Chapter 521: Model (5)
I thought a message from my playable character would bring me warmth, but that wasn’t the case.
When I saw the message from the very active Yong Jegun, I thought I’d feel proud and happy, but something lingered in my mind.
‘He’s been strangely quiet when we met with Seodol and Jared Lee. He moved separately at the end, saying he wants to talk to Kwon Jein…’
He was about to ask me a favor in front of Mok Wooram while we were in the limousine, but when we arrived at our destination, he suddenly became calm.
Perhaps the atmosphere didn’t give him space to intervene, but Yong Jegun isn’t someone who shuts his mouth like that.
‘Did he do it on purpose?’
Is it some kind of strategy to keep quiet for a long and then send a message all of a sudden?
Instead of feeling relieved, it’s a headache to not know what he’s up to.
Being unprepared for what he’d say, my response became a little delayed.
I was off guard since we just went through a big crisis.
I couldn’t help but admire the psychological tricks that Yong Jegun played on me.
And then, another message from him arrived.
[Yong Jegun] You saw my message, but you’re taking some time to reply. Are you thinking a lot?
Is Yong Jegun watching me somewhere?
It wouldn’t be strange if Yong Jegun is hovering outside my window right now.
Though Kim Shinrok wouldn’t stay still if Yong Jegun did something like that.
Anyway, I decided to respond to the assistant homeroom teacher’s message.
[Me] I’m back. Please go ahead.
[Yong Jegun] I was thinking of going to you though, but what a shame.
Thank god I answered.
I think he’s joking, but if my message gets delayed once more, I think he really might visit me.
It’s inevitable now that it’s come to this.
I decided to hear out what favor Yong Jegun was going to ask for.
[Me] Please say what you want to say.
[Yong Jegun] Okay, then I’ll ask you the favor right away.
Yong Jegun replied as if he understood that I’m talking about the favor.
Considering Yong Jegun’s performance and strong appeal today, it’s a bit difficult to say no.
He created a condition where it was difficult for me to refuse and then asked for a favor.
[Yong Jegun] The thing that you showed to Jeokho-ssi. I want to see it too.
He’s talking about the Replay Function!
Yong Jegun said he shared some drinks with Jeokho, and it’s clear that Jeokho said something to him.
Out of all things, he revealed the function to Yong Jegun.
‘I know it’s Yong Jegun, but why did Jeokho easily reveal information like that?’
Jeokho mentioned Yong Jegun in his report about what he saw through Replay.
Yong Jegun tried to save Kim Shinrok many times.
Jeokho saw how Yong Jegun struggled to revive his son for nearly a year to the point where Yong Jegun looked weak.
I should’ve known when he saw they had a drinking party, but I was too complacent.
I was too distracted.
‘Replay…’
The levels in PMH were replayable.
Among them were stages where death occurs.
No matter what choice I made, no matter how many times I replayed the level without a break.
‘Replay’s stage went up so I can select more people now.’
Some characters were added to the list when Replay Function’s stage went up.
What the number meant was the number of times I replayed the stage where a character died.
The number of times I replayed the stage where Yong Jegun died was three digits.
‘If I use it on Yong Jegun…’
After obtaining the information that the former association head tried to leave, my level of dimensional understanding and the Replay Function rose to stage 3.
It’s now possible to select Yong Jegun, who I failed to force out of the school on his death.
‘I’ve never used Replay on a playable character before.’
So far, I’ve used the function on Yoo Sanghoon, Jang Namwook, Son Minki, Kim Shinrok, and Jeokho.
All of them were NPCs in PMH.
I can’t predict what Yong Jegun, a playable character, would experience.
‘There’s a lot of information we can get from his offer but… I don’t want to use it.’
Yong Jegun lost a friend in PMH.
He didn’t give up saving his friend until the end.
I can’t even imagine how painful that would be.
[Yong Jegun] You’re not replying.
[Yong Jegun] Seeing that you’re hesitating, you must’ve shown Jeokho-ssi something big, Euishin-ie. ^^
I can hear his voice through his message!
Should I make up something?
No, if I lie for no reason, he might demand something bigger from me for lying.
[Yong Jegun] Is it something so amazing that you can’t say right away? I’m really excited about it now.
Yong Jegun knows what I’m thinking.
He’s already in a great mood since the picnic, and his mood just keeps getting better.
[Yong Jegun] There must be a reason why you showed it to Jeokho, right? I think I can help too.
It’s beneficial to use Replay if I just look at the advantage of information acquisition.
Yong Jegun, a dragon who works as a teacher at Eungwang High, must’ve seen what Jeokho didn’t see and have the information that he didn’t get.
It’s already Christmas next month, so the more information we have, the better.
But I couldn’t get myself to agree.
After much consideration, I finally wrote a reply.
[Me] Give me some time to think, please.
I couldn’t refuse flatly.
I didn’t give a straight answer, but I felt guilty.
Blinded by the desire to get information, I’m thinking of putting Yong Jegun through a nightmare.
[Yong Jegun] Alright, I’ll wait for a positive answer.
[Yong Jegun] ^^
He said he’d wait, but it’s clear he’d do something to hear the answer he wants.
He could leverage the fact that I asked him for help today, or perhaps he’ll use some unimaginable scheme.
I could stop him if I concentrate, but I have too much work to do.
Yong Jegun would definitely catch me off guard.
Dingdong.
Another message arrived on my device.
This time, it was from another dragon.
[Yeom Junyeol] How’s your picnic, Euishin-ah?
[Yeom Junyeol] Did you enjoy your picnic today, teacher?
My good sunbae and student never fails to send two messages even though it might be cumbersome sometimes.
The busy Yeom Junyeol cares about me so much!
I couldn’t help but answer, both as a hoobae and a teacher.
After that, we continued to talk as sunbae-hoobae about the picnic.
[Me] I heard that you prepared the prizes for the treasure hunt. Thank you.
[Yeom Junyeol] No need for thanks. How are the prizes?
I loved them.
There were a lot of Hongryong goodies that were hard to find anywhere else.
A seasonal photocard, a calendar, a Hongryong device case, and a crystal stand that looks like a red dragon once turned on.
All of the prizes Yeom Junyeol prepared were great.
Yeom Junyeol was delighted when I told him about the prizes I secured.
[Yeom Junyeol] You found all the prizes I prepared!
[Yeom Junyeol] I’m glad you like them. I carefully selected the ones that have been released so far.
[Yeom Junyeol] (Stamp)
Yeom Junyeol sent a stamp of Hongryong surrounded by gift boxes.
The prizes themself were great, but I was prouder to think that Yeom Junyeol personally prepared them.
I finally felt some warmth after the conversation with Yeom Junyeol.
As expected, my student and sunbae had an amazing power.
Dingdong.
By the time I closed our message window, a message arrived from one of the kids in our class.
It was Ong Gildong.
[Ong Gildong] Sorry for the late-night text. I just got back to the hideout.
Is Ong Gildong home now?
He and Goo Seulbi left together, so maybe they went on a date after the picnic?
[Ong Gildong] Tell me the address to send the picnic souvenir.
Just as he said before we parted ways, Ong Gildong is planning to make souvenirs for all the kids.
He could just give it while we’re in school though, so why is he asking for my address?
Maybe he’s not planning on going to school after all.
I contemplated if I should persuade him to attend school, but knowing that he didn’t listen to me before, I decided to give it up.
I gave him my dorm address and thanked him.
Dingdong.
Another message came.
It was from the person I expected.
[Ryujang] Hello, Student Jo Euishin. Did your picnic end safely?
[Ryujang] My host asked me to tell you that he watched it well. You’ve worked hard.
MITRON’s pattissier and Sidelentium’s agent, Ryujang.
He wished me a safe trip before the picnic.
I expected that the crow was watching because I used the mask this time.
I gave him a conventional greeting and thanked him in moderation.
After answering some more messages, another one arrived just before I went to bed.
Dingdong.
I felt dirty as soon as I saw the name on the screen.
[Gye Idam] Hey.
I can’t believe I haven’t blocked this trash yet!
It slipped my mind since we don’t exchange messages anyway.
I want to live my life without this bastard.
After turning off the notifications from his messages, I glared at the single-word text he sent.
Hey.
Seeing that his words are short, this malicious commenter must’ve lost his mind.
Judging that it was not worth answering him, I immediately turned off my device and went to bed.
After a long day, I fell into a dreamless sleep.
I was on my way to early morning training and saw some of my playable characters.
‘…Are my eyes deceiving me?’
In front of the freshmen dormitory building.
Ahn Dain and Yong Jegun were facing each other.
Ahn Dain is a dormitory student, but why is Yong Jegun here?
‘Why is he here at this hour?’
There’s no way Yong Jegun will come to school on a Sunday.
He doesn’t have any business in the dormitory building either.
He must be here to see someone.
It’s probably Kim Shinrok, and Ahn Dain is confronting him.
“Hello, Professor Yong Jegun.”
“Hi, Dain-ah.”
Ahn Dain greeted politely, and Yong Jegun answered with a smile.
It seemed like a normal exchange at first glance, but there was an indescribable tension around them.