The King of One Highsool Hero
Chapter 13 — Mind
Gwan Nin didn't raise his voice.
He never needed to.
He sat alone in a quiet room, lights dim, hands folded, eyes calm—too calm for a man who had just lost soldiers, money, and face.
"Strength is loud," he murmured to himself.
"Fear is louder."
He stood up and made one phone call.
That was all it took.
The next morning, Choi High felt… wrong.
Whispers spread faster than footsteps.
"Did you hear Ryan and Jun stabbed people?"
"They're saying someone almost died."
"I heard they work for a gang."
"My parents told me to stay away from them."
Ryan noticed it instantly.
People avoided him. Teachers watched him too closely. Security guards followed him with their eyes.
Jun slammed his locker shut.
"This is bullshit."
Ryan narrowed his eyes.
"They're twisting it."
At lunch, a group of students argued loudly nearby.
"They're violent," one said.
"They brought gang wars to the school," another replied.
"Choi High isn't safe because of them."
Ryan clenched his jaw.
Gwan Nin hadn't attacked them directly.
He attacked their image.
That night, fire lit up the eastern district.
A factory—old, loud, full of workers who didn't ask questions—was burning.
Flames climbed the walls like monsters.
Screams echoed.
Smoke swallowed the sky.
By the time police arrived, it was already too late.
Inside the wreckage, Gwan Nin's men moved quickly.
One target.
A keycard.
The factory owner had it.
A card linked to servers—records, backdoors, illegal data routes.
Gwan Nin watched the fire from afar.
"People look at flames," he said quietly.
"They don't look at shadows."
Jun stared at his laptop tapping it in disbelief.
"No… no, no, no—"
The screen was dead.
Black.
His system—his alerts, his data pipeline, the thing that quietly warned him when certain illegal movements happened—was gone.
Wiped.
Not hacked.
Disconnected.
"They killed the server," Jun whispered. "The backup too."
Ryan stood behind him.
"They burned the factory."
Jun swallowed.
"That wasn't random."
Ryan nodded.
"They cut our eyes."
"As Ryan sit down on a chair."
For the first time in a long while, silence filled the room.
They couldn't fix it.
Not fast.
Not without exposing themselves.
And that was exactly what Gwan Nin wanted.
The next day, things got worse.
Parents protested outside the school.
Teachers demanded suspensions.
Rumors turned into "facts."
Someone spray-painted near the school gate:
KEEP GANG TRASH OUT
Jun stared at it, fists shaking.
"They're winning without throwing a punch."
Ryan closed his eyes.
Then opened them.
"No," he said calmly.
"They're just showing their hand."
Jun looked at him.
"You've got something, don't you."
Ryan turned away, pulling out his phone.
"The Union controls most of the East," Ryan said.
"Money. Streets. Fear."
He paused.
"But not loyalty."
Jun blinked.
"…You know someone."
Ryan smirked faintly.
"Yeah."
Far from Choi High, in a low-lit underground gym that smelled like sweat and rust, a man wrapped his hands.
Tall. Lean. Scar across his eyebrow.
He smiled when his phone buzzed.
"Didn't think you'd call again," the man said.
Ryan's voice came through the speaker.
"You still owe me."
The man chuckled.
"I knew this was coming."
"You still inside?" Ryan asked.
"Deep," the man replied.
"Union-affiliated crew. Low level. Nobody important."
"That's perfect," Ryan said.
"I need eyes. Ears. Movement."
The man grew serious.
"Once I do this, there's no going back."
Ryan didn't hesitate.
"We already crossed that line."
Silence.
Then—
"Alright," the man said.
"I'll get close. I'll find out their next move."
Ryan ended the call.
Jun exhaled.
"So we're going undercover."
Ryan looked out the window, watching the city glow.
"No," he said.
"We're letting them think they've already won."
High above the city, Gwan Nin watched the news.
The factory fire.
The school unrest.
The police pressure.
A small smile crossed his face.
"Children break when you take away their support," he said.
"They fight back with fists."
He leaned back.
"They haven't realized yet…"
That the real battlefield
wasn't the streets.
It was the mind.
And the game had just begun.