Devil Returns to School Days - Chapter 190: The Long-Awaited Moment (10)

Yoon Hyeon-min would never understand.

To him, the story of someone becoming a vegetative state or anything of the sort could never be about Kim Hyunsung himself.

It didn’t matter.

Kim Hyunsung, like a madman, continued to speak.

“I’ve known from the beginning. Targeting you with Kim Panho and Kang Dongchul, exposing your crimes through a whistleblower—it was never going to be enough to bring you down. There was no decisive evidence. Without securing the final piece, no matter how much I injured you, you would rise again. That’s the life of someone in power. The wealth and influence they grip aren’t just about enjoying luxuries; they ensure that failure is never the end for them. They have infinite chances to rebuild.”

In his imagination.

He had failed countless times.

Bringing down Yoon Hyeon-min within the bounds of reason was impossible.

If he truly wielded the power to control South Korea, he would survive no matter the strategy.

Even now, it was the same.

He had pushed Yoon Hyeon-min into a corner, enough to suffocate most powerful figures. The whistleblower’s testimony was undeniably devastating. Yet Lee Kyung-chul had taken on all the blame. The prosecutors and the media had conveniently wrapped things up as Lee Kyung-chul’s problem, and the Yoon Hyeon-min standing before him was living proof of how corrupt the nation truly was.

“So I thought of a very simple solution. What if I just killed you? Taking advantage of your complacency, trusting those bodyguards behind you. What if I simply stabbed you right here? It would make for such an easy revenge.”

“You bastard!”

The bodyguards flinched, ready to act.

Yoon Hyeon-min, his face hardened, raised his hand to stop them.

“But that wouldn’t be true revenge. It’s too easy. Finding peace in death would be too kind for you. For ten years, I was trapped in an endless cycle of suffering, unable even to end my own life. I want you to experience that kind of pain. The reason you were able to end this with Lee Kyung-chul’s death is because I allowed it. I haven’t shown you everything yet. I’ve come up with a plan for revenge that doesn’t require killing you, and it’s perfect.”

He smiled broadly.

It was the same smile he’d worn when staring into the face of the devil.

Kim Hyunsung looked elated.

“How fortunate for me that you’re someone who’s never experienced rock bottom. I’ll show you soon—a life so miserable that living it won’t feel like living.”

—

Kim Hyunsung left.

No one stopped him.

The bodyguards suggested dealing with him immediately, but Yoon Hyeon-min, his face like stone, couldn’t give the order.

If they acted now.

They’d leave evidence.

As Kim Hyunsung had said, if that had been his intent, he wouldn’t have appeared here in the first place.

‘What is Kim Hyunsung’s true nature?’

It was surreal.

The story Kim Hyunsung had told, his chilling, suffocating malice—it all felt otherworldly.

The truth was, Yoon Hyeon-min had sought this meeting to see the despairing face of a broken Kim Hyunsung. It was an unease he hadn’t even been fully aware of. Though he’d always exuded confidence, this was the first time he had felt what could only be described as a threat. He thought that by threatening Kim Hyunsung, by seeing him trembling in fear, his own anxiety would be soothed.

But.

His expectations were shattered.

The words Kim Hyunsung spoke instead tightened a cold grip around his throat.

The story about becoming a vegetative state? He dismissed it as nonsense.

He couldn’t believe such a claim at face value, not with Kim Hyunsung’s verifiable history.

However.

It crossed his mind that perhaps someone close to Kim Hyunsung had experienced something like that.

The Golden Circle’s atrocities were many-layered, and even if such a story suddenly surfaced, it wouldn’t be surprising. Countless clients. Countless victims. He had always known the outcomes of his actions.

‘Kim Hyunsung is dangerous. I don’t know what he’s planning, but if his schemes fail, I’m certain he’d bet his life to kill me. Murder may be the simplest form of revenge, and if there were no other way, he wouldn’t hesitate.’

One thing became clear.

While he couldn’t comprehend being cornered by a high school student, he now understood the depth of Kim Hyunsung’s determination. With a will so resolute, results were inevitable. Yoon Hyeon-min’s mistake had been evaluating Kim Hyunsung as if he were bound by “normal” standards.

Yoon Hyeon-min spoke.

“Yes, Kim Hyunsung cannot be allowed to live. Even if his death ensnares me in some conspiracy, that sacrifice is necessary.”

“Should we pursue him now?”

“No.”

He shook his head.

Kim Hyunsung had staked his life.

His declaration that he’d secure evidence even with his own death didn’t sound like a bluff.

“Give it a week. After that, kill him.”

He finally admitted it.

Kim Hyunsung was far too dangerous to be treated like a mere plaything.

—

Kim Hyunsung traveled alone to Daesan.

The setting sun was visible as he rode the bus.

By the time he arrived at Cheonil High School, the sky was still bright, but the students had already left for the day.

He walked.

There was no resistance from security, as prior arrangements had been made.

[Class 1-1]

The place where the bullying had started.

The beginning of his return to the past.

So much had happened here.

Living as a vegetative state, Kim Hyunsung had endlessly regretted helping Lee Jungmin. Yet he never thought that choice was wrong. The ones at fault were Park Mincheol’s gang and, behind them, the Golden Circle. Lee Jungmin, who had suffered so much due to the bullying, might have turned away from the friend who helped him, but that didn’t make his choice inherently wrong.

Lee Jungmin had been a victim.

And a victim’s cowardice was simply a survival instinct—it could never be equated to the guilt of the perpetrators.

Now, he understood.

He understood Lee Jungmin’s situation.

He understood his feelings.

Just as everyone else had turned a blind eye to school violence, Lee Jungmin had only closed his eyes to avoid being dragged down further.

The world was disgusting.

As minors, they were immature, unable to grasp how their violence would shatter someone else’s life. The beatings and harassment, done for fleeting amusement, would trap their victims in trauma, derailing their lives even as adults. It was society’s job to correct that, for adults to step in. But Cheonil High School, like the rest of the world, had failed.

It was everyone’s fault.

The Golden Circle had thrived because of Yoon Hyeon-min and a society that chose to look away.

‘If, before the Golden Circle gained power, school violence had been treated as a serious issue and efforts were made to resolve it, Yoon Hyeon-min would’ve deemed this venture impossible. Instead, the ease with which he could form a cartel turned the Golden Circle into the monster it is today.’

He kept walking.

Past Class 1-1.

He glanced at the teachers’ office.

As he climbed the stairs, he remembered his encounters with Kim Youngcheol and Oh Daehwan. He passed the second-year classrooms and reached the third-year section.

When he’d first stormed into the third-year classroom to confront Shin Youngmin, his heart had nearly exploded from the uncertainty of his plan. Still, he’d had no choice. The opportunity he’d risked his life for left no room for retreat. His opponents had always underestimated the level of commitment behind his determination, mistaking it for mere stubbornness. But Kim Hyunsung had always been sincere. He had fully accepted that if things went wrong and he fell alongside Shin Youngmin, he might die then and there.

By any means necessary.

He had forged ahead in pursuit of revenge.

Even the most well-thought-out plans from his imagined world had to be fueled by sheer willpower.

As he walked.

**Creak—**

He reached the rooftop.

Approaching the railing.

Looking down at the height, more than sufficient to end a life, Kim Hyunsung’s heart pounded.

A month ago.

On the day he was supposed to have died, that memory flooded his mind like spilled ink.

—

One day, just before the college entrance exam.

In the stillness of an empty school, Kim Hyunsung, cap pulled low over his face, climbed to the rooftop of Cheonil High School.

**Ssshhh—**

The wind blew.

It carried an ominous presence, like an unseen force made manifest.

[Why haven’t you completed your revenge? Today is the day you must fulfill your promise.]

It was the day.

The day Kim Hyunsung had fallen from the rooftop and entered a vegetative state.

By the terms of his contract with the devil, Kim Hyunsung was supposed to leap now. But his thoughts had completely shifted.

“I’ve had a change of heart. As I pursued revenge, I kept encountering victims of the Golden Circle whose lives were utterly destroyed. Even if I succeed in my revenge, their pain won’t heal. They’ll carry it until the end of their lives. That realization made me angry. None of us became victims by choice. If there are no winners in this fight, can it even be called true revenge?”

Determined, Kim Hyunsung continued speaking.

“My revenge isn’t about killing Yoon Hyeon-min. It’s about destroying him and creating the life I’ve desperately longed for—a life where I can laugh and live happily with my grandmother, my sibling, and my friends, just like everyone else. Victims deserve happiness too. If revenge leads to mutual destruction, it isn’t revenge—it’s annihilation. And according to our agreement, I’m only obligated to fulfill my part of the deal after my revenge is complete. Since I haven’t fully achieved my revenge, I see no reason to fulfill the contract yet.”

[That is contradictory.]

“I know it’s contradictory. But if you could force me to die, if you truly held the power to take my life as you pleased, you wouldn’t have needed to use such a complicated method like rewinding time. If you want me to honor the contract, then say so here and now. If that’s the case, I’ll kill Yoon Hyeon-min immediately and ensure there’s no room for regret.” (TL Note: WTF, is he trying to outplay even the devil?)

He wasn’t sure.

He didn’t know if this logic would work.

Kim Hyunsung was simply grasping at straws to cling to life.

Silence filled the air.

The transcendent being.

It merely followed the will of fate.

Breaking through the stillness, the voice resonated.

[Perhaps the fact that you did not die, as well as your resolve to live a new life, were all part of destiny.]

**Whoosh.**

The wind blew.

The dark gust swept over the railing and disappeared into the void.

[I cannot enforce your death this time either. May this life bring you no regrets.]

—

He emerged from his thoughts.

A month had passed since that day.

He was alive.

The contract had not been enforced, and his contradictory reasoning had bought him more time to live.

‘I might still die while carrying out my plans. But now, I have hope.’

Risking everything.

Once it was all over.

He now held onto the possibility of a new life instead of death.

Taking a deep breath, he steadied himself.

The rooftop, once a space of terror, had become a symbol of hope for him. A place where he could imagine a new beginning. Memories from his past flowed through his mind like a vivid panorama. The experiences that had brought him to this conclusion filled him with determination to face the future.

He would succeed.

Not by allowing mutual destruction that would bring satisfaction to the perpetrators, but by crafting an ideal ending—one of unilateral devastation for his enemies.

‘This is truly the final act.’

He turned away.

It was time.

The last finale awaited him.