042 – Wolf Among the Sheep #4
After the children had gone out on patrol, Yeongsa High School felt somewhat desolate. The man called “Captain,” Kang Cheol-min, passed through the quiet hallway and entered the control room.
“Captain, I’ve made some coffee. Would you like a cup?”
Her junior and former student, Moon Hyun-a, the homeroom teacher of Class F, extended a steaming paper cup, making Kang Cheol-min sigh deeply.
“I’ve told you, it’s Instructor, not Captain. If the kids can call me that, why are you following suit?”
“Why not? It suits you. Besides, I was just a kid myself a few years ago, you know?”
With a sly movement, Moon Hyun-a lifted the eye patch covering her eye with her index finger to glance at Kang Cheol-min’s expression before giggling softly.
She monitored the students’ locations transmitted in real-time via their smartwatches on the screen.
With a soft sip of her slightly bitter Americano, her interest piqued seeing the red dots clustering in one location.
It was near the abandoned factory where “Yeomra” had previously appeared that the special patrol team was stationed.
“Could Jinrihyeon be right? Is there really a ‘Judge’ in our Yeongsa High?”
“I don’t know. I thought things were quiet recently, but here we are with another issue.”
Approximately ten years had passed since the phenomenon of ‘Awakening’ first occurred.
There had been incidents before superhumans became part of daily life.
The illegal armed group “Billers” made up of first-generation graduates was one such example.
Thinking about the various issues among students made Captain Kang Cheol-min feel an acute sense of fatigue.
Having lived in an era before Awakened Ones existed, Kang Cheol-min often questioned and found some absurdities in the current world.
He was a man drafted as an instructor to train students as a kind of ‘military weapon,’ but he couldn’t help but see them as ordinary children.
“Training superhuman soldiers is good, but honestly, I wish students could just be students.”
“Captain, are you experiencing a midlife crisis or something? Why are you saying things that don’t suit you? You were called a demon instructor back in our days.”
“That was… when it was my first time teaching, so I was clumsy about everything…”
“Kidding! I don’t think anything was wrong with how you taught back then. We, the Awakened, are wolves, wolves among sheep. Therefore, it’s good to take control while we’re still manageable.”
Moon Hyun-a looked intently at the students’ location information on the screen.
To her, these students could all potentially become ferocious beasts at any moment.
“It’s certain that this ‘Judge’ is someone connected to Yeongsa High, isn’t it? No one other than us could have had the information about ‘Yeomra’ and ‘Samajun,’ yet they were killed so cruelly.”
“Judge” was well-informed about both Yeongsa High School and the internal workings of the police force, and his crimes mostly happened after school or on weekends.
Thus, Moon Hyun-a suspected that the killer “Judge” was one of the Yeongsa High students.
“It’s probably someone from Class D, right?”
“Is it?”
“Captain, you know very well that the criteria for separating Class D and Class F aren’t simple things like family or background. The criteria are based on ‘potential.'”
The standard for dividing the students of Class D and Class F was, as Moon Hyun-a had said, a certain kind of potential.
Simply put, they evaluated whether a person had the potential to turn into a violent criminal, a terrorist, a villain, or a villainess.
Class D students were special cases where this potential was deemed to exceed fifty percent.
“If there’s indeed a ‘Judge’ among our students, it’s most likely someone from Class D, isn’t it?”
Moon Hyun-a’s eyes lingered on one of the red dots.
“Isn’t it Hanamjin? There have been numerous murders around him. Yeomra, Samajun, even the loan sharks—he had ample motives to k*ll them. This time, Seugal’s disappearance might be related too.”
“Would Hanamjin have had a sufficient motive to commit the crime behind Seugal’s disappearance?”
“Yes. Hanamjin lost his parents in the N-Mart incident. Given that, he could’ve had plenty of grudges against Seonam Group. It might even have been revenge—eliminating Seugal.”
“Hyun-a, I agree this guy Hanamjin might be capable of anything and could’ve possibly done it. But I don’t think this kid is entirely bad.”
When Kang Cheol-min was still a stern military man, he often recalled the child soldiers he had met in the impoverished battlefields of third-world countries.
Hanamjin reminded Kang Cheol-min of them. What set them apart from Hanamjin, however, was his eyes.
Eyes as bright as stars.
Hanamjin’s gaze when looking at others was filled with hope.
“Look at the ‘Zero Leftovers Campaign.’ Who could’ve imagined they’d achieve so much? Even I, as their instructor, couldn’t have done that, but he saw the possibility. That kid.”
A boy who could see other people’s hope couldn’t possibly be the one stealing everyone’s possibility as “Judge,” right?
This was what Instructor Kang Cheol-min believed and wished for.
But even he had to agree with Moon Hyun-a when she said, “Still, Hanamjin is strange, isn’t he? That’s why he’s always been under special supervision.”
…
“Nobody’s here. I thought some remnants of the ‘Billers’ might be hiding around here.”
Class D leader Jeong Yi-seon searched through the abandoned factory where Yeomra’s group used to hide, clearly disappointed.
I was paired with a fellow student for a detailed search. I was so curious that my mouth itched with the desire to ask questions, almost to the point of agony.
The question that most burned in my mind was this:
As far as I knew, our leader Jeong Yi-seon was very popular, academically gifted, good-looking, and his father held a position in the upper ranks of the prosecution system—a perfect guy.
And also, he was skilled as an Awakened One.
Other than having an intimidating father, his popularity, academic prowess, and good looks reminded me of a twin.
So why was this perfect kid living a double life as a serial killer called “Judge”?
“Leader, if ‘Judge’ killed or kidnapped Seugal, what might the reason be? If you were the culprit, why would you have done it? Take a guess.”
At my words, the leader smirked as if listening to an amusing story.
“Hmm… probably it’s related to the corruption or scandals involving Seonam Group. Judge selects and executes criminals, right?”
“But Seugal personally did nothing wrong. Even if Seonam Group was involved in illegal activities, it has no relation to Seugal as an individual. Wouldn’t that make Judge’s actions contradictory?”
“No connection? Are you really sure about that? Some would argue differently. Can someone who survives by eating bread bought with dirty money really be innocent?”
“So, Leader, are you suggesting that Judge supports the idea of collective punishment? Like punishing Seugal—the daughter of Seonam Group—for the corrupt schemes of her father?”
“Of course, this is just my opinion. And I find such discussions very entertaining since I rarely find proper opponents. I’m an INTP, see? I enjoy debating.”
Leader Jeong Yi-seon smiled gently. His charm became evident as I understood why he was so popular among girls. I also began to understand his motives.
“Namjin, I have a question too.”
“What?”
“A little while ago, you called me ‘Judge.’ Why did you think that?”
“Simple. Jin-nuna only said Judge was related to Yeongsan High, not specifically that Judge was a student. It could be a teacher, staff, or a student. But you declared that Judge was a student.”
“Is that so? Did I say that?”
“And you know? You and I are alike. Maybe you haven’t noticed, but people have a ‘line.'”
Yeonra once told me.
She said that I had the same smell as her. The smell of someone who didn’t apply the brakes when they should and had crossed ‘the line.’
Living in a world that had already perished, I no longer had any clear ‘lines’ to maintain. That’s why it was natural for Yeomhoon to judge me as similar to him.
I perceived that same feeling from Jiyiseon, the model student, popular with everyone, the proud son, and the class leader.
I detected it from our very first meeting. Although I didn’t understand why, the doubt turned into certainty whenever he spoke about ‘Judge.’
“In you, I see the unique glint of someone who has crossed ‘the line.’ The kind of eyes that view humans as mere numbers or objects. You k*ll without hesitation.”
Serial killer.
The man who killed the loan sharks and ruined my abduction plan.
The one who took out Yeomra and Samajun, thwarting my ‘boiler operation’ in the post-apocalyptic world.
He was standing right in front of me.
“Leader, do you still support the d*ath penalty?”
The smile disappeared from Jiyiseon’s lips.
He pulled a “fountain pen” from his pocket.
The moment I realized it was one of the ‘Precious Tools,’ the serial killer spoke.
“Namjin, can’t we pretend not to know each other? It feels like we’re about to locate Seugal soon. How about we partner up instead? I think we’d make great partners.”
“Why would finding Seugal be good for both of us?”
“You’re the family of one of the victims in the N-Mart arson case, right? Yeomra and Samajun admitted to me before they died that Seonam Group was behind that arson.”
“Behind it? Really?”
“Aren’t you curious about why they did it? Why would a company commit such atrocities? Who benefited the most and who suffered the most from the arson that took place back then?”
“I don’t know about all that. Just take my anger for now.”
“You?”
“Because of you! How much trouble have I been through!”
I charged quickly, driven by my firm resolve to deliver a roundhouse kick to Judge the moment I met him.
“Namjin Kick!!!”
A kick moving at 120 km/h.
But my powerfully-raised leg was blocked by Jeong Yi-seon.
Chuck! A low block. Was this guy a Taekwondo expert?
“Namjin, such an obvious attack—”
“Namjin Punch!!!”
Perow! In the middle of my talk, I slammed my fist into the murderer’s face.
If the kick wouldn’t work, the punch would! That’s adaptability!
Crash! Seeing the knocked-over Jeong Yi-seon felt absolutely satisfying.
“Haha! I am so smart!”
