The abandoned building was already in sight.
Tall, gray, like a skeleton of concrete forgotten among the streets of Gangbuk. The broken windows looked like empty eyes. Its walls, peeling from age, still carried old gang graffiti from gangs that no longer existed. Nobody approached. It was neutral territory… for now.
As we approached the entrance, the system activated with a soft buzz in my head.
— — — [System] — — —
Displaying stats…
— — — — — — — — —
— — — [Suhyeon Kim] — — —
Strength: C
Speed: C+
Stamina: B
Intelligence: A+
Potential: B
— — — — — — — — — — —
"Not bad."
My body felt solid. My reflexes had sharpened. My stamina improved every day. And intelligence… well, that no longer surprised me.
— — — [Gukja Yang] — — —
Strength: C+
Speed: E+
Stamina: B
Intelligence: D+
Potential: S
— — — — — — — — — — —
I smiled slightly at his stats.
Gukja was a walking paradox. Strong, durable… but slow as a snail on crutches. Yet his potential was ridiculously high.
— — — [Hyundong Lee] — — —
Strength: C
Speed: C
Stamina: B
Intelligence: B
Potential: F
— — — — — — — — — — — —
Hyundong wasn't brilliant. Nor a prodigy. But he had something harder to find.
"Loyalty. That was worth more than broken potential."
I stopped right in front of the white sheet.
"It's time," I said.
Hyundong swallowed hard. Gukja took a deep breath.
With one hand, I pulled the sheet away. The large hall was dimly lit, spotlights centered on the stage.
The moment I stepped inside, my eyes immediately fixed on a tall boy with dark hair and closed eyes.
Seok Kang.
The leader of South Gangbuk High.
His calm smile, relaxed posture… it was all part of a façade. I knew the moment our eyes—or what should have been eye contact—met.
"Welcome," he said in a friendly tone, almost too friendly. "You're Suhyeon Kim, from West Gangbuk, right?"
I nodded calmly without breaking eye contact. "That's right. And you must be Seok Kang, from the South."
I stepped forward and extended my hand.
He shook it slowly, still smiling. But the tension in the air thickened.
From his point of view…
"So this is Suhyeon Kim…" he thought while holding my hand. "Younger than I expected. And confident."
His closed eyes didn't stop him from reading the scene.
"He only brought two people… self-confidence or ignorance? Who's the chubby one with the bandage? And the other one, puppy face?"
"Tell me something, Suhyeon," he said without letting go of my hand. "I heard you defeated Hajun Gu. I never got along with him. How about we join forces from now on?"
An offer thrown as bait. Fake cordiality wrapped in silk.
"Your proposal is tempting, Seok… but…"
I released his hand and ran my fingers through my hair, messing it up naturally.
"Wouldn't that be unfair to Jaeha Han?"
Just then, heavy, loud footsteps echoed. A boy with blond hair, an arrogant expression, and an aggressive aura that seemed ready to set everything on fire appeared.
"Damn…" I murmured, dragging the words. "I get delayed a few seconds, and alliances are already forming."
Seok Kang turned his attention to the newcomer, making his smile even wider.
Jaeha Han.
The leader of West Gangbuk High, probably the hungriest wolf in the room.
His energy was different, aggressive. It showed in the way he walked, in how his eyes scanned the place as if it already belonged to him.
But Seok didn't lose his friendly tone. On the contrary, he made it even sweeter. "Oh, look who's here… What a surprise. I didn't know you'd come, my friend."
His voice dripped with sarcasm, delivered with an almost elegant softness. A provocation disguised as courtesy.
"I thought you'd still be busy conquering the East hallways."
Jaeha frowned. Not from mockery… but from audacity.
"Really, pretending you didn't know I'd come?"
"Me? Never. Although I must say… I was just offering Suhyeon an alliance. Quite the coincidence, isn't it?"
The atmosphere immediately thickened.
"Better that than offering your hand to anyone just to not be alone," Jaeha said, narrowing his eyes with that twisted smile that always signaled trouble.
Seok only chuckled softly.
"Always so direct, Jaeha… I missed that."
I watched from the center of the hall. They played their game with smiles and daggers in their tongues. But both knew. I was the new variable.
Then Jaeha slightly turned his head toward me, his expression twisting.
"You're Suhyeon Kim?" he asked, voice heavy with sarcasm. "The new leader of West Gangbuk High?"
It wasn't a real question. Everyone there already knew. He was just playing… and making it clear that the game bored him.
"Yes," I replied calmly. "That's me."
Jaeha exaggeratedly sighed, stretching his neck as if trying to release the accumulated tension.
"So this is why we were gathered today?" he said with disdain. "To confirm what we already knew?"
He crossed his arms, glancing sideways at Seok Kang.
"Really made me come all this way just to see the rookie's face? Couldn't you send a photo, or something more useful?"
The more they spoke, the more they revealed how they thought. How they operated. Jaeha wasn't done yet.
"Here I am, with all my subordinates, wasting time while you play introductions."
He gave me a direct look. Not one of respect. Nor threat. The look of someone who hasn't yet decided whether you're worth crushing… or ignoring.
"I hope at least you're worth the trouble."
Behind me, I heard Gukja and Hyundong whispering. Their voices were low, but the tension in them was as obvious as the sweat on their foreheads.
"Why is everyone looking at us like that…?" Gukja muttered, swallowing. "I feel like they're going to stab me with their eyes…"
Hyundong, equally tense, responded in a surprisingly serious tone.
"Relax, sunbae. If you falter, the whole West will falter with you."
Gukja glanced at him, surprised by the tone. The respect Hyundong showed was enough to make him try to stop trembling so much.
I heard everything, of course. But I didn't turn around.
Because, unlike them… I was enjoying myself. The moment I crossed the white sheet at the entrance, the system glowed before my eyes.
— — — [System] — — —
Mission Completed: "Conquer West Gangbuk High"
Reward obtained:
Bronze Cards x10
Golden Card x1
— — — — — — — — —
Seok Kang took a couple of steps forward, still with that smile. He didn't seem affected by the tension in the room or Jaeha's presence.
"All right, this concludes the meeting," he announced softly, but with a clear note of superiority. "We are now familiar with your face, Suhyeon Kim."
Then he narrowed his eyes, though technically they were already closed, maintaining that friendly expression that increasingly felt like a mask.
"Also, North High hasn't bothered to show up. I suppose it wasn't that urgent for everyone."
He turned with his hands in his pockets, as if his statement were the natural, unquestionable conclusion of the meeting.
Jaeha let out an annoyed huff.
"Tsk. What a waste of time…" he muttered, turning without adding another word.