At the same time, Huang Ho, disguised as Huang Myung-ho, looked at the departing audience from the VIP seats of the Eungwang Global Stadium.
During the first round, there had been noise due to his friends, but now, except for Huang Ho’s double and his secretary, everyone else was gathered around Jo Yi-shin.
Only the secretary remained, smiling like someone wearing a mask.
The secretary reported in a tone as if reading lines from a drama script.
“There is a message on the public channel of the Huang Myung Group.”
“Who sent the message?”
“It is from the heads of the 12 Zodiac Alliance. Would you like to check it?”
Immediately after the first round, Huang Ho received protest messages from all sorts of leaders personally.
They were all related to Jo Yi-shin.
[Damned Moon Rabbit] How can you tell your benefactor to die! I want to take my benefactor with me! The game is over, right? Let him go! I’ll take him!
[Damned Moon Rabbit] According to Tohyun’s sister, she says there’s still a game left? Still, he needs to rest, right? While you’re letting him rest, send Eun Ho and the descendants with him too!
Because Okto Yeon said something unreasonable, Huang Ho naturally ignored it.
Even if Huang Ho had gone as crazy as Okto Yeon and decided to send Jo Yi-shin to the territory of the Tok tribe, there was no way he would send Eun Ho and the descendants along with him.
There was no need to respond, so Huang Ho read and ignored it.
Okto Yeon wasn’t the only one saying crazy things.
[Blue Dragon] If the benefactor of the Dragon Clan feels even the slightest discomfort, it would be best for him to rest in the Dragon Palace. It would be better for him to receive treatment as well. As you know, shamans are capable, and they are fond of Jo Yi-shin. The Dragon King is the same.
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The Blue Dragon frequently mentioned the Dragon King when talking about Jo Yi-shin.
The Dragon King was kind to the Dragon Clan and shamans, but to those without ties to dragons, he usually showed little interest or acted coldly.
Throughout history, the number of ships capsized and people drowned in the Dragon King’s domain due to storms was countless.
This wasn’t because the Dragon King harbored ill will toward those crossing the sea; it was simply due to his indifference when they encountered typhoons or were swept away by tsunamis.
The Dragon King acted in an unprecedented way toward Jo Yi-shin, showing extraordinary respect by thanking him in the Dragon Palace and giving him great gifts. This was enough for the Blue Dragon to bring him up.
However, since Jo Yi-shin wasn’t harmed enough to need the shamans, Huang Ho decided to ignore this.
[Annoying Rat] Huang Ho? How is the next ambassador from Neuru doing?
Seodul, who was still obsessing over making Jo Yi-shin an ambassador, also sent a message.
As soon as Huang Ho saw Seodul’s formal language, he became displeased and stopped reading the rest of the message.
Although Huang Ho intended to use Seodul to respond to the oath of the three knights, there was no need for such pointless exchanges.
If it was something urgent, they would have called, so Huang Ho decided to ignore it.
[Great Heavenly Sage] I would like to offer your benefactor some food that aids good sleep. Would you join our next irregular luncheon?
Recently, Great Heavenly Sage Muji had been doing much better and had the time to send a message.
Despite his careful editing, it seemed that Great Heavenly Sage had noticed Jo Yi-shin’s lack of proper rest.
If Jo Yi-shin was going to attend the irregular luncheon, Huang Ho would follow, but if not, he had no intention of going, so Huang Ho read the message and ignored it.
[Black Magician] Didn’t you say that in reality as well?
Since the failed assassination attempt on Seong Guk-eon, the Black Magician had been paying more attention to the Ho Clan’s circumstances and Jo Yi-shin.
Huang Ho decided to ignore the sharp observation made by the Black Magician.
Though the heads of the 12 Zodiac clans were causing a stir and trying to provoke, Huang Ho remained indifferent.
He was too busy keeping an eye on Jo Yi-shin and didn’t have the time to give attention to such messages, so he ignored them.
Some couldn’t hold back, though, and tried to contact him through the official channel of Huang Myung Group. His secretary reported on it.
“I ignored the messages and they are now contacting me through the Huang Myung Group. I was planning to make a fuss and issue a ban on their entry to the Holy Realm, but they seem to be sharp.”
Okto Yeon had been screaming, “How can you tell your benefactor to die!” and was ready to rush to Eungwang District, but it seemed like Okto Yeon was stopped by Okto Yun, only venting through messages.
Huang Ho, whose nerves were on edge, was about to vent his frustration, but the clan heads, with their experience, protested remotely.
As the chairperson of Eungwang High, Huang Ho had appeared in the media for interviews. He didn’t look very gentle.
While most thought his attitude was stiff because of the big event, those who knew him realized that his mood was at rock bottom.
This was part of his disguise to show the appearance of a “nervous head of the Ho Clan” because of the oath of the three knights, but in reality, Huang Ho’s mood was far from good until Jo Yi-shin woke up.
It was clear that Jo Yi-shin was struggling, and Baek Ho was making absurd remarks, so Huang Ho had no reason to feel good.
“These are all pointless messages. Are there no other messages?”
“There are no messages from the heads of the Yang clans.”
Huang Ho narrowed his brows at the secretary’s response.
Ever since the nightmare incident, Huang Ho had been trying to contact the heads of the Yang clans.
However, the head of the Yang clans, who had been holed up in the Holy Realm, refused to answer.
Even when trying to contact them through the magic circle, the head of the Yang clans didn’t respond.
The head of the Yang clans had been aware of the nightmare in the Ho Clan’s domain for a long time, so it seemed Huang Ho was especially cautious about them.
To bring them out, he would need to hold a meeting of the 12 Zodiac Alliance, but if he contacted them through that, the existence of the nightmare burdening Jo Yi-shin would be revealed to all the other 12 Zodiac leaders.
So, Huang Ho had prepared a bait that the head of the Yang clans would respond to, but it didn’t work.
“Jo Yi-shin confidently said he would catch the head of the Yang clans with his bait. But this is not going as planned.”
Using the connections between the Ho Clan and Huang Myung Group, Huang Ho could gather high-level musicians.
He had invested heavily in the arts, particularly in music, for Qing Ho, so he had connections everywhere.
At the top of the list was Kwon Je-in, but even she couldn’t sway the head of the Yang clans.
“If Kwon Je-in’s performance can’t work... Is the head of the Yang clans saying that Jeong Hae-su’s haegeum is better than Kwon Je-in’s violin?”
Of course, in terms of musical perfection, Kwon Je-in was superior, but it seemed the head of the Yang clans preferred Jeong Hae-su’s performance.
It was hard to accept, but not entirely impossible to understand.
Even in Huang Ho’s own class, Mok Woo-ram, who knew the value of Kwon Je-in’s performance, didn’t faint, but he often passed out from hearing Kwon Lena’s music.
If that was the case, it seemed that to move the head of the Yang clans, Jeong Hae-su’s performance was necessary.
“But Jeong Hae-su is from Class 0. He was in the same class as Woo Gi-hwan and even served as vice-class leader. He’s not someone I can deal with with money or power.”
Class 0 was originally a place for kids that couldn’t be influenced by such things.
Huang Ho was wondering if it would be faster to persuade Jeong Hae-su or to find another musician who the head of the Yang clans would like.
Either way, it was clear that the quickest option would be to seek Jo Yi-shin’s wisdom.
“I moved to help Jo Yi-shin, but now I have to rely on Jo Yi-shin’s wisdom? It would be better to contact In Seon-o first.”
Huang Ho decided to first request a consultation as a classmate of In Seon-o.
Of course, Huang Ho would go alone, and the place would be set up by the Ho Clan, with Eun Ho backing him up.
As Huang Ho remained silent, waiting for the right moment, his secretary finally spoke up.
“I have additional information to report.”
The secretary’s tone didn’t seem to be about something Huang Ho had instructed beforehand.
“Report.”
Instead of explaining with words, the secretary lowered his gaze and transmitted a hologram.
Upon seeing the secretary’s attitude, Huang Ho stopped thinking about Jeong Hae-su.
The secretary was quick-witted and understood Huang Ho’s mood well.
When he acted this way, there was a high chance the report would contain something that could anger Huang Ho.
Huang Ho steeled himself and opened the hologram.
“This is...!”
As soon as he read a few lines of the hologram, Huang Ho had to suppress the urge to let his emotions take over as the abilities of the supernatural faction ran wild.
The hologram displayed a summary of the brutal fight between the fan and anti-fans of an unnamed rising star.
If you are reading this translation anywhere other than Novelight.net or SilkRoadTL, it has been stolen.
The capable secretary had summarized the online battle in a way that was easy for Huang Ho to understand, and it looked like a full-scale war.
“It started with anti-fans spreading rumors after the video from the first round and the announcement of the MVP. But the discord rumors between Ahn Da-in and Jo Yi-shin added fuel to the fire.”
The fans and anti-fans were fiercely fighting over whether the abilities of the unnamed rising star were real or fake.
Those claiming the abilities were real presented evidence like the background of the hearing, Eungwang High’s scores, past achievements, related articles, and the results from the exchange competition.
There was enough evidence to support Jo Yi-shin’s abilities, but the anti-fans didn’t care for evidence.
[The exchange video was all cut, where’s the evidence? Hahaha]
[(Video link) Check this out. It’s a video speculating on the manipulated parts. According to this, the unnamed rising star couldn’t possibly have been the MVP.]
[He took the MVP with manipulation, and still happy? Hah]
[Only Shin Tan’s apprentice is the real victimㅠㅠㅠㅠ How did he get dragged into this?]
[Right. Why would the good Shin Tan’s apprentice have a discord rumor? The fact that the two aren’t getting along is the best proof.]
[↑The two guys commenting above are definitely not Shin Tan’s apprentice fans. Check their comment history. (Link)]
The anti-fans ignored the clear evidence and instead latched onto the ambiguous parts, making issues out of them.
In a bottom-of-the-barrel fight, those who acted logically were usually at a disadvantage.
Like how when Red Tiger cursed and swung his weapon, the enemy would burn to death before they could even rebut.
Suddenly, the anti-fans spread rumors and incited things, trying to drag Ahn Da-in’s fans into the fray, but fortunately, this didn’t happen.
It was thanks to an Ahn Da-in fan, who seemed to have spent nearly 24 hours non-stop purging the rumors.
Huang Ho calmed his anger and watched the situation coldly.
“Are they trying to make Jo Yi-shin and Ahn Da-in fight using the game results? There’s only one person who stands to gain from this.”
Currently, two players were receiving attention in a positive light from the exchange competition.
One was Dokgo Miro, who made a successful comeback on the charts after being named the MVP of the first round.
The other was Renzo-in Karen, who won MVP again in the second round following the first.
The one who could pull something like this off was Kozo Yashiro, who stood behind Karen.
To be exact, it would be someone connected to Kozo Yashiro who would execute it.
“Jo Yi-shin would likely be used to help them, brainwash them, extract the necessary information, and turn them into puppets to say what they want.”
With a grim expression, Huang Ho stared at the hologram.
It seemed that Kozo Yashiro had chosen to corner the unnamed rising star.