Relationship Formation
Gang Hanbyeol, who had not long enrolled in the Academy, met Do Gyeonu by chance.
On the way back to the dormitory, he heard what sounded like someone sniffling somewhere.
「???」
―S-Stop it already! I’m sorry, I was wrong….
「Gang Hanbyeol」
―I think I heard something over there…. Should I go check?
Gang Hanbyeol was not the type of person who could ever turn a blind eye to another’s misfortune.
Hearing the voice of someone in distress, he moved toward the back of the building.
And there, he met Do Gyeonu, who was being bullied by triplets.
「Gang Hanbyeol」
―What do you think you’re doing right now? Ganging up on him three-on-one, how cowardly. Are you okay? Are you hurt?
「Wu Geumdong & Wu Eundong & Wu Dongdong」
―Hey, what’s he saying? Who is he?
―Don’t know who he is, but mind your own business and beat it.
―Looks like he doesn’t know who we are. If you don’t want to get hurt, go home and wash your feet!
「Gang Hanbyeol」
―You? Who are you?
「Wu Geumdong & Wu Eundong & Wu Dongdong」
―Heh heh, he asked who we are! If we must tell you!
―Gatekeepers of Hell!
―Three-Headed Hound!
―Wu Geumdong!
―Wu Eundong!
―Wu Dongdong!
―We are Geumgang Academy’s Cerberus!
「Gang Hanbyeol」
―Cerberus…. You must be quite strong to have such an epithet.
From this encounter.
Gang Hanbyeol clashed with the triplets.
The triplets appeared as more troublesome opponents than the monsters faced in the tutorial, or the extra underclassmen who looked down on him and requested spars.
Naturally.
Individually, none of them could compare to Gang Hanbyeol, but their coordination was outstanding.
For players new to the game or lacking in control skill, this could be called the first major hurdle.
「Gang Hanbyeol」
―Not bad?
Through this battle, the player learns how to face multiple opponents.
After safely defeating the triplets, the player can recruit Do Gyeonu into the party, following Park Saguun and Lisa.
「Wu Geumdong & Wu Eundong & Wu Dongdong」
―Damn it, to think he was Lord Tuigui’s disciple…!
―Just you wait! You don’t know who’s behind us?!
―You’ll regret this next time, but it’ll be too late!
「Gang Hanbyeol」
―Hmph, come again if you dare. If they try to bully you again, tell me. I’ll teach them a lesson. I’m Gang Hanbyeol. And you?
「???」
―I’m… Do Gyeonu. Thank you so much for helping me.
「Gang Hanbyeol」
―Do Gyeonu? You’re not from some prestigious family, are you? With the surname Do, and carrying a sword, I thought maybe the Divine Sword Do Clan…. Ah, no way.
「Do Gyeonu」
―Yes, that’s my clan. I… don’t receive proper treatment, though….
「Gang Hanbyeol」
―What? Really from the Divine Sword Do Clan? And you just let those guys push you around?
「Do Gyeonu」
―Haha… It is a bit like that, isn’t it?
「Gang Hanbyeol」
―Forget it, let’s spar! I’ve wanted to fight someone from the Divine Sword Do Clan anyway, so this is perfect!
「Do Gyeonu」
―Sorry, but fighting isn’t really my thing….
Through this event.
Gang Hanbyeol deepened his friendship with Do Gyeonu. Under the pretext of sharing the same swordsmanship lineage, they met frequently, allowing Gang Hanbyeol to learn his character, regard him as a trustworthy companion, and become entangled with a prestigious clan.
In that sense.
“You guys, bully me a little.”
“Huh? What are you talking about all of a sudden?”
“There he goes with the weird talk again.”
“You think we’re crazy enough to bully you?”
Just as first impressions are important, so too is the first meeting.
To button the first button correctly, I had decided to trigger the event as it happened in the game.
* * *
Behind the Dimension Hall.
I called the triplets and Yeon Haneul to a place rarely tread by human feet and explained the general situation.
The triplets all made absurd expressions upon hearing the story.
“No, so like.”
“You want to get friendly with Lord Tuigui’s disciple but don’t have a good opportunity, so.”
“You want us to bully you so you can stage a situation where he helps you?”
“And we get beaten up by him?”
“What, are we some third-rate villain extras?”
“Did we hear that right?”
“You understood well. Lisa said earlier that she’s on her way to the dormitory with Gang Hanbyeol, so if we wait here….”
“What kind of dogshit is this!?”
The triplets opposed in unison.
They glared with fire in their eyes, demanding I say something sensible.
Whenever an argument broke out between me and them, Yeon Haneul would always take my side, or at least passively claim neutrality when she disagreed—but this time, she sided with them.
“I think the same as the twins. Your clan may have ordered you to build a connection with Lord Tuigui’s disciple, but this doesn’t seem right.”
“Hmm… Is that so.”
“It’s not some old drama; who in the world becomes friends like that these days? Nowadays, if a drama made people become friends like that, the writer gets cursed at for forcing a contrived development because they didn’t want to build plausibility. At least if it were a male-female relationship, some people would defend it, but between a man and a man…. No, wait, it might actually work…. It’s fresh?”
Yeon Haneul, who had been lecturing me, suddenly fell deep into thought, as if some idea had struck her.
Her rabbit ears twitched repeatedly.
“No…. But I can’t let it go that way. I can’t let Gyeonu fall into that.”
“Haneul? So what’s your conclusion?”
“Ahem! If you want to get close to him, find a different way than what you’re saying. He’s in the same class as Lisa anyway. Wouldn’t it be better to ask Lisa for an introduction?”
“Exactly! Exactly!”
“Haneul’s right!”
“We don’t need to do that!?”
Snapping back to her senses with a cough, Yeon Haneul laid down the proper argument.
The triplets added their strength to hers.
‘Well, she’s not wrong, but…’
In fact, Yeon Haneul was right.
There was no need to force an incident; simply asking Lisa for an introduction would easily resolve it.
Surely I had thought of that.
However, I couldn’t help but be cautious with Gang Hanbyeol, the protagonist of the game.
‘Gang Hanbyeol is an irreplaceable existence. No matter how strong the others or I become, we can’t resolve the incidents of the future without his power.’
Though it was unlikely, if I buttoned the first button wrong, my relationship with Gang Hanbyeol could sour.
Not wanting that situation, I simply wanted to proceed with the meeting event between Gang Hanbyeol and Do Gyeonu exactly as it appeared in the game.
That method was the safest.
Of course, I couldn’t deny there was some personal desire mixed in.
‘Not only do I get to witness a game event with my own eyes, but I can participate in it as the person involved—how could I resist?’
As someone who had been a veteran player of the game in my previous life, my heart swelled with excitement.
My fan’s heart could not be extinguished.
If it affected the story, that would be one thing, but since it doesn’t, couldn’t this be considered compensation for all the hardships I’ll endure?
“So, henchmen, bully me.”
“….”
I showed Yeon Haneul and the triplets that I had absolutely no intention of changing my mind.
Then I persuaded the triplets.
“Why are you trying to act nice all of a sudden? Haven’t you bullied me before? Just bully me like you used to. I’ll stay still and take it, and I won’t say anything later, so don’t hold back and just bully me.”
“Hey, no matter what…”
“You’re not testing us with this, are you?”
“How could we bully you!?”
“Don’t worry about outside perception. There’s no one here but us, so be honest about how you feel. Honestly, you’ve been talking behind my back all this time, haven’t you? Let’s be a little honest. Hmm?”
“….”
“I’ll overlook what happens here today as if it never happened. So don’t feel burdened and bully me.”
“Do Gyeonu.”
“Are you serious?”
“You’re not lying?”
“What? Should I record it?”
Only now did the triplets show interest.
Their eyes sparkled as if tempted.
Perhaps because they had suffered greatly at my hands, their gazes were ominous.
I cautioned them.
“However.”
“…?”
“If you leave so much as a scratch on my body, you’ll die by my hand.”
“Hey, you crazy bastard!”
“You’re the one who told us to bully you!”
“Do you want us to bully you or not!?”
“Isn’t that guy completely psycho?”
“If you hate us, just say you hate us!”
“So eager to be bullied!”
“That’s why I’m telling you to keep it in line. Hit me without hurting me, throw some dirt, act like you’re hitting me. Isn’t that enough?”
“Hah, seriously. Hit you without hurting…”
“You want us to make sound effects? Pew! Pow! Pssh! Something like that?”
“And then get beaten up by him? Do Gyeonu’s personality….”
“Stop complaining and just do it. Do you have a right of refusal? If I say strip, you strip.”
“Now his true colors show.”
“He treats us like dogs….”
“…But we are dogs. Heh.”
“Name and rank.”
“Lackey Geum!”
“Lackey Eun!”
“Lackey Dong!”
“Hurry up and bully me. Execute.”
“Executing! Loyalty! Loyalty!”
I had no intention of just shooting the breeze with the triplets like this.
I pressed them.
In the end, unable to overcome my words, they changed their momentum and rushed at me.
Though they groaned at me, their faces seemed to contain the emotion of wanting to somehow torment me.
I decided to be especially generous and overlook their rudeness just this once.
I was going to.
“Wait.”
“W-What suddenly!?”
I dodged the triplets’ fists and put distance between us.
They were flustered by my reaction.
“To know how I should act to draw out as much sympathy as possible from people, don’t I need to first see it from a third party’s perspective?”
“So what?”
“So I’ll watch for now; you guys try bullying each other.”
“What?”
“From now on, fight each other.”
“….”
Since there’s only one chance, I need to show something as realistic as possible without looking like acting, shouldn’t I?
As expected, I seem to be quite meticulous.
I should test it with the triplets.
* * *
A ruthless and cruel bastard.
If such a bastard existed in the world, it was without a doubt Do Gyeonu.
For nearly five years—or for the rest of their lives if the world didn’t end—the triplets, who would have to live as henchmen under Do Gyeonu, could be sure of it.
“….”
“Who in the world would believe that guy is from the Divine Sword Do Clan….”
“Hyungs, so what are we going to do?”
And now he tells them to fight each other as if staging a sideshow.
The triplets couldn’t help but tremble at Do Gyeonu’s demonic command.
Even Do Seungu, whom they once served under, had not treated them like this.
But what could they do?
Do Gyeonu was the absolute superior.
They were nothing but inferiors.
Just as he had said so naturally moments ago, if he told them to strip, they had to strip.
Sad as it was, that was their reality.
They had no choice.
“What do you mean what? He says fight, so we fight.”
“Sigh… It can’t be helped.”
“…Got it. Let’s hit each other lightly.”
In the end, the triplets decided to hit and fight each other.
Feigning, not fighting earnestly.
So they just lightly tapped each other.
It would never pass the eyes of Do Gyeonu, who was watching while claiming to be a third party.
He, who had been standing with arms crossed and a deadpan face, directed them like a supervisor.
“Is that all you can act? With that, how could you bully me?”
“….”
“Spit out some decent lines, show some dynamic movement. That’s how it becomes stimulating and the atmosphere comes alive.”
That psycho, seriously.
He seemed like someone afflicted with masterpiece syndrome.
The triplets, scrunching up their faces all at once, chewed curses at Do Gyeonu inwardly and decided to do as he wished.
“Hey, do I look easy to you just because we’re the same age? I was still born before you, so show some respect from now on.”
“What are you saying when it’s just a few minutes? Besides, I told you to lift the toilet seat when you pee! You keep getting it all over the seat because you can’t aim! Or at least splash some water on it when you’re done!”
“You’re the same, Eundong hyung. You think I’m a joke because I’m the youngest, don’t you? Why do you always try to make me do it whenever the toilet gets clogged!”
Slap, slap, slap.
The triplets hurled harsh words as they fought like they meant to devour one another.
At first it had been acting, but at some point, it stopped being an act.
They had been swallowed by their emotions.
In that situation.
“Now try throwing dirt on each other, and rip up the uniforms too.”
Do Gyeonu, looking satisfied, egged the triplets on.
Even as they fought while venting the grudges they had built up against one another, they diligently carried out the task.
Riiip!
U Geumdong grabbed U Dongdong’s uniform.
The uniform, which boasted outstanding durability, tore apart with surprising ease.
That was partly because U Geumdong’s hand was imbued with mana, and partly because U Dongdong had not activated the uniform’s functions.
And then, as if to pay him back, U Dongdong—
Riiip!
—out of nowhere, tore U Eundong’s uniform.
The three of them tumbled over one another, rolling across the ground at times, stripping and tearing at whatever part of each other’s uniforms they could get their hands on.
They were so focused that they felt not the slightest shame at exposing bare skin.
Rather, the triplets were enjoying the moment as if intoxicated by something.
‘What are we even doing right now?’
‘Ah, but this is kind of fun.’
‘This Eundong guy, he’s pretty….’
What distinguishes humans, who live within the rules and norms set by their members, from beasts is the fact that humans wear clothes.
By wearing clothes, humans prove that they are beings different from beasts, living in a different world.
In other words, human clothing is society.
Riiip!
By tearing and stripping away those clothes.
The triplets felt a pleasure akin to tearing away rules and norms, then society, and beyond that, the world itself.
The sense of transgression could not be put into words.
At the same time, as their own clothes were torn and stripped away, a feeling of liberation welled up within them.
It was as if the beastly nature they had hidden by wearing clothes was awakening.
They realized!
‘Ah… When you think about it, humans and beasts are only separated by a single layer.’
Humanity had long driven itself into the censorship of rules and norms, imposed by one another, and repressed itself.
That was what had made humanity unhappy.
Therefore, for humanity to become happy, it had to quickly break free from the suffocating rules and norms and return to nature.
They had to live freely, like beasts!
Ahaha, ahaha, ahaha….
“Hmm….”
Do Gyeonu watched them, looking unsightly as they sank into their own world, and frowned.
“This is disgusting.”
It felt like his eyes had been tainted.
He rubbed his brow with his hand.
It seemed he had made a mistake in judgment.
‘Thinking about it again, there’s nothing good about forcing a meeting. They’ll learn each other’s personalities naturally as they get to know each other anyway…. If I reveal the truth then, they might even call it deception.’
People who were meant to become close would become close.
No matter how one tried to manipulate relationships artificially, relationships that would not work simply would not work.
Do Gyeonu, who had been briefly excited in anticipation of meeting Gang Hanbyeol, was able to calmly settle his thoughts.
“Yeah, I’ll just have Lisa introduce us. Guys, good work.”
As if it were nothing.
Do Gyeonu encouraged the triplets, who were sprawled on the floor in their ragged clothes, panting for breath.
His expression looked refreshed.
The expressions of the triplets, who had finally come back to their senses, were rotting away.
“Why did we….”
“Do this….”
“Seriously….”
Meanwhile, Yeon Haneul was looking at Do Gyeonu and the triplets with cold, utterly unimpressed eyes.
She muttered as if they were pathetic.
“Why am I friends with them….”
* * *
It was a shame, but it couldn’t be helped.
I decided to give up on the encounter event.
That very day, I contacted Lisa and asked her to introduce me to Gang Hanbyeol.
She gladly arranged the meeting.
And so, the next day.
“Ah, Gyeonu. Over here.”
After finishing our morning classes, Min Arin and I met Gang Hanbyeol at the cafeteria.
Lisa waved at me.
Around her, I could see Yeon Haneul, Go Eunbi, Yong Haerang, Bak Sagun, and the triplets, who had arrived before us.
Lastly, I saw Gang Hanbyeol as well.
‘I’m finally seeing his face.’
Hair a darker brown than Go Eunbi’s.
A face with a bright, refreshing impression that could only be described as handsome.
I was finally facing Gang Hanbyeol.
“Hi!?”
When our eyes met.
Gang Hanbyeol greeted me with a bright smile.
It was exactly like the personality he had shown in the game.
Cheerful and full of confidence.
I placed my tray down and took a seat, answering his greeting.
“Hi, I’m Do Gyeonu. I’ve wanted to meet the Battle Demon’s disciple for a while now, so I’m really glad to meet you like this.”
“Nice to meet you too! I’m Gang Hanbyeol. I’ve heard plenty about your family from my master for a long time. I heard you’re incredibly good with a sword? You even entered as the second-ranked student this time. That must mean you’re strong, right?”
“You’re the Battle Demon’s disciple yourself, so I’m sure you’re good with weapons too. You must be strong as well.”
Fortunately, nothing I had worried about happened.
Gang Hanbyeol’s gaze was extremely friendly.
It felt like we could get along.
That was the feeling I got.
Just as I was thinking that.
“So, on that note, after lunch, want to spar and see who’s stronger?”
“Hm?”
He was asking for a spar right off the bat.
It was abrupt, but it was very much like Gang Hanbyeol.
After blinking quietly for a moment, I soon let out a chuckle.
“Sure, sounds good. But if I win….”
“Oh, are we making a bet? Sure, sounds good! What should we bet?”
“Give me your number.”
“Huh?”
This time, Gang Hanbyeol blinked in confusion.
Then he burst into laughter.
“Got it. I’ll give you my number. If I win, you give me yours.”
“Deal.”
The spar was set.
I Became the Childhood Friend of the Middle Boss