Ex Rank Supporting Role’s Replay in a Prestigious School

The video ended as the scouting team returned with Yao Ruichi, and as Huang Ho left the Korean team's quarters.
"Before we hand the footage over to the broadcast booth, we’ll need to modify Huang Ho’s face and voice. It’ll be difficult to cut it out since it’s a scene where the Korean team meets a Chinese player."

Eun Ho's tone was unchanged from usual.
There was something about Huang Ho’s words to Jo Yi-shin that Eun Ho could have commented on, but instead, he just smiled gently, which only made Huang Ho's headache worse.
Moreover, this footage was crucial, as Eun Ho had pointed out, and it was hard to skip over it.

The Korean team had met with the head of the current Hojo family, Huang Ho.
Additionally, three Chinese team members were incapacitated, and one of them was rescued by the Korean team.
Skipping this would make it difficult to understand the raid's progress.

"There’s almost no part that can be cut. The majority of what Huang Ho said to Yi-shin hyung in the simulation will probably be broadcast."
Eun Ho's words hit Huang Ho hard.
Even if they manipulated the video to deceive Eungwang High’s people, those who already knew about Huang Ho would easily recognize him.

Just thinking about the possible confrontation with Ok To-yeon, who might contact and scold him for ordering Yi-shin to die, made Huang Ho's ears ache and his irritation rise.
Cheongryong, sensing Eun In’s hurt, might even blurt out about taking Yi-shin to the Dragon Tribe's domain once this exchange event was over.
Krrr...

To avoid interrupting Eun Ho, Olmu, who had been holding back, made a strange noise from his throat.
The mood was tense, with the small divine beast showing its teeth and growling threateningly at Huang Ho.
It was clear what it wanted to convey, but Baek Ho, holding the small divine beast in his arms, unnecessarily added his own thoughts.

"Is that something you should say to Jo Yi-shin?"
"...Baek Ho, I understand. You don't need to interpret the divine beast's words for me. As you all know, I can't control what happens inside the simulation."
"..."

At his words, Baek Ho and the divine beast stared intently at Huang Ho.
The divine beast seemed just upset, while Baek Ho’s expression was unreadable.
Baek Ho often acted like he knew everything, wearing an indifferent face.
Especially when it came to matters involving Eun In, he had an uncanny intuition. It seemed that Jo Yi-shin followed him well, perhaps due to Baek Ho's previous role as the main character in the game.

Lately, Jo Yi-shin had been somewhat curt with Baek Ho, but he still followed him closely.
In any case, Baek Ho had always been perceptive when it came to Jo Yi-shin.
‘I hope he hasn’t realized that Yi-shin was told the same thing when he first entered. Back then, Baek Ho wasn’t even staying at my mansion.’

Of course, regardless of when Baek Ho started staying at the Hoang Myeong-ho mansion, he knew everything.
Baek Ho had bestowed a blessing upon Jo Yi-shin under his true name, so he had heard everything Huang Ho had said.
If Huang Ho had truly intended to kill Jo Yi-shin, Baek Ho would have been ready to intervene, though he hadn’t realized it at the time.

"I know. The alternate world simulator merely reproduced the land's memories. But there’s something that bothers me."
"...What part?"
"The difference in reactions when watching the video of the Red Tiger's appearance versus how you’re reacting now."

Eun Ho’s gaze on Huang Ho was gentle, but it made him feel a chill run down his spine.
The warmth in Eun Ho's eyes didn’t match the coldness creeping up his back.
Huang Ho recalled when the Red Tiger had appeared in the simulator.

‘Did I do something that would leave Eun Ho holding a grudge?’
The Red Tiger had suddenly appeared, talking about descendants in relation to Yeom Jun-yeol, and Huang Ho had laughed with amusement.
He couldn't take his eyes off Qing Ho when he saw him after so long, but seeing the Red Tiger acting that way towards an unborn child made him laugh.

The Red Tiger had paid no attention to Jo Yi-shin, which was funny in its own way.
Although it hadn't actually happened, the laughter was exactly what the Red Tiger of that era would have made.
But when Huang Ho saw himself acting like that towards Jo Yi-shin, the laughter quickly faded.

‘It wasn’t the right thing to say to a teenager who had just lost his family, especially if that teenager was Eun In.’
If Huang Ho had been innocent, hearing such words in the simulator would have made him feel happy.
However, knowing the sins he had committed, he couldn’t feel that way, and it seemed that all the tigers here sensed that.

Eun Ho, now sure that Huang Ho had spoken those words to Jo Yi-shin both in the simulator and in real life, continued.
"As the future head of the Hojo family and the current head of the Hojo clan, it’s natural to be wary of strong players. But when dealing with someone like Eun In, who has just become a high school student, you should choose your words carefully."
"...I won’t do it again."

"If it were me, I’d have been trying to gauge the situation. The person I was thinking about killing might have ended up being Eun In. Just like Yi-shin hyung."
Although Huang Ho had hesitated, he didn’t actually want to kill him, and he had said as much...
His excuses surged up, but he forced them down.

Eun Ho, unlike Huang Ho, had been observing Jo Yi-shin from afar in the simulation and hadn’t approached him with such words.
If he made the wrong move now, the divine beast, which was constantly watching Huang Ho, might snap or attack.
And even if he tried to make excuses, no one would stay quiet if he had really said such things to Jo Yi-shin.

While Eun Ho was lecturing him, the footage featuring Huang Ho was processed and modified.
"Good thing Huang Ho didn’t kill Yi-shin hyung. Yi-shin hyung is bold too. After hearing those words, he didn’t distance himself from the Hojo clan, nor did he seem surprised or cautious."
Eun Ho referred to both the real and simulated situations.

No matter what Huang Ho said, Jo Yi-shin had done his job at Eungwang High, and that was reflected in the simulation too.
Eun Ho set down his teacup, then quietly observed Jo Yi-shin, who was fully covered in a hood, neck warmer, and goggles in the hologram.
"I have a question for you, Huang Ho. The answer to the question Yi-shin hyung asked in exchange for taking off his hood..."

Knock, knock.
Before Eun Ho could finish his question, there was a knock on the individual room's door.
From the force and number of knocks, it was obvious who it was without even checking.

After allowing entry, it was exactly as expected: the Red Tiger appeared.
"I’ve arrived. What happened?"
"We got new footage. Once the report is done, let’s watch it together."

"Understood. I’ll report first."
The moment Red Tiger mentioned the report, Huang Ho's headache worsened.
It was clear that the Red Tiger, upon hearing what Huang Ho had said, would start swearing without regard for the context.

Huang Ho tried to steel himself by sipping tea while listening to the report, but his cup was empty.
Normally, Eun Ho would refill it without saying a word, but this time it seemed he had left it empty.
As Huang Ho refilled the cup himself, the Red Tiger began his report.

"I checked the alternate world simulator myself. There’s a significant increase in output, but otherwise, everything seems normal. The vital signs of all students are within the normal range."
"What about the Chinese team?"
The Red Tiger, tasked with checking the alternate world simulator’s status and the situation of each national team, reported with little new information.

Aside from the unexpected surge of power when the simulator was activated, everything remained within the normal range.
Amid the large crowd of spectators, players, and the like, no one had noticed anything unusual, and the Hojo clan hadn’t either.
"The head of the Chinese team, Dong Xiaodan, will likely continue the match as long as there’s no issue with their vital signs. Was there any problem?"

"Aside from Lu Bo-won and Li Wei, the rest are all incapacitated. Yao Ruichi might recover."
Although two students from the Chinese team were captured by the external forces inside the simulator, it did not affect the continuation of the match according to the rules.
"It looks like the match will go on longer than expected. I hope the ones inside are safe."

As he finished speaking, Eun Ho looked at Baek Ho.
Baek Ho simply petted the divine beast, offering no words.
Yao Ruichi hadn't regained consciousness, but there were no major issues.

Though no one with healing abilities was available, players could check their condition with insight skills.
Park Seung-hyun said that while Yao Ruichi didn’t seem to have major injuries, the energy consumption from abilities was high, and the mental shock might cause him to sleep longer.
However, he would wake up soon, as he wouldn't stay unconscious for more than 24 hours in the simulation.

We then discussed the external forces that had attacked the Chinese team.
"So, we can't classify them as either a species or faction?"
"With my insight skill level, I could normally analyze the enemy’s type and species if it was below SSR-grade. But these external forces, even though not of high rarity, couldn’t be classified."

"They say that when the National Institute of the Korean Language tried to call the enemies ‘external forces,’ the player academia protested. They argued that it couldn’t be the same entity based on the records."
The external forces had appeared long before the inter-dimensional conflict began.
Their appearance was far earlier, and the records about them indicated significant differences from the enemies.

Some schools of thought did equate the two, but they were in the minority and lacked strong evidence.
"If the external forces were just normal enemies, the Chinese team wouldn’t have fallen so easily. There should’ve been at least one person using insight skills. They would have figured out right away that they couldn’t communicate with sound and escaped immediately."
"I agree with Mi-ro’s theory. I’d say the external forces are closer to the True Clan."

"That might make the Dragon Clan angry."
"Don’t worry. They won’t."
As Yeom Jun-yeol laughed and said this, no one argued.

Even if any dragons were about to get angry, they’d calm down quickly.
‘The True Clan might get upset if they hear that, but like Yeom Jun-yeol said, the external forces seem closer to the True Clan than enemies.’
If there are any surviving external forces to this day, they’d probably be treated as part of the True Clan.

There are many higher beings, like the Heavenly Gods, who never forgive the external forces. Surviving on land with traces of the gods would have been nearly impossible.
As the night deepened, the strategy meeting didn’t last long.
‘It seems like the darkness is making the sun set early. Soon it’ll be hard to tell if it’s truly night or just the darkness getting deeper. We need to prepare a strategy.’

Thanks to a bit of napping during the day, I felt in better condition than I had in recent days.
Yeom Jun-yeol had been worried, saying I hadn’t slept much, but now that it was time for everyone else to rest, I couldn’t sleep.
Moreover, Yao Ruichi was still unconscious in our quarters.

‘Yao Ruichi still hasn’t woken up. If I fall asleep now, nightmares will target him.’
It was certain I wouldn’t be able to sleep tonight either.
I decided to pretend to have insomnia and force myself to stay awake.

Dukgo Mi-ro, who was on night watch, tapped me and said,
"Hey, are you really okay? Just lie down and close your eyes."
"If I do that, it’ll be even harder. I’m fine since I slept a bit during the day."

Dukgo Mi-ro didn’t insist I try to sleep but seemed to still be worried, as she stayed with me.
Yeom Jun-yeol, perhaps feeling the same about my fake insomnia, had stayed awake a little longer but was now keeping watch by Yao Ruichi’s side.
We had planned to keep at least one person by Yao Ruichi’s side until he woke up.

‘I’m so sleepy. I can’t fall asleep.’
Just as I felt my thoughts start to fragment, I heard singing carried by the wind from somewhere.