Devil Returns to School Days - Chapter 161: The Moment Evil Overflows (5)

Kim Si-woo’s eyes widened as the scene before him came into focus.

He had anticipated it—he knew Kim Hyunsung wouldn’t be in good shape.

But the sight of Kim Hyunsung’s face, beaten and bloodied, surrounded by enemies intent on killing him, filled Kim Si-woo with a fury that he could barely contain. How could it be that at just 19 years old, someone had to endure such madness? What kind of twisted person had created this nightmarish world that Kim Hyunsung had been dragged into?

There was no time to dwell on these thoughts.

Before Kim Si-woo could even process the chaotic situation, his instincts kicked in. Without hesitation, he rushed past Kim Hyunsung, diving into the fray.

“You fall back.”

Whoosh.

He ducked, narrowly avoiding a punch aimed at his head. In a swift counterattack, Kim Si-woo drove his fist into the face of the nearest enemy.

Smack!

“Attack them!”

“Wipe them out!”

That was all it took to ignite the battle.

With Kim Si-woo leading the charge, the students from Cheonil High threw themselves into the fight, clashing with the Golden Circle members. In an instant, the two groups collided, fists flying in all directions. The chaos was overwhelming, but even amidst the madness, Kim Si-woo’s dominance was undeniable.

Wham! Wham!

He advanced relentlessly.

Every enemy he encountered spewed blood as Kim Si-woo’s punches and kicks tore through their defenses. Whenever there was even the slightest opening, his feet connected with devastating force.

Smack!

Since Kim Hyunsung’s departure, Kim Si-woo had not slacked off for even a single day.

He had trained relentlessly, knowing that one day, Hyunsung would call on him. He had pushed himself to the brink, enduring grueling exercises every day. Just last month, he had sparred with an old friend from his athlete days. After their intense bout, his friend had collapsed, gasping for air, commenting that Kim Si-woo was in even better shape than during his prime as a fighter.

The tide of battle began to shift.

With each enemy they felled, the momentum turned in their favor, and Kim Hyunsung, now able to catch his breath, rejoined the fight.

‘This is our chance.’

Whoosh.

Smack!

Kim Hyunsung’s punches still carried strength. Though it seemed like they had gained the upper hand, they were still outnumbered. They had to capitalize on this opportunity and bring the fight to a swift conclusion. If they could break the enemies’ morale, they would flee, and the battle would be won despite their numerical disadvantage.

It was working.

The enemy was faltering.

Unable to even handle Kim Hyunsung alone, the arrival of Kim Si-woo and his group was an overwhelming force the Golden Circle members couldn’t handle.

“This is… we’re screwed, aren’t we?”

Someone muttered from within the enemy ranks.

It dawned on them.

For Kim Si-woo and his team to have reached the 12th floor meant that those guarding the lower floors had been defeated. Their supposed advantage in numbers suddenly felt meaningless. As Kim Si-woo’s face became splattered with blood from the continuous fight, his determination scared them. Even the sight of his fierce gaze made some of them instinctively back away.

Then, it happened.

A voice rang out, signaling the end of the fight.

“Cops are here!”

That shout was all the Golden Circle members needed to hear.

It was their excuse to retreat.

—

The situation came to an abrupt end.

The once crowded space filled with malice and violence was now eerily empty as the Golden Circle members fled down the stairwell.

Tap, tap, tap.

The sound of feet rapidly descending echoed throughout the stairwell.

Kim Hyunsung and his group had secured the elevator, so the enemies had no choice but to escape down the stairs from the 12th floor.

Finally—

Thud.

“Huff, huff.”

Kim Hyunsung collapsed to the ground, his chest heaving as if it would burst. His face had gone pale—his body had long passed its limits. The only thing that had kept him standing during the fight was sheer willpower. Now that the battle was over, his body gave out completely.

“You crazy bastard.”

It was Kim Si-woo.

He approached, looking at Hyunsung with a mixture of awe and frustration.

He couldn’t help but think back to the scene he had just witnessed.

Despite facing an overwhelming number of enemies, Kim Hyunsung had held out for over ten minutes, taking down more than his fair share of opponents. Kim Si-woo had always known Hyunsung was strong, but today’s battle had made him realize just how extraordinary his friend truly was. No matter how much stronger Kim Si-woo had become, Kim Hyunsung still seemed to belong to a different world.

Kim Si-woo, shaking his head in disbelief, chastised him.

“This whole operation was incredibly dangerous. You’re not invincible. You could have chosen a safer way to handle this. You could have barricaded yourself inside the apartment, or even used weapons—there were so many other options.”

He wasn’t wrong.

If the plan had been to simply hold out until reinforcements arrived, there had been no need for Kim Hyunsung to rush out and engage the enemy head-on, wasting precious energy. Despite knowing the risk, Hyunsung had chosen the most dangerous path, fighting without weapons and exposing himself to harm.

It was necessary.

That was the only way this operation would mean anything.

“I wanted to, believe me. But you know as well as I do that this fight had to be put on display for everyone. I couldn’t afford to look too dirty.”

Kim Hyunsung lifted his head.

He smiled at Kim Si-woo, his expression tired but determined.

“How do I look? Do I still look okay?”

“You’re unbelievable…”

Kim Si-woo sighed and turned away.

He understood now.

That’s why he couldn’t press Hyunsung any further.

But—

“When all this revenge is done, you have to tell me why you’re doing this—why you’re going so far. I won’t ask now because I know you won’t tell me, but one day, I need to know.”

Saying it aloud was the only way Kim Si-woo could calm his own raging emotions.

—

Elsewhere, a very different scene was unfolding.

Park Hyung-jun, who had been basking in confidence earlier, now wore a much grimmer expression as he argued on the phone.

“This wasn’t the deal! You promised at least 30 minutes—how the hell am I supposed to make this work if you send them in so quickly?”

[Look, I understand, but we’ve been flooded with calls. You should have done a better job controlling the situation. Thanks to some lunatic live-streaming the whole thing, the issue isn’t just about being slow—it’s about negligence now. If we don’t act immediately, this will turn into a scandal. I hope you understand.]

“Damn it!”

He slammed his hand down on the table.

Furious, he ended the call, ignoring the people around him who shot him worried glances.

“Useless bastard. What good is all the money I’ve been paying him if he can’t even handle this properly?”

He made a mental note to deal with the police chief once this was all over.

Right now, though, survival was his top priority.

The police had arrived, and the situation was quickly being brought under control. Both the Golden Circle members and the Daesan students were being rounded up and taken into custody. Outside the café, the flashing lights of police cars illuminated the night. It was too late to fix anything. His only hope now was to find a way to drag Kim Hyunsung down with him.

‘Think. Think.’

He pressed his temples, his mind racing.

This was his last chance.

If he failed now, the Golden Circle’s handler would never give him another opportunity. The history of the Golden Circle had always been one of harsh consequences for failure. Those who couldn’t deliver paid a steep price, which is how the organization had maintained its ironclad reputation for so many years.

Finally, after a long silence, Park Hyung-jun’s eyes lit up.

“There’s only one way.”

He grabbed his phone, hastily dialing a number and beginning a lengthy conversation.

—

The aftermath of the incident was nothing short of unprecedented.

The police presence was overwhelming, with officers from the Gangnam precinct converging on the scene. The students involved were either taken to the hospital for their injuries or directly to the police station for questioning. As for Kim Hyunsung, he had been rushed to the hospital first, where, fortunately, doctors confirmed that apart from bruises, there were no major injuries. After receiving basic treatment, he was transferred to the police station.

Thud.

The door to the interrogation room closed.

Inside, Kim Hyunsung sat alone, waiting. A gruff-looking police officer in his early 40s entered the room.

“I’ve seen a lot of things in my time, but a brawl in the middle of Seoul? You’re something else, kid. What the hell were you thinking?”

The officer dragged a chair over and sat down, crossing his legs as he looked Kim Hyunsung up and down.

“I did a little digging while you were at the hospital. You’ve got quite the reputation, don’t you? Taking on that many people by yourself—impressive. But enough of that. Now, you’re going to answer my questions. And you better answer them truthfully, you understand?”

“…”

“You can choose to stay silent, but trust me, the consequences won’t be easy to handle.”

The officer slapped down a file on the table in front of Kim Hyunsung.

Tapping the file with his finger, the officer continued, “This here is a text message exchange between you and Choi Myung-hoon, right before the incident started. Choi sent out a message claiming you were planning a ‘takeover’ of Gangnam schools, which supposedly led to conflict with the local students. When we interrogated the ones who attacked your place, they said the same thing—claiming that you made the first move, and they were just striking back before you got to them. Don’t try to deny it. We’ve done our research, and it’s pretty clear that you were already notorious for your actions at Daesan before transferring here.”

The officer smirked, leaning in closer.

“You’re famous for taking over Daesan. Every student knows it. So why wouldn’t it be believable that you’d try to do the same thing here in Gangnam, leading to this huge brawl? It’s not exactly a stretch of the imagination, wouldn’t you say?”

Kim Hyunsung stayed calm, but a small smile tugged at the corner of his mouth.

“I didn’t do any of that.”

“Oh, really? Because Choi Myung-hoon already confessed. Still want to deny it?”

“I’ve never made any plans to take over Gangnam or provoke anyone. If you have actual evidence of me orchestrating something, show it. And as for Choi Myung-hoon, I have no real connection with him. We’ve never been friends, and we’ve certainly never worked together on anything. You can ask anyone at school—they’ll tell you how bad things were between us.”

The police officer clicked his tongue, frustrated. He knew the truth—there wasn’t any solid evidence to pin the “Gangnam takeover” accusation on Hyunsung. The situation had been entirely fabricated by the Golden Circle. And now, with Kim Hyunsung alive and able to defend himself, the case wasn’t as straightforward as they’d hoped.

Even the text messages from Choi Myung-hoon were nothing but circumstantial evidence, and it wouldn’t be enough to convict Hyunsung. The officer knew they were grasping at straws.

He continued, pressing harder, “Sure, maybe there’s no direct evidence. But when coincidences start piling up, people start seeing intent. A judge will look at the pattern, don’t you think? Especially when your friends from Daesan just happened to show up at the exact moment you were attacked. How convenient. It’s almost as if they knew the fight was coming. You expect me to believe they weren’t called in advance? No one just shows up in time for a brawl like that by accident.”

The officer thought he had found a crack. It didn’t make sense for the Daesan students to be there unless they were tipped off.

It was the opening they needed to push forward.

Kim Hyunsung, however, remained unfazed.

“You’re mistaken.”

“What did you just say?”

“I didn’t call anyone. My friends didn’t come because I asked them to. They were already in Seoul on a school field trip. Check with the schools if you don’t believe me. They just happened to be nearby when things started going south, so I called for help.”

The officer’s face froze for a moment.

This… wasn’t the answer he had expected.

“Coincidence,” Kim Hyunsung said, leaning forward slightly. “Today’s events were nothing more than an unfortunate coincidence, detective.”

The officer’s eyes twitched, frustration flashing across his face as he realized that Kim Hyunsung had an airtight explanation.

The sudden arrival of the Daesan students wasn’t a plan—it was a stroke of luck that had turned the entire situation on its head.

“Damn it…”