Nam Hoseok’s face turned red in an instant.
“Report the case? Are you really a Taeseong Group lawyer? That poor kid… hiring a Taeseong Group lawyer… does that even make sense?”
His voice was raised, full of disbelief.
Sitting beside him, Jang Taegun’s father—Dr. Jang Seunghyun from the Dungeon Disease Specialty Hospital—chimed in as well.
“Seong-min’s father is right. He must be pretending to be a lawyer.”
The two still couldn’t believe that Na Hyunseok was truly a Taeseong Group lawyer.
On the contrary, they tried to undermine Na Hyunseok’s legitimacy by relying on their own social status and wealth.
Na Hyunseok only gave a calm, unflinching smile in response to their reactions.
“Haha, if you doubt my identity… just search the internet right now. My name—Na Hyunseok.”
At Na Hyunseok’s words, Nam Hoseok pulled out his phone with trembling hands and typed ‘Na Hyunseok’ into the search bar.
As soon as the search results displayed ‘Taeseong Group Legal Team Leader Na Hyunseok’ on the screen, his phone slipped from his hand and clattered to the floor.
His face turned deathly pale, and his eyes drifted blankly, unable to grasp the situation.
“Wh-what… how…”
Nam Hoseok’s voice shook like a trembling leaf.
After understanding the situation, Jang Seunghyun’s face also turned white.
“Now that you’ve confirmed my identity, let’s proceed with this conversation. I strongly request that the school formally convene a Disciplinary Committee.”
Na Hyunseok spoke coldly and firmly, without a hint of agitation.
The Principal glanced at the parents’ faces, realizing there was no way out, and nodded as if he had no other choice.
“…Alright, I will arrange for a Disciplinary Committee to be convened.”
As the situation shifted, this time Jang Seunghyun hurriedly jumped into the conversation.
“W-wait! Let’s settle! Ten… ten million won, how about that?”
At those words, Sang-woong let out a short, scoffing laugh.
It was more of a derisive snort.
As if to say, where do you get off making such a ridiculous offer?
“T-twenty! Let’s settle at twenty million won!”
Jang Seunghyun’s voice grew even more desperate.
But Sang-woong only leaned further back in his chair, arms crossed, gazing at them with an expression full of contempt.
Their attitude of trying to solve everything with money disgusted him.
“Damn it… for that poor kid, twenty million should be enough! Just how much do you want?!”
Unable to endure it any longer, Nam Hoseok jumped up and shouted.
He’d forgotten all about keeping face or managing his anger, exposing his true colors.
The atmosphere grew tense in an instant.
“There will be no settlement. Even if you’re a minor, if you’ve committed a crime, you should receive the punishment you deserve. It’s the same for adults and children. Ah, and the school as well. Whether the response to this incident was appropriate, whether there was any responsibility… we will make sure to investigate this as well.”
Sang-woong spoke resolutely.
There was not even the slightest hesitation in his voice.
At that moment—
The father who had been silent all this time, Eighth-Rank Hunter Myung Donghun, slammed his fist down on the Table.
Bang!
The Table shook with a crash that echoed through the principal’s office.
Myung Donghun glared fiercely at Sang-woong and Na Hyunseok.
The Hunter’s unique, overwhelming aura filled the principal’s office.
Even Na Hyunseok, who hadn’t flinched until now, slowly lost color in his face.
Facing an Eighth-Rank Hunter’s aura head-on was no small matter.
“Fifty. I’ll give you fifty million won. So… let’s end this here.”
Myung Donghun spoke with a blank face, as if he were doing them a favor, or maybe just to avoid further nuisance.
He offered money, but his gaze insisted on his dominance through strength, not wealth.
But such cheap tricks wouldn’t work on Sang-woong.
Sang-woong stared straight at Myung Donghun, unwavering, and said, firm to the end,
“You… keep going, and you’ll get hit.”
“What?”
Myung Donghun, shocked and offended by Sang-woong’s unexpected and blatantly disrespectful provocation, shot up from his seat.
He looked like he was about to attack Sang-woong right then and there, his aura flaring, but he couldn’t bring himself to use physical violence first.
He was a Hunter.
And this was a world governed by law.
He wasn’t foolish enough to lose his temper and act recklessly in this kind of situation.
Watching him bristle with threatening energy, as if the law was the only thing holding him back, Sang-woong spat out a mocking remark.
“Seems like talking won’t work here… So. How about we enter a Dungeon together?”
At those words, Myung Donghun’s face instantly stiffened.
A Dungeon.
That was the Hunter’s domain, where the law held no sway.
Sometimes, when serious conflicts arose between Hunters, they would risk their lives and settle their grudges inside a Dungeon, where there would be no evidence.
That’s exactly what Sang-woong was suggesting.
To risk their lives and settle it inside a Dungeon.
Myung Donghun’s mind whirred.
Given Sang-woong’s age, the odds of him being a higher-ranked Hunter than himself, an Eighth-Rank Hunter, were low.
But in this world, there were always prodigies who defied logic.
The odds were low, but what if Sang-woong was one of those geniuses?
And what bothered him even more was the likelihood that Sang-woong already knew his information.
It meant his hand may have already been revealed to his opponent.
To fight to the death with an opponent of unknown strength in such a situation would be nothing short of foolish.
…Hmph.
In the end, Myung Donghun gave up on the fight.
He glared at Sang-woong once, then turned and walked out of the principal’s office without another word.
With his exit, the tension in the room melted away in an instant.
With Myung Donghun gone, the matter was all but settled.
The children would pay the price for what they had done, and the school would also have to take responsibility.
But Sang-woong had no intention of ending things there.
He planned to make the adults who had caused Kim Junsu so much pain pay a price as well.
As the color slowly returned to Na Hyunseok’s face, he turned his cold gaze to the still-present Nam Hoseok and spoke.
“Mr. Nam Hoseok, you’re currently a City Councilman. We’ll make sure the full details of this case, your son’s school violence, and your attempts to cover it up are made known to the Media.”
If his son’s severe school violence became public, Nam Hoseok’s Political Career would be finished.
Even if he managed to get through this somehow, it would leave an indelible stain on his life as a politician.
Nam Hoseok’s face turned deathly pale.
“B-but… didn’t you say the kids would be punished! Isn’t that enough?! Why go this far?!”
His voice became desperate.
When neither money nor power worked, he couldn’t hide his anger and panic.
At Nam Hoseok’s words, Sang-woong stepped in.
“You really don’t know why? The way you stood by while your son committed such terrible acts, and your behavior here today. Do you really think you have no responsibility in this?”
Sang-woong was certain there was no way the parents didn’t know what had been happening.
Just by looking at the irresponsible actions of the homeroom Teacher and the Principal, it was obvious that the parents—especially those of high social standing—must have exerted some kind of pressure.
Nam Hoseok couldn’t respond to Sang-woong’s interrogation.
He simply trembled, at a loss for what to do.
His Political Career was hanging by a thread.
“And finally, Dr. Jang Seunghyun.”
Na Hyunseok turned his gaze to Jang Seunghyun.
“You know well that our Taeseong Group provides tens of billions of won in annual sponsorships and support to the Dungeon Disease Specialty Hospital where you work, don’t you?”
At those words, Jang Seunghyun’s face turned as white as paper.
With a single word from Taeseong Group, not only his medical career, but his very position at the Dungeon Disease Specialty Hospital, could disappear in an instant.
This wasn’t just a warning—it was a threat to his entire life.
There were other hospitals treating Dungeon Disease, but none would dare take in a doctor who had fallen foul of Taeseong Group.
He could almost hear the sound of his life collapsing.
“I-I’m sorry… I… I truly apologize…”
Jang Seunghyun hurriedly dropped to his knees.
Status and all else meant nothing when survival was at stake.
“Why are you apologizing to me? You should apologize to the person you wronged.”
At Sang-woong’s cold words, Jang Seunghyun’s face hardened again.
Sang-woong made it clear that the one deserving of the apology was not himself, but Kim Junsu.
And that meant, he was telling Jang Seunghyun to kneel to the ‘poor child’ he had looked down on so much.
He could beg the powerful in front of him even if it wounded his pride, but apologizing to Kim Junsu was something his twisted pride could not tolerate.
Sang-woong swept away that hesitation in a single blow.
“Whether you apologize or not, we’ll pursue this matter to the end—legally and socially. After paying this much, you’ll think twice before trying something like this again.”
At Sang-woong’s firm, ruthless words, both Nam Hoseok and Jang Seunghyun tightly shut their eyes.
They could sense that they were about to lose everything—social standing, economic privilege, even their warped pride.
Their lives were crumbling before their eyes.
“Attorney Na, thank you for your hard work. Let’s go.”
Leaving them behind without regret, Sang-woong exited the principal’s office.
Na Hyunseok followed after him.
Behind them, the two parents remained, trembling in despair, while the Principal looked lost and helpless.
***
That evening.
Sang-woong went to see Myung Wonwoo’s father, Tenth-Rank Hunter Myung Donghun.
Nam Hoseok and Jang Seunghyun had been sanctioned socially and economically, but as a Hunter, Myung Donghun belonged to a world governed only by strength.
With the power of the Taeseong Guild, they could pressure the Hunter Association to make things difficult for Myung Donghun, but it would never be as fatal as what Nam Hoseok or Jang Seunghyun were facing.
Sang-woong planned to make him take responsibility in his own way.
“…Damn it… Just you wait! You don’t know who you’re dealing with!”
Late at night, in a dark alley.
Having drunk heavily, his pride wounded and seething with anger over the events in the principal’s office, Myung Donghun staggered home.
Suddenly, out of the darkness, Sang-woong appeared and blocked his path, making Myung Donghun’s eyes widen.
“Huh! You… you’re…”
His drunkenness seemed to vanish in an instant.
“Don’t we still have unfinished business to settle between us?”
Sang-woong’s voice was calm, but the tension of the day was still thick within it.
Fueled by alcohol, Myung Donghun snapped at Sang-woong’s words.
“Y-yeah! I was going to come find you anyway! You! Turns out you’re just a Sixth-Rank Hunter running the Gentle Breeze Restaurant! How dare a Tenth-Rank Hunter like me be humiliated by you? This is unbelievable!”
Myung Donghun had investigated Sang-woong, found out he was only a Sixth-Rank Hunter running a restaurant, and underestimated him.
He believed that Sang-woong’s bravado during the day wasn’t from real skill, but from having a Taeseong Group lawyer backing him.
“So you even looked into me?”
Sang-woong raised an eyebrow and asked.
“Not like it was hard? News spreads fast in a small neighborhood like this.”
Myung Donghun snickered.
“Well, just a little digging is enough. So I came myself to save you the trouble.”
Sang-woong’s voice turned cold.
Even the last trace of respect was gone.