767

 [Chapter 196]

[Recapture Plan (3)]

Ha Baek-ryeon had to transfer schools a total of 3 times so far.

The first transfer occurred when her residence moved to Seoul.

The second transfer occurred a few years ago when she awakened the <White Silver> gift.

'They say quite a few children witnessed Baek-ryeon awakening <White Silver>, so it would be difficult to stay at that school. Even if the children don't know it's <White Silver>, they'll become afraid since she showed that much power.'

At the time, Im Ga-eul hinted this while deciding to entrust Ha Baek-ryeon to Eun-ha.

Eun-ha agreed.

Since her hair suddenly turned white, it was obvious people who knew her would be bewildered.

As that happened, there was a risk of rumors about her spreading.

Above all, Ha Baek-ryeon could be emotionally hurt if she became feared by her peers.

So her transfer was decided.

'I'm sorry but... it seems you'll have to transfer schools.'

'Yes... I'm okay. I know why too.'

And the third transfer occurred when media outlets revealed Ha Baek-ryeon's existence.

She who received attention from countless people couldn't have a normal school life.

So Eun-ha and the Fairy government prepared a transfer so she wouldn't receive public attention.

Ha Baek-ryeon understood this too.

'Let's dye your hair black and transfer as soon as the semester changes. You stood out at your previous school since you couldn't dye your hair black midway, but if you dye it you'll receive less attention.'

'Okay...'

'I'm sorry for making you transfer again when you probably made friends at school. If those reporter bastards do this again next time I'll just...'

'Why are you apologizing, ahjussi? It's fine. The kids in my class didn't match my personality anyway, so this worked out well since it turned out like this.'

Eun-ha felt sorry then.

But Ha Baek-ryeon pretended to be fine while stubbornly raising her chin.

Eun-ha couldn't help feeling sorry for her being so considerate of others at such a young age.

'Don't mind other people's feelings, mind your own feelings first.'

'...I'll think about it.'

'Don't just think about it. Tell me honestly anytime. I'm unconditionally on your side after all.'

'...'

'Anyway, I'll find you an even better school than the one you're attending now. Okay?'

So Eun-ha placed his hand on Ha Baek-ryeon's head.

Ha Baek-ryeon was like that in the previous regression too.

But Eun-ha who became responsible for her protection hoped she would always be honest with him.

Perhaps his feelings got through.

After that day, Ha Baek-ryeon often conveyed her honest feelings to him.

Anyway, Ha Baek-ryeon's transfer was decided, and she decided to dye her hair black with an artifact.

Around this time, she became able to control her internal mana little by little.

Thanks to that, though it was difficult for long periods, she became able to change her hair color with artifacts.

Thus─

"─I'm Ha Baek-ryeon. I moved to this neighborhood recently. Please take care of me from now on."

She began her school life at a new school from this year.

Fortunately, almost no one recognized Ha Baek-ryeon.

She blended in naturally among the students.

Nevertheless, Eun-ha couldn't feel at ease.

'─This is already the third transfer. We can't make Baek-ryeon go around to various schools more than this.'

They couldn't send her to unfamiliar environments every time Ha Baek-ryeon's identity was exposed.

It wasn't good for her personality formation.

She wouldn't be able to make proper friends either.

Also, stakeholders could use this as an excuse to say they would protect Ha Baek-ryeon.

Above all, as Ha Baek-ryeon's identity was widely revealed to the world, they had to pay more attention to her safety.

Therefore─

'─So I want you to protect Baek-ryeon by her side. There's no one but you.'

'Ha, I don't want to attend elementary school again, but I have no choice since it's for Baek-ryeon.'

Eun-ha decided to mobilize Jean Valjean, his avatar.

He forged Jean Valjean's identity to make him attend the same school as Ha Baek-ryeon.

By doing so, he could naturally protect Ha Baek-ryeon by her side.

Furthermore, he could immediately deal with paparazzi trying to dig into her existence.

"Really, I don't know how such a coincidence can exist in the world. To think Valjean ended up attending the same school as you."

"Are you still saying that? Such coincidences can happen, what's the big deal."

So Jean Valjean forged his identity and transferred to Ha Baek-ryeon's class.

It was natural for Ha Baek-ryeon to welcome Jean Valjean.

From then on, Ha Baek-ryeon was able to spend an enjoyable life with Jean Valjean.

It was the same now with only 1 year left in elementary school.

"Ugh, I'm sleepy..."

"Couldn't you sleep last night?"

"I... couldn't sleep much."

"What were you doing?"

"Uijeong... I was doing something else at night."

"Something else? What?"

"There's such a thing."

6th grade elementary school math class.

Jean Valjean who was listening to class yawned and slumped over his desk.

Ha Baek-ryeon glanced at him and smiled bitterly.

Soon Jean Valjean closed his eyes.

"This won't do. I'm going to sleep a bit."

"You'll get scolded by the teacher again if you do that."

"Then wake me up."

"Sigh..."

Jean Valjean quickly fell asleep.

Ha Baek-ryeon solved problems while watching Jean Valjean sleeping comfortably.

He's such a strange kid. He appears like a ghost knowing whenever I'm feeling down...

He knows my tastes well too.

Ha Baek-ryeon gently slumped over too.

She got to see Jean Valjean up close.

She smiled looking at him.

Jean Valjean was a very strange boy.

He hid too many things.

But it didn't feel bad.

His appearance of seeming to have many secrets rather gave an adult-like impression.

Perhaps because of that, he monopolized the attention of the girls in class.

Though he didn't seem to know other students' names besides hers.

Not just that─

"─Valjean, wake up now. The teacher is looking this way."

"...Huh?"

"Yes, Valjean over there. Come to the front and solve this problem."

Though he always sleeps during class.

Jean Valjean was very smart.

The homeroom teacher called just then.

Jean Valjean who woke from sleep sighed softly.

Soon Jean Valjean who got up from his seat headed to the blackboard.

A long math problem was written on the blackboard.

"The answer..."

""""Wow....""""

"Can I go back now?"

"Yes, return to your seat. But don't sleep again. Why do you always just sleep when you're so smart?"

"Because I don't like studying."

"You'll be a middle schooler from next year, you might get caught up to by other kids if you do that?"

Jean Valjean quickly organized the equation after looking over the problem once.

And he got the correct answer.

Unlike other boys his age, he was mature, smart, had good athletic sense, and was good at everything except singing.

No wonder he was popular with students.

Such a child was closest to her, and kept being paired up with her as if by fate.

"I'll sleep some more. Wake me up when it's time to eat."

"Tch, alright. Sleep well."

"Okay."

She couldn't help being drawn to Jean Valjean.

Ha Baek-ryeon looked at him sleeping again after returning to his seat.

Her heart feels warm looking at him.

Meanwhile─

─Strange?

Valjean seems to resemble someone, who does he resemble?

She suddenly thought.

It's been 4 years since meeting Jean Valjean.

Ha Baek-ryeon who watched Jean Valjean's growth up close recently started projecting someone onto him.

Why am I reminded of ahjussi?

Ahjussi isn't handsome like Valjean...

Though he's a bit cool sometimes.

No Eun-ha ahjussi.

Ha Baek-ryeon who suddenly recalled him while looking at Jean Valjean shook her head.

She decided to erase the thought.

It was rude to Jean Valjean.

☆

The 2nd Uijeongbu Recapture War begins.

The story spread to the world became a hot topic among people.

"What do you think? Do you think it will succeed this time?"

"The Fairy must have had confidence to say she'll recapture Uijeongbu. Surely she wouldn't want to mess up again after messing up big time last time."

"I believe it will succeed. Now is completely different from then. They say players' skills have improved a lot."

Reactions were mostly positive.

People had ears to listen too.

It was a situation where stories of players' power growing surprisingly compared to the past were being heard from the media every day.

Moreover, hadn't they seen players' power with their own eyes?

Especially─

"─They say Pandora Clan is participating too? Then it's just over. What kind of people are the players affiliated there?"

"Of course the Pandora Clan Lord goes without saying, and <Snow Spear>, <Fairy >, <Shadow >, <Divine Sword>, <Vajra Sword>... They're all outstanding people without exception."

People's recognition of Pandora Clan was very high.

5 years have passed now.

5 years was enough time for one clan to firmly establish itself in public perception.

Pandora Clan members showed that much outstanding skill.

"Have you heard of the Nine Pillars?"

"Nine Pillars? What's that?"

"It's what they call Pandora Clan's representative players excluding the Clan Lord and sub-lords. I heard Eun-ha God Religion people recently started calling them that."

"Nine Pillars? You mean 9 people? Why are there so many people? It must be hard to memorize. Other clans have about 5-7 people..."

"This is already reduced a lot from the Twelve Palaces. So it's fine."

People even made new terms while enumerating Pandora Clan's representative players.

That is the Nine Pillars.

It meant the nine pillars supporting Pandora Clan.

"So who's in the Nine Pillars? It means <Crimson Wing>, <Bookmark >, <Vajra Sword>, <Fairy >, <Angel of the Battlefield> aren't included, right?"

"But this differs for each person. They say it's still not clearly established so it's ambiguous who the Nine Pillars are, but generally these people are included."

"Tell me. But did you memorize it all? You really have severe Pandora Clan fandom... Are you studying?"

"I'm going to write a thesis about women closely related to <Crimson Wing> later. I'm planning to substitute that for my graduation thesis..."

"Right, you're doing well. Anyway, hurry up and tell me."

"The people are..."

After the Mana Religion soul-returning ceremony terror attack, there were no notable incidents in the world.

So Pandora Clan's Nine Pillars weren't firmly established yet.

The public said the Nine Pillars would be clearly decided in the 2nd Uijeongbu Recapture War.

Anyway, the people most often mentioned as Nine Pillars currently were as follows:

"<Snow Spear> Ryu Yeon-hwa, <Gale > Jin Parang, <Shadow > Han Chang-jin, <Divine Sword> Choi Eun-hyeok, <Golden Tiger> Jin Seo-na, <Witch of Scorching> Bae Subin, <Saint of the Altar> Iriya, <Star Arrow> Hoshimiya Kaede, and <Small Giant> Kang Si-hyeong."

"Hmm... I prefer <Quartet > over <Witch of Scorching>..."

"There are many people like you too. But <Quartet > doesn't stand out as much compared to <Witch of Scorching>, right?"

"<Small Giant> is a bit unexpected. I don't think <Double Penetration> or <Myriad Poisons Unharmed> are bad either."

"It doesn't feel diverse if you fill it all with dealers. I don't think <Small Giant> is bad either."

"Hmm... This isn't decided yet, right?"

"Since Pandora Clan hasn't announced it, nothing is decided."

"Then I should push my opinion. If my opinion becomes the majority, Pandora Clan won't be able to ignore it, right?"

"You really have nothing better to do... Are you studying?"

The people included in the Nine Pillars differed for each person.

But the number of 9 people was generally accepted.

Zenith Clan, Five Swords.

Regulus Clan, Seven Lions.

Silla Clan, Six Stars.

Myeongwang Clan, Five Spirits.

Blaze Clan, Eight Jades.

Tempest Clan, Five Fierce Birds.

KK Clan, Seven Great Tigers.

Donghae Clan, Six Dragons.

It was quite a lot compared to terms referring to other clans' representative players.

Nevertheless, the reason the number didn't decrease was because Pandora Clan's players were so deeply engraved in people's minds.

""""Glory to Eun-ha God! Glory! Long live!""""

""""Glory to the Crimson God!""""

Meanwhile, Eun-ha God Religion's influence strengthened as the Mana Religion was disbanded.

2 years ago, after the Mana Religion soul-returning ceremony terror attack, <Crimson Wing> No Eun-ha was really being revered like a god.

So the news that Pandora Clan was participating in the 2nd Uijeongbu Recapture War brought quite positive reactions in public opinion.

Of course, not everyone was hopeful.

"You never know with the world."

"Wasn't the atmosphere like this in the 1st Uijeongbu Recapture War too? Then they got badly beaten by monsters hiding in Uijeongbu later."

"Pandora Clan is very overrated. Their true skills will be revealed after this recapture war ends."

Negative public opinion existed too.

They thought Pandora Clan's value was greatly inflated.

It couldn't be unconditionally denied.

Public opinion about Pandora Clan was quite overheated.

""""...""""

Whether it was someone's intention.

Or if it really happened by coincidence.

People couldn't know.

Nevertheless, one thing that could be known was that Pandora Clan's value would be determined through this 2nd Uijeongbu Recapture War.

☆

Public opinion is stirring with news that the 2nd Uijeongbu Recapture War is starting.

It will succeed, it will fail.

People not even participating in the Uijeongbu Recapture War talked as if they were players.

Meanwhile, players refrained from speaking and entered intense training for the Uijeongbu Recapture War.

And clans devoted time to organizing personnel participating in the Uijeongbu Recapture War.

"─The list of people who expressed intention to participate in the Uijeongbu Recapture War is written in the documents there."

"Quite a lot."

"Almost everyone except new members who entered this year expressed intention to participate."

Pandora Clan was the same.

Their responsibility became heavy as they decided to take charge of the 2nd supply platoon at the recent Mana Management Organization meeting.

So Pandora Clan had been holding meetings day after day on how to best organize personnel.

And on this day, Han Seo-hyeon presented the results of a preliminary survey of people willing to participate in the recapture war.

Eun-ha and the sub-lords fell into thought looking at the results.

 "First, let's hold off on deciding for people below B rank in the Mana Management Organization evaluation grades."

Soon Eun-ha opened his mouth.

The Mana Management Organization announced they would permit participation of players who received C0 rank or higher last year.

But in Eun-ha's opinion, C rank players wouldn't be much help.

C rank is just likely to die.

We've only just gathered a decent number of people in the clan, we can't let the kids we gathered die.

C rank players varied widely too.

Players who graduated from the academy with high grades sometimes received C+ rank.

So among them were many underestimated people.

But experience couldn't be ignored.

Even if a promising rookie had A rank skills, if their experience was C rank there was a high possibility they wouldn't respond well to situations requiring improvisation.

They couldn't bring such people to Uijeongbu where they didn't know what situations would occur.

"It's not good to bring C rank kids. Since it's a city teeming with monsters, we won't be in a relaxed situation either. I agree."

The sub-lords agreed too.

Mok Min-ho and the others also wanted to avoid unnecessary sacrifices.

To this, it was decided that people participating in Uijeongbu would be players B rank or higher in Mana Management Organization grades.

"Then let's select people we need to leave in the clan from among these. Some need to protect the clan, right?"

A little over 30 people.

No Eun-ah checked their names and asked people's opinions.

They put their heads together.

"Clan wars will be banned while the Uijeongbu Recapture War is happening so urgent matters shouldn't occur... Let's see, Seo-hyeon and Hae-su hyung, Bruno ahjussi, those three will remain in the clan too... Let's leave about 5 people from here."

There were clan members not participating in the recapture war anyway.

Considering their numbers, it didn't seem necessary to leave many B+ rank or higher players.

If needed, <Mercenary King> will send support to help, so there's no need to worry that much.

Not just the Itaewon forces.

The alleyway forces including <Blabbermouth > Twenty-Five would be helpful too.

And to the extent people weren't in the clan, bodyguards like Lee Jeong-hyeon would escort Ha Baek-ryeon.

There was no need to worry about the clan.

Soon Eun-ha decided on 30 players to participate in the recapture war.

"Let's decide on personnel like this... Eun-ah noona and Min-ho, reorganize the personnel into five parties. You know there should be at least 1 telepathist in each party, right?"

"Okay, I'll do that. I'll put Seo-na or Riel in your party, Eun-ha."

"Then Jin Parang... We should put him in a party lacking firepower. There should be 1 supporter in each party too."

"You two organize it well."

He and No Eun-ah, Mok Min-ho, Jeong Ha-yang, Cha Eun-woo will be party leaders.

The number of parties was just right.

Eun-ha decided to leave it to them now.

The role of contacting clans belonging to the 2nd supply platoon and making plans to support Pandora Clan members was all up to the administrator and sub-lords.

Our clan's supplies... Well, since we receive sponsorship from so many groups, we don't need to worry about quality or taste.

His role was just to approve.

If there was one more thing, it was to carefully examine the parties formed later.

So Eun-ha decided to participate in meetings with a relaxed mind now.

"─By the way, did you hear that?"

"Huh? That? What?"

Constantly having meetings gives me a headache.

When taking a short break.

Jeong Ha-yang suddenly brought up a topic.

Eun-ha tilted his head.

Then Jeong Ha-yang said─

"─I heard there's talk of calling our clan's representative players the Nine Pillars recently."

"Nine Pillars?"

"Yeah, it means nine pillars."

"We wouldn't be included in that, so who's in it?"

At the mention of representative players.

Eun-ha showed curiosity.

It's already been 5 years since Pandora Clan was founded.

Since they've built up recognition, it wasn't strange for a term calling the clan's representative players to arise.

"Hmm... But it seems it's not accurately decided yet. Some members are clearly decided, but some differ for each person."

Jeong Ha-yang recited the names of clan members said to be called the Nine Pillars.

Most were founding clan members.

Eun-ha nodded while listening to the clan members' names.

They all would have made a name for themselves in other clans if they weren't in our clan, it's a shame.

Even in Eun-ha's opinion, it wasn't easy to determine superiority.

In the end, it seemed the world's people would have to decide.

Sure enough─

"─So they say everyone is gearing up to establish merits in this recapture war. There was even Parang oppa pleading with me to capture it in photos."

"Well, this recapture war will be a turning point."

It's said the clan members mentioned as Nine Pillars are carrying out hellish training now.

They don't want to be called just players affiliated with Pandora Clan either.

They want to build fame.

They want to establish merits.

Who wouldn't?

Therefore─

─This recapture war will properly become a stage for 3rd generation players to play an active role.

Many heroes will appear from all over, not just Pandora Clan.

Just like Eun-ha in the previous regression.