When communications were resumed, the events that had occurred on Jeju Island were brought to the public’s attention.

Major media outlets, based on player satellite observation data, press releases from the association, and videos submitted by citizens, shed light on what had happened on Jeju Island.

The appearance of another world, violent storms, and strange geomantic phenomena failed to spark much excitement, but once players involved in the events were revealed, the public’s reaction changed.

Jecheon Daeseong, who had fought a water battle accompanied by his younger sibling Muji.

Zegal Jaegel, who, alongside his disciple, had fought the demons and their followers in an urban battle with no casualties.

And the star player, Yeom Jun-yeol, who had calmed the volcano.

When news of their heroic efforts during the sudden crisis spread, the public reacted with great enthusiasm.

Back on the mainland, many media outlets, eager to cover the ongoing story, tried to make their way to Jeju Island, but flights and ferries to the island were still suspended.

However, communications were still active, so local media outlets with branches on Jeju Island began to operate, and many were trying to contact players on the island personally.

"Jun-yeol, did you get another interview request on your device?"

"Yeah, I don’t know how they got my device code."

"Just don’t answer it. It’s better to leave it unclear whether it’s really your device code or not."

"I’ll do that."

While Cheon Dong-ha and Yeom Jun-yeol were talking, a member of the Red Lion team, who °• N 𝑜 v 𝑒 l i g h t •° had come to deliver the situation update but ended up taking on a security role, checked the device.

Even though time was tight, the team member was planning to strike down anyone who would bypass procedures and directly annoy Yeom Jun-yeol with interview requests.

After the team member, in a somewhat threatening tone, sent a message to the third-rate reporter with the warning, "If you don’t respond to the interview now, who knows what kind of article will come out," Cheon Dong-ha, who was watching, spoke up.

"Leave it to me here. You can head back first. You don’t want to deal with this kind of hassle, and you’re probably worried about Yong-sensei too."

"...Did it show that much?"

"Not much. But it’s obvious you’re concerned."

At Cheon Dong-ha’s words, Yeom Jun-yeol gave an awkward smile.

Even after receiving updates on Yong Je-geon’s injury, Yeom Jun-yeol decided to stay in place.

He knew that there were trustworthy faculty members, as well as student council president Gwak Kyung-goo and people like Cheon Dong-ha who could take his place if needed, but he still made the decision to stay.

Yeom Jun-yeol calmly said.

"We still have the school trip schedule left. The hike up Hallasan took longer than expected, but since we gave ourselves enough time from the start, it’s fine."

"Is that so? Oh, here comes Kyung-goo."

"He just finished talking to the injured."

There were no critically injured students, but in the Seongpanak course, which Gwak Kyung-goo was responsible for, several students had minor injuries.

Most of them had scrapes from unfamiliar mountain climbing or had been hurt while trying to stop students who were about to go out of control.

Although the injuries were light, it was hard to believe they had almost been affected by a riot-inducing agent, so they decided to check each one carefully.

Gwak Kyung-goo made sure to check all the students who either tried to act tough or exaggerated their minor injuries.

‘I’m sure I-dam’s condition wasn’t great, but Chae-ah is watching over her, so she’ll be fine.’

The state of Gye I-dam, who had used a brazier, was not looking good.

When asked about the brazier, Gye I-dam couldn’t answer easily, but no student pushed for an answer.

Even though they were students, it wasn’t uncommon for skilled players to collaborate with associations, pro player teams, or research institutes on developing or experimenting with items.

For example, Song Dae-seok, a member of the association's satellite management team, and Cheon Dong-ha, a visiting researcher at the Hwangmyeong Institute, were also bound by confidentiality agreements.

Therefore, the third-year students assumed that Gye I-dam was in a similar situation.

However, there were some voices of concern.

—"But it’s an item that uses blood as a medium. I-dam, are you okay?"

At Heo Chae-ah’s question, Gye I-dam nodded, but still seemed worried.

Eventually, Gye I-dam mentioned someone who would quickly put the minds of the concerned students at ease.

—"Shi-wan hyung knows too. It’s fine."

At those words, everyone relaxed.

Even if they didn’t fully trust Gye I-dam, most of the students trusted Seong Shi-wan.

Those who had experienced senior Seong Shi-wan knew well how much he cared for and protected his juniors.

If Seong Shi-wan knew about it, they assumed there would be no problems.

Despite varying degrees of injury and response, including Gye I-dam’s worst condition, the consensus was that they didn’t need to go to the hospital.

"Everyone has a lot to say, but they don’t want to go to the hospital. I guess they just want to have fun."

"Going to the hospital right now isn’t the best option. I heard that there was a large-scale attack on another world at the coastline, so there are probably injuries there too. There aren’t many player-specialized doctors in Jeju, and if we go, the reporters will swarm in, and the hospital will get chaotic."

Gwak Kyung-goo nodded in agreement to Cheon Dong-ha’s words.

Cheon Dong-ha’s logic was sound, and Gwak Kyung-goo, at heart, didn’t want to go to the hospital during the school trip either.

Gwak Kyung-goo would rather be standing there smelling disinfectant than sitting in a hospital. He’d prefer to eat black pork stew in a comfortable restaurant.

While Gwak Kyung-goo thought about meat, Cheon Dong-ha was already thinking about future measures.

"Still, once we get back to school, everyone should get a check-up for their abilities. To check all third-year students and the faculty at once, the school facilities won’t be enough, so we should prepare in advance. Especially for the students affected by the riot-inducing agent, we’ll make sure they get a detailed check-up at the Hwangmyeong Medical Center."

"Yeah, that sounds good."

"...That’s probably the best plan!"

After Gwak Kyung-goo gave a half-hearted reply, Ma Jin-seung, who had been deep in thought but hadn’t quite caught up with Cheon Dong-ha’s ideas, jumped in enthusiastically.

Ma Jin-seung, who had used a lot of his ability to call forth the plain, still had plenty of energy left, as his voice remained loud.

Normally, Yeom Jun-yeol would find his voice irritating, but today, it didn’t feel bad despite his ears ringing.

It was because he believed that Ma Jin-seung’s voice was the one that had gathered the students from Eungwang High, cutting through the corrupt darkness.

Also, having accomplished something so big, Ma Jin-seung probably felt proud, but seeing him remain as humble as ever, Yeom Jun-yeol couldn’t help but feel as though he had returned to his normal routine.

‘Yeah, Jin-seung did something amazing this time.’

Although it was likely that the events in the darkness would not have been captured by the player satellite, Yeom Jun-yeol was sure that Ma Jin-seung’s contribution had been recorded.

Even if the situation in the darkness remained unclear, anyone could tell from the context that it was Ma Jin-seung who had opened the path from Hallasan to where Yeom Jun-yeol and Cheon Dong-ha had been.

Since about 200 players had moved from Hallasan’s peak, there was no way the satellite would have missed it.

"By the earliest, maybe today, or at the latest, tomorrow, we could have something to celebrate."

"Oh, that? Yeah, I’ll reserve a cake at the dessert boutique on the first floor of the Icarus Hotel."

"Can’t we order some rice cakes too?"

"Huh?"

Upon hearing Yeom Jun-yeol’s words, Cheon Dong-ha immediately understood and placed the order, while Gwak Kyung-goo also casually ordered a rice cake cake.

Ma Jin-seung, however, seemed a bit confused and simply responded, "Sounds delicious!"

Although it wasn’t intentional, it seemed like the gathering to celebrate Ma Jin-seung’s new alias would turn into a surprise party.

When looking at the Red Lion team member who was continuously making calls from the corner, Yeom Jun-yeol’s thoughts turned back to the family members who had been seriously injured, and his mind wasn’t at ease, but he decided to enjoy the rest of the school trip.

‘Everyone will be fine. Nothing major will happen. If they knew I wasn’t enjoying the trip because I was worried, they’d be sad. Je-geon hyung would just enjoy it though.’

‘Jun-yeol, you’re coming back early from the school trip just because you’re worried about me? A missed school trip will never come back, but hey, let’s have some chocolate made from century-old cactus and dragon fruit jelly here in Jeju Island together!’ Yeom Je-geon’s cheerful words were easily imagined.

Yeom Jun-yeol loved his family, but he knew well the strength they had, so he wasn’t worried.

The strongest Dragon King’s priestess in history was with them, so they would be fine.

On the contrary, Yeom Jun-yeol found himself worried about Jo Yi-shin.

‘Yi-shin said he was fine. He doesn’t have any visible injuries. But...’

As promised, Jo Yi-shin had revealed his plans to Yeom Jun-yeol without hiding anything.

His plans included elements related to the riot-inducing agent and the energy toxin.

Yeom Jun-yeol was extremely perplexed and worried, but he couldn’t stop him.

Jo Yi-shin believed without a doubt that Yeom Jun-yeol would overcome the riot-inducing agent and succeed in the Hongryonghwa. Yeom Jun-yeol couldn’t deny that belief, even though he wasn’t sure he could trust Jo Yi-shin.

Yeom Jun-yeol recalled the mental state that felt as though he would burn up with the riot-inducing agent.

Adding the energy toxin to that, he couldn’t even begin to imagine what kind of pain he might endure.

"It’s the 0-class students!"

"Wow, they really are fine, even though I thought they’d be in worse shape."

When they returned to the Icarus Hotel, they met the 0-class students in the lobby, who had also just returned.

There were signs that they had been through a battle as well, but compared to those who had been soaked and dealt with all kinds of chaos, they looked quite fine.

Some students were even pretending to be exhausted and exaggerating to get some sympathy from Zegal Jaegel.

When Gwak Kyung-goo asked about it, Geum Chan-sol explained the same thing as Zegal Jaegel.

"We installed escape warp devices at Hallasan in advance, tailored to the 0-class headcount, just in case there were injuries?"

"Oh, do you have a problem with that?"

Geum Chan-sol answered brazenly, but no one questioned whether they had known about the attack in advance and prepared.

They only suspected that Zegal Jaegel had planned to rush down the mountain quickly, perhaps with some kind of smoke screen, but no one pressed the matter further.

Except for a very small number of people who knew the details, everyone else just believed it and moved on.

But for the 0-class group, the one they thought would be the easiest to deceive began to grow suspicious.

It was Zegal Jaegel.

Zegal Jaegel, who had silently observed Geum Chan-sol and Gwak Kyung-goo’s conversation, was thinking about the events that had occurred today and the conversation he had had with Jecheon Daeseong.

—"Once again, we owe you. Thank you."

When Zegal Jaegel expressed his gratitude, Jecheon Daeseong immediately jumped down from the Guindu-un.

With a wide field of view and sharp intelligence, it seemed like Jecheon Daeseong quickly realized that Zegal Jaegel didn’t come to thank him alone.

—"By emphasizing ‘again,’ do you think it wasn’t just a coincidence that I showed up?"

—"Yes."

Most people would shrink back or look away just from standing in front of Jecheon Daeseong, but Zegal Jaegel didn’t.

Jecheon Daeseong admired the unwavering gaze of Zegal Jaegel, who was looking him in the eye despite the blindfold.

The righteousness and kindness of Eungwang High’s Nam Ok-shin were famous even among the true kin, and this attitude matched his reputation.

—"Can you tell me who moved you?"

—"Haha, do you really think I, Jecheon Daeseong, led and moved everything by myself?"

—"Yes."

The short answer wasn’t rude, but Zegal Jaegel’s sincerity and straightforwardness made Jecheon Daeseong feel a little lighter.

—"I, too, have received favors, so I can’t reveal it. But the answer is very close, and if it’s you, you’ll find it soon."

—"Was it someone close to me who put the plan in motion?"

—"With the way you’re using the word ‘plan,’ I’m sure you’ll find the answer soon enough."

Jecheon Daeseong laughed cheerfully, but it seemed he had no intention of giving a direct answer.

—"Children grow quickly. No matter how much I protect them, cherish them, they grow."

Jecheon Daeseong left those words behind and vanished in a flash.

At those words, Zegal Jaegel thought of all the children and students who had passed through his hands.

They still seemed like immature kids in his eyes, but he couldn’t deny that all of them, from his first disciple Hong Gyu-bin to the current 0-class students, had grown.

‘Someone is working with the students, orchestrating things behind the scenes. And...’

Zegal Jaegel thought about his students.

At the same time, Geum Chan-sol and Wang Chan-sol were talking freely, ignoring the questions from Gwak Kyung-goo and the other third-year students.

‘It must be someone who can move Chan-sol and the others.’