LIGHTNOVELONLINE Chapter 43
043 – The Wolf Among the Sheep #5
The boy had once attended a taekwondo studio in his childhood.
Being a boy who excelled at whatever he tried, he quickly garnered everyone’s attention.
One day, a 6-year-old girl of the same age caught his eye.
Unlike him, she was clumsy at everything.
It was astonishing to realize there were people in the world who struggled so much.
“Hey, Jeong-ui-seon, how about you take care of her?”
His parents made a small suggestion to him.
This would mark the beginning of experiences that would completely reshape the boy’s values.
“Splits! Success! It’s all thanks to you!”
He diligently took care of the girl, with an unexpected patience for such a young boy.
He was smart and understood that he was a bit special compared to others and that his family was well off.
He liked this side of himself. He grew to love the effort and toil that came from helping others and looking after those in need.
But someday—
“The police have urgently arrested Kim Kwang-ji, the taekwondo studio director. Mr. Kim…”
He received a 15-year sentence for ruining the lives of six children.
However, he only served a total of 10 years in reality.
Once an upright boy, he began to question justice. At the same time, he had a revelation about what he needed to do.
“Die, you bastard. Six times.”
“Guh! S-save me! M-monster! Monster!”
At 16 years old, when he first carried out justice, the morning sun made the morning light, the wind blowing, and the voices of people feel exceptionally vivid and brilliant.
That day, he realized that there were many people in the world who needed his help, and he had to assist them.
“Haha! I’m so clever!”
As a noisy male student interrupted him, memories from long ago popped into Jeong-ui-seon’s mind. He briefly recalled being hit in the face.
The punch was stronger than he expected.
As Jeong-ui-seon wiped the blood from his nose with the back of his hand, he stood up.
“Nam-jin, I still have much to do. There’s a lot to cut away in this rotten world. No one else can do this work. Only I can.”
Slicing sound—
Jeong-ui-seon pulled out a sharply pointed fountain pen.
It was a ‘treasure’ he had permanently borrowed from the treasure vault.
“So I can’t be caught by you. I need to become a symbol. A symbol of justice and fear.”
Jeong-ui-seon placed his hand on his chest and activated his concept.
His blood surged like lava, and all his senses became sharper.
With a light leap, Jeong-ui-seon moved.
Nam-jin, unable to react to the sudden boost in his physical abilities, found the fountain pen piercing his abdomen.
“Ahh!”
With a loud scream, he toppled over.
The concept of “pain” embedded in the pen shook his brain and burned every nerve like lightning.
Even Yeomra, deemed a wanted criminal and ruling like a demon, was reduced to a child’s sob when faced with the “pain” that resided at this pen’s tip.
“Last question. Nam-jin, won’t you join me? It could take a while to face the great evils I will tackle alone.”
Jeong-ui-seon didn’t trust anyone other than himself.
However, he felt he could reasonably compromise and join hands with the boy before him.
A kindred spirit, one could say.
“Go to hell.”
But even as he staggered from the pain, Nam-jin rejected Jeong-ui-seon’s offer. More than feeling rejected, Jeong-ui-seon was amazed at his persistence through the agony.
But that wasn’t the only issue.
“Class President, you better run. Soon people who feel the commotion will rush over here and chase you down like a dog. Otherwise, you’ll be living in hiding for the rest of your life.”
“What does that matter? I’m already prepared for that level of sacrifice and danger.”
“Isn’t that funny? According to your words, you should be the one doing the right thing while also being the one who must hide.”
“……”
“You think you’re doing the right thing, but in reality, it’s not at all. The right one is me, and you are wrong. You are no different from the villains you killed.”
# # #
Once, I had been shot in the stomach.
The pain felt as if a gigantic insect had stung me, shaking my skull and leaving me in agony for several days.
Even now, as I write with this fountain pen, it felt the same.
My limbs trembled, and every cell screamed, “Lie down and struggle for your life!”
I wanted to.
But if I lost my head here, that class president would surely dash into the deep darkness. In that case, I might never catch him.
He would continue to obstruct my plans.
So, I desperately gripped my perforated stomach and provoked the president.
“Class President, you’re just a child. A clown imitating the heroes from movies on TV.”
“Nam-jin, you think you can provoke me to stop me from escaping? I won’t listen to whatever you say.”
Damn it!
I hated smartasses like him.
Would it hurt to just take the bait and retaliate?
I wanted to buy just a little more time.
Yu Yeoreum and Wang Ja-hyeon had to be nearby.
If they came here, we’d quickly outnumber him three to one.
“But Nam-jin, if we’re not going to be on the same side, I think it’s better to finish you off right here. I have a feeling you’ll be my biggest obstacle moving forward.”
Slicing sound—. Sparkle—.
The tip of the fountain pen glimmered.
This time, I needed to dodge for sure.
I thought that, but the moment I focused, his pen was already piercing my thigh.
“Ugh!”
It was a speed I couldn’t react to.
In terms of speed, Jeong-ui-seon was on par with Yu Yeoreum.
Truly the “Knight Brooch” of Class D. He was quite skilled to hold the class president role amongst all the troublemakers.
Honestly speaking, he was more problematic than Yeom Hoon, a level three wanted criminal.
Aching and fluttering—
The concept he possessed also bugged me.
Why does it hurt so much?
It definitely had a type that intensified pain.
“You coward! Using a treasure! Now I’ll use mine!”
I gritted through the pain and pulled out my “Ketchup Bottle.”
Seeing my treasure, “Ketchup Bottle,” Jeong-ui-seon expressed slight tension in his eyes.
“What’s that…?”
“This is the ketchup of ‘Death.’ Anyone that comes in contact with the ketchup from this bottle is guaranteed to die. From food poisoning! Norovirus!”
Squeezing sound—
I squirted ketchup everywhere, creating a barrier like a magical circle.
In truth, this ketchup bottle had the ability of “charging,” so it would fill up every hour or so, but he appeared unaware of this fact.
Let’s trust the “Deceit” inherent in my ring and my acting prowess!
“‘Death’ concept, you say? There’s no way they would lend something so dangerous to a student.”
“I’m not just any student! I’m a super rookie who defeated Yu Yeoreum in a group project and took down the level three wanted criminal Yeom Hoon!”
Squeezing sound—
The ketchup barrier was completed around us.
We stood at odds like butterflies trapped in a spider’s web.
Whoosh—
At that moment, a breeze blew in, cooling the cold sweat trickling down my forehead.
And then Jeong-ui-seon began to laugh.
“That’s just a ketchup bottle that gets charged. I was curious about what you were planning, and you really surprised me. If someone didn’t know, they might’ve really been tricked.”
What? He already knew this ketchup bottle only had the ability to charge? He must have just wanted to watch what I would do with it.
But it was okay. My intention for pulling out the ketchup bottle was to buy time.
“My friend! What is all this about!”
“Nam-jin!”
Familiar voices echoed from the vicinity of the abandoned factory.
It was the voice of Team “No Leftover Day.”
“I knew it! If it were you guys, I knew you’d patrol near this abandoned factory! The key was when you’d come, but you arrived quicker than I thought!”
“Hanam-jjin!”
Thud!
Baek-Yeoul, with her donut-shaped bottom, dashed towards us.
I raised my trembling hand and pointed at the class president.
“That bastard is pure evil! A serial killer! A really bad guy! He’s the judge!”
Though my vocabulary might have dropped to the level of a dyed-in-the-wool donut from the pain, it seemed my meaning got through sufficiently.
Thanks to the camaraderie formed by crossing the line of death together.
“Class president, you!”
Baek-Yeoul shouted in fury.
Slicing sound—
She lifted a frying pan adorned with peculiar talismans.
“You finally revealed your true colors! You cunning wolf!”
“Wolf? Me?”
“Good-looking, kind-hearted, smart! There’s no way someone perfect like that exists in the world! Just like Seoga-eul, I thought you must have a huge flaw too, and it turns out you do! You bastard!”
Baek-Yeoul’s intuition and keen observation were sharper than I’d expected.
Soon, Geum Tae-seong arrived with Deok-soon, and the previously relaxed expression of the class president started to grow tense.
“Although the others can be disregarded, fighting with Tae-seong is out of the question. Our abilities don’t complement each other, and I’m sorry, but I need to take my leave.”
“T-that bastard is trying to escape! Guahhh!”
I wanted to dash and hold him back, but the pain from the fountain pen piercing my thigh was so intense that tears were welling up.
Was I really just going to watch the class president escape like this?
“Is it time for me to take out my trump card?”
Slicing sound—
At that moment, Baek-Yeoul pulled out a lunchbox from her bag.
What was she planning to do? As I pondered, she picked up a pair of chopsticks.
“Chopstick throw!”
Swish—
Baek-Yeoul threw the chopsticks like a North Korean special force, and they struck the class president’s abdomen like arrows.
“Did… did I hit!?”
Baek-Yeoul seemed bewildered even after throwing the chopsticks.
Naturally, the class president was surprised too.
“What the…?”
“Name: Jeong-ui-seon
Ability: 《Justice Lv.3》 – Possesses a sense of justice akin to a superhero. That indomitable spirit bestows immense power.
Status: 《Gradual Anger》 – Frustration at extraneous characters he hadn’t even been watching being afflicted.”
“Baek-Yeoul! You extraneous character—!”
Yeah, I would be angry too.
In Jeong-ui-seon’s life, “No Leftover Day” must’ve been trivial NPCs. But how frustrating it must be for him to have such characters block his way.
Gurgle—
At that moment, a strange sound came from the president’s stomach.
“Ugh…!?”
“That, that chopstick has food poisoning specially made by Baek-dang! It wasn’t meant for you! Within the next five minutes, you will—lose your dignity!”
Gurgle—
The more his stomach churned, the more Jeong-ui-seon’s expression turned pale like a dying patient. Seeing such a lost expression, Baek-Yeoul began to taunt like a child.
“You’re not the dark hero ‘Judgment’ everyone speaks of. You’re just going to become a laughingstock!”
A being that had mocked the legal system, now simply reduced to a laughingstock.
Baek-Yeoul was trying to murder that persona entirely.
An extremely terrifying attack, but I also wondered who I originally intended to use that food poisoning on.
“Baek-Yeoul!”
With a howl like an angry wolf, Jeong-ui-seon screamed.
Seizing the opportunity, I shouted, “All of his senses are focused on his asshole! Now! Now! Go and beat him up!”
Thud!
Everyone charged at the serial killer.
Since we had already practiced this joint attack several times, we were in perfect sync this time.
Boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom—
“Ahhh! You bastard! There’s no way you can catch me! At least not like this—!!!”
In a way, I felt a bit sorry for Jeong-ui-seon.
Yet at the same time, a chill ran down my spine at the thought of him maintaining his dignity till the end.
Though he was the enemy, that superhuman perseverance was worth praising.
“I just called the captain! The instructors will be here soon!”
“Nam-jin! Get a grip! Nam-jin!”
At that moment, my vision began to blur.
Soon, I felt someone embracing me.
“Nam-jin student! Stay awake! Captain! I’ll send this guy to the infirmary!”
And just like that, I briefly knocked out.
When I regained consciousness, I found myself lying on a bed with Teacher Ko-gae, wearing an eye mask, sitting next to me.
Trying to get up, I winced in pain, tears almost spilling from the agony in my thigh and stomach.
“Guhhh!”
“Stay still. The injury isn’t deep, but the pain from being stabbed with the ‘Pain Fountain Pen’ will last at least four days.”
“What about that guy? Did you catch him? How long has it been?”
“We caught him. He’s currently detained in a Special Detention Center. It’s been three hours since Nam-jin fell unconscious. It’s around 5 PM, so it’s about time to head home.”
Looks like we did catch him! Should I say my mind has finally eased?
It felt rewarding that I had gone through so much.
“The problem is, no matter how much we interrogate him, he won’t open up. He insists on talking only to Nam-jin student. I’ll have to see him shortly.”
Rustling—
Just as I was raising my body off the bed.
“Nam-jin student, honestly, I’ll see you again. If you want to join Class F, tell me.”
“If I go, will you kiss me, Teacher Ko-gae?”
“No.”
“Then I won’t go.”
“If I kiss you, will you?”
“I don’t want that either. You smell like cigarettes, Teacher Ko-gae.”
Crinkle—
Even without “emotions,” Teacher Ko-gae’s expression clearly furrowed.