A Proper Education for Moon Cheol-woong
"Hey. What the hell do you think you're doing?"
Jeong Eunseo stared him down with an icy expression. Her eyes had gone murky and clouded, like a dead fish, which only made her presence even more unnerving. At the sight of those unnatural eyes, Moon Cheol-woong flinched and instinctively shrank back.
Fuck... Why the hell did I just flinch?
The girl in front of him looked much smaller than he was at first glance. She was even in the same F-class as him. It was common knowledge around the academy that Jeong Eunseo was the daughter of the Teore Guild's leader, but Moon Cheol-woong—busy trying to curry favor with Artemis—couldn't have cared less. Anyone with half a brain wouldn't have pulled this kind of provocation in front of everyone anyway.
"Who the hell are you to order me around? You got some special relationship with that bastard or something? If it doesn't concern you, then piss off, bitch."
Desperate to hide how intimidated he felt, Moon Cheol-woong shouted with every ounce of bravado he could muster, like a cornered hedgehog. But that kind of act was never going to work on Jeong Eunseo. She fixed him with those cold eyes and spoke again.
"You'd better stop while you're ahead. I think I know exactly why you're doing this. But do you really believe the Artemis Guild would give a damn about you?"
She stepped closer and whispered.
"Or did Yoo Heeyeon order you to act like this? If that's the case, I feel even sorrier for you. If you keep this up and they abandon you, how exactly do you plan to survive afterward? It's going to get really tough, isn't it? I'm the type who sinks her teeth in and never lets go once someone becomes my enemy. Haven't you heard the rumors about me? Try messing with me one more time, and I swear on everything I have that I'll ruin not just your life, but the lives of everyone around you too."
Tap.
Moon Cheol-woong stumbled backward.
"W-what the hell is your problem? Fuck, this is way too much."
Jeong Eunseo's murderous attitude had chilled him to the bone. His tone had grown noticeably smaller. Not missing the opening, she pointed at the wallet in his hand.
"This is your last chance. Drop that and get lost right now."
Moon Cheol-woong glanced around at the crowd. People were murmuring. Every single one of them was staring at him like he was a thief.
"Fuck! Stop looking at me like that! I didn't steal shit!"
He opened the wallet and showed its contents to everyone. Inside was exactly 130,000 won in cash. No cards, no traces of anything else.
Moon Cheol-woong wasn't an idiot. Before coming here, he'd removed every clue that could link the wallet to Lee Hyunseung and even added a bit of his own money on top of the original amount. Right now, he had every right to act confident.
But Jeong Eunseo's freezing glare carried such a dark, murderous intent that it felt like she might actually kill someone. In the end, Moon Cheol-woong decided against pushing his luck any further and chose to back down.
Thud!
He hurled the wallet to the ground and stomped on it viciously.
Spit. Spit.
Then, as if it were the most disgusting thing he'd ever touched, he hawked a thick glob of saliva onto it and muttered.
"Fuck. It's so filthy I don't even want to hand it back. You see inside? Where the hell is the proof that this is Lee Hyunseung's wallet? There's only my 130,000 won in there. I didn't steal it in the first place, got it? But if you're all gonna keep talking that kind of bullshit, I'll just buy another cheap wallet. It's disgusting."
"Stay right there before I kill you."
The moment Jeong Eunseo glared daggers at him and started to lunge forward—
Grab.
Lee Hyunseung stopped her, shaking his head. He whispered quietly.
"Nothing good will come from doing this here."
"B-but he clearly stole it! If he didn't, he wouldn't back down like that. Look at his attitude! You're just going to let him walk away?"
Lee Hyunseung stared at his spit-covered wallet and muttered under his breath.
"I was planning to leave it alone, but I've changed my mind. Jeong Eunseo, do you have any high-grade recovery potions on you?"
High-grade recovery potions. Items that could instantly heal even severed wounds when sprayed onto the body.
"Of course I do. But why?"
"I have a use for it. I'll pay you back later, so lend me one. Also, do you have a signal-jamming artifact?"
"I don't have one on me... but if you need it urgently, I can have someone bring it within three hours."
"Then get that for me too."
Grind.
Lee Hyunseung clenched his teeth and took a slow, deep breath.
Several hours of classes dragged on after that. During that time, he received the recovery potion and signal-jamming artifact from Jeong Eunseo and sat through every last minute of lecture.
Ding-dong-dang-dong.
The moment the bell signaling the end of classes rang, Lee Hyunseung began tailing Moon Cheol-woong as he headed for the main gate.
****
Step. Step. Step.
After finishing every class at the academy, Moon Cheol-woong was on his way home. But he couldn't shake an unpleasant, sticky sensation that felt completely different from normal.
Swish.
Feeling uneasy, he glanced behind him, but there was nothing there. Only leaves scattering in the cold wind.
What the hell? I swear something was there...
Until just moments ago, he'd definitely felt a strange mana presence trailing behind him. An openly hostile mana signature. It was the kind of feeling that made your skin crawl and your stomach turn.
Step step step.
Step step step.
Moon Cheol-woong picked up his pace.
Swish.
He looked back again. Still nothing.
F-fuck...
Dashdashdashdash!
Moon Cheol-woong broke into a frantic sprint. This wasn't his imagination. Someone was definitely following him. But the moment he turned around, they vanished instantly.
This isn't an opponent I can handle.
He knew with absolute clarity that someone was on his tail. At the same time, every fiber of his body was screaming that this was not someone he could possibly fight. Run. He had to run. He was simply obeying raw instinct.
After running for what felt like forever, Moon Cheol-woong finally reached his limit. He whirled around and screamed.
"What kind of crazy bastard keeps following me?! Come out! I know you're there, so show yourself right now!"
"Huff... huff... huff..."
He panted heavily, but no one appeared. Then came the sound of soft, mocking laughter, and a familiar figure stepped out into view.
"L-Lee Hyunseung? Huh?"
The mana presence he'd been sensing this whole time belonged to Lee Hyunseung. All the strength drained from Moon Cheol-woong's body. He told himself he'd simply been too sensitive and had overestimated the gunner's mana. He had to believe that. There was no way a mere gunner could emit a stronger mana presence than him.
Moon Cheol-woong might be F-class, but he was a swordsman. It was common sense that swordsmen stood above gunners. The terrified man who had been trembling and running for his life moments ago vanished. In his place stood an arrogant, puffed-up bully.
"You pathetic piece of shit. If you're doing this because of what happened this morning, you're going to regret it. You think you'll get away with pulling this crap on me? I'll crush you slowly, piece by piece, starting right now."
Moon Cheol-woong glanced around and burst into loud laughter.
"Perfect. No CCTV, nothing around here. Well, getting this far might've been caught on camera, but if I beat you half to death and deny everything, even the academy will have a hard time punishing me. Without clear evidence, they can't hand down a serious penalty."
At those words, Lee Hyunseung gripped the signal-jamming artifact tightly and nodded.
"I know. I've already taken other precautions. So don't worry about the CCTV."
Moon Cheol-woong tilted his head, looking at him with a creepy, confused stare.
"What the hell are you babbling about? Have you lost your mind? You really want to die?"
Swish.
Ignoring him completely, Lee Hyunseung raised his pistol and aimed it directly at him.
"Pfft! A gun? You're threatening me with a gun? You think some ordinary pistol can actually hurt me?"
"Yeah. I think it can."
Bang! Bang! Bang!
Three gunshots rang out in quick succession. Moon Cheol-woong channeled mana to sharpen his reflexes and catch the bullets. The instant he tried to dodge sideways—
Thud. Thud. Thud.
Stagger.
"Huh...?"
Before he could even move, the bullets—fired at terrifying speed—buried themselves in his body, igniting horrible pain.
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAGH—!"
Three bullets had slammed precisely into the top of his right foot.
Swish.
Lee Hyunseung looked at the screaming man and gave a cold smile. He ejected the empty magazine, slapped in a new one, and spoke.
Derangement Magazine Equipped.
When damaging an opponent with lower mana than yourself, there is a low chance of inducing mental derangement.
"Don't go down too easily. I have no intention of letting you off lightly."