Chapter 125

At one point, I had wondered whether Kim Kiryeo might have been falsely accused, just as Ahn Yoonseung claimed. But after seeing this, there seemed to be little doubt that his sordid past was real.

‘Ha. Kim Kiryeo, you bastard.’

I clasped my hands behind my back as I finished reading the exposé, then let out a hollow laugh.

‘No money, no magic—and now, apparently, no morals either?’

There was no question about it. I had ended up in the wrong body.

And not merely by a little.

***

The internet was currently overflowing with fury toward a certain S-rank individual.

[This is beyond anything I imagined.]

[Whew... I knew something felt off about him from the moment they announced his S-rank.]

[Physiognomy really is a science.]

Condemning a sinner who deserved condemnation was an exceptionally cost-effective form of entertainment. If I had to describe my current situation, it felt as though I were a birthday piñata being beaten from every direction without pause.

Of course, a few netizens argued that people should wait until all the facts were known. However, the photographs attached to the exposé were so shocking that those cautious voices did little to sway public opinion.

Major media outlets had already made the story their headline, and Y-Tube videos discussing the controversy were rapidly accumulating views.

At this rate, my reputation would not merely hit rock bottom.

It would dig straight through it.

“Hmm.”

Yet, to be perfectly honest, there was nothing I could do about the situation.

Despite all my efforts, I had failed to recover any of this body’s memories.

‘I don’t even know what the victim looks like. How am I supposed to deal with this?’

Now that matters had gone this far, my only remaining option was to find a new body as quickly as possible and assume a different identity.

“Since the rankings are being updated today, I suppose I’ll remain in ninth place for the next three months.”

I picked up my phone. Since I already had it in hand, I decided to check whether any dragon lungs had been listed for sale.

[Search results: 0]

“Damn it.”

Nothing today either.

***

Roughly seven hours had passed since I had fallen asleep in disappointment after checking the search results.

—Tring, tring.

I opened my eyes to the electronic ringing beside my bed.

8:14 a.m.

Wasn’t that a little early for a phone call?

“Ahem. Hello?”

—Hyung-nim!

“Oh. Yoonseung.”

My eyelids were swollen and heavy from the fluid that had accumulated while I slept. I barely managed to force them open as I answered the call.

“What is it?”

The news I heard over the phone was completely unexpected.

—It’s all been sorted out! I’ll send you the link right now, so take a look, Hyung-nim!

Click.

[Regarding fnalt’s False Accusations.]

Yoonseung had sent me a link to a post bearing that title.

For reference, “fnalt” was the username of the person who had published the original exposé.

According to Ahn Yoonseung, this single post—[Regarding fnalt’s False Accusations]—had resolved the entire situation.

At the moment, however, I had no idea what he meant.

I rubbed my eyes and opened the post. The instant I finished reading the first paragraph, every trace of sleep vanished.

***

Title: Regarding fnalt’s False Accusations

***

You truly are shameless.

How could you attach Kim Kiryeo’s name to that photograph when I am still alive and perfectly capable of speaking for myself?

Hello to everyone reading the free bulletin board.

Allow me to introduce myself first.

I was a classmate of Hunter Kim Ki-ryeo. We attended and graduated from the same middle school.

I am also the female student shown in the photograph attached to the original exposé.

***

The female student from the photograph?

‘Does she mean the girl whose face was blurred out?’

I scrolled farther down the page.

The next passage contained information I could never have anticipated.

***

...However, the photograph does not depict what the accuser claimed it did.

No one was dragging me away by force.

That photograph shows someone helping me.

The entire story in fnalt’s post was fabricated.

And considering that fnalt possesses that photograph, I have a good idea who is responsible for these false accusations.

You criminal bastard.

Did you honestly believe I would remain silent for the rest of my life?

Let me make one thing perfectly clear.

I was a victim of school violence.

And the person who saved me was—

Kim Kiryeo.

***

At the bottom of the post, the author had attached a two-minute video.

The setting shown in the recording looked strangely familiar.

A student was crying. It appeared to be around sunset, and a grey wall could be seen in the background.

The photograph from the exposé had undoubtedly been taken at this very location.

‘It was taken on the same day!’

The video showed the same incident from a different angle.

—...!

—...What?

—What did you just say, you little...?

When the recording began, the back of a girl surrounded by several people appeared on the screen.

Although, strictly speaking, I wasn’t certain they could all be called students. The footage was too grainy to determine their exact ages, and the people encircling the girl were dressed in clothes that made them look considerably older.

—XX... How ridiculous. Who do you think you are, looking down on everyone?

—Is this brat completely useless or what?

—Seriously.

The girl turned around and tried to argue with the person standing in front of her.

A boy with permed hair had been pawing at her for some time, despite her repeatedly telling him to stop. He continued nudging her arm as though it were all a joke, and whenever she tried to escape, he seized her by the shoulder.

—Hey!

At that moment, the person holding the camera shouted.

Everyone surrounding the girl immediately froze and turned toward the source of the voice.

—What do you think you’re doing?

The cameraman then addressed the group.

What are you doing?

Can’t you see she hates it?

Why are you treating her like that?

Stop.

They were ordinary words—almost clichéd in their simplicity.

—What’s that brat doing with a camera?

The delinquent with the permed hair laughed and began threatening the unexpected intruder.

His confidence, however, did not last long.

—I just called the police.

The instant the cameraman said those words, the expressions of everyone in the group stiffened.

—What the hell is this?

—Is that bastard insane?

—What the fuck...?

The police were already on their way. What could they do?

The group exchanged nervous curses, unsure how to react.

Taking advantage of their hesitation, the cameraman approached the girl.

Then he spoke to her.

—Are you all right?

—...

—Let’s get away from them for now. Come here. Hurry.

When the terrified girl failed to respond, the cameraman acted without hesitation.

He took her by the arm and led her away from the bullies, putting some distance between them.

That must have been the scene shown in the photograph from the exposé.

The image had not captured someone dragging a girl away against her will.

It had captured someone pulling her to safety.

***

As you can see, the person filming this video is Kim Kiryeo.

Kiryeo recorded it because he was trying to help me while I was being bullied at school.

I kept the copy he gave me.

***

The author then calmly explained the circumstances surrounding the recording.

She revealed that she had once been a child actress. During middle school, she had temporarily stepped away from acting so that she could concentrate on completing her compulsory education.

It was then that she encountered a group of bullies in her class.

They began ostracising her for absurd reasons, accusing her of suffering from a celebrity complex and acting as though she were superior to everyone else.

What began as mockery and sarcastic remarks gradually escalated.

Their behaviour grew increasingly vicious, until they eventually resorted to acts that were unmistakably criminal.

***

The scene in the video occurred after they called over a male student they were close to and tried to use him to harass me.

Of course, what they did was a crime.

But they didn’t care.

“She’s an actress. If strange rumours start spreading about her, she’ll be the one who suffers. She won’t dare report us.”

That was essentially how they thought.

***

The situation continued to worsen.

Unfortunately, the author admitted that she had been unable to report the bullies, precisely as her tormentors had predicted.

She feared that the incident might damage her public image and jeopardise her future.

Moreover, she had already been suffering from severe stress at the time, leaving her emotionally unstable and constantly anxious.

***

I didn’t believe I could endure the situation becoming any bigger than it already was.

I didn’t want it to appear in the news.

I didn’t want to force my family to come to the school either.

And because the perpetrators were also students, I convinced myself that reporting such “minor” physical contact would never result in any meaningful punishment...

So I failed to take proper action.

I merely told them:

“Stay away from me. If anything like this happens again, I’ll sue every last one of you.”

That was the extent of my warning.

***

The author had reached a point where even remembering the bullying was unbearable, so she had chosen to bury the entire incident.

Now, however, she seemed to regret the decision she had made back then.

[Looking back, it was a mistake.]

A little farther down the page, she had written:

[If I hadn’t allowed the matter to disappear back then, perhaps none of this would have happened today.]

The rest of the post gradually revealed the identity of fnalt, the person responsible for the false accusation.

***

...fnalt, the author of the fabricated exposé.

There was a time when I considered forgiving you.

I told myself it had merely been a mistake committed when we were young.

But after seeing what has happened now, I realise that this entire situation grew from the seed I allowed to remain buried.

The moment I saw that photograph, I knew who you were.

As the video shows, only one person present that day was standing apart and fiddling with a phone.

More importantly, one particular line from the exposé would not leave my mind:

“If she tells anyone, we’ll deal with her and everyone around her.”

I remember those words clearly.

They were the same words you used to terrify me.

You cornered me in the bathroom and told me you had nothing to lose.

You warned me that if I did not want my life destroyed, I had better stay away from you.

You threatened me with scissors.

You dragged another vulnerable student around after school.

You did all of it.

And now you dare use your own actions to slander someone else?

Of all the people you could have chosen, you targeted someone as righteous as Kiryeo.

***

So the original exposé had been fabricated in its entirety?

Worse still, its author had taken events from her own school years and twisted them into accusations against someone else?

I stared at my phone and let out a brief exclamation.

The residents of Alphauri were certainly unrivalled when it came to moral character...

But now that I thought about it, perhaps Earthlings were not so bad after all.

Even I, a native of Alphauri, could only click my tongue in disgust at what had happened.

***

I refuse to hide in fear any longer.

I will do everything in my power to help the friend who once helped me.

And I will make certain that fnalt, who falsely accused Kim Kiryeo, pays the price he deserves.

Thank you for reading.

***

With the most significant piece of evidence—the photograph allegedly depicting school violence—now exposed as a fabrication, what happened next?

The answer was obvious.

The internet erupted all over again.

Even at that very moment, new reactions were flooding onto the bulletin board.

[I knew there was something strange about that post;;]

[Breaking News: That bastard fnalt deleted the exposé.]

[This is completely insane.]

[The exposé page is gone. Wow. Do they seriously think deleting it now will stop anyone from finding them? LOL.]

‘So that’s why Ahn Yoonseung said one post had resolved everything.’

I nodded as I surveyed the atmosphere of the bulletin board.

The sudden reversal had caught me by surprise, but I nevertheless felt relieved that the troublesome situation had been brought to an end.

“Huh?”

But then—

“...”

My hand stopped moving as I scrolled through the comments.

One particular comment contained a name.

Only three characters.

Yet the moment I read them, I quietly returned to the post I had first opened.

[Regarding fnalt’s False Accusations.]

Two pieces of information appeared at the top of the page.

The first was the title.

And the second was—

[Writer: Gu Seohyeong]

...What?