Chapter 139: Lawless Land (1)

At **Daeseong Mirae High School**, each grade level was assigned a separate floor. Normally, there was no reason for upperclassmen to visit the underclassmen’s classrooms. Yet, as a group of second-year students walked through the hall, laughing and chatting, their expressions suddenly hardened. At the far end of the hallway, they saw **Choi Myung-hoon**, the school’s notorious terror, dragging a student by the ear.

“Grrr…”

“Hold it in. Scream, and I’ll kill you right here,” **Choi Myung-hoon** threatened.

He then disappeared into the bathroom, followed closely by his lackeys. The second-year students, finally releasing their held breaths, exchanged nervous glances as the heavy bathroom door slammed shut.

**Bang!**

Inside the bathroom, **Choi Myung-hoon** wasted no time, throwing the student he had dragged into the wall. The student, **Kang Jae-wook**, looked up at him with terror in his eyes.

Then, without warning—

**Smack!**

**Choi Myung-hoon** slapped him hard across the face. Blood spurted from **Kang Jae-wook’s** nose, dripping down as he helplessly flailed his arms, blinded by the pain and the blood running into his eyes. He didn’t know what to do. The pain was immense, but the shock of it all froze his thoughts.

“Hey.”

**Choi Myung-hoon** grabbed **Kang Jae-wook’s** hair and yanked his head up, forcing their eyes to meet.

“…I-I’m sorry,” **Kang Jae-wook** stammered.

“What are you sorry for?”

“…”

“Jae-wook, how long are you planning to keep this up? Didn’t I tell you that for your future, you’d be better off transferring schools or just quitting altogether?”

Before **Kim Hyun-seong** transferred to the school, **Kang Jae-wook** had already been targeted by **Choi Myung-hoon**. The other students didn’t know why, but for nearly a year, **Choi Myung-hoon** had been making **Kang Jae-wook’s** life a living hell. With trembling eyes, **Kang Jae-wook** looked at **Choi Myung-hoon** as if he were about to burst into tears.

But **Choi Myung-hoon** knew that **Kang Jae-wook** wasn’t like most people.

If he had a weaker will, he would have already quit school or thrown himself off the roof by now.

**Choi Myung-hoon** smirked.

“You probably think you just need to endure for one more year until I graduate, and then you’ll finally have peace in your life, right? But let me tell you something: that’s never going to happen. I’m going to make sure that before I leave this school, I’ll get rid of you completely.”

He grabbed **Kang Jae-wook’s** hand and raised it in front of his face, then snapped one of his fingers.

**Crack!**

“Aaaaaaah!” **Kang Jae-wook** screamed in agony, while **Choi Myung-hoon’s** lackeys chuckled in amusement. The shrieks of pain echoed out of the bathroom, but despite the horrifying sound, no one came to help. **Kang Jae-wook** lay on the floor, writhing in pain, but to everyone outside the bathroom, it was as if he didn’t exist.

* * *

**Kang Jae-wook** slumped down into his seat, staring at the bandages wrapped around his broken finger. He hadn’t told the teachers. He knew from a year of experience that it wouldn’t change anything. **Choi Myung-hoon** had already covered all his tracks.

A year ago, there had been a similar incident. After enduring one of **Choi Myung-hoon’s** beatings, **Kang Jae-wook** ran to the teachers to beg for help. But to his shock, his so-called friends had turned against him.

“I saw him get hurt while we were playing dodgeball. I don’t know why he’s acting like this.”

That day, **Kang Jae-wook**’s world fell apart.

Even now, he couldn’t understand why.

Why would they frame him and lie to protect **Choi Myung-hoon**? Before that day, he had never even met **Choi Myung-hoon**. He had led a normal life as an ordinary student until his sudden rise to the top of the rankings after the first-semester exams. That was when things changed. Friends started avoiding him, making snide remarks. And when **Kang Jae-wook** pushed back, it only escalated.

Then **Choi Myung-hoon** appeared.

**Choi Myung-hoon** claimed to be the older brother of one of the students **Kang Jae-wook** had fought with, and that was all the excuse he needed to start tormenting him.

For the past year, it had been nothing short of hell.

**Kang Jae-wook** was called out and beaten at **Choi Myung-hoon’s** whim. During exam season, he was dragged away after school for more beatings. But still, he endured. His family had moved to Gangnam, paying exorbitant rent, all so he could attend a prestigious school. **Kang Jae-wook** knew he couldn’t fail. He couldn’t afford to.

For a while, he clung to the thought that if he just held out until **Choi Myung-hoon** graduated, he would finally have peace for his last year.

But now, it was clear that wouldn’t happen.

**Choi Myung-hoon** had told him directly: the next year would be worse than anything he had experienced.

This wasn’t pain a human could endure.

Staring out the window with a hollow look in his eyes, **Kang Jae-wook** muttered to himself:

“…Maybe I should just jump.”

To him, the future looked hopeless.

* * *

A few days later, **Kang Jae-wook** heard shocking news.

He had been paying attention to a senior named **Kim Hyun-seong** ever since the latter transferred to the school. It wasn’t just because of **Kim Hyun-seong’s** impressive academic record, having ranked first in the national mock exams. What caught **Kang Jae-wook’s** attention was how **Choi Myung-hoon** started harassing him in exactly the same way he had been targeted a year earlier.

**Choi Myung-hoon’s** sudden approach, the bullying that followed — it was all too familiar. It made **Kang Jae-wook** wonder if there was a pattern to **Choi Myung-hoon’s** behavior. He pitied **Kim Hyun-seong**, certain that he was about to suffer the same fate. **Kang Jae-wook** had been utterly crushed under **Choi Myung-hoon’s** bullying. What chance did **Kim Hyun-seong** have?

But then something unexpected happened.

Rumors spread among the second-year students.

“I heard he got expelled, right? But he’s still coming to school.”

“What? Is that even possible?”

“Apparently, if you appeal the expulsion to the court, you can keep attending school until the case is resolved. And get this — if the case drags on for more than a year, he could just graduate before it’s decided. Isn’t that wild?”

**Kang Jae-wook’s** heart started racing.

A seed of doubt had been planted in his mind. He had started wondering if **Choi Myung-hoon** targeted top students on purpose, perhaps under someone’s orders. But now, **Kim Hyun-seong** was fighting back. He wasn’t like **Kang Jae-wook**, who had done nothing but suffer.

**Kim Hyun-seong** was standing up to **Choi Myung-hoon**.

And then there were the rumors about his past — about what **Kim Hyun-seong** had done back at **Daesan High School**.

The more he thought about it, the more excited **Kang Jae-wook** became.

‘If **Kim Hyun-seong** manages to defeat **Choi Myung-hoon**, maybe I can finally escape this hell.’

Hope began to stir inside him.

All day, even after classes ended, that hope continued to burn.

* * *

At lunchtime, **Kim Hyun-seong** had just finished eating and was heading back to his classroom when a frantic voice called out to him.

“…Senior.”

He turned to see **Kang Jae-wook** panting in front of him.

Raising an eyebrow, **Kim Hyun-seong** waited for him to speak.

“You’re **Kim Hyun-seong**, right? I have something to tell you.”

After checking their surroundings to make sure no one was nearby, **Kang Jae-wook** lowered his voice.

“It’s not confirmed, but I think **Choi Myung-hoon** is targeting both of us on purpose. You got first place in the national exams, and I got first place in the midterms last year. That’s when the bullying started for me. So, please be careful. If this isn’t just about some grudge but an actual plan to ruin us, then we need to be cautious. He said he wouldn’t let me graduate, so I’m sure you’re next.”

“Why are you telling me this?” **

Kim Hyun-seong** asked.

**Kang Jae-wook** hesitated, his mind swirling with emotions.

“I… I want you to win. If you beat **Choi Myung-hoon**, then maybe this nightmare will finally end.”

Just then—

**Thwap!**

Suddenly, a carton of milk fell from the sky, hitting **Kim Hyun-seong** squarely on the head.

Milk dripped down his face, but **Kim Hyun-seong** remained calm, simply looking up to see **Choi Myung-hoon** leaning out a window, grinning.

Without skipping a beat, **Kim Hyun-seong** said, “You’re right. **Choi Myung-hoon** is targeting both of us on purpose.”

He had known about **Kang Jae-wook** from the beginning. Before transferring, he had already confirmed that **Golden Circle** had marked **Kang Jae-wook** as a target.

Turning to **Kang Jae-wook**, **Kim Hyun-seong** continued.

“So, from now on, don’t do anything. You don’t know anything.”

Then, without another word, **Kim Hyun-seong** walked away, heading straight for the building where **Choi Myung-hoon** had been.

* * *

The smell of spoiled milk clung to him as he ascended the stairs. It didn’t bother him.

With each step, **Kim Hyun-seong** thought about **Kang Jae-wook**.

‘He got first place and became a target, just as expected.’

While preparing to transfer to **Daeseong Mirae High School**, **Jung Chan-su** had provided detailed information. He had learned that **Kang Jae-wook** had suffered a year of horrific bullying at the hands of **Choi Myung-hoon**. **Kim Hyun-seong** understood why **Kang Jae-wook** had approached him. Like **Kim Hyun-seong’s** past self, **Kang Jae-wook** had fought back but had ultimately been broken.

It was tragic.

Both of them had done nothing wrong.

They had fulfilled their duties as students, studied hard, and yet **Golden Circle** had ruined their lives for its own gain. It wasn’t even for any good reason. Destroying top students didn’t suddenly make the other students smarter. **Golden Circle** tore apart lives just for their slight personal benefit, without a thought for the suffering they inflicted.

People like **Oh Hye-ji** and the other **Golden Circle** clients never even considered the consequences of their cruelty.

That was why **Golden Circle** had to be eradicated.

They were a blight on the world, profiting from others’ misery without consequence.

**Kang Jae-wook** had sought **Kim Hyun-seong’s** help out of desperation.

Just as he had once wished for someone to save him.

And if **Kim Hyun-seong** could walk back down these stairs unscathed…

The sound of hurried footsteps interrupted his thoughts.

But **Kim Hyun-seong** didn’t stop.

‘Then maybe you can finally find peace.’

His eyes burned with fury as he climbed the stairs, one step at a time.

Ahead, a group of unfamiliar students blocked the way. Judging by their demeanor, they were lackeys sent by **Choi Myung-hoon**.

“Are you **Kim Hyun-seong**, the senior?” one of them sneered.

“Senior? What kind of senior—”

Before they could finish, **Kim Hyun-seong** moved.

**Wham!**

With one swift punch, **Kim Hyun-seong** struck the leader in the face, sending him crashing to the ground. The others shouted in surprise.

“Shit!”

“Get him!”

This was the moment he had been waiting for.

The moment where the law and rules held no sway.

In the lawless land of school, **Kim Hyun-seong** was ready for war.