Chapter 158: The Moment Evil Overflows (2)
**At the entrance of the officetel.**
A group of high school students suddenly appeared, controlling the people trying to enter or exit the building.
“Go back.”
“The elevator’s out of service right now.”
“Just listen, damn it.”
It was a chaotic scene. The adults living in the officetel raised their voices, but no matter how much older or authoritative they were, none could handle a group of teenagers this large. The high schoolers looked ready to cause trouble at the slightest provocation. A building manager had already called the police, and people slowly began to leave the entrance, until only the group of students remained.
Among them, Choi Myung-hoon stood by the elevator, his eyes cold and calculating.
‘No matter how strong you are, you won’t make it out of this.’
He thought back to the day he had met with Park Hyung-jun.
Park Hyung-jun had laid out the plan.
He had decided that Kim Hyunsung couldn’t be dealt with inside the school anymore. He called in Golden Circle members who operated in Gangnam and planned to deal with him *outside* the school. What made the plan particularly insidious was the story they created to frame the whole incident. It wasn’t just school violence anymore; Choi Myung-hoon had been brought into the scheme to give it a dark and gripping narrative.
A war between schools.
A group assault that escalated out of control.
And tragically, one student ends up dead.
It was exactly as Kim Hyunsung had predicted.
The Golden Circle was laying the groundwork for a plausible story to display in the media.
‘You should have stopped while you had the chance.’
If Kim Hyunsung died, Choi Myung-hoon’s text message would serve as evidence.
The audio recorded by the intercom and all the scattered clues would spin the narrative that Kim Hyunsung died in a violent clash between rival schools. The Golden Circle was a terrifying entity. As soon as they realized their usual methods wouldn’t work on Kim Hyunsung, they exposed their true, dangerous nature.
The CCTV cameras at the entrance were disabled.
Choi Myung-hoon had prepared for this, making sure to bribe the building manager ahead of time.
He felt the solid shape of something inside his jacket.
‘If, by some miracle, Kim Hyunsung makes it past all those people…’
Inside his coat, he carried a knife.
Park Hyung-jun had given him instructions.
“This time, you’ll act as the witness, the one who confirms a student died as a result of school violence. If your text message and testimony back up the story that Kim Hyunsung had a conflict with other schools, the prosecutors we’ve bribed will take it as the truth without question. And if, by chance, Kim Hyunsung fights his way through and tries to escape the officetel—stab him. The CCTV won’t show the truth, and you can claim it was an accident, that you were just trying to stop him. As a minor, your sentence will be light, and after your release, the Golden Circle will reward you handsomely.”
**Gulp.**
Choi Myung-hoon swallowed nervously.
This was all Kim Hyunsung’s fault.
If he hadn’t pushed Choi into a corner, he would have never considered doing something this dangerous.
Fall into ruin, get paid off—there was no way to survive without sacrifices.
Choi muttered under his breath.
“You’re not going to survive this.”
In truth, he didn’t think he would need to step in.
Kim Hyunsung’s apartment was on the 12th floor, and the elevator and emergency stairwells were already filled with high schoolers charging up toward him.
The scene unfolding in front of him gave Choi Myung-hoon confidence.
—
**Escape was cut off.**
In front of him.
Behind him.
There was no visible path for Kim Hyunsung to escape.
Logically, the best option would have been to retrace his steps and go back, but the crowd pushed Kim toward the emergency stairwell.
“Die, you bastard!”
**Whoosh!**
A fist came swinging at him.
Kim Hyunsung dodged backward, letting the attack miss, and with precise movements, he slammed his fist into the attacker’s face.
**Smack!**
“Ugh!”
Blood splattered from a perfectly executed cross counter.
But there was no time to appreciate the sight of his opponent falling. More enemies had already reached the stairwell from below.
**Thud.**
**Wham! Smack!**
Kim Hyunsung was caught in the crowd. He kicked away an incoming punch and, after taking a blow from an attacker, immediately retaliated by smashing his fist into the face of another. There was no way out of this chaotic mess. Kim let his instincts take over. He had no grand escape plan—he simply moved wherever the crowd pushed him, fighting off each person that came at him.
**Crash.**
**Bam!**
Someone slammed into him.
Kim Hyunsung was knocked down the stairs, entangled with his attackers, but the crowd itself absorbed most of the impact.
He sprang back to his feet.
Despite his unstable posture—
**Crack!**
“Agh!”
He landed a high kick to his opponent’s face.
At the same time, he felt his head snap to the side.
Another punch had connected, but Kim Hyunsung gritted his teeth and grabbed the attacker’s hair.
**Smack!**
**Wham, wham, wham!**
“Grrk.”
He punched the face repeatedly.
The first punch drew blood, the second caused the attacker’s eyes to glaze over, and by the third, the nose and parts of the face had caved in. Whether the attacker ended up with permanent disfigurement or not didn’t matter. In this massive brawl, where Kim Hyunsung might die, injuries like this weren’t even newsworthy.
**Thud.**
He let go.
Or rather, he was forced to let go after being attacked from behind. Kim Hyunsung quickly turned and countered with a punch to the face.
**Smack!**
His head was spinning.
No matter how many he knocked down, the situation wasn’t changing.
Each time an enemy fell, another one took their place. Kim Hyunsung’s face was twisted in fury, but he refused to stop fighting.
“Crazy bastard.”
“Is he really going to fight to the end?”
The opponents looked weary.
In this situation, surrender would have been the logical choice.
He should have knelt down and begged for mercy.
But Kim Hyunsung didn’t stop.
Blood spurted from his face as he took hit after hit, and his breathing became labored from the continuous fighting.
This wasn’t a fantasy.
No matter how much rigorous training he had endured, it was impossible for one person to handle this many enemies alone.
Even someone like Jung Doo-chul wouldn’t have fared differently.
This was a battle that tested the limits of human endurance, and yet Kim Hyunsung’s gaze remained unwavering.
**Whoosh.**
He dodged another attack.
**Smack!**
His opponent’s face caved in.
Without hesitation, Kim Hyunsung tackled the next attacker, locking them in a struggle.
It was a chaotic scene.
Even with their superior numbers, his enemies struggled to attack him efficiently.
“Huff, huff.”
Kim Hyunsung raised his head.
He was gasping for breath.
The enemies didn’t seem to be diminishing.
He must have taken down dozens by now, yet there was no hope in sight.
But then—
**Crack.**
**Crrrack!**
“Aaagh!”
Kim Hyunsung twisted an arm of the opponent lying on the ground, eliciting a terrible scream. As soon as he let go, he stood up again.
He was staggering.
His body was soaked in blood, and each swallow tasted of iron.
But Kim Hyunsung grinned.
“Yeah… anyone who crosses my path dies.”
Without hesitation, he stepped toward the mass of hostility still filling the space.
—
**Outside the officetel.**
Across the street, Park Hyung-jun sat in a café.
He sipped his coffee, watching the scene unfold through the window.
>[We’re getting multiple reports about an incident inside the officetel. It’ll be hard to delay any longer than 10 minutes.]
“No, give me 30. You don’t have to worry about the rest. The higher-ups won’t hold you accountable, and we’ve prepared enough justification for the police delay. With the right media narrative, you’ll be well-compensated for this small favor.”
>[…Alright, understood.]
**Click.**
He ended the call.
The person he had been speaking with was none other than the chief of the Gangnam police.
People had started calling the police, but thanks to his connections, the response was deliberately slow. The building manager had been bribed, the CCTVs were disabled, and the police were dragging their feet. Just as Kim Hyunsung wielded influence in Daesan, Park Hyung-jun was using his control over Gangnam to full effect.
It was over.
Over a hundred people had been mobilized for this operation.
No matter how strong Kim Hyunsung was, there was no way he could handle such overwhelming numbers on his own.
“Just die quietly.”
Park smiled.
The world would be in an uproar over this.
A large-scale brawl in the heart of Gangnam that ends with a student’s death—it would be an unprecedented incident.
But that was all it would be.
People would be shocked, blame society, and discuss the severity of school violence. But no one would care to dig deeper into why Kim Hyunsung died. People would shake their heads, lament the rise of youth violence, and then move on. The Golden Circle knew this well—school violence was a familiar issue to the public, something most people had experienced to some extent. It was tragic but not unfamiliar, and the outrage would eventually fade.
Once Kim Hyunsung was gone, the unrest surrounding him would dissipate. The discontent he had stirred up would vanish. No matter how brutal the process, the result would be achieved. The Golden Circle’s influence would remain intact.
As Park Hyung-jun raised his coffee for another sip, something unusual caught his eye.
“…What’s this?”
A group of high school students appeared, heading toward the officetel.
But something was off about them.
Their uniforms.
**‘Cheonil High School?’**
These students weren’t from Gangnam. They were students from Daesan’s Cheonil High School—Kim Hyunsung’s former school.
—
There was no conversation.
No particularly surprised reactions.
The students from Cheonil High School, along with others from Daesan, entered the officetel calmly. The student leading them, with a calm and composed demeanor, stepped forward and spoke in a low voice.
“Move aside.”
**Bam.**
**Thud, thud, thud.**
In an instant, Daesan’s students charged forward.
Before the members of the Golden Circle could even react, Daesan’s students launched a fierce attack, their punches landing hard and fast. The Gangnam students, caught off guard, were knocked down immediately, and Daesan’s students continued pressing forward, as if this was just the beginning.
It wasn’t long before the Golden Circle members realized what was happening. It seemed clear that Kim Hyunsung had somehow called for backup. Regardless of the specifics, they had no choice but to face the oncoming assault from Daesan’s students.
As chaos erupted, Choi Myung-hoon’s face twisted in shock and confusion.
“…What the hell is this?”
Daesan’s intervention.
This wasn’t part of the plan.
The entire operation had been conducted in secret, and there was no way Kim Hyunsung could have known. The plan was to kill him with overwhelming force, using over a hundred students. If he had known, he wouldn’t have entered the officetel so confidently. If he had any inkling of what was coming, he would have escaped long ago, ensuring his safety.
But now…
How had Daesan’s students shown up here, of all places?
Considering it was Friday, the timing didn’t even make sense. Traveling from Daesan to Gangnam was no small feat. They would’ve needed to cover a significant distance to arrive here.
‘Did he somehow anticipate our plan?’
A chill ran down Choi Myung-hoon’s spine.
The plan had been meticulously controlled. Only a select few knew about it, and everything had been prepared to ensure nothing leaked. If Kim Hyunsung had predicted this, that would be alarming. But whether it was leaked or anticipated, it didn’t make sense.
If he had known, he would have fled.
Why would he put himself in this kind of danger?
‘Whatever he’s planning, it doesn’t matter. The operation has already started, and according to everything we’ve heard, Kim Hyunsung is cornered. These kids won’t be able to save him. He’s already finished.’
This was a desperate move. The Golden Circle had sent in their best for this operation. Even the lowest-ranked members present were C-grade fighters, and there were others with S-grade skills in the mix. No ragtag group from the countryside could possibly stand a chance.
Choi Myung-hoon shouted out in frustration.
“Fight back! These country punks are nothing! Don’t let them push you back!”
He charged forward, preparing to join the fight himself.
But then, someone pushed through the chaos and blocked his path.
“It’s you, isn’t it?”
“…What?”
The person standing in front of Choi Myung-hoon had a strong, solid frame and a sharp, cold expression. His well-maintained appearance contrasted with the chaotic scene unfolding around him.
In that instant, a name flashed in Choi Myung-hoon’s mind—someone he had heard about, someone closely connected to Kim Hyunsung.
“You’re Choi Myung-hoon, right?”
It was Kim Si-woo.
There was no mistaking it. This was **the** Kim Si-woo, one of the key figures associated with Kim Hyunsung.
(TL Note: A full blown war and our best boi is back! Sorry for the cliffhanger guys!)
