EX rank supporting role’s replay in a prestigious school-Chapter 1039: Injection (9)

The hotel where the Chinese team is staying.

It was the night before the final match, yet the floor where the students stayed was buzzing with excitement.

The Chinese team players were enjoying the exchange match peacefully, unlike the Korean team, who were caught up in malicious comments and rumors, or the Japanese team, who were clashing over making someone a star. They were simply enjoying the event, without any tensions.

They had the mindset to end the exchange with a first-place victory, but that was all.

Dong Shao-dan, the head of the Chinese team, had sternly told the students to go to bed by midnight Korean time, so the students planned to make the most of the time before that.

“Ah, I’m late from washing up. How long has the preliminaries been going on?”

“Almost over.”

“Can’t we just rewind and watch from the beginning?”

“Can you? Just sit down and stop being picky.”

In the central hall of the floor rented by the Chinese team, the students had set up a large hologram and were watching the PlayerZ World Championship preliminary match.

PlayerZ, an online game that had become a global sensation, was also immensely popular in China. Even though many had not played it themselves, some had become fans just by watching the video of the first-ever World Championship.

“It’s the shield bearer match! I almost missed this.”

There were three main players attracting attention in the preliminary match.

One was the raid leader, the first to conquer the Twilight Blue Valley, ranked number one in adventure mode.

The second was the gladiator, the player with the most PVP appearances and victories.

Finally, the shield bearer, whose name was etched the most in the "Door Gap" for becoming the first player in the server to achieve a major milestone.

The students showed particular interest in the shield bearer, who was around their age.

“They’re attacking the gladiator there?”

“Weren’t they going to empty the main base to catch the shield bearer? It failed.”

“Even if they use the Gladiator’s skill, how will they block that number? They could just capture the shield bearer and go.”

“Don’t you know the shield bearer’s skill? It’s called ‘Indiscriminate Shield,’ which nullifies damage from both allies and enemies. Until it’s over, no one can attack.”

Using a speed item, the shield bearer quickly moved and raised his shield to block the escape route.

It seemed like the shield bearer, who appeared to be cornered after avoiding the enemy’s fierce attacks, was just luring them in.

Even though the shield bearer’s defense stats were high, it was easy to overwhelm him with sheer numbers, but as long as ‘Indiscriminate Shield’ was active, taking down the shield bearer was impossible.

Some tried to slip through the shield bearer’s side, but their control skills were far inferior, making escape impossible.

By the time ‘Indiscriminate Shield’ disappeared, the enemy’s main base had already been completely destroyed.

Not only were the life force nodes for revival and ability use destroyed, but weapons, consumables, and storage had also been obliterated.

Soon, the match’s winner was revealed.

The winning team was the one that included the shield bearer.

“GG!”

“Shield bearer!”

The hall grew noisy again after the results appeared on the screen, following the caster’s commentary.

The shield bearer’s damage output was minimal, but the amount of damage he received was significant.

The graph showed a disastrous score for the shield bearer, but the commentators couldn’t hide their excitement when they noticed “zero deaths.”

With that level of damage taken and still surviving, it was clear that he had blocked all of the enemy’s attacks while staying alive.

The camera zoomed in on the shield bearer, Yu Sang-hoon, who removed his headgear with an indifferent expression, and his teammates rushed over to give him high fives.

“Wait, this is a team match. Wasn’t the shield bearer supposed to only play in solo matches?”

“That was the plan, but I think he agreed to play in the team match under the condition that the solo match took precedence.”

“The shield bearer is from Eungwang High, right? Can we watch?”

“They’re probably busy preparing for the competition...”

“He’s close enough to the nameless supernova that they broadcast together. Won’t he come to cheer?”

“If we win, let’s say we want to see the shield bearer as part of the victory speech!”

“Yao Ruichi already reserved a spot, saying he wants to see the blue violinist.”

Once the match ended, the students went back to chatting or turned on their devices to distract themselves.

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Most of the students who turned on their devices were playing PlayerZ.

After seeing such an exciting match, it was natural for the students to want to dive into the game themselves.

Among the students, Li Wei quietly stood up, trying to leave unnoticed.

While Li Wei had enjoyed the match, his mind was preoccupied with something else.

‘Something’s off. Something must be happening. Not only Hyeonmu, but even the Hojo family must be paying attention to this situation.’

Though the Chinese team appeared peaceful compared to the Korean and Japanese teams, in reality, the atmosphere was far from calm.

While most of the students were enjoying the exchange and sightseeing in Korea, there was an uneasy undercurrent flowing through the team.

Li Wei sensed it keenly and remained on alert.

‘I haven’t seen Di Xiang once today. Coach Dong Shao-dan said he participated in the strategy meeting for tomorrow’s match, but it seems he attended remotely instead of showing his face.’

Li Wei had been keeping an eye on Di Xiang, the visiting coach of the team and the team master of the Three Knights of the Earthquake, who had been trying to get closer to him.

Although an ordinary student might have been easily charmed by the prestige of being the team master of one of the top ten pro-player teams, Li Wei remained cautious.

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Li Wei’s father had died due to getting caught up in a conspiracy by the powerful, so his distrust of Di Xiang had only deepened.

When Di Xiang had secretly called Yao Ruichi, Li Wei had tracked ◆ Nоvеlіgһt ◆ (Only on Nоvеlіgһt) them using Hyeonmu’s power, and when they had done so, he had said:

“I hear a familiar melody.”

Hearing Hyeonmu’s words, Li Wei had tried to listen closely but couldn’t hear anything.

In fact, after Yao Ruichi had disappeared beyond the cave entrance, even the sound of footsteps was gone.

It wasn’t that Li Wei’s senses were dull, but the lack of sound made it clear that a powerful barrier had been placed at the entrance of the cave.

However, that barrier seemed unable to deceive Hyeonmu, whose ears were attuned to higher powers.

“It’s too faint for you to hear. If you borrow the power of the Emperor Shennong, you could, but it’s better not to listen right now.”

“Is Yao Ruichi playing a tune that’s difficult for others to hear?”

“Not at the moment.”

Hyeonmu, with his eyes blindfolded, smiled slightly and spoke.

Hyeonmu spoke as though there would be a time when they would hear that song.

He murmured to himself:

“Long ago, after the young one left the Hojo’s domain, I thought that melody would never be heard again.”

The moment he heard this, Li Wei suppressed the curiosity that had risen within him.

If the Hojo family and the young one were involved, it was not something he should investigate carelessly.

However, Li Wei could not completely distance himself from the situation.

Inside the cave, there was Yao Ruichi, playing his instrument, and the one who had called him out was Di Xiang, with Li Wei as the witness.

Li Wei made up his mind to become more than a mere witness—he would now act as an accomplice.

Of course, the accomplice he chose to assist was the Hojo family.

Though the Hojo family and Hyeonmu would handle matters outside the Chinese team, Li Wei was the only one who could find clues within the team.

‘Di Xiang called five players just before the second match started for special training.’

Di Xiang had summoned five players from the Chengdu player training camp, all of whom had excellent restoration skills. Since the second match was a replay simulation, there was no issue with this.

However, Li Wei, who was not from Chengdu and had never attended the player training camp, had been excluded from the special training. He couldn’t verify the details of the training, but since then, there had been noticeable changes in the behavior of two players: Lu Bo-won and Yao Ruichi.

‘Yao Ruichi was the first to show a change in attitude. Lu Bo-won must have been influenced by him.’

Li Wei had spent a lot of time recently monitoring Lu Bo-won and Yao Ruichi due to the "Myth of the Black Dragon" case.

Because of this, he easily noticed their attitude shifts.

If he wanted to find clues to help the Hojo family, he would have to investigate Yao Ruichi, Lu Bo-won, or Di Xiang, but the former seemed much easier.

‘After the training, neither of them came to the central hall. Even the one who took a while to wash up came late, but the two of them seem to be acting separately?’

The two often practiced shadow play together, where Lu Bo-won would direct the play in the shadow room and Yao Ruichi would play an impromptu song with the erhu or dizi. They usually secluded themselves in quiet, spacious places to avoid making any noise.

But with the final match of the exchange match tomorrow, they might have been conserving energy with snacks.

Normally, they would have shown up with food for other students as well, so it was strange that they hadn’t been seen at all.

Li Wei was thinking of possible places where the two might be when—

“Li Wei!”

At that moment, Lu Bo-won rushed over, panting.

It seemed like Lu Bo-won had been running around the hotel.

Seeing this, Li Wei tensed up slightly.

Lu Bo-won was a stamina monster who could run around all day in the ruins simulation without ever panting, so something must have happened.

“Have you seen Ruichi? I haven’t been able to reach him and don’t know where he is!”

“No, I thought he was with you.”

“Really? Then maybe I should check the central hall...”

“He’s probably not there. I just came from there. You seem to be in a hurry—what happened?”

Li Wei’s calm words helped Lu Bo-won regain some composure.

Lu Bo-won took a deep breath and explained.

“Coach Di Xiang keeps pulling Ruichi aside for 1v1 special training. Since Ruichi wasn’t in good condition during the second match, Uncle Xiao-dan allowed it...”

Di Xiang had called Yao Ruichi several times, and each time, Ruichi had seemed gloomy or lost in thought.

To others, it seemed like he was just talking less than usual, but it didn’t seem that way to Lu Bo-won.

So, Lu Bo-won stubbornly insisted on joining the training with Ruichi, and eventually got permission from Xiao-dan.

Thinking he would finally train with Ruichi, Di Xiang then made him go through a grueling physical training session before pushing him into a high-difficulty interdimensional simulator.

Lu Bo-won had quickly completed the challenge and now was searching for Ruichi.

‘Di Xiang must have drained Lu Bo-won’s energy to keep him from interfering and then slipped away with Yao Ruichi. There must have been a reason for this sudden pursuit.’

Lu Bo-won was clearly making a scene because of it. There must have been a reason why Di Xiang moved so quietly.

Li Wei quickly made up his mind to inform Hyeonmu.

“I understand. You tell Coach Xiao-dan.”

“Then let’s go together! You know Uncle Xiao-dan listens better when you speak!”

“I have something I need to do.”

“...You don’t seem like you’re going to rest.”

Lu Bo-won, who had been acting like a petulant child, suddenly narrowed his eyes and glared at Li Wei.

Li Wei realized his mistake.

Lu Bo-won, who had fearlessly approached the Earthquake Knight and schemed against him, wouldn’t let Li Wei off so easily.

Lu Bo-won approached Li Wei and said:

“I’ll send a message to Uncle Xiao-dan. But in exchange, you’re going to help me with the task you need to do!”