Monday.
I sat leaning against the wall of my studio apartment, scrolling through my phone. On the screen of the device, a post like this appeared.
[Title: I report the school violence I suffered from Hunter Kim Kiryeo.]
Letâs see⌠Kim Kiryeo was a perpetrator of school violence, huh?
âGroup bullying, assault, threatsâŚâ
This post, which was uploaded just 24 hours ago, listed an array of serious accusations. Strangely enough, the gravity of the situation didnât quite hit me. Despite my flawed body, even in the face of such circumstances, I couldnât recall any memories related to it.
âKim Kiryeo was this kind of guy?â
However, dismissing the contents of the post as false simply because I couldnât remember felt off. There were a few things that didnât sit right.
â Kim Kiryeo is a smoker.
âĄKim Kiryeo dyed his hair.
So, this is pretty normal, right?
â˘Kim Kiryeo can drive a motorcycle.
But when this was added, the atmosphere became strange. I also found out by chance a while agoâŚ
âI noticed it when I was moving Kang Changhoâs motorcycle that had collapsed during the Inevitable Malice. This body knows how to drive a two-wheeled vehicle.â
As it turned out, this body had a considerably high ability to handle a motorcycle.
Smoking, dyeing hair, riding a motorcycle. Honestly, itâs impossible to judge someoneâs morality based on such superficial details. I know itâs a narrow interpretation. freeweÉnovel.cøm
âHmm.â
But without any other basis for judgment, itâs only natural to feel uneasy about it, isnât it?
âCould it be that Kim Kiryeo, this guy isâŚ?â
I tilted my head, imagining the past of the body owner.
But at that moment, a new notification popped up on the screen of my phone.
[Ahn Yoonseung?]
â Hyung-nim! I was worried because there were so many articles coming out since morning, so I contacted you. Are you okay?
But I had nothing to say to the questions that followed.
â By the way, those posts were all fabricated, right? Thereâs no way you would have done something like that in school.
I held my phone in my hand and remained silent for a while.
âWell. I donât know.â
I donât remember. From the victimâs perspective, thereâs no more shameless answer.
***
Korean netizens are currently enraged by a common topic.
A day ago, a post like this was uploaded to the internet.
=====================================
I report the school violence I suffered from Hunter Kim Kiryeo
â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â
I live every day like hell.
First of all, I want to make it clear that this article is absolutely not false.
I am an alumnus of the same school as the S-rank Hunter Kim Kiryeo, whose face can be easily seen in various media outlets.
But these days, I feel tired whenever I see his face on TV.
Especially seeing that Hunter being portrayed as a hero for the citizens, I couldnât stand it any longer.
Do you know what Kim Kiryeoâs school days were like?
He was a thug. He was also called a bully.
And during my third year of middle school, I was targeted by him and ended up spending a hellish year, ultimately leading to my dropping out of school.
I couldnât overcome my emotional wounds.
But to think that the person who made me this way was fortunate enough to awaken and is now shamelessly being hailed as a hero.
Honestly, I know that hunters donât have a moral obligation to be innocent.
Even if I write something here, that hunter will just continue to make money and live.
But I wanted everyone to at least know what kind of person he is.
=====================================
Someone dropped out of school because of Kim Kiryeo. The subsequent content described bullying that was enough to make anyone frown. If you read it carefully, there were instances of such severity that it made one wonder if this was truly the work of a student.
=====================================
Other kids were happy when the school bell rang, but to me, that sound was the most terrifying.
Because I had to be dragged to him after school and get beaten up.
Have you ever been punched below your collarbone?
The flat area where the breastbone is felt and thereâs almost no flesh.
If you get hit there, you really canât breathe for a moment.
I canât breathe. It hurts so much that I feel like crying, but strangely enough, it doesnât show much here even if I get hit.
If you donât hit it hard enough, it doesnât bruise easily, and itâs an area thatâs not visible even when wearing short sleevesâŚ
So I got hit here whenever I got the chance.
Even then, I had to hold my breath and keep my posture straight.
Even if I bent my back, Kim Kiryeo would hit me a few more times because I didnât stand up straight.
=====================================
But it wasnât just physical assaults. There were also extortion, threats, and framing. The authorâs account of Kim Kiryeoâs past was nothing short of trash. He had completely ruined someoneâs school life.
=====================================
If you ask me why I didnât get help from adults, I canât say anything.
Now that I think about it, there must have been better, wiser ways than just enduring itâŚ
At the time, I was just too scared.
At one point, Kim Kiryeo held a pair of scissors from my desk and said, âIf this kid goes and tells on me, then Iâll just go find him and those XX and take care of it right away,â while mentioning my family.
How could I have thought of rebelling?
=====================================
The author described in detail the lengthy account of their suffering and attached evidence at the bottom of the post to support their claims.
The first is a photo of their school uniform from their alma mater. The other one consists of these two photos.
âPhoto?â
The photos uploaded by the author showed a female student crying while being roughly dragged by a male student. The female student had a light mosaic applied to her face, making her identity unclear, but the male student was relatively easy to recognize.
âOh, was his hair black at that time?â
Itâs Kim Kiryeo. In other words, this is a scene from the past where Kim Kiryeo is dragging someone along.
=====================================
As such, the targets of school violence were not limited to boys or girls.
He also forced girls to do things that were hard to put into words.
I took these pictures impulsively, in case I had to report him later.
=====================================
So what would the atmosphere have been like if there was clear evidence? The citizens who saw the exposure article were shocked. On top of that, after about an hour, other classmatesâ testimonies poured out on the bulletin board.
[In a neighborhood like that, there must be no one who doesnât know him. Iâve been itching to say something until now~ lol]
[Kiryeo, do you remember? You tried to buy cigarettes at the supermarket run by my grandmother, and when she kept asking for your ID, you brought your friends and caused a scene. You yelled at an elderly lady and were so rude. At first, I wondered who could do such a thing to my grandmother, but later, when we checked the CCTV, it turned out to be you. That exact look in your eyes when you glared at her.]
As a result, the hard work of a certain alien came crashing down all at onceâŚ
***
Come to think of it, I donât think Iâve ever deeply contemplated who Kim Kiryeo really is. More than anything, since no one was looking for him, I didnât feel the need to mimic the âreal Kim Kiryeo.â But who would have thought that such a massive landmine was hiding in the gaps of my neglected memories?
âHmm.â
To conclude, Iâm screwed. The image I had been carefully building through the Siren and D-rank cleanup has been completely shattered.
âHuh?â
âLook over there.â
âItâs Kim KiryeoâŚâ
I ignored the voices coming from behind me and walked forward. By the way, this is the dungeon byproduct purchase center in Seogyo-dong. To be honest, I didnât really want to go out during a time like this, but the loot I obtained from the Mermaid Pass was all items that couldnât be stored for long.
âHunter number 61~â
âYes.â
Clank.
I disposed of unnecessary items all at once, like the scales of a siren. Even at this moment, the gazes that followed me didnât disappear. The hunter industry was mostly composed of the younger generation, and thanks to that, everyone was quite familiar with the internet. The rumors would probably spread even more rapidly over time.
âDamn information society.â
For now, Iâm pushing the reporters to say that itâs groundless, but how long will this last?
I set out, pondering the bleak future ahead. Now that I had taken care of my business, I planned to head home.
âHyung-nim!â
But then, out of nowhere, I heard a sound coming from behind me.
âAh, Yoonseung-ah.â
âHello! Itâs nice to see you here.â
When I turned my head, there stood that familiar A-rank Hunter. Seeing the item box in his hand, it seemed he had come to sell something too.
âWow, why is it so cold today?â
Whew.
I ignored Yoonseungâs chattering and looked around. Then, the expressions of the other hunters come into view.
â Oh⌠Now that I think about it, Ahn Yoonseung said he was close with that S-rank.
As expected, when he approached me, who was the center of controversy, Ahn Yoonseung also seemed to be getting into trouble.
âAh!â
Surprisingly, Ahn Yoonseung didnât seem to care about the atmosphere at all and casually struck up a conversation with me. In fact, he appeared even more confident.
âKiryeo Hyung! By the way, what are your plans regarding that?â
âWhat do you mean?â
âAbout the internet post. Honestly, given your personality, I know you might not care about the little things⌠But I definitely think that we should sue those who spread false rumors. Those people will continue to do bad things if we let them off the hook!â
Ahn Yoonseung spoke confidently. In fact, he had gathered the necessary evidence for the lawsuit just in case Hyung-nim was too busy. He said he could easily call in lawyers from the law firm whenever Hyung needed them.
âIs that so?â
But all of this is only possible if Iâm truly innocent, right?
ââŚ.â
I rolled my eyes and spoke quietly.
âAhn Yoonseung.â
âYes?â
âWhat if that post is true?â
What followed was a brief hypothesis.
âWhat if I really did some crappy things when I was a student and am now hiding it and pretending to be a new person?â
But well⌠Itâs pretty obvious what the conclusion will be. From what Iâve seen so far, that Earthling named Ahn Yoonseung is quite conscientious⌠Yeah, he has altruistic genes.
âSomeone who ruins another personâs life wouldnât associate with anyone, even for a fortune. Thatâs a dilemma. This Earthling has been quite helpful in various ways.â
I became anxious that the friendship I had worked so hard to build would be broken.
But, who would have thought that the other person would answer me like this?
âIâm not worried about that.â
A moment later, Ahn Yoonseung said with confidence.
âHuman nature doesnât change. Well, I havenât lived that long, but at least thatâs what Iâve experienced so far.â
ââŚ.â
âThe kids who showed off their strength in school usually act similarly when they grow up.â
There was no wavering in his eyes.
âThereâs no way someone who lived so selfishly in school would personally save an A-class who was left alone in front of a golem.â
ââŚ.â
âBesides, when an unknown gate opens, I donât think youâll push someone out of the way to save others.â
ââŚ.â
âThatâs why I trust you, Hyung.â
It seems that this Earthling trusts me.
âI trust you now, Hyung.â
So firmly.
âA good alien neighborâŚâ
I was momentarily moved when I heard Ahn Yoonseungâs words, but then a loud alarm rang in someoneâs pocket.
-Tiring?
Then Ahn Yoonseung hurriedly took out my cell phone.
âOh, thatâs the keyword alert sound! Actually, I set it up to notify me whenever Kiryeoâs name is mentioned, just in case I need to prepare the materials for the lawsuit.â
Key⌠What?
I barely understood the internet terms he was using, but I just let it slide.
But why does Ahn Yoonseung look so unpleasant? What on earth is he looking at?
==========================
Title: Kim Kiryeo??
â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â
(Attached photo)
Back in high school, you were always like this, huh? Whatâs with neutrality? Lol
============================
I leaned in to sneak a glance at the phone screen that Yoonseung was looking at. What I saw was a single photo attached to a post.
âThis time, youâre blonde?â
To be exact, it was a picture of Kim Kiryeo in his lifetime, smoking in a narrow alley. I wasnât sure why he looked so pitiful in that position, but regardless. After checking the post, Ahn Yoonseung spoke in a thin voice.
âDo you⌠smoke?â
I answered.
âIâm quitting.â