Chapter 5: Skill Test and Winter Break

Everyone has their sore spot. For me, reborn into a new life, revenge was important, but my grandmother was the most precious.

I was angry at the Bald Eagle for crossing the line. Still, due to the unavoidable difference between teacher and student, I gritted my teeth and refuted with logic.

“What did you say? Ha! This little bastard, really…”

“Not confident, sir?”

My homeroom teacher, Viper, fidgeted nervously, glancing between Bald Eagle and me. The other teachers were also watching cautiously, unsure when the situation might explode.

“Hey! Kim Mu-hyeok! Are you serious?”

“Yes, I’m confident.”

“Teacher Kim.”

A deep, elderly voice rang out—neither Bald Eagle’s nor mine. It was the vice principal.

“Let him try. Mu-hyeok seems confident, but are you not, Teacher Kim? If you’re not confident, wasn’t it wrong to call the student in and pressure him, insulting his grandmother?”

“Vice Principal!”

“Don’t shout. This is the teachers’ office, not your private room. Did you call Mu-hyeok to hear his explanation or to berate him? If a teacher can’t trust a student, who can they trust? So, retest or not? You choose, Teacher Kim.”

“……”

Though he spoke calmly, the vice principal was arguably the most despicable person in this office. I knew the face behind his mask.

Soon, Bald Eagle turned to me with a murderous look.

“Alright, Kim Mu-hyeok, let’s do this. Youre confident, right? If you don’t get similar scores, you’ll drop out?”

“Yes, and if I get similar scores, you’ll apologize sincerely.”

I ended up taking a retest in the teachers’ office with all the teachers watching.

The first test paper given to me was English. I couldn’t help but smirk.

English in my second life… Though it was rote English, different from practical usage, my skills from before hadn’t disappeared.

I wrote down all the answers in less than 30 minutes.

When I looked up, the faces of the observing teachers were half surprised, half bewildered.

“I’ve finished.”

The English teacher took the test paper and started grading. After a moment… the English teacher looked at the test paper and me with disbelief. Then, opening their mouth,

“All correct.”

“……”

The teachers’ reactions, alternating between looking at me and the English teacher with disbelief, weren’t unfamiliar.

“Please give me the other subjects too.”

It took exactly 2 hours to solve four subjects in total: Math, Korean, and Korean History. And even the questions I got wrong in Math and Korean History were all perfect scores.

“…Is this real?”

The words from an unknown teacher’s mouth probably reflected the thoughts of all the teachers in the office.

Kim Mu-hyeok, Dongseong Technica High School’s biggest troublemaker and dunce. That was me, etched in the teachers’ minds.

“Give me the next subject.”

At my nonchalant tone, the vice principal stepped in.

“That’s enough. This much confirms everything, doesn’t it, Teacher Lee?”

“…Yes.”

“Hurry up and apologize. What are you waiting for?”

“……”

“If you made a promise, you should keep it, Teacher Lee! Teachers should set an example for students, right?”

Bald Eagle’s face turned as red as a tomato. Then, carefully opening his mouth,

“Mu-hyeok, I’m sorry. I really misjudged you. It won’t happen again. And bringing up your grandmother was a mistake. I’m sorry.”

I had asked him to apologize to my grandmother, but honestly, I couldn’t ask him to apologize to my grandma who didn’t even know about this incident.

Finally, with a deep sigh, I said,

“Teacher, I know I’ve caused a lot of trouble and that you don’t like me. But I’m still a student under your care. And my grandmother is my only family. Please, I ask you again, don’t speak ill of my grandma.”

“I understand.”

“May I go now?”

“…Yes, go back to your classroom.”

After greeting all the teachers, I left the office.

Damn… I should feel good, but it felt like shit.

“Sigh… This is annoying.”

Memories from before the regression and old events overlapped in my mind, causing uncontrollable confusion.

“Hey! Mu-hyeok!”

Hearing someone call me, I turned my head to see Myeong-su and Hyeon-seong running towards me.

“What happened?”

“It’s all resolved.”

“Did Bald Eagle act up again? Wait, I’ll go give him a piece of my mind. Don’t stop me, Hyeon-seong, I said don’t stop me!”

No one was stopping Myeong-su.

“Why are you trying to stop me?”

“…Let’s go.”

Abandoning Myeong-su, Hyeon-seong and I walked away together.

“Hey! Let’s go together!”

Myeong-su ran after us.

Returning to the classroom and sitting down, Viper came in shortly after.

“Those I call, come out and get your report cards. Don’t forget to bring them back with your parents’ seal.”

“Yes!”

Viper hesitated for a moment when calling my name while handing out report cards one by one.

“Kim Mu-hyeok.”

“Yes.”

“I’m sorry about earlier. This time, Mu-hyeok ranked first in the entire first-year class. Everyone, give him a round of applause!”

“Teacher, it’s not April Fool’s Day today, right?”

Myeong-su’s words represented everyone’s thoughts.

But when Viper’s expression didn’t change, everyone started looking at me with bewildered faces.

“You all don’t believe it? Even the teachers couldn’t believe it, so we had him retake the tests. But he even corrected the questions he got wrong before.”

The shock was so great that no one could speak.

“Bring your parents’ seal tomorrow, and those whose grades dropped, be prepared. That’s all! Class president!”

After greeting the teacher, the homeroom meeting ended. While other students didn’t approach, Myeong-su immediately came to my side.

“Hey, is it true?”

“Yeah.”

“…Who are you?”

Other students were also glancing at me. I flicked Myeong-su’s forehead.

“Who else would I be? I’m your friend, Kim Mu-hyeok.”

“Right? You’re my friend Mu-hyeok, right? But you’re first in the school? Would you believe it if you were me?”

“I’d believe it. Aren’t we friends?”

I stood up, holding my backpack. As I walked, the students’ eyes followed me.

“You guys study hard too. What if your grades are lower than mine, the former dunce? I’m off.”

“Hey! Let’s go together.”

Myeong-su hurriedly packed his bag and followed me.

On the way home,

Myeong-su turned the report card this way and that before finally nodding.

“Damn… I lost to Mu-hyeok in grades?”

“……”

“Hyeon-seong, this can’t be. This must be a dream. It’s definitely a dream. Why aren’t you saying anything?”

“…I’m going to study from tomorrow too.”

“Both of you, thanks. Myeong-su, you study, and Hyeon-seong, you focus on sports. Get into university as a special talent student. I’m aiming for a university in Seoul. From now on, let’s all work hard at school.”

The cool autumn breeze gently brushed my face. It also passed over Myeong-su and Hyeon-seong’s faces.

* * *

At that time, in Seoul

“I heard the old man went down to Busan and came back?”

“So, brother, you didn’t hear anything?”

“Have you ever seen that old man telling us anything? What’s going on… The people we planted around the old man didn’t say anything?”

“Yeah, I heard no one knows except Chief Ha.”

“Tsk, what business could that old man have to move directly to Busan?”

Two men were conversing in the office.

Just then, the door opened and a young woman entered.

“Boss, a guest has arrived.”

“Tell them to come in.”

“Yes.”

The one who entered the office was a well-built man. The two stood up to greet him.

“Oh my, Director Cheon, it’s been a while. The younger Director Cheon is here too?”

“Welcome, Aide Park.”

“Is Chairman Cheon doing well?”

“Yes, he’s in good health. Please, have a seat.”

The man called Aide Park confidently took the main seat, even though Cheon Su-man was the owner of the office.

Neither Cheon Su-man nor Cheon Su-han said anything about it and moved to sit elsewhere.

“Our boss says to prepare two large ones. That’s possible, right?”

“Yes, we’ll prepare them cleanly so there won’t be any problems.”

“Good. Younger Director Cheon, is your father-in-law doing well?”

“Yes.”

The two brothers called Director Cheon were the sons of Old Man Cheon of Cheon Tae-san.

The eldest son, Cheon Su-man, was the son-in-law of the eldest daughter of the Il-seong Group, one of Korea’s topp 5 conglomerates.

And the second son, Cheon Su-han, had married the youngest daughter of a 5-term National Party congressman and was living as a son-in-law in their household.

And Aide Park, sitting in the main seat, was the aide to Congressman Lee Hak-su, a ruling party heavyweight known as the President’s confidant.

“If you prepare everything well without issues and send it, the boss will make sure to pay it all back later. You know what I mean, right?”

“Of course.”

“See you next time then.”

After delivering his message like an order, Aide Park quickly left the office.

Not long after the door closed, the brothers started badmouthing Aide Park.

“Damn it, does he think he’s the elder? It’s annoying every time I see him.”

“Be patient. We’re trying to get into the Cheongpung Group, so isn’t it worth it? We can get back at him later. Let’s endure until then.”

“I know, I know, but it’s just annoying. Has your father-in-law still not even touched the tail of Cheongpung Group? I thought he was a 5-term congressman.”

“He’s not from the sacred bone lineage. You know the old man forced me into this marriage.”

Cheon Su-man, who had been spewing curses, narrowed his eyes and said,

“I wonder what business the old man had in Busan? Let’s find out.”

“Yeah, I’ll look into it too.”

* * *

Grandmother cried when she saw Mu-hyeok’s report card. After crying for a while, she approached and hugged Mu-hyeok with her small body.

Though her body was very thin, Mu-hyeok thought it was the most dependable and warm embrace.

“My child… you’ve worked hard.”

“Hahaha, I’ll study hard from now on. Grandma, just wait for three years.”

“Oh my, I must live to see my child enter university! That’s right!”

“Don’t talk about dying.”

On TV, the President was making a special announcement.

– Declaring war on crimes and violence that destroy the national community, I will mobilize all presidential powers granted by the Constitution to eradicate them…

With a stern expression, the President declared the ‘October 13 Special Declaration’, also known as the war on crime.

The war on crime had finally begun.

The joint investigation headquarters of prosecutors and police, which had launched a massive arrest operation against all gang bosses in Busan, soon arrested Lee Sa-seong, the boss of Saseongpa.

“Damn, what’s going on? That kid’s words were true?”

“That’s right. Fortunately, we dodged the storm, but… I heard the big brother was caught.”

Park Dong-su bit his lip with a gloomy face.

“…For now, don’t cause any trouble and everyone lay low. Absolutely no going out drinking.”

“Yes, brother.”

Although it was a high school student’s words, Park Dong-su, feeling uneasy about the story Mu-hyeok had told, went down to the countryside with five truly trusted brothers and went into hiding. They too witnessed the President’s declaration directly on TV.

That’s how Kim Mu-hyeok changed the future.

Not a future where Park Dong-su was arrested and Lee Sa-seong survived, but a future where Lee Sa-seong took all the responsibility and was caught.

* * *

Time passed quickly after that. He took first place in the school once again in another school exam. The teachers no longer raised any objections.

Now it was winter break.

Coming out of school, a car was waiting.

The car door opened, and Chief Ha got out and greeted me.

“It’s been a while, Mu-hyeok.”

“Yes, Chief Ha.”

“The Chairman is calling for you. He says to keep your promise now that winter break has started.”

“…Alright, let me tell my grandmother and we’ll go up together.”

“We’ve already gone and spoken to her.”

Chief Ha opened the car door for me.

I got into the back seat.

“It’s quite a long journey, so please sleep if you’re tired. Then, we’ll depart.”

“Okay.”

During the long journey to Seoul, Chief Ha never spoke first. He only gave brief answers to questions I occasionally asked, without saying much.

Steadfastness and gravity.

These were Chief Ha’s strengths. I remembered Chief Ha’s final moments, entangled with me at Old Man Cheon’s request.

‘This time, I’ll definitely protect you, Chief Ha.’

Pyeongchang-dong, Jongno District

Located on the southern slope of Bukhansan, most of Pyeongchang-dong is a development-restricted area. That’s why it has many detached houses with more greenery compared to other areas.

Along with Hannam-dong, it’s one of the neighborhoods where many of Korea’s wealthy live. This is where Old Man Cheon’s castle is located.

I arrived at the house and opened the door. Guided by Chief Ha, I reached the living room where Old Man Cheon was waiting for me.

“Have you arrived?”

“Yes, grandfather.”

I quietly swallowed my dry saliva.

This is where it begins…