Chapter 18: What happened in his first year? (5)

It was something that happened in his childhood.

Children are pure, yet they have a strong stubborn side.

For example, to gain the attention of someone they like, they might instead torment that person.

Ha-young, though timid but kind-hearted and cute in appearance, was no exception.

The problem was that Ha-young was simply too severely victimized.

As it happened, the guy who took an interest in young Ha-young was the so-called ‘fight boss.’

It might be childish, but she couldn’t bring herself to say it aloud.

Because if she was targeted, she would be bullied.

Thanks to that, young Ha-young had no choice but to become a loner.

Because if she was caught playing with others for no reason, she would get beaten up.

Ha-young, who was tender-hearted, couldn’t even speak properly due to fear.

[What are you doing here?]

The only person who approached such a Ha-young was her childhood friend, Yu-shin.

Yu-shin listened to all of Ha-young’s story.

And from then on, he accompanied Ha-young.

Naturally, that so-called ‘fight boss’ picked a fight.

Yu-shin, every time, didn’t back down and fought with that so-called ‘fight boss.’

Of course, Yu-shin mostly lost, but he didn’t give up.

If he lost today, he would try again tomorrow; if he lost again, he would try the day after.

He continued to challenge him.

[Crazy fcker! Don’t you ever get tired?!]

[Because I can’t just stand by and watch something wrong.]

[Oh, fine! You’re so great! Just take it, take it!]

[Ha-young is not an object!!]

It might be something a childish kid would do, and one could just laugh it off.

But for Ha-young, that incident was salvation.

Something that was too difficult, yet she couldn’t bring herself to tell anyone else.

Yu-shin directly stepped forward and resolved it for her.

It was probably from that moment.

The trigger for her to harbor these feelings that she couldn’t tell anyone.

It must have been like that, so how did it get twisted?

At first, her desire to help Yu-shin was even greater.

So, when she told Hyunwoo and escaped the bullying, Ha-young was truly happy.

Because she thought she had finally been helpful to Yu-shin.

[Ha-young, that guy Hyunwoo.
I don’t think he’s a very good person.]

[Why are you saying that?
He saved us, didn’t he!]

[That’s…]

[If it weren’t for Hyunwoo, we would still be getting bullied now!]

She remembered that it was probably from that time that she started distancing herself from Yu-shin.

From that day on, Ha-young was no longer in class, and always stuck close to Hyunwoo.

Her feelings for Yu-shin faded, and Hyunwoo took over the empty space in her heart.

And as Hyunwoo instructed, she monitored and reported Yu-shin’s behavior.

‘Why hadn’t she realized that wasn’t normal?’

If she had just thought a little, she would have known it wasn’t normal.

She didn’t know.

But she knew this one thing.

That what she was experiencing now was divine retribution.

She was the one who had already said such harsh words to Yu-shin.

But to expect Yu-shin to appear and save her again, that was impossible.

‘Rather, it might be fine to just disappear like this.’

Ha-young was self-deprecating.

Feeling as if she was thrown alone into darkness.

Her body was trembling with a fear that blinded her.

Ha-young, on the contrary, believed this was punishment for turning away from Yu-shin.

However, it seemed the heavens did not think so after all.

Bang!!

Along with the sound of the door breaking, she heard someone walking towards her.

Normally, it would be natural to be frightened in such a situation.

Strangely, Ha-young wasn’t afraid, as if she knew who the person was.

Rather, she felt relieved.

And as expected, the person removed the blindfold covering Ha-young’s eyes.

Ha-young lifted her head.

“Are you okay?”

The one who removed Ha-young’s blindfold was none other than Yu-shin.

Perhaps it was because she felt relieved, Ha-young, having confirmed Yu-shin’s face, soon began to sob.

She was so grateful that Yu-shin had come to find her once again.

And she was so pathetic for having ignored Yu-shin’s words and turned away from him all this time.

In the end, Ha-young let out the tears she had been holding back.

‘They’ve really turned the kid into a fcking wreck.’

At this point, pity was the first emotion Yu-shin felt, more than any other.

Anyway, all the guys who threatened me with this have been taken care of.

In fact, Yu-shin had beaten up all the remaining individuals, excluding Kang Jik-han.

This should be enough.

Yu-shin was satisfied with this much.

He was already tired of the bloody revenge he had carried out in the dark fantasy world.

In that place where people died over trivial things.

It was now sickening to kill people over trivial matters and then brag about it.

In fact, there were even guys who, upon bumping into a child, would tear off the limbs of the child and their parents.

Perhaps Yu-shin was simply exhausted.

Meanwhile, there was one person watching all of this from behind.

He was a man wearing a mask and a black hoodie.

Through the holes in the mask, a red light of fury glowed from his eyes.

“Those useless b*stards.”

Despite forcibly strengthening them even by using valuable items.

Why on earth did they lose to someone like that?

Simply in terms of defense, they possessed a defense that overwhelmed even Selena from Class A.

It was fine even if they couldn’t win the fight.

They just needed to buy time.

It was a perfect plan where the time bomb would explode, and only the designated target would be caught in the blast.

And they lost because they couldn’t even endure for 30 seconds?

However, there were two things the man in the mask had not thought of.

Firstly, forcibly injected power cannot properly make a flower bloom.

Moreover, he had forcibly exposed a heart full of negative emotions to the world.

It was, in a way, natural for the outcome to be weaker than he expected.

And the second reason, victory or defeat is not determined by specs alone.

Of course, it’s true that higher combat power increases the chances.

However, Yu-shin possessed experience and techniques that transcended specs.

It was natural that they could not win against Yu-shin by simply enduring.

However, unaware of that fact, he clicked his tongue and retreated.

Don’t think this is the end.

Because next time, I will definitely crush them.

The rampage in Class C reached the ears of the Principal, the academy’s general manager.

In the first place, she already knew everything that happened at the academy.

But even so, she usually just watches and does not directly intervene.

Because she already knew it was part of the students’ growing pains.

The Vice Principal, who served as the Principal’s secretary, was a man with black hair and black horn-rimmed glasses.

He looked very strict at a glance.

“Principal, have you heard about the rampage in Class C this time?”

“Rather than hearing about it, I was watching it directly.”

“And yet you didn’t stop them?”

“I became interested in a child named Baek Yu-shin.”

Despite acting up and claiming he would change the academy in his first year, he couldn’t do anything.

He was a child who helplessly succumbed to power.

His appearance back then was quite interesting, remaining in my memory for quite a while.

But unfortunately, that interesting sight could not be seen for long.

He had been devoured by the survival of the fittest system he had built, and had simply collapsed.

At that time, I would have been disappointed if he had just been a noisy empty cart after all.

But to think that he had completely succumbed, and yet he had diligently honed his skills with grim determination?

He even defeated Selena from Class A.

However, despite that prediction being completely off the mark.

The Principal was not particularly angry.

Rather, she wore a pure smile on her lips, like a child who had found a new toy after a long time.

“Humans seem weak, yet they are resilient.
Therefore, I cannot help but be amused.”

“How will you handle the aftermath?”

“For the students involved in this incident, a 60-day suspension should be enough.”

“Isn’t that too light a punishment?”

“But then again, we cannot simply discard the extremely rare awakeners, can we?”

It wasn’t wrong.

The number of awakeners who can fight monsters is limited.

Nor are those limited resources easily replaceable.

But to expel over 20 such awakeners?

That’s equivalent to throwing valuable resources onto the ground.

If there’s usable value, her policy is to utilize it somehow.

Of course, she anticipates backlash in the process.

Therefore, to resolve this matter as quietly as possible.

The Principal judged that coordinating with the parties involved in this incident was the top priority.

“Are you really okay with that?”

“Is there a problem?”

“The student who was victimized this time could suffer immense trauma.”

The Vice Principal immediately presented a righteous argument.

It wasn’t just any incident, but kidnapping, actual kidnapping.

It was something that could break the heart of a still young student.

But to end it with just a 60-day suspension?

Does that make any sense?

In reality, the Vice Principal’s judgment was an extremely idealistic one.

Strictly speaking, by human standards.

At those words, the Principal tilted her head.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.
No one died, did they?”

“…”

It was the Vice Principal who somehow managed to hold back an expression that was about to crumple like paper.

Yes, that’s right.

To her, people were merely numbers.

The simple logic of numbers: add if you add, subtract if you subtract.

The Vice Principal, who inwardly thought she was twisted yet couldn’t even openly defy her, merely lamented inwardly.

“Then what are you thinking?”

“As I recall, promotion to Class S is just around the corner.”

“Surely…?”

At the Vice Principal’s words, the Principal grinned and replied.

“I’m thinking of adding Baek Yu-shin to this Class S promotion.”