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A dispute involving juvenile delinquents who could easily be called lawless.
In front of them, Haejun laughed incredulously as he clenched his fist.
He intended to give them an immediate lesson.
Of course, Suho was horrified to see Haejun like that.
[Wh-What are you trying to do?! Are you seriously going to beat those guys up in a crowded place like this?!]
‘........’
[Please, calm down! If you do that, you’ll end up in handcuffs! Don’t you know why the gym trainer just walked away earlier?!]
‘.........’
[Just report them to the police!]
‘What good will that do?’
[Pardon...?]
‘Those punks are juveniles, so they can’t even be punished.’
[Even so, it’s better than getting into a fight with them! If you beat them up, you’ll be condemned as a child and youth abuser by society!]
Suho shouted desperately.
It was something any ordinary adult would nod in agreement with.
But unfortunately, Haejun was far from an ordinary adult.
Wasn’t he the man who had obliterated a private military company just because they had pointed a gun at him in his past life?
For such a ruthless character, it was hard to tolerate the provocations of a bunch of fourteen-year-olds.
‘Stop whining and just watch quietly.’
[........?]
‘Mercenaries have their own ways of dealing with things.’
After finishing his words, Haejun put the black mask given by the ghosts on Suho. Then,
[Mmph!]
As if gagged, Suho couldn’t say a word.
He couldn’t even take it off himself.
Just as Haejun had tested before leaving the gosiwon.
‘No way. Did they give this mask to use it for this purpose?’
Looking at the muted Suho, Haejun smiled in satisfaction.
Then he slowly rose from his seat.
His lightly clenched fists were excited at the thought of a fight after a long time.
But just when Haejun made up his mind like that,
He suddenly heard a conversation that pricked his ears.
“Guys, we got a call from Yeongsu. Let’s go.”
The leader of the group, the red-haired one, said while looking at his smartphone.
“From Yeongsu? Did he catch all the other shuttle bastards too?”
“He said he caught every single one of them.”
“Heh heh, our juniors are doing a good job~”
“Mansu, how much did we collect by today?”
“Well~ A hundred fifty? Two hundred?”
“Wow~! It’s worth the effort we put in for a month~!”
“If we add today’s collection, it will be quite a lot. Heh heh.”
“Mujin! How about throwing a party today!? Hehe.”
It was a conversation that would leave ordinary adults aghast.
They’re not even actual gangsters, yet middle schoolers managed to extort money and collect millions of won.
Is this even a plausible story?
However, Haejun’s reaction to hearing this was different from that of typical adults.
His ears perked up, and, oddly enough, he was smiling very contentedly.
The next moment, he changed his mind.
Instead of immediately giving them a stern lesson, he decided to follow these bullies.
‘...Tonight’s snack will be soondae soup with soju.’
Once known as the “Money Demon,” the ex-mercenary, Gu Haejun.
Indeed, his way of thinking was beyond comparison.
***
The dead-end alley near Noryang Middle School.
With only one entrance and barely any passersby, small-built male students were standing in a line.
Their cheeks were already swollen and red from being hit, revealing their identity as Noryang Middle School’s bullied students.
Approaching them was Kim Mujin, the top bully of Noryang Middle and the redhead who had been causing trouble on the streets just moments ago.
“Yeongsu, good job catching these guys~”
“It was nothing, senior.”
The boy named Yeongsu answered, bowing his head to Kim Mujin.
As if he were imitating a gangster.
Kim Mujin spoke again.
“Alright~ Now, our bullied students, pay attention.”
“...........!”
“Did you guys form some kind of bullied student union? Are your brains rotting or what? How could you all skip school together? Are you on strike or something?”
“....I’m sorry.”
“Hoo.... Let’s start with a good old slap train. Get ready.”
“..........!”
Slap train.
At that one word, fear flickered in the eyes of the school violence victims.
It was the ‘punishment’ that terrified the victims of Noryang Middle School the most.
“Since I’m really pissed today, let’s go for about three rounds, okay? Alright, the chant!”
“Poo....! Poo....!”
“What? Have you punks forgotten what a train whistle sounds like? Do it right!”
“Poo! Poo!!”
“That’s right, that’s right~ Now, get ready to depart.”
At Kim Mujin’s playful command, the school violence victims craned their necks forward, exposing their faces.
Perfect for getting slapped.
It was, of course, a scene where anyone would want to curse.
Not only were they forced to chant something humiliating, but they also had to assume the perfect position to be slapped.
But even so, there wouldn’t be a single adult brave enough to step in and stop it.
There were a total of twenty bullies gathered in this alley.
Their numbers were overwhelming, and their atmosphere was downright menacing.
So even if an adult happened to pass by this alley, the chances of them stopping and intervening were exactly 0%.
“Alright, here we go~?!”
At Kim Mujin’s signal, the school violence victims squeezed their eyes shut.
And then, the next moment,
Smack-!
***
A sudden dull thud echoed through the narrow alley.
Contrary to expectations, it was not the sound of a slap.
“Aaagh!”
The person who screamed was also not a victim of school violence.
Surprisingly, the one who screamed was Kim Mujin, the red-haired one.
“Aaagh! Who the hell threw a rock?!”
Kim Mujin shouted, his face contorted in intense pain.
Before long, his right hand was gushing blood.
The gang that heard his scream looked bewildered.
“Threw a rock... ? From where... ?”
One of the gang members muttered while rolling his eyes to find the culprit of the stone-throwing.
And at that moment,
Swoosh-! Thud-!
“Ugh!”
“Gah!”
Stones flew in rapid succession, and the gang members fell one by one.
As if they were taken down by a first-class sniper.
“Aaagh! My knee!!”
These mysterious stone-throws mainly hit the gang members’ temples or knees.
It seemed like the purpose was to knock them out or cripple them so they couldn’t escape.
Swoosh-! Thud!
“W-where on earth...! Ugh!”
“Squawk!”
As a result, most of the gang of more than twenty bullies were lying on the ground in an instant.
All this happened in just one or two minutes.
‘...I was a bit worried, but fortunately, this new body also has decent motor skills.’
On the second-floor rooftop overlooking the alley.
From there, Haejun smiled broadly while ‘sniping with stones.’
During his time in Africa, this stone-throwing was his go-to method in urgent situations when he ran out of bullets.
Of course, Haejun could have easily taken down the gang of twenty bullies with just his striking techniques.
So why did he bother to choose stone sniping?
‘Because I can’t let even one of them escape.’
Letting even one of the targeted rats get away?
That was, of course, unacceptable for an S-class mercenary.
Thud-!
Now, Haejun jumped down from the second-floor rooftop to the alley where the gang of bullies was.
There were only four bullies still standing with all their limbs intact.
At that moment, Kim Mujin, seeing the suddenly appearing Haejun, shouted in horror.
“Wh-who the hell is that crazy guy...?!”
It was understandable to call him a crazy guy.
Because right now, Haejun was wearing a black plastic bag over his face.
A plastic bag he got after buying instant noodles at a convenience store.
He had only made holes for his eyes in it.
Of course, that appearance was hard to see as normal.
It was as if he were a villain commonly seen in hero movies.
Haejun’s next actions were also more like a villain.
He picked up the bully’s wallet that had fallen to the ground and suddenly grinned broadly.
“These days, middle school brats have a lot of money. They’re like little golden goblins.”
Inside the bullies’ collection wallet, there were bundles of 50,000 won bills.
If Haejun’s former colleagues had seen this, they would have muttered the nickname “money demon with an AK.”
During his mercenary days, Haejun, who was crazy about money, not only completed missions but also emptied the pockets of villains, sweeping up their money.
That wasn’t all.
Going further back, Haejun often did the same thing during his school days.
In other words, he beat up bullies and emptied their pockets to cover his living expenses!
Step- step-
Now Haejun approached Kim Mujin’s gang.
Watching him approach, the bullies involuntarily gulped nervously.
However, Haejun stopped not in front of the bullies but in front of the ‘school violence victims.’
“This money, it’s yours, right?”
At Haejun’s words, the ‘bread shuttle’ students flinched and nodded their heads.
Because it was the money they had paid up.
Seeing their nods, Haejun returned most of the bundles of bills to them.
Now only four bills remained in his hand.
Just about 200,000 won.
“The commission fee is about this much.”
“C-commission fee...?”
“I am a mercenary. And when I get paid, I solve the client’s problems.”
“........!”
“Now choose. Paraplegic or quadriplegic.”
“Pardon....?”
“Shall I make those bastards depend on a wheelchair, or shall I shatter their arms and ribs?”
“.........!”
“Just say the word. From now on, I’ll turn those bastards into cripples.”
At Haejun’s blunt words, Suho, who was in a state of mute shock, had his jaw drop.
As an active-duty police officer, he couldn’t even imagine such a method of punishment.
More surprised than Suho were, of course, the victims of school violence.
Who on earth is this man?
Who is he to make such a straightforward offer?
Everything was shrouded in mystery, but,
Nod- nod-
The victims of school violence slowly nodded to Haejun’s proposal.
This was everything they had longed for,
Everything they had dreamt of,
A scene of true justice.
