Tomorrow, True Hell Awaits
Happiness. When was the last time I felt an emotion like this? It had been so long I couldn't even remember. I was always suffering, gritting my teeth and simply enduring each day. But lately, I kept thinking about how incredibly happy I was.
Lunchtime these days meant Ha-eun would always come to my seat and eat with me. Even though my meal time was twenty minutes later than everyone else's, she still chose to spend that time with me.
I could finally look her in the face now. I could talk to her while gazing into those beautiful eyes of hers.
Of course, aside from that, not much else had changed.
Unlike me, Ha-eun had plenty of friends. She was always hanging out with them, so there were no cliché romantic scenes like walking to and from the academy together.
The other cadets still looked at me like I was a bug, and the whispering continued unchanged. Still, with the rank battle right around the corner, no one tried to physically harass me.
But I had Ha-eun's smile, so I could forget about that kind of misery, at least for a little while.
And so Thursday arrived.
Right as the academy assembly was ending.
Cadet Yoo Ji-min's Rank Battle opponent has been decided.
My rank battle was scheduled for tomorrow, Friday. The moment I saw who my opponent was, a tremendous rage boiled up inside me.
But at the same time, a smile full of anticipation rose to my lips.
Rank Battle.
The rank battle was mandatory for all cadets except healers, and it was held separately by academic year. That meant first-years and second-years would never be matched against each other.
And as I mentioned briefly before, the academy's rank battles placed extreme importance on realism.
First of all, surprisingly, surrendering came with a massive penalty. It was because a hunter giving up a fight meant prioritizing their own safety.
The academy's educational policy basically said they had no use for the weak. Yet they wouldn't let anyone drop out... Anyway, I could only call it a place completely out of its mind.
So how were wins and losses decided?
If the cadet with a clear advantage declared victory and the defeated cadet accepted it, the match could end. The professors would then factor that in when grading.
If no victory was declared, any violence was permitted until the opponent's life was in danger and the barrier broke. After all, pain and trauma were things a hunter had to endure.
Of course, most students would declare victory at a reasonable point and end the match by mutual agreement.
But for me, the rank battle I'd gone through as a first-year had truly been hell.
The majority of cadets wouldn't easily declare victory against me. They probably thought there was no need to consider the position of a sex offender villain like me. They had no intention of going easy on a stress-relief toy.
Of course, that didn't mean I ever surrendered. In the end, even though I desperately scraped together points, I still lost every rank battle and ended up with a black nameplate, but...
Anyway, because of that, I got beaten a lot. Bones were broken. I suffered serious injuries.
And I would never forget that past.
Just then, the back door of our classroom slid open.
"Ji-min! Hyung's here!!"
My rank battle opponent, Kwon Si-hu. The bastard had come looking for me.
"Yoo Ji-min! Haah... you cute little shit. Hyung hasn't been able to look after you much since we got put in different classes, huh?"
Kwon Si-hu chuckled as he placed a hand on my shoulder.
For a moment, deep rage surged up from within. But instead of knocking his hand away, I simply stared straight at him.
Kwon Si-hu, receiving my gaze, burst into laughter.
"Ha! This villain bastard really is hopeless? I heard you just awakened, and now you're putting some strength in your eyes? Is this shit really that fun for you right now?"
Kwon Si-hu.
This bastard could be defined in a single sentence.
Attention-seeking female-pleaser.
He was usually very quiet when he was alone or with other guys. But in an environment with female cadets, his behavior changed completely.
Last year, Kwon Si-hu and I had been in the same class, and we'd both been in E-Class for the leveled courses.
And every time he saw me, he showed off his power. Of course, only when girls were around.
Like slapping the back of my head while sneaking glances at the girls.
"Ji-min! If you're a man, you should know how to protect women. Bastards like you who commit hidden-camera crimes are really shaming all men. Huh? You get it?"
He would shout loudly as if representing the female cadets' position. And anyone could see it was solely to draw the girls' attention. He was under the delusion that no one would notice.
But the absolute worst was during the first-year rank battle.
"Ji-min! Let's publicly apologize to the girls right here! Hyung will help you!"
He had only just awakened and was in the same E-Class as me, but he wasn't someone the old me—a normal person—could possibly handle.
That's how I suffered his merciless beating. My arm was broken, my cheekbone cracked. My knee joint was twisted so badly I couldn't even stand.
But the bastard never declared victory. He kept beating me while repeating the same words like a parrot.
"Apologize already! Ji-min! I'm telling you to kneel to the girls and reflect! Hyung's even giving you this justification, isn't he?"
He kept demanding that I publicly apologize right there in the rank battle arena.
No, to be precise, he needed the title of having made me publicly apologize. That way he thought he could get the female cadets' attention.
But I never complied with Kwon Si-hu's demands.
Because I hadn't actually done anything wrong. There was no reason for me to apologize in the first place.
Besides, I absolutely refused to become a sacrificial lamb for a bastard like him just to get the girls' attention.
In the end, I never uttered a single apology or surrender. After beating me for quite a while, Kwon Si-hu finally sensed the atmosphere growing slightly strange.
"Kugh... Damn it!"
When the atmosphere didn't go as he wanted, he finally stabbed a spear into my head and shattered the barrier.
Of course, even after that, his harassment continued in the classroom, in E-Class, wherever the girls were.
When we became second-years, we ended up in different classes. He got promoted to D-Class, so we didn't run into each other for a while.
But in this moment, the bastard had appeared before my eyes once again.
And as my very first opponent, no less.
"Ji-min! This time let's definitely do a public apology to the girls, yeah? Hyung will kindly help you out just like last time?"
I tried my best to suppress the rage that threatened to boil over.
Yeah. Just endure it for one day. Tomorrow it'll be fine. I have to hold it in today…
And then I spoke to him quietly.
"Try it. If you can."
"What?!"
At my short reply, Kwon Si-hu's face flushed bright red. He huffed and roughly grabbed my collar.
"Haven't played with you lately and you already forgot what I'm like? Ji-min's grown a lot while I wasn't looking, huh? Getting cocky and climbing all over me? You really wanna die?"
"If you can do it, then do it. I don't think I'll lose to you."
"This son of a bitch!!!!"
Kwon Si-hu huffed and puffed while still gripping my collar for a long moment before he finally had no choice but to let go. He must have realized that causing a scene here today—right before tomorrow's rank battle—would only get him disciplined.
At the same time, the bell signaling the start of first period rang.
"You fucking sex offender bastard. We'll settle this tomorrow. I won't hold back at all, so you'd better prepare yourself for real."
"......"
When I didn't give any further reaction, he simply turned and left.
Won't hold back at all?
I really hope you don't. Because I have zero intention of going easy on you either.
You know what, Si-hu? I have a plan.
Tomorrow, you'll experience such horrible pain that you'll think dying would be better.
And it'll leave such massive trauma that you won't be able to dream of becoming a hunter anymore.
No matter what happens, I won't stop.
I'll make sure to show everyone so clearly that what I went through was nothing.
Someone might say that it doesn't mean anything since healing will restore everything anyway, right?
But unfortunately, healing magic isn't that perfect.
If you receive treatment from a high-rank healer stationed at the academy, external injuries will heal within a few days. It causes tremendous pain in the process, but there's no denying that recovery does occur.
At least on the surface.
But the human brain is a truly mysterious thing. It doesn't easily forget trauma or pain.
Even if everything looks completely healed on the outside, there are cases where nerves don't regenerate. There are countless instances where someone looks perfectly fine but the pain remains exactly as it was.
In the end, since nerves are connected to the brain, it's probably trauma or stress that causes the problems.
In reality, most hunters who suffer major injuries and can't make a comeback—or end up as cripples—usually do so for these reasons.
And I had experienced all of that during last year's rank battle.
The horrible pain that continued for days even after treatment was supposedly complete. The flashbacks of the injury that hit me every time something brushed against my body.
But I overcame it.
I somehow gritted my teeth and endured. I barely managed to overcome the trauma.
There are still days when I can't sleep because the pain from back then comes rushing in the moment I close my eyes. But for me, something like that has long since become a familiar part of daily life.
So I wonder.
Will you be able to do the same?
Will you be able to overcome that horrible pain and trauma and stand up again like I did?
I'm so unbearably curious about that.
Look forward to it, Si-hu.
Because tomorrow, I'm going to show you real hell.