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19. Eternal Lake's team master's performance in Korea (5)

After Red Wall Thief disappeared.

Yeom Junyeol used a recovery item card. Then he snuck out from the off-limits zone using the way without recording devices taught to him by his club senior, Student Council vice-president Ji Myeongsu.

While he was crossing the school gates, someone called out to Yeom Junyeol.

"Junyeol."

"Teacher Yong Jegeon-nim…!"

"I'm off work, so just call me hyung."

"We're still at school. Were you perhaps waiting for me? Let's go quickly."

Yong Jegeon had good senses.

Even among the Yong tribe, Yong Jegeon possessed the best Presence Detection skill.

Yeom Junyeol was worried that he may perhaps notice Red Wall Thief.

However Yeom Junyeol had no way of leaving without Yong Jegeon who had been waiting for him.

"Junyeol, have you been training?"

"Yes?"

"You have traces of your power on you. You have been working hard alone, huh? I'm so proud of you."

It hasn't been that long since he finished training, right?

Yeom Junyeol was worried he will by chance say that there are other forces mixed, but Yong Jegeon didn't say anything beyond that.

'Can't he feel master-nim's traces?'

Thinking it's lucky, Yeom Junyeol crossed the school gates with Yong Jegeon.

Yong Jegeon seemed to be in much better mood than usual, but Yeom Junyeol didn't dare to ask for a reason concerned he would make a tongue slip.

Rather, he decided to change the topic.

"Let's go buy Parent's Day gifts today! I have a present for dad, but choosing a gift for mom isn't easy. Please give me some advice."

At Yeom Junyeol's words, Yong Jegeon just smiled and nodded his head.

***

Today was Parent's Day.

The next day was weekend, so after Friday classes, most of Eungwang School dormitory students returned home to spent time with their parents.

In consideration of students returning home the club activities were suspended.

Thanks to that I could come to Hwang Myeong-ho's mansion early.

"It's quiet."

"Others seemed to be busy since this morning. Let's have a conversation first."

I crossed the entrance, but didn't see Eun-ho's three descendants siblings, Baek Ho-gun or Snare.

I couldn't tell if they were somewhere in the mansion or outside.

'I wanted to see Snare…"

It's a pity, but there was nothing I could do.

After following Hwang Jiho to the living room, tea and refreshments were served straight away.

Today's tea was sesame tea from grinded and soaked black sesame seeds and tea leaves.

The refreshments were black sesame dasiks[1] shaped into butterflies with a sweet mold.

Usually the tea and refreshments were prepared to match the season, but not today.

'Sesame season is in October, why is it served now?'

It seemed today wasn't the mood to choose tea and refreshments according to today's season.

"Jo Uisin, do you know the difference between a Divine Creature and Minor Creature?"

"I know a bit."

Just like humans divide themselves into different classes according to blood, Jin people also decided to divide each other into Divine Creatures and Minor Creatures based on their roots.

The Ho tribe's root was based in the Korean Peninsula's Gaecheon Myth.

The To tribe made a base out of the Moon Rabbit legend spread out through the entire East Asian region.

Among others, anyone recognized as the Jin of the 12 Zodiac received a status of Divine Creature.

In contrast the Jin people of the obscured roots or those of low recognition were called Minor Creatures and treated with contempt.

"The captured Ung said that a Minor Creature seems to be receiving 'Their' affection at 'Their' side… But I personally thought that the expression 'Minor Creature' is idiotic. Because in my standard, the Ung tribe are Minor Creatures."

The earlier words underestimated insignificant Minor Creatures.

As it was a relative expression, it was difficult for Hwang Jiho to categorize unfamiliar Jin as a Minor Creature.

Unlike me who had learned the information through the game.

'That Minor Creature the Ung spoke of was surely a Jeop tribe[2] member. And from among them, it should be a woman going under the name of 'Nabiryeong'[3]'

Nabiryeong.

She was a Jin born from the root in the old saying appearing in Chuang-Tzu's 'Equality of Things', the 'Butterfly's dream'[4].

As Nabiryeong appeared in just a few lines from the book left by on human's Taoist thinker of low recognition, she received a rank of Minor Creature.

'But in the game she was more powerful than a common Divine Creatures.'

Nabiryeong's Gwangrim that blurred the boundaries of everything was a cheat itself.

As she could mess up everything if she put her mind to it, I could hardly understand why she bowed her head and sold herself.

'She belonged to the Dark Mastermind's camp, but if we observed her movements, it's too ambiguous to decide… in the end, I couldn't discern if she was an ally or an enemy until she died.'

Hwang Jiho signed softly.

"It seems that in addition to the Ung tribe, Don tribe[5] and the Long Tail, there is yet another Jin under 'Their' command. A Minor Creature doesn't mean weak, so my head hurts."

"Yeah."

"… You aren't surprised."

"I'm surprised."

If I force myself to pretend to be surprised, it will only look more suspicious, so I'll feign composure.

In addition to a Minor Creature, the topic of the Children's Day Jamsil Baseball Stadium incident came up.

I briefly described the events of that day.

"Why aren't you going to explain to me how the Red Lion, Yong tribe, that damn Moon Rabbit happened to be in the same place with you?"

"It's a coincidence."

At the word coincidence, Hwang Jiho didn't hide his disbelief and made a rotten expression.

Anyway, if he was curious, his will was unbreakable so he would find out on his own.

He didn't press further and moved on to next topic.

"It appears that the Moon Palace's technique caught the 'outbreak of the otherworld without warnings', which PlayerSAT-K failed to."

"Yeah."

"Currently the Ho tribe's relationships with the Korean government and Player's Association aren't bad. Their swaying isn't particularly desirable."

Hwang Jiho, locked in thought, took a sip of the black sesame tea and then signed softly.

"Our side should do something about it after beating up that damn Moon Rabbit and making her spill the Moon Palace Guide's information… It seems I'll have no time to rest when arranging people."

It was an altruistic thought, not expected from a Jin, but it was a bit off the human's ideas.

I made a suggestion which a human would make.

"It would be difficult for the Ho tribe and To tribe to always worry about of conquering otherworlds. Why not borrow the Player's Association's power?"

As if he didn't think of borrowing human's parties' power when conquering otherworlds, Hwang Jiho's eyes sparkled at my words and he said:

"You're saying to combine the techniques of the Moon Palace and the Player's Association. Got it, let's try to do this. If the talks go well, Hwang Myeong group can take the role of the bridge."

Hwang Jiho added a few words.

"… It seems that I'll have to buy a few companies. I think it helps that I didn't particularly spend money."

In the meantime I thought he spent plenty of his money.

It felt ridiculous when I recalled the standard of the facilities in Hwang Myeong-ho's mansion and at the Eungwang School.

We started to talk about the last topic.

As it was related to my Playable Character, this topic held the most significance.

"There are no tickets left for the Eternal Lake's team master's performance?"

Lee Lena was refreshing the page during every break, saying she would grab a cancellation ticket.

It seemed she didn't get any sleep and was lost in a nightmare as her eyebags gradually turned black.

"I looked into that, but… there were and then there weren't."

What are you saying?

I had no idea what he was saying, but he appeared to know.

"Since it's at the Hwang Myeong Foundation's school, they sent me a few invitations. The problem is that there are many Kwon Jane fans among Ho tribe members…"

To sum up Hwang Jiho's words, it was as follows:

Usually, when Hwang Jiho receives invitations, he hands them over to his Ho tribe subordinates.

When he said that he will also do the same this time and to divide the invitations for Kwon Jane's concert, a big fight broke out among his Ho tribe subordinates.

Because there were many fans among Ho tribe members and four invitations, they end up settling it with Taehokwon tournament.

The victor was said to be decided after a match spanning dozens of hours.

'The Ho tribe is also living happily, huh?'

Hwang Jiho added something which would make the victorious Ho faint if he heard that.

"Well, I can beat up that victorious guy with Taehokwon and steal it back."

I hope he won't do that.

"No, I don't want to build grudges with that Ho."

"Is that so?… When thinking about what that victorious guy usually does, I think he will cry if I steal the ticket. Hahaha!"

Are you trying to steal it in spite of that?

Scary bastard.

I guess there are enthusiastic fans of Kwon Jane among the Ho tribe members.

Kwon Jane doesn't simply visit Korea, and doesn't often give concerts here.

It's difficult to leave the Korean Peninsula in Ho tribe position, so if he lost this opportunity, he may really cry.

"If she simply wants to hear a live performance, there are other ways."

Hwang Jiho's eyes sparkled, while I spoke.

"I want you to leave a concert staff seat empty for one day. As the concert in Korea was set up suddenly, not all the staff for chores was filled up because of the identity screening problems."

We couldn't obtain a seat, but I thought of some other ways.

After I finished the conversation with Hwang Jiho and moved to eat dinner, our way was blocked by someone.

"We're back, Hwangho-nim! Uisin oppa!"

"Hwangho-nim, Jo Uisin hyung! We were waiting."

"Hello…"

Eun-ho's three descendants siblings, were waiting for us outside of the living room.

"Hwang-nim, that… today is Parent's Day… When mom and dad were still alive and when we were under debt of gratitude for To tribe members, every year we would prepare carnations to express our thanks."

"We requested to prepare materials from Sinrok oppa and made them with it. We planned to give them in the morning, but we finished them a bit late….!"

"Here… this…"

The youngest, Eun Jaeho, stretched a carnation made from paper towards Hwang Jiho.

As if they still lacked dexterity, the overall flower was loose.

The papers appearing to be carnation leaves were crooked and most of the joints connecting flower and leaves were a mess because they were glued together a few times.

"Are you giving it to me?"

"Yes…!"

Hwang Jiho kneeled down in front of Eun Jaeho with the most dazed expression I had ever seen.

Eun Jaeho used a safety pin to attach a paper carnation to Hwang Jiho's uniform.

"… Thanks."

"We'll always be thankful, Hwangho-nim!"

"Ah, please take care of us in the future."

Hwang Jiho with a smile which lacked mischievousness and wearing a school uniform without even one wrinkle, decorated with a clumsily made carnation, wasn't bad.

'They're good children.'

It hasn't been long since the Parent's Day tradition came to Korea.

Considering they follow human customs, which should be a new thing by Jin people's standards, the father of three siblings may have been human.

Woof woof…!

When I observed this warm-hearted scene, I heard our Snare's voice coming from somewhere.

I looked around to find where it was, but I didn't see it.

"I think the divine beast is waiting."

"Ah, right."

"Actually, since we heard that Uisin oppa is coming today, we also made one for oppa!"

"Yes, we're thankful, so we made one!"

What, you're saying you also made one for me?

It's been so long since I participated in the carnation exchange on Parent's Day, so I couldn't even imagine that.

It's of course about giving, but even more about receiving.

"Baekho-nim, please open the door!"

I heard the second, Eun Niho's bright voice and then the door closest to the front door opened.

It looked like it was far away, because the closest to the front door also meant on the other side of the corridor.

Woof woof!

Snare peaked its head once through the door crack, barked and after that it held something in its teeth and ran towards me.

It was a clumsily made paper carnation.

Snare was asking me to quickly take it, while quickly wagging its tail and looking up at me.

"The divine beast looked at us as if it wanted to give it to Uisin oppa personally."

"Then it wanted to make it a surprise, so it hid."

Snare was even wearing a poorly made flower crown, which I assumed was made by three siblings.

Snare was wearing it, so it was shining even more than a flower crown made of real flowers.

After I received a carnation, I hugged Snare and shouted:

"It's an angel…!"

I guess our Snare is not a divine beast but an angel.

When I of course thanked Snare and then Eun-ho's three siblings descendants for their pretty and praiseworthy act one after one.

I heard Hwang Jiho mumble on the side.

"… I know it's a commonly used exclamation among humans, but comparing Ho tribe's divine beast to Cheon tribe's[6] messenger[7] feels subtle."

While I attached a paper carnation to my school uniform, Hwang Jiho continued his monologue in the same voice.

"Wait a sec. Why does it feel like Jo Uisin's is the main event? I'm the Ho tribe's head."

Hwang Jiho, who was grumbling while trying hard to suppress the corners of his mouth from rising, every time his eyes returned to the paper carnation tied to his school uniform.

The three siblings, who chirped as they described how they made the carnations and how they failed a few times, while smiling brightly every time they heard a praise.

Snare, who was wearing a paper flower crown and showed its charms in my arms.

Baek Ho-gun was observing this scene with frosty eyes.

A carnation was also tied to Baek Ho-gun's clothes.

*~*~*

[1] dasiks – a type of Korean sweet cookies.

[2] Jeop tribe – Jeop for hanja meaning 'butterfly'.

[3] Nabiryeong – I'm leaving it untranslated, because I have no idea what translation would be correct. Nabi means butterfly, but ryeong could mean… quite a few things. Possible meanings are: 'commander (of the army for example)', 'passage (mountain passage?), falling, 0 and raining (all three for one hanja) and finally my favorite hanja, 靈, which could mean divine spirit, a ghost or a soul?

[4] Butterfly's dream – Butterfly's dream is a short 'fable' by Chuang-Tzu. A girl was dreaming that she became a butterfly, but as a butterfly she was unaware she was a human. Then when she woke up, she was surprised that she wasn't a butterfly. As it was a philosophical fable, the question was did the girl become a butterfly, or did a butterfly become a girl? (Cheang-Tzu's answer was that it doesn't matter and that both of them were real, so the girl was a butterfly and the butterfly was a girl, all the same)

*Well, to be clear it's also a Chinese saying that basically means 'butterfly's dream', but this translator fails to comprehend the meaning of the saying.

[5] Don tribe – don for a 'pig'.

[6] Cheon tribe – Cheon basically means heaven. It's can be assumed it's refers to 'angels' or beings opposite of 'demons', which are Ma tribe. They were both mentioned in chapter 3 and I translated them as 'demons' and 'angles' respectively. I'll continue to call Ma tribe 'demons' as they're not clearly united group… as for Cheon tribe.. I have no information, but if my theories are right, it would be wise for me to leave them as Cheon.

[7] messenger – besides the common definition of the messenger, the hanja also relates to the buddhist spirit which takes the dead to underworld. There is also one other curious thing. In korean it's 사자 which could also means 'lion' if hanja was different.

Translator's note: … Butterfly… Black Sesame… October… Cheon tribe… Parents… Butterfly's dream…

*Confirmation. This chapter may have driven this translator a bit insane with its rice cakes. Please don't worry.