Chapter 14
[We decided to hold Community Unlock launch. We’re only 25 chapters stockpiled, and if anything goes wrong, you guys will get be hit by some downtime after spending money on this series. We should have a good enough stockpile by the next upload day. All chapters until Chapter 17 will be free. Then the initial batch will be at our promo pricing of at least 50% off for a while (Sub 250 ATC).
A phone call woke Kang Hyung-woo up. It was a quick, one-sided call, with the caller saying his piece before hanging up abruptly. He quickly tried to return the call, but the call’s notification couldn’t be connected appeared on his screen.
It could only mean one thing. His number had been blocked by the other party.
“This?! Goddamn it! What a fucking bastard!”
Then, an unbearable sense of shame crept up inside him. Kang Hyung-woo felt nervous as he threw his smartphone on the bed. He had just woken up after another drunken night out, but it felt as if someone poured cold water over him.
“Yoon-seok…is that loser thinking of standing up to me now?”
He couldn’t understand how Choi Yoon-seok would try such a daring thing. His imagination began working to cover up his complete confusion. Yoon-seok, as Kang Hyung-woo knew him, wouldn’t do this alone.
‘Someone with power must’ve persuaded him.’
With that thought, Hyung-woo jumped off the bed as if he realized something.
“What the fuck? That crazy bitch!”
He headed to his sister’s room. His sister, Kang Hye-in, was opening her door just as he arrived in front of it. Hye-in was startled and smacked at him with her handbag reflexively. She was dressed up and seemed ready to go out. Kang Hyung-woo’s suspicions turned to certainty at her appearance.
He didn’t understand why his bad-natured little sister had been kind to Yoon-seok since they were kids.
‘I don’t think he would have told her what I was doing to him, but….’
Had Kang Hye-in found out about it by chance, she would have been willing to help Yoon-seok for sure. She was one of the few people who could confront Kang Hyung-woo.
“Where are you going? Are you going to meet Choi Yoon-seok?!” he growled at her.
Kang Hye-in tilted her head with a curious look on her face.
“Yoon-seok Oppa? Why? Did something happen?”
‘Damn, it looks like she doesn’t know anything….’
Kang Hyung-woo, who went to her room in a rush, now took a nervous step backward. He realized his suspicions might be wrong. Meanwhile, Kang Hye-in wasn’t letting it go that easily.
“What happened? Tell me!” she raised her voice.
“What does that have to do with you?”
“Then, why are you bringing up his name? Don’t ever involve my angelic Oppa in your nonsense.”
“Bullshit.”
In the end, Kang Hyung-woo had to make up excuses for asking his question because Hye-in was tenacious.
“It’s because I’m worried about Yoon-seok being caught by a bully like you!” he accused her.
“What? Are you crazy? Get out!”
Kang Hyung-woo left the room forlorn as he was kicked out. Still, he gained something out of that encounter with the ferocious wildcat he had for a sister.
‘Since it’s not that crazy bitch, who the hell pushed that bastard?’
Kang Hyung-woo racked his brain for a moment, but it didn’t last long. He felt relieved.
‘Doesn’t matter who it is, as long as it’s not that bitch.’
Suddenly…
Swish-!
Swish-!
Kang Hyung-woo stretched his fists and began to shadow box, recalling his amateur boxing days. It didn’t matter what Yoon-seok believed. He would trample him, so he couldn’t get up again, whether it took force or money.
“Seven PM, huh?”
Swish-!
Swish-!
Kang Hyung-woo wasn’t a patient man. Yoon-seok would pay the price.
* * *
“Let’s take care of this burden first.”
Yoon-seok began emptying his bedroom. The bulky furniture was thrown away, while expensive items such as computers were packaged and sent home. After three hours, his body felt warm, and the packing was done.
“Something is missing.”
All his clothes fit poorly on his new physique. He had thrown them away in a box, leaving only the clothes he had on, which were a pair of jeans and a padded jacket. Now, he realized what he had to do next. After cleaning his room, Yoon-seok headed to the apartment office.
“Are you leaving your room all of a sudden? The contract period still has a long way to go….”
“It’s an emergency. I’ve already cleaned it up. You can use the deposit to pay the rent and installation fees until you find another tenant.”
“However…”
“You can refund the rest of the deposit when a new tenant moves in.”
“Well, then…”
The real estate agent granted Yoon-seok’s request. After all, there was an overflow of students looking for rooms at this time of the year. By the time he was done showing the agent the cleaned room and stamping his signature on the contract, it was already 11 AM. His next destination was the university.
“Are you taking a leave of absence?”
“Yeah.”
“Then, would you like to fill out the paperwork here and bring it along with your ID?”
It wasn’t uncommon for students to take an additional semester off after military leave. Yoon-seok was in the same situation. After being discharged from the military, he raised tuition for a few months by working part-time. However, he was leaving everything behind. It was normal for students in this situation to be upset.
‘But why are you so indifferent?’
He questioned himself.
‘I feel like my values have changed in the past three days.’
It was hard to understand why he was so worried about graduating from college and getting a job in the past.
‘Well…it was because of Kang Hyung-woo.’
He tried to earn money quickly to pay off his family debts and escape from Kang Hyung-woo.
‘But now, with my abilities, I’ll be able to make a good living even if I don’t graduate.’
Thinking about it that way made Yoon-seok’s heart feel lighter.
「Time remaining until return 15:11:31.」
Fifteen hours left. He had been more productive in the past few hours than perhaps he had ever been in his life. Yoon-seok would be going back on a long journey he never knew when he could return from.
‘I don’t know how long it will take.’
This was why Yoon-seok had to vacate his room and take a leave of absence from the university.
‘I don’t want to buy single-use tickets anymore.’
Yoon-seok checked his account balance with his mobile bank.
—Deposit account: 6,129,871 won.
It was his savings from working part-time along with his military salary. Originally, he planned on using it to pay off student loans and tuition.
‘I’m glad this happened before school began.’
If he had been dragged to the Tower of Heaven after school started, he would have just thrown away a lot of money. As he walked out of the university grounds, Yoon-seok saw his reflection in a glass pane by chance. He felt uncomfortable looking at himself. He thought he looked too shabby to stand before Kang Hyung-woo, who was always decked out in luxury goods.
‘I should buy some clothes.’
He felt excited, as if it were a big deal for him. It was one of the luxuries he had denied himself when he was trying to save money.
* * *
Shirt, jeans, and a thick Chinese coat. With the help of the department store staff, Yoon-seok bought a complete outfit. To his surprise, the total amounted to 480,000 won even though it was a fairly low-end brand.
‘To think that it doesn’t have any special features….’
He thought about the E-rank shirt he saw, which was sold for 6,000 AP in the shop. When exposed to sunlight, it restores the wearer’s stamina, and it could be repaired with magical power. Yoon-seok smiled at himself as he realized what he was thinking.
‘Why am I thinking of this now? Here?’
After brushing off his thoughts, he stared at his reflection in the mirror. Even if he tried to pretend that he wasn’t, he was ecstatic.
‘Because my body shape has improved, the clothes look great on me. I look like a different person.’
Yoon-seok had changed a lot, and not just in a physical sense.
‘I’m looking forward to his reaction.’
As he thought about Hyung-woo, who would be surprised at his appearance, he began to feel better. Yoon-seok even went to the hairdresser to tidy up his hair which he had left unkempt for a while. Yet even after his haircut, however, there was still a lot of time left before seven. He decided to stop by a restaurant that Kang Hyung-woo often went to.
The maître d’ stopped him at the entrance, saying they only allowed tables for at least two people. However, Yoon-seok said that he would pay for two people, and he was finally let in. After a while…
“The bill is for 675,000 won? Isn’t this quite expensive, even for two people?” he exclaimed in surprise.
Embarrassed by his outburst, he quickly left the store after paying. For some reason, his appetite had grown since he went to the Tower.
‘It’s not as delicious or luxurious as I expected. Why did it make me so envious before?’
The sun was setting when he stepped outside the restaurant. It was almost time for his appointment.
[Gaecheon Elementary School]
Yoon-seok and Kang Hyung-woo’s alma mater, where their terrible affair began. There was a saying that the beginning and the end were one and the same, so Yoon-seok thought it was the best place to meet.
“You came first?”
Yoon-seok raised his eyebrows at Hyung-woo, who was waiting on the empty playground. Kang Hyung-woo stood and approached him with a curious look on his face.
‘Yoon-seok seems very casual and confident.’
“You’re late.”
The time was 7:05 PM. Yoon-seok casually shrugged it off.
“My watch is five minutes late.”
“…”
Kang Hyung-woo’s expression wrinkled at Yoon-seok’s reply. Then, he laughed as he noticed Yoon-seok’s appearance.
“Hey…is our Yoon-seok all grown up now? Did you come here with your new clothes and your hair done? Um, but…it doesn’t look like much to me.”
Kang Hyung-woo exaggeratedly scanned Yoon-seok’s from head to toe before continuing.
“Can’t you tell me if you need clothes? Aren’t we friends, after all? Department store clothes like those are shameful….”
It was the usual condescending tone he used to step on Yoon-seok’s self-esteem. However…
“It’s from the department store, so it’s branded and very expensive. Oh, it might feel cheap for someone who is a chaebol heir.”
It was Hyung-woo who was surprised. The Yoon-seok he knew wouldn’t have responded that calmly. Such words were not something a person with low self-esteem could say.
“Hey, it seems that a lot has changed with you in the past three days. What happened?”
“A lot has happened.”
As Yoon-seok replied, Hyung-woo noticed that a lot had changed. Yoon-seok was holding eye contact, and his shoulders were spread out and relaxed, unlike the hunched posture he was used to seeing. Hyung-woo realized that it was impossible to suppress him through mere words, and as he has always done, he resorted to using force.
He loosened his hands and neck as he approached. Yoon-seok watched his confident gait and broad shoulders, which were the same as he remembered it.
‘It doesn’t look as scary as the green monster. He doesn’t even have a sword like the Old Priest. He doesn’t even have a monstrous Unique Skill like the demon.’
But Yoon-seok’s body was trembling as if he was facing his natural predator.
‘Calm down. He’s nothing.’
Yoon-seok answered without hesitation.
“What you’re about to do is assault, right?”
“Oh yes, yes. Then, you have to pay the price a different way. How much can you afford? Can you pay me back your father’s debt? Yes, that will be it.”
Finally, Hyung-woo was already in front of Yoon-seok. In the world of duels, this distance was enough to take a person’s life. Thinking about it that way, Yoon-seok was relieved.
‘Does Kang Hyung-woo know that?’
He didn’t. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have stopped where Yoon-seok could reach him with his fists.
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