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Translator: Vine
Chapter Title: Break (4)
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"...Hey, that, that's Jin Yuha!!!"
"I, I saw him, him in a video... The one where he tears apart a demon..."
"Are you kidding me, we're all screwed, aren't we?! Hey, Kim Hyeji!! What are we going to do?! You said the Utopia party wouldn't show up!!!"
Behind Lee Yuri, who had rushed over, walked a man of striking beauty.
As he revealed himself, Kim Hyeji's group's eyes widened as if they would tear.
However, no one was in a more dire situation than Kim Hyeji, whose wrist was currently clutched by Lee Yuri.
A shiver ran down her spine.
'Why, why is Utopia's party leader coming out of here...!! This, this bitch's personality means she'd never ask anyone for help!!?'
What's more, he wasn't alone.
There was a large-chested woman with lime-green hair,
and even a woman with a model-like physique and shimmering golden hair.
"Haaah— Haaah—, H-Hoobae, you're too fast...!"
"Haaah... You're really too fast."
But then.
"Hey, where are you looking?"
Lee Yuri's voice, now chillingly low, drew her gaze back.
"I'm asking you, were you trying to hit my sibling?"
"N-No, that's not it, I-I was just going to pat them..."
Kim Hyeji replied, profusely sweating cold beads.
At that, Lee Yuri let out a hollow laugh, as if utterly dumbfounded.
"Is that your last will?"
Just then, Jin Yuha, who had been standing behind, stepped forward with long strides.
"Hey, Jin Yuha."
"Hm?"
"Don't step in. I'll handle these bitches."
At that, Jin Yuha let out a small chuckle, as if saying, 'Why would you say that?'
"Why would I step in?"
He turned his gaze towards the small girl and boy standing behind Lee Yuri.
"Yuna, long time no see?"
Lee Yuna, who had been standing with a dazed expression, suddenly opened her eyes wide like lanterns and replied with a joyful voice.
"Yuha Oppa!"
"Come here. Your sibling too."
"Yes!"
Jin Yuha took care of Lee Yuri's siblings and moved back.
"Gukbap, I'll be watching from behind. Do your best."
"..."
And then, Lee Yuri's true education hour began.
* * *
Wham—
Thud!
"Ugh!"
"Argh!"
"Ugh!"
Lee Yuri, still holding Kim Hyeji by the wrist, flung her towards her group.
Kim Hyeji's body collided with them, scattering their formation.
"Wow, I didn't know you guys would be here too. Is today high school reunion day or something? Long time no see?"
Only then did Lee Yuri realize who these people gathered here were, and she cracked her knuckles, saying.
The other jerks in front of her were the trash who had always bullied her during her school days.
Lee Yuri had wanted to attend school as quietly as possible, so she had endured their bullying without complaint.
Pouring dirty water on her in the bathroom, soaking her textbooks with milk, scribbling 'beggar bitch' on her desk, ostracizing her, spitting in her lunch tray. And if they were bored, hitting her on the head.
It was truly bullying straight out of a picture book.
Of course, once those jerks brought her siblings and family into it, she didn't hold back, and the situation was immediately reversed.
But that didn't mean the memories from then had disappeared.
"...Didn't I clearly say at graduation that I hoped I'd never have to see your faces again?"
As if their recent badmouthing of Lee Yuri had been a lie, they trembled like rabbits before a tiger.
"Y-Yuri, th-that's..."
"S-Sorry!"
"W-We just!"
"Ugh..."
Then Lee Yuri looked at Kim Hyeji, who was getting up in front of her, and her expression changed to one of realization.
"Oh, right. So Kim Hyeji was in cahoots with you guys all along, huh?"
"N-No! O-On the contrary, Kim Hyeji was behind all of it—!"
"That's right, Y-Yuri! This incident, and back in high school too, it was all, all Kim Hyeji who made us do it!"
Lee Yuri felt a fresh wave of emptiness.
'Damn it. No wonder. Every time I got bullied, that bitch always managed to slip away... So that's how it was?'
She and Kim Hyeji had been friends for quite some time.
Though Kim Hyeji was selfish and their conversation styles didn't quite match,
still, they had spent a long time together, even when Lee Yuri was being bullied, and so they had continued to be in the same party even after graduating high school.
Lee Yuri had considered her a friend, in her own way.
That's why, even when Kim Hyeji had taken a large sum of money, a million won, despite Lee Yuri's difficult circumstances, and run off, she hadn't taken any particular action against her.
As a reward for not turning her back on her back then.
'But Hyeji, that bitch, was actually the instigator?'
Honestly, the reason she had been so enraged when she heard Kim Hyeji's name from the neighborhood kid was probably because she still trusted her deep down.
She had thought she'd cut ties with her the moment Kim Hyeji unilaterally broke their trust during that dangerous gate subjugation and ran off with the money, but it seemed she hadn't.
And that bitch had robbed their house and even kidnapped her siblings.
A wave of betrayal churned and swelled within her.
'Wow, I feel like I've been backstabbed so cleanly that I can't even swear.'
In fact, she was almost grateful for how cleanly it had severed her lingering attachments.
Lee Yuri took a heavy step towards them.
* * *
Wham—
Wham—
Wham—
"Ugh!"
"Aargh!"
"H-Help me!"
"W-We were wrong!!!"
Lee Yuri unilaterally beat them.
"...S-She's brutal."
"H-Hoobae was a scary person..."
"P-Please move your hand! Oppa!"
"Hyung, your hand!"
Jin Yuha covered Lee Yuna and her younger brother's eyes.
It was satisfying, but it wasn't exactly a good scene for their emotional development.
Lee Yuri overwhelmed her opponents without even holding a shield.
Only with her fists.
Of course, as a top-tier tank, Lee Yuri had invested all her points into defense and had low talent as a damage dealer.
So at first, perhaps thinking they could take her on in a 4-on-1, the jerks had taken a stance.
Lee Yuri dodged all their attacks, and only her brutal violence landed.
Moreover, if they even showed a hint of trying to escape, she immediately deployed her magic.
"D-Damn it... We were wrong!!!"
Now that Lee Yuri's skill had risen, she could provoke these pathetic jerks with just her magic, without even needing to bang her shield, unlike with monsters.
No matter how weak Lee Yuri's attack power was, and no matter that they were hunters with some experience,
what would happen if they were beaten relentlessly for hours on end?
Gasp—
Gasp—
"Haaah..."
"Uweaaahk—!"
"W-We were wrong..."
"S-Sorry... P-Please spare us..."
Their entire bodies were bruised purple and blue, and several teeth were missing, a pitiful sight.
And among them, the one who suffered the worst was the short-haired woman named Kim Hyeji.
A brutal sight, collapsed on the ground.
Her body trembled uncontrollably.
However, she still lifted her head, her eyes burning with defiance, as if she couldn't accept it.
"...Y-You, you think you'll get away with this!!!??"
Kim Hyeji shouted, blood gushing from her mouth.
"What?"
An eyebrow twitched on Lee Yuri's expressionless face.
"You, you think you'll get away with this!!!!!!!"
"What nonsense are you spouting?"
"You, you are Velvet Academy students responsible for the safety of citizens!!!!"
As Lee Yuri paused her beating.
Kim Hyeji, as if sensing an opportunity, strained her neck and screamed.
"But what if it gets out that an Academy student!! unilaterally beat up a civilian like this! What will you do when it spreads all over the internet and news!!!!!"
Watching from behind, I let out a hollow laugh, dumbfounded.
'Wow, that person's spouting funny things, aren't they? Anyone would think she wasn't a hunter herself.'
Touching a hunter's family in the first place means you want to die.
Ding—
Just then, a message came in on my phone, and I let out a small chuckle.
"I, I'm going to spread what happened today... all over the news and the internet. And then, that way... I'll reveal the true nature of your Utopia to the world!!!!!!!!!!"
Step.
Step.
"Go ahead."
I stepped forward and said to her.
"What?"
Kim Hyeji looked surprised, as if she hadn't expected me to step forward.
"Do everything you can, everything you want to do."
"...J-Jin Yuha."
Lee Yuri, with a slightly flustered expression, grabbed my wrist.
I looked back at her, as if dumbfounded.
"What? You're not actually worried she might do it, are you?"
"..."
At that, Lee Yuri closed her mouth.
"Honestly, it's such a trivial threat."
I turned my head back towards Kim Hyeji.
And squatted down in front of her.
"Report it wherever you want, upload it to the internet, tip off the news, spread rumors. Please, try everything you can. But I wonder if it will actually work."
Thunk—
I plunged Moonlight in front of her eyes.
"H-Hieek!?"
"Not a single person will believe your words."
Kim Hyeji's eyes, looking up at me, trembled like an aspen leaf.
"Why? Because I'll make sure of it. I have the power to do so. If my power isn't enough, I'll even borrow the power of Cheonhwa, Two-Gyeons, and even the Director."
"...Wh-Why, why would you do that for that, that kind of bitch!!"
Blood splattered onto my cheek from Kim Hyeji's mouth as she screamed.
Swipe—
I wiped my face with my arm.
"I just received information about you. The crimes you've committed so far. Fraud, assault, extortion, etcetera, etcetera. A total of 3,154 cases. How did you manage not to get caught until now? Were you just lucky?"
"...!"
"And you messed with the house of Lee Yuri, a student currently enrolled in Velvet Academy, Utopia's sole tank, and even kidnapped her family. On top of that, you threatened her family and added assault to the list."
"Wh-What are you talking about...!"
Of course, the family kidnapping and assault charges weren't true.
But I could easily frame her for them.
"And let me ask you one more thing. Did you, by any chance, bully our Gukbap back in school?"