EX rank supporting role’s replay in a prestigious school - Chapter 855 - Boundary (8)

Hwangho stared straight at Yong Jegun, a sense of intimidation in his gaze.

He was in Hwang Jiho’s form, wearing his school uniform.

They appeared like a teacher and a student, but the look in Hwangho’s eyes as he stared at Yong Jegun didn’t feel out of place.

Hwangho thought,

‘Yong Jegun received great favors from Jo Euishin, including things related to Kim Shinrok and the Dragon Palace incident. He saw how Jo Euishin got seriously injured during the incident at the broadcasting station. He must’ve been shaken by the news of Jo Euishin’s injury now.’

He felt uneasy when he saw the hollow space where Jo Euishin’s eye used to be.

But he knew that if he hadn’t seen it for himself how much the benefactor was hurt he would’ve been more anxious.

Hwangho interpreted Yong Jegun’s provocative attitude as a manifestation of that kind of anxiety.

‘It’s not just Yong Jegun. Kim Shinrok and Sung Gukeon seem uneasy too. But I can’t get caught up in Yong Jegun’s anxiety, especially in this situation.’

While only Yong Jegun was vocal, Kim Shinrok also seemed to be very worried, while Sung Gukeon looked deep in thought,

Hwangho is no stranger to situations where his surroundings are shaky, and every time, he is able to take control and resolve the crisis.

While the three wavered, Hwangho became calmer.

‘Jo Euishin’s eyes can be restored even without the Dragon Clan’s help. There’s Li Wei who can borrow Emperor Yan Shen Nong’s* power, and there’s Yoo Sanghee who’s cherished by Akea. But…’

Li Wei promised Hwangho to stay in Korea in exchange for helping him get his revenge.

However, that takes effect the following year when Li Wei graduates.

He is still in China, and it will take a while to summon him.

Yoo Sanghee would come right away if she was called, but the problem lies with Jo Euishin.

‘Even if it’s Yoo Sanghee, it would take a lot of strength to restore his eye. It doesn’t seem like Jo Euishin would willingly accept treatment from her.’

If the treatment were to interfere with Yoo Sanghee’s daily life, Jo Euishin would probably rather have his eye left alone.

Yong Jegun interrupted Hwangho’s thoughts.

“And you said Euishin’s eyes got entangled with the clouds. Did you forget that the Dragon King’s shamans can control clouds?”

In the first place, Hwangho had no intention of borrowing the Dragon Clan’s power.

The Dragon Clan referred to Jo Euishin as their benefactor and would push burdensome things like the Dragon Palace onto the latter.

Repaying the favor and ending the benefactor relationship would be ideal, but seeing the way the Dragon Clan is acting, it was obvious that they would cling to Jo Euishin.

Maybe even push him to live as if part of their family.

Still, he wanted to leave room for help just in case.

Thinking like so, Hwangho answered in a very soft voice.

“I couldn’t have forgotten. Didn’t the traitor shamans help bring evil to Eungwang High by using clouds? As the Guardian of our territory, that’s something that I keep on my mind.”

Hwangho’s voice was affectionate, but his words were cold.

Sung Gukeon seemed to doubt his ears as he watched the calm conversation between beings of royal lineage.

Yong Jegun seemed to have regained composure from Hwangho’s words, but he still had something to say.

“…That’s right. As you may also know, Hwangho-ssi, new shamans have already taken over.”

“I know. And it hasn’t been a year since they were bestowed that power.”

“Although she has little experience, one of the Dragon King’s shamans possesses a strong power. If she can’t heal Euishin, then I myself will use my power to fulfill that wish.”

Hwangho nodded in response.

“Jo Euishin will not ask you to fulfill a wish for him. That’s why he lost his left eye, and why you brought up the shamans just now. You should think of a way to make the benefactor feel less burdened.”

Yong Jegun was momentarily speechless.

Hwangho had been speaking to him as an equal until now, but his last words were as if he was placating his nephew’s friend.

Hwangho waited for a moment to see if Yong Jegun had anything else to say.

With the latter keeping silent, Hwangho spoke again,

“Yours truly value Jo Euishin’s treatment. But I would like to talk about something else right now. Shouldn’t we do that if we want to finish this work so that we can focus on treating him?”

With that, the atmosphere in the room completely changed.

Even the difficult Yong Jegun stopped nitpicking, while Kim Shinrok’s complexion also returned to normal.

Sung Gukeon was inwardly amazed as he watched.

‘As expected of the leader of the Tiger Clan. He didn’t just take Yong Jegun’s words at face value. He left the possibility open and didn’t completely reject the offer. He calmed the mood.’

This time, Hwangho turned to Sung Gukeon.

His expression was friendly, but it was difficult to read Hwangho’s mind.

“It hasn’t been discovered that he’s the fake Sung Gukeon. We can take advantage of this.”

Sung Gukeon quickly understood.

He replied,

“I might suddenly get an eye infection. You never know. I guess I’ll have to wear an eye patch for a while.”

“Come to Hwangmyeong Eungwang Hospital. I’ll issue a medical certificate if necessary.”

“I’ll stop by with Muyeong.”

Things went smoothly from there.

Hwangho and Sung Gukeon were the ones who mostly talked, but Kim Shinrok occasionally asked questions and Yong Jegun chimed in from time to time.

While they talked, Hwangho’s reaction suddenly slowed down.

‘What’s going on with his clone?’

It was Kim Shinrok who answered the question in Sung Gukeon’s mind.

“Hwangho-nim must be engaged in a fight.”

* * *

Hwang Jiho increased his clones as we faced forked roads.

I knew he could do that even before I came to this world, but this was the first time I saw the process.

‘He can increase the number of clones of the same age too.’

I’ve seen many of Hwang Jiho’s clones, but this was the first time I’ve seen them take on the same appearance.

Even if I’ve interacted with the clones at the same time before, in my mind they just seemed like relatives talking with each other.

But now, Hwang Jiho and his clones look exactly the same.

‘It would take more energy to create a clone in a different form.’

Hwang Jiho said that his subordinates would find us quicker if he moved multiple clones at the same time.

I knew Hwang Jiho well, having seen him dealing with his clones several times before.

I’m not sure if it would be okay to suddenly spike the number of his clones.

Jeon Muyeong expressed his amazement.

“Such a splendid ability. Even the clothes are copied. Is it possible to clone items as well?”

“The clothes I am wearing are made of a special material that reacts to my ability. Not all of my clones wear such special clothing, but some of them always carry one.”

A special piece of clothing, huh?

But there are very few people with powers like Hwang Jiho, so in reality, it’s an item that only he can use.

It doesn’t seem to be a naturally occurring item, so perhaps he made it himself.

The Tiger Clan has a lot of wealth and power so it would’ve been easy to do that.

Thinking that far, something caught my eye.

‘None of them have a necktie.’

Since he used his tie for my makeshift eyepatch, it was only natural that his clones weren’t wearing one either.

A specially-made item exclusively for Hwang Jiho.

It’s not something that can be mass-produced, but he willingly used such a precious item for me to cover my eye.

If I had known, I should’ve used my own necktie.

Hwang Jiho looked at me and said,

“I think we better go before we start thinking about useless things.”

Jeon Muyeong still seemed to have a lot of questions, but he followed the advice.

We ended up going down three paths at the same time.

Since Hwang Jiho cloned himself twice, we became a group of five.

I thought we would split into 2-2-1, but Hwang Jiho and Jeon Muyeong had a different idea.

“I will use my clones to take the other two paths. We will take one path together.”

“I think that would be better too. There’s no power imbalance either.”

Hwang Jiho can take one path alone. 

Even in the worst-case scenario, only his clone will be affected.

Still, I was left with doubts.

‘How much effect will it have on him if his clone is attacked? I could ask now, but Hwang Jiho probably won’t tell me.’

As I followed alone with that thought in mind, Hwang Jiho asked,

“You seem shocked that we three are going together. Were you thinking of going on your own?”

Well, not exactly.

If I could take action alone and retrieve Unsa then I would, but right now I’m injured and I can’t fight to my full ability.

Hwang Jiho cloned himself into three, so there was no need for me to act alone.

I mean, I would if it was necessary.

‘Considering Sung Gukeon’s abilities, it would be strange for him to insist on acting alone.’

And it didn’t seem like the right atmosphere to suggest something like that.

I responded in a way Sung Gukeon would.

“No.” (In formal language)

“I’m curious about how you came up with that answer, but I like your answer itself so I will let it slide.”

Why is he being so nitpicky?

The three of us took the middle path and moved forward.

Although it wasn’t very obvious, Hwang Jiho’s sharp demeanor somewhat loosened up.

‘It seems like Hwang Jiho has calmed down a bit. Is it because he’s concentrating on the mission?’

It’s possible that he’s influenced by things going on on the other side, but it could also be because we’re closer to getting Unsa back.

I heard that Unsa’s specialty was summoning dark clouds.

True enough, as we went forward, the clouds’ color became darker.

It was evidence that we had reached an area where Unsa’s power was getting stronger, which meant we were getting closer.

‘There’s something over there.’

This forked road was prepared hastily by our opponent.

The road itself wasn’t that long and we quickly reached the end.

There was something beyond the narrow path.

The other two also felt it, and Hwang Jiho and Jeon Muyeong prepared to use their abilities.

Gwoooo…

The dark clouds were billowing.

As he saw the waves caused by the force, Hwang Jiho sighed.

“You still wield this much power.”

Hwang Jiho wasn’t worried about the upcoming fight, but rather about Unsa, the true owner of this power.

It was inevitable, knowing full well how Wu Zhiqi and Gugalanna had their powers taken away.

At that moment, Hwang Jiho’s eyes suddenly turned golden.

“My two clones are now engaged in a battle. They’re both against floor master enemies.”

Hearing about the floor master, I immediately realized what kind of opponent we would be up against.

Now that we’ve dug this far into the heart of the garden, the enemy can no longer sit back and watch.

The reason behind the three paths was probably to eliminate our group one by one.

There’s no way they’d leave it up to the floor master alone.

‘Jackpot.’

Hwang Jiho’s pace changed quickly.

It was a sudden acceleration, but no one complained.

As we got out of the road, the scenery completely changed.

The place before us was so wide that it was hard to believe we had just walked through a narrow passageway.

Hwaaareuk!

In the middle of that vast space was a huge furnace with blazing flames.

Something was burning inside.