Chapter 379: Welcome. |
A broad back.
Arrogant steps.
A clearly threatening expression.
People in black suits crashed the graduation ceremony.
It was Jo Joong-sik’s gang.
“Hwang Yong-min, the guy you showed me in the photo... is that him?”
“Yes! That’s him, boss! That’s Ryu Min.”
Hwang Yong-min, standing by his side, sneered maliciously while staring at Ryu Min.
“You’re screwed, Ryu Min.”
Even Ryu Min’s family was bewildered.
“Ryu Min, who are these people? Do you know them?”
But Ryu Min remained unfazed.
Calmly, he raised his hand and signaled his family to step aside.
“Just wait a moment. I’ll handle this.”
“Handle it? That’s so ridiculous I can’t even laugh.”
Jo Joong-sik, seeing Ryu Min approach without hesitation, burst out laughing in disbelief.
The audacity of this young man, who didn’t show a hint of fear, was almost comical.
“Is it because you’re friends with Hwang Yong-min? Do you have guts from another world? Are you something special? Is your father a congressman? Are you from a rich family?”
“......”
Ryu Min just stared at him silently.
Even though his gaze was intense, it wasn’t enough to intimidate Jo Joong-sik.
‘This guy might have fought before, but he’s no match for me.’
Who was Jo Joong-sik?
The gang leader who ruled Seoul—Jo Joong-sik.
At the relatively young age of 29, he had taken down Seoul’s top leaders to claim his position.
Being young didn’t mean being weak.
He had enough combat experience to fear no one.
‘This body has committed murders. You’re no match for me, rookie.’
Although, in the worst case, Jo Joong-sik could use the knife hidden in his belt, he had no intention of ending up in prison.
He just wanted to publicly intimidate Ryu Min.
‘That should be enough to satisfy Hwang Yong-min.’
Jo Joong-sik scanned Ryu Min with sharp eyes.
He seemed agile, but that was all.
High school fights were always the same.
‘I have to act quickly. I don’t want to waste time.’
He didn’t want anyone to call the police, so he needed to strike first.
“Was it you who messed with one of ours?”
“One of yours? Who?”
“Me, of course.”
Hwang Yong-min stepped forward with a menacing face.
“You’re dead. You dared to mess with a gangster like me?”
Ryu Min let out a sarcastic laugh.
“Gangster, gangster... always bragging about being a gangster. Did you finally join Jo Joong-sik’s gang?”
“......!”
“......!!!”
Jo Joong-sik was more surprised than Hwang Yong-min.
“How do you know about our gang?”
“What do you think?”
Ryu Min smiled and glanced at Hwang Yong-min.
Jo Joong-sik turned his head towards Hwang Yong-min.
“Hwang Yong-min... Did you set us up?”
“Huh? What are you saying...?”
“Damn it! I knew you were a spy!”
Jo Joong-sik looked around.
It was a trap.
Soon, other gangsters would show up.
And just as expected...
Step by step—
Several men in black suits emerged from the crowd.
They all carried aluminum bats.
Jo Joong-sik’s expression turned icy.
“The Yangdong-gu gang?”
“Jo Joong-sik. How long has it been?”
“Yangdong-gu, you bastard...”
The appearance of the rival gang made Jo Joong-sik and his men tense up.
The attendees at the ceremony quickly scattered, sensing the threat.
“Jo Joong-sik. Even as a thug, you should respect the rules. How dare you speak to me like that?”
“Shut up, Yangdong-gu, you bastard. Did you set up such a dirty trap using a high school kid as bait?”
Jo Joong-sik glared at Hwang Yong-min.
The boy was now grinning broadly with the Yangdong-gu gang.
‘Damn it, that guy was with the Yangdong-gu gang from the start.’
Jo Joong-sik’s gaze turned towards Ryu Min.
Ryu Min was also smiling.
That smile confirmed Jo Joong-sik’s suspicions.
‘This was a setup to trap me from the start. The Yangdong-gu gang and these two planned this trap.’
He thought it was all a plot to catch him.
But Ryu Min had a different reason for laughing.
A very different one.
“What an imagination. How did you come to that conclusion? That the graduation ceremony was a trap for you?”
“What nonsense is this bastard muttering? Does he want to die?”
Jo Joong-sik remained tense, but Ryu Min only chuckled.
Because all of this was an illusion created by him.
Snap!
Ryu Min snapped his fingers, and suddenly, the people around them vanished like a mirage.
One by one, as if they were never there.
“What...?”
The ceremony attendees, the rival gang, even Hwang Yong-min.
They all disappeared.
Jo Joong-sik looked around as if he had seen a ghost.
The same went for his subordinates.
Who wouldn’t be scared if people disappeared before their eyes?
“What the hell!”
“How is this possible...?”
“Am I seeing things...?”
With everyone gone except his gang.
“Jo Joong-sik.”
The only person left was Ryu Min, drawing all the attention.
“Welcome to the Prison of Illusion.”
“What?”
“Not just you, but all your men as well.”
“What the hell are you talking about, you bastard?”
“Stop cursing.”
Ryu Min’s fist flew towards Jo Joong-sik’s face.
“Ugh!”
“You’re hurting my ears.”
Unable to react, Jo Joong-sik collapsed with wide eyes. More than the pain, he was shocked.
“No... I didn’t see it coming.”
Ryu Min cracked his knuckles as he approached Jo Joong-sik’s gang.
“Get ready.”
“Get... get ready for what?”
“Get ready to be beaten.”
Before they could respond, Ryu Min’s fists were already raining down on the gang members.
————————
The huge men sitting in the van were trembling. It was as if they were having a nightmare, with their eyes closed and brows furrowed, including Jo Joong-sik. Watching from outside, Ryu Min smiled with satisfaction.
“Jo Joong-sik is out of the game.”
From the beginning, Ryu Min knew that Jo Joong-sik would crash the graduation ceremony because he had read An Sang-cheol’s thoughts.
“There was no reason to fall into the trap when I already knew the whole plan.”
The only unexpected part was An Sang-cheol mobilizing the entire gang to get revenge on him. But the rest was under control.
That’s why Ryu Min had taken preemptive measures and located the van.
“It didn’t make sense to let these guys disrupt the school and bother people, right?”
After reading An Sang-cheol’s thoughts, Ryu Min had gotten ahead and used Yugrito’s [Prison of Illusion] ability on the men waiting in the van.
The Prison of Illusion showed a pre-configured illusion or used the target’s thoughts to create a custom illusion.
“So I trapped them all in the Prison of Illusion and watched their plans...”
The fact that Jo Joong-sik believed the graduation ceremony was a trap set by a rival organization just because of a smile was so absurd that Ryu Min couldn’t help but laugh.
“They still have three hours left in the illusion, so it’s time to head back.”
Jo Joong-sik’s gang would be stuck in the van battling the illusion for at least three hours, or rather, being unilaterally beaten, as the Ryu Min in the illusion moved like a ghost.
“In reality, it’s not much different.”
By the time they escaped from the Prison of Illusion, they’d be nearly destroyed both physically and mentally.
“Hopefully, they won’t wet the seat.”
With a sarcastic grin, Ryu Min returned to the graduation ceremony. There was still someone left to deal with.
—————–
“The bosses should show up soon, right?”
Hwang Yong-min was eagerly waiting for Jo Joong-sik’s gang to arrive. The graduation ceremony had gotten dull, but he endured it because he knew the men in black would soon show up to humiliate Ryu Min.
“Will they really kill him? I asked them to.”
Although they didn’t give a clear answer, Hwang Yong-min was confident they would, as Jo Joong-sik’s infamous gang was backing him.
“Hey, Hwang Yong-min.”
“Oh, Jo Joong-sik.”
“What are you doing here alone? Didn’t your parents come?”
“Do you think they would come?”
“You should’ve called them for photos.”
“You didn’t call yours either.”
“It’s embarrassing to bring the old folks to things like this.”
In fact, even if they were called, they wouldn’t come. Hwang Yong-min and his friends knew this, so they didn’t invite their parents. While others were happily taking photos with their families...
“Damn it, we just have to take a few photos and be done. Why so many pictures?”
“You’re jealous, aren’t you?”
“It’s just annoying because the bosses will be here soon.”
“Are they really coming?”
“Yeah, do you think I’d lie?”
Hwang Yong-min’s confident response left his friends amazed.
“This guy’s crazy.”
“He became a real gangster.”
“Now that we’re graduating, it’s time to distance ourselves from him.”
Unaware of his friends’ thoughts, Hwang Yong-min eagerly awaited the arrival of the gang. But no matter how long he waited, the men in black didn’t show up.
“Hey, didn’t you say they’d be here?”
“Just wait a bit longer.”
“They’re not coming, are they? Call them.”
“Damn it.”
Just as he was about to make a call, Ryu Min walked up to him.
“Hang up. They’re not coming.”
“What?”
“Jo Joong-sik’s gang. They’re not coming.”
Hwang Yong-min's eyes widened.
“How does he know? I never mentioned the gang.”
Sure enough, no one answered the phone. Lowering the phone, Ryu Min spoke calmly.
“You called them, didn’t you? You asked them to come to the graduation to settle things with me.”
“......”
“You’re not answering. It must be true.”
Although he already knew the answer, Ryu Min continued acting.
“Did you really want revenge that badly? You and your friends?”
“Us? We don’t know anything.”
“Yeah, Hwang Yong-min did it alone...”
“What a lack of loyalty...”
With a glare from Hwang Yong-min, his friends went silent. Ryu Min continued speaking seriously.
“Did you call gangsters on the day of graduation? Just to trap me?”
“......”
“You didn’t learn anything from the last time I beat you up, did you? What should I do with you?”
Letting out a deep sigh, Ryu Min delivered words that would wound Hwang Yong-min's pride.
“Come on. You’re going to get a beating.”
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