The hastily arranged closing ceremony was successfully held.

Although it wasn’t an official event and participation was voluntary, almost everyone showed up—players and regular students alike, whether from Eungwang High or the Military Academy.

“There are cadets carrying a lot of luggage. Are they planning to head home right after the fun?”

The Chuseok holiday was coming up soon, and on campus, reporters, association staff, and soldiers were present. The Military Academy advised cadets not involved in this incident to skip staying in the dormitories and return home directly.

So, I thought many cadets would just leave without stopping here, but the event hall was surprisingly crowded.

Yeom Jun-yeol, who was in charge of the proceedings, took the microphone and gave a polite greeting before swiftly wrapping up the closing ceremony.

“Today marks the end of the 2nd Exchange Tournament. Thank you to everyone who participated. From now on, please feel free to enjoy the lingering spirit of the exchange.”

Wooooaaah!

The ceremony ended within seconds, and the afterparty began immediately.

Cheers and laughter mixed with the applause in response to Yeom Jun-yeol’s closing remarks.

The instructors who attended as student supervisors at the Military Academy looked on, bewildered by how abruptly the ceremony ended.

“As student council president, he probably had something to say, but I guess he respected the students’ wishes.”

Thoughtful Yeom Jun-yeol quickly sensed the students’ mood wanting to play and responded accordingly.

Though closing ceremonies typically include congratulatory speeches or addresses, most attendees had come just for the afterparty.

The student council hadn’t prepared grand performances like mass games or air shows as at the opening ceremony but took advantage of the informal indoor setting to prepare things difficult to arrange outside.

The first was food.

“Is this really what Eungwang High serves for lunch?”

“There’s Dal Rabbit Rice Cakes too!”

“Not all of this is from the school cafeteria, though, right?”

Since there were thousands of participants, serving food strictly scaled to headcount would have been too obvious, so they prepared a realistic mix.

Half the food was from the Eungwang High cafeteria menu, and the other half was ordered from restaurants and dessert shops located in the Hwangmyeong Building, offering a buffet.

Normally, Eungwang High serves good cafeteria food, and since the holiday was near, they planned luxurious menus for students staying in the dorms, including barbecue platters, galbijjim, japchae, and various jeon—dishes suitable for a party.

Eating was freely allowed inside the hall, but instead of sitting at tables around the buffet line, most students carried packaged snacks or drinks while moving around.

“Looks like more people came to watch together than to eat.”

The second content prepared by the student council was “watching together.”

Currently, at the center of the circular event hall stood the buffet with Eungwang High cafeteria-level food, and around the outer zones were partitions with soundproof barriers and hologram screens.

Each zone was set up to show videos of the exchange tournament matches.

The number of events had greatly increased this time, but because the academic schedule limited the time allocated to the tournament, many matches were held simultaneously, making it impossible to watch all games live.

For example, today the final chess and basketball matches were held at the same time, so the details of Yoo Sang-hoon vs. Jang Nam-wook’s match were unknown except for the result.

All matches were recorded and uploaded to each school’s website, so watching was possible, but it felt completely different from watching live on-site.

Though it was impossible to recreate the live experience for already finished matches, the joy of watching together was preserved.

“I’m going back to watch the match where Han played!”

“I’ll give commentary if you want, to review the matches.”

“I definitely want to hear the commentary of Lieutenant Han, whose skills have improved so much lately. But I’ll watch the Taehogwon individual match again first, then go see the Go and billiards games.”

“Is billiards really related to martial arts novels like Go?”

“I’m going to eat first, then watch the game where the vice-class president appears.”

“We’re heading straight to the MVP zone! We must’ve gotten MVPs from our cheering, so we have to go see!”

The MVP zone that Guseulbi mentioned referred to the upper floor.

It was a two-story hall, where on the upper floor they planned to show highlight videos of MVPs from each event in order after the final rounds ended.

This was for those having difficulty deciding what to watch and to accommodate MVP winners who were originally supposed to have a separate parade during the closing ceremony.

However, some in the audience didn’t particularly select MVPs, so it was hard to understand what kind of mindset led to that conclusion.

Still, just in case, they decided to let them go see it.

Meanwhile, many students enjoyed the things the student council prepared, like our classmates, but some took the opportunity to interact with other schools.

Among them were the Tigers.

“Of course Cheongho is attracting attention regarding Taehogwon, but that white tiger?”

The white tiger had already secured points in the first and second rounds and only appeared in the third round, essentially just tagging along.

Still, having learned very well, some cadets playing chess seemed to pay attention to the white tiger.

When the white tiger’s opponent initiated conversation, it replied arrogantly.

“You ➤ NоvеⅠight ➤ (Read more on our source) seem more used to Janggi than chess. It was obvious you’re a beginner at chess.”

“Really obvious? I thought Janggi and chess rules were similar...”

“Not at all.”

Of course they’re different.

But was that something the white tiger should say?

Apparently, in the dream conversation the white tiger boasted to the Hozok about how Janggi and chess were basically the same, a ridiculous claim.

“We lost to PlayerZ, but we won at basketball. So it’s fine.”

“We played three basketball games, PlayerZ had five games. Counting only wins, we’re winning, aren’t we?”

“Basketball was over three days, but the game was decided in one day. Counting by date, it’s our victory!”

Toshihu and Yoo Sang-hoon were bickering like children, but it didn’t really matter.

Both were about the same.

Normally, Jang Nam-wook would have tried to stop them with a long explanation that all events have equal value like Olympic medals, so whatever determines win or loss in each event doesn’t matter.

But now Jang Nam-wook was busy exchanging messages on his device.

The cadet council at the Military Academy didn’t have the same level of autonomy as Eungwang High, but Jang Nam-wook was fulfilling his responsibilities regardless.

“Still, his expression isn’t bad. Looks like no bigger problems are arising.”

I waited for Jang Nam-wook to finish a serious conversation in a corner, then spoke up.

“Is that the cadet council calling?”

“Yeah, they’re checking if anyone besides Gyu-yeon is involved. Luckily, it seems not. The current cadet council president senior will take care of school matters, and they told me to wait here.”

Waiting probably just means go have fun.

Jang Nam-wook glanced around.

Until just a moment ago, many people had talked to me, but after Eunho greeted the freshmen and left, it strangely quieted down.

Eunho smiled gently and said, “I’ll tidy up this area, so please rest comfortably,” which might have been a joke, but maybe not.

Convinced that no one was listening, Jang Nam-wook lowered his voice further.

“Yi-shin, thank you.”

“For what?”

“We told you about Gyu-yeon’s situation. So you...”

The timing was suspicious, but I decided to tell only the facts.

“At that time, I was playing chess in the Hwangmyeong Arena. You know that.”

“But the raven mask sightings were confirmed.”

The Hozok said they’d leave traces when retreating, and it seemed the cadet council also witnessed them.

From the Tigers’ perspective, putting raven masks on Eungwang High teachers and the Hozok probably didn’t feel good.

Still, Eunho personally made the raven masks and stealth armor to help with this tactic.

—“It’s regrettable to put the raven masks on them, but this is the best we can do. The crows flying around campus lately have been flapping their wings more violently than usual. They watched the preliminaries with great expectations, but the main games were held outside Eungwang High.”

They faithfully came to watch the preliminaries; maybe the crows were truly looking forward to the games.

But letting raven minions inside military facilities to watch would have caused government trouble, so they had to hold back.

In the meantime, teachers’ unexpected live broadcasts digging under the Defense Ministry lab must have pleased the Raven King greatly.

Actually, the Hozok had no obligation to provide the Raven King with outside entertainment, but Eunho thought differently.

—“Yi-shin hyung worked for a long time to appease the Raven King for the demon world scenario. The deal is done, but many variables remain, so the more goodwill, the better.”

I agreed.

The deal with the Raven King was made, but someone offering more interesting entertainment might strike a new deal.

So we had to stay on guard.

—“Among other demon kings cooperating with the gods’ priests, Sidellentium maintains its position because it keeps silence and indifference better than anyone. But the Raven King intervened in Lady Ungnyeo’s rescue. His thoughts are slowly changing.”

That was true.

Sidellentium and others like Seodol and Yong Jegun, who waste great powers and time on spectating, all had their own traits.

Seodol blessed favored humans and intervened, Yong Jegun... needs no explanation.

Sidellentium, however, maintained the posture befitting silence and indifference, preserving its power as described in the epithets.

For example, when I wore the raven mask and suffered at the hands of the Sangbosimgeumpa branch, Seodol or Yong Jegun would have intervened to some degree, but Sidellentium just watched—and likely will continue to do so.

‘Still, judging by recent behavior, I wonder if it really will just watch quietly.’

Though excused, it had intervened in the rescue of Ungnyeo.

His change in attitude was a key variable, so it should be made to lean uniquely toward the Hozok side if possible.

—“Well, that’s not the only reason. More raven mask wearers means your safety...”

—“Hwangho, your teacup is empty. Let me refill it. Yi-shin hyung, Shin-in agreed to wear the raven mask, so don’t worry.”

Does agreeing really mean I can stop worrying?

Before I could continue thinking, Jang Nam-wook lifted his glasses slightly, revealing eyes that shone as if studded with stars.

“Judging by Yi-shin’s Ineungpa state, he really didn’t intervene directly. This time, people who support Yi-shin stepped up.”

Jang Nam-wook adjusted his glasses again but spoke with such certainty that there was no room for argument.

‘Is the output of the Star Maiden’s Eyes higher than before?’

Apparently, Jang Nam-wook didn’t only improve his basketball skills.

“Yi-shin, thank you for stopping the horrible events underground at our school and saving Gyu-yeon. As your friend and the next cadet council president, I will never forget this.”

Jang Nam-wook’s grand words made me feel awkward.

And although I claimed to have saved Namgung Gyu-yeon, I wasn’t yet sure.

As long as the Namgung Group remained, it seemed difficult for Namgung Gyu-yeon to be truly free.