As hours passed by, and the sun set, the park turned dark. It was night time and only a few street lamps were on.
When it got late, Hyun Woo finally stood up and started walking home.
Between his house and the park there was an old construction site. At night it was empty, dark, with half-built walls standing like big shapes in the shadows.
But tonight, it wasn't empty.
Kang Jin-ho and a few of his friends were there, sitting on the broken steps.
They had bottles in their hands and were smoking. They were drinking and laughing loud, talking nonsense in the empty site.
And that's when they saw him.
He was walking alone. Head down. Weak and quiet, like he just wanted to disappear from the world.
A grin spread across Jin-ho's face. He stood up, swaying a little from the drink. "Well, well… look who's here."
Kang Jin-ho saw him and shouted, his voice drunk and slurred.
"Hey, dog! Come here!"
He tried to stand up, his body shaking, bottle in his hand. His face was red from drinking, his eyes half closed but still full of arrogance.
His friends started laughing.
"Hahaha, look, Jin-ho's dog showed up!"
"Woof, woof!" one of them barked, holding his stomach.
Another clapped. "Doggy, wag your tail too!"
They were barking and laughing again and again.
Smoke from the cigarette filled the air, spreading slow and sticking around, bottles rolling and making little sounds on the ground.
Jin-ho had a wide grin on his face, his body moving side to side like he couldn't stand straight.
"What? Too proud to answer?" he said. "Didn't I tell you before? Dogs bark when their master calls."
Their drunk voices were loud, bouncing around the empty site. It felt like the whole place was just for them to bark and laugh.
Hyun Woo tried to ignore them, but he knew if he ran, they would just beat him tomorrow at school in front of everyone.
So he stopped. His legs felt heavy, but he slowly walked toward them. Better to get beaten here, alone, than in front of the whole school.
Jin-ho walked up and grabbed Hyun Woo by the cheeks with one hand, squeezing hard and dragging his face up.
"You bitch, where were you going?" his voice was slurred, stinking of alcohol. "How dare you stare at me?"
Hyun Woo's mouth moved like he wanted to say something, but nothing came out. His eyes were wet, shaking, like he was about to cry.
"Look down!" Jin-ho barked, spitting as he shouted. "Eyes down on my shoes. Did you forget already?"
He laughed, then shoved the bottle right against Hyun Woo's lips. "Here. Drink."
Hyun Woo shook his head weakly, but Jin-ho's grip was strong. The bottle tipped, and the bitter liquid poured into his mouth, choking him.
It spilled down his chin and onto his shirt as he coughed, trying to push it out, but Jin-ho only pressed harder, forcing more down.
"Drink it all, dog! Hahaha!" his friends shouted from behind, clapping and laughing, some barking like dogs again.
When the bottle was almost empty, Jin-ho finally let go. Hyun Woo dropped to his knees, coughing, his throat burning.
One of Jin-ho's friends stepped forward and handed him a lit cigarette. "Here, boss."
Jin-ho grinned, holding the cigarette between his fingers. He bent down, close to Hyun Woo's face.
"Dogs like you… need to be marked," he said.
Hyun Woo's eyes went wide when he saw the burning cigarette coming closer to his face. The red tip glowed in the dark, moving toward him inch by inch.
"No… no…" his voice was small, broken.
He tried to pull back, tried to crawl away, but Jin-ho's hand was tight on his collar. His legs kicked weakly on the ground, his arms pushing against Jin-ho's chest, but it was useless.
The more he tried to move, the harder Jin-ho pushed him down.
Finally, the cigarette touched his cheek.
Ssshh—
It burned right into his skin. The heat was sharp and ugly, making him cry out. His scream was weak, breaking apart as he tried to push Jin-ho's hand away.
The smell of burned flesh rose in the air.
"Hahaha! Look at him! Cry louder, dog!" one of the boys shouted, slapping his knee.
Jin-ho pressed harder for a moment, then pulled the cigarette back, grinning wide. "See that? Now you got my mark. Don't forget who owns you."
Hyun Woo dropped down on the ground, clutching his face. It hurt so much, like fire still stuck to his skin. His mouth was full of spit and tears kept running, no matter how much he tried to stop them.
He gasped for air, but it felt like nothing was going in. His chest was tight, his throat dry. In his head, one thought kept spinning—why me? why always me?
He wanted to shout, he wanted to fight back, but only broken sobs came out.
Hyun Woo lay on the ground, his hands covering his face. His whole body curled up, like he just wanted to disappear.
"Look at him, hiding like a rat!" one of the boys shouted.
One of Jin-ho's friends kicked Hyun Woo in the side with his boot. Another stomped down on his back right after. Hyun Woo coughed blood on the ground, his body was shaking.
"Don't stop! Kick him harder!" Jin-ho shouted, waving his bottle in the air. His face was red from drink, his grin wide. "Nobody can touch us! My father is vice president of Daesung Electronics! We can do anything we want!"
His friends laughed, their voices loud. "Yeah! With Jin-ho's father behind us, we're untouchable! Hahaha!"
They kicked Hyun Woo again, stomping his arms, his legs, his stomach, over and over. Broken glass from bottles hit the ground near his head, some even cutting his skin.
Jin-ho raised his voice again, barking like a madman. "Play with him all you want! Nobody dares to stop us!"
After some time, Hyun Woo's body stopped moving. His arms dropped, his legs weak. He felt nothing anymore, like his body had gone numb.
He wasn't even trying to cover his face now. His eyes half closed, his breath slow, and then it stopped as he passed out.
But the gang didn't care. They kept kicking him, their boots landing again and again, laughing like it was a game.
Finally one of the boys paused, looking down. "Uh… boss… I think he's not moving. I think he's dead."
Jin-ho's grin didn't fade. He wiped his mouth with the back of his hand and laughed. "Dead? So what? Don't worry. I'll call my father. He'll send someone to clean this up."
His friends laughed nervously, still drunk, still high on the thrill. One muttered, "Damn… we really killed him." But the rest just smirked, trusting Jin-ho's words.
They dropped Hyun Woo's body on the ground and walked away. His cheek was burned, his skin bleeding, but none of them looked back.
His friends were still smoking and laughing, making noise like nothing had happened.
Jin-ho sat down, his face red, his hand shaking from the drink as he pulled out his phone. "Tch… let me call my father… he'll send someone to clean it up."
—
But suddenly the time has stopped.
The air felt strange, it felt cold and heavy. The night sky didn't look normal, it was like the clouds were moving around too much, like they were alive despite everything had stopped.
And up there, in that dark place, something was there. It was moving, floating, it was not a man but still shaped like one.
But it didn't look like a real body. It looked like gloden light, all glowing lines going here and there, crossing like veins. Slowly all those lines came together, and little by little it started looking like the shape of a man.
The aura around him spread out, gloden light spilling over the half-built buildings.
His voice was not loud, yet it felt like it shook the world itself. "Justice has been forgotten too long… tonight, it descends again."
Chains of golden light started appearing behind him, countless, clashing and rattling in the sky.
He raised his hand, pointing down at the lifeless body of Hyun Woo.
From his hand, golden chains burst out, flying down from above. They swirled and whipped through the air, rattling as they rushed toward Hyun Woo.
The chains made a loud noise, banging and rattling as they flew down into the empty site.
The chains wrapped around Hyun Woo's body, covering him, pulling him up from the ground.
[Justice Avatar System Activated]
[Checking host…]
[Host: Dead]
[Rule: Life cannot return once gone]
[System install: Failed]
[Failed]
…
Then another voice came. It wasn't the system. It was heavy. It felt like it was everywhere.
"You dare block me?"
"I am not bound by rules. I am the rule."
"My will is law. And I will give him life."