Chapter 147 - Friends (3)

The class president's smile was perfect.

The corners of her mouth rose just enough. Her lips curved delicately. The corners of her eyes settled calmly, without exaggeration. So when her mouth lowered and her eyes lifted, returning her face to its usual blank expression, I felt as though I had been bewitched.

The class president stepped onto the podium. Leaving me standing there in stunned disbelief, she took the microphone.

"Students of Sinseo High School."

Her voice seeped into the murmuring auditorium.

"The video you are watching shows Hwang Eunseo of Second-Year Class 5 taking part in a group assault on his classmate, Kim Yul. This is not staged. This is footage of actual violence."

She held no script. A speech completely different from the one prepared for rehearsal rang out—words I had never heard before.

"An anonymous informant provided me with this evidence. Yes, evidence. The crimes committed by Hwang Eunseo of Second-Year Class 5 are documented in 103 audio recordings, 311 videos, and 30,790 photographs."

Crimes?

Videos?

Photographs?

"Broadcasting club president, please advance the slides."

"Y-yes..."

The projector cast its light onto the auditorium wall. Photographs appeared in rows. The image quality wasn't very good, but I could tell everyone was wearing our school uniform.

"After today's presentation, we will formally report Hwang Eunseo of Second-Year Class 5 to the authorities. Naturally, the victim, Kim Yul of Second-Year Class 5, will also file criminal charges against him."

Report me? Criminal charges?

"I would like to ask the teachers employed at Sinseo High School: were any of you aware of this violence? ... No one, then. Yes, that's right. Despite a year of habitual criminal activity, you teachers, who are responsible for school life, took no action whatsoever. This is the reality of Sinseo High School."

The teachers' reactions weren't much different from mine. Everyone was dazed. A few at least whispered urgently to their colleagues, and the head of the second-year faculty rose from his seat.

"Wait. Wait a minute! Hey! Get down from there! What do you think you're—!"

"I trust that the teachers will promptly join us in reporting this. I am also notifying you of the school violence that has occurred."

"No, if you go about this like this..."

"Everyone, my presentation is currently being recorded on audio and video. The evidence has already been sent to several news outlets this morning. Please bear that in mind."

"..."

The faculty head stopped halfway out of his seat and looked at the principal. Every teacher was looking at the principal. His mouth opened and closed before he looked down at his phone.

"J-just a moment. Please wait a moment."

That was what he said. Whether he had made a call or answered one, he lowered his head and began speaking to someone on the phone.

His behavior temporarily paralyzed the teaching staff.

"Th-that's a lie!"

I shouted into the microphone in my hand.

"Those photographs are all doctored! They're fake!"

But my voice didn't reach the speakers. Belatedly, I realized that the broadcasting club president had cut off my microphone.

"Please look at Hwang Eunseo, standing here."

Only the class president's voice rang loudly through the auditorium.

"Do you remember what Hwang Eunseo said just now in his supposed apology? He said, ["I saw a classmate being bullied and did nothing about it"]. ["I joined the other kids and participated in the bullying myself"]. Do you remember?"

The students stirred.

"His excuse was that he merely 'participated' in the violence. In other words, he wasn't the ringleader. Despite personally organizing a violent group, filming the abuse, and distributing the videos, Hwang Eunseo refused to admit his wrongdoing to the very end. And he put on an act for you, pretending to sincerely repent."

The entire student body is looking at me.

"Look at Hwang Eunseo's face. Remember his expression."

Right.

It was this class-president bitch.

"Remember Hwang Eunseo's reasoning. Remember his methods. Witness clearly how this person led the violence, and how he tried to escape responsibility."

This bitch was the one working in the shadows to hunt me down.

"..."

The class president lowered her microphone. Covering it with her right hand, she turned toward me and spoke in a voice only I could hear.

"Ah, that was exhausting."

Her voice was so composed that I could barely grasp reality.

"Anyway, Hwang Eunseo, your life is over. You'll probably be surprised when you find out how many crimes you've committed. You're a minor, so we can't put you behind bars for the rest of your life, but that's fine. We can destroy you socially."

"Y-you..."

"Pretending to be your friend was exhausting for me, too."

The class president sighed.

"Honestly. My younger self is far too emotional. Talking to you kept making me want to throw up. It's nice not having back pain, but I still see the world far too innocently... Well, that's why I ended up getting into university that way."

She grumbled.

"Do you know? Serving society takes a lot of money. Even the smallest thing takes money, money. Planting trees takes money. Visiting disaster areas takes money. Looking after the teachers takes money, too. Haa. If I'd known this back in school, I could have..."

"You fucking bitch! What the fuck are you talking about!"

I shouted in a burst of rage. Immediately afterward, I realized that my voice had carried much farther through the auditorium than I'd expected. I froze. Unlike her quiet whispers, my shout had rung out loud and clear.

"Yes."

The class president smiled.

"I deliberately muttered all that ridiculous nonsense to make you shout like that, little boy. You really do take the bait so easily."

Seeing her smile made my mind go blank again.

"Right now, you probably think those connections you've supposedly made... Pfft."

She covered her mouth with her left hand and snickered.

"Ah, sorry. It's just funny."

This bitch.

"Anyway, you probably believe your connections will help you. They won't. Your girlfriend, was it? I negotiated a few things with her in exchange for deleting the videos she appears in. All your 'customers' are making similar deals. Remember this. Those precious children of successful families don't care about you at all. Their only concern is [not being mentioned in the case]."

Even then, the broadcasting club president kept advancing the slides. More photographs appeared. The students had gone beyond murmuring into an uproar, and cries of 'Fuck' and 'Is he insane?' erupted throughout the auditorium.

"I owe Mr. Kim Yul an apology, but... with my current standing, this is as far as I can go. It can't be helped. Haven't I told you over and over since I was little, Gongja?"

That familiar, kindly smile rested on her lips.

"People must do what they can."

That smile snapped the last thread of my sanity.

"One day, you'll meet someone and think, 'Ah, leaving this bastard alone will make the world a filthier place.' People like that exist. When you find one, don't wait and regret it later. Get rid of them quickly. Fuck them up while you can, and you won't have any regrets."

I lunged at the class president, screaming. She didn't resist. Instead, she gave a faint chuckle.

"Honestly. This is why they say raising a child properly makes for a comfortable retirement..."

I swung my fist. I knocked her down and pinned her beneath me. Screams came from behind me, but I didn't stop. Bitch. Fucking bitch! Because of you! How dare a bitch like you do this to me! My life!

"Hey, Hwang Eunseo! Calm down! Teachers! We have to stop him!"

"Broadcasting club president! Stop! Stop filming right now!"

"E-even if you shout at me... I have to do this, too..."

My life!

[Clear requirements met.]

[Requesting a ruling in consideration of this stage's unusual circumstances.]

I did my best to live... Maybe I didn't live the best life, but I really did my best! Who here worked harder than me? What student tried to take life as seriously as I did!

[Ruling complete.]

[The Master of All Life recognizes the 'stage clear'.]

No!

[However, 'City of Heavenly Ascent—Side Story' will not be incorporated into the main history.]

No!

[Stage cleared.]

I refuse to accept this! I can't accept it! This is a fraud! A fraud. It isn't fair! It isn't right! Yes, it isn't right! Human rights! Human rights! Everyone has the right to a fair trial... I'm a person, too! This is wrong!

[Today, the 29th-floor stage has been cleared.]

I've been wronged.

Pity me... Hurry. Pity me, hurry.

[The Master of All Life announces on behalf of the Tower.]

I.

[You've all worked hard.]

Didn't do anything wrong.

[I have grown somewhat partial to you, but the other children will surely overlook this much. I am a little more generous to those who struggle.]

Nothing wrong.

[May good fortune be with you.]

* * *

That was my first defeat.

"...!"

I sucked in a sharp breath—"Hah!"—and reflexively bolted upright. My heart pounded. This wasn't my first time fully immersing myself in a character, but it was hard to grow accustomed to the pain in my heart when I returned to my senses like this.

Looking around, I found myself in a corner of the Great Library.

"Mm..."

"Ugh..."

The Heaven-Slaying Star and the director sat up in turn. For a while, the three of us simply steadied our breathing. We didn't have the strength to do anything else. Our minds were a jumble.

"Gongja..."

More than ten minutes passed before the director spoke in a quiet murmur.

"Yes?"

"Come here a moment..."

She weakly beckoned with a finger. For some reason, I had a bad feeling. There was that fierce look in her eyes I'd occasionally glimpsed when we children fought at the orphanage. I obediently went over and knelt before her.

"Um, here I am..."

"Long ago, during the Spring and Autumn period, there lived a man called Wu Zixu."

I grew even more uneasy.

The director never scolded children immediately. She always took her time. When asked a question, she thought about it for a day before answering; when angry, she slowly launched into an unrelated story. As I recalled, 'the story of Wu Zixu' had been considered an S-rank warning among us.

"Yes..."

"I've told you about him often enough that you should remember. He dug up the corpse of the enemy who killed his family and whipped it until the bones turned to dust. But think about this."

"Yees..."

"Wu Zixu goes to dig up the grave for his revenge, and what does he find? Someone has already dug a path to make robbing the tomb easier. They've even taken out the coffin. Do you think Wu Zixu would be delighted and say, 'Thank you so much for digging it up for me'? Or would he be angry and ask, 'Why did you touch the grave of the man I'd claimed for my revenge'?"

"Uh..."

"Suddenly, 'digging up a grave and whipping the corpse' would be missing the digging part. Wouldn't it?"

I stammered, confused.

"D-director."

"Yes, go ahead."

"Aren't you angry because I pushed myself too hard? Because I chose a method that sacrificed too much of myself? Um, weren't you going to tell me off for not looking after my own body...?"

"Gongja, you're an adult now. Looking after your body is your responsibility. Why would I interfere? Raising you was hard enough. Must I keep worrying even after I've finished raising you?"

Her words were icy. Remarkable. What was remarkable was how casually she could say something like that—and my memory, which had briefly forgotten that this was exactly the sort of person she was.

"When I raised you children, I tried to make you as strong as possible. Sympathy is like a gift that feels nice to receive occasionally. If you receive it constantly, regardless of time or place, it drains your strength and makes you wilt. Gongja, I don't pity your life at all. Live the way you want to."

—I see...

The attendant spirit muttered beside me, nodding as though something had finally made sense.

—I'd wondered where that bastard Zombie got his temper. He got a proper education right from the seedling stage...

Suddenly, I wondered how the other children from my orphanage were doing. Han Feizi had become a member of the National Assembly, hadn't he? Would videos of him come up if I searched online?

"Gongja."

"Y-yes."

"Even without those recordings and videos you gave me, I would have worked hard to fuck Hwang Eunseo up... Sorry. No, there's no need to apologize. You're an adult now, too. Yes, I would have worked hard to fuck Hwang Eunseo up. Why did you go digging up the grave on your own? Do you want a scolding?"

No. I couldn't get scolded at this age! Especially not in front of the attendant spirit and Sparkle!

"But I had to do something, too... I entered the stage a whole year before you did. A-and with my immersion at 95 percent. Wouldn't that make anyone impatient and desperate?"

"..."

She paused.

At the words 'one year' and '95 percent,' the director hesitated slightly. Yes! That's my director! She pretended otherwise, but now I knew how deeply considerate she really was. I'd grown up, too!

"That's right, Director. You told us—told me—to live the way we wanted. When I landed in the stage, I did what I wanted to do. I followed your teaching."

—I see...

The attendant spirit muttered, his face showing that something else had just fallen into place.

—I'd wondered where this bastard honed that tongue of his. He's been training like hell in shamelessness since he was a seedling...

Then.

"Mm."

The Heaven-Slaying Star rose. Traces of moisture remained around his eyes, like someone who had cried during a nightmare.

"Death King, as you wished, I have come to understand [Kim Yul]. To feel him. To remember him. I have learned many things, but there is one thing I wish to ask you."

Without wiping away those traces, he looked straight at me.

"What do you want me to do from now on?"

"..."

I opened my mouth.

"Kim Yul was a victim. He was killed. He left a final message as he died."

+

You murdered me.

Don't forget.

You killed me.

+

A grudge assembled from three sentences.

Even at the cost of his own life, he had left a scream so that the murderers, the beasts, could never forget what they had done. So they would suffer, unable to forget. Forever.

"But."

I took a handkerchief from inside my clothes and gripped it tightly.

"You forgot."

The Heaven-Slaying Star tilted his head.

"Forgot what?"

"The lives lost because you killed the constellations. The people of countless worlds."

"..."

"You forgot them."

The fiftieth floor, which I had reached through a loophole.

There, the Heaven-Slaying Star had said:

["I have amnesia, stranger."]

That he could not remember what he had done.

["My mistakes number two. First, I failed to consider the possibility that a new constellation might be born in a world whose constellation had vanished. Second, I underestimated the fact that a dead constellation could curse its world."]

["The same errors will not occur again."]

["I mentioned a reward to express my gratitude for this advice."]

I gripped the handkerchief again.

"You did it out of ignorance. You didn't intend it. After that, is it enough to forget and go on living without remembering? Did [Kim Yul] think it was all right for those beasts to forget him?"

"..."

"The things that tore into Kim Yul are the worst fucking bastards. Heaven-Slaying Star. But that doesn't change the sins you've committed."

What I wanted was...

"Don't keep making the same excuses as those fucking beasts."

For him to change.

To come back from being a puppet.

To become human, if he could.

"Look at the people who wronged you. And look at the lives you wronged. Please face them squarely."

"..."

"Make your decision here. If you refuse, I will never summon you through Rebirth of a Hundred Ghosts again. And one day, without fail, I will find every last one of your puppets and destroy them. But if..."

"If."

The Heaven-Slaying Star looked at me.

The blue surface of his eyes was trembling.

"If I decide to face them, what happens then?"

I couldn't tell whether that was a trace left by someone who had attended Second-Year Class 5 at Sinseo High School, or an emotion the Heaven-Slaying Star himself had come to feel.

Because I couldn't tell, I asked.

"What would Kim Yul have done?"

"..."

"What do you want to do?"

The Heaven-Slaying Star parted his lips.

"I..."