“Jinmyung, why does your face look like that? Did you fight with a friend?”

Lee Sook-hee noticed the bruise on Jinmyung’s face.

Surprised, she asked, but Jinmyung shook his head.

“Fight? No way. I just got hit by the ball while playing soccer with my friends.”

“Really? You’re not hiding something like before, are you?”

Jinmyung, on the verge of tears, pinched his thigh to hold them back.

“Of course not.”

“How rough were you playing for the ball to hit you and leave a bruise? Be careful next time.”

“I will.”

Jinmyung forced a smile.

He couldn’t let his grandmother worry.

The next day.

Kang Hyunseong, still furious, came looking for Cha Jinmyung.

“You got lucky yesterday, you bastard.”

Thud! Thud!

Just as the merciless beating continued—

The kid keeping watch at the front gate shouted.

“Hyunseong! The teacher’s coming!”

“Damn it. I’ll see you after school.”

At lunchtime, Jinmyung went up to the school rooftop.

At least there, he wouldn’t have to run into Kang Hyunseong.

A cool breeze blew from afar.

Jinmyung stood at the edge of the rooftop.

The wind still felt refreshing, and for some reason, the concrete below looked soft and inviting.

It wouldn’t be so bad to just let go.

That’s when—

“You have to protect yourself! Defend yourself!”

He remembered the words of the bar employee.

Park Yeon was watching TV as usual.

After it was revealed that the male and female leads had a secret about their birth, their wedding was indefinitely postponed.

Even so, Park Yeon hadn’t given up hope.

“There must be something about the wife!”

In the drama, the male lead’s mother always seemed to be hiding something.

There had to be a big secret.

And sure enough, his prediction was correct.

“Marry those kids.”

“Are you insane? Even if they broke up long ago, they’re still siblings!”

“Hah… Are they really?”

“Why are you suddenly saying this?”

“Suddenly…? Yes, to you, it must seem sudden. But it’s been thirty years. Ever since you bankrupted my father’s company thirty years ago, I’ve dreamed of revenge!”

“What? Then… don’t tell me…”

“That’s right. I was actually the third daughter of the Se-kyung Group. And you foolishly believed I was an orphan.”

“How could you…?”

“My revenge is complete. Those kids… shouldn’t you at least check their DNA?”

The male lead’s father was left speechless.

The mother let out a sinister laugh.

With that, the ending credits rolled, accompanied by a grand BGM.

The screen switched to a commercial, but Park Yeon was still lost in the drama’s intensity.

“Twist after twist after twist… Incredible. This level of unpredictability… Even Eruns wouldn’t be able to keep up.”

Eruns was a renowned literary figure in the empire.

He was a genius.

Whether it was plays, novels, or poetry, he mastered all forms of literature.

But even Eruns wouldn’t dare challenge the writer of this drama.

“Wait… then what happens next? It’s clear that those kids aren’t their father’s biological children… Ugh, I can’t even begin to guess what’s coming.”

Seo-jun shook his head as Park Yeon continued his one-man discussion.

Just then, Park Yeon approached.

“Hey, Demon King. Do you know what happens next?”

“Of course I do.”

“A power?”

“A power?”

“Like prophecy… A power that lets you see the future. Otherwise, how would you know?”

“I don’t have such a power, but you don’t need one to figure it out. The next episode will probably go like this—”

Park Yeon’s eyes sparkled with anticipation.

“There will be a flashback of the male lead’s mother switching the babies at the hospital thirty years ago.”

“……”

“Then the male lead’s father will suddenly collapse, get hospitalized, and be diagnosed with a terminal illness. Probably… cancer.”

“Do you take me for a fool just because I don’t know this culture well? No writer would write such an obvious script!”

Despite his outburst, Park Yeon couldn’t help but think Seo-jun’s guess was strangely sharp.

“If you don’t believe me, suit yourself. Anyway, if you’re done with the drama, why don’t you go to the market?”

“Hah… The people of the continent would be shocked. A hero running errands for the Demon King! Give me money!”

Grumbling, he took the money and left.

Seo-jun hadn’t sent Park Yeon on an errand just to annoy him.

He wanted to teach him financial responsibility.

Like how parents let their kids buy snacks by themselves.

As Seo-jun was preparing the ingredients that had arrived that day, Park Yeon soon returned from his errand.

But—

“Hello…”

He had brought Cha Jinmyung with him.

“He asked you to teach him… how to fight?”

“Not fighting—martial arts.”

Seo-jun muttered, “That’s the same thing,” while looking at Cha Jinmyung, who was sitting quietly at a corner table.

He still looked timid.

“What should we do? He seems determined.”

Seo-jun originally planned to handle this like the Ki Seok-Tae case.

Inform Lee Sook-hee and Lee Moon-Ik, and turn it into an official matter.

The bribery incident hadn’t settled down yet, so the education ministry would likely take action.

“I don’t know if this is the right decision.”

Teaching martial arts was no different from teaching revenge.

Revenge wasn’t inherently bad, but if taken too far, it could become a force that nurtures evil.

As Seo-jun hesitated, Park Yeon spoke.

“There’s a saying on the continent: If someone gouges out your eye, take their heart in return.”

“It seems you’ve already made up your mind.”

“Protecting oneself is only natural.”

In the past, Seo-jun would have denied Park Yeon’s words.

But in this new era of upheaval, things were different.

“Perhaps we could become good friends.”

“Friends? Ha! I’m going to push you to the limit.”

As Park Yeon grinned slyly, Seo-jun began to doubt whether he was truly a hero.

“Ah! That reminds me, there’s something I need your help with.”

“Huff, huff!”

A confined space.

This was a small room inside “One Drink.”

At first, Jinmyung wondered what kind of training could be done in such a cramped space, but he had been mistaken.

Unlike how it appeared from the outside, the room was actually quite spacious.

From the outside, it seemed no more than 6-10 square meters, but once inside, it felt much larger.

Jinmyung was undergoing intense training in this place.

“How much time has passed?”

“Five minutes.”

Jinmyung’s expression showed disbelief. Even if he couldn’t check the clock, he could still sense the passage of time.

By his estimation, at least an hour should have passed. But only five minutes?

Seeing his doubtful expression, Park Yeon showed him the clock.

It had indeed only been exactly five minutes.

‘Is it because it’s so exhausting that time feels slower?’

At that moment, Park Yeon shouted.

“Hey! Focus!”

“Hup!”

“Didn’t I tell you to distribute your strength?”

“Yes!”

“Use your wrist snap! No, not like that!”

“Like this?”

“Yes! And when you dodge...”

The rigorous training continued for eight hours a day over two weeks.

At the end of each day, Park Yeon gave him a massage.

Knead, knead!

“Ugh... That feels great.”

“Of course, it does.”

Even muscle pain disappeared with just one massage from Park Yeon. It felt as if a refreshing breeze was flowing from his fingertips.

Unbeknownst to Jinmyung, this was due to the ether Park Yeon was deliberately infusing into his body.

Park Yeon’s pure and dense ether would regenerate torn muscles, making them stronger and more flexible.

Just this alone would grant Jinmyung movements and strength surpassing those of ordinary people.

Then, one day, after two weeks had passed...

Park Yeon nodded.

“This should be enough to handle that brute.”

“Really...?”

“Yes.”

“I don’t feel much different, though...”

Whoosh!

Park Yeon swung his fist, controlling his strength and speed as much as possible.

Even though it was restrained, to an ordinary person, it would still seem overwhelmingly fast and powerful.

But Jinmyung dodged it effortlessly.

Even he was surprised at how light his movements felt.

“From now on, protect yourself.”

“Thank you...”

“And take this. Eat it.”

“What is this? It looks like some kind of pill...”

“Think of it as a calming pill or something. Anyway, hurry up and go. It’s time for my drama.”

After bowing his thanks, Jinmyung left the shop. Seo-jun, who had been in the kitchen, came out as Park Yeon spoke.

“Now, can you lift the temporal distortion on my room?”

The temporal distortion was one of Seo-jun’s abilities.

He could manipulate space-time within a specific area, either speeding up or slowing down time.

The effect currently applied to Park Yeon’s room was the latter.

“Alright.”

“By the way, do you think he’ll do well?”

“If you taught him well.”

“I did a good job.”

“Then he’ll do fine. Why worry?”

“He was my first disciple...”

“Disciple, huh?”

Seo-jun shrugged and went back into the kitchen.

Upon arriving at school, Kang Hyunseong was bullying another kid.

“You little shit, do you want to die?”

“I’m sorry...”

“If you’re sorry, shouldn’t you take a beating?”

“Hyunseong...”

“Alright then, this is a democratic country, right? Let’s do this democratically. Raise your hand if you think we should let this bastard go.”

“...”

“Oh, look at that. No one...”

Kang Hyunseong’s eyes widened.

Jinmyung had raised his hand. Seeing this, Kang Hyunseong’s expression shifted.

“Oh? Jinmyung, you little shit. It’s been a while. About a week, huh?”

Jinmyung silently stared at him.

Fear can drive people mad.

Especially when fear is deeply ingrained—it makes a person tremble just thinking about their tormentor.

To Jinmyung, Kang Hyunseong was that kind of existence.

Just recalling anything related to him filled him with terror and made it hard to breathe.

But now, for some reason, he felt nothing.

Not even a hint of nervousness.

‘Is it because of the calming pill?’

If so, its effects were impressive.

It had calmed his mind to such an extent.

“What’s with the silence, huh?!”

Kang Hyunseong threw a punch.

And something shocking happened.

Jinmyung saw it.

‘Right side.’

He easily dodged it.

“Oh? Dodging now?”

Kang Hyunseong threw another punch.

The result was the same.

Jinmyung dodged.

“This bastard...”

Frustrated, Kang Hyunseong loosened his tie and lowered his stance, attempting a tackle.

Though it wasn’t a professional move, his overwhelming physique made it look imposing.

But as long as he wasn’t caught, it didn’t matter.

As Kang Hyunseong charged like a rhinoceros, Jinmyung lightly stepped back and then spun in a semicircle.

Due to inertia, Kang Hyunseong slid straight into the blackboard.

The class laughed.

“What the fuck are you laughing at?!”

“...”

“You’re fucking dead!”

Fuming, Kang Hyunseong rummaged through his locker and pulled out a knife.

Since law enforcement had weakened after the Great Shift, people often carried guns or at least self-defense knives.

But Kang Hyunseong’s knife wasn’t just for self-defense.

It was almost as long as a sashimi knife.

Jinmyung’s face tensed, but he steeled himself.

Kang Hyunseong slashed forward.

Jinmyung leaned back to dodge and saw an opening.

At that moment—straight punch!

Thud!

“Gah!”

As Kang Hyunseong staggered back, Jinmyung threw another straight punch.

And shockingly...

Thud!

With just two punches, Kang Hyunseong lost consciousness.

At the same time, his teeth scattered to the floor.