Those Who Welcome and Those Who Do Not - 2
Why the hell is there no news at all!
Jeong Yuhyeon hurled a dagger and snarled furiously. He had definitely been assured that preparations were complete and that they would deliver exactly what the money paid for. These weren't amateurs. They weren't slick-talking con artists either. These were professionals who had carried out similar jobs multiple times before. Their methods might be dirty, but they were skilled enough to be called true pros. That's why he had trusted them. He had even handed over some shares—the most critical asset of all.
To Jeong Yuhyeon, Baek Seojin was a stain he never wanted to face again. A mere Silver examiner had crushed a Gold-rank student without the latter even getting a chance to fight back. If the vice president of the student council had suffered such a defeat, the humiliation was absolute.
The amount of effort I poured into securing that vice president seat...
Raw talent alone hadn't been enough. Student support and the candidate's character mattered just as much. True to form, Jeong Yuhyeon had handled the problem in his own way—sometimes with money, other times through quiet coercion and threats. That was how he had climbed to the vice president position, only to be suspended in less than a few months.
It was called a suspension, but it was effectively a revocation of his qualifications. From Jeong Yuhyeon's perspective, his rage had boiled over into something uncontainable.
“…Hey, hyung. Still no updates? Just wait? No, this is taking way too long. Are you sure they handled it properly? They’re not planning to take the shares and run, are they?”
He even had to endure being told he was no different from the scum he hired. Despite the humiliation, Jeong Yuhyeon kept demanding information. He wanted that bastard erased from the academy—no, from the entire world. If the man ended up drowning in curses and condemnation along the way, that would be the perfect bonus.
But not long after, Jeong Yuhyeon learned a shocking truth.
“…What the hell is this?”
Every TV news broadcast, every internet article, even the newspapers. That detestable face of Baek Seojin was plastered across all of them. Technically he wasn’t the main subject, merely appearing beside the actual focus, but to Jeong Yuhyeon that was more than enough to leave him reeling.
I-Irina. Why is that woman shaking hands with this son of a bitch?
Korea’s strongest ability user. Korea’s craziest ability user. The kind of monster who erased anyone who annoyed her—villain or not—without hesitation. An existence so volatile that even the nation tread carefully around her. She possessed a massive fanbase, but just as many antis. A truly bizarre ability user. Yet no one could dispute her status as the strongest of the strong.
On top of that, everyone knew the stories: the chaebol heir who flirted with her and lost a testicle, the high-ranking clan executive who approached her and had all four limbs shattered. The villains hadn’t nicknamed her the Crazy Yellow Bitch for nothing.
And yet that same woman had taken a photo with Baek Seojin? While shaking his hand and wearing a relaxed smile, no less?
S-Surely not. It can’t be. This must just be a coincidence…
Irina coincidentally shaking someone’s hand and smiling? The same woman who greeted reporters with curses and a middle finger? Even a complete idiot could see there was something between them. Which meant Baek Seojin was an acquaintance of none other than Irina.
Thank god.
The moment he realized it, Jeong Yuhyeon felt relieved. He believed the plan hadn’t been executed yet. He still had no idea why things were delayed, but he had no intention of scolding them for it. On the contrary, that delay had prevented the worst possible outcome—
“You worthless piece of shit! Get home right now!”
His relief shattered at the sound of his grandfather—the honorary chairman of the Jinhan Group—roaring in fury.
The one person Jeong Yuhyeon feared most had issued a direct order. The moment classes ended that day, he got into a car and raced back to the family estate. Wondering why his grandfather was suddenly so enraged, he stepped inside only to be greeted by—
“You insane bastard! Just how far have you taken this mess?!”
The honorary chairman of Jinhan stood there holding a golf club.
“G-Grandfather, why are you suddenly—”
“Why? You idiot! Do you have any idea what kind of disaster you’ve caused?! Second son, explain the current situation to this worthless grandchild of mine!”
Only then did Jeong Yuhyeon realize his two older brothers and father were also present. All three were groaning on the floor, clearly having already been on the receiving end of that golf club.
“H-Hyung… what is going on…?”
“Yesterday that crazy bitch tore through every single one of our subsidiaries.”
“…Excuse me?”
“Irina. That woman literally swept through everything we own.”
They weren’t monsters or villains, so what on earth did that mean? Jeong Yuhyeon couldn’t comprehend it. Why would she—?
But his older brother’s next words delivered a blow that truly shook him to the core.
The prosecution, which had shown zero prior signs, had suddenly launched a massive raid. Every informant they had planted in the police force had vanished instantly. The operation had been so secretive and thorough that even the media hadn’t caught wind of it beforehand. Or perhaps the press simply wasn’t interested, too busy focusing on the unprecedented incident of a Gate appearing inside a suppressor field.
“H-How did the situation turn into this…?”
“You still don’t get it, you moron? That job you requested! The target was one of Irina’s people! That’s why that insane woman is rampaging right now. And because she’s rampaging, the government is taking it seriously and tearing our entire organization apart!”
“N-No! How could they have known about our connections?! You told me they were tight-lipped professionals! I only trusted what you said! You swore they had never failed or leaked anything before!”
“Fuck! Who cares about that right now?! The problem is who the hell you decided to mess with!”
In truth, Jeong Yuhyeon had every right to feel wronged. If he had known Baek Seojin was connected to Irina, he never would have made a move. Angering that madwoman meant signing your own death warrant. She might not care about worldly affairs, but she never overlooked anyone who touched what was hers.
“What are we supposed to do about this situation?! We paid them a fortune, but the second that woman growled, they all tucked their tails and disappeared! There isn’t a single faction willing to help us now!”
Only then did Jeong Yuhyeon realize everything he had built was hopelessly ruined. This went far beyond simply losing to an examiner or being suspended as vice president. At this rate, all his powerful backers could evaporate into thin air.
That day, Jeong Yuhyeon was beaten mercilessly by his grandfather. It felt unfair. He wanted an explanation. But the water had already been spilled. When he returned to the academy, the situation had grown even worse.
Baek Seojin, who clearly had some connection to Irina, had now secured the chancellor’s support as well. He was pressuring the academy to send all current Silver students back down to Bronze for re-examination. At this point, it was obvious who the next target would be. After all, there was already a precedent of him stripping someone of their Gold rank.
If that fact gets out, every Gold-rank student might turn on me!
Who the hell did I provoke? Damn it! How did things spiral this far?!
Jeong Yuhyeon clutched his head and screamed. The anger and resentment were overwhelming. All he had wanted was to teach one arrogant examiner a lesson. If he had known the man possessed such absurd backing, he never would have touched him.
Meanwhile, his own backers were steadily sinking. There was no sign of it stopping. The prosecution couldn’t afford to drag their feet anyway. If they hesitated, it was all too clear who would take action instead. Better that the authorities moved first. If Irina moved again? Then the name Jinhan would be completely erased from Korea.
Fuck. Fuck. Fuck… This wasn’t my plan! I never meant for it to go like this!
At first he drowned in self-blame, but like all men of his kind, Jeong Yuhyeon gradually redirected that fury toward a different target. The obvious scapegoat was Baek Seojin—the root cause of this entire disaster.
“If it weren’t for Baek Seojin… If only that bastard didn’t exist…”
Grinding his teeth, Jeong Yuhyeon muttered words he would never dare say to the man’s face.
“…”
Several figures watched him in silence.
“What the hell is this ridiculous situation?”
“I have no idea. Don’t ask me. I’m simply relaying exactly what the guys inside reported.”
At the man in black’s response, the one-eyed woman gave a disbelieving smile.
Had that old fool Ma Hakjun finally lost his mind? Or had some unprecedented lunatic arrived at the academy? Forcing perfectly competent Silver students back down to Bronze? At this rate, it sounded like he intended to drag Gold ranks down as well.
At first both the messenger and the recipient had simply laughed. The claim was too absurd. Too unprecedented. But upon closer inspection, something felt off. There would surely be backlash. The curriculum would fall into chaos. Yet if Ma Hakjun himself had stepped forward, it meant there was a deeper scheme at play.
“Is he trying to raise the overall level of the students?”
“Or perhaps he’s attempting to erase a point of discrimination to force some kind of change.”
The one-eyed woman’s gaze narrowed slightly. Any positive change was detrimental to them. The more corrupt and unfair the world became, the more their numbers grew exponentially. Anyone who tried to stir up a new wind in such a situation was a target for elimination.
Yes—for villains, the current state of society was ideal.
“I don’t like it.”
“Neither do I. But what choice do we have?”
“Get rid of him. Starting with that Baek Seojin—Ma Hakjun’s pawn.”
“There are also reports that he’s an acquaintance of that crazy bitch.”
“Since when have we ever cared about her temper?”
The man in black chuckled in agreement.
“Besides, it looks like that woman wrecked one of our places recently.”
“Yes. Our people confirmed it.”
“Then we can simply claim they acted out of resentment. The photo was splashed across the front pages anyway. Since they’re too scared to touch her directly, they targeted an associate instead. Simple.”
At the one-eyed woman’s question, the man nodded.