Escape from the Iljinhoe Project 26

? Views,

# Chapter 26

## Choigang Faction

May 30, 202x, 1:07 PM

The rooftop of Choigang Boys’ High School, Songpa District, Seoul.

On the rooftop of “Choigang Boys’ High School,” where a refreshing breeze was blowing, the area was naturally occupied by Choigang executive gang members in black-collared uniforms, the rightful owners of this sacred territory.

“What is this? What the hell is this?!”

The hand holding the cell phone started trembling and finally—

BANG!! CRASH—!!

It collided with the concrete floor in an instant, shattering into pieces.

The protagonist of this phone destruction, who was still seething as if unable to contain himself, was the Apex of the third-ranked Choigang among the four major gang factions. The Warrior of Blood Fragrance, Oh Eundo.

Already at his feet overflowed the remnants of previously smashed phones and tablets. This was the tenth one he had destroyed. Of course, the first victim was naturally Eundo’s latest phone, but as he continued to deny reality, he kept checking with other gang members’ possessions, smashing them and smashing them again repeatedly. The phones and tablets of Number Two On Wooju and Staff Member Kim Sara had long since become casualties.

The Choigang executives were terrified of the enraged Eundo, but what scared them even more was when their own phones would be snatched by Eundo and meet their demise. But they couldn’t dare resist. Because… the news of Devil Apex Gu Haejin’s terminal diagnosis was an emergency situation in the current climate that could only be met with silence. They could only bid farewell to their devices with tears in their eyes…

“Hey, you. Hand over your phone.”

“What?! …Y-yes. Yes…!”

As if wanting to verify again, Eundo extended his hand toward a random gang member in front of him. The chosen executive’s face noticeably darkened, but that was just a silent scream to Eundo. Or rather, he couldn’t see anything else.

Grabbing the phone, Eundo frantically searched for HioIl in the search bar and entered the community. Then, seeing the post displayed on the main page, he let out a sigh. Shit…

Eundo spoke to his first-year Number Two, On Wooju, who was assisting him by his side.

“Wooju… my heart hurts…”

“Apex.”

“Fuck. So when he collapsed that time I raided Shinju High, it was because of this?”

“Probably… it seems that way.”

“Damn it!”

Whooosh~ Once again, Eundo threw the borrowed phone off the rooftop. The gang member watched helplessly as his own phone traced an arc through the air before crashing heavily onto the field below. Tears finally welled up in his eyes. Goodbye, my baby. With 2 years of installments still left to pay…

“Sea bream steak…”

It suddenly occurred to him.

Unexpectedly, on the day they ended up eating together, he had taken Haejin to his favorite restaurant. He never imagined Haejin would genuinely admire and so thoroughly enjoy the course meal—appetizers, soup, and all—that he must have had many times before. At the end, when seeing the sea bream steak, Haejin had smiled that pure smile, said to appear only once in a thousand years, which Eundo hadn’t seen in a long time.

If only Jang Seoldam’s interference hadn’t destroyed the table, Haejin might have been able to eat the sea bream steak he had wanted so badly. How many more pretty smiles could he have shown me?

“Ugh…”

Suddenly, he felt choked up. Come to think of it, there was no reason for Haejin to suddenly ask to eat with him.

He should have noticed from the moment that cold and proud guy, who usually treated the other Apexes with icy disdain, asked to eat together. From that moment, Haejin had been gradually preparing to disappear. If this hadn’t come to light, he might never have known. I would have thought you were annoying for the rest of my life.

Truthfully, Eundo didn’t dislike Haejin. Although they growled at each other over trivial matters as the four Apexes checking each other’s power, and fought so fiercely at times that one could have died without anyone noticing. That may be the fate of us Apexes… but still, Eundo acknowledged Haejin. Not just a rival, but perhaps an object of admiration. Because you were the one I thought was more amazing than Kim Pyeonghwa.

Gu Haejin has been diagnosed with a terminal illness. Therefore, he will die soon.

In fact, Eundo, the most emotionally honest among the Apexes, eventually leaned against the rooftop wall and quietly shed tears at the unbelievable news of Haejin’s terminal illness.

“……”

The Choigang executive members, shocked by Apex Eundo’s tears, remained rigidly in place. Though he was an Apex with a hot-blooded temperament and impulsive personality, earning the alias “Warrior of Blood Fragrance” for ruthlessly spilling blood on the battlefield, they knew their Apex was the most honest person of all.

Eundo let out a deep sigh, “Haah…” and turned to gaze up at the clear blue sky where fluffy clouds drifted.

“I want to buy him something delicious. That foolish guy.”

## Coup d’état Faction

May 30, 202x, 3:48 PM

The sports storage room at Haebyeol Technical High School, Gwanak District, Seoul.

The unusually small group of only nine executive members of Coup d’état at their sacred territory, “Haebyeol Technical High School,” paced anxiously in front of their locked hideout, the large sports storage room. Coup d’état’s Number Two, Kang Sehwi, was in the same predicament. The door wasn’t locked, nor was it rusted or otherwise stuck, but there was just one reason they couldn’t enter.

It was due to the absolute order from the fourth-ranked Coup d’état’s Apex. The Guardian of Darkness, Jang Seoldam, had threatened to kill anyone who entered before 4 PM, and since he went in at noon, he hadn’t come out even once. However, the Coup d’état executives could tell exactly what he was doing inside.

The sound of storage room equipment being mercilessly destroyed. Rough curses from Seoldam, who rarely gets excited. Just hearing that was enough to make the gang members feel a chill down their spines.

The Coup d’état members thought it was fortunate that Seoldam’s alias was the “Guardian” of Darkness. At least he pretended to be kind and friendly on the surface. But knowing his true self, they acutely felt that this guardian wasn’t a normal guardian whenever he went on a rampage like this. That’s probably why the premise of “darkness” was attached to his alias. Though they hadn’t seen it, they could easily imagine what state the storage room was in, but for now, they decided to let him do as he pleased.

As the gang members were anxiously trying to calm themselves—

BANG! THUD!! CRASH!! SMASH!!

Seoldam was in the middle of completely destroying all the equipment in the sports storage room. He grabbed whatever was at hand, threw it, kicked and punched indiscriminately, venting his unbearable rage.

“Die? Die? Die? Die? He’s dying?!”

BANG BANG!

How dare he! That Gu Haejin has no right to die as he pleases!

Seoldam bit his lip so hard it nearly split. As a result, drops of blood trickled from the corners of his mouth. Though it was an eerie scene at a glance, right now Seoldam didn’t care in the slightest whether blood was coming from his mouth or if his knuckles were badly scraped from punching.

In short, he was blind with rage.

Haejin dying. This went against Jang Seoldam’s plans. He would possess Haejin. This was completely different from what Kim Pyeonghwa meant by “possessing.”

Gu Haejin’s body. Gu Haejin’s character. Gu Haejin’s life. I’ll have it all completely! No one else can have him. Even if it’s God, no one can have Gu Haejin!

“He’s mine!!”

The obsession bordered on madness.

Seoldam harbored an abnormal range of affection for Haejin. And now Haejin is dying? That’s absurd. To Seoldam, this was filtered as God trying to claim Haejin.

In fact, it was surprising that he had left Haejin alone all this time; he had been restraining himself very well. Pretending to be normal. Pretending to be just a little crazy. Pretending to be kind and gentle. But he knew best of all. What kind of person he really was.

After smashing everything, Seoldam straddled a chair that had been tossed aside and started chain-smoking. In the spot where he had been holed up since noon, repeatedly destroying things and smoking, countless cigarette butts were filthily piled up.

The moment Seoldam, at 15, saw the 16-year-old Haejin who had just risen to become Devil’s Apex, he was seized by a terrifying desire he couldn’t control. From that moment, his whole body began to itch. If only he could have everything of Haejin’s, he would even be willing to break him. It was a dangerous thought, but the more dangerous it was, the more appealing it became—it’s human instinct to desire the forbidden even more.

I’m going to have everything, even if I have to crush that bastard completely.

“I won’t let you die. If you’re going to die, die by my side.”

Seoldam’s eyes flashed fiercely.

He ground out his burned cigarette butt with his foot. He approached an elegant display case on one side of the storage room, the only thing he hadn’t touched. Inside the glass display case, reflecting the traits of the knife-collecting psycho Seoldam, numerous types of jackknives were displayed. He took out the knife that appeared to be the most valuable.

“This is going to be so much fun. Right? Heheh.”

Exactly at 4 PM. Seoldam emerges from the sports storage room.

The situation with Devil, where Gu Haejin is the Apex, is obviously clear without explanation, so we’ll skip it.

As the news of Devil Apex Gu Haejin’s terminal illness was revealed, a tremendous storm began brewing in the national school gang world. And later, accompanied by enormous mental breakdowns and aftershocks, it would become the trigger that caused a “major incident.”

One important and accurate fact is:

‘Cracks have begun to form in the Four Major School Gang Associations.’