* * *
Clomp, clomp.
Jihyun got up from his seat and approached Jihak with two other students.
“Hey, Yoo Jihak.”
“What? I’m busy.”
“Busy, my ass… you punk!”
Bang!
Jihyun slammed his hand hard on Jihak’s desk.
The loud noise echoed through the classroom.
All the other students turned their eyes toward where Jihyun and Jihak were.
“Come with me.”
“Sigh… fine. It’s better to talk somewhere quiet.”
Though Jihak was annoyed at being dragged into this, he knew this was bound to happen someday.
‘We let things slide too easily last time.’
Jihak had hoped the fear he instilled in the trio during their first confrontation would keep them from bothering him again, but it seemed that wasn’t enough.
“Yoo Jihak, wait. I’ll get a teacher…”
Class president Park Hyemin stepped in, trying to resolve the situation.
“It’s okay. You don’t need to.”
“But…”
“It’s fine. We’re just going to talk for a bit. Let’s not make this a big deal.”
Despite Jihak’s calm words, Hyemin felt uneasy.
In truth, she had felt guilty for ignoring Jihak in the past, even though she was the class president.
Her father was a police officer, and from a young age, she learned that everyone makes mistakes and can commit wrongdoings.
She was also taught not to believe everything the news says and that it’s never too late to criticize someone until after a thorough investigation.
Jihak’s father died during an ongoing investigation.
The case hadn’t been closed, and it wasn’t confirmed that Jihak’s father was the real culprit.
Yet Hyemin treated Jihak like a criminal and thought of him that way, even though he hadn’t done anything wrong.
This time, she didn’t want to repeat her past mistake with Jihak who had returned.
Realizing she couldn’t let this happen, Hyemin stood up to follow Jihak.
Jihak, smiling to assure her, placed a hand on her shoulder.
Grinning—
Jihak gave her a reassuring smile before following Jihyun out of the classroom.
“This way.”
Unlike last time, Jihyun led them to a spot with no CCTV cameras.
Even though CCTV cameras were installed inside the school, they couldn’t cover every spot.
There were certainly places they couldn’t reach.
“Over there.”
Jihak found it impressive how Jihyun had located such a hidden spot without CCTV cameras.
‘This is even better. Without CCTV, I can go wild without worry.’
For Jihak, a CCTV-free zone wasn’t bad.
It meant he could move more freely without being seen.
“Alright, let’s get to the point, shall we? I’ve got studying to do.”
“Who the hell are you?”
It was obvious what the point was—revenge for last time.
“What are you talking about?”
“Who the hell are you, you monster?!”
At Jihyun’s outburst, Hyunmin and Doogi motioned for him to lower his voice.
Even in a CCTV-free zone, loud noises could attract others.
But that wasn’t something they needed to worry about.
“You did something to us back then, didn’t you?”
“I don’t remember.”
“You did, damn it… I remember clearly. Hyunmin remembers, and Doogi remembers too. Who the hell are you?”
The fear etched into their bones.
The memory of that day had haunted them continuously.
No one believed them when they talked about it, dismissing their words as the excuses of troublemaking kids.
Jihyun wanted to prove what they went through wasn’t a lie, so he purposely called Jihak out.
Provoking Jihak, Hyunmin and Doogi began secretly filming the encounter with their hidden smartphones. They thought that if Jihak could manipulate CCTV footage, they would need their own evidence.
“What do you think? I’m just a student.”
Grinning—
As Jihak answered Jihyun’s question, a smile spread across his face.
Simultaneously, the fear of that day resurfaced in Jihyun, causing him to tremble and step back from Jihak.
“You’re not Jihak, are you? You’re not human, are you!?”
“Why do you keep saying weird things? I am Yoo Jihak.”
Jihak’s reply was as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. And it was true.
Yoo Jihak was Yoo Jihak.
Nobody else.
“I’ve just learned a few new tricks since then. Like this…”
Jihak placed his hand on Jihyun’s shoulder.
“Get your filthy hand off…”
Jihyun tried to swat Jihak’s hand away, but he quickly realized he couldn’t.
“Ugh…!”
A sudden, twisting pain shot through his body.
“Hey, what are you doing?”
“J-Jihyun! What’s wrong?”
With his face turning red, struggling to breathe, and body shaking uncontrollably, Jihyun was on the verge of passing out from a pain he’d never felt before.
No.
Even if he wanted to, he couldn’t pass out.
Jihak wouldn’t let him.
‘It’s going to hurt. Even if it’s just a little bit of magic, it’s wreaking havoc inside his body.’
Jihak channeled a bit of his magic into Jihyun’s body through his hand, twisting his bones and muscles to cause immense pain.
‘No need for a Shadow Curtain this time. Back then, I needed CCTV footage as evidence, but now there’s no need for that hassle.’
Previously, Jihak had used a Shadow Curtain to manipulate the CCTV footage because he needed the evidence.
But in this CCTV-free zone, there was no need for evidence.
He had already gotten what he needed back then.
Now, it was fine to use his power to inflict great pain on his opponent with minimal effort.
In fact, doing this would instill even more fear in Jihyun and the other kids.
As seconds passed, Jihyun felt an eternity of pain before it suddenly disappeared, causing him to collapse on the spot.
“Huff… Huff…”
Gasping for breath, Jihyun was freed from the agony but couldn’t think at all.
It felt like someone had wrung his body like a wet cloth, squeezing out every drop of blood.
The pain was as if his bones were being crushed and his muscles torn apart, strand by strand.
In that moment, dying seemed like a blissful escape from the pain.
“What’s wrong? Are you hurt?”
Casually, Jihak extended his hand to Jihyun, who had collapsed on the floor, with a nonchalant expression.
Naturally, Jihyun didn’t take Jihak’s hand.
He feared that touching him might bring another wave of pain.
“Jihyun!”
Seeing Jihyun trembling and collapsed, Hyunmin swung his fist at Jihak.
Whack!
Meanwhile, Doogi, who had been watching quietly, picked up a thick wooden stick from somewhere and approached Jihak.
“You monster. Die!”
Whoosh—
There was no hesitation in Doogi’s swing of the stick, as if he wasn’t considering the consequences at all.
The stick landed a solid blow on the back of Jihak’s head, making a dull thud.
Thunk!
Crack—
The stick broke from the force of the blow.
“Huff… Huff… How about that, you monster…”
Doogi, smiling with the thought that he had taken down the monstrous Jihak, stared at him.
But as Jihak stood there on his feet, unphased by the blow to his head, Doogi’s expression began to harden.
“Why… why?”
It didn’t make sense.
A person shouldn’t be able to stand after being hit on the head like that.
Drip.
However, blood trickling from Jihak’s head indicated that Doogi’s attack had landed.
“It hurts.”
Yet, Jihak’s expression remained unaffected.
Tick—
Doogi dropped the broken stick as he met Jihak’s gaze.
He’s not human.
There was no other explanation.
Moreover, the blood from Jihak’s head started to flow back up, as if time was rewinding, and the wound vanished completely.
The injury was gone, with no trace of the blood that had dripped.
“I thought I’d go easy, but if you give pain, it’s only polite to return it.”
“Don’t… don’t come closer!”
Jihak, smiling, approached Doogi and simultaneously grabbed Hyunmin, who was supporting Jihyun, by the collar.
“If you’re going to give pain, you should do it properly. Like this.”
“Aaaargh!”
“Gaaah…!”
Jihak touched Hyunmin and Doogi, channeling his malevolent energy into them, inflicting the same unbearable pain he had given Jihyun.
Though it was only a short time, the pain was so intense it felt seared into their souls.
The pain was so overwhelming that they couldn’t move.
“Hey. If you pass out already, what am I supposed to do?”
“Yo… you lunatic!”
Hyunmin, still somewhat conscious, shouted.
“As expected, someone who trains has better endurance.”
Training often led to developing resilience through harsh discipline and sometimes even violence from seniors and coaches.
Because of this, Hyunmin was enduring Jihak’s torture better than the others.
Swoosh—
As Jihak quietly withdrew his power, Hyunmin and Doogi were bewildered by the sudden disappearance of the pain, still unable to get up and scanning their surroundings anxiously.
“What… what did you do to us?”
“What did I do? Come on, I haven’t even started yet.”
The pain they had felt so far was excruciating.
No, to be precise, it was too excruciating.
Having experienced their bodies being twisted in pain, they never wanted to go through it again.
Yet Jihak, smiling like a devil, said he hadn’t even begun.
The smile was that of a devil come down from hell to punish them.
“Listen carefully, because I’ll only say this once.”
Gulp.
The tension made them swallow nervously, awaiting Jihak’s words.
“I’ve been infusing a bit of my power into your bodies. Not even a drop compared to an ant’s piss, but it makes a human body hurt quite a bit.”
* * *
*Summary page is only available for login users. Non-users can view the chapters on the chapter list.*
Thanks
Ty
Thanks
thank you