.

However, even at a glance, the person didn’t seem like someone I knew. His messy black hair, disheveled by dirt and dust, still emitted an impressive existence, so if he was in my class, I would definitely recognize him.

Was he then an upper-grade student such as a senior?

His overall physique, revealed through his uniform, looked unexpectedly robust that I could hardly understand why he was getting attacked without any resistance.

Lowering my head, I finished sending the message written, ‘Someone’s getting beaten in front of XXX apartment. Please come here ASAP!’ After a moment of hesitance, I carried my bag over my shoulder again.

Honestly, I wanted to see how things would proceed until the cops arrived since I reported a crime scene, but if I kept staying here, I had no idea when I would get caught.

‘Sorry, I’m scared, and I want to feel safe too…’ Murmuring those words in a small voice, I turned around and tried to take a step forward. If I didn’t hear the following words, I would have done that.

A gasping voice shouted, “Hey, look at his name tag. His name is Ban Hwee Hyul!”

‘What did he just say???’

I quickly turned my head.

Some parts inside my head began to deny my memories in the past. ‘Ban Hwee Hyul? I never heard such a name like that!’

No way, why would I not get that name? How on earth could I forget such a name?! My tranquil heart started to throb breathlessly in a flash as if I just crossed the finish line of a marathon.

Bending down deeply with my bag in my arms, I stuck my head out again to glance inside the parking lot. ‘This is insane!!’ I yelled to myself.

Another boy, who was beating Ban Hwee Hyul with other boys, bent his waist backward and was bursting into laughter as if he felt so excited.

“Holy sh*t! Doesn’t that name belong to the missing nationwide Number 1? What a coincidence! It isn’t a common name, is it?”

One of the boys lifted his leg with a naughty grin and gently stepped on Ban Hwee Hyul’s shoulder. He then shouted, “Very true. How can you have the same first and last name? Hey, Mr. Ban Hwee Hyul, the nationwide Number 1, don’t you really have any money?”

The boy, who still laughed insanely, replied, “Dude, stop that. What if he really is the nationwide Number 1?”

“Bahaha! What a joke!!”

Watching the boys laughing to death at their silly jokes, I showed a puzzled look on my face.

‘Guys, you shouldn’t be doing that…’

Meanwhile, the groups of boys were consistently harassing Ban Hwee Hyul with their feet.

“Ahahaha, hey, dude! Mr. Ban, say something!”

Please guys, you really shouldn’t do that.

“Mr. Nationwide Number 1 Ban Hwee Hyul, show us what you got! Bahahaha!!”

I said so, stop!

“Hahaha! Ayo, our nation’s Number 1 fighter, show us some killer moves!”

‘Why couldn’t you guys see through your eyes?!!!’ I couldn’t help but shout to myself.

Like a plush toy, Ban Hwee Hyul didn’t show any signs of resistance but just sat down on the ground and endured their savage kicks quietly. His sagging shoulders and released waist had no will to defend himself or pursue any primary needs for life.

However, his eyes were different. A pair of eyes under his messy black hair, which looked like it wasn’t trimmed for a few months, was shining sharply in bloody red. Although he was wearing some thick glasses, that vivid red light wasn’t concealed at all.

Checking his look to that extent, I covered my forehead with my hands in agony and shouted to myself, ‘Gosh! This is going nuts!’

My guts were telling me… no, not just telling me, they were alarming me crazily that the boy there was really Ban Hwee Hyul.

Why on earth was that boy, who was known as missing, getting beaten in a place so close to my house? I shrieked to myself again.

Aside from the fact that I was accepting this world as my reality, the law of web novels seemed to still operate normally, or else that boy couldn’t just hide his threatening physique with messy black hair or some thick glasses.

Where did those group of bastards, who were beating Ban Hwee Hyul fearlessly, have their eyes on? Putting my back behind the pillar outside the parking lot, I still stuck out my head with my eyes wide open.

The sun was setting; the rain was about to pour, so the lot had almost no light, but my eyes were soon getting used to the darkness. I could figure out Ban Hwee Hyul’s appearance through the dim light.

Oh, lord… they said nationwide top-tier fighters in web novels also occupied the highest ranks in appearances. It wasn’t a lie since I was facing the truth right in front of me. His nose under the thick glasses looked so straight and sharp that I could understand the term ‘blade-like’ nose ridge.

So to speak about his jawline, it looked thicker and more chiseled than Eun Jiho or Yoo Chun Young. In other words, his facial features were very masculine.

Besides, as I mentioned earlier, his overall physique such as shoulders, arms, and leg muscles was no joke. I could tell how muscular he was even through his school uniform. Perhaps he was born that way. I nodded my head.

What drew my attention the most from his entire look was… I swallowed my breath and stared at his eyes over the glasses. His red and clear pupils that looked slightly out of angle probably because of wearing glasses of heavy lenses…

I touched my forehead with a groan. Why, for what reason was the missing, nationwide Number 1 involved in such an incident at a place like this? I mean, was it something better to happen?

I quickly lifted my head. The reason why I was staying here in the first place was that I tried to prevent any life damage taking place before the cops arrived; however, the person, who was getting beaten, was none other than the nation’s Number 1 fighter, who even had a mighty physique.

Therefore, no matter how much Ban Hwee Hyul got attacked by some boys in this place, he wouldn’t be carried off on a stretcher, would he? Having that conclusion in mind, I began to step back stealthily.

‘Hey, Mr. Ban Hwee Hyul, I’m a little sorry to leave you here, but I called the cops and played my role of Neighbor 1 quite successfully…’

That was when I tried to take another step back. I heard two boys making sarcastic remarks.

“Ahahaha! Hey, how come you’re the nationwide Number 1 but have no money, huh?”

With a shaking noise, something light fell to the ground with a thud. I thought it might be something like a wallet. It sounded that much light.

I heard other voices babbling, “Dude, stop using that term. It makes me sick to use honorifics to that douchebag.”

“Hey, when would I have another chance to call the nationwide Number 1’s name this way?”

‘You are enthusiastically calling that name in front of the actual person, DOUCHEBAG,’ I said inwardly while touching my forehead. I soon moved my steps again determinedly.

‘Okay, this is enough. I don’t have any will to protect the lives of those who can’t even assume that they are insulting the real Ban Hwee Hyul even though they’re facing those red eyes and the bulky body…’

“Give me back my wallet.”

My will to protect…

I quickly raised my head. Didn’t I hear a voice just now which sounded utterly different from those that I heard?

Dark clouds covered the whole sky. The air was wet and heavy. The voice just now that sounded lower and heavier than the air struck terror into my heart.

I turned my head with a creak like a broken robot. The boys, who still didn’t grasp the overall situation, kept on speaking nastily.

“Ha, what did he just say?”

“My brother gave me that wallet.”

Holy mother of pearl! I had a hunch that the boys stepped on a mine just now. In other words, they just pulled the pin off a hand grenade.

Earlier in the café, Eun Hyung mentioned about the reason why Ban Hwee Hyul vanished without a trace voluntarily. It was because of his little brother.