Chapter 493: Chapter 493

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Besides, Ban Hye Ryung’s captivating beauty had always provoked fights among the boys, especially in the alley. Having that thought, I threw a glance at her.

Idiots, did they really think they could win a beauty by force when we weren’t living in the Warring States period? Above all, how couldn’t they be aware of Ban Yeo Ryung being wilder and stronger than them? Rambling such thoughts in mind, I turned my head upon a sudden noise.

“Eh?”

I wondered if I had misheard something, but Ban Yeo Ryung and Eun Hyung reacted faster than I. As if they were beasts that found their preys, the two abruptly turned their heads toward the inner side of a dark alley.

Into the darkness, someone with the grey Sung Woon Science High School uniform on quickly disappeared. ‘I see that uniform quite often lately…’ Speaking that way, I switched my gaze to Eun Hyung and said, “That boy…”

At that moment, Eun Hyung was already moving so busily as if he didn’t want to waste time to respond. Only leaving the words, ‘Wait,’ to us, he put down his backpack on the ground and soon vanished away from our sight while running into the alley. Within a few minutes, Eun Hyung came outside, seizing the nape of a student from Sung Woon Science High School in his grip.

Just in case I carefully observed the boy. He looked very slim and shy in which he didn’t seem to have any relationship with the ranked fighters. Then when the boy was dragged all the way to the front of us, he suddenly kneeled down that I became bewildered.

While Ban Yeo Ryung looked perplexed, Eun Hyung asked him in a softened voice as if he also felt befuddled.

“How did you come up with taking candid shots when you’re so pigeon-hearted?”

“S…or…ry…”

The boy didn’t deny Eun Hyung’s words, ‘taking candid shots.’ While Ban Yeo Ryung frowned, Eun Hyung, standing beside her, stuck out his hand.

“Give me your phone.”

The boy then handed out his phone without resistance. It wasn’t even passcode locked that we were able to check his photo album on the phone. However, we became flummoxed as we found something unexpected.

“Eh?”

We first thought that he would have definitely attempted to take secret shots of Yeo Ryung, as it happened quite usually; however, unlike our expectations, the only person taken in those pictures was Eun Hyung. Just in case, we looked through every recent photo, but Eun Hyung was the only person we knew.

Shortly after, as he had made up his mind, Eun Hyung looked at the boy and uttered, “All photos you took were about me, not Yeo Ryung, although your hands are shaking too much.”

“Um, Eun Hyung…” I called him cautiously while taking a careful look at the pictures. Instead of aiming at Yeo Ryung, the pictures were obviously focusing on Eun Hyung. Before I was about to point out the fact, Eun Hyung diverted his gaze onto Yeo Ryung and threw a question.

“However, he was trying to shoot you in the first place, so you decide what to do, Yeo Ryung. Any thoughts? Do you want to bring him to the police station or just let him go for now?”

Wondering about a choice for a moment, Yeo Ryung shook her head. Showing a look of disgust in which she often revealed when going through this kind of situation, Yeo Ryung replied, “Just let him go.”

“T…h…a…nk you…”

“Hold on, I’m gonna remember your name.” With that said, she added with a frosty cold voice, “Take out your student id, not your name tag.”

Even with trembling hands, the boy took out his student id obediently from his wallet. Comparing the names on the id and name tag, Yeo Ryung then returned his identification and just swung her hand in the air.

The boy ran away so quickly as if his legs had never been like jelly. I stared at the sight in displease. At that moment, Yeo Ryung looked at Eun Hyung.

She uttered, “I did decide what to do this time, but wasn’t it supposed to be you who should have come up with a choice? It’s because that boy… he seemed to have taken pictures of you, not me, in the first place.”

“Eh? For what reason?” asked Eun Hyung in a fresh tone, but he soon looked complicated. Sweeping his red hair back a few times in bewilderment, Eun Hyung switched his gaze to us and asked softly, “Should we go now?”

I nodded. This wasn’t any big happening among us. The moment I tried to take a step forward, Yeo Ryung murmured again.

“Ah, we should have checked his text messages, not only his photo album.”

“Why?”

“He might have sent the pictures to someone.”

“Yikes, that makes sense,” I replied while being taken aback.

Eun Hyung insisted, “Well, as long as they aren’t photos of you guys, I don’t care. What else he’s gonna do with my photos?”

“But…”

If it was me, I would have felt very uncomfortable. Both Yeo Ryung and I hesitated for a while, having some lingering thoughts in mind. Eun Hyung pulled us determinedly. In the end, we gave up and just walked after him.

The next day, the breaking news that struck our school was about even Gang Han, the nationwide Number five, having been surprise attacked.

I, who still thought that it had nothing to do with me, later found out that Gang Han and Dae Lisa were half brothers and sisters. It burdened my mind. Although she and I saw each other just a few times, Dae Lisa was unexpectedly humble that I felt quite intimate with her as if she was my neighborhood unnie.

‘I wish he didn’t get severely hurt… but I can’t call her since I don’t know her number…’ I sighed.

On the other hand, the more serious the situation went on, the higher the interest kids had in the ranking battle. When walking in the hallway during the break, I could see a list of ‘candidates for the nationwide Number one’ written on the blackboard in each class and crossed out lines on the names of the attacked competitors.

At lunchtime eating the meal, I got to know a new fact about the ranking battle through the conversation. I gaped, “They even take a main tournament in the preliminary contest?”

‘Geez, this isn’t the Summer Olympics or so…’ I murmured while being a little sick of the ridiculous event.

Yoon Jung In uttered, “That’s what I heard, and especially, the ranking battle held this time will proceed with resetting all the previous rankings, so all the high school representatives in the nation will participate. Thus, they can’t move on without having final games in the preliminary contest to choose a limited number of qualifiers competing in the actual match.”

“How many high schools are there all over the country?”

“About two thousand? So, about two thousand participants will join the battle.”

TWO THOUSAND PARTICIPANTS? I was astonished at the overwhelming number of people joining this fight. That was almost equivalent to the scale of nationwide math competition.

The more I got to know about the ranking battle, the more frightening this world of web novel was to me. Thus, never try to be larger than life. Let’s keep a low-key.

Ruminating my motto after quite a while, I trembled my shoulders.

Yoon Jung In continued explaining, “The only people who can skip the preliminary rounds and directly join the battle are the highest fifty fighters in the rank. The rest must start with going through the pre-round games. This weekend, they’re choosing fifty qualifiers; including the previous top fifty fighters, a total of a hundred competitors are joining the fight during the actual tournament.”

“Whoa, I didn’t know it was that systematic.”

“I even heard that some folks transfer to relatively weak high schools to win back the leading positions.”

“Really? Gosh, it’s almost like preparing for college…”

The more I hear about the ranking battle, the more it sounded incomprehensible to me. I showed mixed feelings on my face.

Lee Mina, sitting beside me, supported, “If you look around, there are kids who are actually ranked fighters; still, they exist about one person per school, in the end. Thus, it’s true that this whole thing is something in a different world. Don’t think about it too complicatedly.”

Perhaps the look on my face was quite severe. Eek, I did try to manage my expression though. While I revealed my frustration, Kim Hye Woo uttered from beside me.

“Aside from that, it makes me wonder as things like these keep on happening. Who the heck is trying to become the nationwide Number one that this bloodbath has already been sparked?”

“Right, that’s what I’ve been thinking too,” replied Kim Hye Hill.

I giggled. I had no idea who would become the next highest-ranked teenage fighter over the country, but when it came to the current Number one, we were very aware of whom he was. That was when Lee Mina brought out the topic of all occasions.

“Now I come to think of it, didn’t the name of the missing Number one sound very familiar? It was Ban… something… Ban…”

“Hmm, we don’t know that further since we aren’t usually that interested in this event.”

Listening to the response of the Kim twins, I exchanged eye contact with Yoon Jung In again.

Would Ban Hwee Hyul’s identity be kept as a secret until the end? Well, considering that even Yoon Jung In couldn’t believe the truth before, no one would become doubtful about Ban Hwee Hyul.

Although I thought that way, I felt we should change the topic of our conversation. I said, “Um, you know…”

All the kids around the table directed their eyes on me.