Chapter 10
Chapter 10
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Translator: crow
Chapter Title: Cyber Bully "Go Jin-yo": Yoon Seo-ah (2)
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‘Still no issues so far.’
After hypnotizing Go Jin-yo, I hadn’t visited her place.
I figured rushing over wouldn’t show much change, so I decided to give it about a week and watch from afar.
‘No new videos either.’
I hadn’t realized it, but before kidnapping me, Go Jin-yo had been uploading obsessively.
All of them filled with vicious criticism and slander against Yu-ra.
‘She must’ve been seriously pissed to drop her usual pattern.’
From her videos, she never targeted the same person twice.
But with Yu-ra getting this special treatment, it was clear the interview had set her off big time.
‘She even showed me Yu-ra’s interview video, so yeah, that tracks.’
She’d gone all-in on revenge against Yu-ra specifically.
But she never mentioned it to me, and given how she’d acted, it seemed she’d been thoroughly ignored.
‘Comments aren’t looking good either.’
It was hate-bait content anyway.
But hammering one person like this led to repetitive stories piling up.
Even her fans who defended her got tired of the lazy, recycled videos and left comments.
[Same old crap again. How long you gonna upload only about Choi Yu-ra?]
[Owner, you a lesbian or something? Got rejected by Choi Yu-ra?]
[Hmm, out of material, huh? Just hate-baiting Choi Yu-ra. Smells, I’m out.]
It wasn’t mainstream opinion yet, but those scattered comments suggested it was about to blow up.
Then uploads stopped right before it did, and interest in Go Jin-yo faded. Nothing happened.
‘Maybe she switched targets to me because her subs weren’t biting and Yu-ra ignored her.’
But hey.
Kidnapping crossed the line.
And trying to film an NTR video? No way.
“Well, water under the bridge. I’ve already hypnotized her as punishment and penance.”
Would she actually reflect on it?
Even I thought it was harsh, so I added a safety net.
I just hoped it went the way I wanted.
“Honestly, it’s a waste of a skill.”
Sure, I had the Hypnosis skill now.
But it was irregular—an unnatural skill I’d created.
She, on the other hand, was a proper Awakener with a legit skill.
It was pathetic that someone I’d dreamed of becoming—an Awakener—was wasting a good skill on being a shitty cyber bully.
So yeah, I had this personal wish that she’d reform and use that skill for something useful, living a normal life.
“That said, punishment is punishment. No mercy.”
But what exactly was her skill?
She’d targeted high-rank Awakeners without getting caught or even banned from the platform.
It had to be some seriously powerful hacking skill.
‘Can it do anything possible on a network?’
If I had that skill.
I’d switch to being a Hero fighting cybercrime in a heartbeat.
“Whew, I’ll check on her later. Time to drop the Go Jin-yo thoughts.”
Priority was reading this book.
Now that I knew Yu-ra’s hobby matched her heroic spirit—Gate war mania.
I wanted to study up and match her vibe.
『Gate Wars: The History of Heroes’ Failures and Triumphs』
Full war histories were boring.
But as a former aspiring Hero, a book focused on heroic narratives? Pretty engaging.
If I studied hard and brought it up first.
Wouldn’t she light up with a huge smile?
“Hm?”
Then my smartphone buzzed.
It was a message from Yu-ra. A massive wall of text.
[Jun-hyuk! I’m so sorry about our last date! First date and I took you there of all places. I wasn’t thoughtful. You must’ve been bored, right? I only thought of myself. Like an idiot, I assumed you’d like it just because I do. I regret being so selfish. You said it was fine, but I know now you were just being nice so I wouldn’t be disappointed. Next time, definitely something you’ll love toooooo]
“...Wow. Someone must’ve told her.”
Typos everywhere, and the rushed typing said it all.
Her colleagues found out about the date, and that the first one was a war museum.
Probably something like, ‘You psycho! What kind of woman takes a guy to a place like that for a first date!’ Fact-check to the face.
“Cute.”
She was older, but cute was cute.
She acted like a big sis most times, but these airhead moments only made me like her more.
“Alright then...”
I snapped a photo of the book cover and sent it.
Followed by a message.
[No consideration needed—it was genuinely fun. ^^ I’ll study hard, so next time let’s grab drinks and chat about it.]
A guy inviting her out for drinks first.
What would her reply be...
“Oh, a call?”
Not a message—a call.
This is, uh, embarrassing...
-This is Kim Ah-young from the Seoul Central District Prosecutors’ Office. Is this Yoo Jun-hyuk?
Not Yu-ra?
Prosecutors’ office out of nowhere?
Why would they call me?
“Yes, that’s me.”
-We’ve confirmed your account was used for money laundering by an illegal organization. You’re now considered a member, subject to punishment. If you want to prove your innocence, please provide your account number and password along with...
I hit end call.
Some things never change, no matter the era. Voice phishing scams.
But why now?
“Oh, right—my info got leaked last time.”
The big telecom I used got hacked.
I meant to change my number and carrier after, but totally forgot.
“Ugh, once is enough, right? Won’t happen again.”
Too lazy to go switch now.
As I thought that, my phone buzzed again.
[Yes!!!! Absolutely!!!! For sure!!!!]
Now it was really Yu-ra.
＊＊＊
“Haa... haa...”
My whole body felt like it was on fire.
My head spun, heavy—I didn’t want to think at all.
“Fuck...”
I wanted to burrow under the covers and sleep forever, but my body whined to go outside, like it was missing something.
I wanted to ignore it, but I’d been through this enough times to know better.
Ignoring it only made my chest tighten more until I couldn’t bear it.
So today, like always, I dragged myself out and wandered among crowds.
“Factory-born switching to villain has a high probability. That’s a fact.”
Hallucinations.
Injected by Choi Yu-ra’s man using some trick on me.
“Born without parents, so no manners. Walking into the teachers’ lounge without knocking?”
I didn’t know.
Was that bad enough to warrant fat-shaming?
“How’d a girl like you even get into our school? Oh, right—you can hack with your skill? So you faked your grades?”
I told you a million times I didn’t do that.
I just worked hard after awakening to get into a good school.
Why spread rumors like you saw it yourself?
“Trash bitch. Needle thief becomes cow thief—your future’s clear.”
I never did anything bad.
If we’re splitting hairs, what about you lot tormenting one person to death?
“Why’s everyone bullying her? Seo-ah’s cute enough to be half-decent—she might end up a lesbian ace, not a villain!”
Haha, stupid hallucination.
If you’re roleplaying school days, don’t use Seo-ah—pick another name.
Or is it a name you ditched, so now it’s your current one?
“Fun getting praise from haters?”
Lately, hallucinations started attacking me as Go Jin-yo too.
“You think they like you for real? They’re all losers like you, right? You know that.”
“Shut up.”
“They’re just pretending to like you for taking the lead. You gave them an excuse to bash high-rank Awakeners, so they piled on. They hung out acting friendly because you were their shield. Truth is, they think you’re a retard?”
“Please, just shut up.”
“But why do it? The ones who bullied you got caught and expelled ages ago. You dropped out because the attention freaked you out. But you saw those girls in the high-rank Awakeners?”
“No...”
“Aha! Jealous! Unlike you—a factory-born with trash skills—they’re from good stock, born with great skills, get all the attention and money?”
“That’s not it...”
“Inferiority complex, inferiority complex, in-fe-ri-or-i-ty com-plex.”
Somehow the walk ended.
I dragged my body—feeling like it’d sink into the earth’s depths—back home.
“Urk...”
Legs gave out at the door.
Stomach churning, guts aching like full-body soreness.
I crawled to the bathroom, grabbed the toilet, shoved my head in—and vomit surged up like it was waiting.
“Blegh!”
Bile coated my tongue, triggering more.
Tormented by hallucinations, I could barely eat, so not much came up.
But the retching didn’t stop. Even after spilling stomach acid, it kept going like it wanted my soul, leaving me gasping.
“Haa, haa...”
Wiping no tears, I collapsed onto bed.
The one time hallucinations stopped—but worse torment than them.
“...”
Staring at the ceiling now, same thought.
Drill a hole up there, install a railing, hang a noose?
Step on a chair, slip head in, kick it away?
Would that bring peace?
“Ha, haha...”
Fuck.
All hallucinations. Don’t break over bullshit.
They’re fake anyway—just noise.
Not real insults, right?
“But, but why... does it hurt so much...”
Jumping off the balcony might hurt less.
But today, another hallucination grabbed me.
[Mentally pushed to the brink, you hear hallucinations defending you.]
[You won’t commit suicide.]
“It’s not your fault. The world made you this way. Factory-born, but you tried to rise above it, right? How’d the world treat you?”
“...Like trash.”
“Yeah. And heaven didn’t pick you either. A skill that just hacks well? What’s that even for?”
“Right. Not my fault.”
“Even living normally, someone would’ve bullied you for being factory-born. Better to be the bully than the bullied—smart choice.”
Yeah. Not my fault.
Mind eased a bit.
But how long would it last?
“The world’s wrong. I did nothing wrong.”
That’s how the day passed.
Next day, same thing.
A week passed, then another—hallucinations tormented me.
“You did nothing wrong.”
The defending ones—every other day at first—now greeted me after every walk.
But each time they validated me, a thought crept in.
‘The high-rank Awakeners I trashed... did they feel like this?’
Hallucinations are fake.
Hate comments are like them—faceless nobodies, ignorable.
‘If it really felt like this...’
I’d never thought that before.
Plenty of cyber bullies out there.
I’m just one of many.
“Haha...”
I thought hate comments were nothing.
Ugly jealousy and insults from faceless randos online.
Ignore like hallucinations—nobody suffers over that crap.
“Fuck...”
But experiencing it? My mind’s drying up, wanting to die for real.
Even knowing the tormenting hallucinations are lies.
The mocking, insulting words stuck in my chest, unerasable.
Head knows, heart doesn’t—overwhelming malice eating me.
Fake or real.
Didn’t matter.
The human heart’s a retard that accepts everything, truth or not.
“I really became a villain.”
From school days.
Always saying I’d end up a villain.
Everything I did? Villainous, sure.
‘Just wanna sleep like this. Forever.’
Eyes closing, surrendering to sleep—doorbell rang.
“Open the door.”
That horrific voice.
The man who dragged me to this hell.
Before I could think, body reflexively opened the door.
“You haven’t... been doing well, huh.”
Faced him.
I’d planned to beg like a dog if he came—please get me out.
But no urge to beg.
Like under a blunt [Say what you really want, no lies] command.
“What do you even know about me to do this shit?”
No resistance—I said it straight.
“You don’t know how I lived? Never struggled a day with your decent face and being born a guy! Just for being factory-born! Called a future villain, discriminated against! Effort ignored! Bullied like a villain!”
Couldn’t stop the tears.
Poured out every injustice since birth.
“What’s this? Yeah, I did bad shit. So? What else could I do? Get a normal job? They’d block promotions for being factory-born, shove me to some dead-end crap! Use my skill somewhere? Would people trust me? If a crime my skill could do happens, I’d be suspect one!”
Like telling him not to judge my life.
Spilled every word pent up my whole life.
“...”
Felt good.
Better than before seeing him.
But terrifying too.
“Go on. Say what you wanna say.”
“Hm.”
Might drop me into worse hell.
Scared of what’s next—body trembling.
“Yeah, I get you had a shitty life. Got it.”
He spoke.
“But that’s no free pass.”
His eyes oddly warm, despite the words.
“Wanna talk?”
Trembling stopped.