064 – Restore the Impolite Girl! #2
This happened when Oh Deok-hui was still in middle school.
One spring day, strange graffiti began to appear on Oh Deok-hui’s desk, carved with a kn*fe, and her locker lock was tampered with, filled with smelly milk.
—Kick-kick-kick-.
—Look, she’s embarrassed-.
—Is she crying?
No one knew who was doing this or why.
After this happened a few times, Oh Deok-hui, after much deliberation, told her teacher the truth.
“There’s no bullying in our class, right? Let’s keep it that way.”
One month later, after the teacher’s indifferent response, Oh Deok-hui discovered that a student from the neighboring class, ‘Jin Eun-byul,’ was behind all of this. A friend who was fairly close to Oh Deok-hui mentioned this before transferring schools: “Actually, it’s Jin Eun-byul…”
It made no sense to Oh Deok-hui, as she had never even spoken to Jin Eun-byul, and they weren’t even in the same class.
“Why are you making me an outcast? What have I done wrong?”
The bullying only got worse.
However, Jin Eun-byul was careful not to do anything that could implicate herself directly. She orchestrated Oh Deok-hui’s torment through others.
Around the same time Oh Deok-hui was suffering from inexplicable bullying at school, her father’s factory also began to struggle.
Long-time business partners stopped supplies arbitrarily, and employees who had worked with the family for years suddenly quit, leaving the business in disarray.
It wasn’t long before the family’s livelihood was at risk. This was also why Oh Deok-hui’s father became dependent on alcohol.
“Why don’t you take care of the house when your husband works hard outside! What’s this mess of side dishes? They’re the same as yesterday!”
Whenever her drunken father started shouting at her mother, Oh Deok-hui would take her younger brother to the park for a walk.
Just a few months ago, their family had been relatively happy and harmonious. How did it come to this?
“Big sister, do you have any money?”
While swinging on the swing, her younger brother asked cautiously, seemingly wanting to buy school supplies. But his next words were unexpected.
“Hyun-jeong and I are in a coin-operated karaoke room, and some scary older siblings came and took our phones… If we don’t bring 100,000 won by this weekend, some high school seniors will come looking for us…”
Sniff.
Seeing her crying younger brother made Oh Deok-hui’s heart burn with anger.
Even her younger sibling was being subjected to torment.
It occurred to her that all the misfortunes befalling her family and her were orchestrated by some “girl.”
“…Eun-byul, why are you doing this to me?”
During a break.
Oh Deok-hui went to the neighboring class and asked Jin Eun-byul.
Jin Eun-byul’s doll-like pretty face crinkled slightly.
“What did I do?”
Oh Deok-hui was startled and lost for words.
“Hey, what gives you the right to start yelling at Eun-byul?”
“Our conversation was disrupted because of you.”
Jin Eun-byul’s friends around her were angrily criticizing Oh Deok-hui. Being just a third-year middle school student, Oh Deok-hui couldn’t handle the pressure.
She wanted to turn around and run away but couldn’t move her legs when she thought of her parents and younger sister.
Chack.
Oh Deok-hui knelt on the floor.
“If I’ve done anything wrong, I’ll correct it. I’m sorry.”
Oh Deok-hui felt like a sinner.
In front of this rich girl, the popular one, talented, and beautiful girl, she felt like a pitiful sinner with nothing to offer.
So she knelt and apologized, though she didn’t know what for.
Then Jin Eun-byul moved her lips close to Oh Deok-hui’s ear.
“I just don’t like you. It would be great if you disappeared from my sight.”
Half a year later, Oh Deok-hui moved to City D from Seoul.
In her new school during her final middle school year, she graduated as an absolute outsider, not making a single friend.
And now.
Oh Deok-hui prepared herself to face Jin Eun-byul again for her friend Baek Yeo-ul.
“Deoksun, don’t you think we are really the best at fortune-telling? Wow, you’re amazing to be friends with someone like that. All these people are here to meet that girl named Eun-byul, right?”
Looking at the long waiting line, Baek Yeo-ul marveled.
Oh Deok-hui felt guilty for not telling her friend Baek Yeo-ul the truth.
“Hey? Hanamjin!”
Then, spotting Hanamjin in the waiting line, thoughts about why he was here had barely formed when—bzzz—the estate’s gate opened, and a crowd rushed in.
“Miss Baek Yeo-ul and Miss Oh Deok-hui, right? Please hand over your phones to me, and this way, please.”
Baek Yeo-ul and Oh Deok-hui followed some older woman towards Jin Eun-byul’s room.
Inside, JIn Eun-byul sat demurely in her chair, her back to a large mirror.
Gulp.
At the sight of Jin Eun-byul, Oh Deok-hui felt her limbs tremble, her breathing became labored, and her vision blurred. Despite the time passed, Jin Eun-byul still felt like a terrifying monster.
“Deok-huiya, it’s been a while, hasn’t it? I’d heard you were going to school in D City but here you really are. I was disappointed to not attend Minyoung High with you in Seoul. And you must be Baek Yeo-ul?”
“Hi, I’m Baek Yeo-ul!”
“From what I’ve heard, there’s something called ‘Bad Luck,’ right? You must have suffered a lot. I also have a unique concept and have been very sad. Sometimes I even cry alone in my room.”
“Really?”
“Yes. You said you’re looking for Seugal, right? If I use my awakened concept of ‘Foreknowledge,’ finding Seugal will be easy. But I’m not the type to work for free.”
“Do we need money?”
The trembling Baek Yeo-ul asked, her family currently poor and unable to afford any money.
“Right, 1 billion won.”
“1… billion…!?”
“If you don’t have 1 billion won, just placing your hand on this pebble will suffice.”
Shuck.
Jin Eun-byul extended her palm to show a small black pebble, a bit larger than a thumbnail.
“Huh? Is this a concept stone? What kind of concept stone is this?”
Baek Yeo-ul recognized the pebble; she had seen it when the male student, Hanamjin, retrieved something like it from the body of a demon beast he had defeated.
“Concept stone… Can it be called that? Sure. This is a concept stone, but I don’t quite know which concept it is.”
Jin Eun-byul smiled cunningly, creasing the bridge of her nose.
‘You’re lying.’
Oh Deok-hui recognized the expression from Jin Eun-byul’s face. It was the same expression she had displayed when Oh Deok-hui had confronted her in the past.
A wave of nausea surged.
“Does it just require placing a hand on it?”
Shuck.
Baek Yeo-ul extended her hand and placed it on Jin Eun-byul’s concept stone.
The moment she did, the stone hummed with vibration.
“…”
Jin Eun-byul’s expression turned icy in an instant.
“…Nanny, I’m ending today’s party immediately. Please dismiss everyone. No, I’ll handle it myself. You two, wait here.”
Clunk.
Jin Eun-byul, who had reacted strangely, abruptly left, slamming the door behind her.
Click, click.
Trying to open the door, Baek Yeo-ul and Oh Deok-hui struggled, but it wouldn’t budge, seemingly locked from the outside.
“Eun-bel-ah! Why is the door locked? Why? I really need to use the restroom!”
“…”
Baek Yeo-ul and Oh Deok-hui were bewildered by this unexpected situation.
— I am Hahngjin Tiger from Yeongsa High School!
A loud voice echoed from the garden.
Clack, clack, clack…
A girl dressed in a black evening gown descended the stairs and stood before me.
Her hair, eyebrows, even her eyes were pitch black — all black, like a crow.
“Are you Jin Eun-byul?”
“Are you Hanamjin?”
Jin Eun-byul giggled before me.
“I’ve heard so much about you, and I was looking forward to meeting you. Ha, what a letdown. There’s nothing impressive about you, you’re just a loud and unruly stray dog with no manners or dignity.”
Indeed, a cunning girl, capable of making guests wait just to disrespect them. Perhaps she’s unaware of the vastness of the sky, having been coddled all her life.
“You’ll laugh now, but I’ll make you cry uncontrollably and wet yourself. I won’t even look at you if you apologize.”
“Really? Did everyone here hear that? She’s terrifying me. It’s harassment.”
“Miss Jin Eun-byul, what kind of language is that!”
“Who are you!”
“What are you doing? Get him out immediately!”
“Are you insane? Do you know where this is?”
The aunts and uncles around me were evidently reprimanding me, Hanamjin, not Jin Eun-byul for her impoliteness.
Is this correct?
How has the land of propriety degenerated to this state?
It seems that instilling proper values in these people would be beneficial.
“The pillar of a country should be concerned with the livelihood of the common people, not superstitions or fortune-telling. Isn’t it because of this you foolish young woman dares to act insolently without fear of the tiger?”
What Jin Eun-byul overlooked is that my attacks deal additional damage to impolite women.
“Hey! Hanamjin! I don’t know what you’re trying to do, but don’t do it! Hey! No! Nope!”
Jang Hyun-ah grabbed my back, but it was too late.
For my hands had already shot toward Jin Eun-byul’s chest, like meteorites striking Earth.
“Namjin Pressure!!!!”
Woooosh!
My palms reached Jin Eun-byul’s chest, protruding beneath her evening gown. For a woman, her chest is akin to a weakness point for a man’s groin.
Grab it strongly, and she can’t move.
This I discovered by examining Yu Yeo-reum’s chest.
AAAHHHHHHHH!!
“GAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!!”
Sure enough, the moment before she had been arrogantly defying Hanamjin. Now, she screeched in pain and crumpled to the floor.
This situation was indescribably satisfying!
Normalization of the abnormal!
“Hoohoohah! I like educating impolite girls the most!”
“Ahhhhaaaaaah! You b*ard! Arghghghghghghgh!”
As soon as normalized, Jin Eun-byul’s shrieks sounded like a possessed person, causing adults who were trying to arrest me moments ago to take several steps backward.
“Shouldn’t we call the police?”
“Someone try to stop her! Men! What are you doing?”
“This guy’s gone mad! How can we stop an awakened one who’s gone mad!?”
“Just record it on camera! Use the camera!”
Everyone turned pale at the sight of Jin Eun-byul’s demonic cries, screaming like her mouth was a cavern of hell.
However, I was unfazed, having often witnessed Seugal’s rants and wild behavior before.
Compared to Seugal’s tantrums, Jin Eun-byul’s outburst was rather adorable.
Seugal’s outbursts belong to… well, better not to mention.
Nonetheless, there was one thing nagging at me.
No person’s eyes could miss it, but my own “emotion” could not be avoided.
“Hey, Jin Eun-byul. Stop acting. Honestly, it wasn’t that bad, was it?”
“…”
Jin Eun-byul’s shouting abruptly ceased.
Then she covered her small face with her palms and chuckled softly—cooking-cooking-cooking.
“Hoho…hoho…”
Just as I thought that was an odd laugh,
“Hey, Hanamjin! What the hell did you just do? Why are you here?”
Suddenly, Wang Juhyun appeared, seemingly clueless as to what had transpired until now.
See, my real business today was not with Jin Eun-byul’s A-cup but with Wang Juhyun.
Wang Juhyun alternated his gaze between Jin Eun-byul, who was still giggling on the floor, and my face, then smiled wryly with his lips curling up.
“Hey, do you think you can handle this?”
Handle?
Ideally, I wanted to proceed more gentlemanly with some softness, but things had become tedious.
Lucky timing, the stage suits.
“Hun, ah, hun, ah! Wang Juhyun! I heard you possess evidence that Seo Nam Group President Seo Do-cheol and current president Nam Tae-geon have conspired with an unregistered Awakened One, ‘Villain,’ and committed arson at N-Mart!”
“Wha… What?! You… you’re crazy! What nonsense are you spouting? Don’t even think of doing something you can’t handle! Seriously…!”
Wang Juhyun’s face, so confident just moments ago, had turned pale, like d*ath, a dull gray. Jin Eun-byul, who had been laughing mockingly, stopped and frowned severely at me.
“Hanamjin, you…”
A year till doom.
In a situation where I barely have time to spare with Seugal, any unnecessary delays are intolerable.
Men, isn’t it about straightforward breakthroughs?
“You’re the ones who have to handle this. My tractor has no brakes.”
