* * *
The children’s bodies shuddered even more as Jihak’s words sent chills down their spines.
“W-What did you put inside us?”
Jihyun, still filled with disbelief, asked with mistrustful eyes.
“It’s not something you need to know. Just understand that it can do many things,” Jihak replied, not giving out any details.
Instead, he wanted them to experience it firsthand.
“For example, something like this?”
Snap.
As Jihak snapped his fingers, the bodies of the three children suddenly stiffened as if paralyzed.
“What’s happening? Who’s holding me?”
“I… I feel the same. My body suddenly….”
They weren’t exactly paralyzed.
It felt as if someone was gripping their bodies, trying to force them to move, and they were straining to resist it.
“Think you can hold out?”
The three children glanced around anxiously, their eyes filled with growing fear.
“Human bodies… they’re surprisingly easy to inflict pain upon. There are so many ways to cause immense pain much more quickly and easily than simply hitting or trampling.”
For Jihak, causing pain to a human body was effortless.
He knew more ways to inflict greater pain than anyone else.
“The easiest method is to move the body in the opposite direction it wants to go. This doesn’t break bones but can cause severe pain and lasting aftereffects. Like this.”
As Jihak finished speaking, Doogi’s body began to change.
“No… no!!”
Suddenly muttering something, Doogi’s right arm extended painfully, bending in an unnatural direction.
His arm bent outward instead of inward, and his desperate attempts to resist made him appear even more pitiable.
“Don’t resist. You can’t win anyway.”
Crack.
“Aaaargh!”
Finally, Doogi’s right arm bent outward at a 90-degree angle, overwhelmed by the force.
Writhing in agony on the floor, Doogi clutched his right arm, screaming.
“I said don’t resist. It only hurts more.”
Jihak smiled as if enjoying the sight of Doogi’s suffering.
Then, Hyunmin and Jihyun’s right arms also bent backward, turning the scene into a battlefield of wailing children.
“My… my arm!!”
This was incomparable to what they had endured in Jihak’s domain before.
Back then, they could at least hope it was a dream and pray to wake up from the nightmare, but not now.
This was complete reality.
Snap.
Jihak snapped his fingers again, and their arms returned to normal.
“Huff… huff….”
It was just a brief moment, but the pain of having their arms bent backward was unimaginable, far worse than being hit or trampled.
“P-Please stop. We were wrong. Forgive us.”
“Forgive? Ha… I think I remember saying something like that too.”
“….”
Forgiveness.
The word most heard in hell.
But among those who begged for forgiveness, not one had ever forgiven someone else first.
Jihak, too, had once begged for forgiveness from these three…
He didn’t even know why he had to beg for forgiveness but had no choice.
He had to plead and beg to escape the pain.
“Why? Now that you’re experiencing it, you feel like begging for forgiveness, don’t you? Feel like you did something wrong?”
“W-We were wrong. It’s our fault!”
“No matter how much you beg, I have no intention of forgiving easily. Just like you didn’t.”
Crack.
“Argh!”
This time, Jihak lightly bent one of his fingers backward.
Jihyun, unable to resist, clutched his bent finger and rolled on the floor, while Hyunmin and Doogi, terrified, looked at Jihak, swallowing dryly.
“How is it? This is what real pain feels like. Got it?”
“P-Please save me! Spare me!!”
Desperate for escape, Jihyun screamed, hoping for someone to help.
But Jihak just smiled, looking at Jihyun.
“Hahaha! Do you think anyone will come? You chose this place, didn’t you? A remote, hidden spot with no one around. Right?”
It was true.
They had searched high and low within the school to find the most secluded place with no CCTV.
But no matter how secluded, it was odd that no one came despite their loud screams.
“Oh, right. I didn’t mention. The sound here doesn’t escape outside. I made sure of that.”
“…!”
Only then did they realize why no one had come despite all their shouting and commotion.
“Now do you understand your situation?”
Nod, nod—
Hyunmin and Doogi nodded vigorously, crawling toward Jihak and begging on their knees.
“F-Forgive us. We were wrong.”
“We’ll do anything. Please… just stop.”
Finally, Hyunmin and Doogi grasped their situation and submitted.
“Good. And you?”
Jihak asked, looking at the last one, Jihyun, who still had some defiance left, though writhing in pain, with a fierce look in his eyes.
“Not enough?”
As Jihak was about to crush that defiance, a satisfactory answer came from Jihyun.
“I-I’ll do it! Anything you say. Just please….”
Smirk—
Only then did Jihak smile satisfactorily, releasing Jihyun from the pain.
Snap!
With just a snap of his fingers, Jihyun’s twisted fingers returned to normal, and the pain vanished.
“Huff… huff….”
Taking deep breaths, the three children gradually regained their composure, glancing at Jihak.
Gasp.
But what they saw was not the face of a human.
In his black eyes, a horn protruded from his forehead.
And his skin was burning like lava.
“Aaaaah!!”
Just looking at his face, they were seized by fear and screamed like little children.
Doogi was so scared that he wet his pants, and the other two could hardly breathe.
“Remember my face clearly.”
Even if they didn’t want to remember, the face they saw was unforgettable, and they nodded unconsciously.
“Now you understand the difference between us?”
Whoosh—
As Jihak waved his hand in the air, all the fear and pain they felt melted away like snow.
Everything returned to normal as Jihak took back the dark energy he had instilled in the three children.
It felt like a dream, but looking at the broken wooden stick lying behind Jihak, they realized everything they felt was real.
Swoosh—
Jihak extended his hand towards Jihyun first.
Flinch.
Due to the earlier experience, Jihyun couldn’t take his hand and backed away.
“You should take it.”
When Jihak spoke to Jihyun, who was refusing his hand, Jihyun hurriedly grabbed it.
“Consider it a small gesture of kindness.”
Jihak lifted Jihyun up and dusted off the dirty school uniform.
“From now on, you better listen to me. Got it?”
Jihyun nodded vigorously.
He couldn’t even think about how pathetic or embarrassing it was to be subdued by an irresistible force.
“Get the other two up as well.”
Jihak lifted up Hyunmin and Doogi and dusted off their clothes too.
Then he spoke in a kind voice.
“Go back first. Straight to the classroom. And keep quiet about today. Got it?”
“Yes.”
“Hey, it feels awkward if we’re formal with each other as friends, right?”
“Sorry… I mean, my bad.”
If Jihak was dissatisfied with anything, they were ready to change immediately.
“Oh, and you have the video of the situation just now, right?”
Gulp.
Hyunmin and Doogi flinched at Jihak’s words.
They had chosen a spot without CCTV on purpose to pressure Jihak and were recording the necessary footage on their smartphones.
Since they hadn’t manipulated it yet, the video would still be recording.
Although the camera might not have captured much after a certain point, the audio would still be intact.
“Is there any reason for others to see it?”
“Uh… no. I’ll delete it right away.”
They must delete it.
If not… their lives might be erased.
“You understand well. Now, go.”
Freed from Jihak at last, the children disappeared towards the classroom at lightning speed.
Only after they were gone did Jihak let out a small sigh.
“Whew… that was tough.”
Jihak’s forehead was dripping with sweat, showing his exhaustion.
Tremble—
Though he hadn’t shown it while the others were present, Jihak’s right hand was trembling violently.
Moreover, his hand looked bruised as if the capillaries had burst here and there.
It was a kind of side effect from overusing dark energy.
‘Is my current body still unable to handle dark energy? Because it’s a human body?’
Though he might have been at the pinnacle of all demons in hell, here he was merely inhabiting a human body.
The body couldn’t withstand even a bit of the power he started using.
‘I’ve used my power a few times recently… it makes sense.’
Jihak’s body wasn’t ready yet.
It was a body that couldn’t endure his true power.
‘I need to prepare this body. Since it’s a human body… I should focus on techniques using mana instead of dark energy.’
He just needed some time.
After all, humans were adaptable creatures.
Even if the body was initially weak, it would grow stronger by adapting to the surrounding environment.
Clench.
He repeatedly clenched and unclenched his fist to expel as much dark energy as possible from his hand.
As he did so, the red bruises gradually faded, and Jihak’s hand regained stability.
‘Now I have to take care of my body along with studying. What a hassle…’
It felt a bit bothersome to worry about things he never did as Demon King because he was in a human body.
But he couldn’t stop.
Jihak had a purpose for returning here.
‘Now… shall I head back? They seemed quite worried earlier.’
* * *
Merci
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