Chapter 125. Schadenfreude (2)
Once, I thought that Kim Gi-ryeo might have been wronged, just like Ahn Yoon-seung said.
At this point, the troubled past seems almost certain.
‘Haha, this guy Kim Gi-ryeo.’
I looked over the tip-off post with my arms crossed, soon letting out a chuckle.
‘No money, no magical power, and now not even morality?’
Honestly, he really went all out coming into this world all wrong.
*
Currently, anger against a certain S-Class is flooding the online world.
[Unprecedented levels!]
[Oh… I felt something was off since the S-Class announcement.]
[Looks are science, for real.]
Badmouths are cheap, and hurling insults at a worthy sinner is quite a value-for-money sport.
If I had to compare, I feel like I’m being beaten like a piñata on my birthday.
Of course, some netizens claimed we should carefully watch the situation…
But the evidence photos presented alongside the exposure post were so shocking that public opinion didn’t change much.
The main article of a news outlet, along with a Y-Tube video for viewer engagement.
At this rate, his reputation might dig a hole in the ground!
“Hmm.”
But here we are, and honestly, there’s nothing I can do about it.
It makes sense since I’ve made all sorts of efforts but ultimately failed to restore my memories.
‘What could I do when I don’t even know what the victim looks like?’
At this point, my only option left is to quickly switch bodies and change identities.
“Today is the ranking update day, so I guess I’m stuck at 9th place for the next three months.”
I lifted my phone.
I was planning to check if Dragon’s Lung is available for sale.
[Search results: 0]
“Damn.”
Again, nothing today.
And about seven hours later, just as I was feeling disappointed and dozing off…
Ding ding ding ding, ding ding ding ding.
I woke up to the sound of a machine ringing by my head.
8:14 AM.
Isn’t it a bit too early for a call?
“Ahem, hello?”
– Hyung-nim!
“Oh, yeah. Is that you, Yoon-seung?”
I barely lifted my swollen eyelids filled with fluids to answer the call.
“What’s up?”
But the news that came through the receiver was…
– It’s all resolved! I’ll send you the link to the post right away. Check it out, Hyung-nim!
Beep.
In a daze, the call ended abruptly.
Staring blankly at the screen of my turned-off phone, I soon received a text from Yoon-seung’s number.
[Regarding fnalt’s false exposure.]
What Yoon-seung sent was a post with this title and its accompanying link.
For reference, fnalt is the nickname of the author who posted the first exposure article.
According to Ahn Yoon-seung, this one post titled [Regarding the false exposure….] resolved everything.
What the heck is going on?
Rubbing my eyes, I checked the problematic post.
However, as soon as I read the first paragraph, all my sleepiness vanished.
——————————=
Title: Regarding fnalt’s false exposure.
– – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – –
You’re such a brazen person.
How could you think of tarnishing Kim Gi-ryeo with that photo while I’m clearly alive?
Hello, everyone on the free board.
First, let me introduce myself.
I am a classmate of Hunter Kim Gi-ryeo from the same middle school.
I’m the very female student in the exposure article’s verification photo.
——————————=
If she’s the girl in the photo…
‘That mosaic-covered girl?’
I recalled the exposure post and scrolled down the screen.
However, the continuation was entirely unexpected.
——————————
…But that photo does not depict the situation described by the exposer.
What’s shown is not someone being forcibly taken away, but a scene where someone is helping me.
The contents of the post made up by fnalt.
And seeing that she personally has the photo makes me feel I have a pretty good idea of who the false exposer is…
You criminal scumbag.
You thought I would stay quiet forever?
Let me make it perfectly clear.
I was a victim of school violence.
And it was Kim Gi-ryeo who saved me.
——————————
After that, the author attached a 2-minute video at the bottom of the post.
The video uploaded by the author depicted a scene vaguely familiar.
A crying student.
During sunset.
And the gray wall visible in the background.
The photo in the exposure also definitely had a similar composition.
‘It was taken on the same day as that photo!’
This is the same incident filmed from a different angle.
-…!
-… what the… year…
As soon as the video started playing, I saw a silhouette of a girl surrounded by students from the back.
No, but is it right to even call them students?
With the low video quality, it was hard to discern their ages, but those surrounding the girl all had mature outfits.
– XX years, acting all high and mighty.
– But she’s a loser, though?
– True.
The girl turned around and faced the person in front of her.
A guy, who had been trying to touch her since earlier, kept playfully poking at her even after she told him to stop. Whenever she tried to flee, he grabbed her shoulder.
– Hey!
Then, at that moment…
The camera person shouted loudly.
The students all stopped and looked over at us in unison.
– What are you guys doing?
After that, the camera person said a few words to the gathered students. Something like, “What are you doing? The girl looks uncomfortable. Stop it.”
Just the usual canned phrases.
– What are you filming, you bastard?
Caught by surprise, the delinquents sneered and tried to threaten him.
But that attitude didn’t last long.
– I just called the police.
As soon as the camera person said that, the students’ faces immediately stiffened.
– What the hell.
– Is he crazy?
– What the…
What can they do when the police are on their way?
They exchanged curses, at a loss for what to do, and the camera person seized the opportunity to approach the girl.
And said this.
– Are you okay?
-…
– Let’s just keep our distance from them for now. Come here. Hurry.
The camera person asked the bowed-down subject if she was okay, and seeing her paralyzed with fear and unable to say anything, he took action.
He grabbed her arm and led her away from the perpetrators.
That must have been the moment depicted in the photo, showing someone dragging someone else away.
—————————==
As you can see, the camera person in the video is Kim Gi-ryeo.
Gi-ryeo filmed this video to help me when I was being bullied at school.
I kept a copy he gave me.
—————————==
The author then calmly explained the story behind the video.
She was a former child actress and a celebrity.
During middle school, she focused on academics to finish her mandatory education.
It was then that a group of delinquents in her class began harassing her.
Saying things like she was “suffering from celebrity disease” and “acting all high and mighty.”
The bullying started for ridiculous reasons.
But what began as mere mockery soon escalated, and they committed near-criminal acts against her.
—————————==
What was depicted in the video was a moment when they called a male student to try and assault me.
That’s a crime. But they didn’t care much.
‘She’s an actress, so if weird rumors spread about her, she’ll only harm herself. Therefore she can’t report anything recklessly.’
Their group basically thought like that.
—————————==
The situation escalated as expected.
But sadly, the author of this post stated she could not report their bullying.
Just as the bullies claimed.
She worried about how this would affect her future image.
Plus, at that time, she was under various stresses and extremely mentally unstable.
—————————==
I couldn’t bear to let this incident get bigger.
I didn’t want any articles written about it.
I especially didn’t want to have my family called into school.
After all, since they were students, would a light report even lead to a proper punishment…?
So at that time, without any real measures taken,
I just vaguely warned them not to approach me again and said I’d definitely sue if it happened again.
—————————==
The author had reached the point where just remembering the school bullying made her distressed and decided to bury everything.
But she appeared to regret that choice from her past.
[Looking back, that was a mistake.]
Scrolling down a bit more, there was this line in the text.
[If I hadn’t silently overlooked it back then, today’s situation wouldn’t have happened.]
And then.
In the remaining text, the outlines of fnalt, who wrote the exposure post, emerged.
—————————==
…To you, the manipulator of false posts, fnalt.
There was a time I thought it was an innocent mistake from my youth and considered forgiving you.
But seeing the current situation, I now realize this is all a sprout nurtured by my silence.
Thanks to that photo you used, I figured out who you were right away.
Just like in the video, there was only one person fiddling with their phone back then.
And that threatening line in the exposure post, “If she tells anyone, I’ll ruin her and her friends’ lives,” is still vividly remembered.
It was mostly when you were trying to intimidate me.
You’d always say, “You have nothing to lose, so if you don’t want to ruin your life, don’t mess with me,” in the bathroom.
All the times you threatened me with scissors. All the times you dragged weak students after school were your actions.
How could you dare belittle others with your experience?
Especially targeting someone upright like Gi-ryeo.
—————————==
So, what this means is…
The original exposure post was entirely fabricated, and it even echoed the very content of what the author did during school?
I held up my phone and let out a brief exclamation of wonder.
The inhabitants of Alphauri are notoriously vile, but it seems Earthlings aren’t any better.
This incident was enough to make even me, an Alphauri, click my tongue in disbelief.
—————————==
I will no longer cower like a coward.
I will do my best for my friend who helped me, and I will ensure that fnalt, who wronged Kim Gi-ryeo, pays for it!
Thank you for reading this far.
—————————==
With the biggest evidence of school violence being fabricated revealed, what happened next?
Well, obviously, due to the aftermath of this post, the internet was in an uproar again.
Even at this moment, new reactions were flooding in like a tide.
[No wonder it felt off;;]
[Breaking news) fnalt deleted his post]
[For real, that’s insane]
[The page shows no exposure posts. Damn, but do you think you’ll escape now? Haha.]
‘Now I understand why Ahn Yoon-seung claimed one post resolved everything.’
I nodded, looking around the atmosphere of the bulletin board.
The sudden reversal was a bit startling, but my troubles had been resolved, so I felt a hidden joy.
“Uh?”
But then.
“……”
I paused momentarily, seeing a certain comment while scrolling down.
And after reading the three names mentioned in that comment, I quietly returned to the originally opened post page.
[Regarding fnalt’s false exposure.]
At the top of this page were two pieces of information.
One was the title of the post.
And the other was.
[Author: Gu Seo-hyeong.]
…What?
