Instilling Discipline
Even if you offered tens or hundreds of billions, I cannot sell it, miss.
At Tak Woohyun’s words, the air around them froze instantly. Tak Woohyun was a merchant who made his living selling weapons. But before that, he was a craftsman with a blacksmith’s pride. He carried immense self-respect for the weapons he forged and found profound joy in the act of creation itself. By now, crafting had become one of the defining pillars of his life.
*Grind.*
That was why Tak Woohyun felt as if his pride had been shattered. It was because of Yoo Heeyeon’s childish remark.
“The weapon is something I bought, so just toss it in the Artemis Guild warehouse.”
“Why are you acting like this? Is the money not enough?”
The arrogant way she treated his creation like mere baggage, the mindset that money could buy anything—both were the complete opposite of Lee Hyunseung’s respectful reaction. Anger flared inside him. For a second he nearly lost control, but Tak Woohyun held himself back. She was the daughter of the Artemis Guild leader. If he struck first simply because he’d heard something unpleasant, Artemis would never let it slide. That would be the worst possible outcome for both Lee Hyunseung and the Blacksmith Association.
So he endured it. Once. But he couldn’t hide his expression. Tak Woohyun’s face twisted violently, flushed crimson as if it might burst at any moment.
“Wh-why are you refusing when I’m offering money…?”
Flustered by his abrupt reaction, Yoo Heeyeon tried to speak, but Lee Hyunseung cut them both off.
“Yoo Heeyeon. Don’t you think that’s enough? There’s a limit to being rude.”
“What?”
Yoo Heeyeon stared straight at him. Lee Hyunseung met her gaze without flinching.
“The words you should be saying right now aren’t ‘What?’ They’re ‘I’m sorry.’ When you framed me as a criminal, and even now—you trample on someone’s pride, then act like it’s nothing and walk away. People make mistakes. But when you do, the least you can do is apologize. Seeing that attitude of yours… the only word that comes to mind is disgusting.”
“Are you out of your mind?! You’re really saying that to me? Have you finally decided to turn against me?”
*Tremble.*
Yoo Heeyeon’s whole body shook as she screamed. Lee Hyunseung ignored her, walked over to Tak Woohyun, and bowed his head.
“You came here in good faith, yet I’ve caused you to suffer this because of me. I’m sorry. Thank you truly for the weapon you crafted. It would be best if you left now. Nothing good will come from staying here.”
“Hmm…”
Tak Woohyun glanced at Yoo Heeyeon as if he still had something to say, but eventually shook his head, let out a sigh, and turned away.
“I’ll be going, then. Lee Hyunseung. Let’s talk again later, just the two of us.”
Without so much as a goodbye to Yoo Heeyeon, Tak Woohyun left. She stared after him, stunned. Jeong Eunseo spoke to her.
“Why are you looking at him like you can’t comprehend what just happened? Do you really not understand what you did wrong?”
Yoo Heeyeon spun around sharply, irritation written across her face, and ignored Jeong Eunseo as she stormed into the academy building. Jeong Eunseo muttered in disbelief.
“Seriously… what on earth is wrong with that woman? It’s impossible to understand her. Does she have zero empathy?”
Yoo Heeyeon kept walking, pretending not to hear.
*Step. Step. Step.*
She had only ever stood in a position looking down on others. Until now, everyone had adjusted to her every whim. If she disliked something, people restrained themselves. If she wanted something, most flattered her and delivered it on a silver platter.
Getting entangled with Lee Hyunseung had brought her nothing but shocks.
A mere unaffiliated non-awakened dared to talk back to her. He mentioned Artemis directly in front of a crowd. Truly absurd, ridiculous things kept happening.
‘What the hell… what did I… what exactly did I do wrong? I didn’t do anything wrong.’
Her father had told her:
—Heeyeon, someone standing in a high position must never apologize lightly. Once the lower ones taste an apology, they start looking down on you and try to bite. So never apologize carelessly. If the other party raises an issue, crush them with power and force them to submit. Make the difference between you crystal clear. You can do that. Because you are my daughter. With your father’s authority, no one will dare treat you lightly. Therefore, act freely. Don’t read the room. That is the proper attitude of those born into the upper class.
The world her father had taught her and reality were completely different. No—actually, they weren’t. When she glared, people trembled in fear. Everyone scrambled to read her mood.
‘Lee Hyunseung… just what are you?’
Lee Hyunseung and everyone around him showed no fear of her. While the rest of the world cowered before Artemis Guild’s influence, the people near him acted with shocking boldness. As if drawn by some invisible force, he was steadily gathering people like himself to his side.
Yoo Heeyeon didn’t realize it, but this was no illusion. Lee Hyunseung was deliberately building his faction around those with strong convictions who refused to be swayed.
Unaware of any of this, her thoughts only grew more tangled.
“So annoying…”
Nothing was going her way. Frustration boiled over. When she closed her eyes, her father’s heavy voice echoed in her mind.
—You must never lose first place in any field. Use any means necessary. It doesn’t matter if it’s dirty or ugly—use every ability you have to take first place. Do you understand?
The roar she had heard after losing the top written exam spot to Lee Hyunseung. She shook her head again.
‘Stop thinking useless thoughts. What I need to focus on is the future. If I waste any more time on a bastard like him, I’ll only disappoint Father again.’
She was afraid. Of her father. Of his disappointment.
She hurried back to her class to prepare for the upcoming written and practical exams. This time, she would take first place in both. She had to.
Academy F-class. Jeong Eunseo and Lee Hyunseung stepped inside. Jeong Eunseo immediately spoke.
“Don’t you think that woman is just too detestable? I wanted to slap her so badly, but I held back because I figured you’d stop me anyway, Hyunseung.”
When Jeong Eunseo reacted so fiercely, Lee Hyunseung nodded.
“There’s no need to resort to violence first. We’ll have a perfectly legal chance to face her soon enough.”
“You mean the Class Annihilation Match?”
At her question, Lee Hyunseung nodded again.
“Honestly, I don’t think there’ll be any problems if I’m with you. But A-class won’t sit still. The way you performed during the F-class representative selection was too impressive. They might actually prepare countermeasures instead of just ignoring us.”
“Doesn’t matter. It’s not like I’ve revealed all my abilities yet, and we’ll prepare more than enough.”
“What kind of preparation do you mean?”
“First, we need to pull our broken class members together.”
Lee Hyunseung scanned the room. Among the F-class students, some still glared at him with clear resentment from their crushing defeat in the selection match. Others trembled in open fear.
‘Neither reaction is useful.’
A-class had formed a solid alliance centered around Yoo Heeyeon. They moved as one unit, with clear command flowing from her as their leader. F-class was different. It was a messy mix—lackeys on Yoo Heeyeon’s payroll, idiots trying to catch her eye with stupid stunts, and arrogant pricks who looked down on everyone else.
‘The best outcome is uniting everyone except those on her payroll. It would be nice to bring them in too, but if it’s impossible, it can’t be helped.’
The ones taking money from her were already written off as disposable. Their numbers were small, and they were talentless trash anyway. What remained were the moderates, the opportunistic fence-sitters, and the neutral students. Was there a way to win them all over at once?
No. There wasn’t.
With less than a week until the class representative selection, there was no time to listen to every opinion and accommodate everyone. The efficient method was simple: submission. Make them submit so the chain of command could function smoothly.
And Lee Hyunseung knew better than anyone how to make people submit.
“Step aside for a moment.”
He gently moved Jeong Eunseo to the side and looked over the F-class room. A few students still watched him with icy eyes. Lee Hyunseung stood at the front and spoke.
“Since I’ve become the F-class representative, I have something to say. Could everyone please pay attention?”
No one looked at him. Maybe his voice had been too quiet. Or maybe their pride was still wounded from being overwhelmingly crushed by the transfer student. Either way, it didn’t matter. He had expected this. He had already prepared exactly how to respond.
‘Hoo…’
Lee Hyunseung drew in a breath, then slammed his hand down on the desk in front of him.
*BOOOOM—!*
“Wh-what the—!”
“Has he lost his mind?!”
The classroom instantly erupted into murmurs as every eye snapped toward him. Lee Hyunseung looked at them with satisfied eyes.
“Listen carefully. I have something to say.”