WeTried Translations

Translator/Editor: ZERO_SUGAR

Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried

◈ SSS-Class Revival Hunter ◈

Chapter 144: Downfall (3)

──────

‘First, I need to calm my friends down.’

Someone unknown is trying to dismantle our group.

‘As if I’d let that happen!’

I have to use my skill to pull these cowards back together after the threatening email scared them out of their wits. It is all right. I can do this.

As soon as I returned to the classroom, I spoke to the group.

“Hey. I know why you guys are acting like this, but stop it. Why are we making each other feel bad like this? Huh? If you have something to say, say it. If you need to listen, then listen. Isn’t that what friends do? Right?”

But their response was odd. They just kept glancing at my desk without saying anything.

I went to check.

In the desk drawer, dozens of notes were crumpled up and thrown in.

"......."

Every single note contained an insult attacking me. ‘When I said hello in the hallway yesterday, Eun-seo practically died of happiness.’ A claim that was obviously nothing but a lie. ‘I only did it because I lost at rock-paper-scissors! Please don’t get the wrong idea!’ Sentences containing nothing but malice and mockery lay scattered everywhere.

While I was at the staff room.

In just that short time, the notes had piled up like a mountain.

“These... these bastards……."

“Kek."

I heard someone stifling a laugh. Swish. I immediately looked in the direction of the laughter. But I couldn't tell who it was. There were too many students in the classroom.

“Who is it! Who did this to my desk, huh?!”

“We… we didn’t do it.”

One of my friends spoke cautiously.

“Just a while ago, a kid from another class came and stuffed all the notes at once….”

“Another class?”

“Yes. They said to tell you not to contact them again.”

"......."

It’s a client. One of the clients must have dumped the notes and left. I felt like going crazy. An unknown [culprit] was playing with not only my classmates but also my clients.

“Eun-Seo, and….”

“And? What?”

“Your back….”

My back?

“What about it?”

“That, well…”

I turned around, trying to see my back, but couldn’t quite manage it. Laughter rippled across the classroom.

“Pfft…!”

"Snicker."

I reached behind my back and felt something. Crinkle. It was paper. Someone had used tape to stick a note on my back.

I hurriedly peeled off the paper, eager to see what was written.

+

Shinseo High's Official Trash!!

+

Written in a round, cute font.

"......."

When? Who did it? Was it already there when I was called by the teacher? Or did someone sneak it on just after I entered the classroom?

But there was no time to figure that out.

“I-I’ll start the class...”

First period began. It was the math teacher, the easiest pushover in the school. The classmates would normally have kept talking for ages, but this time they all seemed to have decided to become model students and took their seats at once. Every last one of them.

‘Damn it.’

I gritted my teeth inwardly.

‘Making a scene now will only make me look more ridiculous. Should I just leave the classroom? No, that’s not it. I can imagine what these kids would say behind my back. Damn, damn… !’

I had no choice but to sit down quietly.

Looking around, there were students silently snickering, ‘hehe’. Kim Yul, staring expressionlessly at his notebook. The class president, who came into the classroom late, apologized to the math teacher and returned to his seat. Everyone was going about their normal day as if nothing was unusual.

‘Damn.’

I was seething inside.

Anger towards the culprit was natural. Of course, I was furious. But, besides the culprit, my friends. My classmates in this class, my anger towards them suddenly surged.

‘You guys did it too, didn’t you?’

I felt wronged.

‘Are you trying to back out now? You also teased and hit Kim Yul. Did I command you to bully Kim Yul? You did it on your own, didn’t you?’

I felt wronged.

‘Who among these seated bastards has never laughed at Kim Yul? Many of you begged to see the videos. Why are you pretending not to know now?’

I was so aggrieved.

Because I had made an effort. I had gone out of my way to accomplish something nobody else had done. Was deliberately isolating one person supposed to be easy? Turning someone quietly excluded into a total outcast, then turning that total outcast into someone shunned by the entire school, did they know how to do that?

‘Maggots. No. Leeches.’

At least I had made an effort.

I built a platform using the student-council suggestion box. I made connections with the rich kids. While these classmates studied the way everyone else studied and lived the way everyone else lived, I at least thought about my [future]. I planned ahead!

What had these leeches done, by comparison?

‘They freeloaded on the platform I worked so hard to build!’

They were all the same. They mocked Kim Yul because other people did. They excluded Kim Yul because other people did. These bastards had only one piece of logic.

[Because everyone else does it.]

‘Disgusting bastards.’

And after all that, they would pretend they knew nothing. [Because everyone else did it.] [Because they did not think much about it.] [Because they never meant for this to happen.] They would spew excuses like those and forget that they had enjoyed the Kim Yul Game too.

‘No, they’re not pretending. They genuinely don’t know.’

They're just dumb. Stupid. They don't even remember what they say or do. If it's not an intelligence issue, then what is it? They're just mindless followers. And yet they act as if they're human, as if they've done nothing wrong...

‘I feel wronged.’

I feel wronged.

‘Why do I have to suffer because of these inferior bastards? Why only me?’

I feel wronged!

If there were someone truly righteous, like a hero from some story, someone who had lived uprightly from birth until this very day, then I might understand if that person stabbed me.

But that’s not the case.

‘Not one of them has apologized to Kim Yul even now, right?’

No.

There won't be any.

That is why I feel wronged. These people are merely being used and incited by the [culprit], stabbing me without giving it any serious thought.

I don’t want to be killed by [that kind of knife]! By these inferior bastards!

I am greater than that!

Buzzzzzz...

A vibration in my pocket. It was my phone.

The text was from my girlfriend.

+

Hwang Eun-Seo, what did you do?

Don’t come near me anymore.

It’s over.

+

"......."

Time passed mercilessly.

There was no opportunity to react. No solutions came to mind. The [culprit] relentlessly pressured me without giving me any respite. I contacted my girlfriend, but she didn’t respond. Even when I approached her during breaks, she just glared coldly.

The same girl who laughed happily with me just yesterday.

‘Why are you doing this... I was just a funny guy…’

After that, I couldn’t even properly go to the bathroom during breaks. I was afraid. What if someone came and put notes in my desk drawer while I was away!

‘Damn it.’

Even during lunchtime, I just lay on my desk pretending to sleep. I’m not a fool. In this atmosphere, there’s no way my classmates would have lunch with me.

Rather than going to the cafeteria alone, it was better to pretend to be asleep.

‘But someone should ask me to eat together, right?’

I thought, lying on the desk.

‘Then I’ll immediately say I don’t feel well today. That way, everyone will know. That Hwang Eun-Seo is fine. Completely fine. In fact, maybe even sulking a bit. That they should comfort me.’

That's what will happen.

‘After all, I’ve taken care of you guys. I paid for meals, let you appear in videos, helped you reconcile after fights... and... and...’

No one invited me to lunch.

"......."

The classroom was silent during the empty lunch hour. An eerie quietness at 12:45 PM. No one was wandering in the corridors. The wind blew through the window, making the white curtains flutter.

“Damn them…”

I muttered as I stood up.

“I could at least get a word. Right? Just a word…”

Suddenly, I felt an unfathomable sense of shame. Walking around without knowing a note was stuck on my back. Being mocked by these leech-like kids. Being dumped via text. Everything was humiliating.

“Wretched beings. Not even human…”

I rummaged through my classmates' desk drawers one by one.

Scouring.

There might be evidence about the culprit. Maybe specific instructions, like when to send me a note or what the content should be.

‘Please let there be something. Please!’

That’s when it happened.

“……Hwang Eun-Seo, what are you doing?”

Startled, I turned around. I was caught searching through the drawers, my posture awkward. Behind me, four classmates stood at the classroom's back door.

“Uh,"

I stammered.

“Just a moment.”

“A moment? What for?”

“Just checking something…”

“Why are you rummaging through others' desks? Are you crazy?”

No.

“Hey, Hwang Eun-Seo rummaged through our desks!”

“What?”

It’s not like that.

“Why are you searching through others' desks…?”

“Didn’t you do this before?”

Listen to me.

"Wow. That’s disgusting…”

It's not like that.

Please listen to me.

You are being manipulated right now. Don’t you see? You’re being used without knowing it. You need to realize that. You, too, are guilty of what I did. I’m on your side!

We're on the same team!

One team!

One team!

Attacking me will be your downfall. Seriously. Who else will stand up for you if not me? I made the [Kim Yul Game] for you guys. I entertained you. I provided amusement. Who did? I did!

Defend me, idiots!

Don’t be mindlessly manipulated. Understand who’s on your side! This is a conspiracy. A slander. I am wronged. You trash! Even if you're dumb, can't you discern who's a friend and who's a foe?

Don’t you have any loyalty!

We have had plenty of fun together until now. You enjoyed tormenting Kim Yul too. You mocked that idiot Kim Yul to your hearts’ content for living in a garbage dump with a single father who collects trash! You pieces of garbage! Why are you trying to tear apart your ‘leader’ now!

‘I feel wronged…’

Word spread quickly among the students that I had rummaged through the drawers during lunch. Sure, I searched them. So what? But my classmates seemed to think that [Hwang Eun-Seo rummaging through the classroom desks] was a far more serious offense than [they had also bullied Kim Yul].

‘I am wronged…’

The ones who always smiled and called me [Director, Director]. Betraying me just because the culprit slightly threatened them. How much I’ve served for the joy of the classroom.

‘I feel so wronged I could die...’

Nothing changed even after school.

In the morning, at least my friends pretended to feel sorry. They pretended. But after what happened at lunchtime, their eyes changed. They looked at me coldly as though I were some unforgivable monster.

‘Crazy bastards.’

What crime have I committed?

I feel wronged.

So wronged.

.......

“Hwang Eun-Seo.”

In the empty classroom, after all the students had left.

“Sorry, but can I talk to you for a moment?”

The class president spoke.

Today, the president was the only one who maintained a stoic expression throughout.

“What is it…?”

“I would have preferred not to get involved, but the homeroom teacher and other students have been talking to me about it. As the class president, I feel like I should at least pretend to care.”

“Ha……"

I could not even sneer that the class president was meddling again. This was the first classmate to speak to me since lunchtime. Put kindly, the class president was a model student. Put unkindly, a voluntary loner. Maybe that was why the class president could ignore the mood around us.

“Is something wrong?”

"......."

Suddenly, I saw an escape from this hellish situation.

‘Right. The class president.’

The class president gets good grades and is quietly favored by the teachers. The other students rarely bother the class president either. Perhaps it is innate, but an aloof air hangs around him, making him difficult to approach.

Let’s start by persuading the president and gradually turn the situation around.

“Well. Actually……."

And then I shared how wronged I felt.

Maybe I slightly ignored Kim Yul all this time. But someone jealous of me dating a rich girl spread absurd rumors. I feel so wronged. But the classmates won’t even listen to me.

Please help.

"......."

For about 30 minutes, the president listened to my complaints with an indifferent attitude. He didn’t interrupt or argue. Just listened with the same attitude as always, which I appreciated.

“I see. I understand why you feel wronged, Eun-seo. You must feel terribly wronged. Kids really can turn cold when they decide something is none of their business.”

“Exactly.”

“But I’m not sure how I can help. What to do…”

The president pondered. The contemplation lasted a long time. Even someone like me, not close to him, could tell he was deeply thinking. We both stayed silent. After a while, the president raised his head.

“Ah.”

The president tapped the desk.

“Eun-Seo, how about this? From what I see, the only way to solve this problem is for you to get forgiveness from Kim Yul.”

“From Kim Yul…?”

“Yes. To be blunt, all the other kids are outsiders to the matter. If Kim Yul, the person directly involved, forgives you, none of the others will be able to say a word.”

"......."

I hadn’t thought of this solution. But it made sense. No matter what the other kids say, if Kim Yul just says one thing, [I now forgive Hwang Eun-Seo], the classmates will have nothing to say.

“But...”

There’s a problem.

“Will Kim Yul accept my apology? I don’t think he will…”

“Don’t worry. It will be a nuisance, but I suppose I can at least try talking to Kim Yul.”

The president smiled gently.

“I’ll help you out, Hwang Eun-Seo.”

It was a very kind smile.

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