Translator: Hong | Editor: Darling

Inside the dark gym, where the evil had come in contact with the limit it was accompanied by an uncomfortable sound in the background a modified voice of a student can be heard. 

The face has been mosaiced, but only the eyes have been covered so anyone who has seen the news lately will be able to identify the person. 

He was the secondary student recently named the ‘little hero.’

The little hero was aiming an item card at the friend who he had saved and sustained the injuries for. 

• It’s different if there is a living bait. Even the Jin lineage won’t that family be happy if three were to die. Baits.
• Do you think of ▣▣▣ as a bait? ▣▣▣ got hurt while trying to save you. You ungrateful trash!
• Grateful? What a joke? Didn’t you work hard in school? I stepped over others to come to where I am today. 

The little hero uses the item card and ties the other students up 

***

Hwangmyeong corporation decided to release the video as they struggled to contain the press.

The comments from the board of directors were as below. 

‘We decided to withdraw all payments to the student identified in the video after belatedly confirming his shameful acts. We decided to open the video to the press to explain to the public their misunderstanding in the matter. 

Ya right, belated. 

‘They were well aware and willing to bury the fact, what a 180 degrees change.’

Hwangmyeong corporation released the already made film to the press. 

The eyes of the person in the video was mosaiced away, and the portion where he screamed he was going blind was edited out. 

Perhaps they wanted to prevent another controversy or this was the benevolence of the chairman, the part where I lay hands on Minki was edited out. 

The video provided by the corporation was published and the presence went wild. 

Each press edited the video to include subtitles and audios based on the commentaries of their own anchors.

Afterwhich the press uploaded the videos to their channels and within seconds the total views jumped to 100 million. 

The little hero title of minki was changed to ‘Son of a bait’

Every article related to minki was followed by comments of “Son of a bait.”

[Hero? Haha you’re just a son of a bait]

[S O N O F A B A I T]

[You used the kid who tried to save you as bait?? Today the world has seen an increase in one whole new the devil clan. Those who are under the protection of Satan watch out~~~]

[OMG Goosebumps; You’re worse than the enemy]

[Hwangmyeong corporation….please don’t ever pay for that scums hospital fee. He might just use that money for an expensive lawyer…the thought of that makes me rage…]

[If you pay for him you’re an idiot]

Minki’s side immediately responded. 

Although his response never made it on the public channels or main newspapers, few articles supporting Minki popped up. 

[‘Little hero’s tears, ‘I was scared, I am sorry to my friends.’]

[The whole in Hwangmyeong corporation’s security system, drives young elite into a trap]

[Video revealed, without the ‘little hero’s’ consent. Lawsuit to be expected]

The public had long turned their backs to Minki

He had nearly killed someone to live.

This fact may have bought him pity votes. 

And turned the rage to the Hwangmyeong corporation. 

But the public were unable to forgive Minki for deceiving them and acting all this while as a hero. 

[After all those lies how shameless]

[Translation: give me the money]

[The school’s security??? Defamed??? Hahaha The corporation kindly edited the video to make the person unrecognizable, and we all consented before the entrance exam that the school is not liable for any injuries sustained. Hahaha, you admitted to it by responding to the video.]

[Look carefully at the article. It’s not ‘sued’ but ‘expected to sue’. They are probably playing it out cause they are guilty.]

Then the next day. 

On a web community, a furious post was uploaded. 

The post’s content stated that the school had supported the manipulation of results to allow Minki to enter Eunkwang high.

The writer of the post had several subjects with scores better than Minki and when he had checked the ranking for each individual subject he and Minki’s positions had been swapped. 

Many suspected the post to be false. 

As soon as people commented that his post was fake he uploaded his own student card and a written message of Minki’s confession. 

Minki who had been confident of his powerful friends must have flaunted it by threatening him ‘You will never go to a high school if you ever reveal this.’

‘I had anticipated that once Minki fell from the heroic title those who had been ‘stepped on’ by Minki would speak up.’

But this was beyond expectation. 

[A student that had been disadvantaged by Son Minki reveals story. A three-line summary. 1. Son minki and his power friends manipulated scores 2. Sonminki confesses and threatened. 3. Son minki is trash]

[Isn’t that a crime? Attempted murder, violence, manipulation of results, and blackmail! I hope he goes to jail!]

[He has done those things aged 16. Imagine if he was never caught and grew up sheltered under Korea’s most elite high school. Wonder how many more would have suffered.]

At this stage, no more articles advocating for Minki were seen. 

And it was not only Minki the public criticized and shunned. 

His parents who had previously revealed their faces to the press also were targeted. 

[Those who want to see the parents of the horrible Son of a bait can rewatch the news]

[Son on a bait’s father resigned only a month after working in his company. I can reveal why.]

[Son of a bait’s company website link is going up~~~you can sue or not~~~*spits*]

Minki’s parents ran a business where they sold props used by the players association and team. 

Once the company’s name was revealed publicly, there were endless complaints and petitions asking the pro player teams to cut off ties with them. 

And those who had started raising funds for Minki’s hospital fee lost objective and disappeared. 

Those who had participated in the fundraiser raged and directed it to Minki. 

[Pay back the money you family of frauds]

[I am so embarrassed to have been fooled by Son Minki….I wrote so many supporting comments and even donated.]

[Go to hell with me ㅠㅠ]

[Am suicidal after donating for Son Minki. Is the Han river cold in December? I Will let you know after trying out.]

[We have set up a cafe to be compensated for the donation we raise for Sonminki. We are discussing the strategy…we ask for your subscription.]

This reaction took exactly one week after the video was released. 

Sonminki was in a financial crisis. 

Settlement fees, hospital fees, lawyer consultation fees, bribery to the press put together was worth hundreds of millions. 

And even their company was struggling to secure their yearly deal with a supplier with all the petition and rioting against them.

Regenerative surgery was out of the question. 

Furthermore, all high schools including Eunkwang high had all rejected his application.

Son minki was a disabled secondary student swamped in debt. 

It was near the end of December when Sonminki was absolutely crushed. 

Around the time Sonminki’s controversy died down the attention of the public had changed. 

[Most ethical person Mr. Jo? Why did no one talk about him? He was totally unmentioned in the whole thing.]

[He must have been threatened by Son of a bait]

[ If I think about it now it’s so weird. Why did that kid get hurt when everyone else was fine. Why was SAT-K’s most ethically chosen player treated like air.] 

[So why did he get hurt in the end??]

[The most ethical person is in my class! I am in xx secondary class 3-8 and this incident must have been traumatic. He hasn’t been coming to school.]

[Is he just being loyal? In the first half of the video where he threw himself it was damn cool and awesome.]

Because of our happening Minki was attacked once again but the settlement content was not one they could release to the press for their advantage.

As it was stated in the clause that if it was revealed the penalty was three times the initial settlement fee. 

As the situation progressed and I monitored the headlines and comments I closed the hologram satisfied. 

As planned. 

No, the situation was resolved better than planned. 

***

“It’s a daily routine to read the news and comments. I am keeping all the writings I was inspired by. So that I can read it again when life gets tough.”

Sanghee showed the hologram to us who had visited Sanghoon’s room to hang out. 

“Every day there is a call. At first, it felt good but now it’s a nuisance. They want to apologize and post a picture of us getting along on SNS…? It was his limbs that were cut off but he’s acting like it was his head.”

As expected from the disciple of the goddess of healing, Sanghee brushed her long hair that was reflecting the sun elegantly. 

Even though the content of her speech was brutal. 

Namwook did not respond and simply drank the apple juice Sanghee brought. 

He must be used to Sanghee. 

“I didn’t tell him your contacts. I’m having a bit of fun while acting as if I’m hesitating.”

Sanghee put down the snacks and drinks and came forward with a smile. 

“Thanks, Eushin. It’s all thanks to you. I’m sorry for not believing you right at the start. I will pay you back for sure.”

“No. I didn’t do anything.”

“You’re humble. But no need to refuse. I am your senior so you can comfortably call me Sang Hee noona.”

Sanghee smiled brightly at me. 

Sanghoon who saw that beside me made a face as though he’d seen a monster. 

“Yuck, Sanghee nonna.”

Smack!

Snaghee hit Sanghoon’s hand. 

Sanhoon did not react to the pain but his face turned blue. 

….Sanghee’s hand strength skill was level 3. 

Wonder if it will worsen his wound from before.

“Well have fun while you are here. Tell me if you need anything.”

As soon as Sanghee left the room I lay on the floor comfortably. 

A basketball lying around in Sanghoon’s room touched my back. 

I pushed the several basketballs lying around with my finger and asked.

“So why are we all gathered here today? Is it to commemorate the vacation?”

We had sent messages in our chat group but this was the first time we had met offline since the signing of the settlement. 

I had skipped school but these two had diligently attended so it was hard to meet up as well. 

“To celebrate you. ‘The nameless Supernova’.”

Now how did they know that? 

“We saw it on the player’s association webpage. You’re listed as the wanted enemy tobal player.”

Sanghoon who saw my face and read my mind added on. 

While Sonminki’s entire family was going bankrupt I frequented the Player association. 

The ordinary 16-year-old who had defeated the enemy tobal was not registered on Player SAT-K so they found an issue with the record. 

As I did not want to leave my real name in the records, I decided to go ahead and receive a pre-given name Player SAT-K gave based on the player’s activity level. 

The result of that was the nameless supernova. 

As  Hong Kyubin said…

‘An unregistered ordinary secondary school kid accomplished what the esteemed couldn’t do, so it’s fitting.”

I wasn’t fond of the sly Kyubin but the name itself had a good ring to it. 

The temporary player nameless supernova would automatically become an official player in a few days as I turned 17. 

“Ya, thanks. In a few days, both you and Namwook turn to official players too so is there really a need to celebrate?”

“Well, there’s that and also the vacation.”

“Are you sure you called me over to celebrate.”

“Let’s just play the game.”

“Hey.”

The meaningless conversion between Sanghoon and I continued. 

We were taking out the controllers for a combat game when Namwook threw a bomb. 

“I decided not to go to Eunkwang high. I am going to go to a military high school and become a military officer.”

“What?” 

“What!”

Sanghoon and I stood with our jaws wide open at the unexpected turn of events. 

Namwook’s determined eyes shined brightly behind his glass lens. 

“I only applied to Eunkwang high because I had the score. Not because I wanted to go there from the start.”

You applied to Korea’s most elite high school just because your scores made it?

Had the 200 million high school students in Korea would have assassinated Namwook or placed a bounty on his head. 

But Namwook sounded firm and somehow sounded distressed. 

“I don’t have the courage to throw my body like Sanghoon, I can’t strategize like you Eushin. I can only move as planned, and shout for you to run.”

“There are plenty of people out there who can’t even do that.”

“Even for Minki’s case. I couldn’t put a plan like Eushin or believe in Eushin like Sanghoon.”

“Jang Namwook….”

Sanghoon looked like he wanted to stop Namwook. 

But Namwook shook his head and said firmly. 

“I just had the right scores and had met the requirements to apply. I wrote that I aspired to be a pro gamer, but in actual fact, I don’t have any dreams or know what I want.”

“There isn’t a secondary student who has an idea of what they want. Even if someone asks me, I reply that I want to be the president.” 

“But at least you want to be a player in Eunkwang high. For me, I don’t”

Sanghoon must have run out of things to say because he closed his mouth. 

“I don’t fit in with Eunkwang high, which focuses on freedom. Even if I attend with you guys I’d only hold you back.”

Namwook was the most diligent person I knew. 

Namwook continued. 

“But I want to be someone who can help and protect others too. To do that I think it’s a better choice to learn that skill in the military school and become a soldier.”

For him to say it like this he must have contemplated the matter every single day since the incident. 

What was the right thing to say now?

A word of advice for his military life?

The pros and cons of Eunkwang high and military high?

Had there been even the slightest hint of hesitation in his eyes I would have said something. 

“Okay. I understand.”

For Nawook he didn’t need any of this information. 

“If anything happens call me anytime. Even if I can’t do anything I’ll always be there to listen.”

Namwook did not bring this up so that we would convince him otherwise or tell him things he didn’t know. He just wanted a ‘friend’ who would listen. 

“You sound like an old man”

“Are you an old man?”

My overly serious tone was laughed at by the two secondary students. 

Soon Sanghoon and I continued our thoughtless conversations. 

Namwook soon seemed relaxed and nagged at our pointless conversations. 

The sunlight is shorter in winter. 

We ate dinner at Sanghoon a little earlier than usual and decided to part before the sun went down. 

Sanghoon’s family suggested we sleepover and seemed disappointed. 

But Namwook’s parents came over to pick him up, and I also declined. 

There were three means of public transport back home. 

Train, bus, or air shuttle. 

The air shuttle was pricier and my neighborhood had no air shuttle stop so I decided to take the bus. 

Sanhoon accompanied me to the bus stop and waited with me. 

“Namwook doesn’t seem to have noticed but there is something getting on my nerve.”

“Like what?”

There was nobody in the street. 

Only the sound of passing cars could be heard. 

“You know, when you threw the item at minki, it’s weird. If you wanted to optimize the impact it would have been better to throw it at the limit.”

It was rare for Sanghoon to form such long sentences. 

Even when he was about to be backstabbed to death he did not speak this long. 

He must have been thinking about this for a long time. 

“Have you been thinking about this since then?”

He didn’t answer. 

I answered after considering the worst possible scenario and the next possible step. 

‘Had it been a player who had reached the final stage of this game they would have anticipated and made the same move.’

I had left a few openings.

Would have stopped using Sanghoon as bait or seized the ball by making use of the press. 

It would have never come to this if he had sincerely apologized to Sanghoon. 

But Minki always made the worst possible decisions. 

“The prize money is in. My treat next time.”

Sanghoon stared at me who had blatantly changed the subject. 

Sanghoon gave up on hearing an answer. 

“I received the settlement money, I’ll buy it. Let’s call Namwook too.”

Now that I thought of it the settlement money was much more than the prize money. 

I felt a sense of defeat. 

Even though Namwook and I received our share of the settlement money for agreeing to keep silent. 

We planned ahead on where we wanted to go by making use of the hologram. 

The search engine AI suggested two places. 

A hotel in the air that overlooked the Han river that served a snow and air winter special buffet. 

Or a famous french patisseries’ Korean visit limited edition dinner course. 

Both seemed good. 

While I was seriously contemplating between the two….

“Thanks, Jo Eushin.”

Sanghoon thanked me out of the blue. 

I pretended not to hear. 

And a few days later, on 1st Jan. 

The day I,  nameless supernova Jo Eushin turned 17 and became an official player. 

The moment my analogue clock’s second hand pointed to zero. 

The system alarm was heard. 

<You have access to the usage of the Esteemed.>