"You really want to die that badly, Min-Jae?"
The same line, lacking any kind of originality, was repeated once again by Choi Min-Seok. Only this time, it wasn't on the rooftop, but behind one of the school buildings.
Had that place become some kind of trauma for them now?
At the thought, Min-Jae let out a small chuckle.
"...You're laughing?" Min-Seok's expression twisted, irritation flaring instantly. "You dare laugh after what you did?"
Choi Min-Seok, the most violent and short-tempered among the three, didn't hesitate. His arm shot up, fist clenched, ready to crash down and beat some sense into him. But just as his arm rose, just as the strike was about to fall—
[Park Jae-Sung, Choi Min-Seok, Lee Kang-Hyun will never again try to attack me, or even raise a hand against me.]
Min-Jae willed in his mind.
And Min-Seok stopped. His arm remained raised, but the momentum behind it disappeared. The anger was still there, burning just as fiercely, yet when he tried to follow through, a strange resistance surfaced… not in his body, but in his mind.
He could hit him. He knew he could.
So why… didn't he want to?
The thought came abruptly, clashing with everything he had been about to do. His brows furrowed, confusion slipping in as the intent itself felt wrong, unnatural, like something he shouldn't do.
Why? Why?
The question surfaced once. Then again.
And it didn't stop.
Beside him, Jae-Sung and Kang-Hyun felt it too. The urge to move forward, to act like they always did, was there, but when they tried to follow through, that same hesitation crept in, dulling their aggression, twisting their thoughts just enough to throw them off.
Min-Jae watched them quietly.
They could still threaten him. Still try something else. He was aware of that, and that was exactly why he had no intention of dragging this any longer.
His gaze swept over them. One arrogant rich boy, standing there like he owned everything. One thuggish brute who looked more like a street gangster than a student. And one pathetic lackey who only knew how to follow.
Looking at them now, hesitating, second-guessing themselves, Min-Jae felt something stir inside him, something dark, something long-suppressed.
His palm tingled, and he hesitated, just for a moment. Then he raised his hand… and slapped Jae-Sung across the face.
The sharp crack echoed behind the building.
Jae-Sung's head snapped to the side, his eyes widening in pure shock.
For the first time in his life, someone had dared to hit him. He stood there, stunned, his cheek already turning red.
The other two weren't any better, they froze just the same, caught between disbelief and confusion.
For a brief second, everything stilled. Even Jae-Sung didn't react. Slowly, his head turned back, his gaze locking onto Min-Jae. There was no anger in it. Not yet. Just raw disbelief, like his mind was still trying to catch up to what had just happened.
Min-Jae held that gaze, and something in him shifted further. The hesitation that had been there before… was gone.
His other hand moved.
Another slap — harder this time.
The sound rang out again, sharper, heavier.
And he didn't stop.
His hands moved again and again, left and right, the strikes coming faster, harsher, no longer held back.
Slaps turned into punches, landing across faces, sinking into stomachs, wherever he could reach.
When his arms began to ache, his legs followed, driving into ribs, thighs, shins, anywhere that would hurt.
He didn't aim. He didn't need to. Every hit carried years of humiliation, anger, and everything he had swallowed until now.
The three of them stumbled backward under the assault. Their arms came up on instinct, trying to block, trying to create distance — but when they tried to strike back, something in their minds faltered.
The intent broke apart before it could form, hesitation twisting their movements, leaving them unable to follow through.
"W-what the hell—?!"
"Stop! Fuck—why can't I—?!"
Jae-Sung tried to shout, tried to reassert himself, but his voice cracked as another hit landed across his face.
Choi Min-Seok snarled, frustration spilling over as he lashed out, only to stop short again, his own body betraying him.
Lee Kang-Hyun shrank back, a broken sound escaping him as he curled in on himself, unable to do anything but endure it.
Min-Jae kept going.
He didn't slow down, didn't think, didn't hold back.
He hit until his breath turned ragged, until sweat soaked through his shirt, until his knuckles split and stung with every impact, until his legs felt heavy beneath him.
Only then did he finally stop.
The three, who once would have been standing while he lay on the ground, were now the ones sprawled there, curled up, groaning in pain, faces bruised and swollen, while he remained standing over them.
It used to be his place. Yet now, their roles had reversed.
"D-do… you think you can handle the repercussions of this?"
Jae-Sung lifted his head, glaring through a split lip, his voice trembling with fury barely held together.
Min-Jae looked down at him coldly.
Then he focused his will once more.
[Choi Min-Seok and Lee Kang-Hyun, long dissatisfied with Park Jae-Sung's arrogance and constant mistreatment, finally snap and turn on him, venting everything they've held back.]
Subtle changes began to appear on the two lackeys' faces the moment Min-Jae used his power of [Reality Manipulation] again.
Something buried deep inside them stired.
Resentment that had always lingered beneath the surface, quiet, suppressed, ignored, suddenly surged upward, boiling over into something uncontrollable. Their expressions twisted, their eyes no longer directed at Min-Jae… but at Jae-Sung.
Sensing how close things were to erupting, Min-Jae turned and began to walk away. And as he left, he added one final command in his mind:
[To the three of them, I was never here. After leaving the classroom together, I immediately separated from them, and they started fighting among themselves.]
Now, what had just happened, his outburst, his violence, would be rewritten.
Covered. Replaced by a version where they turned on each other instead.
Min-Jae understood something clearly.
His power might appear omnipotent, as if he could shape reality however he pleased… but that wasn't true. Not yet. He hadn't reached that point.
What he could do, however, was far more precise.
He could amplify what already existed.
And deep down, both Min-Seok and Kang-Hyun had long resented Jae-Sung, the rich, entitled leader who treated them like disposable dogs.
That resentment had always been there, festering quietly beneath obedience and fear.
They simply never had the courage to act on it.
So Min-Jae gave them that final push.
And as if proving it, loud voices erupted behind him just as he took a few steps away.
"Jae-Sung, you piece of shit!" Choi Min-Seok roared, his voice cracking with rage. "I did everything you told me to, followed every damn order for years, and you still humiliated me in front of Tae-Min like I was nothing but a dog?!"
Lee Kang-Hyun's voice followed, shaking, but no less venomous. "And me? Every time you went out messing around, you dragged my name into it! You used me as your excuse, made me take the blame so Sujin wouldn't suspect a thing!"
His fists clenched tightly, his whole body trembling. "Now everyone thinks I'm the one chasing girls like a damn idiot — I can't even talk to one without it turning into rumors!"
Their voices overlapped, years of frustration spilling out all at once.
Then came the sound of impact.
Fists slammed into flesh. Bodies crashed against the ground. The fight broke out fully, no hesitation left, no restraint holding them back.
Min-Jae paused for a moment and glanced over his shoulder. The three of them were already tangled on the ground, punching and kicking with real, unrestrained fury.
A faint smile slowly formed on his lips, while deep within his dark eyes, something cold flickered… a quiet promise that this was only the beginning of their living hell.
