The Strategy Planning Office under the Chairman of the Namgung Group.

This office oversees the group’s subsidiaries, and the Director of the Strategy Planning Office holds a rank equivalent to the Vice Chairman.

The current Director, referred to as "Director Choi," was a meticulous and calculating figure.

There were circumstantial links to the Yeonggwang Hanbit Orphanage’s operatives and the suicide of Senior Officer Kim from the Gwangil Police Station, but due to the lack of clear evidence, Choi managed to escape unscathed.

Despite being embroiled in major events like the exposure of Namgung Mulsan's employee, who had been involved in a playlist appearance, and the development of a power-based simulator by Namgung, Namgung itself only received attention at the level of a TC.

'It was probably the Strategy Planning Office's doing to make sure Hong Gyu-bin dropped out of the investigation.'

Gwyn Lena was the first to rush out to greet them, introducing Teacher Ham Geun-hyeong and the class members.

Meanwhile, the corporate vehicle from the Strategy Planning Office had already left, but she decided to act cautiously, still feeling uneasy.

On the other hand, Yongsigeun, who had overheard Hwang Jiho’s words, smiled slyly.

Looks like he’s enjoying the situation.

"You’re Lee Yeoreum, right? Nice to meet you. I’m Yongsigeun, the co-homeroom teacher for Class 0. I’m the one who arranged this meeting. I was curious about what kind of reaction there’d be if I introduced you to me and Teacher Ham Geun-hyeong, two people even more burdensome than the students who said they felt uncomfortable."

"Teacher Yongsigeun..."

Teacher Ham Geun-hyeong sighed, but Yongsigeun had already said everything he needed to.

Having delivered the worst self-introduction, Yongsigeun revealed his silver-gray eyes and began observing Lee Yeoreum.

His gaze seemed to be searching for something interesting.

At first, Lee Yeoreum seemed nervous, but as Yongsigeun babbled, she awkwardly smiled and nodded.

Although she looked nothing like Gwyn Lena, her mannerisms showed that they had clearly spent a lot of time together.

"Yes, hello. You are quite an unusual person, just as I heard."

Although she could have been shocked or lost for words, Lee Yeoreum responded to his greeting.

Unless you’re in research, new employees at large companies need some guts.

To survive in a rigid organizational culture with strong work intensity, performance pressure, and competitive relationships, you need fast adaptation or luck.

‘She didn’t seem too flustered, and she even threw a little retort. She's not lacking in courage. I suppose that’s to be expected.’

If she were too vulnerable to stress or physically weak, it would be easy to manipulate her, but difficult to entrust her with major tasks.

If Lee Yeoreum had been extremely fragile, she wouldn’t have been able to carry the old simulator to the new one.

"Shall we go for a meal then? The commercial area around here isn’t great, but there are some decent Korean restaurants that military generals frequently use. It’s a bit expensive, but don’t worry, I won’t be asking you to pay. It’d be a huge issue if a teacher asked a student’s guardian to treat them."

Yongsigeun talked on without waiting for a response.

He spoke so freely that it didn’t feel like a first meeting at all, but that was typical of him.

By the way, it’s said that the payment for the class's meals had already been settled by Hwang Jiho.

"I’ve already taken care of the payment for our class’s portion. The additional portions will be split individually."

"Jiho, I’ll eat well!"

"I’ll eat well, but I’m not giving up my seat."

In the third match of basketball, the ever-watchful Dokgomiro, who had taken Han's seat, said warily.

It seemed like Hwang Jiho was still aimlessly aiming for his close friend's seat.

Even after moving to the Korean restaurant, the conversation proceeded smoothly.

Lee Yeoreum blended well with the class, with much of the conversation revolving around Gwyn Lena.

Mok Wooram was deeply moved hearing stories of Gwyn Lena’s childhood.

"Then, Lena must have had a talent for music since she was young!"

"That's right. Lena did well in other subjects too, but her music scores were always perfect."

Although it was awkward to say she did well since Gwyn Lena always worried about failing, it wasn’t incorrect.

If her middle school grades had been bad, she wouldn’t have been able to enter Eungwang High.

Unless she had a history of sweeping up various competitions like Maeng Hyo-don, admission was difficult.

Gwyn Lena, who had received no special private tutoring under her harsh adoptive parents, had passed the entrance exams for Eungwang High through her own efforts.

Thinking about how much effort she must have put in, it was both heart-wrenching and uplifting, and Lee Yeoreum truly appreciated it.

"So, music is part of the middle school curriculum in Korea! Are there any videos of recitals or practical exams?"

"Haha, we usually don’t have recitals. Even if we do practical exams, we don’t usually record them."

"Ah..."

That was disappointing.

Without realizing it, Mok Wooram and I both sighed at the same time.

Then, Hwang Jiho sighed and muttered "Jo Yi-shin..." bringing me back to my senses.

Hearing about the past of my playable character was a joyous occasion, but I had to stay focused now.

I reflected on Lee Yeoreum’s attitude toward me.

The lunch with Lee Yeoreum was an unexpected opportunity, and I needed to gather as much information as I could.

‘Lee Yeoreum’s speaking skills are decent. She doesn’t seem overly nervous either.’

At least, she didn’t seem like the kind of person to turn down a meeting with a player just because she felt uncomfortable.

In other words, her excuse must have been something else. There must have been another reason she didn’t want to meet the people from the Eternal Lake.

When I looked more closely, Lee Yeoreum was friendly and relaxed when interacting with the class, but it was different when she faced teachers.

Especially when interacting with Teacher Ham Geun-hyeong.

She visibly seemed tense, but sadly, the class didn’t think it was strange.

‘Teacher Ham Geun-hyeong does look intimidating.’

It was common for someone to get nervous around Teacher Ham Geun-hyeong.

When students from Class 0 went out and had minor quarrels, if Ham Geun-hyeong appeared, things would usually be resolved smoothly.

However, Lee Yeoreum didn’t seem to be changing her behavior because of his looks.

‘She seemed as tense when she first met Yongsigeun. But after hearing him spout nonsense, maybe she let her guard down a bit?’

The appetizer, soybean paste porridge with sesame oil, was followed by a grilled tenderloin with pear puree.

When Lee Yeoreum saw the menu, she blinked and looked at me.

"I heard that Jo Yi-shin took Lena to a Hanwoo course restaurant when he won the chess competition in first year."

It seemed that Gwyn Lena had told Lee Yeoreum about that time.

At that time, Gwyn Lena had been unfamiliar with most of the menu items.

I clearly remembered how shocking it was when Gwyn Lena said she had never eaten Hanwoo except for what was served at the school cafeteria.

Maeng Hyo-don, usually the one thinking like a stone, quickly understood what I was talking about.

"Ah, that place was delicious."

"What? Where’s this place? Why don’t I know about it?"

"You weren’t at school in the first year, right? Only seven people attended that year."

Among the people who hadn’t attended, the attention-seeker was the most obvious in showing their dissatisfaction.

In the end, after this exchange competition, the participants decided to treat the class to Hanwoo at the restaurant as a thank you for cheering them on.

Since the restaurant was in Eungwang District, even Baekho could come, but instead of getting treated, he would be paying, which felt somewhat refreshing.

Seeing the class quickly agree, Lee Yeoreum smiled.

"Really, Lena met great classmates. Jo Yi-shin talked a lot about her, and I guess it’s for a good reason."

To think she could smile like that, even in this chaotic situation, Lee Yeoreum had a surprisingly broad and courageous heart.

And most importantly, I could feel how much she cared for Gwyn Lena.

Compared to Kwon Jein, Lee Yeoreum might have lacked strength and position, but her care for her family was unmatched.

At that moment, something bothered me.

‘Why did the Strategy Planning Office send a corporate vehicle to escort Lee Yeoreum?’

It didn’t seem like a coincidence that a staff member from the Strategy Planning Office was giving her a ride.

The reasons I could think of were two.

One was that they had assigned her some mission.

‘The lunch with the class members was suddenly arranged. It would be hard to give her a specific mission. If they did assign her something, it must be related to Gwyn Lena.’

If the Strategy Planning Office sent Lee Yeoreum on some mission, it must have been related to Gwyn Lena, the one who arranged the meeting in the first place.

They likely hadn’t anticipated such a large group gathering so close to lunchtime.

And while they might look down on just meeting the class members, Teacher Ham Geun-hyeong and Yongsigeun were no pushovers.

Also, after meeting Lee Yeoreum, it didn’t seem like she would easily act on any mission related to Gwyn Lena.

The second reason was monitoring.

Thinking about it, I could also understand why she had been wary of the teachers at first.

Both teachers were known for having sharp eyes.

Yongsigeun was skilled at noticing those who were watching him, and Ham Geun-hyeong, with the name "Myeongsasu’s gaze" in Gwanglim, had an excellent eye.

Of course, there were others in the class with good eyesight, but they weren’t as well-known as those two.

However, even though Lee Yeoreum had been cautious, the teachers didn’t seem to have noticed anything unusual.

Hwang Jiho or the other students also didn’t give any indication that they had found something.

‘I’ve experienced a similar situation before.’

I thought back to a situation with Yeoreum and smiled wryly inside.

Since I’d experienced something similar, dealing with it was easy.

I decided to act immediately.

"How much have you heard about me from my younger sibling?"

"...I’ve heard a lot of things. Thank you so much."

Lee Yeoreum’s words carried gratitude, regret, sadness, and strong trust.

She had probably heard that I helped in the first two attempts from Gwyn Lena.

Now that I confirmed she trusted me, I could move to the next step.

I grabbed the hologram menu in front of me and spoke.

"Would you like me to recommend dessert?"

"Of course."

As I adjusted the hologram menu, I wrote something on a napkin with water.

When Hwang Jiho saw the writing on the napkin, he furrowed his brow and naturally leaned toward the table.

Thanks to Hwang Jiho’s large build, the napkin was hidden from the eyes of the other students.

"Please look here."

I handed him the hologram menu and spoke.

Next to the menu showing ginger tea and lime sorbet, the napkin was also handed out.

On the napkin were the following words:

[Are we being eavesdropped on?]

If you install a camera, whether large or small, the lens must appear on the surface.

That way, players can’t be fooled.

But small listening devices are hard to find unless you scan the opponent or do a body search using powers.

This is why even Hirano Seiji brought a listening device when meeting me, without the camera.

Lee Yeoreum’s complexion changed.

"...Ah, you really know a lot, ⊛ Nоvеlιght ⊛ (Read the full story) just like I heard. About the menu."

Lee Yeoreum nodded several times.

It seemed like she was under surveillance by the Strategy Planning Office.