[Chapter 189]
[What Should Not Be Touched (3)]
Han Seo-hyeon, Jung Ha-yang, Lee Yu-jeong.
No Eun-ae's existence held great significance for the three of them.
She played a role in helping them easily blend in with Eun-ha's family.
If Eun-ah appropriately coordinated them, Eun-ae created an environment where they wouldn't antagonize each other.
Such a sister-in-law came home crying after being bullied.
"""..."""
The three were uneasy.
So they each heard detailed inside information through their informants.
And they intervened in the situation as much as they could within their means.
"─Make sure those kids' names don't appear on any scholarship foundation within Sirius's reach."
For instance, Han Seo-hyeon was bold.
She tried to give as much disadvantage as possible to the students who bullied her sister-in-law within her capabilities.
To her, No Eun-ae was no different from a real younger sister.
She was someone who put her at ease even when she was keeping people at a distance.
So Han Seo-hyeon's anger was considerable, and she imposed somewhat emotional sanctions.
"─Ah, grandfather. Do you perhaps know anyone friendly in the Ministry of Education? It's because..."
Meanwhile, Jung Ha-yang focused on cracking down on the bystanders rather than the perpetrators.
The Alice Group had been sponsoring various educational sectors for a long time.
She used that point to strengthen the punishment of teachers who had been condoning the bullying of No Eun-ae this time.
"Don't leave out a single one. Somehow give those bastards disadvantages at the group level."
"So I think it's wrong as a teacher. Yes, then I'll ask, grandfather. I love you."
The difference between Han Seo-hyeon and Jung Ha-yang was that Han Seo-hyeon punished with extreme personal feelings.
Jung Ha-yang tried to judge right and wrong while excluding personal feelings as much as possible.
This stemmed from their respective personalities.
Han Seo-hyeon never stood by when someone on her side suffered 'unreasonable' treatment.
For her who pursued rationality, it was the only irrational behavior, and in a way, it was also 'rational' behavior.
Isn't it rational to repay unreasonable acts with unreasonable acts?
In contrast, Jung Ha-yang always tried to respond within appropriate limits even if her person was attacked.
This was because she had compassion that pitied other people too.
"─Oppa, I want to cheer up Eun-ae's mood a little, but what would be good? Eun-ae likes plants, so I was thinking of asking her to go to a botanical garden together, would that be okay?"
Lastly, Lee Yu-jeong took a different approach from the two.
Her nature, having never wielded the power of a group, was very gentle.
From the start, she didn't focus on punishing the perpetrators but purely focused on Eun-ae.
So she sought various ways to comfort Eun-ae.
In the end, the measures taken by the three were all different.
Strangely enough, because of this, the three were able to complement each other and create an appropriate balance point.
'─Where are you going?'
'I'll be back after going out for a bit.'
'...Alright, come back before it's late.'
Meanwhile, before Eun-ha left the clan.
Han Seo-hyeon noticed something and stopped him.
Eun-ha didn't show his face.
He only answered with his back.
Han Seo-hyeon didn't scold him.
Instead, she advised in a tone as if it couldn't be helped.
'I know well how you feel right now. I can see it in my eyes. Honestly, I'm very scared.'
'I'm sorry. I'll try to pull myself together somehow.'
'I'm not trying to receive an apology. I want to tell you one thing as you're about to be consumed by your emotions.'
At that time, she approached him.
Standing in front of him with his fierce face, she carefully hugged him.
'I love even your dark side. But I love your bright side much more.'
She seemed to have guessed something.
He didn't bother to say anything.
He just listened to her words as she embraced him.
'It's not just me. Ha-yang, Yu-jeong, mother, father, Eun-ah unnie, and others will think the same. Eun-ae will think so too.'
'...'
'So, Eun-ha. If you ever can't control your emotions, if you happen to cross the line, I hope you'll look back at yourself then.'
'...'
'If you can't look back... then please think of us.'
'...Okay.'
An earnest tone.
Eun-ha just felt her warmth and answered briefly.
☆
This was revenge.
Revenge with plenty of emotion involved.
Revenge without reason or even rationality pursued efficiency in inflicting pain on the other party.
"Pl-Please forgive us... I'll go home and teach my child well, so please for-cough...!"
As he gained the principle of Hamper Wave.
Eun-ha found more effective ways to torture people.
Twist the other person's mana circuits.
Just that alone made the other person breathe painfully.
"The mana circuits aren't damaged. I just twisted them for a moment and let go, so they'll return to normal."
""""...""""
"Then I'll twist them again when that happens."
Ripples form at his fingertips.
When he brings that to the other person's body, the mana circuits writhe.
Eun-ha silently watched them writhe in pain.
"Ah, aah..."
"You're exaggerating. This is nothing compared to the Sejong Clan Lord."
He wouldn't let any of them off.
Eun-ha, who had initially threatened like that, left after reducing the Sejong Clan Lord to a wreck.
It took quite a while to do that to one person.
Above all─
─So the kids won't be sad.
Let's restrain myself as much as possible.
The advice Han Seo-hyeon gave just before kept lingering in his mind.
So he changed his method.
Instead of engraving physical pain that would remain for life in their bodies.
He decided to inflict mental pain so they would occasionally remember this day.
Stygian Eye
Nevertheless, he didn't feel sorry for the Sejong Clan Lord.
He was also the father of the student who led the bullying of Eun-ae.
If you think about it, he was also the background that allowed that student to wield absolute power at school.
"Ah, ah..."
"Boss, is this really okay? A clan lord has become unable to use magic and ended up in this state..."
"What's difficult about it? We can just say this happened in a dungeon. Or say we happened to save him while he was being attacked by monsters."
""""...""""
"It's good that we live in a world with monsters. We can blame everything on them no matter what happens."
He had experienced a lot of this in his previous life too.
And gone through it.
Eun-ha didn't care much.
The world was originally like that.
It's a world where yang and yin don't harmonize, and yin is extremely strong.
A world built on lawlessness and crime.
It's probably a world incomprehensible with a mindset steeped in peace.
To live in such a world, one needed to have a corresponding worldview.
The Sejong Clan Lord would be the same.
But if there was a difference from before, it was that he was the one being hunted this time.
That was all there was to it.
"Still, the dark side will know. There's a limit to concealing it."
"Leave it be. What does that matter?"
What does the darkness matter?
What's important is that Eun-ae cried.
Eun-ha ignored Lee Gang-hyeok's words.
There was a saying in this field.
The moment you gaze into the abyss, the abyss also gazes back at you.
In other words, the moment the abyss gazes at you, you'll know too.
That's what darkness was.
They each hold each other's weaknesses, so they can't use them carelessly.
If they do use them, it means one of the two will inevitably fall.
And the darkness probably can't say anything to me for just doing this much.
Appropriate.
It was an act located just at the edge of common sense.
Did I kill an innocent citizen?
I just 'slightly' scared them.
Also, isn't the Sejong Clan Lord a player?
That was why Eun-ha had no hesitation.
At that moment─
"─We've brought the kids."
""""...""""
Click.
The iron door opened.
Twenty-five led his gang and brought the students.
They were all shrinking in fear.
Eun-ha welcomed them.
"You were surprised to be suddenly captured in the middle of the night, right? But you also captured Eun-ae and locked her in the gym storage room, didn't you?"
""""...""""
"Let's call it even with that."
Students gripped with fear.
They couldn't continue speaking.
Some just rolled their eyes to check the people collapsed on the floor.
"D-Dad..."
At that moment, someone muttered like that.
Only then did the students realize the identity of the people sprawled on the floor.
They were the same.
While confirming through each other's gazes, they recognized the situation they were in.
Unfortunately, there was no touching reunion.
The atmosphere permeating everywhere was too gloomy to call out to each other.
"Is Park Seong-ho here? Is that kid here?"
"He hasn't come yet. It seems he's receiving separate counseling at school. Our people are set to bring him as soon as he leaves the school gate. Other than that, we've captured everyone who was in the chat room."
"I see, good job."
Eun-ha moved his steps.
He indiscriminately trampled people blocking his path with his feet.
And passing by them.
Eun-ha looked down at the infinitely small 'monsters' compared to himself.
"Among these, raise your hand if you're Seo-hee or Min-hee."
""""...""""
"I heard the name of the girls' gang leader is Seo-hee or Min-hee. Is she not here?"
"Master, it's Su-hee."
"That kid, raise your hand."
""""...""""
Eun-ha raised the corners of his mouth.
The students huddled together.
While keeping their mouths shut, they pointed with their gazes to one person in the group.
A woman with brown curly hair.
She even had nail art done.
"Are you Su-hee?"
"...Yes..."
Her eye corners turned upwards.
The owner of a sharp image.
But even she lowered her tail like an obedient dog when Eun-ha stood in front of her.
Eun-ha stared at her blankly before opening his mouth.
"─You're the one who lured Eun-ae out in the middle of the night... and suggested handing her over to people you know?"
"Th-That...! It was a joke. Just a joke with the kids..."
"A joke."
""""...""""
"I don't find it funny at all."
"...I'm sorry. I apologize."
As they entered this place.
Seeing the people collapsed on the floor.
They instinctively realized that the common sense they had known until now wouldn't apply.
So the female student chose to submit rather than refute.
She was wise.
But it was of no use in changing Eun-ha's judgment.
"Alright, I'm sorry too."
"...What?"
"I'm going to do the same now."
"What do you mean..."
"Twenty-five."
"Yes, Master."
"Send all the bastards here who participated even a little in that conversation to Madam Jina."
"The boys too?"
"Doesn't she take boys?"
"Madam Jina doesn't handle..."
"Mouth."
"Then let's find a place that does handle them. But what should we do after sending them?"
"What do you mean what... Make them experience what they said."
""""...!!""""
Through the ongoing conversation.
The students could understand what Eun-ha and Twenty-five were talking about.
Their expressions changed in an instant.
'Desperation' was conveyed.
"─Wait a moment! I'll really beg like this! Okay? I really did wrong. Please forgive me just this once, just this once! Oppa, you're
"A hero? I am indeed a hero."
""""...""""
"But isn't a hero's role to beat up villains? Players kill monsters."
""""...""""
"Then isn't it my job to eliminate the monsters in front of my eyes?"
Eun-ha cackled.
The female student clung to him desperately.
Eun-ha shook her off.
The female student who fell to the floor still approached, crawling on the ground trying to survive somehow.
By then, those collapsed on the floor also painfully raised their bodies and knelt.
"Please. I don't care what happens to me... Please, just my child..."
Eun-ha didn't lend an ear.
He gestured with his chin to Lee Gang-hyeok's gang.
The gang members who realized what he meant kicked them.
Meanwhile, Twenty-five screened the students who participated in the conversation.
Other gang members started grabbing them and dragging them somewhere.
Eun-ha cast magic on them.
Phantom Eye
Stygian Eye
'Fear' was already growing in their consciousness.
That would appear as illusions.
And the illusions would reinforce the fear again and attack their minds.
They would surely have to live suffering from fear for their entire lives.
Eun-ha chuckled.
At that moment, Twenty-five spoke quietly.
"─Master, are we really selling them?"
"Just pretend. Lock them up for a day or two, just give them appropriate fear. Then they'll imagine the rest on their own."
"Yes, then I'll tell Madam Jina to absolutely not touch them."
He wanted to give them every humiliation possible.
But Han Seo-hyeon's words to him wouldn't leave his mind.
Above all, Eun-ae came to mind.
Those bastards were the same age as Eun-ae.
Perhaps because of that, he couldn't be cruel to them.
Nevertheless, his desire to do something to them remained unchanged.
I should take that out on another bastard.
The one I want to see most right now is that bastard.
He roughly stopped the bleeding of the Sejong Clan Lord, making sure he didn't lose consciousness.
While doing so, he waited for one person.
The person he wanted to see most.
The main instigator who bullied Eun-ae.
And before long─
"─Master, we've brought him."
"Are you Park Seong-ho?"
The iron door creaked open.
He turned his gaze to the male student entering unlike others so far, with his limbs unsealed.
☆
'─We just need to write apology letters, right?'
When he heard those words at the time.
Eun-ha's father realized that simple punishment wouldn't be enough.
So he requested counseling for Park Seong-ho from the counselor stationed at the school.
After that, Park Seong-ho had to go to the counseling room when he came to school.
"─I don't really understand. Why is that something to be hurt by? Isn't it natural for strong people to do whatever they want to weak people?"
It was the same today.
Park Seong-ho diligently filled out the questionnaire given by the counselor.
Sometimes he drew pictures.
And while talking with the counselor, he honestly discussed his thoughts.
"Yes, I know what I did was wrong. So I know I'll be punished. Isn't that enough? Why are you making me receive counseling like this?"
With the Sejong Clan Lord as his father.
Park Seong-ho, who grew up hearing that power is everything in the world from a young age, had a face that said he really didn't understand.
"Then Seong-ho, if you know it's wrong, why did you do it? Teacher wants to know how Seong-ho feels."
Nevertheless, the counselor tried to fulfill her role.
She spoke as gently as possible, trying to make
Nevertheless, the counselor tried to fulfill her role.
She spoke as gently as possible, trying to make Park Seong-ho talk.
To this, Park Seong-ho said─
"─Because that's how I can feel what it means to be alive."
"...What?"
"Bullying kids. At those times, I feel the reality of being alive. I love how my power makes those kids kneel."
"..."
"I find school life boring. I don't really understand why we study things that are useless. In contrast, using mana is fun. That's why I bullied kids. But in a world where monsters exist, isn't it natural for the weak to live being beaten by the strong?"
"Seong-ho, your thinking is a bit dangerous. What teacher thinks is..."
"But Eun-ae was different."
"..."
"She doesn't try to cry even when I hit her. Other kids are afraid of me... but she tries to endure even when she suffers like that from me. Seeing her not showing it made me want to see more. How she would cry and submit to me."
As calmly as possible.
And nonchalantly.
Park Seong-ho spoke.
"From the first time I saw her, I felt Eun-ae was really strange. Other kids show their feelings and hate coming to school... But she always seemed to say she enjoyed coming to school with a smile."
"..."
"She also had a strong sense of justice. She didn't try to lower her eyes to me, and tried to confront me boldly. That's why I became interested in her."
"..."
"She was stronger than me. So I wanted to fight her. I wanted to feel alive while hitting her."
"Seong-ho, talking like that really doesn't help you. Teacher really wants to help you. But if you talk like this, the punishment will only get worse."
This is the first time I've seen a child like this.
The counselor sighed.
Meanwhile, Park Seong-ho, sitting leaning in a crooked posture, didn't seem to care.
"That's fine. I've said it many times."
"..."
"I did wrong, so I should go to juvenile detention. Since someone stronger than me appeared, I should submit to that person."
"..."
"Ah, if I end up in juvenile detention, I hope life becomes a little more interesting. The reason I was trying to enter the academy was because I thought it would be more fun there. Well, if I had entered there, I probably wouldn't have been able to be a strong person."
Time passed like that.
Checking the time, Park Seong-ho stood up without even getting permission from the counselor.
"Then I'll be going now. I should come here tomorrow too, right?"
He said he did wrong in words.
But he didn't sincerely repent.
He didn't feel guilty to begin with.
He's unable to empathize with other people's feelings.
"──!!"
Then Park Seong-ho was captured by people wearing black clothes on his way home and dragged somewhere.
"..."
Park Seong-ho was calm.
Dragged to some building, he just calmly observed his surroundings.
☆
The moment he saw Park Seong-ho's eyes.
Eun-ha could instinctively tell that he was a crazy bastard.
Those are eyes that wouldn't care even if they killed someone.
He had seen similar eyes several times before.
They were very dangerous eyes.
This bastard doesn't feel fear.
Eun-ha was similar too.
The difference between him and Park Seong-ho was that his was acquired, while Park Seong-ho's was innate.
Ordinary methods won't work.
How should I deal with this bastard...
Anyway, Eun-ha made his judgment.
Hitting and scaring him probably wouldn't have any effect.
But there was a way.
He knew well how to deal with such a bastard.
""""..."""
Eun-ha looked over the students gathered in the place one by one.
Most of them were in decent condition.
It was understandable since they had only been left alone until Park Seong-ho arrived.
Eventually, Eun-ha opened his mouth.
"─Just one."
""""...""""
A low resonating voice.
The students heard those words.
Eun-ha raised the corners of his mouth.
"─I'll send home just one person who wins if you fight among yourselves."
""""...!!""""
'Seemingly' nicely.
The students who didn't know the meaning contained inside clenched their fists to survive.
And so a fight broke out.