The Cowards
The coward Jo Ji-ho charged at me in a fit of rage. The distance between us closed in an instant.
'This guy must be a physical enhancement type like me. In that case, he should actually be easier to deal with.'
Whoosh—
I ducked my head low, easily dodging the fist flying toward my skull. The moment I shifted my weight to counterattack—
“Whoa, whoa. You can’t just fight with your own classmates! Everyone, calm down!”
Suddenly, the nameless guy who had been standing with Jo Ji-ho jumped between us. My chance to strike back vanished into thin air.
“Come on, don’t get so worked up! Ji-ho, cool your head for a second. And you too, Ji-min, yeah?”
The bastard naturally wrapped himself around me like he was trying to hug me. It felt slightly unpleasant, but it was awkward to snap at him when he was clearly playing the role of peacemaker. Anyone watching would see it as an attempt to stop the fight.
But when I thought about it calmly, something felt off.
'Wasn’t this fucker laughing along with Jo Ji-ho just a second ago?'
The same guy who had been mocking me was now trying to break up the fight the moment it started? Sure, it was possible he had come to his senses when things suddenly escalated and wanted to resolve it peacefully.
But I wasn’t buying it. Especially since Jo Ji-ho wasn’t calming down at all—he was still rushing toward me.
“Kim Tae-yang! Don’t stop me! I’m going to kill this sex offender bastard right here today!!”
Jo Ji-ho’s eyes were completely bloodshot as he charged at me. But attacks made in a frenzied state are inevitably simplistic. That’s why staying calm is the most important thing in a fight.
I moved again, preparing to dodge lightly. However—
“Aigoo! Ji-min, calm down! Yeah? Don’t get excited!”
The guy who had been trying to stop the fight—Kim Tae-yang—grabbed me from behind.
“Let go! He’s attacking me!!” “I said calm down. Yeah? Ji-min. Relax!”
This son of a bitch! He was pretending to mediate while secretly pinning me down from behind!
And the result—
Thud!
Jo Ji-ho’s fist slammed straight into my face.
“Calm down, Ji-min. Yeah? Don’t fight. Hehehehe….”
Still holding me tightly from behind, the bastard exposed me to Jo Ji-ho again.
“You cowardly bastards…”
Before I knew it, cadets from other classes had gathered to watch the fight.
“You fucking piece of shit, Yoo Ji-min! I heard you’ve been strutting around like hot shit ever since you awakened? You better realize you’re dead. Did you think I was some weak trash like Kwon Si-hoo or Nam Yeon-woo?”
After landing that one hit, Jo Ji-ho came at me again with overwhelming momentum. On top of that, Kim Tae-yang was still pretending to hold me back while actually restraining me from behind. It was the worst possible situation.
But precisely because of that, they had let their guard down. And I was the kind of person optimized for exploiting even the tiniest opening.
Weak Point Detection has been activated.
The opponent's weaknesses will be displayed for 30 seconds.
I planted my feet firmly and drove a deep kick straight into Jo Ji-ho’s lower abdomen—his glaring weak point. Of course, I didn’t forget to reinforce my leg joints with Hardening.
Thud!
“Ughk!”
Jo Ji-ho folded like a cheap chair and staggered backward.
The moment he went down, I could feel Kim Tae-yang behind me panic.
“Huh? Huh?” “Pretending to stop the fight while holding me back? Isn’t that a little too cowardly?” “W-what… no… that’s not what I…”
Before he could finish his pathetic excuse, I bent my knees slightly. Then I exploded upward with all my strength, jumping backward like I was doing a squat.
Boom!
Kim Tae-yang slammed into the wall along with me. But the bastard still wouldn’t let go.
So I activated Hardening on the back of my head and kept smashing it into his face.
Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!
With a wall behind him, he was trapped between my skull and the concrete. Eventually, he had no choice but to release me.
“Ugh… fuck!!”
The instant Kim Tae-yang let go—
Tap—
I sprinted toward Jo Ji-ho, who was clutching his stomach and trying to get up. I poured maximum Hardening into my knee and drove it straight into his face—his biggest weak point.
Bang!!
“Guhk!”
Jo Ji-ho was out cold.
I spun around immediately. Kim Tae-yang was bleeding profusely from his nose, preparing something.
“You villain bastard!! You’re fucking dead!!” “Finally showing your true colors, huh.”
Splat—
Kim Tae-yang’s arm twisted grotesquely before shooting toward me as a tentacle.
“Tentacle transformation… What a filthy fucking ability.” “Shut up!”
His tentacles split into multiple strands and rushed at me.
But it didn’t matter. I still had time left on Weak Point Detection.
Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!
I struck precisely at the marked weak points, smashing the tentacles away one by one with my hardened fists. The moment his tentacles spread open and left a gap—
Booom!!!
I charged forward and slammed a running big boot straight into his face—his weak point. Just like the pro-wrestling move.
“Grrrrrr…”
Kim Tae-yang’s head smashed into the wall, and he lost consciousness too.
“…….” “…….” “…….”
The cadets who had been excitedly watching the fight earlier were now completely silent. I didn’t know if they had been cheering for those two, but they had definitely been hoping I would get my ass kicked.
“If anyone else wants to fight, step up now.”
Not a single person moved.
“Cowardly bastards… Nothing but a bunch of spineless cowards.”
I had just taken down two D-Class cadets at once.
Of course, it had only been possible because of the effective surprise attack and the fact that neither side had weapons. I’d gotten a bit lucky too.
But from their perspective, fighting me was nothing but uncertainty. Especially since it was Rank Match week. Getting injured for no reason would seriously hurt their grades.
“Hey, you! You’ve been snickering since earlier. You. Come out.”
Telling a whole group usually doesn’t work. It’s the same reason people say “Hey, the guy in the blue hat! Call the police!” instead of just “Someone help!” when they need assistance.
So I singled out one of the bastards who had been mocking me from the start.
His response was truly spectacular.
“M-me…? I wasn’t laughing!” “I heard everything you said about the sex offender. Seems like you have a lot of complaints about me, so come out already. I’ll beat you to death.” “What are you talking about?! I didn’t do that!!” “……” “And I have a rank match tomorrow! I can’t fight right now!!”
It was so ridiculous I was speechless. These were the kind of trash who swarmed and bit at anyone who looked weak, but tucked their tails the moment there was even a hint of danger.
“You pathetic idiots. Truly pitiful. If no one’s going to step up, then fuck off.”
After I spoke, a bit of murmuring spread before they all returned to their respective classes.
'Haa… What a fucking shitty feeling…'
Homeroom began shortly after. Whether it was fortunate or unfortunate, Jo Ji-ho and Kim Tae-yang regained consciousness quickly. The professor didn’t seem particularly interested in the fight—whether he knew about it or not.
Even after homeroom ended, I glared at the two who had fought me, but they desperately avoided making eye contact.
Yeah. In the end, this was exactly what they were.
And this was the correct answer.
I felt like I had gained a very clear solution for how to navigate the rest of my academy life.
Even after that day, I had no intention of holding back.
If anyone insulted me or whispered behind my back, I planned to charge at them immediately.
But whether they had noticed my intent or it was just a coincidence, the cadets stopped openly insulting me where I could hear.
The remaining D and E-Class students in the morning probably hesitated to pick a fight with someone like me when the outcome was so uncertain.
Of course, I had no idea what they were saying behind my back, but at least in front of me, they kept their mouths shut.
'This feels pretty fucking shitty in its own way…'
I had resolved to vent all the anger that had built up inside me, but now that the opportunities had disappeared, I felt frustrated.
That said, it was awkward to randomly approach someone and start a fight by saying, “Hey, didn’t you talk shit about me before?”
Not that I hadn’t tried it a few times already.
The responses I usually got went something like this:
“Me? I didn’t do that!! You must have misheard!! You don’t even have proof!!”
It was the kind of answer that made my blood pressure spike, but when they acted so shameless, it felt wrong to just start swinging.
“Sigh…”
After those frustrating days passed, the weekend finally arrived.
“Is this the place…?”
I arrived at the address written on the business card Happiness had given me.
It was a knowledge industry center near my neighborhood.
'What kind of villain sets up shop in a knowledge industry center?'
Surprisingly, many ordinary guilds actually rented spaces in these centers. Guilds often needed training rooms or heavy equipment storage inside their buildings, and there was no better place than these high-ceilinged, sturdy apartment-style factories.
Anyway, I took the elevator up to the third floor.
'Whoa… So the Jan-yeong Guild is here. They’re taking up an entire floor?'
The moment I stepped out, I saw the Jan-yeong Guild—the same one that ran the staffing office I worked at. Even though it was the weekend, a few office workers were still handling paperwork.
“Hello. What brings you here today?”
A man who seemed to be security spoke to me.
“Hello. I’m here for an appointment.”
I showed him the business card Happiness had given me.
“Ah, you must be a guest here to see Director Happiness. I’ll guide you.”
Following the security guard, I was led to an office deep inside the guild.
'So Happiness is working here as a director of the Jan-yeong Guild?'
That was pretty unique. I had never imagined a guild would openly treat a villain as a director.
Well, it wasn’t any of my business.
Knock knock knock.
“Come in.”
When I entered the office, I met Happiness again—this time in the form of Song Eun-chae.
“Hello.” “Not busy today? Don’t you have to play that weird game?” “Well… yeah…”
She really held a grudge about that.
Song Eun-chae looked me up and down before speaking.
“Follow me for a moment. There’s something I need to check.” “Yes, understood.”
The place she led me to was the Jan-yeong Guild’s training room.
“Come at me.” “Excuse me…?” “I said come at me. I want to see your skills.” “Ah… yes…”
I picked up one of the training swords leaning in the corner of the room. Then I observed Song Eun-chae for a moment.
Even though she had told me to attack her, she wasn’t holding any weapon. On top of that, perhaps because of the strong air conditioning, she hadn’t even taken off her windbreaker, which was zipped all the way up. Thanks to that, her legs—which practically looked like they were missing pants—were extremely sexy.
Ahem. Anyway, the point was that this woman was looking down on me completely.
And what did that mean? It meant Song Eun-chae was letting her guard down in a very big way.
And who was I? A man who knew exactly how to stab effectively into openings created by carelessness.
It sounded a bit like something from an erotic novel when I put it that way. Whatever!
'This is perfect. It’s a rare opportunity.'
Happiness had definitely said that if she weren’t a villain, she would be strong enough to reach S-Class. Opportunities to spar with an opponent like that didn’t come often. This was the perfect chance to see if my skills could even land a hit.
“Here I come!” “Sure… come at me. I’m not expecting much, though.”
She looked at me with languid eyes, as if she might yawn at any moment.
Creak—
Steel Body (Hardening) has been activated.
'She’s completely ignoring me? Then I’ll go all out from the start! Obviously I can’t win. But I’ll at least land one solid hit!!'
Weak Point Detection has been activated.
The opponent's weaknesses will be displayed for 30 seconds.
Swish—
Without hesitation, I charged at Song Eun-chae with everything I had.
That was the last thing I remembered.