How to Control Anger (2)

As Saturday approached, Sung Chohyang immediately assembled the meat restaurant expedition.

Even among the second-year students, she was always energetic and cheerful, so she had many acquaintances around her.

She fit into the group commonly called 'insiders', and her family also seemed quite wealthy.

Otherwise, there was no way to explain how she so frequently took her friends out for dinner every weekend the moment she had free time.

On top of all that, today's destination wasn't just any barbecue restaurant, but a famous steakhouse in Hande.

Considering all this, it was clear that she received a far larger allowance than most ordinary students.

With her financial power, strong reputation, and skill ranking second out of several hundred students, Sung Chohyang was nothing less than an idol among her peers.

'If only she didn't make those weird concoction with kimchi and chocolate.'

Thanks to such qualities, her reputation among freshmen also improved in an instant.

As long as one played along with her pranks involving drinks, she was endlessly kind to those around her.

Some students even said they'd just down whatever strange concoction she made, even if it didn't taste good.

'Don't they ever throw up?'

Especially, the people she treated with extra kindness were the juniors who seemed less fortunate.

Maybe it was due to receiving sound moral education from her parents.

Sung Chohyang felt a prick in her heart if she just walked past someone pitiable.

That's why she would often buy food for such students on weekends. Currently, Kwon Sang-ah sticking by her side was a prime example.

― You know how the Hwasan Guild is known for preventing discrimination and leading pro-Mutamit policies, right? But it's all a lie. Behind the scenes, they're secretly stirring up discrimination and profiting from it.

Hwasan Guild, one of the four major guilds in Korea.

It was literally known as a magnificent guild, like the mighty Baekdu Mountain standing tall, but in reality, it was a dungeon ruled by a monster starving for the ideology of the strong dominating the weak.

Sung Chohyang learned this unbelievable truth from Kwon Sang-ah.

On Friday night, when all the others in the room were asleep, the two managed to have some time alone.

― The reason Father didn't abandon me... It's probably to use me as a puppet. I once happened to watch a drama where the child of a concubine becomes chairman... but the child of the lawful wife manipulates them at will.

To position a fake leader as the face of the company for strategy while the real power is held elsewhere. This was called a "puppet president," and Kwon Sang-ah instinctively felt she was destined for that role.

― There's enough reason for it, too. My damned older brother has caused so much trouble that, if he became the next guildmaster, the guild's image would suffer greatly. Who do you think they'd need as a substitute for him?

Overflowing talent, a prestigious background from Hande, a naive personality with no incidents, and the bloodline of the guildmaster—a perfect candidate.

It was obvious she was talking about herself, and if the guild, currently practicing pro-Mutamit policies, put a Mutamit like her in the chairman's seat, what would happen?

Not only could they implement those policies, but they could also gain the trust of the Mutamit community.

It was like killing two birds with one stone.

― In the end, I'll... end up in an unwanted position and be swayed by my brother. That's the future I see for myself.

Not a very innocent thought for a first-grade middle school girl.

She wanted to express her rage at this gloom, but she hesitated, knowing "rampage" could be the trigger.

Furthermore, she couldn't ignore her mother, bedridden in a hospital room, so she had no choice but to go along quietly.

There couldn't be a more perfect marionette.

― Of course, no one will believe me. To anyone, it'd sound completely made up.

Even if she became guildmaster, as long as she was a puppet, she couldn't wield power as she wished.

Worse, any crimes committed by the guild would be the legal responsibility of Kwon Sang-ah, as the official guildmaster.

Kwon Yongjun, her older brother, could just enjoy the authority from behind without any liability.

Thus, Kwon Sang-ah would naturally become complicit in the crimes committed by the Hwasan Guild.

Of course, nobody would believe such an absurd story...

― I believe you.

But Kwon Sang-ah was surprised at Sung Chohyang's words, uttered while lying on the bed.

Anyone else would have scolded her for making up stories.

― I can tell since I've seen your face all this time. Maybe it's the power of a fairy, but I'm good at seeing through people like that.-....― So... just relax by my side... zzz....

Sung Chohyang fell asleep mid-sentence. It may have looked silly, but Kwon Sang-ah felt relieved and was able to spend her night peacefully.

****

Because everyone had a restful night, they believed they could enjoy a peaceful meal out.

The students who joined the group also looked forward to a pleasant dinner. But at the restaurant, they ran into an unexpected person.

"Why are you popping up here?"

"Ma Seongjin...? And...?"

Michael also seemed utterly flustered, as if he hadn't expected to run into them.

To find out that Ma Seongjin and his group were here as customers was enough to make his teeth chatter.

"Are you working here? How'd that happen?"

"Yeah, how? You're not even in high school yet—no way the owner would just allow it."

As Ma Seongjin and Sung Chohyang voiced their doubts, Michael turned his head and scowled.

He was already having a rough time after the incident with the drugs, and now, if anyone discovered that he'd been caught for dining and dashing and was working it off, the outcome was obvious.

"That's none of your business... If you're here as customers, just sit wherever you want."

With things like this, all he could do was try to let it pass quietly.

In the end, Michael had to serve his "enemies" as customers despite his efforts to avoid them.

"What's up with him?"

Watching Michael go about his other chores, everyone found it strange.

His awkward way of speaking made it obvious he was hiding something.

"Should we... just go somewhere else? What if there's any conflict...?"

"But what do we do? We already paid and finished the reservation."

Kwon Sang-ah asked in concern, but it would be difficult to grant her request.

With the reservation time so close, cancellation was impossible.

"Let's just eat."

At that moment, Ma Seongjin spoke up. His expression looked very calm and composed.

"It's not like we did anything wrong, is it? Is there any reason we should lower our heads in front of that guy?"

Michael was the one at fault, so there was no reason for them to back down. If anything, it should be the other way around.

"And we're here to eat meat, not to fight with him. Just treat him like he's invisible and let's eat."

"Yeah, we're the customers, so we're in charge here."

In the end, Ma Seongjin's opinion was accepted, and they picked a good seat. And naturally, the server who took their order was Michael.

"Would you... like any drinks...?"

Still speaking awkwardly, Michael brought the cups to the table. The mood being so tense, even Sung Chohyang replied with reluctance.

"Just give us what we reserved."

"Okay..."

Once Michael left to fulfill that request, Sung Chohyang sighed and slumped powerlessly.

"Haaa... Why did it have to be that guy?"

"Yeah, seriously."

"Why is he working here of all places? Did he lie about his age?"

Running into Michael was baffling.

They all felt as limp as dying bugs, except for Ma Seongjin, who was the only one still looking healthy.

"Or maybe he got caught trying to dine and dash."

"Dine and dash? No way..."

"Yeah, no matter how crazy he is, he wouldn't go that far, right?"

Listening in while working, Michael let out a sigh of relief.

With someone as sharp as Ma Seongjin, he seemed just about to catch on, but fortunately, everyone else trusted him like fools.

"You don't think Michael's going to put poison in the food, do you?"

One member, Choi Soo-min, voiced an ominous suspicion. But Sung Chohyang answered with a confident smile.

"Don't worry. I can see everything that's in the food."

"Is that also the fairy's power?"

"Well... something like that. No matter what he tries, it's no use, so just relax."

Overhearing that as well, Michael's face twisted. Being reduced to Chohyang's "subordinate" was the ultimate humiliation.

That was when something about Sung Chohyang started coming to mind. Hadn't she said something to him before, right to his face?

[And remember. If you try anything, I'm definitely going to tell Seongjin about it.]

Michael wanted to know who had leaked his drug plan.

He needed to hunt that bastard down and crush them.

Sung Chohyang was on completely hostile terms with him, so she could well have done it to ruin him. If that was true...

"So it was you..."

"Huh?"

Ma Seongjin, seeing Michael approach the table in the middle of his work, sensed something was off.

He caught a plate hurtling toward Sung Chohyang with sharp reflexes. It wasn't hard to know Michael had thrown it.

"What do you think you're doing!"

"It was you...! It was you, you bitch!!"

Michael's sudden outburst left the whole group startled. The other customers and workers gasped as well.

That was when Ma Seongjin noticed something—the horns of Michael, an orc-type Mutamit, had grown longer since a moment ago.

"He's gone nuts?"

Orcs are, by nature, a barbaric race.

Even Ma Seongjin, who'd lived in Mewzealand, had a hard time dealing with their kind.

They were always hot-blooded, and every time they held back their true nature, their horns grew and their violence intensified several times over.

That meant Michael, who had been bottling up his anger, had just had something pull the trigger.

And he seemed especially obsessed with Sung Chohyang.

"Sung Chohyang!! You ratted me out! It was you, wasn't it?!"

"What?"

"I'll kill you!! I'm going to kill you!!"

Driven completely mad, Michael finally grabbed a knife from the next table and swung it.

The owner, who happened to be watching, was shocked, and customers stood up screaming.

Crash—!Cha-aaang—!

With Michael rampaging, tables toppled and plates smashed. The table's leg broke, causing it to collapse completely.

"Sung Chohyang, you son of a...!! Guh!"

It was Ma Seongjin who quickly approached and struck Michael in the stomach.

With that one blow, Michael's eyes rolled back and he lost consciousness. He didn't get up again—he was completely out cold.

"Sir, we'll just cancel everything."

"What?"

Ma Seongjin turned to who seemed to be the owner. His eyes and sharp tone instilled fear in the owner too.

"Please refund our reservation in full."

"Yes... Of course!"

"With your employee behaving like this, there's really no reason for us to eat here. Do you only hire juvenile delinquents these days?"

"No, actually, that is...."

To calm the customers, the owner explained why Michael was working there.

He couldn't stop Ma Seongjin's group from leaving, but at least he could try to prevent a negative review for the restaurant.

"Dine and dash? And 200,000 won...?"

Hearing that, Ma Seongjin clicked his tongue in disbelief.

"We thought about calling the police, but since he's still just a student... Plus, if he just worked a few days quietly, 200,000 won was something he could pay off soon enough...."

"Just fire him."

"Excuse me?"

"With that kind of character, what are you going to do if something like this happens again? His debt will just keep growing."

Just with today's damage—broken plates and a busted table—the debt had clearly increased. Giving this lunatic another chance would just lead to the same thing happening again.

"Just call the police. Unless you want your restaurant to go under."

"Yes... Of course!"

With that, Ma Seongjin and the others left the place, regarding Michael with contempt. Even if it wasn't entirely the owner's fault, there was no reason to stay in a place with this atmosphere.

****

The much-anticipated dinner reservation had been a disaster.

Thankfully, thanks to Ma Seongjin, they received a full refund.

As the employee had upended tables and caused a scene, the restaurant's reputation would naturally plummet.

The furious owner lashed out at the staff member in charge of the part-timer, who in turn lashed out at Michael.

Thwack-!

"Are you insane! You bastard!"

The staff punched Michael in the face and yelled. The alley behind the empty restaurant made such punishment possible.

"Get up, you bastard! Why are you just zoning out like you did nothing wrong!"

Hit and fallen to the ground, Michael could only sit there in a daze.

Even though the staff member in front of him was formerly a hunter and packed a punch strong enough to crush him, Michael didn't even scream.

He remembered this staff member well—he was the one who'd intimidated him when he came by for a date with Emily.

"I should have known from the moment you pulled that dine-and-dash stunt. At first, I wanted to hand you over to the police, but the owner decided to show mercy and hired you. Same for that girl."

You could see how magnanimous the owner was, hiring a mere ninth-grader. The restaurant had given him a last chance. But...

"And you behave like this?"

"...."

"You're fired. You don't need to pay off what you owe. I'll just turn you over to the police."

The moment he heard that, Michael's eyes shook with panic. If his family learned of this, he'd never be able to show his face anywhere.

"No..."

"I'll call your parents for a settlement, so get ready."

The staff member took out his phone. Michael saw him dialing 112.

"No, no, no, no, no, no!!"

While the staff was distracted, Michael grabbed a shard of glass scattered in a nearby trash bag.

He triggered his trait, "Weaponization," making the shard grow enormous, the edges sharp as a knife.

The piece, now the size of a plate, was swung at the staff member.

Slash—

Prompted by pure instinct, he struck, and the staff's head hit the ground. Michael was bewildered by the murder he'd just committed.

This was someone stronger than him. He remembered cowering before this person's magic power once.

Yet, a simple surprise attack, and the man died so easily.

"Ha... hahaha..."

So Michael realized—

"Kuhahahahahaha!"

—so this was the pleasure of killing someone stronger than yourself.

[Your trait proficiency has increased.]

"Huh?"

A notification appeared for killing a human, not a monster. His karma hadn't gone up, but it felt as if some other stat had increased as a result of the murder.

[Your trait evolves as a result of meeting the conditions.]

The glass shard smeared with blood from the murder began to absorb the blood. A huge change occurred within.

['Weaponization' evolves from 5-star to 6-star rank.]

A trait that allowed him to use objects like deadly weapons.

But by evolving upon meeting specific conditions, it transformed the object into a perfect weapon.

The small glass shard transformed into the greatsword Michael had imagined.

The shark-tooth-like saw design made Michael laugh out loud, even with blood staining the blade.

"Yes... exactly! That's it!"

Suddenly recalling something, Michael immediately took out his phone and called someone.

"Amy... It's me. About those mercenaries you told me about... Give them to me right now."-..."You're asking if I made up my mind? Amy... actually, the thing is..."

Michael spoke excitedly to his lover on the other end of the line, a crazed smile spread across his face.

"I am feeling absolutely fantastic right now! So, those hunters working behind the Hwasan Guild and Sura Guild, right? Send them right now. As many A-ranked hunters as you can if possible!"-..."You already called them ahead of time? Hahahaha! You're amazing!"

As Michael kept talking, his eyes fell on the staff member's corpse. But now, he was no longer shocked. He could just separate it piece by piece with his greatsword.

──────────────────[A mission has been issued. (Rare)]― Cut off the breath of the person you resent the most.

Reward: Large increase in Karma──────────────────

Something then surfaced before his eyes. Reading the mission and the reward, Michael plunged deeper into madness.

-------------= Clacky's Corner -------------=Author-nim extended Michael's screen time just to make the readers hate him even more.【ദ്ദി(⩌ᴗ⩌)】

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