Ex Rank Supporting Role’s Replay in a Prestigious School

Jeokho remembered everything about the day he last saw Ungnyeo, without missing a single detail.
He had left the house to pick up supplies for the storm.

When he met the couple who had a child at his destination, he felt a sense of excitement at the thought that Jeho would soon have friends his own age.
Thinking how nice it would be if Jeho could have friends like his own close ones, Jeokho arrived home to find Jeho asleep.
Then, Ungnyeo, who greeted him, brought up the subject of the self-defense gun.

‘That was the last time, and I really thought it would be the last...’
He thought it would either be that they would never meet again, or one of them would die first.
That’s why after Jo Yi-shin had appeared, he felt confused by the traces of Ungnyeo that slowly started to surface.

Jo Yi-shin carried the weight of both wealth and life.
Someone wearing a red dress who attacked the low-ranking society.
A beautiful figure in the sleet at the end of the replay.

A woman who appeared on Christmas Eve with a lace parasol.
The trace of Ungnyeo found at the rose farm and the movements of Ungnyeo in the game, as mentioned by Eun Ho.
With each new trace of Ungnyeo, Jeokho realized that the thoughts he had struggled to abandon for thousands of years had not changed.

‘These thoughts will never change.’
Jeokho looked down at Ungnyeo, who was in his arms, and thought to himself.
The moment he realized that Ungnyeo had injured her leg, he immediately picked her up, and no one, not even Ungnyeo, stopped him.

Even while treating her and after the treatment, Jeokho did not let go of her.
He could feel the warmth slowly returning to Ungnyeo’s cold, wet skin, and he could not bring himself to let go.
Although he told himself it was because of her body temperature, the truth was he didn’t need a reason.

Jeokho simply didn’t want to let go of Ungnyeo, and she didn’t push him away.
“Ungnyeo.”
When they arrived at the small house with the red bricks that Hwang Ho had provided, Jeokho quietly called Ungnyeo’s name.
The moment his lips got closer to her ear, Ungnyeo’s body trembled slightly.

As Ungnyeo turned her head, their faces got even closer.
Their breaths were clearly felt, and they were close enough that, with a slight tilt, their lips would meet.
“Do you still have thoughts of me?”

It was Jeokho who approached her first, falling for her at first sight, and tried to change his tone, but it was Ungnyeo who had confessed her feelings first.
However, they had been out of sync for a long time.
Jeokho had done nothing while Ungnyeo fought alone, and he didn’t even know.

‘Even if she says she has no thoughts now, could I let her go?’
Jeokho felt uneasy as he looked at Ungnyeo’s face, which was so beautiful.
Even when her hand brushed his eyes and hair, his nervousness didn’t fade.

Ungnyeo stared at him as though reading the thoughts in his red eyes.
In that moment, both of them only thought of each other.
“I always have thoughts of you.”

Ungnyeo, wrapped in red cloth, spoke her thoughts clearly.
With that response, Jeokho was truly convinced that Ungnyeo’s feelings had never changed.
He exhaled the breath he had been holding and tightened his arms around her.

Just as their faces were about to get even closer,
“If you go any further, Jeho will probably be too embarrassed to look at his parents for about a hundred years.”
Jeokho and Ungnyeo turned their heads toward the sound.

There, hidden behind spatial manipulation, was Yong Je-gun, grinning widely.
Even though they had fought until their stamina and Ineungpa were exhausted, deceiving Jeokho and Ungnyeo’s senses would not have been easy. Yet, true to his playful nature, Yong Je-gun had made every effort to hide himself completely.
If Yong Je-gun had been alone, Jeokho and Ungnyeo would have attacked the playful dragon immediately, but since his young and precious son was with him, they could not do that.

‘My son...!’
This small house had actually been prepared by Hwang Ho for Jeokho and Jeho to live in more comfortably.
So, Hwang Ho had probably asked Jeho to finish preparing the house before they returned.

Yong Je-gun had likely come to watch under the pretense of helping Jeho.
Thinking of Yong Je-gun’s intentions, Jeokho wanted to smack him, but imagining how uneasy Jeho must have been waiting alone for his parents made his hand stay still.
Jeho was frozen like a stone, but when Yong Je-gun prodded him, he managed to move after swatting his hand away.

Although Jeho’s face turned red upon seeing Jeokho still holding Ungnyeo, he did not avert his eyes and spoke.
It was his first greeting to both Jeokho and Ungnyeo, as well as to the couple.
Eun Ho’s small house.

Not many tigers were present here at the moment.
After receiving treatment from Li Wei, who had been waiting at Hwangmyeong Tower, Hwang Jiho ordered everyone to rest.
At Hwang Jiho’s words, Jeokho and Ungnyeo went to the prepared house, and the couple went to meet Ahn Da-in, but there were also some members of the Hojo Family who remained unmoving.

These were the students of Cheongho, who had performed the worst in this operation. After Cheongho comforted them, they bowed their heads deeply and barely returned.
‘The numbers dwindled in an instant.’
After arriving at Eun Ho’s house, Jeokho released his Gwanglim, got ready, and came out to see only the white tiger, Cheongho, and Eun Ho.

Hwang Jiho was nowhere to be seen.
When he thought of Hwang Jiho, a sense of frustration came over him.
Even after cutting down the Jin that disturbed Baek Ho-gun’s intellect, Hwang Jiho had not been able to properly handle his clone.

With his main body in his 20s, he had managed to handle the surrounding situation and issued commands, but it took time to regain the composure needed to deal with his high school clone.
When they were about to return to Eungwang, Hwang Jiho had said, “It’s fine now; I don’t need help,” but it had sounded awkward and unnatural, so they had forced him to move.
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‘Normally, he would have teased me, asking if I was worried about him.’
Moreover, Hwang Jiho’s clone was still missing.
He always left a clone at Eun Ho’s house, so this was strange.

Perhaps it was because Hwang Jiho was not there, but his condition, today’s actions, the result, the smile of Gunggi, the corrupt darkness, the missing dark bear, and so many other things were swirling in his mind, leaving him feeling complicated.
“Where is Heukho?”
“Heukho is with Unsa. He must be asleep by now. Don't worry, I’ve also put a divine beast next to him.”

Jeokho paused his thoughts upon hearing the conversation between Baek Ho-gun and Eun Ho.
He recalled the times when Heukho had lingered around Unsa, even when he was a mountain spirit, and his feelings of sympathy deepened.
Surely, Heukho wouldn’t want to be woken up for a conversation with the tigers, as he would have a lot to say to them.

Thinking of Heukho, who had cried and felt sorry while being happy about reuniting with his friends, Jeokho felt a sense of calm.
Click.
At that moment, a tea cup was placed before him.

Following the hand that placed it, his eyes met Eun Ho’s.
Eun Ho smiled gently and spoke.
“Yi-shin hyung, you’re blaming yourself for what happened today, right?”

Though he called it self-blame, it was actually his responsibility.
He had assumed that if he made a move here, the villain wouldn’t be able to respond properly.
But the villain had prepared a trump card, knowing the Hojo Family would launch a full-scale war to save Ungnyeo.

Having read the opponent's moves and successfully completing his own counterattacks, Jeokho realized that he may have underestimated the villain.
The previous failure had been a mistake due to lack of information, so he had assumed that making a move would be fine.
Just as these thoughts started to disrupt him, Eun Ho continued.

“It wasn’t your fault, Yi-shin hyung. We knew far more about the Jin Ung-pal than anyone. We underestimated them. Also, we didn’t know they had succeeded in controlling the corrupt darkness during that era. It was my fault, as the leader at the time.”
Eun Ho’s words made sense, but in the end, he had been the one to suggest the plan.
He tried to explain this, but Eun Ho spoke first.

“Also, the Hojo Family's power was an issue. Even if a player places the pieces in the correct spots, if those pieces can’t move according to the movement rules, every move becomes useless.”
Eun Ho quietly raised his head and looked at ◈ Nоvеlіgһт ◈ (Continue reading) Cheongho.
Cheongho, though calm in front of his disciples, had worn a grim expression after they left.

“The villain must have imprisoned Cheongho-nim’s body for a long time to replicate and extract the Ineungpa. His condition is not the same as before. But there’s no excuse for Cheongho-nim’s disciples. They fought worse than the couple did.”
Eun Ho spoke calmly, as though reading facts from a report.
When Jeokho looked with his eyes that held the Gungon, he saw that Cheongho’s disciples had truly failed to fight properly this time.

Their long experience with the Hojo Family’s combat skills and their coordinated abilities didn’t show at all.
With the anomaly in intellect, Cheongho’s disciples were the most affected after Hwang Jiho, and they were greatly unsettled by the corrupt darkness.
Cheongho had been too busy protecting his disciples.

In truth, the only ones who fought on that day were Jeokho, Ungnyeo, the Hojo couple, and Baek Ho-gun.
Cheongho had shielded his disciples.
“It’s not their fault. It’s my responsibility. I’ve neglected my disciples for too long.”

“Cheongho-nim, please evaluate your disciples coldly. We need to determine if they’ll be useful in the next round.”
Though it was a harsh statement, Eun Ho’s words were right.
If their skills hadn’t changed, Jeokho would want to think carefully before calling on them next time.

Had they fought even half as well as the couple, the number of injuries might have been fewer.
Though Jeokho still felt that this was overall his responsibility, he could not bring himself to add to the conversation.
If he interfered now, it would be like ignoring Cheongho and his disciples.

“When an old friend returns, and the partner of that friend is cleared of suspicion, it should be a good day, yet everyone looks so gloomy.”
At that moment, Hwang Jiho finally appeared.
Dressed in the Eungwang High summer uniform, Hwang Jiho appeared to be fine and spoke with his usual tone.

The gap between the Hwang Jiho he had been supporting in silence and the one before him now was enormous.
Jeokho immediately addressed him.
“...How’s your condition?”

“As you can see, this body is unharmed. Are you worried about me? Hahaha! It’s a happy thing that my benefactor worries about me, but you don’t need to trouble yourself.”
Hwang Jiho smiled, looking pleased with something.
Seeing him like that made Jeokho feel even more upset.

When Jeokho had been showing his concern for Hwang Jiho’s clone, the tiger had been silent, possibly hiding his true condition.
Jeokho immediately spoke up.
“Hwang Jiho, I have a request.”

“Jo Yi-shin...?”
Hwang Jiho widened his eyes, looking surprised, then spoke cautiously.
“I’ll grant any request from my benefactor, but if it puts you in danger, I can’t agree to it.”

“It’s not that kind of request.”
Although Jeokho said it wasn’t, it seemed Hwang Jiho still didn’t fully trust him.
Hwang Jiho glanced at Baek Ho-gun.

The white tiger, who was reading his thoughts, nodded silently.
Only then did Hwang Jiho speak.
“Understood. Go ahead.”

Jeokho finally voiced the request he had been thinking about since the incident at the rose farm.
“Take the elixir.”
The mention of the elixir caused Hwang Jiho’s eyes to lose their sharpness for a moment.

Before Hwang Jiho could say anything, he added a crucial part.
“Made by Hyangnok.”