Chapter 22 – Justice Man Has Arrived

“Seo-yeon. Hwirang was looking for you in the group chat all yesterday.”

“Oh, really?”

“Yeah. I told her you usually ignore the group chat when you’re home, but she was calling for you desperately.”

“Really? I wonder why.”

Seo-yeon listened to her friend Hye-kyung and scrolled through the group chat.

Just as Hye-kyung said, she could see that Hwirang had spammed the chat, asking her to play a game.

“You live with your uncle, right?”

“Yeah.”

“Is he strict?”

Seo-yeon let out a dry laugh at Hye-kyung’s words.

Far from strict, he was a pushover.

He was older than her, but sometimes he felt more like a child.

“Not at all.”

“Then why do you become a hermit the moment you get home? It’s not like you have a boyfriend.”

“I just don’t use the group chat at home.”

“It’s not like you’re too busy hanging out with your old-man uncle.”

Hye-kyung sounded suspicious, but Katrinne didn’t answer further.

“Ugh, I wonder how much of an asshole Trash is gonna be today.”

One of the classmates grumbled as he changed into his training uniform.

Hearing that, Seo-yeon’s expression hardened slightly.

Trash.

It was the nickname of the combat training instructor at Raon Academy.

The meaning was literal.

A first-generation hunter, Trash had a notoriously violent teaching style, born from the mindset that you die if you don’t train properly.

“Seo-yeon, don’t you think you should sit out of training today?”

Hye-kyung said, looking at Seo-yeon with concern.

“No, I don’t want my grade to get docked for no reason. Don’t worry, Hye-kyung.”

Seo-yeon said with a faint smile.

Hye-kyung chewed her lip anxiously. The reason for her anxiety…

…wasn’t Trash, but the psycho who took the training class with them.

The third-year who had hit Seo-yeon under the guise of training.

Raon Academy was an educational training institution established after the damages caused by the first Gate incident.

The majority of the academy’s students were either orphans with nowhere else to go or teenagers who wanted to become hunters.

As a result, in addition to theoretical classes, combat training was mandatory.

“How’s your leg? Did you go to the hospital?”

“It’s fine. It’s already healed.”

As she said that, Seo-yeon pulled down her black stocking to show her shin.

Seeing the bruise, which had already faded, Hye-kyung smiled in relief.

“That’s a relief. It looked like you were hurt badly.”

“I’m pretty tough.”

“Getting revenge just because he got rejected. How pathetic.”

The one who had bruised Seo-yeon was a third-year senior. He had pretended it was a mistake, but everyone knew it wasn’t.

He had a history of being humiliatingly rejected after asking Seo-yeon out.

The third-year senior, Kim Seong-tae, persistently harassed Seo-yeon. It was difficult for her classmates to step in rashly.

He was one of the few Awakened at the academy and a talent coveted by pro guilds.

He had already signed a contract to be scouted immediately upon graduation in a few months. Because of that, he had a sizable posse that hung around him.

They were the type you’d call bullies in a normal school.

The dreaded class soon began.

The students gathered on the training grounds. And an instructor with an expression that screamed “unapproachable” began the class.

“Today’s training will be sparring, continuing from last time. Everyone put on your protective gear so you don’t get hurt.”

“Sir. Can I sit this one out?”

“Where do you get a break in a real fight? The enemy won’t go easy on you just because you’re hurt.”

The student who had asked for a break couldn’t argue with the instructor’s curt dismissal, delivered with his arms crossed.

“Everyone, gear up. First-years will spar with first-years. Second-years will spar with third-years.”

Hearing the instructor’s words, Hye-kyung immediately frowned.

And then the psycho, Kim Seong-tae, came looking for Seo-yeon.

“Lee Seo-yeon. Your leg’s already healed?”

“…”

The man with curly hair and narrow eyes approached with a smirk. Hye-kyung stepped in front of him.

“Senior, what are you doing here?”

“Didn’t you hear him say third-years are sparring with second-years?”

“You already hurt Seo-yeon last time!”

“She looks perfectly fine to me.”

*If I can’t have her, I’ll break her. Look at Kim Seong-tae’s obsession.*

The third-year punk. Behind Kim Seong-tae, sounds of jeering encouragement could be heard.

“Our Seo-yeon is going to spar with someone else.”

“Didn’t you hear him say second-years have to spar with third-years?”

“Why does it have to be that way? Second-years can spar with second-years, and third-years with third-years. Sir!”

Hye-kyung called out to the instructor, but he just glanced their way and looked away.

Seeing that, Hye-kyung let out a flustered “Huh?”

“I have no desire to associate with you.”

“You? You should be calling me Oppa.”

Seo-yeon’s tone was ice-cold. Her eyes and voice were as if she were looking at something less than human.

This wasn’t the usual cheerful, gluttonous Seo-yeon.

‘Maybe I should have learned some self-defense from Ajeossi.’

Seo-yeon possessed the power of a priestess, so she was completely unskilled in martial arts.

Even in the other world, her method had been to overwhelm opponents with her innate mana and magic. But since she hadn’t properly awakened her powers yet, she couldn’t hope to defeat Kim Seong-tae, a hunter-in-training.

“Fine, whatever. You don’t want to spar with me, is that it?”

Kim Seong-tae said with a fake smile. Then, he suddenly grabbed Hye-kyung’s arm.

“Then I’ll just spar with her.”

“I don’t want to! Let go!”

“Stop it! Why are you doing this when she said no?”

“Am I asking her on a date? I’m just saying we should train.”

Hye-kyung was a supporter, just like Seo-yeon.

She couldn’t possibly be used to close-quarters combat. Hye-kyung tried to break free from his grip, but she couldn’t.

“Sir, over there…!”

“That senior is at it again…!”

The students cautiously tried to alert the combat instructor. But he just glanced over and scolded the second-years instead.

“Didn’t I say it was spar-ring time? Do you think this is free time?”

“No, but…”

“I told you to treat it like a real battle. Mind your own business. If you don’t want to spar, just say so. I’ll give you a different training exercise.”

At the instructor’s words, everyone fell silent.

Seeing this, Kim Seong-tae smirked and tilted his head.

“Your class is just a bunch of orphans, isn’t it?”

“What does that have to do with anything?”

Seo-yeon bit her lip hard. Seeing Hye-kyung getting dragged into this because of her made her heart ache with anger.

“You shouldn’t think that orphans with nowhere to go are in the same boat as us, who volunteered to become hunters.”

Kim Seong-tae was a punk who acted as if he owned the place. Rumor had it he was the grandson of a major investor or the chairman of Raon Academy.

That was why the instructor was just pretending not to see.

“Who do you think you are, acting all high and mighty just because you have a pretty face? You’re just an orphan. Don’t want to spar? Fine, don’t. Hey!”

Kim Seong-tae let go of Hye-kyung’s hand.

Hye-kyung’s brow furrowed in pain. A bright red mark remained on her wrist where he had gripped it.

Kim Seong-tae changed his target.

“You wanna go? Huh?”

Kim Seong-tae approached a hesitant second-year boy standing nearby.

The second-year boy backed away as Kim Seong-tae closed in.

Thump, thump.

As Kim Seong-tae swaggered, shoving him with his shoulder and chest, the second-year student couldn’t say a word.

“What’s this? No one wants to spar with me? Are you all trying to screw me over so my evaluation score drops?”

Kim Seong-tae said sarcastically to the onlookers.

“Why are you doing this?”

“I told you. We have to spar.”

Hearing Kim Seong-tae, his friends jeered and laughed.

“Hey, shut up. You all better keep quiet.”

“Whoa, look at that charisma!”

Seo-yeon sighed.

“Oh? You wanna go?”

Kim Seong-tae cackled with glee.

Seeing this, Seo-yeon’s eyes hardened with resolve.

“This isn’t sparring. It’s violence.”

“Combat training. Didn’t you hear Trash earlier? Don’t you know training is supposed to be like a real battle?”

Seo-yeon clenched her fists. It was impossible to win in a normal fight.

She had the power of healing. That meant she could also use its opposite.

The reverse healing used by dark priests didn’t restore, it inflicted damage.

Just as Seo-yeon steeled her resolve, a man’s voice suddenly rang out.

“Training should be like a real battle. Those words are truly correct!”

For a moment, everyone’s gaze turned to the source of the voice. Then, their faces turned to expressions of disbelief.

A man in red and white striped tights, dressed like a Power Ranger from a tokusatsu show, had stormed onto the training grounds with his arms crossed.

***

“What the? Is he crazy?”

The curly-haired punk said to me. Honestly, I would have said the same thing in his shoes.

It was humiliating.

It was embarrassing.

The only saving grace was that the helmet modulated my voice and hid my face.

That was my only consolation.

“No.”

The power of a mask is truly great.

“I am the enforcer of justice.”

Thinking that no one could recognize me, courage began to well up inside.

“I am Justice Man!”

I took a combat stance.

Suddenly, the curly-haired punk’s mouth twitched. Then his cronies started clutching their stomachs and laughing.

The shame I had momentarily forgotten came flooding back.

“Ju-Justice!”

“What the fuck is he saying? Is this for real?”

“Hey, give me your phone. This is insane. Pwahahaha!”

The reaction was intense.

I had actually planned to just watch quietly. I was secretly observing Katrinne’s peaceful school life when some random punk showed up and ruined the mood.

*A class full of parentless orphans.*

Katrinne must have been hurt by those words.

I remembered it well. The memory of a young Katrinne sobbing after losing her parents.

Their deaths were not unrelated to me, after all.

I still feel guilty about what happened to her.

Everyone else looked dumbfounded, but Katrinne’s pupils were wide.

Huh, why does it look like she recognizes me?

My voice is modulated, and my face is hidden. No, no way. How could she possibly know it’s me?

“Hey, you! Who are you! Take off that helmet!”

The instructor who had been ignoring the violence walked over with his hands on his hips.

“Who are you to be fooling around like this? Take off the helmet by the count of three. One.”

I hesitated for a moment.

Is this man a person of fine character?

No.

Can this man be considered an educator?

No.

“Two.”

This isn’t realistic training. This is just an act of plunder by the haves against the have-nots.

“Three.”

The instructor’s face twisted in anger.

The surrounding students grew tense. The group of punks, finding it amusing, started filming with their phones and cheering mockingly.

“You’re asking for it, huh? You’re really asking for a beating!”

The instructor approached me and tried to slap me across the face.

It wasn’t the speed of an ordinary person.

He was a combat instructor at a hunter high school, so of course he wouldn’t be a normal person.

But I’m not a normal person either.

I took a step back, dodging the attack.

For a moment, the instructor looked genuinely surprised.

“He dodged?”

His face immediately crumpled again, showing he was writing it off as a coincidence.

“Take off the helmet…!”

*Thwack!*

“…I said…!”

*Thwump!*

“…damn it! Huh? This bastard. Hah, hah!”

The instructor collapsed to the ground like a bashful bride, blinking as he touched the spot under his nose, his hand trembling.

Seriously, this guy looks like he could win an arm-wrestling match against an ogre. How is he so weak?

I only hit him twice.

The instructor tried to get up, but sat back down demurely.

Yeah, you’re not getting up. Your sense of balance is paralyzed.

“What, teach? You got owned?”

“Wow, that’s hilarious. The teach is super weak, was he just pretending to be tough?”

The punk swaggered about, insulting his own teacher.

The curly-haired leader of the group smirked at me.

“Hey. What are you?”

This is the guy who was bullying Seo-yeon, right?

“Hey, I asked what you are.”

*Crack!*

A crisp breaking sound echoed.

The curly-haired punk’s face contorted. He let out a horrific scream and writhed on the floor.

At the curly-haired punk’s sorrowful scream, the posse that had been laughing and joking just moments before flinched.

“Justice, enforced!”

And just like that, I was consumed by the concept.