People Can't Be Fixed (4)

"Why? Are you scared?"

"...."

When he tried to threaten me by releasing his magic power, I responded in kind, releasing my own magic power.

It might seem like we were just wasting our power, consumed by pointless pride, but surprisingly, a lot of people get startled by this sort of thing.

Exuded magic power is often used as a measure of strength.

The numbers derived from it let you know if your opponent is weaker than you.

You can feel that magic power when it touches your skin—if you don't feel anything, your opponent is weaker.

But if you feel a rush or your body tingles, it means the opponent is similar in strength; if your body trembles or recoils, it means they're stronger than you.

"What... What is that?!"

Michael Kang said, his body trembling.

His body instinctively tried to back away under the overwhelming power of magic power far stronger than his own.

It was only because he was an awakened that he could hold out at all; if he'd been an ordinary person, he'd have either fled in terror or fainted on the spot.

Michael never had the strength to make someone faint just by emitting force.

"Is that big mouth of yours all you have, with just that little power?"

"...!"

"Well, you've always been number one, so you've probably never lost before."

From what I'd heard, Michael's only real rival had been Sung Chohyang.

Even then, neither ever truly lost—it was always a draw every time they fought.

There was no actual difference in power between number one and two.

But since he'd never tasted the bitter sting of defeat, his personality hadn't changed at all.

"I've heard things about you. Like how you always picked exactly the things you were told not to do, and eventually got sent to a center for it?"

"..."

"So after you supposedly spent months there and maybe got rehabilitated... you come back and start whining about wallets?"

Even after serving out his entire sentence at the center, he continued to pickpocket.

How was that different from criminals who go back to crime after getting out of prison?

Some of Mewzealand's nobles weren't much better.

Even when their underage children caused major incidents, they only went to the church's facilities for a few months and that was it.

They might have covered things up with family influence, but the real reason was more simple.

They were still minors.

"Seems to me you need prison, not a center, if you're ever going to change."

"...."

Michael ground his teeth in silence.

Normally, he would've started throwing punches right away.

He would have beaten me down and trampled me to assert dominance, but with such a vast gap in strength, he couldn't do a thing.

Part of his anger was at himself for holding back—he scratched his head madly, looking as if he was being crushed by massive stress.

"So, what are you going to do now?"

"... Shit!"

Bang!

Michael cursed, stomping his foot on the rooftop.

Not only was he powerless to do anything, but the reality that someone vastly stronger had appeared before him hit hard.

Shocked and scratching his head, Michael soon lost his fighting spirit.

"What do you want from me? Do you want to be number one?"

If I had that much power, it wouldn't be weird to act like that.

Actually, it sounded like a fun angle.

But I had no taste for forcing someone who's already lost their will to fight.

"Actually, I just wanted to return this."

I took out a wallet from my pocket and tossed it to Michael.

It wasn't mine, or Sung Chohyang's, or that wallet with 200,000 won—it was Michael's wallet, fully intact.

Michael took it with a bitter expression.

"Don't worry, I didn't spend any of your money."

"...."

"Well, it's not like there was any money to spend anyway, right? I heard all your allowance was confiscated when you were sent to the center."

That meant there was no way he could accuse me of stealing anything big from him.

It was common with people like him—they loved painting good people as petty or sneaky.

"Still, unlike you, I gave it back to the original owner."

"...."

"From now on, why not try behaving at school, okay?"

Michael accepted his wallet and turned away wordlessly.

Maybe he took my words as sarcasm, vanishing down the stairs in resentment.

It's not like I said anything untrue, but he wasn't the sort to listen.

I could sense a sly aura lingering behind him as he left.

"Oh right, I almost forgot to return this part."

Michael's wallet might have been empty, but there was something amusing stuck to it:A monster sticker inside the clear pocket meant for a business card or ID.

I had no idea what kind of monster it was... but since monster stickers were all the rage, I decided to keep it for fun.

****

Michael quietly left the rooftop, heading slowly downstairs.

Faced with an impossible reality, he walked with his head bowed, lost in thought.

He stopped on an empty landing and punched the wall.

Bang!

The sudden noise startled some students below, making them run away.

Were this an ordinary building, cracks would've spiderwebbed across the wall, big enough for an adult man's fist—but every center in Hand was built more solidly than steel.

"That son of a bitch...!"

Unable to break the wall, Michael pictured Ma Seongjin's smug face.

Michael was always hot-tempered like an orc, so he could never forget this humiliation.

"What are you doing there?"

Just as he was brooding over payback, Sung Chohyang called to him from down the stairs.

"I came to see who was making all that noise hitting the wall—and it's you?"

"...."

"Don't tell me you're planning to cause trouble again?"

Trouble? Michael smirked as if he couldn't believe what he was hearing.

"That's not something you should be saying, is it? Someone who mixes kimchi and chocolate and makes foul broth that tastes like bean paste water."

"Ugh...!"

Sung Chohyang swallowed at the undeniable truth.

It didn't bother her personally, but after making almost all the students try her concoctions, she'd taken a lot of heat before.

"If I hadn't stopped you back then, all the students here would have ruined palates by now."

"Yeah, up till then everyone thought you were a good person."

A hero who saved students from toxins.

Back then, Michael had been called that, but now students only regretted ever calling him a hero.

"But then you started bullying kids just because you didn't like them."

And the reasons for disliking them had been laughable.Because they wouldn't share snacks.Because they wouldn't swap cleaning duty.Because they wouldn't let him copy their homework.Because they wouldn't lend him money.Because they brushed shoulders in the hallway.

"You think I don't know exactly what you did to those kids, after marking them out for attention?"

"...."

He could use duels to intimidate, but if his opponent yielded, that was the end of it.

Not getting the thrill he wanted, he found new methods.

He'd find blind spots in camera coverage, rip a female student's clothes a bit, then control her with bribes and threats.

If teachers asked who hurt her, she'd accuse a student she didn't like, as Michael instructed.

He'd even put a monster corpse in a student's locker, framing them for entering the monster barn without permission.

"It all got found out, and you know exactly why you got dragged away every time."

The female student who'd been in on it eventually confessed, saying she couldn't handle it anymore.

Michael, losing it, assaulted her, not realizing the cameras were on.

It was a crime hardly believable for a middle schooler.

"You brought it on yourself. It's all because you bullied my friend."

"...."

"But you never showed even a bit of remorse, did you?"

Sung Chohyang waved her wallet for emphasis.

She'd nearly had it stolen bumping into Michael in front of the arcade.

That alone showed how little reform there'd been.

"So what's your point?"

"My point is, you're not going to get away with running wild in this school anymore. A friend who's stronger than either of us is here now, as a new student."

There was only one person stronger than both of them.

The same Ma Seongjin they'd just met on the rooftop.

"You close with that guy?"

"Not untrue. Even I got more obedient after kneeling to him."

She'd encountered Ma Seongjin by the arcade with Sung Chohyang, after all.

Given how she liked to hang out together with her friends, it made sense.

"So now you get it? No one here is going to side with you anymore."

"..."

"And remember this—whatever you do, I'll always tell Seongjin."

With that, Sung Chohyang left.

Michael fumed inside—who did Ma Seongjin think he was, some kind of kingpin?

He pulled out his phone and made a call.

"Hello, where are you right now?"-...."If you're not busy, can you spare a little time?"-...."I'll make sure the reward's worth it."-...."You want to know the purpose? Isn't it obvious?"

As usual, Michael curled up his lips into a sly grin.

****

That night.

If any students were up and moving even after dark, they were probably just flipping through the remote or tapping their phones.

But the truly diligent types sweated either by gripping pencils or training late at the arena floor.

Both meant lost sleep, but most would agree the latter was dedication.

"Huff... huff..."

Kwon Sang-ah was one of the more diligent students.

So far, she was the only one allowed to use the training ground this late at night.

Dressed in her summer gym uniform and sweating, Kwon Sang-ah gulped her sports drink.

"I can't let it happen like last time..."

There was a reason she pushed herself even at this hour.

She recalled how she'd lost control and rampaged like a beast when first enrolling at Hand.

The more she remembered losing herself, the more it horrified her.

'If Seongjin hadn't been there back then...'

She might have hurt someone in the worst-case scenario.

That anxiety was what drove her now.

Her father and brother could hurt people and carry on with a smile—Kwon Sang-ah swore to herself she'd never be like them as she straightened up.

"Still... I think I've got the basics down, at least."

Maybe it was because Hand was a specialized institution for awakeneds.

Magic power lessons here were much broader than in elementary.

Again, they learned that one's traits had huge impacts on one's personality.

If you didn't master your innate nature, amplified by traits, you might end up a murderer hunter.

The first step to mastering that was learning to manifest your trait, even a little bit.

Every time she'd lost control, it was because she'd manifested a full 100%—the trick was to widen the range she could restrain bit by bit.

"It's not easy, but..."

Kwon Sang-ah's 'Berserker' was a top-tier trait with eight stars.

Just practicing to manifest it a little meant she had to fight her own rampaging instincts inside.

The physical strain wore her out even more.

"Still, I've learned the basics..."

There was hope.

Not only had she picked up the groundwork, but she'd even made friends.

To make sure she didn't trouble them, she wiped her sweat and stood up again.

"...?"

She should've been the only one in this silent space.

Yet, suddenly, she heard what sounded like faint whispers near her ear.

In fact, it was conversation from a distance, carried clearly to her.

With the dragon attributes she'd inherited, her hearing surpassed human limits.

"Who could that be?"

Someone nearby was talking.

Who else would be at school this late at night?

Curious, Kwon Sang-ah quietly moved toward the source of the voices.

The area was at the back of the training grounds, near the monster barn, and as she got closer the voices grew louder.

"Gasp...!?"

When she heard the full content of their conversation, Kwon Sang-ah clapped a hand over her mouth in shock.

Then, the very next morning as soon as school started, she rushed to find Ma Seongjin.

-------------= Clacky's Corner -------------=【ദ്ദി(⩌ᴗ⩌)】

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