.

Standing in the strong light, Ban Hwee Hyul looked overwhelmingly captivating with his robust physique. While he drew all our attention, he looked around the space with his subdued, bloody red eyes. Then he uttered heavily, “If there’s anyone who wants to fight me, raise your hand.”

“…”

Of course, no one raised their hand.

Ban Hwee Hyul continued speaking in a low voice, “Then, I am the Number one. It’s a bit early to say this, but as the Number one, I would like to give an order.”

Everyone blinked swiftly at his announcement as if we all just woke up from a dream. Looking at each other, we whispered, ‘What the heck is he talking about?’

“As of today, there will be no more Ranking Battles.”

“What?”

“Bull**! Then how can…”

Most of the people couldn’t say anything under Ban Hwee Hyul’s threatening charisma, but they were different, at least, this time.

A boy with a brush-up hairstyle raised his hand and asked, “Then how can the ranked fighters measure their strengths?”

“That won’t be measured anymore.”

“… Why?”

“Because ranking people by their strength is meaningless.”

The nation’s strongest and toughest teenager asserted that having great physical strength had no significance. Everyone became quiet at his remark. Meanwhile, Ban Hwee Hyul placed his hand on the podium and continued his speech.

“As Jung Yohan mentioned earlier, back then, I believed that only the visible exertion of force was real. Since I was born with great strength, I didn’t care about those who weren’t born like me. Neither did I doubt that they should always live, being conscious of the strong.”

Ban Hwee Hyul opened his fist and continued, “But my brother, Jung Yohan, and Ham Donnie… these people have taught me that irritating the strong doesn’t scare them the most; it’s about themselves not being able to practice what they believe in fear of disturbing the strong. That’s what they’re most afraid of. If that’s the case, the weak isn’t bothering the strong; it’s the strong who disturbs the peace. Thus, the strong must leave. They should be gone.”

“…”

“Ham Donnie, in particular, was as weak as mosquito larvae, but she impressed me, trying to help me who’s been an outcast.”

As he spoke that part while staring at me, I was now receiving all the crowd’s attention.

Furrowing my brows, I said to myself, ‘Why don’t you just remember my name wrong this time…?’

Thankfully, Ban Hwee Hyul soon took his eyes off me. Just in time, someone threw a question and drew his attention. It was, surprisingly, someone I knew.

“What is it, Dae Lisa?”

Swinging her wavy red hair, Dae Lisa raised her hand and uttered, “Ranking battle has been an official way to see the hierarchy of strength among students. By closing the system, everyone will look equal at a glance. It sounds good, Ban Hwee Hyul, but…”

Dae Lisa continued speaking confidently, “In the end, it indicates that we’re returning to the state of nature, a state of utter chaos. I don’t know if you heard about the war of all against all. Why would they start ranking the strongest in the first place? Since the difference between powers wasn’t distinguished, unnecessary disputes and conflicts kept taking place. That’s why they came up to decide the ranks at once and stay in peace for the rest of the year. But if you get rid of it, will you be able to take responsibility for future strife? What about regular students being involved in there?”

“I guess you’re misunderstanding something. I didn’t say I’d eliminate all the titles or ranks immediately. It’s just the Ranking Battle that won’t be held anymore.”

“What? Does that even mean anything?”

“Of course, it does. Those in the upper-tier monitor those in the lower tier. If they harm regular students, there will receive much punishment.”

Ban Hwee Hyul replied composedly then clenched his fist again to continue his words.

“From now on, we’ll be using the same way to manage the ranked fighters as the moderates did in the past. For those who caused trouble, the higher their ranks are, the bigger the disadvantages will be. However, there are no advantages as before. It’s an obligation.”

“…”

Looking around the gym enveloped by a deafening silence, Ban Hwee Hyul spoke in a low voice.

“Some will consider that their ranks aren’t defining who they really are but just prisoner numbers. But, it’s ridiculous in the first place to think that we must get rewarded for being strong. Don’t you think so? We’re just students. If you don’t like prisoner numbers, return your rank or title, and just go back to a regular student. But that won’t please you either.”

Ban Hwee Hyul narrowed his eyes to those who were flinching. He uttered, “The rank you got wasn’t a medal that you struggled for; it’s just a fancy outfit to boast yourself.”

“Let’s go,” I urged, nudging Ban Yeo Ryung and Jooin with my elbow.

When I also asked Eun Hyung to go outside with us, he seemed to have some mixed feelings. Then he responded that he would keep an eye out on this matter till the end, probably feeling responsible for seeing the ending of this since he’s deeply involved in the situation. Indeed, Eun Hyung was such a reliable and mature person.

Gently exclaiming at his personality, we left the gym at Sung Woon Science High School. Thankfully, no one blocked our way out. It was just a few people whispering, ‘Mosquito larvae…’ to me in which I hoped them to please forget my name.

Then, at last, the empty schoolyard came into view. Watching the sight, I heaved a sigh.

“A web novel with Ban Hwee Hyul as one of the main characters won’t be about ‘revolution’ or something like that…” I uttered.

“What?” asked Yeo Ryung.

Shaking my head, I just took a step forward while making a long face.

That very day, Ranking Battle with a long history finally came to an end in this world of a web novel. I was able to hear from Ruda, Eun Hyung, and Dae Lisa, those who stayed until the end of the fuss, about what had happened afterward.

According to Ruda, who called me after a few hours, Ban Hwee Hyul told Jung Yohan that he would hand over his Number one title back to him. However, Jung Yohan left the gym, yelling out he doesn’t need it right away.

In the end, Jung Yohan didn’t receive any titles, but for some reason, the view of his back receding away looked carefree. Perhaps he was satisfied with the Ranking Battle fading into the mists of history rather than himself becoming the Number one–That was what Ruda said.

Eun Hyung, who sat through the entire game to bring it to a successful conclusion, also confronted an unexpected situation like a bolt from the blue.

“Go cheer him up later,” said Ruda. He stopped explaining the situation out of the blue and changed the topic that way.

Yeo Ryung and I flickered our eyes then exchanged eye contact.

“Why?” I asked.

Ruda continued his words with a sigh, “Ban Hwee Hyul babbled something like, ‘I became the Number one, but you’ve taught me something significant than a rank or title.’ He then grabbed Eun Hyung’s hand and…”

Ah… I could get what happened next even without hearing the rest of the story… While I exchanged eye contact again with Yeo Ryung, Ruda kept on explaining.

“He announced, ‘As of today, we’ll have this guy as the nationwide Number zero in respect of the meaning we’re gonna pursue from now on.’ The whole space soon turned into chaos.”

“Geez…”

“You should have watched the look on Kwon Eun Hyung’s face. Can’t articulate in words…” said Ruda.

I sighed, shaking my head, at his remark. Even though I wasn’t able to see Eun Hyung’s face at that time, I could imagine how he had looked like. Well, maybe Eun Hyung would have looked just the same as the moment he punched Ban Hwee Hyul and snatched his Number one title.

The Ranking Battle ended, giving Eun Hyung the nationwide Number zero position that he never wished to have. Though it was a bummer, there was also good news.

The next day at school, we felt a little strange since Ban Hwee Hyul didn’t come to school, but later during the class changing time, we were able to hear from the Four Heavenly Kings about what was going on.

Surprisingly, Yoo Chun Young was the one who delivered the good news.