MTLNOVEL chapter 1128 - Rumors in the Storm (8)
While the Korean Peninsula was moving out of the typhoon's influence, many things happened.
First, the elixir sent by Hyangrok arrived.
I had stayed at the Tiger Mansion until the elixir came.
The white tiger said, "Don't you think you should watch your friends drink the elixir?" and I wanted to see it too.
There was another reason as well.
"Many things are happening within the Hojo Family, and the descendants of Eun Ho and the Black Tiger are very uneasy."
When I attended the meeting where the descendants of Eun Ho were officially introduced to the Black Tiger, the children were happy and thanked me, but by the time the meeting ended, they kept circling around me.
While there are Hojo Family members who are not as busy as the white tiger, the children seemed lonely and uneasy, spending a lot of time together, as there were many things to be dealt with within the family.
So, I often stayed at the Tiger Mansion, going back and forth between the main house and Eun Ho's annex to see the children.
Thanks to that, I was able to witness the moment when the elixir arrived and the tigers began unboxing it.
"I didn’t know Hyangrok worked so fast."
"I got mine quickly too."
"……."
At my words, Huang Jiho couldn’t argue.
Inside the box with the deer antler logo was more elixir than usual, and as soon as I opened the box, a pungent smell wafted up.
The Black Tiger, who had been caught while trying to escape, pinched his nose and looked miserable.
Huang Jiho was moving so slowly that I thought he might have been affected by the abnormal powers, and the Black Tiger loudly shouted, "I don’t want to drink that!"
The only one calmly accepting fate was Cheongho.
Cheongho, holding the elixir pouch, looked as though he had received poison, his expression solemn.
"I failed, and the operation went wrong. I will take responsibility."
"That’s a noble mindset. Although you haven’t regained the power from those days, your spirit is truly that of a mythological Hojo."
At Eun Ho’s words, the tiger, who wasn’t very mythological, looked embarrassed hearing them.
When Cheongho acted like that, and Eun Ho spoke like that, Huang Jiho and the Black Tiger couldn’t complain any longer.
"It’s better to drink it all together. They say pain lessens when shared, right?"
"Just don’t use your clones, Huang Ho."
"Really? If we drink together, will it be a little better?"
The white tiger preemptively blocked Huang Jiho’s tricks, and the Black Tiger naively believed the words.
The three tigers holding the elixir pouches looked so close and affectionate that it felt like a photo-worthy moment.
"Huang Jiho’s elixir will probably have the most quantity and taste the worst."
It seemed like Hyangrok had specially taken care of it for the big client.
The moment they started drinking the elixir together, different powers began to rise from each of them.
Perhaps the horrific taste attacked their mouths, triggering their defensive instincts to protect their bodies.
Even if they did that, the elixir would still taste awful. It was unfortunate.
"If the taste is unbearably bad, you might cry."
"Ugh…."
Tears welled up in Cheongho’s eyes after finishing the elixir, and the Black Tiger openly cried miserably.
Huang Jiho, with the larger portion, was still drinking, his eyes devoid of light.
"I had Jeho bring some dried persimmons. Would you like some?"
The white tiger, who had once hated dried persimmons, offered them to his friends.
The tigers, who were almost at the point of refusing to eat them just to spite Baek Ho-gun, seemed unable to say no when the descendants had prepared them and put them in their mouths.
Next, they reached for the affogato made with vanilla ice cream I had bought.
Cheongho, still not recovered from the shock of the elixir, quickly devoured the wafers prepared as a side treat and poured more caramel sauce into his bowl than the coffee.
"Are you okay?"
"I’m fine because Yi-shin prepared some snacks. Thank you."
Cheongho said weakly with a smile.
It seemed much better than the Black Tiger, who was unable to speak due to crying while eating.
Next, Huang Jiho, under the white tiger’s watch, safely finished the elixir.
When Huang Jiho frowned slightly and exhaled heavily, the white tiger scratched at his insides.
"Huang Ho, how do you feel?"
"It’s the worst taste I’ve ever had in the thousands of years I’ve tasted things. Do I need to say that?"
"Of course, I wouldn’t know unless you said it. After all, I didn’t grant you any blessings."
It was a bit of a relief for Huang Jiho to have learned how awful the elixir tasted, but I didn’t understand why the white tiger had to make such a big deal about it here.
It was as if the white tiger was protesting about feeding dried persimmons all this time, constantly asking for feedback and offering the persimmon bowl.
I could see the flames of anger ignite in Huang Jiho’s eyes, which had been void of light due to the taste of the elixir.
But rather than venting at the white tiger, he elegantly held the dessert bowl with the affogato in a graceful pose.
"Jo Yi-shin, I’ll enjoy this. Did you stop by MITRON to buy this on your way out last time? You’re well-prepared."
As Huang Jiho said, before the elixir came, I had stopped by MITRON and, as an experienced elixir user, picked out snacks that could soothe the taste of the elixir.
The patissier, Ryu Jang, had resumed business and posted an announcement, and he had even sent me a special device message to let me know.
The reason for sending the message seemed to be that he wanted to speak directly to me.
Reading Ryu Jang’s intentions, I visited early and even met with Sidellentium.
―You haven’t gotten seriously hurt. I wanted to see your face because you’re good at hiding your wounds.
Sidellentium moved his lips silently to greet me.
Though I had suggested this, I was worried that Sidellentium might lose his formal language, but thankfully, his description of the Crow Demon King still included "watching" in his words.
Sidellentium continued.
―The followers, whom I had only been watching from a distance, were killed, so I became a party to the matter. Even though I interfered slightly, I don’t think the phrase ‘watching’ will disappear.
Sidellentium had placed additional followers around the area of Jin Woong Pal-seon’s hideout after having assessed it, pretending to just observe, but lost them all.
If he had chased them away to prevent being spotted, it wouldn’t have been strange, but having killed them all made it understandable that he would now be called a party to the event.
Sidellentium had initially intervened with pure silver coins, but since this matter involved Jin Woong Pal-seon and the Crow Queen, the Crow’s followers had no justification for killing them.
Thus, the Crow had attacked Sidellentium first, so now he had a reason to counterattack.
―So, I suppose I can release some unfavorable information about the Crow. The Crow and the other three villains came to the demon realm once without a guide. Let me tell you what I observed then.
Unexpectedly, I gained valuable information.
The Crow was targeting the nightmare inside me, but all I knew were the anecdotes left in myths and legends.
It would be helpful if I could learn even a little bit about the Crow’s powers.
After finishing our useful conversation, I finished shopping as a guest.
Ryu Jang, offering it as a service, handed me several boxes of wafers packed in tin cases and asked,
―Is this a gift for your dorm friends or juniors? Ah, seeing the Hojo Family’s limousine waiting in front of the shop, I guess not.
If you are reading this translation anywhere other than .net or SilkRoadTL, it has been stolen.
As Ryu Jang had guessed, almost everything I bought today was intended to go into the tigers’ stomachs.
Among the tigers, there were also gifts for Eun Ho’s descendants and Ahn Da-in’s family.
I had bought a red velvet cake for Jeokho and the Crow Queen, but it would be delivered in front of the mansion, and I wasn’t sure if I would be able to see their faces since they were busy unwinding.
―The Hojo Family is preparing for a big feast. I’ll have to send some party snacks as a gift.
A big feast? Was he referring to Kim Shinrok’s 100-day feast?
Even amidst their busyness, the tigers had not forgotten to spread word of the descendant’s 100-day feast.
Thinking about what to bring to the class head’s 100-day feast, I became deep in thought.
"Eun Ho, has anything been posted on the bulletin board? Are they fighting again?"
"People who use the community are fighting every day. But today, it looks like no one is meeting in person to fight."
Meanwhile, Eun Ho took the opportunity to check the community.
Recently, something huge almost happened while the Hojo Family and I were all caught up in chaos.
And that huge event had something to do with me!
It all started with an absurd and baseless couple controversy, which led to a fight between players with different opinions.
They had initially fought violently through messages and then posted the proof on the bulletin board just before a face-to-face confrontation.
‘Everyone just thought it was a lie to get attention.’
The post, which didn’t get much attention, was buried, but they actually planned to meet in the stormy Gwanghwamun Square to fight.
In Gwanghwamun Square, where the storm was raging, there were few pedestrians, so there was no one to stop the players from fighting.
In the tense situation, suddenly, a strange mist rose from the storm, blocking them, and during that time, the association received reports of the fight and intervened, bringing the matter to a close.
It was just a minor incident, and it was briefly covered in the news, and then the community posted "Isn’t this real, the Gwanghwamun fight?"
‘Could that mist have been spread by a mentally broken troll?’
Anyway, as the fight over the couple controversy appeared in the news, the atmosphere on the community bulletin board shifted to one of self-restraint.
Thanks to that, the situation settled down, but then people started fighting over a different issue.
Unfortunately, this new issue also had to do with the Hojo Family.
It was related to the Black Tiger, but rather than the Black Tiger itself becoming a topic, they were fighting for incomprehensible reasons.
"Well, the basis of this fight is ‘the Black Tiger exists.’ It wouldn’t be bad to leave it alone."
As Eun Ho said.
Right now, the fight was divided into two sides.
One side was mocking, saying, "I don’t understand why they’re making a fuss in the academic world."
The other side was saying, "Being ignorant of history is something to be proud of," and wanted to punish those without a sense of history.
The two sides weren’t really interested in the Black Tiger itself; they were fighting about how much one should know about the True Blood and history.
Because the fight had gotten so big, the Black Tiger’s existence was definitely brought to light, and the couple controversy was buried, but it left a complicated feeling.
‘Well, at least the Black Tiger’s popularity is rising, I suppose?’
I suddenly remembered the boss enemy, the Black Tiger, that we fought against during the simulation in the otherworld with the Korean team.
Even though his popularity was rising, I doubted whether the Black Tiger could actually fight that well. But if he became a little stronger than now, he’d be safer.
While the tigers were finishing their elixir and drinking more tea, Kim Shinrok appeared.
"Hello, sorry for being late."
"I know you’ve been busy torturing the Ung clan. Did you manage to chase Yong Je-gun off?"
"That dragon left once the rain calmed down. He said he’ll go to the Dragon Palace to prepare for the arrival of his benefactor tomorrow morning."
The ominous energy from the words left by Yong Je-gun filled the air.
Yong Je-gun had stayed at the Tiger Mansion for a long time before finally leaving, but it seemed like I’d have to see his face again.
As Kim Shinrok continued reporting to the tigers, he suddenly looked at me and said,
"...I have something I want to discuss with Jo Yi-shin."
Kim Shinrok pointing at me was unexpected, but as the tigers had already guessed, they nodded their heads.