Ch.82082 – Random Matching 1

# 082 – Random Matching #1

Kwon Suho stood up before Teacher Hong Miri arrived.

He shouted at the top of his lungs in a rage.

“You sons of bitches! I’ll kill all of you! Do you know who I am? With just the flick of my finger, I can have you all buried alive! Untie me! If you untie me now, I’ll let you all live!”

Let us live?

I didn’t have any special intuition for detecting lies, but I could tell that was a lie.

When Kwon Suho threatened to kill us, it wasn’t just an empty threat.

He could probably really do it.

The current Kwon Suho was consumed by his “Quirk,” so he wasn’t really in his right mind.

“You!!! Mother!!! Fuck!!! Ers!!!”

See! The way he was foaming at the mouth and struggling like a madman resembled a slug sprinkled with salt.

And Kim Yujeong was drawing that scene.

This whole scene was like something out of a painting of hell.

“We’re screwed.”

All I could think was that I wished Teacher Hong Miri would arrive soon.

After waiting for quite some time, she finally appeared.

Teacher Hong Miri clicked her tongue as she looked at the tied-up Kwon Suho.

“Kwon Suho. The troublemaker of Oseong.”

“…Teacher Hong Miri. What brings such a busy person to a place like this?”

Kwon Suho, who had been going wild just moments ago, suddenly started acting like a gentleman as if nothing had happened.

Was his madness just for show?

Weak to the strong, strong to the weak.

He was completely a coward who preyed on the weak.

“I heard you were threatening to kill Yeongwon. As a teacher, it’s only natural for me to intervene and mediate conflicts between students. You. I think you need to come with me to see the Chairman.”

“Teacher. We were just joking around between kids. Even if I’m under special management, do we really need to bother the Chairman with something like this? The Chairman must be busy too. You know that.”

“Kwon Suho. I think you’re misunderstanding something. This isn’t about you. It’s about Yeongwon. Yeongwon recently became a foundation scholarship student sponsored by the Chairman.”

“What?”

Kwon Suho made a dumbfounded sound as if he was surprised.

I thought I had seen the worst of Kwon Suho, but this was the first time I’d seen him with this kind of attitude.

“…Him? How?”

“It was the Chairman’s decision, and I just followed it, so don’t ask too many questions. If you’re that curious, let’s go ask him directly. Come on, get in the car.”

“Wait! If I’m dragged to the Chairman like this, my father will really kill me this time! Teacher! Please let me off! I’ll really die! Teacher!”

The spoiled third-generation chaebol heir, whom no one had been able to control, began to plead.

His desperate expression almost seemed like he was trying to be cute.

However, Teacher Hong Miri’s expression remained solemn.

“Then you shouldn’t be asking me, but apologizing to Yeongwon over there. If you had just listened and not misunderstood from the beginning, this wouldn’t have happened, right?”

Kwon Suho frowned.

He raised a thick vein on his forehead and then bowed his head to me.

“Hey. I’m sorry. I’ve been having some mental issues lately, and I sometimes lose myself and suddenly get enraged. I was wrong. I’ll make it up to you for this, so let’s pretend it never happened.”

Chills.

I felt like my whole body was boiling, like a chicken being fried in an air fryer.

To think that the troublemaker who ruled Gaeryong City was apologizing to me.

It made me feel like I was someone really important.

What should I do?

“What kind of compensation are you offering?”

“Money is too cliché, so how about a celebrity? Would you like to meet one? You know Kwon Sua, the youngest member of Dorangmul Girlz who just debuted under our Oseong Entertainment? This is a secret, but she’s actually my cousin.”

Kwon Suho chuckled with a confident expression.

It was as if he thought all men liked women, just like him.

Does he think I’m like him, liking all women?

But I was interested.

Dorangmul Girlz—aren’t they the idol group that sings “Dorang Dorang Dorangmul” that I hear every day from Yang Juhui’s ringtone? I didn’t care for them much, but Yang Juhui loved them.

If I got their number, Yang Juhui would be thrilled. I thought it would be good to accept the offer, not for myself but for Yang Juhui.

“Okay.”

As an aside, I could have chosen not to accept his apology. But in that case, someone like Kwon Suho would surely try to get revenge on me.

I would have done the same if I were him.

“Hey. Kwon Suho.”

Just then.

Kim Yujeong, who had been half-ignoring our conversation while drawing, approached Kwon Suho and handed him her drawing.

“Let’s break up. This is my parting gift.”

Flutter.

The drawing that fell to the floor had dogs on it.

Various kinds of dogs.

Seeing that, Kwon Suho closed his mouth.

# # #

Kwon Suho got into Teacher Hong Miri’s car.

It was to meet with the Chairman about this incident.

On the surface, we had reconciled over the idol’s number, but since an incident had occurred, it needed to be resolved one way or another.

It was close to midnight.

As I was about to get into the passenger seat of Teacher Hong Miri’s car:

“Hey. Ha Yeongwon, this is a gift for you. It’s an unfinished drawing.”

Kim Yujeong handed me a drawing that looked like “♂”.

I rolled it up carefully and put it away.

Soon, Kim Yujeong turned her attention to Teacher Hong Miri.

“Teacher Miri, you look much better than when I saw you a few days ago. When did you get that butterfly tattoo on your neck?”

Butterfly tattoo?

I was surprised, and so was Teacher Hong Miri.

Soon, Teacher Hong Miri made a “hmm” sound through her nose.

“Yujeong, that’s interesting.”

To see a spiritual butterfly that others couldn’t easily see.

Could it be true that Kim Yujeong could see “essences” as she claimed? I thought she was just spouting nonsense because she had some art disease, but this was a talent as a Watcher.

“Yujeong, let’s have a talk sometime soon.”

“I’ll be waiting. And Ha Yeongwon, come visit again anytime. I’ll tell you the new door lock password.”

Whisper whisper.

The password tickled like a spring breeze.

Vroom.

Finally, the car started.

I unfolded the drawing I received from Yujeong.

The arrow standing tall above the circle looked quite dignified.

Actually, my essence is quite dignified.

It was one of my points of pride, though I didn’t reveal it to others.

Anyway, with that feeling, the car headed toward the mansion where the Chairman was.

It was Yu Dahui’s house.

I wonder if I’ll meet Yu Dahui…

It’s been a bit awkward since I’ve been avoiding her for the past few days.

As I was thinking about this, Kwon Suho, sitting in the back seat, asked:

“So, what’s so special about Ha Yeongwon that he got recommended as a scholarship student? What talent does he have?”

“Hmm? That’s…”

Teacher Hong Miri trailed off.

She probably wanted to hide what talent I had.

I should step in.

“Hyung, I haven’t told anyone until now because I was afraid people would look at me strangely. But I can see things others can’t, and sometimes I see ghosts too.”

“Really? It sounds like you’re lying right now.”

“Actually, saying I sometimes see ghosts is a lie. I see ghosts often.”

“…Oh, shit. Are ghosts really real?”

“And sometimes when I look at people, I can see the problems they’re suffering from. Hyung, you said you’ve been feeling upset lately, right? Are you having trouble eating by any chance?”

“…Oh, damn. How did you know? Is that for real? Did you hear it from someone? Did you hear it from Eunjeong? Eunjeong, that really ugly girl. Remember? She came to my house. You.”

“I didn’t hear it from Eunjeong noona. I didn’t hear it from anyone. I can just sense it.”

“Oh…”

Kwon Suho was amazed.

He must have realized that my story wasn’t a lie.

“Then… can you tell what the problem is? Is it because I ate too much dog meat? What do you think it is? Even doctors couldn’t figure out what’s wrong. Huh?”

What’s this about dog meat?

It seems Kwon Suho liked dog meat.

According to my guess, “Quirks” were related to a person’s behavior, lifestyle, and underlying psychological elements.

There must be a reason why Kwon Suho developed “Vegetarianism.”

Dog meat.

Whatever it is, Kwon Suho seems to have his own suspicions.

Soon, Kwon Suho leaned his face toward me from the back seat and asked:

“So what do you think? Can this be cured?”

Can it be cured?

Easy.

With just a flick of my finger, curing Kwon Suho’s quirk would be nothing.

“Well… hmm.”

But I deliberately trailed off.

In a manner of speaking, I now held Kwon Suho’s leash.

“Hey! Are we keeping secrets from each other?”

What relationship do we have?

This bastard was threatening to kill me just moments ago, and now he’s acting like we’re close?

Is this the world of popular kids?

I heard that among popular kids, they date their friends’ exes and their exes’ friends, like they’re all just passing around relationships. That means they’re specialized in redefining relationships.

“I seriously feel like I’m dying. Just smelling meat makes me nauseous and queasy. Even the smell of this car’s leather seats… I feel like I’m going to throw up. I can’t even stand the smell of people’s sweat and flesh anymore.”

Is it that serious?

It made sense.

Everyone acted like crazy people when they first developed a quirk.

Jeong Sojin was proof of that.

But from observing people like Park Inbae who had developed quirks, it seemed that after a few weeks, they gradually “adapted” to their quirk.

Humans are truly amazing.

And from what I experienced today, humans can sometimes be scarier than ghosts.

It was truly a frightening day.

“We’ve arrived.”

Anyway, we arrived at that huge mansion again.

The terrifying housekeeper frowned when she saw me.

“You’re here again. What trouble have you caused this time?”

She was a very scary woman.

Chairman Cheon Daegon was asleep, she said.

We would have to meet him early tomorrow.

“Stay the night. I’ll prepare a room for you.”

The terrifying housekeeper prepared a room for us on the third floor.

I looked around the third floor corridor wondering if Yu Dahui was there, but she was either asleep or not around.

I felt slightly relieved.

I wasn’t sure what face to make when meeting Yu Dahui.

Of course, there was a downside.

I had to share a room with Kwon Suho.

The room was spacious enough, but I just didn’t like being in the same space as this man.

Kwon Suho, being a popular kid, was more talkative than I expected.

“When I was young, I had a dog, a Golden Retriever. I got it as a gift when I entered elementary school. By the time I was in sixth grade, it was almost as big as me. I would take it for walks, feed it, bathe it, travel with it. Its name was Geumdaengi.”

“……”

“And on the day I became a middle school student, my father gave me a golf club and told me to hit Geumdaengi. I resisted, but I got beaten up badly. I was beaten every day. I thought I was going to die. So I couldn’t die, so I beat Geumdaengi mercilessly. It was in so much pain.”

It was a terrible story.

Why was he telling me this?

Kwon Suho’s story continued.

“I had no choice. To survive, I had to beat the dog. I beat Geumdaengi to death like a dog, and in a way, I felt relieved. I thought, ‘Ah, it’s finally over,’ not knowing that Geumdaengi would end up on my dining table the next day. Dog meat is really cruel.”

I heard that in the past, dogs were killed brutally.

They would hang the dog and beat it with a club.

I had heard that some people who witnessed this would stop eating meat.

“After that, my father brought many more dogs and made me beat them to death. When the dogs stopped moving, they would be on my dining table the next day. If I left any, I would be beaten to death.”

It was uncomfortable and terrifying to listen to this one-sided story.

But as I listened, I became curious.

“But why did he do that? Why the dogs?”

“They say dogs can see ghosts. If you kill such dogs mercilessly and eat them, wouldn’t you become like that too? That’s what my father thought. It’s crazy.”

Making someone who can see ghosts…

It’s Watcher training.

It was clear that the former orphanage director, Kwon Oseong, did this to make his son, Kwon Suho, a Watcher.

“…So did you really start seeing ghosts?”

“No. But at some point, I couldn’t get the sound of dogs barking out of my head. Especially when someone lies, I hear dogs barking. I’ve gone completely crazy. Look at this drawing.”

The drawing that Kim Yujeong gave to Kwon Suho as a parting gift was of dogs.

Kwon Suho frowned as he looked at it.

“I never told anyone about the dogs. That psycho girl. How did she know? You said you can see ghosts. What do you think? Do you think there are dogs around me? Do they want to kill me?”

“…I don’t know about dogs.”

“None of the dogs I beat to death with a golf club ever resisted me. It would have been better if they had attacked me. The sound of dogs barking…”

So Kwon Suho was completely insane too.

With that kind of upbringing, he couldn’t have grown up normally.

If it were me, I would never want to look at meat again.

Of course, I didn’t want to sympathize with him.

This guy was clearly the one who caused Gu Hyena’s death, and he’s an unforgivable psycho.

I went to sleep thinking about all that had happened, preparing for tomorrow.

Actually, I was supposed to put Jeong Sojin and the “Exploration Party” into the corridor today, but with so much happening, I decided to postpone it until tomorrow as it was hard to think about everything.

As I closed my eyes to fall asleep, I kept hearing the sound of dogs barking, though it might have been my imagination.

Then, when I opened my eyes due to a chilling sensation:

“Damn… What is this?”

For some reason, I was standing in the dark old school building.

Despite not putting myself in as a player, I ended up in the corridor.

This was a completely unexpected “variable.”

Why?

“Tick-tock, tick-tock, tick-tock.”

Just then.

From around the corner, I heard the familiar sound of a clock.

Soon, a pale face with a long neck popped out, and its black eyes curved like crescent moons.

“Hehe. Found you. Hehehehe.”

So this is the second floor!

I don’t know what’s going on, but I need to escape!