Chapter 2
Chapter 2
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: uly
Chapter: 2
Chapter Title: 1. The Regression of Evil (2)
-----------------------------------------------------------------
That moment was still vividly etched in his memory.
It was lunchtime.
Students who had eaten their fill returned, chattering noisily, and Kim Hyun-seong was just one of them, blending into the scene. Unaware of what was about to unfold, he chatted casually with his friend about everyday things—like what rank they were in their game or whether they'd finished the next subject’s homework. That’s when the incident erupted, one that would upend his life entirely.
Bam!
“You fucking bastard!”
A harsh voice rang out.
Kim Hyun-seong, standing and talking with his friend, instinctively turned toward the sound.
A violent scene assaulted his eyes.
The one spewing curses was a guy named Park Min-cheol, the typical school bully who half-assed his classes from the back row and tormented his friends every day. At his feet lay a chubby kid sprawled on the floor. His glasses hung crookedly on his nose after the fall, and before Lee Jung-min could even react, a barrage of kicks rained down on him.
“You dogshit bastard, what? Think you can handle it yourself now? Fuck, if you could, why the hell would I have told you to do it?”
Thud. Thud. Thud.
It was a pitiful sight.
Regardless of whether Lee Jung-min screamed or not, Park Min-cheol mercilessly stomped on his face and body.
Kim Hyun-seong quickly pieced together what was happening.
Park Min-cheol was hooked on a game called Legend Online and had dumped all the character leveling on Lee Jung-min. The problem was that Lee Jung-min was one of the so-called top students in school. Ever since starting the game, his grades had slipped, and now Park Min-cheol was demanding he buy items with real money. For the first time, Lee Jung-min rebelled. He mustered some courage and looked up at Park Min-cheol’s face, but contrary to what he imagined, he got slapped and ended up rolling on the floor.
Thud. Thud. Thud.
“S-stop! I-I won’t do it again.”
A scream echoed.
Truth be told, it was the first time Kim Hyun-seong had witnessed outright violence like this.
He didn’t want to stir up trouble lightly, but he couldn’t ignore that the victim was Lee Jung-min.
Over the past few days,
he’d been studying with Lee Jung-min.
He couldn’t just stand by after seeing how Lee Jung-min had patiently explained things to him.
As Kim Hyun-seong moved to step forward, his chatting friend suddenly grabbed his wrist.
Snap.
“Hey, don’t.”
“But this isn’t right.”
“Bullshit. That’s Park Min-cheol. You poke him, and you’re asking for trouble.”
He got the point.
But he didn’t care.
That was Kim Hyun-seong.
He was good at PE, had top-notch physical specs, and didn’t fear a guy like Park Min-cheol. He’d even gotten into fights early in the semester. Having proven himself in the typical male hierarchy battles, the fear Park Min-cheol’s reputation inspired wasn’t that big a deal to him.
He shook off the hand.
More precisely, as his friend loosened his grip, Kim Hyun-seong walked to the back of the classroom and stood beside Park Min-cheol.
“Stop it.”
He froze.
“……What?”
Park Min-cheol’s gaze turned to Kim Hyun-seong.
But.
His expression was odd.
Like a predator spotting prey, his feral eyes scanned Kim Hyun-seong.
Then he spoke.
“Fun. You think you can handle this?”
He didn’t know back then.
The meaning behind that smile.
The teacher arrived, so things wrapped up messily, but after that day, the bullying began, led by Park Min-cheol. Persistent harassment from a group—even Kim Hyun-seong, who was good in fights, couldn’t handle it.
* * *
He froze.
Kim Hyun-seong halted his steps.
When the flashback ended, the exact same scene from back then unfolded before his eyes.
“Stop it.”
“……What?”
Park Min-cheol’s gaze turned to Kim Hyun-seong.
He smirked.
Just like in Kim Hyun-seong’s memory, he raked his eyes over him savagely and sneered.
“Fun. You think you can handle this?”
Park Min-cheol turned.
Straightening from beating Lee Jung-min revealed his towering late-180cm frame looming over Kim Hyun-seong. Wild hair, dark skin. Park Min-cheol had all the looks to intimidate purely on appearance.
“Hyun-seong, just because we don’t mess with you doesn’t make you and Lee Jung-min different. Don’t get it twisted. A punk like you…….”
Slap!
“Gasp.”
“Whoa.”
His head snapped to the side.
The watching students gasped in unison.
Kim Hyun-seong had slapped Park Min-cheol across the face.
Stunned, Park Min-cheol turned back, face reddening.
“You fucking…….”
Crack.
Slam!
Kim Hyun-seong grabbed his hair and smashed his head into the desk.
It happened in an instant.
No preamble, no extra words—Kim Hyun-seong just unleashed violence. Caught off-guard, Park Min-cheol’s legs buckled. As his face lifted from the desk, thick blood trailed after it. Not satisfied, Kim Hyun-seong slapped him repeatedly.
Slap!
Slap, slap, slap, slap!
Everyone’s jaws dropped.
It was incomprehensible.
Kim Hyun-seong.
To his friends, that wasn’t his image at all.
Diligent in school, good with friends, athletic—a total all-rounder. The kind of popular guy people call an “innie.” He even represented the class as the upright, reliable type who’d likely be class president. Yet here he was, assaulting Park Min-cheol—a total contrast.
This moment.
This situation.
Kim Hyun-seong had replayed it countless times.
His friends saw Park Min-cheol as terrifying, but he wasn’t that strong.
‘Typical brawler who relies on size. Not used to taking hits, so if you strike first, he crumbles.’
From the moment he spoke up back then.
He’d envisioned this exact scenario in his head.
The desk right there—he’d calculated grabbing Park Min-cheol’s hair the instant he reacted to the slap and smashing him down. Not impulsive at all. Blood dripping from Park Min-cheol’s face was reason enough to stop for most, but Kim Hyun-seong didn’t.
Thud.
Crash!
He tripped him.
As Park Min-cheol fell, Kim Hyun-seong stomped his head.
Thud.
It smashed into the locker.
Even Park Min-cheol, like Lee Jung-min, could only curl up defensively.
Did Park Min-cheol know?
How long Kim Hyun-seong had waited for this.
Not a day or two.
While trapped in a vegetative state for over a decade, layer upon layer of torment piled up—Kim Hyun-seong had obsessively replayed beating Park Min-cheol like a madman. In his world, this guy had died endlessly already. Whether this beating killed him or not? He didn’t care. If he lifted his face, he’d kick it; if he raised hands to block, he’d crush them.
That’s when it happened.
Bam!
“Stop, you fucking bastard!”
“Min-cheol!”
A chair smashed into the locker.
Kim Hyun-seong didn’t dodge; it grazed him by a hair, and he glanced toward the sound.
Classroom entrance.
Three male students barreled through the crowded hallway, faces furious.
Jeong Min-ho, Kang Chang-seok, and Jo Yong-taek.
Park Min-cheol’s crew. Spotting him getting beaten, they hurled a chair and intervened. Variables. One against many should’ve rattled anyone, but Kim Hyun-seong’s face stayed calm.
He’d expected it.
Their arrival.
Bullying was always a group thing, so post-Park Min-cheol scenarios were all anticipated.
That’s why.
“If you don’t stop?”
Kim Hyun-seong stared at them coldly.
* * *
One of the gang.
Jeong Min-ho swallowed dryly, face uneasy.
“……This guy’s actually insane.”
It was bewildering.
Park Min-cheol’s gang.
They weren’t the undisputed kings of Class 1-1, but they had enough pull to strut around. That made this all the more shocking. Anyone should know touching Park Min-cheol meant dealing with the whole crew—yet Kim Hyun-seong showed no fear.
Unlike the overthinking Jeong Min-ho, Kang Chang-seok, who’d thrown the chair, looked ready to charge, face flushed with rage.
“He’s lost it. Fine, I’ll kill you today.”
He was built solid too.
The former judo player Kang Chang-seok strode forward, and Kim Hyun-seong matched his steps.
A hollow laugh escaped.
Facing multiple foes without backing down—Kang Chang-seok steeled himself to go all out, suspension be damned.
Tension peaked.
That’s when.
“Teacher!”
“Scatter! Scatter!”
Noise erupted from the hallway.
Students rushed to their seats. Kang Chang-seok glanced at Park Min-cheol, spat a curse at Kim Hyun-seong.
“Hey. You’re fucked. We’re coming right after class, so don’t think about running.”
“Look forward to it.”
No more fighting now.
Teacher aside, properly taking down Kim Hyun-seong needed time.
Park Min-cheol’s gang backed off.
The barely conscious Park Min-cheol returned to his seat, hiding his face from the teacher the whole class.
* * *
The whole ordeal.
Park Min-cheol barely remembered it.
The first strike was unthinkable; by the time he came to, he was curled on the floor taking a beating. Throughout class, he ground his teeth. Beaten by Kim Hyun-seong in front of everyone—this humiliation was unbearable.
‘I’ll fucking kill him.’
Crunch.
He clenched his jaw.
Truth was, Park Min-cheol wasn’t the strongest in his own gang.
They were just thugs who bullied a lot, hence the name, but in raw fights, Kang Chang-seok ranked higher. After class, the full crew would swarm the room. Kim Hyun-seong wouldn’t handle it. Hell, if he hadn’t let his guard down, a goody-two-shoes like Kim Hyun-seong wouldn’t have touched him.
Rage boiled inside.
Front row.
Kim Hyun-seong sat there.
Focused on class, his back view flipped Park Min-cheol’s guts completely.
‘This bastard really lost it.’
It made no sense.
Not the Kim Hyun-seong he knew.
Sure, as class rep wannabe, he meddled here and there, but he always kept boundaries—no reason to target him. Now it seemed those boundaries were one-sided. Kim Hyun-seong could cross lines anytime; Park Min-cheol just hadn’t noticed till now.
One thing was clear.
He’d crossed it.
To overturn being crushed by Kim Hyun-seong, he needed even crueler revenge.
‘I’ll half-kill him the second class ends.’
He bided his time.
Pain? Irrelevant.
Teacher’s lecture, face throbbing—nothing mattered but revenge on Kim Hyun-seong.
The long class finally ended.
Bell rang, teacher left.
As he shot up, shockingly, a sneaker filled his vision.
Wham.
Crash!
His face got kicked.
Tumbling across the floor, Park Min-cheol’s head spun from the impact.
That’s when.
His hair yanked roughly—he met the eyes of Kim Hyun-seong looking down.
“Gotta finish what we started, right?”
Chills ran down his spine.
It was certain.
Unlike the others, this guy didn’t flinch at facing a group.