Devil Returns to School Days - Chapter 200: Epilogue, Cause and Effect (2)

Over the past few years.

How had Oh Hye-ji been living?

Kim Hyunsung had never once sought her out, but her life had already been engulfed in the flames of hell.

‘…Should I go out? What if I run into Kim Hyunsung again? But I can’t live like this forever. I’m still young…’

Her face was haggard.

Once popular and admired, she was now a shadow of her former self, gaunt and pale.

It all started the day she secretly went to a supermarket.

After coincidentally encountering Kim Hyunsung, Oh Hye-ji hadn’t dared to step outside again.

She feared that if Kim Hyunsung discovered she was able to walk around freely, that devilish being might personally come for her with a knife. The very thought terrified her. Oh Hye-ji locked herself in her self-made prison, trembling daily with nightmares of meeting Kim Hyunsung.

Time passed.

Her family’s fortune crumbled, and her father’s drunken voice became a constant in the living room.

“How did my life come to this?”

“Damn it, I should’ve never hired the Golden Circle.”

“Damn girl.”

Footsteps approached.

Then.

*Bang! Bang! Bang!*

“Come out.”

“This is all your fault.”

“Why do I have to live like this?!”

The once-doting father, nicknamed a “daughter fool,” had changed.

At first, his wife would beg him to stop, screaming in protest, but as time went on, her voice of restraint faded. Their lives had been ruined by one child. In the face of their miserable reality, they needed someone to blame.

Then one day.

Golden Gate erupted.

Hearing about it through the only connection she had to the outside world, Oh Hye-ji became even more frightened.

“…If I go out, Kim Hyunsung will kill me.”

Think about it.

He wasn’t just an ordinary person but someone monstrous enough to take on the Taeyang Group. Eliminating someone as insignificant as herself would be nothing to him. She dug herself deeper into her hole. When Im Cheol-hyung’s list of clients was revealed, her name came to light, but she miraculously avoided punishment. It wasn’t because her crimes couldn’t be proven but because Kim Hyunsung hadn’t been harmed and had, in fact, retaliated. As such, there were no grounds to treat her actions as actual offenses.

Her case was classified as an attempted crime.

She received a community service order and was forced out into the world. To her surprise, the fresh air felt liberating.

She used a wheelchair when outside.

Even pretending to be disabled, she found joy in being able to move about freely.

A year had passed since Golden Gate, and Oh Hye-ji began to think that perhaps Kim Hyunsung no longer cared about a small fry like her. His lack of contact over the past year seemed to prove that. As hope slowly blossomed, Oh Hye-ji dared to muster courage.

She pulled her hat low over her face.

Like the day she went to the supermarket.

She began venturing outside again.

She visited convenience stores and even karaoke rooms.

Though she was met with glares of disdain at home, being out in the world gave her a sense of being alive.

Today was no different.

Another outing, repeated many times before.

She went to a convenience store far from her home, thinking this would ensure she wouldn’t encounter Kim Hyunsung.

* * *

Her heart sank.

The convenience store manager’s face twisted in an instant, and to Oh Hye-ji, he looked like a ghost.

“It’s you, that damn girl.”

The manager dropped the bag.

Snatching off her hat, her unkempt and brittle hair blew in the breeze.

“Did you think I wouldn’t recognize you? Damn, I never thought I’d see Oh Hye-ji walk into my store.”

“I… I’m sorry.”

She turned abruptly.

As Oh Hye-ji fled the store in a panic, the manager’s furious voice echoed after her.

“Get out of here, you piece of trash! I’m not selling anything to a monster like you!”

She was disoriented.

Panting, she ran all the way home.

Her vision blurred, and the passing glances from strangers felt like accusations, as if they all knew who she was. She slammed her door shut as soon as she arrived. Ignoring whatever her father yelled, she blocked out the noise and replayed the scene with the store manager in her mind.

‘How did he recognize me?’

He was a complete stranger.

It was one thing to encounter Kim Hyunsung, but the realization that someone she didn’t know recognized her was too shocking.

With trembling hands, she grabbed her phone.

She hadn’t looked at news articles in the past year.

Afraid she might see something related to herself, Oh Hye-ji had completely severed ties with the outside world.

[Oh Hye-ji]

She searched her name.

And upon seeing the results…

“…Ah, ahhh!”

She screamed and dropped her phone.

Her face turned pale.

She had known that a list of clients had been revealed a year ago, but what she just saw confirmed that someone had exposed the identities of the clients and perpetrators. Among them, she was the most infamous. While her offenses seemed minor compared to others, the issue was that she was the one who had targeted *Kim Hyunsung*, the person who blew the lid off the Golden Gate scandal.

– “Crazy bitch.”

– “How could someone with that face commission such heinous crimes?”

– “This is insane. She had no idea who Kim Hyunsung was, and look what happened because she messed with him.”

Oh Hye-ji’s face.

Oh Hye-ji’s identity.

Oh Hye-ji’s entire life.

Everything had been laid bare.

People flooded the internet with posts mocking and condemning her, as if her life as a perpetrator was of no consequence. It felt suffocating. Back when Kim Hyunsung had discovered her scheme and she had hidden herself, she never imagined the nightmare would last forever. Her father had assured her that she could still walk freely and that someday she could start anew.

But now.

That baseless hope crumbled.

Her unfocused eyes stared blankly into space.

“…How am I supposed to live now?”

She finally realized.

No matter how much time passed, no ounce of hope would ever be granted to her life.

Even if it had been a youthful mistake.

The price of malice was far too cruel.

* * *

In a prison cell.

A man was sprawled on the floor.

*Crash!*

“…Ughhh.”

He groaned in pain.

His cheek stung.

Above him, an angry voice thundered.

“Damn idiot, how many times do I have to tell you to clean the damn cell properly? Can’t you see the hair on the floor? Are you blind?!”

It was baseless harassment.

The so-called “cell boss” was pointing at a few stray hairs with his fingers, something unavoidable in the poor conditions of the prison. However, the man understood how to react when faced with violence. Outside, he had enjoyed a position of relative respect, but here, that meant nothing.

“I’m sorry. I’ll clean it properly.”

“Good, Yeong-cheol.”

*Slap, slap.*

The younger man, at least ten years his junior, slapped his cheeks lightly and sneered as he met his gaze.

“If you keep up this crap, I’ll make sure you’re dead. Got it?”

“…Yes, I’ll reflect on my actions.”

The surrounding inmates chuckled.

It was the same routine every time.

Kim Yeong-cheol returned to his spot and pulled his blanket up over his head when it was time for lights out. (TL Note: He was Hyunsung’s homeroom teacher back in Cheonil High)

“Snf…”

He muffled his cries.

Even the faintest sound of his sobbing could bring beatings from his cellmates, claiming it was bad luck to hear crying at night.

Kim Hyunsung’s revelations.

They hadn’t just destroyed Kim Yeong-cheol’s family; since arriving in prison, he had endured daily violence. At first, he had tried to hold his ground, lifting his chin defiantly. But there was no way to win against hardened criminals accustomed to violence. After being beaten so badly on his first day that he lost a tooth, the hierarchy was firmly established.

Tears welled up in his eyes.

How had he fallen to such a pitiful state?

The thought of continuing to live like this left him hopeless.

‘If I have to accept this reality, I need to find a way to survive.’

He swallowed his sobs.

He had devised a plan in his imagination.

On TV, he’d heard stories of even serial killers receiving humane treatment because of “this.”

And that was…

Filing a report with the Human Rights Commission.

* * *

A few days later.

A prison officer visited the cell.

“We got a call from the Human Rights Commission yesterday. Apparently, the level of violence inside this prison is severe, even for criminals. Everyone should watch themselves. After all, you’re all the same criminals. There’s no need to cause unnecessary trouble.”

“Yes, sir.”

“All right, dismissed.”

The officer turned to leave.

Watching him go, Kim Yeong-cheol turned pale and asked nervously, “Th-this is it?”

“What more do you want?”

“No, I just…”

His voice trailed off.

With everyone watching, he couldn’t admit to being the one who had filed the report.

The officer smirked.

“If you have any complaints about your time here, feel free to come to me. The Human Rights Commission may have influence, but in the end, it’s the people on the ground who handle things. You get what I’m saying?”

“…Yes, sir.”

Kim Yeong-cheol wasn’t stupid.

He instinctively knew.

The officer was fully aware he had filed the report, but had chosen to brush it off as if it were nothing.

*Creak.*

*Bang.*

The cell door slammed shut.

Kim couldn’t even bring himself to glance around.

He heard footsteps approaching.

“You heard what he said, right? Reporting to the Human Rights Commission? Did you really think we wouldn’t touch you because of that? Hey, man, I knew you were soft, but I didn’t think you were this clueless.”

*Grab.*

His collar was seized.

Kim Yeong-cheol looked up, startled, into the face of his aggressor.

“I-I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be. There’s no need. I plan to keep tormenting you. Usually, as a prison sentence drags on, the bullying eases up, but not for you. For you, it’ll continue until I’m released. And even after I’m out, I’ll make sure someone takes over for me.”

“…!”

His eyes wavered.

He couldn’t comprehend why they were treating him this way.

Even though they were all criminals, he couldn’t voice the thought.

“You don’t understand, do you? Idiot. Just look at the officer’s reaction. If even he ignores the Human Rights Commission, it means someone’s pulling strings to ensure we keep making your life hell. Thanks to that, my account’s nicely padded. Oh, and by the way, society hates school violence offenders like you even more than gangsters.”

Everything became clear.

The malicious violence.

The indifference of the prison staff.

Someone was behind it all.

Just as Kim Yeong-cheol had once turned a blind eye to the violence his students suffered, he now found himself helpless against the brutal reality of violence. His run to the Human Rights Commission was like a mirror of his past self. Just as he had crushed his students’ realities for personal gain, the last hope he clung to was shattered.

That day.

Kim Yeong-cheol was beaten like a dog.

He bled so much that he required medical treatment.

The prison doctor asked no questions.

Where he had been injured, what had happened—it didn’t matter. The doctor treated him with an indifferent gaze, mechanically doing his job.

The next day.

It was time for exercise.

Everyone lined up to head to the yard, and Kim Yeong-cheol trudged along with his battered face.

There was no hope left for him.

He would endure violence until his release, and even if he made it out, there was no future waiting for him. During his time in prison, his wife had cut all ties with him. The little wealth he had left was drained by alimony payments, and he had lost his job. He had no means to survive.

Dozens of times a day.

He thought about ending his life.

But Kim Yeong-cheol didn’t even have the courage to take his own life.

And then.

On his way to the yard, he spotted a familiar face.

“…!”

Oh Dae-hwan. (TL Note: He was the principal back in Cheonil High)

It was him.

The man who had resisted to the end, citing his chronic illness, had finally been transferred to Kim’s prison.

Oh Dae-hwan, heading somewhere other than the yard, looked just as beaten down as Kim.

As they passed each other.

For a moment, their eyes met, and they exchanged wistful glances, as if recalling their shared past.