The funeral of the Eun Gwang-go people, including Yong Je-geon, was held.

Because of the reporters who flocked like clouds to take pictures of the grieving Yeom Jun-yeol, the area around Yong Je-geon's funeral was directly controlled by the Red Lion.

Although he was able to spend some time at Yong Je-geon's funeral, he was unable to stay long due to the lack of personnel to be assigned to the funeral parlors or joint incense burners of other seniors due to the numerous recent incidents.

Yeom Jun-yeol was not given enough time to spend with his loved ones or to say goodbye.

'I have to go back home.'

When Yeom Jun-yeol decided to return home, his family welcomed him but was also worried.

Yeom Jun-yeol was determined to attend Eun Gwang-go, and the Yong clan was already convinced that something was targeting Eun Gwang-go.

They made a choice that respected the will of their descendants.

It was because they misjudged that the enemy that existed somewhere was targeting the Hojok and Eun Gwang-go, but the Yong clan was not included.

The Yongjok thought that Yongjegeon had sacrificed himself to protect his students, and did not think that he would be a target.

That is why they did not know that there were already enemies within the Yongjok.

“It’s been a while, Junyeol. Have you finished greeting Jegeon?”

“Uncle Hwangryong, hello. I came to greet Jegeon today.”

While Yongjegeon’s funeral was being held, Hwangryong decided to stay at the Red Lion team building.

Hwangryong had known Yongjegeon for a long time and considered him like a younger brother, so the sadness he felt was difficult for Yeom Junyeol to fathom.

‘It would have been nice if the two of you had met while you were alive.’

Yeom Junyeol deeply regretted that he should have forced Yongjegeon and Hwangryong to meet while he was in China.

Since he had brought this up to Hwangryong before, Hwangryong seemed to have noticed Yeom Junyeol’s regret and comforted him instead.

Hwang Ryong brought up a different story, perhaps to change Yeom Jun Yeol’s mood.

“I’ve decided to invite two of Je Geon’s students to Yonggung. They’re both your juniors.”

“My juniors?”

“Yes, Joo Soo Hyuk and Ahn Da In are now second-year students at Eunkwang High School.”

They were both juniors that Yeom Jun Yeol knew.

Joo Soo Hyuk had met Ahn Da In before he entered Eunkwang High School at irregular luncheons and had known her, and although he had never met her in person, she was a junior in the student council and people from Eunkwang High School, including Yong Je Geon, had mentioned her name several times.

It was true that Joo Soo Hyuk and Ahn Da In were close to Yong Je Geon, but it was unclear whether they were close enough to invite him to Yonggung.

Yeom Jun Yeol felt something was strange, but he didn’t point it out, thinking that there must be a reason why Hwang Ryong invited him.

“I think they were both close to Jegun hyung. I heard their names a few times during the video call.”

“......I see. I believe it even more since you said you were close to Jegun.”

Yeom Jun-yeol felt uncomfortable again.

It was as if Hwangryong had a reason to invite Joo Soo-hyeok and Andain.

At this point, Hwangryong was being eroded by Imugi’s scales and was unconsciously needing Andain’s purification ability.

Hwangryong, who could not even imagine the betrayal of a female shaman, did not realize it properly, and likewise, the other dragons who believed in Hwangryong did not think that there was a problem with him.

‘Wouldn’t it be better for me to go to the Dragon Palace too? I think something might happen.’

However, it was difficult to make this happen in reality.

In such a chaotic time, no one wanted to send Yeom Jun-yeol to the Dragon Palace, which was surrounded by water, deep in the sea.

In the end, the female shaman succession ceremony ended as the female shaman and the female shaman intended.

An unusual event occurred where one of the female shaman candidates incurred the wrath of the Dragon King God and died, but there was so much evidence and witnesses that the candidate had crossed the line countless times that it was difficult for the bereaved family to protest.

The candidate boasted that she had received a revelation from the Dragon King God and dared to assume that the Dragon King God who had descended was fake, so much so that it was fortunate that the family was not affected.

If not only the fair and upright Hwangryong, but also the female shamans who had worked for the Dragon Palace for a long time had made the same judgment, Yeom Jun-yeol had no reason to doubt it.

He just thought something strange.

‘Why was a child who did such things selected as a shaman?’

Yeom Jun-yeol was angry, but also had doubts.

However, with the death of the female shaman candidate, Yoon Yeo-rang, who was like the last bastion, the Dragon King God could no longer convey his voice to the Dragon Clan.

Yeom Jun-yeol wanted to hear about the Yonggung incident through Joo Soo-hyuk instead of Andain, who couldn’t even give a proper statement, but Joo Soo-hyuk had gotten very busy since his visit to the Yonggung, so he couldn’t make an appointment at all.

Joo Soo-hyuk had been busy visiting the sick and paying his respects recently.

This was because key figures within the Joo Oh Group, especially Mr. Oh, had been collapsing or dying one after another.

‘Soo-hyuk must be busy with his own work, so it’s hard to ask him.’

Joo Soo-hyuk had already been confirmed as a Class 0 student responsible for the death of his classmate Bang Yoon-seop on Christmas Eve.

Instead of talking to Joo Soo-hyuk, Yeom Jun-yeol tried talking to Hwang Ryong about the Yonggung incident, but Hwang Ryong simply said this with a more gentle face than usual.

[Don’t worry. The Dragon King is with us, so there’s no problem.]

Even though Hwang Ryong was saying that, Yeom Jun-yeol, who wasn’t there, couldn’t add anything.

In the end, Yeom Jun-yeol gave up on finding out more about the Yonggung building.

Yeom Jun-yeol had a gut feeling that something was wrong, but he just thought it was his anger and sadness.

In fact, things that made Yeom Jun-yeol angry and sad continued to happen.

One of them was when Soo-guk-hyang-gi, one of the four major pro player teams in Korea, suddenly showed hostility toward Red Lion.

“Soo-guk-hyang-gi declared that they would not cooperate with Red Lion team in conquering other worlds, subjugating enemies, hunting down player criminals, etc.”

“Yes. They sent me an official document yesterday, and they will announce it to the press today.”

Yeom Bang-yeol delivered the news himself, perhaps worried that Yeom Jun-yeol would be shocked if he heard it on the news.

Soo-guk-hyang-gi made the usual excuse of a simple disagreement, but no matter how much I thought about it, it seemed like there was another reason.

It is said that the team master of the hydrangea scent, Baekhwananman (百花爛漫), told Yeom Bangyeol this.

[I can’t get caught up in your ruin. I have to protect my flowers.]

After hearing this, Yeom Bangyeol tried to consult with Hongyi Shaman, who was close to Baekhwananman, but this didn’t work out either.

Hongyi Shaman was so shocked by the candidate who was betraying the Dragon King in the Dragon Palace that she was physically and mentally weak and was recovering in the Dragon Palace.

This was all relayed by the most senior Shaman of Yuhwang, who cautiously guessed that the candidate had used sorcery to curse Hongyi Shaman.

As various incidents occurred with the Dragon Clan and the Red Lion, Yeom Junyeol became more sensitive and nervous, but he always tried to be a polite and affectionate descendant in front of his family.

It was because he knew that if Yeom Jun-yeol showed that he was having a hard time, they would suffer even more.

And fortunately, there was good news.

‘If Yuri was alive, she would have been happy that she had more friends in Class 0.’

It is said that Joo Soo-hyuk found and rescued Maeng Hyo-don, who had been refusing to go to school for a long time.

It is said that Joo Soo-hyuk, who went to Class 0, heard about Maeng Hyo-don while talking to his homeroom teacher, Ham Geun-hyung.

Ham Geun-hyung comforted Joo Soo-hyuk and said that Maeng Hyo-don, who was his good rival in middle school, was also in Class 0, so he was looking forward to the day when they would go to school together.

After hearing that, Joo Soo-hyuk gained strength after a long time and made a plan to actively get Maeng Hyo-don to go to school, and it is said that he learned about Maeng Hyo-don’s condition.

Although he was unable to catch the mastermind behind Fight Club, Joo Soo-hyuk successfully rescued Maeng Hyo-don.

“Suhyuk, Hyodon’s case must be the one behind one of the teachers at Eun Gwang High School.”

“I guess so too. However, the other party is good at hiding their tails, such as changing the name or hiding the flow of funds. We won’t catch them unless we investigate on the spot.”

Neither Ju Soohyuk nor Yeom Junyeol could mention the name because there was no evidence, but the two of them, as well as most of the Eun Gwang High School students who heard the news, thought of Choi Pyeondeuk.

After Jegal Jaegeol retired, Choi Pyeondeuk, who was on a roll, was using all the power he could to control the faculty.

Good teachers left Eun Gwang High School for reasons such as transfers, transfers, and deaths, and corrupt teachers under Choi Pyeondeuk’s influence filled their places.

‘Those gangsters were on a business trip during the Christmas incident, so they escaped the trouble. Was it a coincidence?’

However, there were some good and capable teachers who escaped the trouble.

At the time, Gong Cheong-hwon, who was doing volunteer work at the orphanage, was like that, and the head teachers who went on a business trip overseas with Choi Pyeon-deuk, Ham Geun-hyeong, and Im Yeon-hwa were like that.

Among the teachers who returned to Korea in a hurry and confirmed the disaster, Im Yeon-hwa felt a sense of responsibility to the point of trying to cut off both of her arms.

The pain and burden of the few remaining proper teachers became even more severe.

In this situation, Yeom Jun-yeol's growth was bound to stagnate.

He was very anxious about whether he would be able to protect his friends and juniors if a similar incident occurred, but there was a student who was even more anxious than Yeom Jun-yeol.

"Hey, So Hong-ryong! Don't ignore me!"

At the word 'So Hong-ryong,' Yeom Jun-yeol stopped walking and gave him a cold gaze.

The other person was Ma Jin-seung.

After seeing the disaster at school, Ma Jin-seung continued to practice recklessly, claiming that his seniors died because he lacked strength, and one of his training methods was to pick a fight with Yeom Jun-yeol.

Although he was angry at the word “So Hong-ryong,” he couldn’t fight properly because he thought of Oh Hye-ji, Do Won-woo, and Yoo Sang-hee who tried to stop him and Ma Jin-seung when they were sparring in their first year.

Since then, Yeom Jun-yeol tried to consciously erase the existence of Ma Jin-seung from his mind in order to avoid fighting.

Fortunately or unfortunately, various incidents filled Yeom Jun-yeol’s mind, so this process went smoothly.

‘Oh, there was a kid like that in the same grade.’

Since he was someone he didn’t even consider, it took Yeom Jun-yeol a while to recall what kind of person Ma Jin-seung was.

While studying abroad, Yeom Jun-yeol was a foreigner who provoked him by calling him “So Hong-ryong.”

He thoroughly trampled the player in a gentlemanly manner, without breaking the rules.

Yeom Jun-yeol's family, who did not want their descendants to be insulted, were delighted and taught them how to destroy their opponents without breaking the law.

Among them was the method that Yong Je-geon had taught them.

Yeom Jun-yeol laughed as he thought of his family that he would never see again.

"Jin Seung-ah, do you want to spar with me?"

"Hey! Let's fight!"

Ma Jin-seung clenched his fists with a face full of enthusiasm and let out his power.

That power was miserably faint.

Yeom Jun-yeol cynically thought that the overall quality of Eun Kwang High School had fallen, seeing that not only the quality of the teachers but also the students were like that.

Yeom Jun-yeol wiped his smile and said,

"I could tear your orbicularis oculi muscle and rupture your anterior and posterior cruciate ligament under the pretext of sparring?"

"What, what?"

At that moment, Ma Jin-seung hesitated at the murderous intent that Yeom Jun-yeol gave off.

Yeom Jun-yeol smiled affectionately as if nothing had happened and said.

“I won’t do that. I don’t bully the weak.”

Ma Jin-seung staggered as if his legs had lost their strength.

Yeom Jun-yeol walked away without even looking back at Ma Jin-seung.

Ma Jin-seung realized a beat later that he had been treated as the weak, and he couldn’t suppress his anger and shouted.

“So...... uh!”

“Stop it.”

He tried to shout “So Hong-ryong!” again at the back of his head, but before he could, Cheon Dong-ha appeared and covered his mouth.

Yeom Jun-yeol sensed the presence and realized what was happening behind him, but he ignored it until the end.

Meanwhile, big news was delivered soon after.

Seong Guk-eon and senior aide Jeon Mu-yeong had gone missing.