Chapter 68

Chapter 68 – DATE HARD 2.0 #1  

Winter vacation was coming up next week so the inside of the classroom was loud.

On December 23, there would be a short break for two weeks. Once the new year began, students would start earnestly entering hardcore exam mode for university admissions.

Seo Tae-hyuk sat at a window seat and stared blankly in the air, looking at the Demon Revealing Mirror. The Bomber had given him 50 affinity points.

'Doesn't it seem like an awfully long time since I last came to school?'

Due to so many incidents occurring, he had been skipping school for almost 10 days straight. If it was the same as before, then he would be forced to see the student adviser. However, some time ago, Seo Tae-hyuk was ranked fourth in the school due to the final examinations.

There was no reason to talk to him, and the only one who didn't change their attitude was Jung Nam-ho, his homeroom teacher.

"Hey! Tae-hyuk! You weren't in school for a week. What have you been doing?"

He seemed really concerned. Tae-hyuk scratched his head and replied,

“I couldn't concentrate on studying so I went to the temple to pray."

“Such words are coming from your mouth. Is the sun rising in the west?”

Tae-hyuk pulled out a mock exam score card. All of the subjects on there were rated first class.

“Hmm… What is this? This is great!"

Jung Nam-ho ruffled Tae-hyuk's hair with an impressed expression. His score was a result of steadily receiving the help of An Eun-young's studying skill and possessing an intelligence of around 50 points.

'Criminals should have a good mind.'

The increase in stats didn't simply indicate a change in numbers. More ideas popped up when he needed it.

Seo Tae-hyuk was completely different from when he caught Yoo Cheol-ho. It wasn't just his crime skills increasing.

Sometimes it was eerie thinking about it.

“Well, have a good winter vacation. I will consult with you at the beginning of school."

Tae-hyuk would be a third year in two weeks. It was the time to study in order to enter a good university.

However, there was a limit to acting as a student. First of all, his top priority was to change the future and to catch criminals in order to make money.

‘The course…'

In the future he remembered, he didn't go to university. As soon as he graduated from high school, he became a part time worker for a staffing company and worked as a guard. Going to university meant that he would have a completely different future.

‘I should go on a tour of the universities with Class President.'

What course department should he enter? He decided to slowly decide.

After Jung Nam-ho's words, there were five minutes left before classes started.

In the meantime, An Eun-young carefully spoke from where she was sitting beside him. Of course, it wasn't because she was afraid of Tae-hyuk; she was simply ashamed.

“These days, there are many bullies near our school."

"Eh? Really?"

Tae-hyuk's eyes widened as he looked at An Eun-young. This topic came out from Class President's mouth. Shouldn't she be more concerned about textbooks rather than gossiping?

“They were originally a bad group that operated outside of Seoul. There seemed to be a crackdown in that area so they moved their activities to this side. A few students of our school have already lost money.”

“Bad group?"

“Nuclear Bomb is their name and the scale is quite large."

As the class leader, An Eun-young felt anxious about her classmates.

“They are quite famous if Class President knows about it.'

"Uh, yes… You should be careful."

Tae-hyuk made a bitter expression,

“Why are you telling me to be careful?"

"What? You shouldn't go to dangerous places."

He spoke out as a joke but An Eun-young looked serious. Tae-hyuk inwardly sighed.

“Okay. I understand, Class President. I won't go anywhere dangerous."

A small smile appeared on An Eun-young's face and she muttered in a small voice so that Tae-hyuk couldn't hear,

"…If you do something dangerous, then you'll get hurt, and we won't be able to go to university together."

“Huh? What did you say?"

"Ah, nothing."

An Eun-young noticed Tae-hyuk's body condition. It seemed like it wasn't good lately. She thought about inviting him to her house for a good meal. She still hadn't been able to reward him for helping her unni. It had been a long time since the two of them…

At that moment, An Eun-young shyly shook her head.

“Ah right. Tae-hyuk. Do you have any plans for the vacation?"

As the saying went, she leapt straight into the fire. The day she was talking about was Christmas Eve. If there was time then studying at home like they did before…

“Uh, I have a date that night."

"D-Date?"

An Eun-young's voice shook. Who was Tae-hyuk dating?

“Ah, Class President doesn't know. On that day, my Noona has a date. I thought I'd give her some support."

"Uh, really? Ha-ran unni?"

“Their first date was a complete mess, so I thought about helping her this time. I call it Date Hard 2.0!"

An Eun-young was nervous about Tae-hyuk's naming sense, which seemed to be from 10 years in the past.

“So you will be busy that day. Ah, that’s right. Then I will make you a schedule for studying next year. I'll make some good and delicious food for you."

“Um. Yes."

Tae-hyuk didn't know how much his future would change in one year. Meanwhile, he didn't notice that An Eun-young was looking at him every five minutes.

@

Tae-hyuk headed to a construction site after school. Due to the situation of the adults, it had been neglected for almost a year.

"I think the performance is getting better."

This was the place that Tae-hyuk went to in order to practice his crime skills. It was steadily rising, but since he hadn't learnt any new skills ever since the hippo incident, he needed to make sure that he could perfectly use the skills he already had.

After his Spying skill was strengthened, it was possible to project the Demon Revealing Mirror into the air, so he didn't need to take the mirror out of his pocket anymore. The time required to activate the skill was also greatly reduced.

He also used Robbery to take all the money from the bag that the police officer was carrying. It was a perfect robbery that wasn't even detected by the sharp reflexes of the people trained to be sensitive to that type of thing. It took a lot of practice to steal that fast, but the result was satisfactory.

'I was able to steal 150 million won without anyone seeing.'

Now it was possible to use the Robbery skill as naturally as flowing water. The next thing to do was practice the Violence skill. Once he used it, he held an incredibly hard iron pipe, and also temporarily increased his physical strength and agility. However, the Violence skill quickly consumed his stamina. 

Of course, it wasn't just the skill that increased his physical strength. He needed to practice constantly for a long time. He mainly used bags filled with sand. However, if someone saw him using a weapon then he would be arrested immediately, which was why he had to intentionally go to places without any people to practice.

'Eh?'

However, strange sounds started echoing in Tae-hyuk's secret hideaway.  He heard somebody's voice.

"Huh? So what? Give me your money."

“I-I don't h…"

"Are you going to make me look for it? Take it out quickly."

"R-Really…"

"Ah. This son of a bitch! I feel like hitting you. Do you want your eyes to be crushed?"

Tae-hyuk coughed at that moment. His hideout had a few gangsters roaming around.

'Eh? That is my school uniform? I've never seen that face before. A freshman?'

Jjak!

At that time, one of the man slapped the boy's cheek. The boy held his red cheek and screamed,

"I-I was wrong. I-I really don't have money. I'll go home and bring it to you. Yes? Please."

"This bastard. He wants to go to hell."

Bam!

One of the thugs kicked the boy's thighs with his combat boots. The boy screamed and fell on the ground.

"Fuck. Do we look like young kids roaming around? My Hyung-nim is in Nuclear Bomb. Take care of this son of a bitch."

“Aaaagh!”

The gangsters pushed the boy into a corner and started to step on him.

Tae-hyuk frowned. It seemed a bit too much if they simply wanted money.

'I guess they haven't joined a gang yet.'

In order to join such places, they needed to prove their manliness, and what they were doing now was also a part of it.

‘Well, I should leave and report this to the police.'

Although it was a bit intense, it wasn't enough for the boy to lose his life. Recently, Tae-hyuk had seen many heinous crimes.

Maybe that was why… This type of thing seemed like kids playing around.

"Eh? Who the fuck is that?"

The gangsters noticed that there was an uninvited guest.

"Aigoo. Busted."

Tae-hyuk clicked his tongue and approached the gangsters. One person, who seemed to be the leader, frowned at Tae-hyuk. The veins in his neck started pulsing.

"Hey, you son of a bitch. Did you call a friend? Huh? Tell me, who is this?"

The leader kicked the abdomen of the boy on the ground. It was like wind emerging from a balloon.

"Keook…!"

The boy gave a pained moan.

"Aigoo. You should be careful. If you hit the wrong place then his intestines might burst. Even if you are a minor… Eh? How old are you? Are you a minor?"

“Fuck, what is this bastard saying?"

The gangsters were upset at Tae-hyuk's mocking tone and instantly surrounded him. Tae-hyuk scratched his head and replied,

"…Aigoo. Sorry Eun-young. I won't be able to keep my promise."

“Sorry, today is your memorial service."

The leader gave instructions to his men. They were good in a 1 on 1 fight, but they were confident in their numbers.

Peok!

At that moment, a blunt sound resonated throughout the building. Tae-hyuk suddenly held a large iron pipe in his hands, and swung it at one of the gangsters.

"……"

The guy couldn't even scream before he collapsed. It was a ridiculous power.

“T-This bastard…!"

The leader was dismayed. The opponent clearly hadn't been carrying anything. Then where did he get such a devastating weapon? In addition, he was familiar with assaulting people with an iron pipe.

The gangsters got goose bumps. They realized that Tae-hyuk's eyes were like a hyena's. However, they had the tenacity of gangsters. The leader pulled out a knife.

“I will kill you…!"

"Aigoo. You are holding the knife like a sword. Do you watch a lot of movies? By the way, you can never beat an opponent with a longer reach than you."

Tae-hyuk narrowed the distance at once and aimed his iron pipe at the leader's arm.

"Keooook!"

The leader's arm twisted in a strange direction. From then on, it was a one-sided battle.

Tae-hyuk had won the battle against Han Sang-won, who had specialized in knives. The power of the iron pipe and the Violence skill was enormous. He could even win if he took on half a dozen neighbourhood thugs.

“Well, a 17 on 1 is still impossible.'

Tae-hyuk rummaged through the pockets of the gangsters on the ground. Folded bills emerged, most of them taken from nearby students. They had gathered almost 500,000 won.

Tae-hyuk put one third of it into the pocket of the male student to pay for his medical expenses. Of course, he took the rest as his share. Tae-hyuk stuffed the bills into his pocket and muttered.

"This is better than a part time job. By the way, should I call the police and maybe the ambulance? By the way, I think it is best to fight against others using the Violence skill."

There was a different feeling than when he hit the sandbags. He was often bored so this wouldn't be too bad as a part-time job.

“The bad group is called Nuclear Bomb?"

He had a feeling he would continue to engage with them in the future.