Chapter 550: Eungwang High entrance exam (12)
‘They’re all from TC.’
There have been several incidents involving TC Group this year.
Internal strife over separating affiliates, an attempt to assassinate Do Wonwoo during the exchange match, and Yoo Sanghee’s abduction, among others.
As a result, a fight broke out on the Do family side.
From the clash and purge, the next head of TC, Do Wonwoo’s father, took the lead.
However, another disturbance is expected as the Cheon family has increased their influence by taking advantage of the internal strife.
‘It doesn’t look like Cheon Dongha wants to be involved though, so… it can’t be helped. He was born with the surname Cheon but he’s connected with the Tiger Clan through Cheon Eunha.’
The group has been separated because of the divorce between the two families.
The Hwangmyeong Group, otherwise the Tiger Clan, was involved in that case.
Hwang Jiho told me about it before.
— In the divorce between T & C, we gave support to the C-side.
— The Cheon family owed us a lot during the divorce case. Well, there are other ways to infiltrate their company anyway. It’s not difficult to obtain insider information with our power and the Cheon family’s help.
Hwangmyeong Group gave a hand to the Cheon family, but the current head and the upcoming head of the TC Group are from the Do side.
Although companies and assets were split in the wake of the divorce, the TC Group itself is still alive.
On the surface, it appears that the Do family is the winner of the case.
However, Hwang Jiho is satisfied with how things turned out, and it seems like the Cheon family owed something to the Hwangmyeong Group.
The Cheon Family, who was in an overwhelmingly unfavorable position, succeeded in obtaining a significant amount of property and several key affiliates.
‘The Cheon Family might’ve gone broke if Hwang Jiho hadn’t intervened.’
The Tiger Clan didn’t like the previous name of the group, Docheon.
So he helped prevent peace from being reached between the two,
The Docheon Group changed its name to the TC Group, and Hwang Jiho has withdrawn as he had grown negligent.
Despite that, his relationship with the Cheon family seemed to have survived.
‘Do Family, Cheon Family, and the head of the Tiger Clan…’
It wouldn’t be strange to see the three of them go against each other.
But Do Wonwoo and Cheon Dongha had a good relationship before, and Eunho followed Cheon Dongha well as a dongsaeng.
While I looked at the three with a complicated heart, Do Wonwoo talked to me.
“…What are you doing up there? Come down.”
The former student representative must have incurred some trauma from the troublemaker Class Zero that he dealt with.
He’s ugly, but he’s still my playable character so I came down quickly as I felt sorry for unintentionally giving him a headache.
I could jump down right away since my physical abilities would allow it, but I decided to break my fall a few times by kicking the wall.
When I landed on the ground, Eunho talked to me.
“Hello, Euishin hyung. I’m glad you look healthier than I remember you. Please don’t overdo yourself.”
I don’t think Eunho is referring to when I was last at the mansion.
There was a thorn in his words and I almost apologized without realizing it.
Fortunately, Do Wonwoo talked.
“Do you know Jo Euishin?”
“Yes, we met before I met Dongha hyung.”
“Before you met Dongha? But you were in the hospital and the lab— no, I mean that’s when you were admitted.”
“Yes, I’ve been helped a lot by Euishin hyung a long time ago. It was hard to get in touch after I got LIS.”
Eunho’s talking about the previous world, but anyone who doesn’t know about it wouldn’t imagine.
He wasn’t lying, and there was a strange sincerity in his words that didn’t make Do Wonwoo doubt what he was saying.
‘Does Do Wonwoo know about Cheon Eunha? Well, he’s a child of the TC Group and Cheon Eunha applied to Eungwang High so I guess it can’t be helped.’
Do Wonwoo looked sorry.
Cheon Eunha, Cheon Dongha’s half-brother in this world, suffered from Locked-in Syndrome.
No matter how precious the hands of the Cheon family were, they suffered from poor health.
Even the transcendent universe gave Eunho an excessively dangerous status.
‘If Cheon Dongha didn’t find him before he became an adult, he might’ve been removed from the Cheon family.’
Eunho said the ‘serious error’ occurred with the transcendent universe, but I think there was something done to him as a candidate.
“I see… even though the situation is like this, Dongha is my kin and so are you. Sorry, I didn’t know you before.”
“Wonwoo hyung…”
“Thank you, Do Wonwoo sunbaenim.”
Cheon Dongha and Eunho’s eyes grew soft at Do Wonwoo’s serious attitude.
Not minding the strife with their families, the former student representative spoke kindly.
“Tell me if there’s anything I can do to help you.”
“I’ll do my best to take care of things even without your help, but I’ll ask you when I need it hyung.”
“Haha, you’re acting like a real hyung in front of your dongsaeng.”
Do Wonwoo and Cheon Dongha joked with each other.
Listening to their conversation, it seems like Cheon Dongha called Do Wonwoo to introduce Eunho.
He said that he wouldn’t need Do Wonwoo’s help, but Cheon Dongha’s trust in him manifests anyway.
Considering Eunho’s position, it wouldn’t be a bad thing if he knew more influential people.
But shouldn’t Eunho be taking the exam soon?
As if he read my mind, Eunho suddenly spoke.
“I came here because the gym where I’ll take the practical test is in the freshmen area. I’m glad we ran into each other, Euishin hyung.”
“That’s right. You know Eunho’s situation, Euishin, so I wanted him to talk to Wonwoo hyung too.”
I wonder what Do Wonwoo thinks about me knowing things about the Cheon Family.
He wasn’t speaking, but he looked lost in thought.
“…I owe you a lot. Thanks.”
What debt is he talking about?
I did what I had to do, so there’s no need to call it debt.
But that wasn’t the biggest problem.
‘What did Do Wonwoo just say?’
I did something for Do Sihoo before when he tried to take a naval curriculum.
I was thanked for stopping Do Sihoo, but it wasn’t as straightforward as this.
This was what Do Wonwoo said that time;
— It’s hard to say that I’m not thankful.
Do Wonwoo just thanked me directly!
It seems like he changed after the laboratory incident.
He was so different from the Do Wonwoo that I knew from the previous world, so I was greatly flustered.
What I felt after was deep emotions.
I felt lucky to witness the changes and growth of my playable character.
I tried to swallow my emotions and answer calmly.
“It’s nothing.”
“You’re humble. The same goes for you, Jo Euishin. Call me if you need anything.”
Do Wonwoo smiled.
The ugly Do Wonwoo smiled…!
“You look happy, Euishin hyung.”
“Wonwoo hyung’s mind has always been confusing. It looks like he came to his senses recently.”
Although it was somewhat satirical, Cheon Dongha complimented Do Wonwoo.
I agreed with what he said.
At that moment, someone else talked to us.
“I’ve been looking for you, Do Wonwoo sunbaenim.”
Ahn Dain appeared in front of the four of us.
Her appearance made the air feel light.
The air changed along with her finely carved ice-like beauty.
No, in fact, her unique constitution purifies the surroundings I’m sure it wasn’t an illusion.
Ahn Dain seemed to want to talk about student council work.
“What’s going on?”
“Ji Myungsoo sunbaenim has applied for a change of personnel in the major patrol areas.”
“…Myungsoo used up a lot of energy waves dealing with Class 3-0. I got it.”
Do Wonwoo turned on his device and checked his messages.
His notifications seemed to be off while talking to us.
“I’m off first. Good luck with the test.”
Do Wonwoo excused himself, looking like he’d have a lot of work.
Ahn Dain gave a light bow and disappeared with Do Wonwoo.
When I was about to send off Eunho to take his test…
“…Was that student Ahn Dain?”
Eunho’s eyes were glued to Ahn Dain’s back.
Didn’t he recognize PMH’s heroine right away?
Ahn Dain is a celebrity too, so she’s easily recognized.
“Yeah, she’s a freshman at Eungwang High. She often appears in newspaper articles. Both her and Joo Soohyuk.”
“I see.”
Did Eunho feel something from Ahn Dain?
He seemed to have something on his mind, but I decided to postpone asking because he was about to take the practical test.
After taking Eunho to the test site, I joined Kim Yuri and went on patrol.
This year’s practical exam was completed without any attacks from the Bear Clan.
“I honestly felt nervous throughout. It’s a relief nothing happened.”
Kim Yuri sighed in relief.
“My teacher told me to relax, but I couldn’t use the breathing method at all because I was so nervous.”
“Teacher?”
“Yes, my private tutor!”
She seems to be talking about the chief sorcerer of the Tiger Clan.
I talked with her about the progress of our class projects and other things to kill time during patrol.
She said she was working on a way to combine her main attack skill fencing she uses with her light skill.
Combining fencing and her light skill that calls for the madness of the sea…
It was difficult to imagine.
Indeed, it sounded like something that needs to go through a lot of trial and error.
“Ahaha, actually that’s why I don’t have any lightsaber items left these days. Jiho and the teacher said it doesn’t matter though…”
“Hwang Jiho has a lot of money so don’t worry.”
“…You’re saying what they’re saying too, Euishin.”
Hwang Jiho and Jukho said the same thing?
It sounded odd that Jukho would say something similar to the old man.
Though Jukho wasn’t so young either.
While Kim Yuri and I talked, the practical exams were soon over.
After confirming that the test takers went out of the school gate, we reported the results of the patrol and parted ways.
Kim Yuri spoke with a relieved face.
“Now that the exam’s over, only the interview is left. Did you say that Eungwang High gets 1.1 times more?”
There are two main ways to get into Eungwang High.
First, the special screening where Maeng Hyodon passed.
It is determined by the performance during the youth sports competition, and it’s not easy to get into Eungwang High through that method unless someone is as strong as Joo Soohyuk or Maeng Hyodon.
They still have to go through interviews with teachers.
‘Choi Pyeonduk rigged things and let illegal admittees like Choi Younghee get in.’
Thorough verification will be done this year because of that.
Some say that there won’t be any successful special admission candidates this year.
‘The second method is more important anyway.’
The second way was the general admission.
The interview stage was the only process left now that exams are over.
Eungwang High has a quota of about 500 students per grade level, and the number of applicants who gets to proceed to the interview is 550, a 1.1-fold increase.
At first glance, it seems like 50 people would be dropped from the interview process, but it’s actually different.
All 550 people could get in if they are deemed qualified.
In other words, the interview is to give the last chance to 50 people who should’ve been eliminated earlier.
‘If their documents, notes, and tests are complete, they just need to do well with the interview.’
If they achieved great results from the other stages in screening, the interview would be easy unless they have a criminal history.
They could be assigned to Class Zero if they talk nonsense.
Soon enough, the message for the invitation to interview arrived.
Eunho and his descendants successfully got a slot.
Just like that, the day of the interview came.