The Education of Park Seok-jun
"Assemblyman. This is the list of districts scheduled for redevelopment. It hasn't been made public yet."
Thud.
"Hmm. Well done."
As his chief of staff set the list down, Park Seok-jun, mayor of Goyang Special City, smiled with satisfaction.
I'll buy up land near there under my family's names.
"Um, Mayor…"
"?"
"If you'd just give me permission, I was thinking I might pick up a little property myself…"
A slow turn of the head.
Slap!
The chief of staff's face snapped sideways under the assemblyman's palm.
"Have you lost your mind?"
"I—I'm sorry."
"You think you get to put your hands on my meal? Know your place."
"Please forgive me. I wasn't thinking."
"You just eat the scraps I throw you and stay alive. Don't go sticking your neck out where it doesn't belong and get yourself wrecked."
"Yes, sir. I'll remember that."
"Get out."
The chief of staff bowed at a perfect ninety degrees and fled the mayor's office at once.
He looked like he was in a good mood, so I said one thing and got smacked for it.
"Tsk. Maybe it's about time I got rid of that one too…"
"That's no way to treat people. You ought to be kinder to your subordinates."
"?!!"
Whip!
Park Seok-jun, halfway into his chair, jerked around and stared into the corner in pure shock.
It was after hours; everyone had gone home. The office lights were off, only a desk lamp burning, so the corner sat in deep shadow—and someone was sitting in it.
"…Who are you?"
"Who knows? Who do you think I am?"
A low hum. A soft rustle.
The figure on the corner sofa—Baek Do-ha—sat with one leg crossed over the other and, with a flick of magic, dropped a thick stack of documents onto the desk.
"…What is this?"
"Read it."
"…"
Pages fluttered open.
Now that he knew the man was an Awakened, Park Seok-jun swallowed hard and spread the papers.
"Th-this is…"
"My, Assemblyman. You've been a busy little bee. Shake the dust off you and this whole neighborhood turns into a desert."
"…"
Do-ha gave a short, dry laugh. Park Seok-jun had nothing to say.
Every corruption he had ever committed was written there, complete with evidence—including proof that he was the true owner of the Bulgompa.
A soft hum.
While Park Seok-jun chewed his lip raw, Do-ha sent something else across the desk.
"You'll recognize this."
It was the watch the Bulgompa boss had worn.
Do-ha had originally planned to bring the head, but Canteas had thrown such a fit about wanting intact materials that he'd settled for unbuckling the watch instead.
"Choi Seok-bae is… dead?"
"You think he's still breathing?"
"What did you come here to say to me?"
"What makes you so sure I'm here to talk and not to start swinging?"
"If killing me had been the goal, you would have finished it the moment my chief of staff left."
"Ooh. A man who only ever does rotten things really does catch on fast."
A soft scrape of movement. Footsteps.
"Hup—!"
Do-ha rose from the shadows and walked into the lamplight. Park Seok-jun sucked in a sharp, empty breath.
The man's entire body was soaked red, painted in blood—like some kind of monster.
"I killed a lot of people today, you see…"
Thud.
Do-ha perched on the edge of the desk.
Clean
A soft flash.
The Clean spell unfolded, and every stain on Do-ha's body vanished in an instant.
"So I figure I can spare one more life—yours."
"…Even if you're Awakened, do you really think you can do something like this and walk away clean?"
"Mmm… saying that in a situation like this might actually be more dangerous for you, don't you think?"
Slap!
A wet clatter.
"Gyaaaaah!"
Do-ha struck him across the cheek. Several of Park Seok-jun's teeth flew free.
One slap, backed by an Awakened's strength, and the teeth had simply come out.
"Now. Let's try having a polite conversation again."
"Y-you—you son of a bitch…! You think I'm just going to let this go?!"
"Ha. Honestly. Why do you always take the hard road when the easy one's right there?"
Slap!
Another wet scatter.
This time the other cheek. More teeth spilled from his mouth.
"Gyaaah! S-someone! Anyone! An Awakened has broken in!"
Clutching his face, Park Seok-jun screamed.
No one came.
By now the chief of staff or a bodyguard should have burst through the door.
"I put a spell on this room. You can scream yourself hoarse and no one will hear a thing."
"Y-you…"
"You? Ah—you want me to pull more teeth?"
A grip. A squeeze.
Do-ha seized Park Seok-jun's cheek and pinched the front teeth between his fingers.
"Nnnngh!!"
"Easy. Stay still. You'll pulp the gums."
Pop.
"GYAAAAH!"
He ripped the living teeth free by force. Agony flooded in like a tide.
"Here. Your front teeth. Aside from the baby ones you lost as a kid, when else are you going to get to hold something like this?"
Tap.
He set the two front teeth neatly into Park Seok-jun's trembling hand.
How thoughtful of him—even returning the teeth.
"You… I'll never let this…"
"I can't understand a word you're saying…"
With the teeth gone, the speech whistled and slurred past recognition.
Maybe I should have broken an arm or a leg instead?
"Hey. Hold still. I'll fix you up."
Normal Heal
A soft, bubbling shimmer.
The 4-Circle spell Normal Heal unfurled. Park Seok-jun's teeth grew back; the wounds began to close.
Heal, a 1-Circle spell, could only mend minor cuts. Normal Heal restored broken bones and teeth like this—though it still couldn't regenerate organs.
"Wh…?"
"Aren't I nice? I even heal you."
"W-what is this…"
Watching his teeth reappear, Park Seok-jun's pupils shook.
Then there's no evidence I was assaulted at all!
"Hey. Snap out of it."
Slap!
A wet cascade.
He struck the dazed mayor's cheek again, and once more the teeth rained out.
"GYAAAAH!"
"Oops. My bad. I'll fix it again."
Normal Heal
A soft, bubbling shimmer.
An hour passed that way.
Slap, heal, slap, heal—until at last Park Seok-jun dropped to his knees right where he stood.
"Please! Please stop!"
This madman. How long is he going to keep torturing me?!
If he fainted, Do-ha woke him and hit him again. If he was hurt, Do-ha healed him and hit him again.
If the pain had simply crossed some threshold, he might at least have grown numb to it—but the healing magic made even that impossible.
"Get up. We're nowhere near done."
"I was wrong! Everything was wrong! I'll apologize for every word I said to you—just please stop hitting me!"
"What exactly were you wrong about?"
"…Huh?"
"Up to now, what did you do wrong, and where?"
"Th-that's…"
"Ugh. Figured as much. Shall we try a light two-hour round this time?"
"W-wait—!"
Slap!
A wet scatter of teeth.
"Canteas."
"Hm?"
From the corner, Canteas looked up from his phone.
"Use Illusion magic, change your face, and send the chief of staff and the bodyguards outside home."
"Ahh, got it."
"Tell them you're driving yourself. Keep it vague."
"I'm not an amateur. Relax."
A soft ripple of magic.
Creak.
Canteas's form shifted into Park Seok-jun's, and he opened the door and walked out.
"Had a little rest? Let's go again."
"AAAAAARGH!"
And so Park Seok-jun spent not two hours, but ten, taking slaps from Baek Do-ha.
Chirp, chirp, chirp, chirp.
"Mmm…"
A warm morning. Birds sang beyond the window.
Sunlight slipping through the curtains tickled someone's eyes, and that someone slowly opened them.
"Hhk—?!"
Park Seok-jun.
He bolted upright and, without thinking, covered his cheeks with both hands.
He had been hit so many times that shielding his face had become a reflex.
"D-did I pass out?"
That devil never let me faint before. Why this time…?
A soft rustle of paper.
"You're up?"
Do-ha, seated on the sofa with a stack of documents, waved as if genuinely glad to see him.
The papers were the ledgers Park Seok-jun had hidden in his safe. While the mayor was unconscious, Do-ha had cracked it open and been reading through the contents.
"Feel refreshed after a good sleep?"
"…"
"No? I went to all the trouble of letting you rest…"
"N-no, sir! I feel great!"
Honorifics spilled out of Park Seok-jun like a well-drilled soldier.
After ten unbroken hours of being struck, even meeting Do-ha's eyes made his hands and feet shake.
"Hey."
"Yes, sir!"
"Why do you think I kept you alive instead of killing you?"
"I… I wouldn't know, sir."
For a split second the words Then why didn't you just kill me? nearly left his mouth.
During those hours of continuous beating, he had begged to die more than once.
The pain never stopped. It was enough to drive a man insane.
He couldn't faint. His mind stayed clear.
And the agony just kept coming.
He had wanted to die so badly it scraped the sky.
"Killing you wouldn't be any fun."
"…"
Do-ha smiled. Park Seok-jun's whole body shuddered.
That… that lunatic. He's a psychopath. Has to be. No one is that cruel otherwise.
A soft scrape. Footsteps.
"…"
Do-ha rose from the sofa and came closer. Park Seok-jun clenched his fists.
He wanted to back away—but if he did, he would almost certainly eat another few hours of punishment.
Yesterday, stepping back had earned him extra rounds.
"You don't know who I am, do you?"
A soft motion. A soft tap.
Do-ha stepped in close, smiled, and set down a Hunter ID.
"Hhk—! G-golden—?!"
"Figure it out yet?"
"Ch-Cheon-oe-cheon…"
"That's right. That's me."
"…"
"Once I left, you were going to leak this to the press today and go after the Association, weren't you?"
"N-no. I would never even think of—"
A soft lift of a hand.
"Eek!"
Do-ha raised his hand, and Park Seok-jun screamed and shielded his cheeks.
Fortunately, this time the motion didn't finish in a slap.
"Still lying, even now? Do we need another few hours of conversation?"
"No, sir! I'm sorry!"
"I was right, wasn't I?"
"Yes. I was going to tell the other assemblymen, run a media campaign, and hit the Association hard."
"But it turns out the man who hit you is Cheon-oe-cheon. Do you really think public opinion will go the way you planned? At least half the people will either doubt you or take my side."
Why would a Cheon-oe-cheon beat the mayor of Goyang?
Did he actually commit assault?
Is he just picking a fight with the Association and lying about it?
Articles like that would flood the feeds.
"Of course, I'd take some damage too. Without proof of the beating they couldn't punish me, but my image would still take a solid hit. Right?"
"Yes."
"So what do you think an angry me—image ruined—might do next?"
A crawling chill.
Their eyes met, and gooseflesh rose along Park Seok-jun's spine.
If he just killed me, that would almost be a mercy. Death would at least be rest.
But looking at that smile, he knew it would never be that simple.
"I have a family, you know. Family more precious to me than my own life. If my image goes bad, they'll get cursed at every time they walk down the street. People will point fingers. Some will throw eggs. Some will throw rocks."
"…"
A grip.
"If anything like that ever happens, the rage that follows is something you can't even begin to imagine."
Do-ha seized Park Seok-jun by the nape, hauled him forward, and released a killing intent he had never shown before.
This was the first true feeling he had let the man see.
"Th-that will never happen. I swear it."
Feeling the killing intent, Park Seok-jun gasped the words out between ragged breaths.
Do-ha kept pouring force into the hand on his neck, so he couldn't even faint—he could only thrash inside that murderous pressure.
"Good. Now we're finally speaking the same language."
A soft release.
The killing intent that had filled the room vanished in an instant, and Do-ha took one step back.
"I'm planning to buy land in Paju. What should we do about all the noise that process is going to make?"
"I'll handle everything! I'll clean it all up without a single problem!"
"Ooh. Yes, yes. Now you're talking sense. This attitude of yours is excellent."
"Thank you, sir!"
"Then I'll be on my way. Oh—and that redevelopment district list your chief of staff brought? I'm taking it. Just so we're clear: if I ever see your name, or any of your family's names, attached to redevelopment business, you'll be seeing me again. Understood?"
"Yes, sir!!"
"Perfect. I'm out. Let's go, Canteas."
"Krrrh… Hm? We done?"
Canteas, who had been snoring on the sofa, stretched, then trailed after Do-ha.
Creak.
Click.
"…Oh, God."
A soft collapse.
The moment Do-ha was gone, Park Seok-jun sank to the floor where he stood and wept.