Don't Push It, Before I Kill You
The sight before her was enough to make even the president of Broad Academy freeze in place.
“This… just what in the world is…”
SIH+ logo. Weapons engraved with that mark—the very same emblem that even Choi Yi-seul herself could rarely obtain—were being held by countless F-class students. And every single one of them bore the personal stamp of Tak Woohyun, the man who had crafted them himself.
Choi Yi-seul stared at Lee Hyunseung with eyes wide in utter shock. He answered as if it were the most ordinary thing in the world.
“I asked Mr. Tak Woohyun to make some weapons for me. He was kind enough to do it right away.”
“B-but… the items President Tak Woohyun crafts aren’t just expensive—they’re so exclusive that he only makes them for a tiny handful of people…”
Choi Yi-seul recalled the time she had personally asked him to craft a magic staff for her, only to be flatly rejected. The same man who had turned down the president of Broad Academy herself was now handing out dozens of his weapons to mere academy students. She needed an answer to that fundamental question.
Lee Hyunseung spoke as if he already understood what she was thinking.
“President Tak Woohyun and I are rather close.”
He didn’t bother mentioning anything cumbersome like alliances or partnerships. There was no need to bring up the transaction between them. It simply wasn’t necessary.
-Gulp.
Choi Yi-seul swallowed dryly, staring at him as if nothing was out of the ordinary.
‘He really… is an incredible person.’
From what Choi Yi-seul had observed, Lee Hyunseung had been an utterly ordinary honor student when he first entered the academy. The kind of person who loved studying, had no interest in fighting or politics, and possessed virtually no meaningful connections. That was the position he had deliberately chosen for himself within the academy.
But the moment his conflict with Yoo Heeyeon began, it was as if he had been waiting for it. He started gathering people around him, using them with frightening efficiency. What was even more astonishing was that he had managed to obtain dozens of weapons from the notoriously difficult Tak Woohyun. And the way he acted like it was no big deal only made it more shocking.
“Do you have any more questions?”
“Ahem…”
Only after seeing Lee Hyunseung’s slightly puzzled expression did Choi Yi-seul realize she had overstepped. Of course, whether Lee Hyunseung had commissioned weapons from Tak Woohyun or how he had received them was none of her business. And he had no obligation to explain himself.
“I don’t have any more questions. Please focus on the remaining classes. If you ever need anything, feel free to tell me anytime.”
“Thank you.”
At first, Choi Yi-seul had only quietly taken Lee Hyunseung’s side out of guilt. A pitiful student. A boy who had been unfairly punished after getting on the wrong side of Yoo Heeyeon, the daughter of the Artemis Guild leader. To her, that was all he had been.
But now she had completely revised her assessment.
‘He could very well become the leader of a major guild in the future.’
The reason he had distributed the weapons he received from Tak Woohyun to the students was obvious even without asking. Given how insanely valuable Tak Woohyun’s weapons were, there was no way he had handed them out purely out of goodwill. The only logical conclusion was that he was building a faction to stand with him in his fight against Yoo Heeyeon.
If that was truly his intention, then he possessed the innate qualities of a leader.
‘The people holding those weapons… every single one of them has outstanding potential.’
They belonged to F-class, yet they were individuals with exceptional latent talent. Students who could explosively rise to C-class, B-class, or even A-class in the future—all of them now held weapons in their hands.
Whether Lee Hyunseung had intentionally given them only to those with real potential or if it had been a coincidence, she couldn’t say. But either way, she had to admit his eye for people was terrifyingly sharp.
‘Maybe… there’s nothing I need to help him with after all.’
Choi Yi-seul had been forced to suspend Lee Hyunseung after hearing Kim Heera—the wife of the Artemis Guild leader—declare that all sponsorship would be cut off. She had told herself that if he ever found himself in trouble later, she would definitely help him.
But now she wondered if the day might never come when he needed her help at all.
‘This Class Annihilation Match might produce some unexpected results.’
With that thought, Choi Yi-seul walked slowly back toward the president’s office.
The rumor that Lee Hyunseung had commissioned weapons from Tak Woohyun, president of the Blacksmith Association, and received a massive number of them spread through Broad Academy in the blink of an eye.
Some speculated he must have paid an enormous sum. Others claimed the two were personally close, which was why the president had crafted the weapons for him. The rumor rolled along, growing like a snowball as it picked up more and more embellishments.
Before long, people were even whispering that Lee Hyunseung and the Blacksmith Association had formed some kind of alliance.
And there was one person who was thoroughly displeased by the situation.
Han Seonggil, the representative selected for B-class.
“Fuck… no matter where I go, it’s all about that bastard Lee Hyunseung.”
Han Seonggil had been chosen fairly as B-class representative through an open vote, but the massive issue surrounding Lee Hyunseung had completely buried him. He wasn’t getting any spotlight at all.
Normally, becoming the B-class representative should have drawn the attention of scouts from various organizations. There should have been all sorts of talk inside the academy. But right now, the hottest topic in the entire school was nothing but Lee Hyunseung and Yoo Heeyeon.
-Grind.
Han Seonggil ground his teeth in irritation and muttered.
“What the hell is so great about that damn gunner bastard commissioning weapons or whatever? Why the fuck is everyone losing their minds over a guy whose only achievement is beating up a bunch of weaklings in F-class to become their representative?”
Han Seonggil was not on friendly terms with Yoo Heeyeon. That said, he wasn’t hostile toward her either. He simply hated the very idea of picking sides with anyone.
What he loved was attention. The spotlight that poured down on him whenever he accomplished something remarkable. That was all he wanted, and it was the reason he kept living.
A natural attention-seeker.
Thanks to his outstanding talent with the sword, some people even called him a genius who inspired both envy and jealousy at the same time. But he was also a dullard who could never quite reach A-class. His abilities had always come with clear limits.
His inferiority complex had been growing day by day. And it was right around that time that news about Lee Hyunseung began spreading throughout the school. People even started making a bigger fuss once they learned he was entangled with Yoo Heeyeon.
“Fuck… what’s so great about Yoo Heeyeon or Lee Hyunseung that everyone’s acting like this?”
When Han Seonggil muttered those words, the boy next to him flinched in alarm.
“S-Seonggil, what if Yoo Heeyeon or Lee Hyunseung hears you…? That could cause serious trouble…”
-Thud!
Han Seonggil punched the panicking boy—Im Tak-ju—square in the face and shouted.
“So what if they hear? What the fuck are they gonna do about it? We’re all just academy students. What, is their guild so powerful they’ll send someone to cut my throat? Let them try.”
Han Seonggil panted heavily, venting his anger. His bizarre behavior inside B-class was nothing new, so the other students simply closed their mouths and stayed quiet.
“…This pisses me off.”
-Swish.
Still gripping the collar of the collapsed Im Tak-ju, Han Seonggil spoke.
“And you. What the hell did you just say? Why the fuck should I be scared of that Lee Hyunseung bastard?”
“T-that’s not what I meant… There are rumors he might have connections with the Blacksmith Association… and he’s always hanging around with Jeong Eunseo, the daughter of the Teore Guild leader…”
-Thud!
He punched Im Tak-ju in the face again.
“Are you all shaking in your boots just because of some shitty rumor? Until recently you were all happily calling him a stalker or whatever. So why the sudden change in attitude? Why are you all scared of him now? He only beat up a bunch of F-class weaklings during the representative selection. Why the hell are you afraid of a guy like that?”
Han Seonggil hauled the fallen Im Tak-ju back to his feet.
“Hey, I’m too pissed off to deal with this. You go fuck with that Lee Hyunseung bastard for me.”
“M-me? H-how… I can’t just…”
-Crack! -Crack!
Han Seonggil beat him for a long time before whispering into his ear.
“Don’t play innocent. I know all about how you’ve been shaking down weak kids for money and pulling all kinds of dirty shit. Just do what you always do. Got it?”
Im Tak-ju clutched his swollen face and nodded frantically.
“I-I got it…”
-Slam!
Han Seonggil threw the classroom door open violently, grabbed Im Tak-ju, and headed straight for the F-class area.
-Step. -Step. -Step.
The moment they reached the F-class door—
-BOOM!
He kicked it open with terrifying force and shoved Im Tak-ju inside.
-Flinch.
Im Tak-ju was instantly met with dozens of stares. He tried to ignore them as he thought to himself.
‘Yeah… fuck it. The rumors could all be bullshit. Better to stomp on this Lee Hyunseung guy than get on that psycho Han Seonggil’s bad side. Jeong Eunseo is a bit worrying, but… there’s nothing I can do about that anyway.’
At that moment, Han Seonggil behind him twisted his face and jerked his chin, clearly telling him to get on with it.
Im Tak-ju shouted quickly.
“Where the hell is this Lee Hyunseung bastard? I’ve got something to say to him.”
But the F-class room remained deathly silent, as if the power had gone out.
‘What the…?’
Im Tak-ju had thrown such an open provocation, yet no one was reacting properly. He thought,
‘Maybe he’s weaker than the rumors say?’
Gaining confidence, he yelled even louder, as if to show off.
“Lee Hyunseung, get the fuck out here, you pathetic piece of shit—!”
At that moment, a boy stepped forward and grabbed Im Tak-ju by the shoulder, trying to stop him.
“W-why are you doing this all of a sudden…? H-Hyunseung went to the bathroom, so maybe later…”
-Thud!
“Ugh…!”
Ryu Nam-gi, who had received a weapon from Lee Hyunseung, had tried to cover for him out of gratitude. But what he received in return was a brutal kick.
“You pathetic F-class trash! Do you even know who I am?!”
-Crack! -Crack!
Im Tak-ju took out all the anger he had received from Han Seonggil on Ryu Nam-gi, stomping on him mercilessly while screaming.
-Scrape.
Suddenly, the sound of a chair being pushed back came from the back of the room. A boy walked forward with calm steps and stopped in front of Im Tak-ju.
“That’s enough.”
“Huh?”
Im Tak-ju looked at him with an incredulous expression.
“That’s enough? Are you out of your mind? You wanna get beaten up like this guy too?”
For a brief moment, Lee Hyunseung’s face twisted into a savage scowl as he answered.
“I’m Lee Hyunseung. So talk to me. And don’t push it. Get your foot off him before I kill you.”
When Lee Hyunseung glanced toward the trampled Ryu Nam-gi, Im Tak-ju sneered crookedly.
“What if I don’t want to?”
-Click.
The sound of a gun being cocked rang out, followed by Lee Hyunseung’s ice-cold voice.
“Then I’ll make sure you never use that foot again. Don’t say I didn’t warn you.”