Ex Rank Supporting Role’s Replay in a Prestigious School

Chapter 994

Eungwang Global Stadium's audience seats.

The 2nd-year 0th class students, who had arrived early and were waiting in line, checked their tickets and found their seats.

"Is this our seat? It’s practically in the front row. We’re going to be on camera a lot!"

"What a great spot. It’s perfect for us to show off our amazing cheering."

Two attention-seekers, wearing flashy and eye-catching outfits themed around summer sunlight and auroras, rushed to their seats and began setting up various cheering tools.

Song Dae-seok, who had barely managed not to disturb the people around them, seemed like he had a lot to say, but seeing Min Green holding an aurora-colored cheer stick with an excited face, he swallowed his words.

Min Green wasn’t the only one excited.

Kwon Lena, who had recently been feeling sluggish due to the heat, was also happily fiddling with her cheer stick.

Every time she pressed the button on the cheer stick, holograms of Dokgo Mi-ro, Maeng Hyo-don, and Jo Yi-shin’s names appeared in their respective ability colors, and Kwon Lena kept pressing the button, seemingly satisfied with the colors.

Seeing Kwon Lena like this, Mo Gooram, who had been paying closer attention to her than usual, looked at her with a relaxed face and spoke.

"This seat is even better than the one we had at the opening ceremony. It looks like all that practice with ticketing paid off."

"Right? I think I can now handle ticketing for Kwon Je-in’s concert too."

"Let’s do ticketing together for that too! Oh, Jeong Muk, want a drink?"

Kim Yoo-ri, who had picked the coldest ion drink from the icebox, offered it to Kwon Lena.

Today, Jeong Muk was still wearing his black martial arts uniform.

Currently, Eungwang Global Stadium was maintaining a comfortable temperature with air conditioning, as the dome roof was closed, but that was only true for those wearing summer clothes.

Also, Jeong Muk was skilled enough to wrap his body in his ability energy to protect himself from the heat, but he didn’t particularly like his ability color, so instead of using it, he was just enduring the heat.

Jeong Muk, who was fighting the heat alone, received the drink with a grateful expression.

"Thank you for the consideration."

"Yeah, I prepared it with plenty of time. Let me know if you want more!"

Kim Yoo-ri smiled and looked around at the class.

The unique 0th class students each kept their own concept while enjoying the atmosphere of the stadium.

‘Yi-shin isn’t here, so I need to look after everyone well! They’re all having fun, so I’ll support them without disturbing them, and cheer in line with the mood… Ah, the seniors from the Cheon Sol group are doing unique cheering, so the attention that was on Lewis and Seulbi will shift to them. I’ll make sure to give extra praise so they don’t feel left out.’

Thinking like the class president of the 0th class, Kim Yoo-ri waited for the right moment to hand drinks to her classmates, starting with Jeong Muk.

Soon, it was In Seon-o’s turn.

"Yuri, I’ll drink it well."

In Seon-o greeted her with a soft smile.

Kim Yoo-ri smiled back and looked at In Seon-o.

In Seon-o had been a good classmate who got along well with everyone, except for the fact that she hadn’t attended school much lately.

It would be a lie to say there was nothing bothering her, though.

"Se-eum isn’t here yet. I thought she’d come early since she was looking forward to today’s match."

Holding the drink, In Seon-o casually started the conversation.

In Seon-o had blended in with the class so well that it was hard to believe she hadn’t been attending school for long.

Normally, when a new student joined, Kim Yoo-ri and Jo Yi-shin would quietly help them adapt, but In Seon-o didn’t need such help.

Maybe that was why Kim Yoo-ri was more concerned about something else than In Seon-o’s adaptation.

‘It’s good that Seon-o is opening up and making friends with the class, but…’

Kim Yoo-ri subtly noticed that In Seon-o had been keeping an eye on Jo Yi-shin.

In Seon-o had quickly become close with Sa Wol Se-eum, who loved talking about Jo Yi-shin.

Kim Yoo-ri debated whether to intervene, but decided to just observe for now.

There were more classmates paying attention to In Seon-o.

"Sa Wol Se-eum is currently helping with the black market ticket crackdown."

Before Kim Yoo-ri could respond, Hwang Ho spoke up.

Hwang Ho, who had taken a seat next to Han Yi without consent and was offering sugary drinks with artificial sweeteners and snacks, was now looking this way.

"I see. Since Se-eum was really looking forward to the match, I hope she gets to watch it without missing anything."

"It won’t be late. She’ll probably be walking in soon."

In Seon-o responded casually, even though Hwang Ji-ho spoke in a less typical manner for a high school student.

Kim Yoo-ri, observing their conversation, hesitated to speak.

‘Hmm… if Ji-ho is involved, do I not need to worry? Or should I worry more?’

While Kim Yoo-ri was deep in thought, Sa Wol Se-eum appeared.

"Everyone is here!"

"Perfect timing. Here’s the hat we picked for the class. Try it on."

"Oh, so this was the hat from the device message yesterday. Ah, it’s a bit big, so it covers the front a bit…"

When Hwang Ho put the hat on Sa Wol Se-eum, it partially covered her face.

Kim Yoo-ri wondered if Hwang Ho was intentionally trying to hide Sa Wol Se-eum’s face.

If there was a reason, she guessed it might have something to do with the fact that Sa Wol Se-eum had started school in April instead of March, but rather than delving into it, she decided to offer her drink instead.

"Thank you! I was talking with the Choi Byeon-deuk hunting party members outside, and my throat got dry. Have you heard about the rules for today’s event?"

"Well, a little? I heard it’s different from the usual otherworld simulators we use in school."

"Yeah, exactly! There are some international rules mixed in with China and Japan's methods. I think we need to learn them ahead of time to understand and enjoy the match fully!"

Sa Wol Se-eum seemed to have come prepared to enjoy Jo Yi-shin’s event perfectly, as she started explaining the rules excitedly.

It was common for player training institutions in each country to have team competitions using otherworld simulators, but since the rules varied slightly, they had refined the rules for this exchange event.

Sa Wol Se-eum, seemingly not content with just explaining verbally, turned on her device and displayed a hologram.

Multiple pages popped up, most of them explaining the rules, but some included other things.

The students, recognizing the hologram, gasped.

"I think I’ve heard of that community name."

"I’ve heard the rumors. It’s the place where gossip gathers."

The pages Sa Wol Se-eum opened were from a large player community site where people discussed topics related to players.

This was also where rumors about Jo Yi-shin and Ahn Da-in’s discord had started.

‘Ah, so Se-eum was following that community too. Hmm… she must have been paying a lot of attention.’

Sa Wol Se-eum had set the search keywords for ‘nameless rookie’ and ‘sharpshooter of Shin-tan’ and seemed to have configured her device to display the latest posts with those keywords.

As the class looked at the hologram, Sa Wol Se-eum added an explanation.

"This is the community where some nasty trolls usually spread rumors about Yi-shin and Da-in. I don’t get to check it often, but whenever strange posts appear, I make sure to hit the 'dislike' button."

"I sometimes check and dislike too, but the 'like' button gets hit a lot, so it doesn’t help…"

"I don’t understand why anyone would like those posts. I think it’s the same person clicking multiple times."

"You can only click once per account."

"Ugh, if we could raid the servers of that site, we might find some clues!"

As the class grumbled, Kim Yoo-ri observed Hwang Ho.

Hwang Ho was calmly listening to the conversation with a nonchalant face.

Seeing this, Kim Yoo-ri quietly felt relieved.

She knew how much Hwang Ho cared about Jo Yi-shin and Ahn Da-in.

"Fortunately, it looks like the trolls have been quiet since yesterday! I think they had nothing more to say after seeing Yi-shin and Da-in enter together in harmony."

The trolls had been relentless and annoying, posting nasty and persistent comments about Yi-shin and Da-in, practically making them out to be enemies.

Kim Yoo-ri had seen how quickly they would stir people up with their comments.

She thought it was rare to find so many people with such an ability, and it made her suspect that it might all be the work of just one person.

And now, those trolls had suddenly quieted down, which made her suspicious.

‘I don’t think they’ve run out of things to say. Maybe they’ve stopped because there’s no need to spread rumors or post hateful comments anymore.’

At that moment, the Korean team was seen warming up and walking toward the stadium.

Although there was still time before the match started, they were moving around, probably to check the venue.

When the students noticed familiar faces, they stopped what they were doing and cheered.

"They’re here! They don’t seem nervous at all!"

"Time’s getting closer. The cameras will definitely catch us, so get ready!"

"Even with so many people, our flashy cheering will make sure they see us!"

As the 0th class students cheered, the Korean team entered.

As expected, Dokgo Mi-ro and Maeng Hyo-don immediately waved at their classmates in the cheering section.

But one face was missing.

Jo Yi-shin wasn’t there.

Not everyone was immediately satisfied with the offense and defense team formation.

Especially, Jeong Hae-on, being the 0th class senior, was particularly complaining.

He seemed especially unhappy about not being on the same offense team as Dokgo Mi-ro.

?Ah, if I’m not going, who’s going to take Mi-ro’s picture!

?There will be cameras for the live broadcast. They’ll film both the offense and defense teams. Also, the otherworld simulator has a recording function. You can request the footage later.

?Doesn’t that make it the same as taking a picture directly?!

With so many outstanding players participating, the exchange event had gained significant attention.

Moreover, since the opponents were China and Japan, there were far more media personnel than expected.

This reminded her of the interview requests and increased coverage during the Korea-Japan matches.

‘I didn’t have many opportunities to compete against Japanese players, but there were always so many hassles.’

Matches against Japanese players often attracted high viewership, and that kind of attention was inevitable.

Despite all the cameras, Jeong Hae-on still complained, unwilling to give up on direct photos.

In the end, Cheon Dong-ha had to do some convincing on behalf of Hae-on, who was left unsatisfied.

?If you’re in the same offense team, there won’t be time for photos. If you really want one, you can wait as a substitute and take a picture when entering.

?...That makes sense. I guess I’ll take the substitute position.

This was how one of the 0th class seniors was calmed down, but there were still issues.

?...It’s disappointing.

?The defense team is a meaningful role, but still...

?Is the offense team really just five people? What about me?

When I mentioned who I had considered for the offense team, Jo Su-hyeok, Ahn Da-in, and Maeng Hyo-don were especially disappointed.

It would be an honor to fight alongside them in such an event, but since I had my own plan, it was difficult to fulfill their wishes.

"It’s almost time to start. Let’s go around the stadium and greet the people who came to cheer."

At Yeom Jun-yeol’s suggestion, everyone agreed and began to move.

I had planned to walk slowly at the back, away from Ahn Da-in, to ease suspicions from the Japanese team.

As I took a step late, someone called my name.

"Yi-shin."

It was Hirano Seiji, wearing the lotus flower-themed team uniform.

"Can we talk for a minute?"