Chapter 143: Lawless Zone (5)
Choi Myung-hoon swallowed a groan.
The sight before him.
He couldn’t believe it.
What did a “knife” mean in a high school fight?
In a normal fight, weapons weren’t used. Beyond being considered cowardly, using a weapon like a knife meant taking on far greater risks than just school violence. And yet, if one could use a weapon, it would have immense power. No matter how good a student was at fighting, when faced with a sharp blade, their body would freeze up.
Choi Myung-hoon was no different.
The first time he faced someone coming at him with a knife, he felt fear for the first time in his life.
In the end, he won.
His opponent had been a rookie who didn’t even know how to properly stab with the knife. From that moment on, Choi learned that he needed to confront those who used weapons with boldness, and this realization laid the foundation for his rise to S+ rank. His reputation for always completing assignments, no matter the circumstances, was what made Choi Myung-hoon who he was today. But even so, he couldn’t have imagined facing someone like Kim Hyun-seong, who caught a knife barehanded.
A wave of cold reality swept over him.
His opponent was completely insane.
Breaking through dozens of people and even catching a knife with his bare hands.
As Kim Hyun-seong advanced toward him with long strides, Choi Myung-hoon instinctively backed away.
‘I… I can’t win this…’
His fighting spirit crumbled.
Before he could even finish the thought, Kim Hyun-seong was already right in front of him.
*Whoosh!*
He swung his fist.
Perhaps overwhelmed by fear, his movements were bigger than before. Kim Hyun-seong ducked under the punch, letting it pass by as his own fist slammed into Choi Myung-hoon’s stomach. The impact left his eyes wide open in shock. Realizing that the fight wasn’t over, he swiftly threw a sharp one-two combination, but Kim Hyun-seong was no longer there.
*Swish, swish.*
He dodged.
In that brief moment where they were intertwined, Kim Hyun-seong reacted with pinpoint precision.
He evaded every one of Choi Myung-hoon’s attacks, and with each dodge, he landed a punch of his own.
*Pak, paak—!*
“Grrr…”
Choi Myung-hoon gritted his teeth.
He couldn’t lose like this.
He charged at Kim Hyun-seong head-on, but once again, his fists sliced through empty air. Even though Kim Hyun-seong had already fought dozens of people and was bleeding profusely from his hand, the atmosphere was still one where Choi felt completely overpowered. Unlike before, when Kim had to watch out for Jo Min-seok, now that those shackles were gone, he overwhelmed Choi Myung-hoon with precision and intensity.
None of Choi’s counterattacks worked.
Once again, Kim Hyun-seong brushed off his punch and buried his own fist into Choi Myung-hoon’s face.
*Crack.*
*Thud—!*
Blood sprayed.
Choi Myung-hoon collapsed to the floor.
For a brief moment, the classroom fell into a stunned silence, with only the sound of Choi’s groans filling the room, as Jo Min-seok was already unconscious. It was over. Kim Hyun-seong had finally taken down all those who had stood in his way, proving his strength.
Kim Hyun-seong glanced out the window.
Students had gathered in a crowd, but there wasn’t a teacher in sight.
“This is all because of the teachers. The school’s in chaos, but where are they? So busy they couldn’t even bother to show up, huh?”
*Grip.*
“Ugh, ugh…”
He grabbed Choi Myung-hoon’s arm.
In his terrified eyes, Kim Hyun-seong loomed over him, pressing down on his body with ruthless force.
Then.
“So, this is all the teachers’ fault.”
*Snap.*
*Crack crack crack.*
“Arrrghhhh!”
He snapped Choi’s arm.
* * *
At that time.
In the vice principal’s office, away from the other teachers in the meeting room, Jang Won-gi spoke to Jin Kyung-hee.
“Are we really okay with this?”
“If we’re not okay with it, do you have any other ideas?”
“Well, no, but…”
“Then just keep your mouth shut and watch. We’re in the same boat as the Golden Circle now. They’ll want to resolve this issue as quickly as possible, so no matter what happens at this school, they’ll clean up the mess. The police, the prosecutors, even politicians—Golden Circle people are everywhere like cancer. Do you really think anything will happen to us? We just need to stay out of it.”
Jang Won-gi was scared.
They had received orders for a blackout.
No matter what happened, they were to do nothing.
Although Jang had reacted coldly to Kang Jae-wook earlier, he was still human and couldn’t help but worry about whether someone might die.
Jang Won-gi asked nervously.
“There’s no chance the plan could fail, right?”
“Fail?”
Jin Kyung-hee chuckled.
“Impossible. The Golden Circle has sent in two S-rank fighters for this. Unless Kim Hyun-seong is some kind of god, there’s no way he could take them all down. This will be over soon. Kim Hyun-seong won’t walk away unscathed, so start thinking of a good excuse for how we’ll handle the situation afterward.”
*Sigh.*
She stood up.
She lit a cigarette, not caring whether Jang Won-gi watched or not.
Just as she was about to take a puff.
*Bang!*
“Vice Principal, something terrible has happened!”
A teacher burst into the room.
Seeing the panicked look on his face, Jin Kyung-hee felt an inexplicable sense of dread.
* * *
Jang Won-gi couldn’t breathe.
Neither could Jin Kyung-hee.
When they arrived at the third-year classroom, a horrible scene greeted them. From the stairs to the floor, everything was stained with blood, and students lay sprawled everywhere.
It was a horrific sight.
When they reached the classroom, they saw Kim Hyun-seong sitting on a chair, with Choi Myung-hoon lying unconscious at his feet.
“What… what is this!”
Jang Won-gi was at a loss for words.
Had Jin Kyung-hee not nudged him sharply in the side, he would have continued to stand there with a dumbfounded expression.
Jang Won-gi shouted.
“Kim Hyun-seong! What the hell is going on? Explain yourself!”
“Isn’t it obvious?”
“What?”
“You already know. Choi Myung-hoon ordered his guys to attack me, and this is the result. Judging by their condition, I don’t think a trip to the nurse’s office is going to cut it. You should probably call 119 first. And also.”
Kim Hyun-seong smiled.
What he said next was something no one should have uttered.
“Call 112. This is no longer something the school can handle.”
* * *
An emergency meeting was called.
Jin Kyung-hee addressed the teachers gathered in the meeting room with a grave expression.
“There is something you must all understand. This incident must be framed as a case of student misconduct. The fact that dozens of students deliberately attacked ‘Kim Hyun-seong,’ and that a knife was used, must be completely buried.”
“…Can we really do that?”
It was Jang Won-gi who asked.
This wasn’t what they had discussed earlier.
They had been told that the Golden Circle would clean up the mess, but now Jin Kyung-hee was saying something entirely different.
“If you have a brain, use it. What do you think will happen if we try to pin this on Kim Hyun-seong, who’s still standing and very much aware of the situation? The teachers’ inaction, the police’s delayed response, and on top of that, the knife used by Jo Min-seok. The plan to turn this school into a lawless zone was only feasible if Kim Hyun-seong had been dealt with quietly. But now that he’s here, do you think he’ll just let this slide? He’ll call in his lawyer like last time, and he’ll get civil rights groups involved. If things get messy, we’ll all have to bear the consequences.”
The situation had grown complicated.
From the start, framing Kim Hyun-seong as the aggressor was impossible.
The fact that dozens of students had attacked one person was too blatant, and the Golden Circle’s plan, as well as Jin Kyung-hee’s, had been to quietly eliminate Kim Hyun-seong while turning the school into a lawless zone. It was impossible to handle this through normal channels. They had already disregarded the school’s rules, suspending all order in the hope of removing Kim Hyun-seong through brute force.
At that moment.
Jin Kyung-hee knew what Daeseong Future High School’s role had to be.
Deliberate negligence.
If they framed the situation as the result of being unable to act quickly due to the ongoing meeting, they could avoid some of the blame. It would be a huge scandal, but they could sweep most of it under the rug. However, if they tried to “punish” Kim Hyun-seong now, Daeseong Future would have to explain everything.
What were the teachers doing?
Why were the police late?
How had dozens of students come to attack Kim Hyun-seong, and why did Jo Min-seok use a knife?
No matter how much they tried to manipulate public opinion, there were too many witnesses for them to control the narrative.
They had been outwitted.
Their plan to use lawlessness to eliminate Kim Hyun-seong had backfired. Instead, Kim had turned the absence of law and order into his advantage. His violence and every act he had committed were justified by the teachers’ inaction. Knowing full well they couldn’t defend themselves, Kim Hyun-seong showed no fear when the teachers arrived at the scene, including Vice Principal Jin Kyung-hee.
He was confident in his retaliation.
Whether they tried to cover up the incident or not.
Kim Hyun-seong was not at a disadvantage.
Jin Kyung-hee, reading the confidence in his demeanor, reminded the teachers once again.
“Remember. This incident happened while we were in a meeting. We were just slow to respond, that’s all.”
For now.
It was time for Daeseong Future to wait for upper management to take appropriate action instead of shouldering all the blame.
* * *
The school was in an uproar.
Ambulances arrived discreetly, carrying away injured students, and Daeseong Future High School made it clear they intended to cover up the incident. Teachers went from classroom to classroom, instructing the students to keep their mouths shut. They even issued thinly veiled threats, warning that anyone who spoke up about the unfortunate incident would face consequences.
It was pathetic.
Their intentions were painfully obvious.
Kim Hyun-seong didn’t follow the ambulances for treatment but instead staggered off in a different direction.
“…Senior, are you okay?”
It was Kang Jae-wook.
He had arrived on the scene just moments ago.
Seeing the aftermath of the fight had his heart racing.
Although he knew Kim Hyun-seong would fight Choi Myung-hoon, he had never imagined things would escalate to this degree. His awe for Kim Hyun-seong grew. Kang had never once dared to challenge Choi Myung-hoon’s faction, but Kim Hyun-seong had single-handedly destroyed them.
He followed behind Kim Hyun-seong.
Even though Kim didn’t respond, Kang felt compelled to trail him.
‘…Where is he going?’
Something felt off.
Kim Hyun-seong had arrived at the second-year classrooms.
In Kang Jae-wook’s class, no less.
Kim opened the door with his blood-soaked hand, and as he surveyed the frozen students inside, his gaze sent a chill down their spines.
Everyone was terrified.
Word had spread quickly about what Kim Hyun-seong had done, and the second-year students avoided his gaze, desperately trying not to get involved.
Kim Hyun-seong’s eyes settled on someone.
He walked over to the student, stopping right in front of them.
*Thunk.*
“Hic, hic.”
The student in front of him.
A second-year student, who couldn’t help but hiccup in fear.
The sight of Kim Hyun-seong, drenched in blood, was so terrifying that it had reduced him to a trembling mess.
“What do you think about this situation?”
“…W-What?”
“Dozens of students attacked one person at school, even using a knife. The teachers are scrambling to clean up the mess, but here I am, the obvious victim, being left like this. Why do you think that is? Why are the teachers acting so irrationally?”
“…H-How would I know?”
“Oh, you know. You’re well aware that a group called the Golden Circle exists.”
*Glance.*
Kim Hyun-seong turned to look at Kang Jae-wook.
Locking eyes with the shocked Kang, he turned his gaze back to the trembling student.
“You’re the one who placed the request for Kang Jae-wook, aren’t you? So, of course, you know.”
*Grab!*
He yanked the student by the collar.
This incident.
It wouldn’t be buried.
Though outwardly it might seem like nothing, within the Golden Circle, there would be serious consequences.
“Isn’t that right?”
*Slap!*
He slapped the student across the face.
And again.
*Slap, slap, slap!*
Even as the teachers rushed over in a panic, Kim Hyun-seong didn’t stop slapping the student.
