I thought the atmosphere would be ruined because of my wrong choice of topic, but our conversation was very smooth and comfortable thanks to the social skills of my playable characters who cared for their junior.

We had dinner at a seafood course restaurant.

It was midway between Cheon Dongha and Yeom Junyeols tastes.

Their grilled butter abalone had a particularly good reputation, and Yeom Junyeol and Cheon Dongha expressed that theyd want to revisit the restaurant again with their families.

We finished our meal and headed home.

The two arent dorm students so they didnt have to come back to school, but they offered to walk me back.

Alright, get home safe.

Ill look forward to the article.

I vowed to myself to write a very good article for the two as I headed back to my dormitory room.

Its still gray.

In my room.

As soon as I arrived, I checked the Replay function right away.

The second time I used it on Yoo Sanghoon, the function became available to use again after one day.

That wasnt the case this time.

I tried to think of the reason for that by comparing Yoo Sanghoon and Son Minki, but the two had very few similarities like age and gender.

I felt sorry that Yoo Sanghoon had to deal with that trash of a person.

I still dont know why theres a difference in the time before the function becomes available again.

According to Hwang Jiho, Son Minki woke up almost immediately after falling asleep that day.

He said that he screamed and struggled as if he had a terrible dream.

However, Son Minki wasnt talking to anyone else, so he couldnt dig into what Son Minki dreamed about.

Son Minkis maternal grandfather was his guardian, but they dont seem to have any interaction except for him occasionally taking a bowl of porridge soup with a straw from his grandfather.

Son Minki looks at his device all day, but it doesnt seem like hes having a conversation with someone.

Hwang Jiho overlooked Son Minkis device and saw that he was messaging Yoo Sanghee, to which the latter havent responded for weeks now.

She did say she wanted to mess with him before.

I felt unpleasant as I guessed what Son Minki was thinking about Yoo Sanghee and why he keeps messaging her.

I cant really stop Yoo Sanghee if she finds enjoyment in what she does, but Im at least glad that she doesnt respond to him often.

Hwang Jiho will send a doctor there. I should wait for that.

Hwangmyeong Group is planning to send a doctor to the place to investigate further and possibly conduct an energy wave test on Son Minki, but I dont expect the test to reveal anything about the secrets of the Replay function.

All I want is to improve the function even just by a little bit.

If the functions level doesnt go up after using it on Son Minki several times, do I need to use it on other characters?

I checked the gray list again, but there arent many people there that Im interested in using the function too.

I could use it on Byun Sunhwi of the Hwanmong Auction, or perhaps on Choi Pyeondeuk.

Lets wait and see for now.

I closed the window as I made a mental note to check it every day.

Dingdong.

As soon as I closed the window, a message arrived on my device.

It was from Hong Gyubin, who was still working at this hour.

[Hong Gyubin] Thank you, Euishin. Thanks to you we finished the interrogation with that nursing officer.

Kim Shinrok was sent to the association today, and it seems like he got the results already.

Perhaps its because hes the descendant of the 5,000-year-old tigers, or maybe he got some strength from his father who accompanied him there.

Maybe it was both.

Things worked out well, but its like Ive revealed that Im working closely with the Tiger Clan.

Hong Gyubin wouldve noticed it the moment he saw me with Hwang JIho at the airport, but this case would confirm his suspicions that I have a close relationship with the Tiger Clan.

[Hong Gyubin] By the way, that Professor Kim Shinrok seems to have unique ways of torturing.

[Hong Gyubin] I saw him with Professor Jegal a couple of times Hmm

Hong Gyubin mustve seen Kim Shinroks brutal methods of torture.

Still, I dont know why he seems worried about Jegal when the two are good colleagues.

[Hong Gyubin] Anyway, thanks to you, I got a list of people who ordered this work. On top of that, the regulatory department has obtained additional evidence.

[Hong Gyubin] This can destroy one of TC Groups factions.

Hong Gyubins tone was somewhat dubious.

I didnt get messages after that.

[Me] Team Leader Hong Gyubin?

When I asked him, the reply came a bit delayed.

[Hong Gyubin] Euishin, did you know that TC Group changed its name once before?

It was quite a random question, but I knew the answer to it.

Its common for large and long-running companies to change their name to English initials.

This is because if the company name is difficult to pronounce in English, they usually change it.

Its also because Korean characters can translate to one or two letters in English D can also be T, K can also be G and so on.

I think the T from TC is from the surname Do, and the C is derived from a surname that is difficult for foreigners to pronounce.

[Me] Yes. I know that they once used their Korean name like the Joo-Oh Group and the Hwangmyeong Group.

[Hong Gyubin] Then I guess you know that TC Group was once almost the number one group in Korea.

Just as Hong Gyubin said, the TC Group was almost the number one group in Korea before they changed their name.

TC Group was actually the first group to deal with other worlds and the first to hit the jackpot with their own technological developments.

Perhaps because of that, the founder, executives, and major shareholders fought hard over the groups stake and management rights.

[Me] Are you talking about the case of T&C fallout?

[Hong Gyubin] Yes.

The T&C fallout was a case about the process of splitting of the TC Group.

As a result of the suit, which marked its place as the biggest division and split in history, the companys structure was reversed several times and the separation of affiliates continued, greatly dampening the groups momentum.

As a result, the groups size was greatly reduced, and the T side, or the Do family took the lead and led the TC Group to where it is now.

Thinking about it like that, I could guess why Hong Gyubin mentioned it.

Hong Gyubin might know something about the C side.

[Me] So the C side has something to do with the recent events.

[Hong Gyubin] Theres no conclusive evidence yet. Still, many of the executives involved this time are related to the C side.

How could there be no evidence if he already knows that all the executives have a relationship with the C side?

Before I could ask, Hong Gyubin messaged again.

[Hong Gyubin] They often mentioned the C side a long time ago. Its been a while, so I dont think my word should be considered enough evidence.

Hong Gyubin mustve had exchanges with the TC Group executives in the past.

And often on top of that.

[Hong Gyubin] Ill contact you again after I find out more.

After that message, Hong Gyubin went back to work.

Ah, I shouldve asked about his sister.

I decided to ask someone else since Hong Gyubin was already busy with his overtime work.

Just in time, that person was eagerly sending messages to another chat group that I was in.

[Jang Namwook] Sanghoon, I enjoyed todays game. The cheering squad is usually facing the audience though so I didnt see the whole thing.

[Yoo Sanghook] Yep.

After that, Jang Namwook sent dozens of messages about what he thought of the game.

Jang Namwook has no ill intention, but I dont think Yoo Sanghoon would appreciate the long messages about the game where they lost.

Yoo Sanghoon read all the messages, but he stopped responding with a simple yep at some point.

Jang Namwook sent a -_- emoticon, saying it was embarrassing to praise Yoo Sanghoons play when hes not responding,

[Jang Namwook] Then Ill look forward to your performance tomorrow. Ill cheer on you too.

[Yoo Sanghoon] Lol.

After that, the message room became quiet.

Its kind of weird to ask about his sister here.

Yoo Sanghoon is completely unaware of the incident with Do Sihoo, and I dont want to bother him knowing that he has another game tomorrow.

After a short consideration, I decided to send a private message to Jang Namwook.

[Me] I have something I want to ask.

[Me] Do you know a female cadet with the surname Hong?

The military academys high school has few female cadets, so its probably easy for him to know.

[Jang Namwook] Theres none in our section.

Hong Gyubins sister isnt in Jang Namwooks section?

It wouldve been difficult for Hong Gyubins sister to intervene with the nursing officer though.

[Jang Namwook] Euishin, is that related to the incident with Do Sihoo?

I dont know if it was okay to tell Jang Namwok.

Still, he guessed that there might be a reason why I suddenly asked.

Hong Gyubins sisters safety is related to this, so I decided to answer.

[Me] Yeah.

[Jang Namwook] Do you remember the kid that drove the tilt rotor in Jiri Mountain?

Of course, I remember.

Isnt that freak from the research institute affiliated with the Ministry of National Defense?

The same kid that broke the otherworld simulator with a field shovel?

[Jang Namwook] Actually, only one cadet didnt come to the opening ceremony of the sports exchange exhibition. Shes a weird kid so I didnt think much of it

[Jang Namwook] The next morning after the opening ceremony, she was taken to the disciplinary room. We dont know why, but I think its related to the incident with Sihoo.

[Jang Namwook] Rumors are she arbitrarily handed over a soldier to the association. Did she hand over the nursing officer who manipulated Do Sihoos tests?

The case of the nursing officer is being handled confidentially, but it seems like theres someone who tipped off Jang Namwook.

Im sure thats his sister.

Its a bit odd that her surname wasnt Hong, but theres no doubt that its her.

[Me] Yeah.

[Jang Namwook] I see.

[Me] Is she okay?

Jang Namwook conveyed how Hong Gyubins sister was in a quite lengthy manner.

[Jang Namwook] Gyuyeon has been at the Defense Ministrys research center for a long time. It was unclear if she violated school rules, so she was actually released quite quickly after being called to the disciplinary office.

[Jang Namwook] Shes resting right now from the aftereffects of her energy wave being sealed.

[Jang Namwook] Ill check again tomorrow to see if shes alright.

Jang Namwook has been in the disciplinary room before, so he knows very well the aftereffects of the energy wave seal being used in that room.

He knows what the kid must be going through.

Jang Namwook sent more messages expressing his concern for the female cadet.

Wait. Namwook just said the name Gyuyeon in one of his messages.

Hong Gyubin

Gyuyeon.

No wonder the names sound similar.

Shes in the same section as Jang Namwok.

But Namwook said they dont have a female Hong cadet in their section.

I decided to ask Jang Namwook to confirm.

[Me] That Gyuyeon cadets surname isnt Hong?

[Jang Namwook] Hmm? No, its not.

[Jang Namwook] (Link)

Jang Namwook attached a link.

When I clicked on it, it led me to a page containing a press release from the military academy.

There was a picture of the awarding ceremony held at the military academys high school.

At the top is the name and picture of the cadet who won the grand prize.

[Grand prize winner Namgung Gyuyeon]

Looking at the name and picture of the female student in the center, I think Im one step closer to knowing Hong Gyubins secrets.