.
Ignoring the efforts of Song Daeseok and Kim Yoori, Hwang Ji-ho casually spoke up.
“I have something to tell you about the myth of the river’s origin.”
I had intended to ignore his nonsense and focus on the snack list, but Hwang Ji-ho brought up something I couldn’t ignore.
“I heard your close junior is making something related to it. I’d like you to check it out.”
It seemed Eunho was making something related to the myth of the river’s origin.
