Chapter 124

Monday.

I sat on the floor of my studio apartment with my back against the wall, scrolling through my phone. A post appeared on the screen.

[Title: I Am Reporting the School Violence I Suffered at the Hands of Hunter Kim Kiryeo.]

Let’s see...

So Kim Kiryeo had been a school bully?

“Group bullying, assault, threats...”

The post had been uploaded only twenty-four hours ago, yet it already contained a long list of serious accusations.

Strangely, the gravity of the situation still didn’t feel entirely real to me. Even faced with something this serious, this defective body of mine offered no memories connected to it.

“Was Kim Kiryeo really that kind of person?”

Still, dismissing the post as false simply because I couldn’t remember anything didn’t feel right.

There were several details that bothered me.

First, Kim Kiryeo smoked.

Second, Kim Kiryeo dyed his hair.

So far, none of that was especially unusual.

Third, Kim Kiryeo knew how to ride a motorcycle.

That was where things began to feel strange.

I had discovered it by accident some time ago.

‘I noticed it when I moved Kang Changho’s motorcycle after it fell during the Inevitable Malice incident. This body knows how to handle a two-wheeled vehicle.’

In fact, it appeared to be remarkably skilled at riding one.

Smoking, dyed hair, motorcycles.

Of course, it was impossible to judge someone’s character based on such superficial details. I knew perfectly well that this line of reasoning was narrow-minded.

“Hmm.”

But with nothing else to rely on, wasn’t it only natural to feel uneasy?

“Could Kim Kiryeo really have been...?”

I tilted my head, trying to imagine the former owner of this body as a student.

At that moment, a new notification appeared on my phone.

[Ahn Yoonseung ☎]

—Hyung-nim! I was worried because so many articles have been coming out since this morning. Are you all right?

But I had no answer to the question that followed.

—Those posts are fabricated, right? There’s no way you would have done something like that at school.

I held the phone in silence for a long moment.

‘Well... I don’t know.’

I couldn’t remember.

From the victim’s perspective, there could hardly be a more shameless answer.

***

Korean netizens were currently united in outrage over a single subject.

The previous day, a post had appeared online.

***

I Am Reporting the School Violence I Suffered at the Hands of Hunter Kim Kiryeo

***

I live every day as though I’m trapped in hell.

First, I want to make it clear that none of this is fabricated.

I attended the same school as S-rank Hunter Kim Kiryeo, whose face now appears constantly across the media.

These days, I feel sick whenever I see him on television.

Watching him being praised as a hero who protects the public became more than I could bear.

Do you know what Kim Kiryeo was like during his school years?

He was a thug.

Everyone knew him as a bully.

I have never recovered from the emotional wounds he left behind.

And yet the person who made me this way was fortunate enough to awaken. Now he earns money and is shamelessly celebrated as a hero.

I know hunters are not required to be morally perfect.

Even if I write this, he will probably continue making money and living comfortably.

But I wanted people to know what kind of person he really is.

***

According to the post, one student had even dropped out of school because of Kim Kiryeo.

What followed was a detailed account of bullying severe enough to make any reader recoil. Some incidents were so brutal that it was difficult to believe they had truly been committed by another student.

***

The other students were happy when the final bell rang.

For me, that sound was the most terrifying part of the day.

It meant that after school, I would be dragged away and beaten.

Have you ever been punched just below the collarbone?

There is a flat spot there where you can feel the breastbone because there is almost no flesh covering it.

When you’re struck there, you can’t breathe for several seconds.

You feel as though the air has been ripped out of your body. It hurts so badly that you want to cry.

But strangely, blows to that area leave very little evidence.

Unless you hit it extremely hard, it doesn’t bruise easily. And even if it does, the mark remains hidden beneath ordinary clothing.

That was why he hit me there whenever he had the chance.

Even then, I had to hold my breath and remain standing upright.

If I bent over, Kim Kiryeo would strike me several more times for failing to keep my posture straight.

***

The abuse had not been limited to physical violence.

There had also been extortion, threats, and false accusations.

According to the author, the Kim Kiryeo of the past had been nothing short of human garbage. He had completely destroyed another person’s school life.

***

If you ask why I never sought help from an adult, I have no good answer.

Looking back now, there must have been wiser and more effective ways to deal with it than simply enduring everything.

But at the time, I was terrified.

Once, Kim Kiryeo {N•o•v•e•l•i•g•h•t} picked up a pair of scissors from my desk and mentioned my family.

He said, “If this bastard tells anyone, I’ll find him and those people too, and I’ll deal with them immediately.”

How could I possibly have thought about fighting back?

***

The author described their suffering at length and attached evidence at the bottom of the post to support the allegations.

The first image showed the school uniform of the institution they claimed to have attended.

The remaining evidence consisted of two photographs.

‘Photographs?’

The images showed a female student crying as a male student dragged her roughly by the arm.

The girl’s face had been lightly obscured, making her identity difficult to determine.

The boy, however, was much easier to recognize.

“Oh. His hair was black back then?”

It was Kim Kiryeo.

In other words, the photograph appeared to capture the real Kim Kiryeo dragging someone away during his school years.

***

His victims were not limited to boys.

He targeted girls as well.

He even forced them to do things that are difficult for me to describe.

I took these photographs impulsively because I thought I might need them one day if I ever found the courage to report him.

***

What happened once apparently convincing evidence had been presented?

The public reacted with shock.

Then, roughly an hour after the original post appeared, additional testimonies from former classmates began flooding the message board.

[In a neighborhood like ours, there’s no way anyone wouldn’t know him. I’ve been dying to say something all this time, lol.]

[Kiryeo, do you remember this? You tried to buy cigarettes from the supermarket my grandmother owned. When she kept asking for identification, you brought your friends back and caused a scene. You shouted at an elderly woman and treated her horribly. At first, I couldn’t believe anyone would behave that way toward my grandmother. But when we checked the security footage, it was you. I still remember the way you glared at her.]

And just like that, all the effort one particular alien had invested in building a respectable reputation came crashing down.

***

Come to think of it, I had never seriously considered who Kim Kiryeo had been before I took over his body.

No one had ever come looking for him, so I had seen no reason to imitate the “real Kim Kiryeo.”

Who could have imagined that such an enormous landmine was buried inside the memories I had neglected?

“Hmm.”

To summarize the situation, I was finished.

The image I had so carefully constructed through the Siren incident and the matter involving the dead D-rank Hunter had shattered overnight.

“Huh?”

“Look over there.”

“That’s Kim Kiryeo...”

I ignored the whispers behind me and continued walking.

I was currently inside the dungeon-byproduct purchasing center in Seogyo-dong.

To be honest, I had no desire to go outside at a time like this. Unfortunately, most of the materials I had obtained from Mermaid Pass could not be preserved for long.

“Hunter number sixty-one!”

“Yes.”

Clank.

I sold off the unnecessary materials all at once, including the Sirens’ scales.

Even then, the stares following me never disappeared.

Most people working in the hunter industry belonged to the younger generation, which meant nearly all of them were familiar with the internet.

The rumors would only spread faster as time passed.

‘Damn information society.’

For the moment, I had instructed the reporters to dismiss the allegations as baseless.

But how long could that possibly last?

Brooding over the bleak future ahead, I left the counter and prepared to head home.

“Hyung-nim!”

A familiar voice suddenly called out from behind me.

“Ah. Yoonseung-ah.”

“Hello! What a coincidence meeting you here.”

When I turned, I found the familiar A-rank Hunter standing nearby.

Judging by the item box in his hand, he had also come to sell dungeon materials.

“Wow, it’s freezing today.”

Whew.

I ignored Yoonseung’s idle chatter and glanced around.

The expressions of the other hunters immediately caught my attention.

—Oh... Now that I think about it, Ahn Yoonseung said he was close to that S-rank.

As expected, the moment he approached me—the center of the controversy—Ahn Yoonseung began attracting unwanted attention as well.

“Ah!”

Surprisingly, he seemed completely unconcerned by the atmosphere.

He began talking to me as casually as ever.

If anything, he appeared even more confident than usual.

“Kiryeo Hyung! By the way, what are you planning to do about that?”

“What do you mean?”

“The post online. Honestly, knowing your personality, I understand that you might not care about such minor matters. But I really think you should sue the people spreading these false rumors. If they aren’t punished, they’ll only continue hurting others!”

Ahn Yoonseung spoke with complete certainty.

In fact, he had already begun collecting evidence for a lawsuit in case his hyung was too busy to handle it himself.

He even said that lawyers from a law firm could be brought in whenever I needed them.

“Is that so?”

But all of that was only possible if I was truly innocent.

“...”

My eyes shifted uneasily before I lowered my voice.

“Ahn Yoonseung.”

“Yes?”

“What if the post is true?”

I presented him with a simple hypothetical.

“What if I really did terrible things as a student, hid everything afterward, and began pretending to be a different person?”

Still, the answer seemed obvious.

From what I had seen, the Earthling known as Ahn Yoonseung possessed a strong conscience.

Yes.

He appeared to carry altruistic genes.

‘Someone like him would never continue associating with a person who ruined another human being’s life, no matter how much money was involved.’

That presented a problem.

This Earthling had helped me in many different ways.

I suddenly felt anxious that the friendship I had worked so hard to establish might collapse.

Yet the answer he gave was completely unexpected.

“I’m not worried about that.”

A moment later, Ahn Yoonseung spoke with unwavering confidence.

“People’s true nature doesn’t change. I haven’t lived especially long, but that is what my experience has taught me.”

“...”

“The students who abuse their strength at school usually continue behaving the same way after they grow up.”

There was no hesitation in his eyes.

“There’s no way someone who lived selfishly throughout school would personally go out of his way to rescue an A-rank Hunter who had been abandoned in front of a golem.”

“...”

“And when an unknown gate opens, I don’t believe someone like that would push others aside in order to save them.”

“...”

“That is why I trust you, Hyung.”

It seemed this Earthling truly trusted me.

“I trust the person you are now.”

Completely.

‘What a good alien neighbor...’

For a moment, Ahn Yoonseung’s words genuinely moved me.

Then a loud notification sound rang from someone’s pocket.

—Tiring♪

Ahn Yoonseung hurriedly pulled out his phone.

“Oh, that’s the keyword-alert sound! I set it to notify me whenever Kiryeo Hyung’s name is mentioned, just in case I need to gather more material for the lawsuit.”

Keyword...

What?

I only barely understood the internet terminology he was using, so I decided to ignore it.

But why did Ahn Yoonseung suddenly look so uncomfortable?

What exactly was he reading?

***

Title: Kim Kiryeo, lol

***

(Attached photograph)

So this is what you were like in high school?

And people call you impartial? Lol.

***

I leaned closer and stole a glance at the screen.

The post contained a single attached photograph.

‘This time his hair is blond?’

More precisely, it was a photograph of Kim Kiryeo from when he was still alive.

He was crouched in a narrow alley with a cigarette between his fingers.

I had no idea why he looked so miserable in that position, but that hardly mattered.

After examining the post, Ahn Yoonseung asked in a thin, uncertain voice,

“Do you... smoke?”

I answered immediately.

“I’m quitting.”