Ex Rank Supporting Role's Replay in a Prestigious School

darling12-15 minutes 01.08.2020

Two characters from the Gaechon Myth didn’t appear until the last moment in the PMH game.

The son of the heavenly god who ruled this land along with the Tiger Clan.

And another close friend of the Tiger Clan, Blue Tiger.

Little has been revealed about the two inside the game.

They only ever appeared as names in the background explanations until the very end of all PMH scenarios.

However, it wasn’t that there were no clues to find them.

‘There’s a good chance that the Son of God and Blue Tiger are together.’

Unless it was erased from the mythology, all the wishes of those who appeared in the myth had been fulfilled.

The White Tiger was said to become a monk of the divine service, but when he retired as a monk and regained his powers after passing the ordeals of the heavenly god, he regained the “power to go anywhere” once again.

The Yellow Tiger used his power “to exist anywhere” until he stopped appearing in the game.

If so, it was likely that Blue Tiger’s wish was also fulfilled and that he is alive.

‘Blue Tiger and Son of God… If you find one of them, then you can find them both. And there’s a lead to those two which is…”

The existence of the Son of God has been mentioned inside the game.

In this world, there were people who extremely hated the God and the Son of God and planned to extinguish them forever.

Those people were none other than the Eight Real Bears.

The Eight Real Bears were the most powerful of the Bear Clan.

They joined hands to extinguish the God and the Son of God.

However, their attempts ended in a great failure.

Two of them went insane, and three of them fell into a deep sleep.

Their failure to eliminate the Son of God could mean that they encountered the Son of God at some point.

That’s what the White Tiger thought and so he pursued the Bear People with hopes to find clues about Blue Tiger and the Son of God.

But something still seemed odd to me.

‘Why did the White Tiger have to do things this way?’

After the Youth Retreat incident, the Shapeshifter said something to me after he saw me using the White Tiger’s power.

— T-there’s no way the Gods would give permission, or even give orders, to a mere human! No, there’s no way that the God can afford such a thing! Wait, is he of the royal lineage? Just now he was in human form, how can he suddenly have powers from the royal lineage?!

— ……No, this thing is not ‘impossible’ but the opposite of this thing has been possible already.

I assumed it was about Hwang Jiho and White Tiger, Red Tiger, and Kim Shinrok.

However, it’s a doubt that White Tiger was the only one who found clues to the Blue Tiger and the Son of God.

‘But I don’t think Hwang Jiho expected this at all… If he had known something beforehand, he wouldn’t have this kind of reaction.’

There was something off, but if I think about it carefully, it all kind of makes sense.

Fwaaa….

Both Hwang Jiho and White Tiger turned silent.

The White Fang in White Tiger’s hand and the Bear Claw which fell near the Shapeshifter both disappeared.

“White Tiger. How did you notice that?”

“Do you remember the group of people dedicated to looking for the Son of God? More dedicated than we ever were?”

“You mean the Eight Real Bears?”

“We have so many things to protect. But those people abandoned all their other duties and pursued only the whereabouts of the Son of God.”

“The Shapeshifter had close connections to the Eight Real Bears. You used that fact to negotiate a deal with him, is that right? Even so, how can you come to the conclusion that Blue Tiger has become a human being…”

Upon seeing White Tiger’s cold face, Hwang Jiho halted his words.

Many thoughts seemed to rush in Jiho’s mind.

“White Tiger, even if your intention was to find Blue Tiger and the Son of God, you didn’t have to break your oath by having to negotiate a deal with this Shapeshifter.”

“…”

“Even if it was a bit difficult to make the Shapeshifter talk at first, if we would’ve waited for a bit longer… He would’ve lost his mind and have no choice but to speak to us and tell us everything he knew.”

“Then it would’ve been too late.”

The White Tiger spoke very surely.

Too late?

‘It sounds like he knows of some sort of time constraint…’

Considering the bad ending that the Black Screen will be bringing to this world, I can say that White Tiger’s judgment is correct.

It’s true that waiting for the Shapeshifter to lose his mind would take a huge amount of time, but the fact that the White Tiger seems to be very sure of a time limit bothered me.

“…Just like you, I also can’t wait to find Blue Tiger and the Son of God. But had you just consulted me beforehand…”

“Then you’d disagree with me, just like you’re doing now.”

White Tiger and Hwang Jiho stared at each other for a long time.

Neither of them is using their glare skills, but both their eyes shone brightly.

Jiho was the one who broke eye contact first.

“…Will you keep the Shapeshifter alive?”

“Yes. I didn’t do anything to him. I only said, ‘speak while you face the White Fang and its Wielder.”

White Tiger looked down at the Shapeshifter with cold eyes.

“I’m never going to let him have the honor of dying by the White Fang.”

“I think you’ve already given him that honor.”

Hwang Jiho spoke in a sharp voice.

I’ve never seen Hwang Jiho speak to White Tiger in this tone.

“Whatever the reason, it won’t change the fact that you attacked one of our descendants and did something against my will. Put everything back in its place and return to the mansion.”

There was a brief silence.

“Understood.”

The White Tiger briefly responded in the end.

* * *

Eungwang High Teacher’s Residence Building, at the 1st-floor lounge.

Perhaps because it’s still summer, there was hardly anyone there except for Hani and Gong Cheonghwon.

Hani was not even touching the syrup-filled strawberry iced tea that Gong Cheonghwon gave her.

“Would you like to drink something else?”

“…No.”

“I can’t believe THE Hani is just watching this sweet drink. Looks like it’s a serious problem then?”

Reading Gong Cheonghwon’s lips, Hani flinched a little.

Hani belatedly grabbed the cup and took a sip.

She swallowed the contents with a straw, but she couldn’t taste anything.

“Looks like you didn’t like the drink very much. I put more syrup than usual in your drink though.”

Hani hesitated before putting the glass down again.

It seemed like Gong Cheonghwon could read her perfectly without her having to say anything.

It’s not surprising though, given that Gong Cheonghwon is the only father-figure in Hani’s life.

‘…Teacher Gong Cheonghwon is technically involved in this incident, so I guess it’s better to just talk to him about it.’

It was clear that Gong Cheonghwon would be in danger regardless if Hani tells him what was going on or not.

It may be better to reveal everything to the teacher and persuade him to let her settle everything on her own.

Having made up her mind, Hani turned on her device and talked about everything she had been through.

After hearing everything, Gong Cheonghwon stood up from his seat.

“Well. I’ll be leaving first then.”

“Where are you going?”

“I’ll tell you when I get back.”

Sensing that Gong Cheonghwon was planning to meet with the people from the service company, Hani had to do everything to stop him urgently.

“Please don’t go! No, if you’re going then let me come with you…!”

“You can’t.”

Gong Cheonghwon entered a short message on his device.

The door of the lounge popped open shortly.

Those who appeared beyond the door were Kwon Lena and Saeum of April.

“Teacher Gong Cheonghwon, thank you so much for contacting us!”

“Can I leave Hani to you guys?”

“Of course! We’ll make sure she won’t leave here!”

The two looked at Hani with determined faces.

* * *

“The Son of God and Blue Tiger became human…?”

Hwang Jiho still looked very confused when we got back on the air shuttle.

I was also convinced when the White Tiger stood in front of us, but now that he’s not here, I think it’s not so much of a certain thing.

The time of Kwon Jein’s concert came to mind again. I remember a few words said during that event.

— The Blue Tiger said “Grant me the same wish that you granted to the Son of God”. After that, he disappeared from this world like a bubble.

The White Tiger said that the Son of God’s real wish was to become human.

That would mean the same wish is granted for Blue Tiger.

“The Son of God who was a mixed-blood with humans wouldn’t find that very difficult to turn into a complete human. But for Blue Tiger… What price did he pay? Humans and those of royal lineage are fundamentally different.”

I agree with what Hwang Jiho said.

Yong Jegun born from the Dragon King’s beloved Yeoju, the old idiom from The Elder’s [Equality of Things], and the [Butterfly’s Dream] from where the Butterfly came from.

The very source of life of humans and people of royal lineage are very different.

I can’t imagine how it would be if they would live a life as humans.

‘…The life of a human is also too short compared to the lives of those from royal lineage.’

A hundred years since the collision of the two worlds occurred, a dark era where most players died due to their lack of experience in dealing with enemies.

Therefore, statistics on the lifespan of players are still quite unreliable.

Song Manseok, Tak Geosan, and Hong Gyungbok established their hypothesis.

They say that even if a player is well over 70 years old, their lifespan could be extended ‘if their ability reaches its peak’.

But that was just a hypothesis.

“…Considering all things, could Blue Tiger and the Son of God still be alive?”

It’s possible if the time when the two of them disappeared was just a few years ago.

Hwang Jiho shook his head.

“The time when those two disappeared was too long ago already. If they had become humans right after they disappeared, they would’ve lived too many human lifespans. After the end of his first human life, he must have crossed the circle of reincarnation several times.”

“The circle of reincarnation?”

“Yes. The Son of God with a deep connection to the heavenly God would’ve been reincarnated in this land over and over again. Human reincarnation is not promised to all, but for the Son of God with the God’s divine protection…”

Hwang Jiho spoke with uncertainty.

There’s more that we need to investigate in this case.

The circle of reincarnation and the whereabouts of Blue Tiger and Son of God.

Hwang Jiho and I turned speechless for a few moments when Jiho decided to break the silence.

“Jo Euishin, you said that you don’t have the ability to use my power. Aside from the power of White Tiger, is there anyone from the Tiger clan whose skills you can bower? Can you borrow the power of the Son of God?”

“No.”

Hwang Jiho suddenly asked about my Player Identity skill.

‘I might find a clue if I tried to use those two’s powers.’

However, other than White Tiger, the others from the Tiger Clan were NPCs.

There’s no one else from the Tiger Clan whose powers I could borrow.

The Son of God and Blue Tiger aren’t even considered real characters inside the game.

“I can only use the White Tiger’s power.”

While Hwang Jiho was deep in thought, the air shuttle arrived at the residential area.

Before getting off the air shuttle that stopped in front of the faculty building…

I said something to Hwang Jiho as I was getting off.

“I can go do this on my own.”

“…It’s fine. I don’t have the confidence that I can keep my cool if I talk to White Tiger right now. Let’s take care of the Namgung group that’s bothering Hani first.”

Just like that, we arrived in front of the teacher’s lounge on the first floor.

Bang! Boom! Boom!

Fragments of furniture popped out through the broken window.

“…Let me go. I don’t want to hurt you.”

“No!”

“You can’t!”

The voices belonged to Hani, Kwon Lena, and Saeum.

Along with their voices was the sound of energy wave colliding and physically bumping.

Something popping and breaking sporadically was also heard.

‘Don’t tell me this is…’

I was as shocked as I was when I heard of the possible existence of Chengho and the Son of God.

The first fight between our good classmates was taking place in the faculty lounge.