Read EX rank supporting role’s replay in a prestigious school - Chapter 953: Consciousness (1)

EX rank supporting role’s replay in a prestigious school-Chapter 953: Consciousness (1)

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After a short outing, I returned to find a change in the dormitory members. As announced earlier, Cheon Dong-ha had left, and another person had taken his place. I had assumed the vacancy would be filled by a member of the student council, but to my surprise, someone else had taken the spot. It was none other than Kim Yu-ri.

“From today, I’ll be joining the dormitory to provide support. I don’t have eyes like Cheon Dong-ha, but I’ll do what I can.”

“I’m relieved that you’re here, Yu-ri.”

Kim Yu-ri had been a staff member who helped prepare for the dormitory as part of the student council. However, she hadn’t shown up at the dormitory itself until now. It seemed that her joining was prompted by Cheon Dong-ha’s departure.

Yu-ri’s appearance was welcomed by everyone, especially by her close friend, An Da-in, but there was one person who seemed particularly awkward.

“Hyo-don, how’s the dorm going? I heard you’ve been studying math. I’ve been thinking about university entrance exams, so I started studying math too. Let’s study together!”

“Oh! ...Oh, right.”

Maeng Hyo-don blinked his eyes wide and stared blankly at Kim Yu-ri before stammering in surprise. It was a usual sight to see him startled by an unfamiliar person approaching, but this time, the person was none other than Kim Yu-ri, who he was somewhat familiar with. Something felt off.

‘Why is Hyo-don so startled?’

He looked like he had seen a ghost, but there was also a sense of relief and joy on his face.

It didn’t seem like he was just startled by Yu-ri’s sudden appearance.

While I was puzzling over this, something very positive happened. An Da-in, taking the lead, spoke up.

“Well then, can I study with you too? I’ve reached the point where I need to review.”

“Of course, that’s fine. Oh, Hyo-don, is Su-hyeok helping you with your studies right now? Should we all study together?”

“Sounds good! I’ve been reviewing math too, so let’s do it together.”

Though Maeng Hyo-don hadn’t said much, a math study group centered around him had formed. And it was a group that included no less than Ju Su-hyeok and An Da-in. Of course, Kim Yu-ri and Maeng Hyo-don were also in it, but it was important that the two of them would meet outside of the dormitory during the break.

‘I wish Moon Sae-ron had seen this scene.’

Unfortunately, Moon Sae-ron wasn’t present, but if she had been here, she would have silently given a thumbs up and praised Kim Yu-ri and Maeng Hyo-don.

During the foreign team strength analysis, Moon Sae-ron had once asked her father about the situation in Japan, but eventually, she decided to take matters into her own hands. Right after deciding to depart, she sent me a message on my device.

[Moon Sae-ron] Hey, let’s do well while I’m gone.

[Moon Sae-ron] And make sure nothing happens to Da-in-ne.

Was she asking me to be careful so that the people around us, including Ju Su-hyeok, wouldn’t misunderstand the relationship between Da-in and me? But the part about keeping Da-in safe struck me as odd.

Since the summer break had started, things were relatively well-defended, but the attacks on Da-in through comments and attempts at manipulating public opinion were ongoing.

‘The attacks are coming at all hours, but the defense is holding strong. The attacks on Da-in’s fan community have been completely blocked, and the comment section management is clean.’

It almost felt like someone was commanding the defense.

Actually, it could be that a person, not a team, was burning through time and life to fight this alone.

Meanwhile, a new member had been assigned to fill the position left by Moon Sae-ron.

“While Moon Sae-ron is away on coverage in Japan, I’m here as a substitute for the newspaper club. My name is Cheon Eun-ha. I look forward to working with you.”

The appearance of Eun-ho was greeted warmly by Cha Seok-won, another first-year student who had just joined the dormitory. It seemed like they had gotten closer since the youth training camp, where they had caught bugs together. They looked so close that even Eun Seo-ho and Eun I-ho seemed envious.

To be honest, though, it seemed like Cha Seok-won was the one showing all the familiarity unilaterally.

“I wish Eun-ha had come as a reporter instead of a representative. Ah, did you meet Cheon Dong-ha, senior? He was here until just now.”

“Yeah, I saw him for a moment. He looked busy, though, so I’m worried.”

As soon as their conversation ended, Eun-ho approached me and spoke.

“Yi-shin hyung, how have you been? I’m glad to see you’re looking healthy.”

The word “healthy” seemed to carry extra emphasis, and Eun-ho’s gaze was fixed on my left eye, carrying a sense of warning.

It seemed like I shouldn’t push myself too hard for the remainder of the dormitory stay.

Including a short after-party, the scheduled dormitory activities concluded smoothly. After a brief rest, the exchange competition would begin right away. Most seemed to be taking a break, worn out by the dormitory schedule, but some declared they would continue personal training.

‘Kwak Kyung-gu still hasn’t gotten used to breaking off Gwanglim. He’s going to need more time and practice.’

As promised, I sparred with Kwak Kyung-gu just before the dormitory period ended. The result was my victory, but compared to our previous sparring, it was much harder to handle. Kwak Kyung-gu had tried to break off his Gwanglim, as I advised, but he could barely use it two or three times, let alone a hundred. He had been using it with the mindset that he could activate it at a critical moment to defeat his opponent within 100 seconds. He had followed this method for two and a half years since awakening his Gwanglim, so changing his approach in just a short period was difficult.

‘Still, Kwak Kyung-gu is better than Ma Jin-seung. Ma Jin-seung has a long way to go. His desire to work as a supporter is commendable, but...’

Ma Jin-seung seemed to have subtly developed a sense of awareness as a supporter. Even after I gave him advice, he seemed to hold on to lingering feelings about being a dealer, but as the dormitory period progressed, his mindset changed significantly. What caused this shift in Ma Jin-seung’s thinking was none other than Park Seung-hyun.

Park Seung-hyun grew impressively during the break.

—The whistle I heard at the opening ceremony was light and spread wide, right? Now I understand why. The person who whistled focused Jin-gun’s power onto the target. That’s why the farther the target, the lighter the force felt.

At the exchange competition opening ceremony, when Park Seung-hyun used Gwanglim on Baekho-gun, that’s exactly what happened.

Even though Park Seung-hyun didn’t know much at the time, it seemed like he had sensed something.

He might have connected the advice I gave during the dormitory with the power he used during the opening ceremony, but Park Seung-hyun never questioned me about it. Instead, he focused on refining his Gwanglim.

During the dormitory period, Park Seung-hyun fought with all the dealers who participated in the dormitory.

‘Watching Park Seung-hyun and An Da-in fight together. I’m really lucky.’

The combination of Park Seung-hyun and An Da-in was particularly noteworthy. It was rare for Park Seung-hyun to team up with An Da-in, even in Plmago.

Park Seung-hyun, who was quick to catch on, tried to support the relationship between Ju Su-hyeok and An Da-in, so he avoided situations where he was alone with An Da-in.

Perhaps I should learn from Park Seung-hyun, just as he learned from me back then.

Still, thanks to the math study group during this dormitory, Ju Su-hyeok and An Da-in had grown even closer. And as a bonus, Maeng Hyo-don’s math skills had improved too.

‘Ju Su-hyeok really can’t do anything wrong. Teaching Maeng Hyo-don so well.’

On the last day of the dormitory, Maeng Hyo-don came to me with a record of his math studies from the dormitory period. Upon checking, I saw that he had completed all the areas of study I had planned. Without my help, Maeng Hyo-don had survived his battle with mathematics.

Kim Yu-ri had also started studying math, and I was wondering if it would be better to step aside since I was carrying something akin to a nightmare.

When the midterms in the second semester came around, I was thinking of asking Kim Yu-ri to review Maeng Hyo-don’s studies, but before I could, Maeng Hyo-don spoke up first.

“Hey, Ju Su-hyeok teaches well, but... if it’s okay with you, could you just teach me during the midterms?”

Despite all the rough handling during math studies, he still said that.

How could I refuse after Maeng Hyo-don said that?

It seemed like he had a lot more to say, but since he couldn’t quite express it, I went ahead and made an appointment to tutor him for the midterm math exams.

There was another classmate who seemed to have a lot to say, and that was Dokgo Mi-ro.

“Hey, do you remember what I said about the new student? The gossip says he frequently took late-night walks near the landscaping area.”

Dokgo Mi-ro sent me a message saying that In Seon-o was keeping an eye on me.

Hearing that, something clicked in my mind.

‘I had thought there was a high chance we might be in the same class as Maeng Hyo-don because of the Dreamcatcher incident.’

After Maeng Hyo-don had the nightmare, he wandered around outside to clear his head and probably ran into In Seon-o during one of his late-night walks. Maeng Hyo-don wasn’t good at hiding things, so if In Seon-o had asked him if he’d had a nightmare, it would have been easily found out.

If that was the case, In Seon-o recommending a Dreamcatcher to Maeng Hyo-don made sense. In Seon-o had also made Dreamcatchers as gifts for Hwang Geun-hyeong, along with Ong Gil-dong and Gu Seul-bi.

‘By the way, the attention seekers sent me strange messages.’

They wrote things like “I’m hurt, how could you do this?” and “Are we the only ones being discriminated against?” in a language I understood, but the rest of the message was indecipherable.

I thought they might have sent the message to the wrong person, but after checking, the attention seekers became even more upset and began rampaging.

[Ong Gil-dong] Vice captain, we won’t give up.

[Gu Seul-bi] That’s right. You didn’t give up on us, did you?

[Ong Gil-dong] Though our opinions differ, we’re still thief comrades. Now, let’s watch our brilliant victory as rivals!

The messages continued, but I didn’t bother reading them, as they kept talking about thieves and all sorts of nonsense.

Despite the confusing rantings of the attention seekers, there was some heartwarming news. One of the pieces of news was the report about the special training after the summer hunt for the wanted criminal Choi Pyeon-deok, which Sa Wol-seum had participated in.

They had set up camp in a remote mountain. Even though there were no player facilities, it made sense for them to choose a mountain because it was a good hiding spot for the wanted criminal. And indeed, there was a wanted criminal there.

[Sa Wol-seum] When we found suspicious traces, we all hoped it was Choi Pyeon-deok! But sadly, it wasn’t.

[Sa Wol-seum] But the criminal we caught was a heinous one who had about a month left before his statute of limitations expired. We’re lucky to have caught him before the deadline.

Sa Wol-seum spoke lightly about finding a coin, saying it was 50 won instead of 500 won, but listening to her, the situation seemed intense.

The hunting party, which had been tracking the criminal, found several mysterious traces of high-output powers and traps seemingly targeting players. There was an unidentified figure moving in and out of the mountains under the cover of darkness.

Despite not delaying their training schedule, the party had prepared for the hunt while making sure not to miss any clues. The saga of the hunt for Choi Pyeon-deok would make for a great news story.

Recently, I