The two individuals, walking side by side without any sense of urgency, didn't exude any unusual vibes.

Je Gal Jae-geol and Im Yeon-hwa, while usually keeping their energy in check for the benefit of weaker students, now appeared to have suppressed their power to an extreme degree.

The cadets, who didn’t know them well, passed by without even glancing their way. Perhaps they mistook them for staff or parents without any abilities.

They were being particularly cautious in their movements.

However, I couldn't help but notice them. Lately, even without using my abilities, my vision had improved. Perhaps it was due to receiving the tigers' gaze, strengthening my eyes, or maybe because of my own growth.

'It seems it's already too late to pretend I didn't notice.'

It seemed that both had already sensed my gaze.

I was curious about what they were up to, and since I couldn't ignore them, I decided to start the conversation.

"Hello, have you eaten yet?"

"...Not yet. You're quite polite, Yi-shin."

Je Gal Jae-geol responded awkwardly with a smile, while Im Yeon-hwa looked at me with a thoughtful expression. I’d seen that face when Im Yeon-hwa was contemplating how to deal with Woo Gi-hwan and his crew.

It felt ominous.

The ominous feeling I had quickly materialized.

"Yi-shin is too smart to let it slip by or deceive him... It might be better to knock him out, but he's our student and the representative player..."

"Im Yeon-hwa, knock him out?!"

"It’s simpler that way. We don’t have much time."

It seemed like they were planning something but didn’t have the time to explain. Im Yeon-hwa talking about knocking someone out reminded me of what happened when the white tiger had attacked Kim Shin-rok.

Didn't they just suddenly attack Kim Shin-rok without trying to persuade him, thinking they didn’t have the time to make deals with the imitators?

Even now, the red tiger still held a grudge about it. It would be interesting if Wungnyeo found out about this.

Anyway, it seems like strong aristocrats and strong humans share a similar thought process.

If I just stayed still, I’d {N•o•v•e•l•i•g•h•t} be taken down by the strong human.

'If Im Yeon-hwa truly attacks, I won’t be able to hold out. Je Gal Jae-geol might try to stop it, but depending on the purpose, I don't know what could happen.'

Although it was said that the school was specially open today for the Silver Light High students, the military academy is not part of the Ministry of Education but under the Ministry of National Defense, classified as a military facility.

The training officers are all soldiers, and the cadets, who are teenagers, are prospective soldiers and candidates for officer positions, following military regulations.

In other words, the entire campus is a military security zone, and everyone you meet is either a soldier or a semi-soldier.

Im Yeon-hwa, who comes from a background of strong cadets and military soldiers, likely knows this well.

'What could those two be quietly doing within the player military academy?'

It was honestly hard to figure out Im Yeon-hwa's principles. From what I observed at Plma High and how he dealt with Woo Gi-hwan’s crew, it was clear that he was on the side of the students, but beyond that, it remained a mystery.

If I had to make a guess, it would be better to focus on Je Gal Jae-geol. The only reason he would engage in something so dangerous would likely be for a disciple.

However, Je Gal Jae-geol had been working at Silver Light High for a long time, so the only disciple he could have would be Hong Gyu-bin, who he has connections with through private lessons.

As soon as Hong Gyu-bin’s name came to mind, the answer quickly followed.

Coincidentally, just before encountering the two, I had been talking about Nam Gung Gyu-yeon.

"It seems you were worried about Nam Gung Gyu-yeon."

"Ah, as expected, Yi-shin, you think quickly. I should’ve done it sooner."

Je Gal Jae-geol spoke with surprise, while Im Yeon-hwa muttered something unsettling. I had been avoiding asking about it, but Im Yeon-hwa kindly elaborated.

"Don't worry. I’m careful when dealing with kids. I make sure they don’t get hurt, and there are no aftereffects."

Had Im Yeon-hwa ever knocked out Woo Gi-hwan’s crew without leaving any lasting injuries?

Those seniors probably deserved it, but I didn’t want to end up like that.

Having assessed the situation, I decided to speak before Im Yeon-hwa made his decision.

"Let’s go together. I also want to check something out."

This was actually true.

Nam Gung Gyu-yeon was likely connected to the scenario involving the Four Major Families’ internal strife.

In that scenario, people mysteriously disappeared or met with sudden deaths, often without anyone noticing.

The reason they call it internal strife, despite the major groups battling each other so grandly, is because many people quietly died or disappeared in the shadows.

Among the dead was Do Si-hoo.

Do Si-hoo had passed on secret codes to save Ju Su-hyeok from death.

Ju Su-hyeok had tried to uncover the secrets surrounding his friend’s death, but it hadn’t been easy.

‘The internal strife between the four major families, the chaos caused by the behind-the-scenes figures, the mess at Silver Light High, and most importantly, Do Si-hoo being affiliated with the military academy—these were all stumbling blocks.’

Even though he wasn’t a full-fledged soldier, investigating the death of a semi-soldier within a military security zone was impossible for an ordinary civilian.

Even if they tried to use the power or connections of the Joo Oh Group, TC Group, which was trying to cover up the death, made it difficult.

If Do Won-woo or Cheon Dong-ha were still alive, things might be different, but by that point, everyone was dead, and the darkness of TC Group had deepened.

The connection between Do Si-hoo’s death and Nam Gung Gyu-yeon was still unclear.

But understanding a little more about the military academy’s internal matters would help in the future.

Je Gal Jae-geol finished his thoughts quicker than I expected and spoke.

"...Alright. Let’s go, but if anything happens, you need to run away and hide first. Don’t worry about the teachers."

This was a little unexpected. In the past, Je Gal Jae-geol would’ve immediately said it was out of the question.

But perhaps it was because of the influence of Eun Ho’s poison that Je Gal Jae-geol, while worried, allowed it.

Im Yeon-hwa seemed equally surprised by his reaction.

"That's surprising. I honestly thought you would stop us, Je Gal Jae-geol. I thought we’d waste time bickering, so I was planning to knock Yi-shin out safely for a moment."

Im Yeon-hwa had thought it was a safer option to put me to sleep quickly, but upon reflection, it seemed dangerous.

At this time, no one around us would be asleep, but what if a nightmare began rampaging?

If it came to that, the white tiger could send another tiger or come herself with a pardon.

"Im Yeon-hwa, you can’t just put the students to sleep."

"Yes, I won’t do that."

Im Yeon-hwa answered briskly, but I wasn’t reassured. She said she wouldn’t do it like that, but it felt like she was saying that she would do it if necessary after thinking it over carefully.

Anyway, once my participation was decided, I planned to move more cautiously.

This area where we encountered the two was the so-called hidden walking path introduced by Jang Nam-wook and Do Si-hoo, and Silver Light High students were rarely visible. Occasionally, only cadets passed by.

Since they’d already seen me, I decided to move in a way that kept me hidden.

‘The school grounds are bigger than I thought. Even places that seemed to be marked faintly on the satellite map or appeared like mountains all have roads and buildings.’

We were getting further from the stadium where the first match was to be held and the major facilities, yet the road continued without any walls in sight.

On public maps accessible to the public, the location of the player military academy and its major buildings were indicated, but I had heard that they intentionally lowered the resolution or covered it with old photos to protect military secrets.

There were many things that couldn’t be confirmed unless we went there directly.

While I kept checking the surroundings and comparing them with the map, Im Yeon-hwa spoke.

"Before I graduated, a large corporation and the Ministry of National Defense teamed up to build a research facility around here. It’s quite large, but even now, it doesn’t show up on the map."

"Is it alright to disclose such information?"

"It wasn’t widely known at the time, but there was a news article about it. The then-Minister of National Defense took a photo shaking hands with the CEO of the company he invested in, bragging about the achievements."

I tried searching with my device, but nothing came up.

Even when I changed keywords and restricted the search to the time when Im Yeon-hwa was enrolled at the military academy, there was no trace.

It seemed like all the articles directly mentioning it had been taken down.

Still, erasing all traces was impossible, and some people still remembered.

Among the articles about the Ministry of National Defense’s corruption suspicions at that time, one comment criticized, "Did they give more taxes to Nam Gung?"

It would’ve been hard to completely delete even comments like these, which didn’t have many recommendations.

‘So it was Nam Gung. No wonder Im Yeon-hwa was concerned about Nam Gung Gyu-yeon.’

On the surface, there was no direct connection between Im Yeon-hwa and Nam Gung Gyu-yeon, other than the fact that he was a much younger junior.

Im Yeon-hwa had no intention of returning to the military, but it seemed like he still had some attachment to the military academy, as he often visited and greeted his juniors when they saluted him.

And perhaps, thinking back to his own past as a human weapon, he couldn’t ignore a junior who might be in a similar situation.

‘A member of the Nam Gung group, skilled in handling the power of the earth and machinery. Though there is no evidence yet, I can imagine what kind of situation they are in.’

The place that tried to push out Silver Light Light Orphanage for the Geolcheok Terminal project.

The place that developed a simulator to transform the surroundings into a different world using the power of the earth.

It was all part of the Nam Gung group.

The officer at Gwangil Police Station, deeply involved in the Silver Light Light Orphanage incident, committed suicide, and the person who warned about the broadcast station incident cooperated with the investigation, but no progress had been made.

After Hong Gyu-bin’s background was brought into question, the case was dropped, and there had been no news since.

Moreover, the shadows behind the scenes kept causing incidents, and with insufficient evidence to pursue a case, I couldn’t push things forward.

"Looks like we’re almost there. Is this the research facility where Gyu-yeon is?"

"Yes, that’s right. It seems hard to get in right now. There are a lot of recording devices, so let’s just keep our distance and watch for now."

We had arrived at our destination.

The research facility appeared to be a normal building at first glance.

From afar, it looked like a simple, boxy building with peeling paint, neglected and abandoned.

But the streetlights, the trees lining the streets, and the recording devices and security equipment around the building were all state-of-the-art.

Moreover, the windows that appeared to be there were completely blocked off.

The glass had simply been added to the surface, so if we attacked, we’d have to break through the walls to get inside.

"Someone’s coming."

"What? They’re driving a civilian car, not a military vehicle? Where did they come from?"

Im Yeon-hwa observed the approaching box truck with great interest.

As Im Yeon-hwa had said, it didn’t look like a military vehicle.

It was a 1.4-ton wing-body type, a small cargo truck commonly seen on the streets.

It was the kind of vehicle that didn’t seem likely to draw anyone's attention as it moved.

But when I saw who was inside, my mind snapped to attention.

Though I knew the person was involved with the Nam Gung group, I hadn’t expected them to show up here.

‘It’s Lee Yeoreum.’

Lee Yeoreum, the older sister of Kwon Lena, was sitting in the passenger seat.