The school gates of North Gangbuk High felt narrower than they had just a few days ago. Perhaps it was the three centimeters of height I'd gained, or maybe it was just the way I was carrying myself now. I walked toward the entrance, the cool morning breeze tugging at my blazer. Every detail of the campus was unnervingly sharp because of that "I Can See It" card , I got yesterday .
I noticed them before they noticed me. Standing near the bicycle racks were the only three people who could technically be called Choyun's friends: Sangho, Lee, and Min-cheol. In the memories I had inherited, they were little more than persistent background noise. The old Choyun had treated them with the cold indifference of an appliance, giving them one-word answers or simply ignoring them until they went away. But they were still here.
"Choyun! Hey, Choyun!" Sangho shouted, his voice cracking as he waved his arms. He jogged toward me, but stopped dead about five feet away. His eyes traveled up my frame, He paused, hesitating slightly before asking, "How are you… I mean—"
"I'm feeling much better, Sangho," I said. I gave a small, controlled nod.
The three of them froze. Their eyes went wide, and they exchanged a look of pure, unadulterated shock. The old Choyun would have stared through them And he would just say a single word, "Fine," before walking forward .
To hear me—speak a full, coherent sentence was like watching a statue suddenly start a conversation.
"You're actually talking?" Lee whispered, stepping closer as if to check if I were a hologram. "Usually we get a grunt or that blank stare with just some cold words . Man, Myeonghoo must have knocked some sense into you."
We started walking toward the main building. I found it strange to be in the middle of their group. They were loud, messy, and full of the kind of nervous energy I remembered from my own life back in Delhi, though I kept that comparison to myself. They kept firing questions at me—asking about the doctors, the hospital, and if my jaw still hurt. I answered them with short but complete sentences, and I watched as their expressions shifted from shock to genuine happiness. It was a simple change, but to them, it meant their friend was finally "behaving like a normal human."
As we neared the heavy double doors of the school, Min-cheol slowed his pace. He was the quietest of the three, usually the one who just followed Sangho's lead. He kept his head down, his fingers fiddling with the straps of his backpack.
"Choyun... look, we're sorry," Min-cheol muttered. The guilt in his voice was thick. "We were right there in the hallway. We saw Myeonghoo laying into you, and we just stood there like cowards. We wanted to help, really, but... he's a monster. We thought he'd kill us too if we stepped in."
I stopped and looked at him. I saw the shame in his eyes, the way his shoulders were hunched as if waiting for a blow. I knew what it was like to be afraid of a beast like Myeonghoo. These boys weren't warriors; they were just students in a school governed by the law of the fist.
"It's okay," I said, pitching my voice to be as steady as possible. "You couldn't have stopped him. No one expects you to take on a guy like that. Just forget about it. I'm back, aren't I?"
Sangho slapped Min-cheol on the back, the tension breaking instantly. "See? I told you he wouldn't be mad! Our Choyun is a legend now!"
But the "legend" status was exactly what made the next few minutes a nightmare. As soon as we stepped into the lobby, the atmosphere curdled. The usual roar of morning chatter died down, replaced by a low, persistent hiss of whispers. Every eye in the corridor turned toward me. It felt like being a specimen under a microscope.
"There he is," a girl whispered to her friend, her hand shielding her mouth as if that made her voice invisible. "The one who kissed Seohee. Can you believe he has the nerve to show up?"
"He's so bold," another boy chimed in, leaning against a locker. "Isn't it basically a crime? I heard Seohee hasn't left her room since it happened."
"Hey, look! It's 'Choyun the Kisser'!" a voice laughed from the back of the hall.
The gossip was a chaotic swarm of misinformation. Some said I was a secret delinquent, others said I was a psycho. But the most frequent rumors were about the cars.
"Did you see the row of black sedans?" one student asked another as we passed the stairs. "My brother was at the gate when the school was over . He said it looked like a government motorcade. The teachers didn't even try to stop them. If any poor kid touched Seohee like that, he'd be expelled and in a cell by now. Money really talks, huh?"
I ignored the "Kisser" labels and the stares, but I was listening. I realized that my grandfather's influence had already permeated the school's narrative. The fact that I wasn't suspended was being attributed to my family's wealth and power. It was true, of course—Minister Kim Rak-hun didn't allow his grandson to be disciplined by a mere principal—but it made me a target in a different way.
As we walked, I scanned the crowd searching for one specific person. I was looking for the wide shoulders and the arrogant smirk of Myeonghoo Jin. I had spent the morning visualizing the "Reverse Roundhouse Kick" connecting with his jaw. I needed that fight. I needed to finish the Main Quest.
But his usual spot near the vending machines was empty. His loud-mouthed lackeys were nowhere to be found.
"Maybe Myeonghoo is absent today,"
Sangho whispered, leaning in as if reading my thoughts. "Actually, none of his crew showed up. Word is, something happened after you were taken to the hospital. No one's seen him."
A cold feeling settled in my stomach. I thought about my mom and my grandfather. Mom had been so relieved to see me awake, but there was a steeliness in her when she talked about "handling things." Had they already dealt with him? If they had Myeonghoo "relocated" or locked away, my quest would remain incomplete. I didn't care about the justice of it; I cared about the cards. I needed those Silver and Bronze rewards to survive in this world and above all its the main quest, if I don't complete it I may not get other main quests .
"Did they really take him out before I could get my turn?" I wondered, my jaw tightening.
The hallways were long and the walk felt endless with the gossip following me like a shadow. My friends kept trying to distract me with jokes, but I was focused on the purple screen flickering at the edge of my sight. The timer for the Main Quest was ticking.
[Main Quest: Defeat Myeonghoo Jin]
[Status: Target Absent]
I needed to find out where he was. If he wasn't here, I'd have to ask Alfred or Mom. But as I turned the corner leading to the Class 3 classrooms, the chatter finally died out. The hallway ahead cleared as if someone had drawn a line in the sand.
There she was.
Yeon Seohee was standing right by the classroom door. She wasn't surrounded by her usual group of followers. She was alone, leaning against the wall with her arms crossed tightly. She wasn't looking at her phone or talking to anyone. Her eyes were fixed on the corner I had just rounded.
The girl I had supposedly "attacked" with a kiss looked like she hadn't slept in days. Her expression was hard, her eyes narrowed as they locked onto mine. The students who were already in the hall backed away, sensing the collision.
I stopped. My friends stopped behind me.
"Choyun," she said. It wasn't a greeting. It was a challenge.
I looked at her, and the memory of the "Original Choyun" doing that quest flashed through my mind. I felt a surge of irritation at the previous owner of this body. He had left me with a mess. I stepped forward, preparing to face the girl who was the reason I was currently the most hated and talked-about person in the school although I don't care much about it .