As summer vacation passed and the weather gradually became cooler, there were several changes.

A small change was that, because of the heat generated by the energy manipulation, Kwak Kyung-gu, who used to distance himself from Yeom Jun-yeol, now took a step closer when conversing with him.

Also, rumors spread that Ahn Dain and Joo Soo-hyeok had solved various # Nоvеlight # big and small incidents, and the number of times they consulted Yeom Jun-yeol regarding energy manipulation increased.

Yeom Jun-yeol, being kind and righteous, as well as having the power, background, and popularity to enforce his will, found that not only the two of them but also juniors and classmates sought his advice more frequently.

Although his time as a senior at Eun-gwang High had not been long, many people relied on Yeom Jun-yeol.

"Jun-yeol, you don't have to solve everything. I’m here, and there are others too," said Cheon Dong-ha, speaking calmly, though concern was evident in his eyes.

Yeom Jun-yeol, who tried to act mature in front of those who needed him, was still shaken from the shock of losing his loved ones and growing weary from the increasingly chaotic situations around him.

Exhausted, Yeom Jun-yeol began dealing more strictly with those who provoked him or insulted his friends and juniors, occasionally getting so angry that his pupils would dilate vertically.

However, Yeom Jun-yeol didn’t want to lean on his friends.

‘Dong-ha is worried about me. Still, I can’t let him help.’

Cheon Dong-ha, reliable enough to share concerns with, was burdened by many responsibilities.

After the Jamsil Baseball Stadium incident, where the TC Group’s next successor family was seriously injured, followed by the loss of Do Won-woo on Christmas, all kinds of disasters were shaking the group internally.

Despite being only in his teens, Do Won-woo had the talent to be considered as the next successor, and when the news of his death spread before his graduation, TC’s major subsidiaries saw their stock charts plummet drastically for a while.

As a result, Cheon Dong-ha was affected as well, and amidst it all, the fake bloodline incident and other internal discord caused him significant trouble.

‘Kyung-gu is not in a position to help anyone, and the workload for the good teachers is increasing day by day, so I can’t ask for help.’

Despite the efforts of Choi Pyeon-deuk and his group, after Kwak Kyung-gu became the student council president, things became difficult for him.

Moreover, since the Ji-ik Society disbanded and the dormitory system was revived, the suffering of dorm students increased, and the student council and disciplinary committee were becoming more involved in daily affairs.

As a result, some dorm students, unable to endure the dormitory supervisor’s tyranny, either left the dorm or teamed up with the 0th class students to pull off outrageous stunts to get back at the supervisor.

Moreover, in the disciplinary committee, Cheon Dong-ha’s superior, Ham Geun-hyeong, had been frequently absent due to business trips to Hongcheon.

Although Choi Pyeon-deuk’s group could have used this to cause trouble, it seemed that they were content with the situation since Ham Geun-hyeong’s absence made it easier for them to cause mischief.

"Are you worried about our family? The Red Lions are busy these days too. It's the same for them."

"All pro player teams are busy."

Cheon Dong-ha spoke as if reading Yeom Jun-yeol’s inner thoughts.

As Cheon Dong-ha said, the members of the Red Lions team, especially team master Yeom Bang-yeol, were having hectic days.

Not only had the frequency of otherworldly occurrences increased, but issues affecting the player community continued to erupt, leading to more responsibilities for the Red Lions, who represented the Korean peninsula.

Yeom Bang-yeol had been vocal about matters like the Player Special Act and satellite nationalization issues.

"The Eternal Lake hasn't returned for a long time, Jeol Heukpoonglim only cares about demon-related issues, and Su Guk-hyang declared that she’ll cut ties with the Red Lions and focus on the otherworld campaigns. Naturally, the burden on the Red Lions team has increased."

Cheon Dong-ha named each team, all of which represented the Korean Peninsula, without dispute.

Yeom Jun-yeol couldn’t deny Cheon Dong-ha’s words.

After Seong Guk-eon disappeared, Yeom Bang-yeol was practically the representative of the Korean players, even though he spoke in line with the majority of players’ opinions and used the correct words, figures like Byeon Jae-ik, an unknown citizen, weren’t paying attention to him.

When Yeom Bang-yeol sharply criticized the amendment of the Player Special Act and calmed teams intending to leave Korea, public opinion finally began to shift.

"Hasn’t the Dragon Tribe been busy too? They’re handling what the Red Lions used to do."

"It’s fine. A powerful True Tribe has been helping us recently."

"Did the Dragon Tribe join forces with another True Tribe?"

Cheon Dong-ha, who knew how closed-off the Dragon Tribe was, was skeptical.

After losing the Dragon’s Castle and the incident at the Dragon Palace, the Dragon Tribe was expected to become even more conservative, so it was natural for Cheon Dong-ha to doubt Yeom Jun-yeol’s words.

"It’s a reliable True Tribe. With all the incidents happening on the Korean Peninsula, they probably wanted to team up with us. I hear we’ve received some collateral too."

"If the Dragon Tribe trusts this collateral... Ah."

Without much explanation from Yeom Jun-yeol, Cheon Dong-ha immediately nodded, understanding who the ‘reliable True Tribe with significant collateral’ was.

It was indeed Jecheon Daeseong.

Jecheon Daeseong had wagered on Gingoah and had a serious discussion with Cheongryong. As a result, they promised to cooperate with the Dragon Tribe to overcome the Korean Peninsula’s crisis.

In fact, during the summer break, while secretly investigating TC Labs, which was presumed to have Mujigi, Jecheon Daeseong had also helped in various events without drawing attention.

"When I saw him at the irregular luncheon, I felt he was on our side. I’m glad."

"Yeah, both the Red Lions and the Dragon Tribe have gladly accepted his cooperation. We’ve even received permission from the Dragon King God through the priestess. So, we don’t need to worry."

Unlike the pleasant conversation between Cheon Dong-ha and Yeom Jun-yeol, the content was extremely chilling.

Jecheon Daeseong, after careful thought, chose the Dragon Tribe and promised cooperation by placing a dangerous collateral, a fact that was now known to the Imugi Shin, the priestess, and the black forces.

Because of this, the black forces could easily form plans to take down Jecheon Daeseong and cover up the situation.

They could now even set a timing to push Jecheon Daeseong into TC Labs, making sure the Dragon Tribe wouldn’t hear of it even if he went missing.

Soon enough, the Dragon Tribe would be too busy with Jecheon Daeseong’s disappearance to care, so no major schemes were necessary.

"The school trip destination has been decided to be Jeju Island. Since it’s surrounded by the sea, you don’t have to come."

"I’m going."

"You know that there’s a legacy of dragon slaying there, right?"

"Yeah, I know. That’s why I’m planning to ask the Red Lions team members to accompany us."

In the student council meeting room, as the school trip approached, Yeom Jun-yeol declared that he would definitely attend the school trip.

The reason was because of the teachers in charge of the students.

"If it’s those teachers, they’ll find a way to pick on us and make us suffer all night. They can’t stand seeing students happy."

Yeom Jun-yeol spoke sharply, but no one objected.

Only Kwak Kyung-gu responded, saying, "I’ll stop them."

"It won’t be easy for Kyung-gu to stop them. In the worst case, they might fabricate absurd charges and try to make him a criminal. Some of the dorm students have already been targeted."

Yeom Jun-yeol said as he quietly looked around at the student council members.

His gaze stopped on Ahn Dain and the students who had suffered at the hands of the teachers.

Those who were weak to the strong and strong to the weak, just like how they used to bow to Do Won-woo, now tried to flatter Yeom Jun-yeol and Cheon Dong-ha and were busy looking for ways to avoid their wrath.

There were students who would be left unprotected if Yeom Jun-yeol and Cheon Dong-ha didn’t attend, so they were determined to go on the school trip.

"The list of teachers in charge has been submitted earlier than usual, and it’s bothering me."

At that moment, Ahn Dain raised a question.

"Some seniors may decide not to go on the trip after seeing the teacher list. If the teachers wanted to torment us, wouldn’t they submit the list later as usual or initially send teachers without issues only to change it later?"

The students nodded as they heard that.

It was a sharp statement, not trusting the teacher list at all, but it was something everyone could understand.

In fact, Yeom Jun-yeol and Kwak Kyung-gu, if only the teacher list was reviewed, would have wanted to cancel the school trip and leave out the teachers to go on a trip only with the students.

Kwak Kyung-gu, after hearing Ahn Dain’s words, fell into thought before answering.

"That makes sense. But before the teacher list was even released, the number of students wishing to go on the trip was low. Maybe they didn’t pay attention to it."

"Couldn’t they have deliberately reduced the number to do something?"

"That’s true."

At the time of admission, the number of students in Yeom Jun-yeol’s grade was about 500.

However, the number of students wishing to participate in the school trip was less than 200, which was less than half of the original number.

Many had either died in incidents, quit being players due to serious injuries or mental trauma, or dropped out of Eun-gwang High because they didn’t like the situation.

Though some students still attended just to get the Eun-gwang High graduate title by taking exams, the number of students attending gradually decreased.

Also, some students, like those in Class 0, promised to graduate with their mentors and were attending school reluctantly, but they lacked enthusiasm for school events, leading them to skip the school trip.

‘It would have been reassuring if Chansol and Wang Chansol had come.’

Gold Chansol and Wang Chansol had strong backing, and since they did crazy things without hesitation, there were few teachers willing to touch them.

However, the 0th class students, still unable to overcome the grief of losing Jeol Jae-gul, could not be forced to participate.

Listening to Kwak Kyung-gu and Ahn Dain’s conversation, Yeom Jun-yeol spoke up.

"The things they’re saying make sense. But..."

Yeom Jun-yeol checked the statistics of students wishing to participate in the school trip and spoke.

"200 is not a small number. 200 students are hoping for the school’s event. No matter what the teachers do, we’ll take care of it."

At Yeom Jun-yeol’s powerful words, the tense atmosphere in the student council room immediately settled.

Some student council members, who had been anxious, relaxed and looked at Yeom Jun-yeol with respect.

Among them was Kwak Kyung-gu.

"You should have been the student council president."

"Kyung-gu, I voted for you in the remote voting."

With the lighter mood, the meeting continued.

The student council members forgot about the doubts raised by Ahn Dain and began drafting the budget according to the number of participants and specific plans for the school trip.

The students of Eun-gwang High had a deep trust that the main third-year students, including Yeom Jun-yeol and Cheon Dong-ha, could handle the teachers.

Thus, they never considered the possibility that the teachers had deliberately set up things to get them to participate.

Meanwhile, the dark forces quietly moved their pieces, and someone disappeared and was forgotten without drawing much attention.

Finally, the day came when the third-year students were to leave for the school trip.