Devil Returns to School Days - Chapter 181: The Long-Awaited Moment (1)

A hospital somewhere in Gyeonggi Province.

In the space where medical staff and patients resided, an unusually large number of reporters had swarmed in.

Unable to enter, they stood outside, each making frantic calls with urgency on their faces.

“So? There’s no way to get inside?”

“Figure out a way, somehow!”

“Do you have any idea what kind of story this is? A man in a vegetative state has reportedly taken the college entrance exam and scored a perfect score! This… Whoever reports this first is going to make a huge splash, understand?”

The scene was chaos.

The college entrance exam.

Every year, it’s a major event in South Korea.

This year, with only one perfect scorer amidst an exceptionally difficult test, public interest reached fever pitch. People wanted the truth. Their interest translated into clicks, and for media outlets, clicks determine success. Reporters swarmed here like dogs on the scent, driven by that very reason.

The hospital strictly prohibited the reporters’ entry.

Especially with the vegetative patient’s room off-limits, a standoff had ensued outside.

About 30 minutes passed.

Just as the reporters grew more desperate, a middle-aged man with a weary look emerged from inside.

“I am Choi Jung-woo’s father. The hospital has agreed to let you in, so please follow me.”

“Gasp!”

“Follow him quickly!”

“XX News here. Can you tell us what exactly is going on?”

The reporters surged forward.

They crowded in, some even shoving microphones at him for any tidbit of information, but the father said nothing. With an unreadable expression, he walked calmly, leading them to what appeared to be a hospital room.

Creak.

“Please, come in.”

It was a private room.

Since no other family members were around, the reporters hesitated only a moment before they followed him inside.

They thought.

‘He must have woken up from his vegetative state, right? Only an idiot would fake a vegetative state to take the exam. This alone is huge news. A student who lay in a vegetative state for three years wakes up and scores perfectly on one of the toughest exams? This is definitely a story.’

That was the assumption.

There were various theories, but a proxy test seemed unlikely.

With results that would inevitably be exposed, who would be crazy enough to attempt a proxy test?

But then.

The scene that unfolded before them left the reporters speechless.

“…What?”

“What is this?”

On the bed.

A young man lay motionless.

Seeing him as though lifeless, the reporters instinctively knew that this was indeed Choi Jung-woo, the person they had been so desperately seeking. Their minds scrambled. This didn’t make sense. If Choi Jung-woo took the exam, why was he lying in a hospital bed? Did someone take the test in his place?

At that moment.

The father’s gaze turned, looking past the reporters toward someone else.

“As you can see, my son has been bedridden since that day three years ago. And the person you’re searching for, the one who scored perfectly on the college entrance exam, is right behind you.”

Everyone turned quickly.

Behind the bustling crowd.

There stood a mysterious figure.

In an instant, one of the reporters recognized him.

“…No way. Kim Hyunsung?!”

It was unmistakable.

Kim Hyunsung.

The young man who had disappeared six months ago was standing right here, now.

* * *

Three months ago.

Choi Jung-woo’s father.

Someone had approached Choi Deok-soo.

Inviting him to sit for a conversation at a cafe, this person suddenly laid out strange documents across the table.

“These are documents proving that you hired a private investigator to gather personal information on ‘the perpetrator.’ Preparing to take revenge on the person who put your son in a vegetative state, correct?”

“H-how did you…?”

His eyes wavered.

The man before him.

Kim Hyunsung’s words were accurate.

Choi Jung-woo, Choi Deok-soo’s son, was a good child—not particularly special, but certainly not troublesome.

He’d been a bright, lively boy in middle school, but upon entering high school, he grew more withdrawn, which worried Choi Deok-soo. He had raised his son alone, striving to provide without lacking. Then, in his son’s third year of high school, his heart shattered when his son declared he would not attend college. They had argued bitterly, becoming estranged for a while, until one day, an unexpected phone call stopped his heart.

His son.

Had been hit by a car.

He had thrown himself in front of an oncoming vehicle, and since that day, he’d been in a vegetative state.

At first, he didn’t know the reason.

Thinking he’d attempted suicide because of him, he spent his days drowning in alcohol, wracked with guilt. Then he learned the truth from a boy claiming to be Choi Jung-woo’s friend. Choi had suffered extreme bullying in high school, and this was why he’d decided not to attend college. Tormented by trauma, Choi often spoke of hearing voices, hallucinations, and his desire to end it all.

That was the truth.

Choi Deok-soo was consumed by rage.

He’d been preparing to kill the perpetrator when Kim Hyunsung appeared, dragging the truth into the light.

He was torn.

What should he do?

Should he just brush it off and leave?

Kim Hyunsung spoke to the conflicted Choi Deok-soo.

“Don’t destroy yourself. Someday, if your son wakes up from his vegetative state, he’ll need you by his side, healthy. People say those in a vegetative state can neither see nor hear, but maybe, just maybe, he’s clinging to life in that dark abyss, looking only toward you.”

“You don’t know anything!”

He leapt to his feet.

There was no need to hear more.

He was ready to walk away when an unbelievable proposition reached his ears.

“I’ll do it for you.”

“…What did you say?”

He turned around.

At that moment, he saw Kim Hyunsung’s gaze, devoid of emotion, cool and detached, in stark contrast to his concerned voice.

“I’ll take revenge for you. Could you lend me your son’s name?”

* * *

They moved to an open space.

As soon as they reached a secluded spot, reporters bombarded Kim Hyunsung with questions.

“What exactly is going on?”

“Where have you been for the past six months?”

“Why did you take the college entrance exam under the name ‘Choi Jung-woo’? Did you strike some kind of deal with his father?”

Their eyes were red with excitement.

Watching the reporters scramble for a scoop, Kim Hyunsung felt a storm of emotions surge within him. Could they even begin to imagine? The time he’d endured. The mindset he’d had when he left school six months ago.

His heart pounded.

All eyes were on him.

Everyone awaited his words.

This moment.

The long-awaited moment had finally arrived.

Amid the crowd, Kim Hyunsung spotted a familiar face, “Bang Hyuntae,” watching him intently. (TL Note: Bang was the reporter who wanted to help Hyunsung. He is working for the Jeongan Ilbo, a news outlet. -Chapter 175-)

‘This is where it all begins.’

Six months.

No, to be precise, he had prepared for this for over a decade.

Kim Hyunsung finally spoke.

“Before I explain about the college entrance exam, I want to tell you why I had to disappear for the past six months. I am aware of the controversies surrounding my actions. From the officetel incident to the assault case, there has been much speculation. People were surprised when I, a student who consistently scored perfect marks on national mock exams, chose to drop out just before the college entrance exam. Do you remember? I mentioned something about a ‘hidden force’ immediately after the officetel incident.”

Flash, flash, flash.

Cameras flashed in all directions.

The reporters recalled his previous statement.

Given the impact of the incident, everyone present was aware of it.

What he had said was:

[……I am exposed to a certain malice. And as this incident shows, the one driving this malice seems to want me dead.]

At that time.

It had caused a huge uproar.

People clamored to know who was behind this malice.

Gulp.

Someone audibly swallowed.

As the tension reached its peak, Kim Hyunsung made a statement that shattered the silence.

“The force that drove me to the brink, that forced me to drop out, was none other than a group called the Golden Circle.”

* * *

At that moment.

Bang Hyuntae was broadcasting live.

The story of Kim Hyunsung, once a subject of immense attention, and how he had achieved a perfect score on the notoriously difficult exam on behalf of Choi Jung-woo.

The audience was massive.

Even though it was midday on a weekday, hundreds of thousands were watching the broadcast simultaneously.

Facing such an audience.

Kim Hyunsung continued speaking.

[The Golden Circle. My entanglement with them began when I was 17 and attending Cheonil High School. Back then, I first learned of this vile organization that accepted payments to destroy their targets. The gangs led by Shin Young-min and Park Min-cheol, who ruled the school, had been hired by the Golden Circle to harass me. In the course of fighting them, I discovered that the orchestrator behind it was my classmate, Oh Hye-ji. Why did she target me? Grades? Causing trouble? No. Simply because I had rejected her confession, she harbored malice and filed a request. That was when I decided. I would take down the Golden Circle.]

The reporters.

The viewers watching the broadcast.

Everyone held their breath.

Kim Hyunsung was revealing a world that had never surfaced before.

[The Golden Circle is a force far beyond what any of you can imagine. School teachers, local police, even powerful figures like superintendents are merely their pawns, compensated to serve them. When I first transferred to Daeseong Mirae High School, they branded me an ‘eyesore,’ involving me in disciplinary actions and various incidents. The officetel incident you remember was the same. They attempted every method to eliminate me, and ultimately, finding no other way, they attacked me directly. Had I not prepared, the incident would have ended as a simple case of school violence, with no mention of any grand conspiracy, ending with the tragic death of one high school student. So I chose to drop out. I realized that if I stayed, my life and the lives of those around me would be in constant danger. The reason I used Choi Jung-woo’s name to reappear was because he, too, was a victim of the Golden Circle.]

From the information he had obtained from Jung Chan-soo. (TL Note : He was the ‘informant’ he had inside Golden Circle, which was killed because he got caught recently)

Choi Jung-woo’s name had been included.

Not simply as a victim of school violence but as someone the Golden Circle had victimized, so Kim sought him out directly.

[As I mentioned, there are many who suffered because of the Golden Circle’s orders. Choi Jung-woo, too, was marked by their malice, tormented throughout his three years of high school, until, unable to withstand the trauma, he ran into the road at age 20. Witnesses said he screamed as though he saw his tormentor right before him. Why did I use Choi Jung-woo’s name for the exam? Because I thought it would make people listen. The Golden Circle wields enough power to sway public opinion whenever they wish. By using the annual college entrance exam as my stage, I aimed to amplify my voice. As I predicted, reporters have gathered here, and everyone watching now must sense that my story isn’t entirely far-fetched. If it weren’t true, would a promising 19-year-old go to such lengths?]

The stage was set.

His heart pounded as if it would burst.

Finally, he could release the words he had kept bottled up for so long.

[Everyone. The Golden Circle is real. And the one behind it all is…]

The forbidden truth.

A line no one had dared to cross.

[The heir to Taeyang Group, Yoon Hyeon-min.]

Kim Hyunsung had spoken the name.