School Violence Victim (3)
"Hah, ha ha...."
The priest let out a hollow laugh, his face stiffening, before sharpening his gaze and turning to Seo Han-ul.
"Han-ul, is this heretic someone you know?"
"Well...."
"If you say you know her, then you do. If you say you don't, then you don't."
I stepped forward with measured strides and planted myself right in front of the priest.
"I'm the one who told him he got scammed by that guy."
"Hah... How lamentable!"
The priest closed his eyes tightly, pounding his chest lightly as if truly exasperated.
"A scam? If what you're doing isn't a scam, then what is?!"
His face twisted viciously, his eyes brimming with killing intent toward me.
"Do you even know what Han-ul went through? What his lover endured? No, you don't! That's why you're spouting such nonsense! Do you have any idea the horrors they suffered, the agony they went through, the resentment burning in their hearts?! You know nothing!!"
"Yeah, I don't."
And I had no particular desire to find out. Unlike Seo Jun or Seo Han-ul, my reason for being here was solely to settle the grudge at Gwiam Reservoir.
"But I do know one thing."
I curled the corner of my mouth upward.
"Something you don't, right?"
"...What?"
"You're just acting."
It was obvious. Crystal clear inside that guy's heart.
There wasn't a shred of pity for Seo Han-ul or Seol-ah. The only emotion swelling in him now was pure hatred toward me—the one obstructing his plans. Nothing more.
"Hah, ha ha...."
Was he startled that I'd seen through him? Or had he decided further talk was pointless? Either way, the priest stepped back.
"I was a fool to even converse with a heretic."
The moment he raised his hand, the air in the room shifted.
"S-Sis...."
Seo Jun sidled up beside me, tapping my shoulder, his eyes darting around in trembling fear.
"I know."
I'd noticed it already. From the moment I'd started talking to the priest, the people in the room had been slowly encircling us.
And among them was the counselor who'd been outside.
"A heretic who dares blaspheme our god stands before us! We, the faithful servants of the divine—shall we let this slide?!"
"This heretic shall face divine retribution! Even in death, her soul shall find no salvation from our great god—it will burn eternally in the infernal flames of hell, drowning in torment!!"
Madness. Fanaticism. They wore human skins, but nothing more. The souls of every devotee here—including the priest—were no longer human.
Twisted beyond recognition. Not quite as bad as mine, though.
Gulp.
Seo Han-ul shrank back, terrified by their fervor. Seo Jun was scared too, but a sense of duty to protect me kept him drawing a knife from his pocket and standing guard at my side.
Good kid.
"Deputy Priest Kim!"
"Yes!"
"Witnessing the miracle of our god is a luxury these heretics don't deserve. In the god's stead, you shall deliver divine punishment upon them!"
"As you command!"
The counselor—Deputy Priest Kim—stepped forward with a beaming smile at the priest's call. Only now did I realize: excluding me and the priest, he had the most warped soul in the room.
"Man, you're exactly my type."
Deputy Priest Kim leered at me, his eyes raking over my body from head to toe. A chill ran down my spine.
The thought of this forty-something creep harboring filthy fantasies about me made him more repulsive than a cockroach.
"Missy, I'll give you a choice right now. Come quietly to big bro? Or after a spanking?"
"Big bro my ass...!"
I couldn't hold back anymore and moved to kill the bastard—
But Seo Jun thrust out his knife, blocking my path.
"Doesn't it embarrass you, baldy, calling yourself 'big bro' to a high school girl? That's why they call you 'young forty'—you worthless, bald geezer!"
"Wh-what!?"
"Pfft!"
He must've hit a nerve—Deputy Priest Kim instinctively covered his head with his hand. The ridiculous sight drew an involuntary laugh from me.
Feeling insulted, he bellowed, veins bulging in his neck.
"I'll kill youuuu!!"
As he charged with bloodshot eyes, I calmly shoved Seo Jun aside.
"Huh?"
When he was three steps away, I pressed my index and middle fingers together, pointed at his eyes, and infused them with spiritual power.
Show.
"Hiiiieeeek!!"
Deputy Priest Kim, mid-charge, twisted in horror as if something had possessed his eyes. He shrieked in terror.
Crash!!
He tumbled forward hard, momentum sending him sprawling, but he thrashed wildly, oblivious to the pain.
"G-get away! Get awaaay!!"
"D-Deputy Priest Kim?"
The priest looked flustered at his bizarre behavior. For someone calling himself a priest, he apparently couldn't see it.
But I could. A single female grudge spirit, weeping blood tears, clung to his body.
I pressed my fingers together again, pointed at him, and channeled more power.
Hear.
"A-aaahhh!! Stop! Stooop!!"
He clawed at his ears, screaming. As if that would block the ghost's voice.
"S-stop! Please, stop! I'm sorry! I had no choice!!"
"Fuck! Fuck fuck fuck! That's why—why'd you have to talk divorce over a little fling?! Spreading rumors about me going to a hotel with a minor all over town, so I accidentally killed youuu!!"
I figured as much. No wonder he hadn't seemed normal when he looked at me.
I channeled power once more.
Feel.
The spiritual power in my words seeped into the grudge spirit and Kim's body. Instinctively, she realized this was the revenge she'd craved.
"U-aaahh! Stop! Stooop!! It hurts! Hurts hurts hurts! It huuuurts! G-guh—krrghh—!!"
His soul was being torn apart. Arms, legs, gut, head—shredded by the grudge spirit's savage hands.
"Guh! Krgh! Kerrghhh!!"
Whatever. That guy's done for.
Reaping what he sowed—killed by the very grudge spirit of the one he murdered. Poetic justice.
I turned, locking eyes with the priest, who was now trembling like his earlier confidence had been a lie.
"We need to talk, don't we?"
Lee Hyun-sik, thought —
Life was so simple.
'Hard to believe I struggled so desperately, slaving away like that.'
Someone once said money should be earned honestly. His father? Mother? An elementary school teacher? Didn't matter.
It was worthless advice now anyway.
'If money really had to be earned honestly... why did I fail?'
He'd just invested in stocks like everyone else. Sure, maybe a tiny bit more aggressively than most.
But stocks weren't illegal. So pouring his life savings—and borrowed money—into them was honest too!
'Yeah, I earned money honestly! Society's the one that failed me!!'
Looking around, plenty had failed the same way. It was only logical to blame this unjust society for his ruined life.
One day, amid despair and debt collectors, as he stubbornly clung to life—
Lee Hyun-sik met his true savior.
'A benefactor, really.'
That man cleared all his debts in exchange for drowning just twenty people in the reservoir. Simple, right?
Well, not that simple—nearly got caught a few times, even missed one target.
Still, compared to the money, power, and status he gained after? Twenty lives were a bargain.
Now, all that remained was collecting souls for his benefactor now and then, living happily off the cash till he died!
No more hardships in life!
...Or so he'd thought.
Deputy Priest Kim was dying.
The second-most "blessed" by the god, snuffed out so pathetically.
He had no clue what was happening. That's why it terrified him.
No gratitude for his benefactor. No rage at being looked down on by a little girl.
His breath came in gasps.
Thud. Thud.
The "monster" approached.
"H-hiiik!"
He backed away. Tripped and fell.
Run. Run. Scared. Run. Want to live. Must escape. Don't wanna die. Don't wanna die. Get away. Run awa—
Thud.
Wall. Nowhere left to flee.
He looked up.
The monster drew closer. Closer.
The monster, coming to devour him!
"Pl-please, sp—"
Thwack!
"Guhk!"
His plea was futile. The "monster" casually kicked his mouth shut.
"Hey."
The human-skinned monster glared down with blood-red eyes.
"You're that bastard 'Il-sik', aren't you?"
His heart plummeted.