Her finger pressed the key.
The page blinked once, then refreshed.
At the top it showed in bold: Published.
The Underworld Judge — Six Executions in Three Days. Punishment Delivered in Shadows.
It was live now — out on the internet, out in the world for everyone to see.
Her whole body leaned backward into the chair, her eyelids growing heavy. She tried to stay awake, tried to keep her eyes on the numbers ticking on the screen, but her mind was already giving up, begging for sleep.
She grabbed her bag and stuffed the papers inside without much care, a few nearly slipping out. Then she stood up, pushing the chair back — the wheels rolled a bit before stopping.
Her legs felt heavy as she dragged herself out of the office, the sound of her heels tapping softly on the floor. She pushed the door open with a slow hand and stepped into the hallway.
Down the hall, down the stairs, all the way to the parking lot. She pressed the car key, and the lights blinked a few times in quick flashes.
She opened the passenger door, tossed the bag on the passenger seat.
Her hands on the wheel.
She started the engine.
By the time she opened her apartment door, her head was already dizzy. She didn't change, didn't wash. She just dropped on the bed, face on the pillow, shoes still on.
Her eyes slowly closed, a small smile still resting on her lips.
It was morning now, around 8 A.M.
The sun was out, light falling on the road.
People were standing on the side, waiting for the signal to turn green so they could cross.
Some were walking on the footpath, a coffee cup in their hand.
Some were looking down at their phones, scrolling while walking, almost bumping into each others.
Cars honked, bikes pushed through small gaps, the street loud and busy.
Ding!
Ding-ding!
Phones buzzed non-stop, a storm of sound rolling through streets, buses, subways, offices — everywhere.
One by one, people's heads snapped down as the sound of phones buzzing didn't stop.
Fingers tapped quick, opening the notifications.
Same headline lit up on every screen, flashing again and again.
[ The Underworld Judge — Six Executions in Three Days. Justice Served in Shadows. ]
On the zebra crossing, suddenly a man stopped in the middle. Cars honked loud behind him, people shouting, but he didn't move.
"Ya! Look at this!" he shouted, shaking his phone at his friend.
His friend almost spilled his coffee, his eyes went wide with shock.
"What .. the.. fuck..?! All six?! In same way?!"
On the footpath, a girl gasped so loud people turned. She grabbed her friend's sleeve, screaming.
"Daebak! It's number one on Poogle! Everyone's talking about it!"
SNS feeds caught fire. Posts, memes, clips, tags — flying everywhere.
And then the parent voices began to spread, one video after another.
Somewhere in Seoul, a father knelt in front of the memorial altar set up for his daughter.
Her framed photo stood in the middle, a black ribbon tied on the corner.
White chrysanthemums were laid at the sides, candles burning low. A plate of fruit and a bowl of rice sat in front, untouched.
The father's shoulders shook as he pressed both hands to the floor.
Tears ran down his face and dropped onto the mat. He lifted his head, staring at the photo through blurry eyes, then clutched his phone tight to his chest.
"Judge-nim… kamsahamnida… thank you! My daughter can finally rest. You gave her the justice this world stole from her!"
The mother of the boy who had taken his life cried, both hands pressed to her face. Then she dropped to her knees on the floor, screaming through sobs.
His face was soaked with tears as he clutched the photo of his son to his chest.
"Underworld Judge-nim! You are the answer to a mother's prayers! You gave peace to my son's soul! Kamsahamnida, kamsahamnida!"
Another father slammed his fists on the table, his voice thunder shaking the room. Tears streamed down his face but his smile was wide.
"They thought money could protect them forever… but no! Judge-nim, you showed the truth! You brought justice to my boy! Hananim has sent you to us!"
Post like these blew up, flooding SNS and news channels. Shared millions of times. Every voice carried the same message.
"Finally… justice is real."
"He's not a killer. He's our Judge."
"Judge-nim… daebak… please never stop."
The city was alive, burning with a name. Fear, awe, hope — all tangled together.
And then the students joined in.
On SNS, new posts started appearing, one after another. Not with memes, not with jokes, but with names.
Anonymous accounts, no profile pictures. Just words.
*"He hit me every day after class. His name is **."
*"She stole my lunch money for a year straight. I almost starved. Her name is **."
*"They cornered me in the bathroom, six of them. I thought I would die. Their names are **."
One by one, the posts stacked up. Some shaky, some angry, some filled with tears typed into the screen.
They didn't know if Judge-nim could see them. They didn't know if he would answer. But still they wrote, still they begged.
"Please, Judge-nim. If you are real… see this. Give us justice too."
Some people were cheering, some were telling others to be careful, some still had no idea what was really happening, and others were scared — saying this was cruelty hiding behind the name of justice, a violation of basic rights.
But it didn't stop. More names came out. More pain. More stories.
It felt like the whole country was whispering to the same shadow in the dark.
The Underworld Judge.
But not every diliquent bully was scared.
In the park, instead of going to school, a group of boys were sitting on the bench. Their bags were laid on the ground.
One kid stood in front of them, both arms holding bags tight to his chest. One bag hanging on his left shoulder, another on the right. His face was bruised, eyes looking down. He didn't say a word.
Their leader took a long drag from his cigarette, then leaned forward and blew the smoke straight into the boy's face.
"Ha… look at this idiot," the leader said with a grin. "Judge-nim? Underworld Judge? What a joke."
Oh Sang-gyu burst out laughing, slapping his knee hard. "Yeah, if he's real, come here then! Come, come! We're waiting!"
"Fools," Yoo Chan said, kicking the boy's leg. "All those losers posting names online, crying. Thinking some shadow man's gonna save them. Pathetic."
Their leader grabbed the weak boy by the collar, dragged him close, and pulled out his phone.
"Smile, dog," he said, laughing.
Click.
The photo snapped. The boy's face pale, tears in his eyes, while Oh Sang-gyu and Yoo Chan stood behind grinning, throwing hand signs.
In the background, other bullies leaned in, waving at the camera, some even giving thumbs up, all laughing like it was a party.
Leader uploaded it straight to SNS.
Caption: Underworld Judge, come if you dare. We're waiting.
But Yoo Chan and Oh Sang-gyu didn't know.
They were lucky. Lucky they weren't with Seok in that karaoke room last night.
Right now, they were busy acting tough — sitting with gang leader, a student from a different school.
Trying to impress him. Trying to show they were worth something, now that Kang and Seok were gone.
What they didn't realise—
Hyun Woo's eyes had already marked them.
He was looking for these two as well.
And here they were, laughing loud, daring him to come and get them.