Group Project (1)

In my spare time, I met with Go Donghyuk several times each week to gather information.

Because I had saved his church—which was practically his family—Go Donghyuk held gratitude toward me.

So, he had no hesitation in collecting information for my sake.

Today, I was meeting him at a café far from school.

“You know there are a lot of people related to the Sura Guild at our school, right? It’s mostly because their parents are either hunters or staff affiliated with the Sura Guild.”

“Are there any in the student council by chance?”

“A few, yeah. But there’s an even better ally than them. He’ll be here soon.”

Ding—

At that moment, a man opened the café door and walked in.

Go Donghyuk made eye contact with the man and they greeted each other warmly.

“Sir! Over here!”

“Hey, you should call me ‘hyung,’ not ‘sir’, you punk.”

Speak of the devil, and he appears.

After exchanging a word with Donghyuk, the man sat down beside him.

“Hyung, say hi. This is the guy who saved everyone from our church.”

“Oh! So you’re Ma Seongjin?”

The man exclaimed as if he already knew who I was.

Then, as he extended his hand to me, he said:

“Nice to meet you. I’ve heard a lot about you from Donghyuk.”

“It’s nice to meet you too, but… who are you?”

“Ah, I’m Jo Yun, a science teacher at Middle School 3 as well as an engineering researcher at Hand. Nice to meet you again.”

After introducing himself, I shook his hand in return.

As befitting a teacher at Hand, I could sense magic power from him as well.

However, it wasn’t that strong, so he didn’t seem to be a combat type.

Since he also claimed to be a researcher, it seemed his specialty lay more in that direction.

“And soon enough, I’ll become Donghyuk’s uncle.”

“Uncle?”

“Hey, hyung, did you really need to say that now?”

“What? He should know how you and I are connected, shouldn’t he?”

Honestly, I was curious.

A teacher and student calling each other “hyung” was certainly unusual.

Still, calling him “uncle” painted a rough picture.

“You said your name’s Ma Seongjin, right? I really owe you—after all, you saved our Riley’s life.”

“Riley?”

As I asked in confusion, Go Donghyuk answered for me.

“My older sister. You probably would’ve seen her a lot if you visited our church often.”

“Your sister? Ah…!”

A face immediately came to mind, and I exclaimed.

There was a woman who frequently came and went, sometimes staying by the pastor’s side.

When I saved the church people last time, I had seen her in passing as well.

“But even though she’s my sister, we’re not fully related by blood.”

“How so?”

“Riley’s mother is from another world, and my mother is Korean.”

In short, they were half-siblings.

Somehow, for a religious family, it seemed their family tree was a bit tangled.

“Then, does the pastor have two wives?”

“No, only one now. According to my father… Riley’s mother passed away.”

Fortunately, it wasn’t a full-blown dysfunctional family.

Additionally, as explained, riley’s mother had apparently died on her way to this world.

“I wasn’t born yet, so I don’t know, but whenever I bring it up, dad’s expression darkens, so I couldn’t pry.”

Given the pastor’s reaction, it seemed she was killed by pursuers while on the run.

If they were soldiers or mercenaries from Mewzealand, such cruelty was nothing to them.

“Anyway, riley is our Donghyuk’s sister, and I’m going to tie the knot with her.”

In other words, he would become Go Donghyuk’s brother-in-law.

Considering Donghyuk didn’t seem to mind, he must have accepted it.

Even though I was not fond of couples rubbing it in, I would never do something to ruin someone’s family happiness.

In other words, I had my boundaries.

“If you like her that much, then go meet my sister. She’s been upset since she hasn’t seen you lately.”

“Sorry, I’ve been busy lately…”

From what I’d heard, it seemed Riley liked him as well.

“Even finding time to talk like this now was difficult. Thanks to those Sura Guild guys…”

At the mention of that guild’s name, I narrowed my eyes.

Finally, the story I wanted to hear was coming out.

“To be honest, our lab is practically under the Sura Guild’s direct control. We’ve received so much investment from them that we owe them a lot.”

It was almost as if they’d been devoured.

To put it another way, it meant that Hand’s research facilities were good enough to attract the interest of major guilds from powerful countries.

“These days, the Sura Guild keeps asking us to manufacture equipment to fight hostile forces. The amount is staggering.”

“Hostile forces?”

“I’m not really supposed to say this, but… have you heard of the Holy Church?”

“Holy Church?”

“It’s a guild that works in hiding all over the world, but frankly, you can just think of them as a murderer guild. Their specialty is luring people in with strange religious doctrines and draining them dry.”

Basically, they were a cult.

But if they picked a fight with the Sura Guild, they must be pretty big.

“But the ideology of the Holy Church and the Sura Guild is almost identical. Their methods are incredibly similar, and, more importantly, their goals are too.”

“By goals, you mean…?”

“Both guilds aim to fully awaken the object of their worship. But…”

The object of worship was different.

No matter how similar their beliefs were, that alone would inevitably breed animosity.

That was why they became hostile… But it felt a bit strange.

“They’re fighting just because their objects of worship differ?”

“Yeah.”

If that’s the case, why don’t Christianity and Buddhism fight just because their gods are different?

It made no sense for them to engage in bloody conflict simply due to having different objects of worship.

“The Holy Church’s goal is the ‘assassination of Sura’.”

That Sura from the Sura Guild—the one the church people had mentioned before.

Their guild praised the being called ‘Sura’.

She was seen as a kind of agent of god, like a saint from medieval fantasy.

Her identity was shrouded in mystery; apparently, no one knew her true face.

“For the Sura Guild, that ‘Sura’ is incredibly important. So of course, the Holy Church targeting her makes them mortal enemies.”

In different religions, gods are usually considered untouchable.

But if it’s a sacred agent of god, she could be targeted.

If a hostile religious group set their sights on her, conflict was inevitable.

I could roughly understand why religious fanatics would fight, but… something about it kept bothering me.

“You said the Holy Church and the Sura Guild have similar ideologies?”

“Yeah. Even though they’re enemies, it’s uncanny how alike they are—as if they were twins.”

The Sura Guild had deep ties to Mewzealand.

If the Holy Church had similar ideology, maybe they, too, were connected to Mewzealand.

“Do you know anything else about the Holy Church?”

“Sorry, I’m not influential enough to find out that much.”

So, the Holy Church and the Sura Guild.

If both were affiliated with Mewzealand, it made sense to see this as internal strife.

But did they really need to fight over which god they followed—even though banding together as people from the same world would make more sense?

“But it’s not like there’s absolutely no information. There are traces and remnants of the Holy Church even in Korea.”

As mentioned before, they were a guild scattered around the world.

It was natural they’d go into hiding in Korea as well.

Then an unexpected name popped out of Jo Yun’s mouth.

“Have you ever heard of the Black Flame Cult?”

“…!”

“They were a murderer guild that operated about six years ago. They’re defunct now, though.”

Of course they were.

During my first winter break in elementary school, I’d wiped them out in Yong-in City.

But then I heard something I hadn’t known.

“Even though they were small, that Black Flame Cult originally split off from the Holy Church. So, it was a big loss for the Holy Church.”

Moreover, the leader of the Black Flame Cult was related by family to the leader of the Holy Church.

Naturally, the enraged Holy Church had to protest to the Sura Guild—asking if it was their doing.

Of course, the Sura Guild only denied it. They hadn’t actually done anything.

Enraged by that, the Holy Church openly showed hostility.

‘Who else but you people would know about our plans!’ they’d said.

“Their relationship was already bad due to their different objects of worship, but that incident completely ruined things.”

“So that’s the reason for their conflict…”

“You could say that’s the cause. Who on earth defeated the Black Flame Cult and ruined things between them…”

Good question.

Who could have done that?

I tried to hold back my laughter and said,

“Wow, I’m really curious?”

****

Even after school, few students were returning to the dormitory.

The upcoming interschool competition was approaching.

Assessment from that event factored into their academic records, so no one could afford to take it lightly.

‘I’m a bit worried, since Seongjin’s not beside me…’

Sitting at a table in the school park, Sang-ah absentmindedly touched the empty seat next to her.

The teams for the competition had already been determined.

During this remaining period, they would need to select a team leader and draw up a strategy.

‘Yeah, I can do fine on my own!’

She was a bit disappointed not to be in the same group as Seongjin, but she couldn’t always rely on him.

Perhaps it was for the best.

The interschool competition was an event all students would be watching.

If she could show her skills there, what kind of expression would Seongjin make?

‘Heh heh heh…’

He would definitely praise her.

Sang-ah began to fantasize, picturing Seongjin’s smiling face.

She imagined him saying, “Good job,” and praising her.

She was just about to immerse herself in the bliss of that imagination when—

‘No, no, no! What am I thinking?’

Suddenly coming to her senses, Sang-ah panicked.

Was she having absurd thoughts?

‘Go away! Go away!’

She banished the image of Seongjin praising her from her mind.

Only after the remnants of her imagination faded did Sang-ah feel relieved.

“Junior, what’s with that expression?”

“Are you feeling sick?”

The students sitting across from her at the table spoke up.

Come to think of it, she had forgotten that she was discussing things with her group.

“Sorry. I got lost in thought for a moment…”

Her four group members sitting at the table stared at her for a moment.

But, as soon as they confirmed there was no problem, they smiled brightly and said,

“So you’re not actually sick, right?”

“Yes! I can do well at anything! Just leave it to me!”

Whatever the strategy, she was confident she could follow it well.

Her group included upperclassmen who had experience with interschool competitions before.

If she just listened to them, she could do it.

“Is that so? Then how about you become the team leader?”

“Huh…?”

What?

Team leader?

“You’re the most skilled among us, so you’re the best suited to lead.”

“Well… that’s…”

An upperclassman group member said.

Caught off guard, Sang-ah stammered.

“Then it’s settled! You were the freshman representative at the entrance ceremony, right?”

“I suppose, but…”

Freshman representative.

It was true that she’d stood on stage during the entrance ceremony.

But she’d never had any experience leading others.

“Not only were you the freshman representative, but you’re also strong in combat. Where would we ever find a better team leader?”

“Yeah, it’s decided. Kwon Sang-ah, you’ll be our leader.”

“Come on, applause! Applause!”

Clap clap clap clap clap clap—

“…”

Sang-ah had a lot she wanted to say.

But swept up by the enthusiastic atmosphere, her mind went blank.

She couldn’t remember what she’d meant to say.

“Yes… Then I’ll be the leader.”

And she found herself absentmindedly clapping along with them.

‘Will this… be okay?’

————-= Clacky’s Corner ————-=

【ദ്ദി(⩌ᴗ⩌)】

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep