ReLife Player

Chapter 169

Unlocked chapter (1/1) Thanks to Tom!

[When the Fox Rain Stops (3)].

I must have said it before. Dont bring valuable items to school.

The sound of a wooden club swishing through the air resonated.

A short, sharp sound echoed through the classroom at regular intervals.

The kids who were hit on their feet couldnt bear the pain and burst into tears.

But Im Dohon didnt lower the club until he had hit the predetermined number of times.

Starting tomorrow, anyone caught bringing valuables to school will have them confiscated immediately. If you lose them, its your own responsibility, so keep that in mind!

Im Dohon struck the club equally on all the kids in the class.

Seona was no exception.

Kneeling on the desk with her hands on the desk, Seona kept her head down, trying not to show her crying face.

Even when she was hit by the club, she bit her lips and held back her cries.

Next!

Next!

Next!

Hayang and Eunhyuk too.

Both endured the pain as they were hit with the club.

Ill say it again.

Im Dohon passed by the kids who had collapsed on the desks, unable to withstand the pain, and said, Stealing someone elses belongings is undoubtedly a bad thing to do. But I dont care if you stole a wallet or not, or if you did it as a prank.

The reason Im hitting you all is one and only.

I dont want to suspect that theres a thief in our class who stole a wallet.

Do you want to doubt your classmate you have to spend a year with?

A kid who had fallen down after being hit raised his hand, signaling he had done something wrong.

Im Dohon suppressed the crying kid with his strength and swung the club.

Dont suspect your classmates.

Im Dohon looked down at Minji after hitting her.

Eunha closed his eyes as his turn came.

He frowned as he took a hit.

Im Dohon was a former player.

Even if he was slapping with force, it was more than a normal slap.

Still, he endured the pain.

After receiving a total of five blows, Eunha slowly lifted his eyelids.

Im Dohon stood at the teachers table, looking around at the children who couldnt make eye contact.

Ill speak for the last time.

Im Dohon scraped his foot against the floor and spoke to the crying kids and those who had collapsed on the desks as if they were falling down.

Dont confuse difference with being bad.

You and Ain are the same people.

You are just different from each other; its not about who is right or wrong.

There are no wrong people in this world.

There are just different people.

I hope you see those who are different not as objects of criticism but as subjects of understanding.

To the children who couldnt answer, Dohon left them with his final words.

Please dont try to mold the world you will live in like this.

I hope something like today will never happen again.

That day, the children were punished for the rest of the afternoon.

The incident in the third class of fifth graders spread throughout the school during the day.

It couldnt help but spread.

Not only did the children raise their voices to the point that the other children in the class were prying, but Im Dohon made them serve the punishment without giving them a recess.

Now it wasnt just one class, but the whole school.

Hey, whats going on?

Seona stole it, didnt she?

Did the teacher hit her?

Eunha frowned as the other kids from other class came to ask questions as soon as school was out.

They talked to the ones they knew, and spied Seona organizing her backpack with her head down.

Minji, I need you to walk Seona home today.

Ill do it even if you dont tell me, but what about you, where are you going?

To the teachers office.

Eunha left his friends behind and headed out of the classroom.

Did you hear about it? an Ain, who was drunk yesterday, suddenly stabbed a person on the street with a knife.

Really? Why did he do that?

I dont know. I heard it on the news; they didnt ask, its a murder, they said.

So, he stabbed someone without any reason? Thats scary.

Someone told me that an Ain has some of his monster nature left in him, and he gets easily agitated.

It was annoying to hear.

Kids in the hallway were gossiping about the Ains.

Eunha glanced back.

Unnoticed, the kids walked on, talking amongst themselves.

They werent the only ones.

Did you hear about it? Class 3 of the 5th grade was in chaos today, right?

I knew something like this would happen someday. Its Jin seona, that Ain. Ain lives in the slums, you know.

I passed by the slums once, and the people there looked really scary!

I saw an Ain player arguing with a convenience store owner before. He looked really scary when he got angry.

Kids were talking about Ain everywhere.

I wondered why I hadnt noticed until now.

I didnt notice because I wasnt interested in school.

I didnt realize that the speculation about the Ains was so prevalent in the school.

That they would turn into knives aimed at Seona as if they had been waiting for this moment.

Eunha.

Entering the staff room, Eunha found Im Dohon leaning back in his chair and rubbing the corners of his eyes.

He looked tired.

Teacher, did something happen?

Its none of your business.

Im Dohon didnt answer.

Eunha left him to take a long breath and listened to his surroundings.

It wasnt hard to figure out what had happened.

It seemed like he had been reprimanded severely by the vice-principal.

Apparently, they received calls from parents claiming that the punishment imposed on the kids was excessive.

Are you okay?

Im just a temporary teacher At least I wont get fired. Its not something you need to worry about.

I guess so.

Eunha swallowed the unnecessary words.

It wasnt what he wanted to ask.

Im Dohon, who usually didnt reveal his emotions, had a dark expression on his face.

He was a former player.

But four years had been enough time to turn him into a teacher who cared for the kids.

The emotions he must have felt today were beyond words.

Im tired. Just get to the point. Why did you come here?

I want to check the school CCTV footage. For the last three days.

CCTV?

Im Dohon frowned.

Turning his chair, he looked around at the other teachers before replying.

Why?

Teacher, you know too, right? The incident where Seonas indoor shoes disappeared. Today, Seona was even accused of being a thief

.

Trying to find out who the culprit is. Wont it be on the CCTV footage?

No use.

After entering the password on the laptop screen, Im Dohon opened the folder on the desktop.

It was full of video files.

Is this CCTV footage?

It was recorded from yesterday to today, but, as you can see, it looks like this.

The quality is really bad.

It was a recording of the hallway.

The quality was such that you could barely see the color of the children walking in and out of the hallway.

There are two CCTVs on each floor, one at each end of the hallway. The exception is one in front of the staff room.

It doesnt capture the inside of the classrooms?

As you can see. There are concerns about privacy violations.

Im Dohon chuckled as he played the video of the 5th-grade hallway.

The footage on the screen did not reveal the crime that must have occurred during lunch.

What about the ground floor? The closest CCTV to Seonas shoe rack in the hallway

It only captured the front view of the entrance. You can see the students who came to school in the morning, but since I dont know the time of the incident

Eunhyeok said he found the indoor shoes in the boys restroom on the ground floor today

Eunha stopped talking in the middle.

The specific time couldnt be determined. They couldnt know when the indoor shoes were lost.

They might be able to narrow down the suspects, but it wasnt conclusive. It would take some time to find the culprit.

Moreover, they couldnt even determine if the culprit acted alone or not.

His intuition was certain that it was a crime committed by multiple people, but why?

The problem was that he couldnt understand the intentions of those who orchestrated this incident.

Eunha sighed.

Im Dohons smartphone vibrated.

not again.

He, showing an annoyed expression, stared at the ringing phone for a while before finally answering the call.

He changed his tone when talking to the parents and waved his hand dismissively.

Eunha bowed his head and excused himself.

He left the teachers office.

For what purpose?

An unanswered question.

I wanted to ask as soon as I found the culprit.

On his way back home, he recalled the events at school today.

He thought about the kids who showed hostility toward Seona.

Soon, he lowered his head.

All the kids in the class didnt think highly of Seona.

Moreover, they were afraid of him.

.

The way home felt infinitely long.

Youre here early, Captain.

How long have you been here?

Since I woke up this morning.

Early morning.

Eunha and Minji met Eunhyeok, who was guarding Seonas shoe rack.

Apparently, Hayang planned to come to school with Seona today.

What about Seonas indoor shoes? Are they okay?

Theyre fine. I checked them as soon as I came this morning.

What about checking inside the shoes? What if theres a trap or something?

Oh, wait I havent checked that.

Minji chewed on her pencil anxiously.

A flustered Eunhyeok quickly opened the shoe rack.

After reaching down and feeling the soles of her shoes, Minji assured him that everything was fine.

You didnt see any suspicious kids, did you?

No, I didnt!

While Minji checked to make sure Eunhyuk hadnt missed anything, Eunha deployed his sensors.

He felt a presence nearby.

It was Yoo ha. He was using <Invisible> and guarding Seonas shoe rack.

Lets stop here. We dont need to guard it anymore. Its okay here. Yoo ha is monitoring it.

Are you sure we can trust him?

If Yoo has here, then well

Having heard the words that Yoo ha was present, Eunhyeok left without any lingering attachment to the shoe rack.

The three of them asked Yoo ha, who was using <Invisible>, to watch over them and went upstairs.

There were a few kids who had come to school early in the classroom.

Minji awkwardly greeted them and went straight to Seonas spot.

Why Seonas spot?

I want to check if there are any insults written on the desk. Even if its written with a pencil, it might not be visible from a distance. It could have been written in small letters.

Minji carefully examined every inch of Seonas desk for any meaningless scribbles.

After checking the desk, she moved on to the chair.

Minji thoroughly inspected it, even looking under the cushion, and then proceeded to rummage through Seonas desk.

Minji, feeling under the insole of the indoor shoes with her hand, conveyed that there was nothing unusual.

Why there?

I dont know what might be inside the desk. Um, there are no textbooks. Maybe theyre in the locker.

Why are you unfolding the notebook?

Just in case. The notebook could be torn to pieces. There might be strange insults written on it

Minjis inspection continued afterward.

She checked the path from the back door of the classroom to Seonas seat for anything that might trip her up, and went to check the girls restroom for any buckets.

There was a suspicious bucket, so she emptied the water and decided to remove the bucket itself to the downstairs restroom just in case.

Captain, what do you think Minji saw? Why is she checking if a vinyl umbrella opens properly when theres no rain? Why is she taking it to the restroom?

Dont think too much. I dont know either.

Eunha glanced at the kids standing at the end of the classroom while standing near the window.

He checked if there were any kids showing odd signs.

So far, everything seemed fine.

Seonas late.

Yeah, why is she so late?

She didnt show up to school, even as the empty seats began to fill up and the number of kids passing in the hallway increased.

Hey, hello.

Hello?

Youre late today?

Sorry, I overslept.

Hayang and Seona were the last to arrive at school.

Seona cowered momentarily as soon as Hayang opened the classroom door.

Carefully stepping inside, she avoided the gazes of her classmates and greeted them.

Is everything okay?

Yeah, but Seona seems a bit down.

Eunha grabbed Hayang.

Hayang replied next to his ear.

Seona still seemed down today.

Her tail and ears were drooping weakly.

Her appearance, anxiously watching the kids studying in the morning, was clearly visible.

Still, its good that she has indoor shoes today.

Thats true.

Seona was wearing indoor shoes.

But Eunha couldnt think positively about it.

The kids in the class avoided Seona.

Not only the kids in the class but also the misunderstanding about the Ains was still spreading in the school.

It was impossible that Seona, who had sharp ears, didnt hear it.

Its frustrating and irritating.

His chest felt tight, and his stomach felt hot.

He wanted to somehow vent his frustrations, but he didnt know how or what to do.

Seona, can you lend me your locker key?

Huh? Why?

At that moment.

Minji extended her hand to Seona, who was starting morning self-study.

Seona, with her pointed ears perked up, showed a bewildered expression.

Youre doing morning self-study. Ill get the first period textbook for you.

No, Ill do it.

Its okay. Just listen to me.

.

Seona couldnt say anything.

She avoided giving her locker key to anyone since she had it forcefully taken away by the kids in the class yesterday.

After much deliberation, she fished deep in her bag for her locker key.

Stay here. Ill get it for you.

Thanks.

Seona felt deeply sorry.

Minji, who responded as if it was nothing, headed toward the back of the classroom.

Do we need to check the lockers too?

Did you forget what happened yesterday?

Eunhyuk whispered in a small voice that the other kids couldnt hear.

Minji retorted irritably.

She opened the locker.

They werent the only ones with their mouths open, unable to find the words.

The other kids in the class turned their heads.

Not just petals fell from the locker.

Several insect corpses the size of a thumb were mixed in.

Who is it?

Eunha broke the silence.

A petal fell from a locker.

It was a white flower.

Who is it?

His voice was filled with mana.

He pulled out something tangled and knotted inside his stomach that he couldnt stand anymore.

A suffocating pressure covered the entire space.