Chapter 142
Chapter 142
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Translator: uly
Chapter: 142
Chapter Title: Group Components ver.p.saebyeok(tp)
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[Part 2 Episode 5]
§ Group Components ver.p.saebyeok(tp)
It had been a while since their last disciplinary assembly.
Saebyeok had told the kids resting in their dorms to gather in the lounge.
Normally, when Yoo-hyun called them together, it was to watch a movie or spend some leisure time as a group, so assembling like this just to get scolded was pretty unusual.
The kids stood in the lounge in a straight line, backs ramrod straight.
“Why’d you call us here?”
Serim, who’d just woken up, yawned and spoke in an irritated tone.
“I don’t know who it is, but I’ve heard one of you has been causing quite a bit of trouble at school.”
Yoo-hyun turned her head, checking over every single one of the gathered kids.
Fortunately, this time none of them bowed their heads the moment they assembled.
In the past, whenever she’d tried to scold them, they’d immediately drop their heads, which always softened her heart and led to nothing more than light advice—she’d never pushed hard.
Today, she had to come down strong.
“I’ve heard that a lot of recovery syringes have been going missing from the hunter supply stock lately. Even on days with no gate explorations.”
The moment recovery syringes were mentioned, a snickering voice rose from the group.
“Lately, the school’s been calling a lot. They say association hunters have been bullying someone really viciously. But according to the reports, their bodies are all perfectly fine.”
Yoo-hyun probed gently while observing the kids’ expressions.
Unlike Kyung-seop and Ji-yoon’s group, who fidgeted restlessly, Serim and Woohee’s side looked utterly nonchalant.
Woohee smirked, arms crossed, and opened her mouth.
“That’s why it’s all lies.”
“Real or not, as long as their bodies are fine, isn’t that enough?”
“New Association President, don’t let yourself get swayed by liars with persecution complexes!”
At Serim’s sarcasm, a burst of laughter erupted from one side.
“Shut your boring ass up. I wanna hear the rest of the story.”
“Ah~ Saebyeok, what’s with you? Getting all serious out of nowhere again.”
“Idiot who can’t read the room. Stay quiet and at least you’ll get half a point.”
“No thanks. Isn’t the idiot the one who can’t even laugh off a joke—you guys?”
Serim, feeling cornered, lashed out at Saebyeok.
“What am I supposed to do about it? Don’t show off your rock-bottom IQ test score here.”
Kyung-seop and Ji-yoon’s group, their faces hardening, bit their lips and chuckled.
Everyone knew Serim always ranked dead last in puzzles and IQ tests.
Serim scowled, flustered for a moment.
Saebyeok could be great fun one minute but sometimes came at you with sharp edges, and this was one of those times.
It stung a little.
“Fine, then what about you, always messing up your words?”
“What about it, Serim~ who thought multiplication tables were ice cream flavors? You can’t even add one plus one without folding your fingers and eventually pounding a calculator~”
Whoops and hoots of derision rang out, followed by another round of cackling laughter.
Suddenly finding herself the butt of the joke, Serim let out a hollow laugh in disbelief.
The atmosphere, which had been ganging up to dismiss Yoo-hyun, flipped to target someone else in an instant.
Saebyeok had aimed to build a scolding mood, but as the only unawakened one, shifting from playful banter to outright terrorizing them was impossible.
That was Yoo-hyun’s job.
As the laughter died down, a brief silence fell.
Saebyeok glanced at Yoo-hyun and nodded, signaling her to continue.
Yoo-hyun, who’d been staring steadily at Saebyeok, finally spoke.
“I’m considering expulsion or transfer.”
That one line wiped the smiles off every face.
“Later, I’ll go to the victims myself and hear their side. Anyone whose name comes up then, I’ll consider expelling.”
Since most of the kids were still attending school, the room fell deathly quiet in an instant.
Woohee rolled her eyes, frowned, and spoke up.
“Ah, so if someone makes a malicious false report, we lose even the chance to live normally?”
The others, lost in thought, filled their eyes with defiance upon hearing Woohee.
“How touching, our battle weapon lives~”
“At least no one here thinks of you that way, so don’t say stuff like that. It hurts my heart.”
“…….”
At the “it hurts my heart” line, Woohee shot Yoo-hyun a glare.
“Woohee, Serim…….”
Yoo-hyun named not just those two, but the others who hung around with them.
“Your names came up in common at least four times in the victims’ statements.”
“That’s a setup.”
“I’ll check that myself when I visit the school.”
Serim scowled, not expecting the association president to meddle so aggressively.
“…….”
“If it checks out, I’ll have the ones I named apologize first, then transfer you depending on the situation.”
“Apologize? There’s no evidence. What makes you think you can force us? Who do you think you are?”
Unlike them—always ending up labeled liars despite begging for outside help, only for supervisors to heal the wounds—this was playing out differently.
“If you don’t reflect on your wrongs, it’s expulsion.”
“What’s with the snap judgment? We’ve barely been at school a month and now expulsion? Ah, just say you want us spinning gates nonstop?”
“Woohee, don’t go extreme.”
“What am I supposed to do? Fuck off back to your flower garden head.”
Woohee brushed back her hair with a sneer, coldly snapping back at Kyung-seop.
“Hey, why do we have to leave?”
“I’d love for you all to enjoy peaceful daily lives, but that comes with the prerequisite of not trampling on others’.”
“Ah~ Others enjoy it their whole lives, and it bugs you that we get a taste for a bit?”
Woohee burst into loud laughter, then glared wide-eyed as she drew up her mana.
“You serious? Things were just getting fun in life. You say you want us happy, but isn’t this just isolation dressed up as well-wishing?”
Yoo-hyun knew what drove their words, and it tore at her heart.
That’s why she hadn’t scolded them harshly until now.
Yoo-hyun silently watched Woohee approach her, quietly swallowing her rage for a moment.
“You say it’s for our sake, but why believe the whining of some normal flower-garden kid? As long as they don’t die, right?”
“The supervisors and researchers who tormented you—what happened to them? If you hurt others, they won’t just stand by when you’re enjoying full happiness later.”
“That’s only for extreme cases like ours where we grind our teeth for revenge. Most petty harms leave no evidence, so we don’t bother. Weaklings are the ones shaking over trivial revenge.”
“……Even so, my decision to make you apologize, then expel or transfer, stands.”
Woohee’s face twisted at Yoo-hyun’s firm stance.
Suddenly this loser nerd was acting tough.
“No way!!! Why!!! Then what about us! When supervisors and others bullied us, did anyone step in to stop them?”
Woohee, who’d always seen supervisors as objects of terror, now bared her teeth at the still-frail-looking Yoo-hyun.
“Why, why!! Why only us!! Why interfere now that we’re trying to enjoy what others do??”
One step.
“Where were you all!! When I was scared shitless, what were you doing siding with whiners!!! ”
Her eyes brimming with rage, she took another step.
“Fuck, who the hell are you to tell us to endure it, apologize or whatever!!!”
With those words, Woohee unleashed her body’s mana explosively, activating her ability.
Her hair turned platinum blonde as she drew the weapon hidden in her bosom and aimed it at Yoo-hyun.
“Hey, stop!!!”
Serim, panicked, tried to hold Woohee back.
But Saebyeok stripped off her outer jacket, wrapped it around Woohee’s face to block her vision, then shook her head hard to throw off her balance.
She clenched her fist and swiftly struck her jaw.
Thwack!
Woohee, losing her footing, crumpled to the floor.
“Damn, fuck. It’s Saebyeok, huh.”
Woohee yanked the jacket off her face and looked up at Saebyeok staring coldly down at her.
Fear hit her like a brick.
“Don’t suddenly act all nice, Saebyeok~ Why’re you suddenly on her side?”
“Brain not working? Heads have changed. It’s not Kim Woo-sung in charge anymore—it’s Yoo-hyun.”
Saebyeok grabbed Woohee by the collar and yelled loudly.
“Who do you think’s looking out for who? You know it too. Even the most patient person has limits when disrespected. She’s in a position to kick us out if she wants.”
“…….”
Because Yoo-hyun was in that position, all the “I care about you” talk felt like fake bullshit.
That bred resistance.
Part of her even wished they’d act heartless—at least it’d be predictable.
Then she got hooked on the superiority of disrespecting those above her.
Woohee felt a chill shoot up her spine at Saebyeok’s words.
Intoxicated by that high, she’d forgotten Kim Woo-sung and Yoo-hyun were the same rank.
Suddenly, her back went ice cold.
She’d written off the mild-mannered guy before he became association president as harmless, ignoring he could change once in power.
“See? Fuck. Pretend to be nice, but they’re all the same in the end.”
“You’re proving it yourself by pulling shit to frame it that way and force the outcome. Be honest—no drama if you don’t act like an asshole.”
“Saebyeok, you bitch.”
“Look at you proving it right now.”
Woohee, thinking it over, stood with a much calmer expression and walked toward Yoo-hyun.
“I’ll go apologize. Dragging the others along too.”
“…….”
“Why look at me like that? We’ll all go one by one to apologize.”
Realizing her tone was too cocky, she softened it.
“No expulsion yet—there’s no evidence. Give us a chance to live right, Association President.”
Yoo-hyun, head spinning, gave a bitter smile and pinched her brow.
The situation had veered slightly off her intent midway, but it reached the conclusion she wanted.
Still, she wasn’t sure if it was the right call.
It felt like she’d hurt them again by making them put up walls against her.
But regardless, this was a necessary moment at least once.
She understood the reasons for their anger toward her and their feelings, yet she wanted to cry for some reason.
She suddenly missed the dungeons in the game.
She longed for those times lounging on the hill, munching nut cookies leisurely.
“……For now, you all must be tired. Go back and rest.”
But running away wasn’t an option.
That would just prove the world was nothing but harsh.
The kids would keep cycling self-loathing into hating others until they dragged themselves and everyone around them to ruin.
She just wanted to show them life had bright sides too, but it wasn’t easy.
Maybe trying to change someone was her own arrogant selfishness—she felt a twinge of fear at that.
Turning her head, she saw Saebyeok watching her. Such a grateful, pitiful, strange kid.
Looking at her oddly made her heart feel steady, protected.
“Thank you.”
Saebyeok scowled, whipped her head away, and left the lounge.