It’s an Academic Fact That Rankers Are Model Students – Chapter 248

Chapter 248: Are You Good at Fighting? (1)

━Excuse me? Chairman Yoo?

At Kyung-joon’s words, the person on the other side of the smartphone let out a bewildered voice.

” ……No? Seolha Group Chairman Yoo Geun-chul.”

━Uh…… It’s true that Seolha Entertainment, which is in charge of running The World, is part of the Seolha Group…… but this is not the chairman. I am Team Leader Jo Hyun-woo of the Kyung-joon Special Management Team.

” Aha…… I see. “

So it wasn’t Chairman Yoo.

Kyung-joon awkwardly rubbed the back of his neck even though he was on the phone.

At that moment.

The hand that was fiddling around stopped, and Kyung-joon’s forehead furrowed.

” ……Wait a minute. What special management team did you say you were from? “

Kyung-joon thought he had heard wrong.

━Yes. I am Team Leader Jo Hyun-woo of the Kyung-joon Special Management Team.

Kyung-joon Special Management Team.

Kyung-joon definitely didn’t hear wrong.

Team Leader Jo Hyun-woo continued.

━We’d like to discuss with you how to proceed with the game World in the future, so I’m calling you like this. Infinite Knowledge Seeker, Kyung-joon-nim, owner of the Mythical Job.

🔷🔷🔷🔷🔷🔷

The World’s headquarters at the Seolha Entertainment building.

A phone call from Team Leader Jo Hyun-woo rang out from the Kyung-joon Special Management Team there.

” Yes. We’ll have a car waiting for you in the parking lot in front of your house in 5 minutes. The driver will take you straight to our Seolha Group’s private hospital. We’ve taken care of all the expenses, so you don’t have to worry about it. Yes. Yes, yes. We’ll take care of the guardian’s consent and medical records, and everything will be kept confidential. By the way, you’re very filial. You’re trying not to worry your parents…… Oh, don’t mention it. This is my job. Yes. Yes, yes. Then I’ll wait for your call later. Yes. I’ll see you then. Thank you.”

Click.

The team leader hung up the phone.

He let out a short sigh and closed his eyes.

” ……Team Leader. How did it go?”

Kim Bu-ha cautiously asked the team leader.

From the bits and pieces he’d overheard, it sounded like the call had gone well.

But he hadn’t heard the whole conversation, so he was curious.

” It was a success. The exact schedule is undecided, but we’re going to have a formal meeting once the Fael University and the Fael Alliance are over. Inside the Study Territory. “

” Gasp! Inside the Study Territory……! Is that really true?!”

” Why would I lie about that? “

” Haha! I was just wondering in case! Anyway, that’s a relief! I was worried he might refuse or say he’d rather move on his own…… This is great! “

Kim Bu-ha jumped up and down excitedly next to the team leader.

Seeing this, the other colleagues all laughed along.

What Team Leader Jo had asked Kyung-joon directly as the representative of the Kyung-joon Special Management Team.

It was whether Kyung-joon would be willing to work with them on future game patch planning and implementation.

And a more detailed discussion of this, and as a start, whether it would be okay to have the 『Kyung-joon Special Management Team’s』 in-game headquarters inside the Study Territory.

Kyung-joon had responded positively to this, saying he would consider it.

” Uh……? Team Leader. Did you say consider just now? “

Consider.

He would consider it positively.

Kim Bu-ha wasn’t exactly a social butterfly, but……

” Doesn’t that mean he could suddenly say no under the pretense of considering it? “

He knew all too well how fickle the word ‘consider’ could be.

Team Leader Jo cleared his throat and added,

” Hey. No way. That’s just how I put it. He said he’d love to. “

” Aha. I see. “

” Yeah. And he’s still a student, you know? So he said he’d get back to me after his finals, and after all the commotion in the game dies down. “

” I see. But you were also talking about MRI, PET, and all sorts of hospital stuff…… Is there something wrong with user Kyung-joon? “

” Huh? No, no. I was just mentioning the health checkup benefits we offer to Mythical Job owners, just in case. It’s not what you think. The World’s full-dive connection technology may be the first of its kind, but it’s incredibly safe. “

” Yes, of course. It’s not like it’s not the Seolha Group. I guess I just jumped to conclusions.”

” Right. You jumped to conclusions.”

Team Leader Jo chuckled and playfully nudged Kim Bu-ha on the arm.

Then he patted him on the back.

” I’m going up to the roof for a bit, so keep up the good work.”

Team Leader Jo picked up his e-cigarette from his desk.

” Oh, I’ll come with you. “

” It’s okay. I’m just going to call my wife for a sec. “

” Oh, yes. Okay. Take care. “

A while later.

Team Leader Jo came up to the rooftop.

It was the middle of the workday, so he was the only one there.

” Whew. “

Team Leader Jo took a long drag of his e-cigarette and exhaled.

He just kept staring at the Seoul nightscape from the rooftop, not showing any sign of actually calling his wife.

” Team Leader, how much do you know about the Infinite Knowledge Seeker? ……”

A loaded question that came up during his phone call with Kyung-joon.

Team Leader Jo had tilted his head slightly at this, but had answered as he knew it.

He said it was the Mythical Job of the Seolha Group’s full-dive virtual reality game, The World.

He had added a few more details, but Kyung-joon, who had heard it all, had said,

『Kyung-joon: I see.』

It was as if he had expected that answer, or as if it had fallen short of his expectations.

He had been about to ask why he had asked such a thing, but……

The subject had quickly changed to the establishment of the Kyung-joon Special Management Team’s headquarters within the Study Territory, and it had all become a blur.

‘……Come to think of it, he asked me if I was Chairman Yoo at first.’

Not only that, but it was as if he had been expecting a call from Chairman Yoo.

The only connection between Chairman Yoo and Kyung-joon was……

‘……Thinking about it, the reason why the Kyung-joon Special Management Team was created so quickly was because of Chairman Yoo’s direct order.’

And that wasn’t all.

The direct order from the Chairman that had come down to Secretary Oh again this time.

『Secretary Oh: Make direct contact with Kyung-joon in reality and expand the scope of your work beyond monitoring. From now on, all funding and authorization approvals related to this should be submitted directly to me, not to the Operations Team or any other superiors. Those were the Chairman’s orders.』

Go beyond monitoring and work with him.

And to make direct contact with Kyung-joon in reality.

This meant that the Kyung-joon Special Management Team’s work would not end with simple monitoring or indirect guidance like during the Luxemb Defense.

It meant that they were to ‘directly interact and cooperate’ with Kyung-joon.

An equal partnership between operator and user.

It was an unprecedented and radical order that no other game company had ever heard of.

” …… “

Team Leader Jo fiddled with his smartphone and found a number to call.

Ring ring ring.

Ring ring ring.

Click.

━Hello?

” Hey, Kang-hyun? You don’t have any patients right now, do you? Yeah. Yeah, let me ask you something. “

Team Leader Jo asked his doctor friend about what he had heard during the phone call with Kyung-joon.

━What’s up? Did you get beat up or something? Those are all tests they run when they suspect internal injuries or internal radiation poisoning? Are you okay?

Team Leader Jo frowned slightly.

” No, it’s nothing like that. I was just, you know, I saw something online. Yeah. Yeah. I’m fine. Thanks for answering. Yeah. Let’s catch up sometime. “

Click.

Team Leader Jo hung up the phone.

His expression as he looked down at the end-of-call display was deeply troubled.

‘Internal injuries……? Because of The World? But…… it’s common knowledge that The World connection is a one-way interaction. The senses in reality can affect The World, but never the other way around……’

As Team Leader Jo thought this far, he felt a chill run down his spine.

An extremely strong intuition that he shouldn’t dig any deeper.

Perhaps if Team Leader Jo had seen the 『Synchronization Rate』 status window while monitoring Kyung-joon, he would have been more certain of his prediction.

But that status window had only appeared for Kyung-joon, not for the Kyung-joon Special Management Team.

Unfortunately, The World’s monitoring system couldn’t monitor everything.

In the first place.

『The World is not completely managed and controlled by the Seolha Group.』

” Are we getting ourselves into something really dangerous……? “

Team Leader Jo’s anxious murmur was left unanswered, disappearing into the Seoul night sky.

🔷🔷🔷🔷🔷🔷

A hospital that only the top executives of the Seolha Group could use.

Kyung-joon, who had come out of the hospital, was moving his arm around as if to check if it was okay, and muttered to himself.

” Wow, what is this, The World, and they brought aliens here to develop technology? The technology is insane. “

Kyung-joon’s right hand, which had been bright red with blood, had recovered almost 90% of its original color.

Most of the bruises on his body had long since disappeared.

The treatment Kyung-joon had received at the hospital was capsule treatment, something he had only seen in movies and cartoons.

He spent an hour in a capsule filled with a liquid that allowed him to breathe even though he was submerged in it, receiving regenerative treatment.

It felt like he was back in his mother’s womb, and when he came out after an hour, most of the wounds he had sustained had healed.

Medical technology that he had never even seen on the news.

” Just how far have these guys come? “

The Time Dilation control technology of the Infinite Knowledge Seeker was one thing.

From his head actually getting better to his real body’s senses changing according to his experiences in the game.

It was like the more he peeled back the layers, the more suspicious it became.

” Fishy…… “

As Kyung-joon muttered to himself.

” Rest assured. We are not rounding up people and experimenting on them like in some movie. “

Step. Step.

A man in a black suit walked slowly towards Kyung-joon.

” And we are not employing aliens as some rumors suggest, nor are we plotting world domination or anything ridiculous like that.”

Secretary Oh.

Chairman Yoo’s right-hand man.

He was the one who had tried to give Kyung-joon the Seolha scholarship after the biology performance assessment, thanking him for his help.

Of course, Kyung-joon had been offended by the inclusion of the BIVS incident’s aftermath in the scholarship clause and had ripped it all up, leaving only the basic scholarship benefits.

” Wow. I didn’t expect to see you here, Secretary Oh.”

Kyung-joon greeted Secretary Oh with an unsurprised expression.

He continued to ask,

” What brings you here again? Don’t tell me you’re here to offer me that again? “

” That is also part of the reason.”

Secretary Oh didn’t deny it.

Kyung-joon had noticed the monstrous side effects of the telomere technology, even though it wasn’t directly related to him.

It would be a great help if he could participate in the aftermath and follow-up research.

However.

That was just secondary.

” You probably didn’t see it because of Team Leader Jo’s authority, but it popped up, didn’t it? The status window for ‘Synchronization Rate’. “

Thud.

Secretary Oh stopped in front of him without climbing the stairs of the hospital’s main entrance.

Even so, he was so tall that his eyes were almost level with Kyung-joon’s.

” This is not the place to be having this conversation. I’ll escort you to a more private location. “

Secretary Oh said so and bowed slightly, gesturing for him to follow.

” Alright. “

Kyung-joon shrugged.

He was willing to listen since he wanted to hear what he had to say.

Secretary Oh then took the lead and started walking somewhere.

However.

Kyung-joon felt a bit left out just following him like that.

” By the way, are you good at fighting? “

” ……Excuse me? “

Secretary Oh, who had turned his upper body slightly and frowned at Kyung-joon’s sudden question.

His face was scarred in several places, giving him a look that could make several children cry.

Kyung-joon decided to ask Secretary Oh for a very unexpected favor.

” I asked if you’re good at fighting. “

” ……I’m good enough to protect the Chairman, but what does that have to do with…… “

No.

It wasn’t a favor.

It wasn’t a favor, it was his right.

” Good to know. “

As soon as Kyung-joon finished speaking.

” ?!”

Swoosh!

Kyung-joon instantly moved in front of Secretary Oh!

The sensation Kyung-joon recalled at that moment was the sensation of the martial art ‘quick’.

And the sensation that followed was.

” Shut your trap. You’re pissing me off.”

It was the sensation of 『Jet Black Power』, which devoured and amplified everything.

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