Ex Rank Supporting Role’s Replay in a Prestigious School

After the heavens opened, the celestial deity bestowed blessings on those who achieved the greatest feats.
Though I haven't directly faced the boss enemy, I know they have accomplished something significant, especially saving the new being and the leader of the Wung tribe.

The celestial deity cherishes the new being, so the boss enemy who protected the child will be rewarded greatly.
The boss enemy has excellent stealth abilities, capable of hiding and gathering information, and the Hojo family doesn't often speak of them, making them difficult to locate. If they receive a blessing, they will become extremely troublesome to deal with.
‘If the boss enemy gains power comparable to Baek Ho-gun’s ability to go anywhere or Huang Jiho’s ability to exist anywhere... then the raid will fail. For now, the boss enemy is still weaker than Baek Ho-gun, Huang Jiho, or Jeok Ho, so we need to catch them now.’

If the boss enemy becomes that powerful, it won't just be a problem for us.
It will mean that not only the Korean team fails to defeat the boss enemy, but the Chinese and Japanese teams will fail as well, making it better to let it be if they are aiming for a tie.
While capturing the boss enemy protecting the Korean Peninsula might be less stressful, I would be frustrated if a foreign team defeated them.

"Then how do we find the boss enemy?"
"There’s still wicked darkness lingering. It will be hard to find a boss enemy that even the external forces couldn’t track down."
Where could the boss enemy be, and what are they doing?

I pondered, but the answer didn't come.
Although I had a general understanding of the boss enemy's behavioral patterns through reasoning, I couldn't get a clear sense of direction since I didn’t know exactly who the enemy was.
In the end, I had to change my approach.

‘I need to think from Eun Ho’s perspective. The boss enemy is likely following Eun Ho’s orders.’
What command would Eun Ho issue in this situation?
Eun Ho, unlike during the Gaecheon Myth, isn't injured and can move multiple chess pieces at once.

In the modern era, the King is Huang Jiho, but here, the King is the new being.
And the most significant threat right now is the wicked darkness covering the Korean Peninsula.
But even if we remove the wicked darkness and protect the new being, not everything will be solved.

The Hojo family will need to continue fighting battles until modern times, and Eun Ho likely anticipates this.
Eun Ho's priority is protecting the King, but since they must continue fighting without replenishing chess pieces, they will try to protect as many people as possible.
With that in mind, I continued my thoughts.
‘Eun Ho likely went with the moon rabbit to persuade the guardian of the moon palace, and placed a stand-in for the new being in the Hojo territory with Cheong Ho. Anyone near Cheong Ho would likely not suspect the stand-in.’

In the story told by the shaman, Eun Ho had planned to place stand-ins for the new being in various places to deceive the external forces.
When I heard the story, Cheong Ho was said to be acting with the real new being.
Cheong Ho didn't always travel with the new being, but if they were seen together, the person beside Cheong Ho would typically be assumed to be the new being.

Eun Ho must have planned to reverse this at a crucial moment to catch the enemy off guard.
At the most dangerous times, placing a fake next to Cheong Ho would be the easiest way to deceive the external forces.
By now, the real new being would be in a safer place than near Cheong Ho.

‘The real new being must be with someone Eun Ho trusts as much as they trust Cheong Ho. Since Baek Ho is moving to split the darkness, it would likely be Huang Ho.’
Huang Ho would have passed on the information gathered from Yao Ruichi when they joined us to Eun Ho.
Now that they know the external forces can’t communicate, Eun Ho would likely keep the new being far away from the front lines and leave at least one person as backup, just in case.

If that's the case, Eun Ho wouldn’t want to keep Huang Ho too close to the new being.
Huang Ho is an all-rounder, and his experience in various battlefields would make him highly adaptable in any situation.
‘Also, Eun Ho is probably considering the possibility of betrayal by the Wung tribe during the war. They might trust Jeok Ho but not Wung Nyeo, knowing that Jeok Ho could become foolish due to love. Jeok Ho would be placed away from the new being and also kept at a distance from the Wung tribe.’

Jeok Ho would be fighting on the front lines but would likely be far from the new being or the Wung tribe.
Wherever Jeok Ho is placed, he would likely fight without caring much about the position.
The boss enemy likely isn't near the new being, Eun Ho, Cheong Ho, or Jeok Ho.

That leaves only Baek Ho.
‘And right now, Baek Ho is moving to split the darkness. It's a reckless act, but they must want to increase the chances of success.’
To make it easier for Baek Ho to split the darkness, I need to reduce the number of external forces targeting them.

And conveniently, there's someone who can hide well, move quickly, and knows the situation with the external forces.
If such a person exists, they must be used in this situation.
After much deliberation, I came to a conclusion.

"The leader of the Hojo family must have sent the boss enemy to Cheon Ik Mountain to help Baek Ho split the darkness. They’ll likely conduct a feint to buy time against the external forces targeting Baek Ho."
"Huh? How did you come to that conclusion?"
Yao Ruichi looked at me with a puzzled expression.

To him, it must have seemed like I suddenly reached a conclusion after a moment of silence.
I didn’t feel the need to explain the reasoning to Yao Ruichi, so instead, I turned to the raid team.
They didn’t question me about the reasoning but, as if they expected me to answer, they began discussing the next steps.

"Then we need to search Cheon Ik Mountain. But you know the mountain here is much bigger than the Cheon Ik Mountain near Eungwang High, right?"
"Right. It’s wider and the paths are rough, which makes it seem strange. It is Cheon Ik Mountain, though."
"It’s too dark to search from the air, so how about we split into zones and all use Insight skills?"

"If we’re doing a feint, Baek Ho must have gone down a path. Let’s exclude that area."
I was a bit concerned about whether my reasoning was correct, but it seemed like there was no problem.
The raid team trusted me completely.

Before Yeom Jun-yeol could finalize the plan for dividing Cheon Ik Mountain and using Insight skills, I spoke up.
Now that they trusted me like this, I didn’t want to waste their energy just by talking.
"I’ll find it."

I hadn’t gotten much sleep, but my mind was clear.
Seeing the growth, achievements, and trust the raid team had shown after coming here, the mental fatigue seemed to disappear.
Since ability usage affects not only physical but also mental strength, I figured it would be fine to use some powerful abilities.

If not now, there would be no better time.
〈Gwanglim, using ‘Player’s Trajectory’.〉
〈Targeting character’s Gwanglim, using ‘The Eye of Heaven and Earth’.〉

Fwaaaah!
The Eye of Heaven and Earth was focused on Cheon Ik Mountain.
Was it because this era was overflowing with intellect, or was it that the space distortion inside Cheon Ik Mountain had become more severe, turning it even more rugged and complicated as predicted by Dok Go Mi Ro and Park Seung Hyun?

A flood of information rushed into my brain, and I almost became dizzy, but I couldn’t afford to lose focus.
"You...!"
"Huh?"

There were exclamations from around me, but I couldn’t take my eyes off the scene.
In the darkness, I saw Baek Ho moving toward a place near many external forces, who were swarming like a horde, preparing for battle.
But not all the external forces were targeting Baek Ho.

The external forces were clearly divided into two groups.
As soon as I confirmed their locations, I withdrew my Gwanglim.
"Wow, that’s a powerful Insight ability."

While Yao Ruichi casually commented, the other raid members simply stared at me, wide-eyed.
Though I consciously suppressed the momentum of my power because of Yao Ruichi, the sharp-eyed members likely sensed that I was now carrying the energy similar to Cheon Dong Ha.
Still, in the presence of a foreign player and while the situation was being broadcasted externally, I trusted that the raid members wouldn’t speak of it, and indeed, they didn’t.

Yeom Jun-yeol, who knew well that I could use others' Gwanglim, wasn’t overly surprised, but I think he was more concerned about me suddenly using such intense power.
I tried to shake off the awkward atmosphere by saying something.
"There were two groups of external forces. One was Baek Ho heading towards the peak, and the other was a group chasing something. Let’s head towards the latter."

"...Alright, let’s go!"
With those words, Yeom Jun-yeol reached out to me.
At that moment, I realized I had been sitting down without realizing it.

I must have unconsciously sat down while using Cheon Dong Ha’s power.
Not wanting to draw attention to how overwhelmed I was, I got up casually with Yeom Jun-yeol’s help.
I hoped they would think I had sat down intentionally to concentrate while using Gwanglim.

"The crack in the sky is longer than expected. It connects the west and north of the sky."
"West is Baek Ho, and north is the boss enemy."
The raid members moved towards the direction I indicated with all their might.

We were cautious, knowing there could be ambushes from the external forces, but there were none.
The external forces at Cheon Ik Mountain were fully focused on stopping Baek Ho and the boss enemy, while the remaining forces were attacking the Hojo to eliminate the new being.
"How about we lead the external forces into allowing the boss enemy to kill them? We can start the fight, observe, and then strike at the target’s head."

"Sounds good. If we’re doing it, I’ll clear the path."
Dok Go Mi Ro and Gwok Kyung Gu seemed to have become quite close, their plan perfectly coordinated.
While Dok Go Mi Ro's suggestion was vicious, it seemed like it could work.

I was slightly worried about whether it was right to defeat the boss enemy, who was trying to protect this land from the external forces, but after all, this was just a simulation and a competition.
"At this speed, we’ll encounter them in one minute."
"Everyone, hide your presence and slow down a bit."

When Park Seung Hyun lowered his voice, Yeom Jun-yeol gave the orders.
The raid team immediately vanished without a trace.
Though they were right in front of me, it felt as though they had disappeared entirely.

The wicked darkness was deep, and the crack made by the moonlight was still faint, but I could see the external forces from a distance.
It seemed the external forces had successfully cornered the boss enemy to a dead end.
There was a rocky wall blocking the path ahead, too tough to cross in one go.

It was clear that if they tried to climb the wall, they’d become the target of the external forces, so the boss enemy would likely have to fight back now.
When I tried to catch sight of something the external forces were aiming at...
We heard a strange noise.

The ringing in my ears was sharp, and I felt dizzy, but everyone laughed.
Though we couldn’t see it just yet, we were sure we had found the boss enemy.
"I hear a ringing. The boss enemy must be using their power."

"Some sound is mixed in the ringing... It’s a performance."
Dok Go Mi Ro was the first to notice the music hidden in the ringing.
Concentrating, I could hear wind-like music blended in with the ringing.

‘The ringing means they’re using power.’
Whoooosh...
As expected, the wind-like music seemed to be carrying power within it.

The melody continued, and not long after, the ground started to freeze.
The boss enemy was summoning a cold wave with their music.