The First Major Update of the First Cycle
I had no allies before.
When I started my social life, I posted the school bullying incident involving Kim Juho online.
I hated seeing him succeed.
His cruel expression from the bullying days had changed to a kind smile on TV.
So I wrote it.
Back then, what were the comments like…
They were overflowing with hatred for me.
“Korean people can’t stand seeing others do well.”
“It looks like they’re high school classmates. They’re jealous of their friend succeeding. Tsk tsk.”
“Netizen Detective Corps, please look into this person!!”
⌎Netizen Detective Corps is on the move. All units dispatched! Beep boop~
The Netizen Detective Corps had gone all out searching for me.
I was terrified.
I had mustered courage relying on anonymity, but I was afraid of my identity being revealed.
It was terrifying to be in the spotlight while speaking, and most of all, facing Kim Juho was the scariest thing of all.
Even then…
If I had posted an apology post back then, would the Netizen Detective Corps have halted their investigation?
It was maddeningly unjust, but if I had stopped there…
If I had…
My life would not have fallen to rock bottom.
But I couldn’t do it.
Yes, there was a naive belief that justice always wins.
I had really been bullied, after all. If I just told the truth, it should have been enough.
But…
The moment the writer of the online post was revealed to be me, I was fired from the company.
The large corporation I had worked so hard to join in my youth was discarded in an instant.
It was rougher entering than navigating a minefield, but leaving was as smooth as a slide.
This was when I began to lose my mind.
I looked for lawyers however I could to vent my outrage.
Korean lawyers were expensive.
They were so costly that even ordinary people could barely afford them…
When I realized I didn’t have enough money, I turned to sports betting.
I would earn money there to hire a lawyer.
That was how I planned to vent my outrage.
But I ended up losing all of it.
Betting was betting.
Even then…
Even then, I should have stopped.
What kind of outrage was that.
It was just one person’s injustice, yet I held on to it until the very end.
At that moment, I felt my life had truly hit rock bottom.
But it wasn’t.
The true rock bottom of my life lay even deeper, deeper still.
Actually, now that I think about it, was that even the real bottom?
I became a parasite, borrowing money from my mother and younger sister.
While eating a single bowl of instant ramen a day, I played sports betting.
I couldn’t stand the thought of not hiring a lawyer to protest the injustice.
So I continued living like a parasite, even eating into my mother and sister’s money.
Losing my health was an added bonus…
Was this the rock bottom of my life?
No.
Even then…
Even then, if I had stopped…
Even then, I would have stopped…
What kind of injustice was school bullying, anyway…
No matter how much outrage I felt, I still couldn’t stop.
Until the day my mother passed away from overwork.
My foolish life continued.
Only after seeing my mother’s final moments did I finally stop.
“Sob…”
“Doun-ah, Unni?”
The touch of Kim Soojin’s teacher’s hand patting my back was felt.
Before, no one had believed in me.
Everyone had pointed fingers at me.
Accusing me of lying.
Of jealousy.
But now…
There were people who believed in me.
Teacher Kim Soojin.
Eunhye.
Na-eun.
I was grateful to all of them.
“Teacher, thank you.”
“Huh?”
“I’ll work hard. I won’t hide in reality anymore. Even if it’s the son of a National Assemblyman… if I did wrong, I have to be punished.”
“Yes… Doun-ah. Don’t worry.”
I didn’t realize my body was trembling.
Because of gratitude and fear.
Would I be able to fight school bullying again?
Wouldn’t my past life repeat itself?
Would I lose everything and end up harming the people around me… in that way?
I stayed in Teacher Kim Soojin’s arms for a long while, overwhelmed by gratitude and fear.
“Doun-ah…”
“Doun-ah… it’s okay.”
Eunhye and Na-eun also hugged me.
Really… could I fight?
Won’t this cause harm to these precious people?
Like how my old self had harmed my family…
“It’s okay, Doun-ah…”
“Teacher…”
**
I steeled my resolve.
I had already jumped onto the tiger’s back.
The school bullying committee must have already heard about the parents of Lee Hanmin.
Even if I stopped now, the damage would spread to Teacher Kim Soojin and the high school principal in some way or another.
That was why I pushed harder.
I actively participated in the school bullying committee investigation.
Since detailed statements from the involved parties were needed, I wrote down all the content I knew in full detail.
The school bullying committee meeting was heated with raised voices.
There was no other choice.
One side strongly argued for severe punishment for school bullying, while the other insisted on light discipline like a warning in the student record book, nothing severe enough to be recorded.
Neither side was willing to compromise even a little.
I listened to the proceedings from outside the classroom with Eunhye and Na-eun.
“Why do adults want to defend school bullying so much?”
“Yeah… that’s too much…”
Eunhye and Na-eun said in small voices.
That was just how Korean adults thought.
Kids grow up by fighting…
Even fifteen years from now, when I was over thirty, adults…
Precisely, among the elderly, there were people who said things like “They’re supposed to grow up fighting in school, why all the fuss?”
Now it was too late to say anything…
Moreover, this issue was school bullying, with the perpetrator being the son of a National Assemblyman.
The committee members knew exactly whose parents the perpetrator belonged to.
So the meeting proceeded even more roughly than usual.
“No! Recording disciplinary matters related to school bullying in the records doesn’t help prevent school bullying!”
“So what? What, let’s not record anything!?”
“You’re ridiculous! Pinning a perpetrator as a criminal is in no way educational! It even risks violating human rights!”
The committee members had been fighting over whether to record school bullying facts in the student record book or not.
“Quiet. Be quiet, everyone!”
The vice principal calmed the members and gave his own opinion.
“Recording and preserving disciplinary matters related to school bullying provides useful information for guiding and educating the perpetrator student.”
“Ugh…”
“Vice Principal!”
“The fact that school bullying is used as upper-level school admission material raises students’ awareness, preventing school bullying and reoffending as an extremely effective means.”
“No! Vice Principal! Do you not know who Lee Hanmin’s parents are?!”
In the end, the content everyone knew but no one spoke aloud came out.
About Lee Hanmin’s parents.
“So what?”
“Vice Principal!”
“Is knowing who the parents are important?”
Because of the vice principal’s firm will, the voices of protest gradually faded.
“Vice Principal…”
“It looks like we’ve reached a meeting conclusion. Let’s all go home now.”
Thud!
The classroom door was violently opened and one member walked out.
“Hah… the vice principal… what a thunderclap of a guy!”
He muttered curses to himself as he left his seat.
“Doun-ah, it seems they decided to punish the perpetrator at the school bullying committee.”
“Yeah… that’s right. Let’s head back to the club room now.”
“Yeah!”
“Let’s go!”
Club Room
This place was my safe haven.
With Hanmin’s bullying made blatant, the entire school had become a danger zone for me.
Chairs with nails in them were normal, getting pelted with water in the bathroom…
Yet the club room gave me the most stability.
It was the one place Teacher Kim Soojin protected, so other students couldn’t play pranks there.
“Everyone’s here? Computers are on.”
“Thank you, Teacher.”
“Thank you.”
Upon connecting to Hunting for a Hero, the familiar house in the Apse Mountain Range appeared.
[You’re here?]
[Uncle, hello.]
[Hello.]
[Shall we attack the Hobgoblin Village today?]
[That’s right.]
There were many Hobgoblin residences in the Apse Mountain Range.
Among the various monsters inhabiting the Apse Mountain Range, Hobgoblins were good hunting prey.
Their levels were appropriate for us to take on, and we could gain plenty of loot once we occupied their settlement.
[Party Window]
- Cain (Lv. 99)
- Seolhwa (Lv. 99)
- Elena (Lv. 99)
- Inhyungsulsa (Lv. 99)
- Fersin (Lv. 99)
- Sara (Lv. 99)
And after clearing today’s target, the Hobgoblin Village, we could all reach Level 100.
[Then, let’s depart.]
[Understood.]
[Yeah!]
[Let’s go!]
Leading the way, we rushed toward the Hobgoblin Village.
Thud! Thud!
We blocked with shields and stabbed with swords.
In an instant, we defeated one Hobgoblin.
Shield Bash was used toward the Hobgoblin attacking from the side.
Koong!
While the Hobgoblin was stunned by the stiffness, his neck was cut with a sword.
Perhaps because the school bullying matter that had been worrying me in real life was settled, today’s control was even better than usual.
I didn’t focus solely on tanking.
When opportunities arose, I finished off the Hobgoblins.
[Ice Arrow!]
An ice arrow flew from behind and struck the Hobgoblin.
While the attacked Hobgoblin was slowed, Shield Bash created a status effect of Stiffness, and the sword stabbed the Hobgoblin’s torso.
Kiiieee.
We fought mindlessly.
Today, I didn’t think about anything else, only focusing entirely on Hunting for a Hero.
It felt like diving into the game after a long time.
Whoooosh!
Seolhwa defeated the last Hobgoblin shaman, ending the battle.
[You seem to have been in good condition today.]
Inhyungsulsa approached and spoke.
[Ah… yes, thank you.]
[You seemed to have been worried for a while. Is it solved now?]
[Yeah? Ah… not completely, though.]
I hadn’t spoken to Inhyungsulsa about the school bullying.
Yet he seemed to have guessed something was wrong.
After experiencing his sharp intuition several times, it didn’t surprise me.
[You’re a high school student now. Don’t let it bother you too much. At that age, it’s a small matter to just move on.]
[Thank you.]
Inhyungsulsa patted my shoulder and returned to the group.
I followed behind him and rejoined the party.
[Cain! Look at this.]
Elena cast a blessing on me.
The blessing buff activated, and basic stats rose slightly.
And.
[Holy Bolt!]
White light shot from Elena’s hand and hit the tree.
[I can attack too now!]
Elena smiled happily while using the two skills learned at Level 100.
[Uncle also gets a blessing!]
[Haha. Thank you.]
Seolhwa swung her sword and struck a rock nearby.
[Seolhwa?]
[Yeah… This time I can use the aura.]
[Congratulations.]
[But… there’s no effect effect.]
Seolhwa hit the rock with her aura-enhanced sword with a disappointed look.
If it had been normal, durability would have been reduced, but now it wouldn’t.
Because the sword was reinforced with aura.
[Keep going. When your level rises even higher, you’ll be able to make your sword glow blue like knights.]
[Yeah…]
Unlike us, the NPCs were relatively calm.
[Sara. What magic can you use?]
[I have learned to use the Fireball spell in addition.]
Level 1 circle Mana Bolt is non-elemental offensive magic.
It not only cannot be adjusted to the monster’s attribute, but its attack power is also weak.
Level 2 Fire Arrow and Ice Arrow are single-target piercing magic with strong penetration power.
And when mages reach Level 100 and become Level 3 users, they learn Fireball, Iceball, and Wind Cutter.
Of course, not all Level 3 magic is available at Level 100.
Users can use the magic that matches their attribute affinity in order.
Because Sara had high fire affinity, she immediately learned Fireball the moment she reached Level 100.
Unlike arrow series magic, Level 3 magic can deal area damage.
Additionally, the effects of each attribute are more powerful than Level 2.
Fireball has burn status, Iceball has slow status, and Wind Cutter has excellent penetration power.
I didn’t ask Fersin standing next to Sara separately.
Since he was a warrior class, he would have obtained the aura skill like Seolhwa.
[Wahahaha! Look at this!]
Inhyungsulsa laughed loudly while looking at his summoned creature.