“Since we stopped Hongcheon’s demonization, it’s more accurate to call it the Hongcheon Demonization Attempt Incident, but everyone calls it that because it almost succeeded back then.”

That incident happened about twenty years ago, when Teacher Ham Geun-hyeong was a senior in high school.

At that time, Teacher Ham was already a named player, but not very famous.

There were flashy players younger than him in the same era, like Yeom Bang-yeol or Kwon Je-in, so it was hard for him to get much attention.

To put it in perspective, it was like Woo Ki-hwan, objectively a bit strange but skilled player, being grouped in the same generation as players like Do Won-woo, Yeom Jun-yeol, Joo Suhyuk, and Ahn Da-in, so he didn’t stand out much.

Moreover, Teacher Ham prioritized his studies over demon world raids.

Since he was deeply favored by several higher beings, he devoted his effort to understanding and researching them.

“Teacher was a senior then, and came to Hongcheon to hang out with friends, but got caught up in the incident.”

“A senior came for fun? Oh, so he must have come after the college entrance exam!”

“Right. He came at the start of winter break. There was heavy snow, but most players stationed in Hongcheon were drafted for snow removal.”

“There weren’t many players in this area to begin with.”

The narrator shifted naturally from Kim Yuri to Mingrin and Song Daeseok, who knew the situation better.

Teacher Ham, a high school senior who had just finished the exam, went with friends to a ski resort in Hongcheon.

But the time they could enjoy was short.

The weather forecast said passing snow, but it quickly turned into a blizzard, trapping those at the ski resort.

Plans to ski on the soft snow under fine powder flakes were shattered by the demon world portal that appeared amidst the heavy snow.

“The demon world occurrence itself was predicted, and the Player Association was preparing. But no one expected such a heavy snowfall. Daeseok saw the satellite data, so he knows well.”

At the mention of satellite data, several classmates quietly sighed.

When satellites are mentioned, quiet Song Daeseok—normally not very talkative except for blunt remarks—turned into a skilled speaker who wouldn’t lose to Jang Nam-uk in loquacity.

As expected by me and others, Song Daeseok’s eyes flickered and he began to speak nonstop.

“Around that day, we checked satellite records as well as meteorological and ecological data: temperature, wind direction, pressure, solar radiation, sea surface temperature, geological indexes, and vegetation indices. The record-breaking snowfall, combined with sudden shifts in psychic wave frequencies, caused satellite observation errors, so exact values weren’t obtained. But analyzing all indicators comprehensively, what happened that day was...”

“Ah, what the hell is that guy saying?”

Maeng Hyo-don quickly surrendered, as if trying to protect his fragile brain.

Kwon Rena also showed pained eyes, likely not understanding.

Though Song Daeseok rambled excitedly, the words weren’t so hard to grasp.

I summarized briefly.

“So you’re saying that both the snowfall and the demon world event were abnormal?”

“Yeah.”

“Why do you have to say it so complicatedly?”

“It’s not meaningless! Sometimes you need a complicated approach to verify something. Interesting method.”

Some kids were annoyed at Song Daeseok’s long-winded explanation, but others, like Ong Gildong, reacted positively.

At least Hwang Ji-ho and In Seon-oh showed interest and listened carefully.

Ong Gildong really liked Song Daeseok’s style and asked some questions.

Song Daeseok, who disliked Ong Gildong who revered and followed the artist Mingrin, first responded grudgingly, but soon answered enthusiastically.

Unexpectedly, those two might get along well.

Meanwhile, Mingrin continued.

“On that day, a localized heavy snow warning was issued around the ski resort where Teacher was. Snow piled up about five centimeters per hour. The wind was so strong that visibility was almost zero.”

Five centimeters per hour doesn’t sound like much, but it was terrifying.

That amount of snowfall piles up to over a meter in a day, and even small villages would be isolated under so much snow despite all efforts.

When strong winds accompany such snowfall, whiteout conditions occur, making it impossible to distinguish ground from sky.

The ski resort, located at a high altitude, was even worse.

Guseulbi frowned and asked.

“So did they have to raid the demon world under those conditions? Defending must have been tougher than attacking.”

“Well... how to put it? The attackers and defenders couldn’t really be separated that day. The attackers couldn’t enter the demon world portal.”

Despite the terrible weather, a pro player team sent by the Player Association reached the site.

It was a miracle they found the demon portal at the exact time and coordinates in a blizzard that made standing difficult.

But the problem was next.

That pro player team couldn’t locate the demon portal entrance.

Unable to enter, splitting into attack and defense squads was meaningless.

Communication was cut off, and local players were all on snow removal duty, so even gathering reinforcements was hopeless.

With no support, the pro team had to face increasing numbers of enemies as the demon portal remained unconquered.

Then Hwang Ji-ho said coolly.

“But maybe it was fortunate that the team couldn’t find the portal that day. If they had entered, the attack squad would have been wiped out.”

The classmates understood immediately.

There was another wrong prediction besides the weather.

The rarity level of the demon world portal.

The demon portal that day was impossible to conquer with the pro team dispatched according to satellite predictions.

Though the defenders exhausted all stamina, psychic waves, and items, retreat was impossible, and despair set in.

“They say that despite communication being cut off due to weather, satellite reception of demon portal data was still possible. Teacher Ham found it strange that no completion alert came and went there himself.”

Teacher Ham’s friends didn’t have the ability to break through such a blizzard.

So he decided to go alone to assess the situation and, with a marksman’s gaze, understood what was happening.

First, Teacher Ham opened the Light Forest to exterminate all enemies outside.

To protect the nearly wiped-out pro team, the ski resort visitors, and local houses.

Then he found the buried demon portal in the snow and entered alone to conquer it.

‘The explanation is simple, but the situation wasn’t.’

The demon portal that hit Hongcheon was an expansive dungeon.

Its wide interior favored ranged attackers, but since he went in alone, close combat was unavoidable.

There were many moments when he had to wield his bow like a blunt weapon.

Three of the four bows Teacher Ham could create with Light Forest were broken that day.

He was injured, so when facing the boss enemy, one arm barely worked.

To shoot the last arrow, he bit the bowtip with his teeth to fix it.

When the demon portal was fully conquered and disappeared, the blizzard stopped.

A famous photo still exists showing him fainted in his last shooting pose beneath the blue sky.

“Because it almost demonized back then, similar demon portals sometimes occur, but without Teacher Ham, they’re hard to conquer.”

Though such natural-disaster-level heavy snow hasn’t happened again, similar demon portals sporadically occur.

For some unknown reason, if Teacher Ham is not in the attack squad, the rarity level of the demon portal rises.

Nowadays, stronger players exist, so even if rarity rises a bit, it’s not impossible to conquer.

So Teacher Ham doesn’t have to fight them personally.

Still, Teacher Ham never backs down from demon portals that seem to challenge him.

“The demon portals targeting Teacher Ham have similar wave patterns, and each time one appears, local indicators simultaneously fluctuate. Considering these changes as one variable and hypothesizing...”

“Daeseok ❀ Nоvеlігht ❀ (Don’t copy, read here) explained that the satellites can also detect those demon portals! The Association sees this as a kind of aftereffect from the attempted demonization.”

Before Song Daeseok could continue, Mingrin interrupted.

Since the classmates were finally interested in satellite topics, Song Daeseok’s mouth was itching.

Anyway, the classmates learned why Teacher Ham often travels to Hongcheon.

“We’re at that ski resort now?”

“Coordinates changed a bit after expansions, but yes.”

One by one, the classmates began to warm up as promised.

Teacher Ham, having just finished his call, saw the kids warming up and made a complicated expression.

Our classmates had come for a picnic for their homeroom teacher and were eager to fight — it probably both pleased and worried him.

“Teacher, we’re ready!”

Kim Yuri spoke for the group, her class T-shirt bearing the phrase written by Jin Jeongmuk: “Inner strength is excellent but external technique is lacking. Hope you polish your swordsmanship more.”

Meanwhile, Maeng Hyo-don, already wearing protective gear, had on his T-shirt the phrase written by the best martial artist of the clan: “Practice hand techniques and derived skills in actual combat.”

The T-shirts already showed ambition, so Teacher Ham must have sensed he couldn’t stop our class.

“...Alright, let’s go.”

“Yes!”

The bright, energetic response included me as well.

It was an opportunity to see how the demon race might exploit that aftereffect.

Also, I had something I wanted to test.

‘If I use Teacher Ham’s Light Forest, how would this land react?’

Thinking all this, when we reached the destination, something unexpected happened.

Hwang Ji-ho seemed to have noticed first and kept looking in one direction.

Soon, others also caught on.

“Didn’t we see that horse earlier?”

“That’s the horse that was carrying Daeseok!”

A white horse was following Song Daeseok from afar.

They must have worried as we approached a place where a demon portal might appear.