Dohyung's Confession
"Before I explain why I'm apologizing, I need to give you some background... It's going to be a very long story." Min-a tensed slightly at Dohyung's suddenly serious demeanor.
"Did you, by any chance, hear anything from Han Eunji about what happened to me after you transferred?"
The moment she heard the name Han Eunji, Min-a flinched, staring at Dohyung in sheer shock. Her surprise was magnified because she had never expected that name to escape his lips.
"How did you..."
"I had my ways of finding out. As you know, I was constantly bullied by the others too, not just her. It kept going on and on, even after you left."
A tempest of emotions surged within Min-a at his words, leaving her unsure of what expression to wear. Having been a victim of bullying herself, she knew all too well how agonizing that period must have been. Moreover, with that devilish Han Eunji personally tormenting him, she could only imagine how the pain must have multiplied.
Min-a had also been personally targeted by Eunji on occasion. Compared to the usual four bullies, the sheer level of Eunji's cruelty was in a completely different league. If the usual four threw punches, Eunji swung a bat studded with rusty nails. Watching Eunji act with a precise, sadistic understanding of how to inflict the maximum physical and psychological torment, Min-a had truly thought of her as a demon.
Min-a had at least been spared the worst of it because she didn't attend the same school as Eunji. But when she thought of Dohyung, who had been left behind to endure it all, tears threatened to spill from her eyes.
"It was really hard back then... Honestly... to the point where I wanted to die. I even went up to the school rooftop, contemplating whether I should just jump... Well, I'm alive and well now, though."
"About that... I heard you went missing. What on earth happened? What could have possibly..."
"A lot of things happened..."
Dohyung recalled his memories of the other world. Fighting monsters as a hero in a place where horrific beasts tore humans to shreds, he realized he probably hadn't been in his right mind back then. He had viewed the monsters as mere lumps of experience points to grow stronger for his revenge, throwing himself into battle without a single care for his own safety. Because of that, the people around him had lauded him as a selfless hero, a savior who risked his life to protect others. To Dohyung, however, such praise was entirely meaningless.
As he slaughtered the monsters, he eventually gained companions he could call allies, reaching a point where he could even share glimpses of his past. They had offered him sweet temptations, telling him that revenge was futile and begging him to stay and live with them in that world instead. Looking back, he recalled how the Saintess, who had cherished him deeply, had been particularly desperate for him to stay. Yet, he had rejected their pleas and returned to his original world solely for the sake of his vengeance. And now, he was sitting across from Min-a, having dinner, preparing to lay bare the entire truth.
"You might find this hard to believe... but the day I went missing, I was transported to another world."
"Another world?"
"A fantasy world like the ones you only read about in novels... That kind of place. A world where monsters roam, and humans fight back with swords and magic... Apparently, I was chosen as a hero. A goddess summoned me there, and I agreed to go."
Speaking aloud things he had never shared with anyone made Dohyung's throat feel tighter than expected. He took a sip of water from his glass. When he looked up to gauge Min-a's reaction, he saw exactly what he had anticipated—a look of utter bewilderment, as if she were questioning his sanity. It was, of course, the only natural response.
"You must think I've lost my mind, right?"
"Ah, no... It's not that..."
"It's fine. If I were in your shoes and heard someone say this out of the blue, I would've dismissed it as absolute nonsense too. But I swear to you, this is the absolute truth, without a single lie."
Min-a's mind went blank, struggling to find a response to such an unbelievable tale. Who in their right mind would easily believe someone claiming they had been to another world? Yet, looking at Dohyung's demeanor, he didn't seem to be lying at all. Besides, he had absolutely nothing to gain by spinning such a wild fabrication to her.
"Another world... So you went there, and then you came back? I don't even know if I should ask how you managed to return... but why? Why did you come back?"
Dohyung took a deep breath at her question. For him, the moment of reckoning had finally arrived. This was the moment he had to unveil the truth he had kept hidden from everyone else.
"There was only... one reason I came back."
"One reason?"
"Revenge. I returned to this world with that single goal in mind."
When Dohyung uttered the word 'revenge,' Min-a gasped, but the pieces quickly began to fall into place. Knowing his past and having listened to him speak, it was incredibly easy for her to deduce exactly who the target of his vengeance was.
"Revenge... Don't tell me, against Han Eunji?"
Dohyung took another sip of water and nodded slowly.
"But... she lives in a completely different world from us. Is it really going to be okay? She's incredibly wealthy, and I heard she even married a man who's about to become a member of the National Assembly."
Min-a recalled the glimpses of Eunji she had seen on the news, her heart tightening with worry for Dohyung. To her, the Eunji he wanted to take revenge on seemed like someone residing in the heavens, far out of reach. She was terrified that Dohyung would end up ruining himself in the process.
A faint, warm smile touched Dohyung's lips, genuinely touched by her concern.
"No, it's not like that. It's true she has both wealth and power, but I possess a strength far greater than any of those things."
"What on earth do you mean by..."
Min-a pondered deeply over what this 'strength' could be. What kind of power could possibly surpass the absolute wealth and authority wielded by Eunji, which were the ultimate forces in this country?
Did he pull strings with someone even more powerful than Han Eunji? No, looking at how confident he is, it has to be something far beyond that...
Being naturally sharp, Min-a's thoughts quickly connected the dots, and she arrived at an answer.
Wait... He said he went to another world and came back, right? As a hero who fought monsters with swords and magic... No way!
"Could it be... that you can still use the power you had in that other world? Like... magic?"
Dohyung nodded. He had kept silent, hoping she would figure it out on her own, and his faith in her intelligence had paid off.
"Magic... It's so hard to believe."
"I'd probably react the same way if I heard it from someone else. But I really can wield the exact same power I had there."
Dohyung quietly extended his hand over the table. Intrigued by his sudden movement, Min-a watched his hand closely.
"Watch."
The moment he spoke, a plate sitting far from his hand suddenly began to rise slowly into the air.
"Huh? What?"
Min-a's eyes widened in sheer astonishment as the plate hovered in the empty space above the table.
"That's not all. I can do things like this, too."
Dohyung opened his other hand, showing her his palm. Focusing his mana, he conjured a small fireball right above his skin. He didn't stop there; he also summoned spheres of water and ice, sending them spinning in a slow orbit around his hand.
While she might have rationalized the levitating plate as some elaborate magic trick she couldn't fathom, the sight of elemental spheres juggling themselves in midair shattered any possibility of a realistic explanation.
"And finally, I can do this."
Dispelling the elemental spheres, Dohyung stood up from his chair.
"Ah—"
In that split second, Dohyung vanished into thin air right before her eyes. Min-a gasped, leaping out of her chair in shock. It was as if a video had been paused and edited to erase his presence; he had disappeared without a single trace or warning.
"I'm over here."
Hearing his voice from behind her, Min-a spun around, her heart leaping into her throat once more. There stood Dohyung, smiling warmly and waving at her.
"Is this enough to make you believe me? That I can use magic?"
"I think... there isn't a single person in the world who wouldn't believe it after seeing this."
Min-a was utterly overwhelmed by the impossible display. It was a feat so far beyond the realm of stage magic that denial was simply impossible.
Relieved that she accepted the reality of his magic, Dohyung walked back to his seat and sat down.
"So... you're going to use that magic to get revenge?"
"No, that's not quite it."
Dohyung shook his head.
"To be precise, I'm already carrying it out."
"What?"
"As you might have guessed, the moment I returned to this world, I used my magic to track down the people who tormented us. I was curious to see how they had been living their lives while I was spending nearly ten years fighting monsters in another world."
He recalled the dark thrill of finding out that, contrary to his fleeting worry that they might have reformed and become decent human beings, they were all still the same irredeemable trash.
"Trash is always trash... To exact my revenge on those who hadn't shown a shred of remorse, I used my magic to gather wealth. You asked how I could afford to rent a place like this? I made all this money through magic. Of course, I didn't do anything illegal. I didn't scam anyone; I just gathered information floating around the shadows and used it to multiply my funds through the stock market."
"...Either way, you're saying your revenge is already underway. What kind of... revenge are you taking?"
Steeling his resolve to hide nothing from her, Dohyung forced the words past his lips.
"I... kidnapped them. And now, I'm training them as my slaves. Forcing them to endure every single thing they did to me..."
Dohyung hung his head, lacking the courage to look up and see the expression on Min-a's face.
"I'm doing things far more brutal than you can possibly imagine. It'll be... easier if you just watch this."
Intending to lay everything bare, Dohyung handed over his phone, playing a video that captured the grim reality of the Basement.
Min-a watched the video in absolute silence, then murmured softly.
"I see..."
Unable to decipher the meaning behind her words, Dohyung slowly, cautiously raised his head. He met Min-a's gaze, her eyes filled with a profound, aching sadness as she looked back at him.