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Chapter 8 …
The Wise School Life of a Lowborn (2)
“Ugh!”
“Uh…”
“Holy shit!”
At the calm, low voice that came from me, everyone froze in surprise.
It was only natural.
They all knew exactly what Oh Gwang-jun was like.
Which meant they all acknowledged what a complete piece of trash he was.
That was why my reaction toward him completely caught them off guard.
“Bastard? Puhahahahahaha!”
Like the lunatic he was, he reacted instantly.
His voice shot up several octaves, and his eyes filled with murderous intent.
Not just Oh Gwang-jun.
There wasn’t a single easy target in this school.
Except someone like me.
To people like them, someone in my position existed only as a tool to vent their stress.
And Oh Gwang-jun had treated me as his personal punching bag.
Now that toy had unexpectedly talked back.
To him, it probably felt like he’d been sucker-punched.
He had every reason to be furious.
The weak little loser who had never once resisted him was suddenly defying him.
“Hey! Lowborn!”
“Oh Gwang-jun. You know that’s a banned word on campus, right?”
“Banned word? Screw that, asshole. I don’t give a damn.”
“My friend, ‘screw you’ also counts as verbal abuse.”
“Friend? You… dare call me that?”
“Your father is a chief prosecutor at the Eastern District Prosecutors’ Office. You shouldn’t behave like this. Discriminating against people is prohibited by the Constitution and numerous laws.”
I spoke gently.
Even wore a mild smile.
Like a fisherman scattering bait.
That was exactly what I was doing.
“A wrongful act? You wanna die? Looks like you’ve been resting too long and gotten cocky.”
He bit.
Perfectly.
“Threatening people isn’t allowed either. And my liver’s perfectly healthy. Unlike you, I don’t drink or smoke.”
“Shut up, you crazy bastard!!”
Smack!
Along with the curse, a loud slap landed across my face without warning.
The crack echoed through the classroom.
Yes!
He took the bait.
…
Silence instantly swallowed the room.
I had been sitting defenseless when he struck me.
My cheek stung from the force.
But this wasn’t real pain.
Compared to the torture-resistance training I endured in the Special Forces, this was nothing.
Winter survival training in mountains where temperatures dropped below -20°C…
That had been hell itself.
Eating wild roots just to survive.
Ripping apart snakes we’d happened to find underground and eating them raw.
Compared to that, this was child’s play.
In fact…
People like him were one of the reasons I’d survived those days.
Humiliation?
I’d experienced far worse in college.
In the military.
At work.
The day I was thrown away by the company I’d devoted myself to, treated like useless garbage.
The day my girlfriend dumped me without giving me a chance to respond.
Those had hurt much more.
“So… you just committed violence inside a sacred school?”
I asked while curling the corner of my lips into a smile only Oh Gwang-jun could see.
Even I could hear how cold my voice sounded.
I rubbed my aching cheek as I looked at him.
He flinched.
His eyes wavered.
A high school kid already trying to project a dark aura.
Still…
He was just a kid.
Time for punishment.
Under the desk, I stopped the recording.
This was enough evidence.
I slowly stood up.
I was 187 centimeters tall.
Oh Gwang-jun was barely 170.
I looked down at him from almost a full head higher.
In the past…
Someone like him had terrified me.
But now that I stood before him again…
“You must’ve grown up on premium baby formula. If you’re still this short, shouldn’t you file a complaint? Or is it just your genetics?”
“Wh… what?”
“You’re already losing your hearing at your age? Ah… that must be why nobody taught you any manners.”
“You crazy son of a bitch!!”
Whoosh!
His jab was lightning fast.
As expected from someone trained in boxing.
But against me…
Smack!
I dodged his punch and immediately answered with one clean strike.
A full-powered slap.
Crash!
The instant my palm hit his cheek, his body staggered before crashing onto the classroom floor.
My body hadn’t been trained yet.
But it was still young.
And the striking techniques I’d learned in the Special Forces hadn’t disappeared.
I could already spot at least five vulnerable points on Oh Gwang-jun’s body.
If I wanted to…
I could kill him with a single combination.
Just another ignorant brat showing off.
“Heh…”
A cold laugh escaped me.
All those years I’d been helplessly bullied by someone this insignificant…
That dark chapter of my life ended today.
I’d never let history repeat itself.
Never again.
* * *
“…Did Gwang-jun just get hit?”
“But isn’t Gwang-jun a boxer?”
“Ha Tae-woong… he’s seriously gone crazy.”
Whispers filled the classroom.
Cheonghwa High School had extremely strict rules.
Most of the students also came from wealthy, influential families.
They knew exactly where the line was.
At least with each other.
Lowborn students were the exception.
Most students didn’t participate in bullying directly.
Instead, they simply ignored it whenever a lowborn student was being harassed.
That made them accomplices all the same.
To them, lowborn students existed solely as stress relief.
Their own lives were filled with relentless pressure.
From childhood, they’d received expensive private tutoring.
By middle school, they’d already mastered the high school curriculum.
Except for those preparing college admissions through school records and grades, nearly everyone focused on the College Scholastic Ability Test.
They enjoyed an educational environment that was an impossible dream for someone like Ha Tae-woong.
Yet Ha Tae-woong was different.
He was naturally intelligent.
And incredibly tenacious.
Even after being bullied…
Ostracized…
Ignored…
He endured everything.
He was never the absolute top student.
But he consistently ranked within the top five of the class.
His appearance wasn’t lacking either.
Handsome.
Tall.
Exactly the kind of guy girls liked.
Had he attended an ordinary high school instead of Cheonghwa…
He probably would’ve been one of the school’s biggest stars.
Perhaps the most popular boy in the entire grade.
But Cheonghwa High wasn’t an ordinary school.
It was an academy built for the children of Korea’s elite.
Someone destined to spend his life doing menial labor…
A lowborn like Ha Tae-woong…
Had just slapped Oh Gwang-jun across the face.
It was nothing less than an act of rebellion.
Something that should never have happened.
Every student in Class 2-3 had witnessed it.
They stood frozen after seeing it with their own eyes.
“What just happened?”
“Oh Gwang-jun really got hit?!”
“This is insane.”
Even students from neighboring classrooms rushed over.
The screams and shocking news had spread instantly.
Everyone was equally stunned.
“You… dared…”
Still lying on the floor, Oh Gwang-jun glared at Ha Tae-woong.
Even he looked dazed.
A worthless lowborn…
Had actually struck him.
A blow he’d never imagined.
Ha Tae-woong’s defiance irritated him.
He’d only intended to teach the kid a light lesson.
Instead…
The resistance had been overwhelming.
Being counterattacked humiliated him more than anything.
Even all the boxing skills he’d spent years honing had been useless.
The slap had been too fast.
The moment it landed, he’d been sent flying.
There had been incredible power behind Ha Tae-woong’s hand.
It had looked like an ordinary slap.
But it was backed by remarkable technique.
He looked at Ha Tae-woong again.
Something had changed since the holiday.
Every morning before class, Ha Tae-woong had been his favorite stress-relief toy.
He had never once seen this version of him.
The timid loser who kept his head down and silently worked through worksheets without saying a word…
Was gone.
Today…
Everything was different.
Even the way he sat with his shoulders straight.
His gaze was arrogant.
Filled with hostility.
Things had gone terribly wrong.
Rumors would spread in an instant.
He’d been beaten by a mere lowborn.
How was he supposed to show his face at school now?
“You bastard… I’ll kill you!!”
Grinding his teeth, he clenched his fists and tried to stand.
Thud!
A heavy, devastating blow slammed into his stomach.
“GAAAAAH!”
“Ah!”
The girls screamed.
Violence like this was unthinkable inside the school.
For many of them, this was the first time witnessing genuine school violence.
These were children raised like flowers in a greenhouse.
They were used to being the aggressors.
Never the victims.
And now…
They were watching one of their own…
Being beaten by someone they considered beneath dirt.
By the pathetic bear who had always stayed quiet and never fought back.
“Urgh… blegh…”
Oh Gwang-jun clutched his stomach and doubled over.
His insides twisted violently.
Then—
Splash!
The toast and fruit he’d eaten for breakfast spilled all over the classroom floor.
“Ugh!”
“So… gross…”
The girls who had screamed moments earlier now turned away with disgust.
For Oh Gwang-jun…
It was the most humiliating moment of his life.
He couldn’t believe this was happening.
He desperately wanted to grab something—
Anything.
If only he could beat Ha Tae-woong to death right now…
But…
Crunch.
After vomiting everything out, Oh Gwang-jun collapsed onto his side.
Then he caught the unmistakable smell of a cheap rubber slipper.
Nngh!
He couldn’t move his head.
Fear pierced straight through his mind.
Ha Tae-woong…
This bastard was a gangster.
His face was pinned beneath Ha Tae-woong’s foot, preventing him from seeing his expression.
But murderous intent radiated even through the sole of that worn slipper.
He truly felt as though his skull might be crushed at any moment.
“Isn’t your father supposed to be a prosecutor who upholds justice? Then how can you talk about killing someone?”
Ha Tae-woong’s voice carried unmistakable ridicule.
All the things Oh Gwang-jun had done to him over the years flashed through his mind.
Pinned beneath the slipper, he squeezed his eyes shut.
Ha Tae-woong.
The pathetic outcast.
He had been completely defeated by him.
Just imagining the humiliation waiting for him at school made his teeth chatter with rage.
Cheonghwa High was a place where only the strong survived.
A world ruled by the law of the jungle.
The rumors were undoubtedly spreading already.
And at that exact moment—
“What do you think you’re doing? Fighting in a classroom of all places?!”
