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Translator: thursdays Editor: Yahiko PR: LightBrin
★.
Therefore.
Let us talk about my defeat.
The position of the protagonist.
It is the first time I, who had only played the hero’s role, became a villain who had to be knocked down.
I had never tolerated a defeat thus far.
Any defeat would have been disastrous.
If I had been defeated, all of Harlem would have been burned to the ground.[1] My defeat meant the fall of the empire. My defeat meant the end of the land of rivers and lakes. And it meant… My defeat meant…
Now, for the first time, my defeat wouldn’t lead to devastation.
This is the story of my downfall.
It is a story that would only end when ‘I’ am defeated.
[Currently, your immersion rate is 100%.]
My consciousness.
But ‘I’ am strong.
‘I’ am a manipulative and shrewd person.
I don’t know how you all will remember your school days. Were you happy? Did you enjoy yourself? The classroom, which was small enough to be painted with the excuse of the ignorance of childhood. Are the scenes that occurred there colored with a beautiful sepia filter?
It isn’t for ‘me.’
‘I’ am a little more subtle than you guys. I am cunning. Maybe there was nobody like me in your school. Or maybe, you simply don’t remember. But ‘I’ was definitely here.
A person who framed his classmate.
A person who has plotted and manipulated evidence to slander someone.
A person who intimidated classmates to keep them quiet.
If you share these memories, ‘you’ must be my colleague. ‘You,’ at least, will fathom my existence, and if I’m lucky, you’ll even understand.
That’s right. While the other students were defenselessly playing in their childhood, their so-called [school days], ‘we’ easily hunted those foolish minnows.
Our hunting was furtive.
That’s why people don’t remember.
Most people understand our skillfully hidden hunts the wrong way. Students are too [immature]; they’re not smart enough for high-level hunting.
Not smart enough? Who? ‘Us’? What a ridiculous delusion.
They can’t even remember what happened under their very noses.
I’ll first confess to those people the secret method to hunting.
This is a story that happened before ‘I’ became possessed.
“There are two ways a student’s rank is decided at school. First, there are the students who study well. But you have to work hard to get good grades. Students hate working hard more than anything.”
On the other hand…
“It is easy to ignore or laugh at others.”
It took no effort.
“Since mocking someone is effortless, any student can join in. This is the crucial difference between [study] and [ridicule]. What’s the difference? Just a matter of how many students can easily participate.”
You had to study for 10 minutes to raise your score by 1 on an exam, but it took less than 10 seconds to tease someone.
“It’s much more fun to be [better at making fun of others] than it is to be [better at studying]. It’s much easier. Accordingly, it is much more powerful. Unlike studying, anyone can handily jump into the game. That is why [ridicule] is standard at all schools.”
Here are the mechanics of bullying.
“First, the victim has to be conspicuous.”
Are they noticeably richer than the other kids? Or noticeably poorer? Do they have a face that anyone would say is weird? Does it smell strange when they pass by? Is their speech severely incoherent? Are they overly sincere? All of that is good. The particulars don’t matter.
Ridiculing is powerful because it’s easy.
The victim of the ridicule must be easy to make fun of.
“Kim Yul.”
There is a good reason why Kim Yul was selected as the prey of the hunt.
“He’s poor.”
Obviously so.
“He’s distinctively poor. There’s a bad smell when he walks around.”
One’s poverty could not be covered up with the monotone school uniforms. The awful thing about poverty is that it shows. Everyone could tell that Kim Yul was poor. Anyone who got close knew that he smelled bad.
He is easy for anyone to ridicule.
“Hey.”
So it is easy to begin.
“It might be a bit harsh to say this, but when you go near that guy…”
“Oh, yeah. He did smell a little. Poor guy…”
Level 1.
Go lightly at first.
‘You’ probably know, too, that you shouldn’t reveal your hand at the beginning. That would be dumb.
“Did he enter on a financial aid?”
“I’ve known Kim Yul since middle school, and even then…”
Idle talk.
It’s enough to use the prey as a simple topic in conversation.
“Should I tell you guys a secret? Actually…”
Gradually increase the number of students who participate in the small talk.
“He lives there? Wow. That’s a literal dump.”
“I heard his dad is the trash collector.”
“Huh. Could that be the same guy who picks up the waste at our house?”
“Hey. No way…”
Like this, gradually brighten the spotlight on him.
The initiator, here, must be careful to never reveal his malice. Not yet! ‘You’ know it, too. It isn’t time for that yet.
Look.
‘Isn’t Kim Yul kind of annoying?’
Instead of saying that, say:
“Oh, wow. It’s true. The trash collector for our house is Kim Yul’s dad!”
This is much smarter.
“What, really?”
Of course, it’s a lie.
“How did you find out?”
“I was also skeptical at first. But on Sunday, the man came to pick up the trash, so I asked, [Are you Kim Yul’s father? I’m his school friend]. He acted a little embarrassed, but then he asked me to take care of his son.”
“Dude…”
“Really?”
Lies are the bases of ‘our’ accomplishments.
Even as they doubted me, my classmates looked at me with twinkling eyes. Those gazes, that interest, are the proof of your success. You’ve succeeded in drawing people to the subject of [Kim Yul].
“Kim Yul! By any chance, does your dad—”
“Hey, hey. Why are you asking that? Shut up.”
“Why not? Did you lie?”
“No, but anyway. Sorry, Kim Yul. It’s nothing.”
“……”
Level 2.
The observation phase.
Malice snowballs well enough on its own from here.
“Pft.”
There isn’t anyone in the world who does not make mistakes. Students make plenty of them. Now that the class is paying attention to Kim Yul’s every move, they view his mistakes like they are looking through a magnifying glass.
“Haha…”
Then, they laugh.
He missed the volleyball in gym class and had to run a little farther.
He fell asleep in fourth period and didn’t wake up even during lunch.
He stuttered a little when the teacher asked him a question.
“Ha…”
It doesn’t matter how trivial the mistake was.
Easy and conspicuous.
Always remember the mechanics of [ridicule].
“You know, he always goes behind the school for lunch. That’s…”
“Is he feeding the chickens? Seriously?”
“Go to the window and look. I’m serious.”
Something that anyone can see easily.
Something that anyone can partake in easily.
“Kim Yul! Look up here!”
“What, he’s really looking here.”
“Is he trying to get the chickens for free once they’re grown?”
“Eww.”
Eventually, a game that anyone can join in.
‘You’ probably know, too, that most bullying ends here.
Up to this point, it can happen naturally. There doesn’t need to be a clear ringleader. There doesn’t have to be any accomplices. You can get up to [Level 2] with just sympathizers.
Level 2 bullying corresponds to the following:
Mild violence once every two weeks. Group assault once every three months. A public beating once every six months. One small scar that cannot be removed on the body. If it’s short, one semester. If it’s long, three years. Sometimes a few students lead the violence, but there isn’t a long-term culprit…
But as ‘you’ probably know.
“Hey.”
‘We’ do not stop there.
“Let’s test it.”
We take one step further.
“What?”
“Look. I bought these shoes, so they’re brand new.”
If you have successfully brought others to this point, ‘you’ must certainly be good at lying. Now, you had to perform a small magic trick for your classmates.
“I’ll draw some stars on the sole of the shoes with a marker. See? You guys saw it, right?”
“Yeah. So what?”
“I’m going to throw it away with trash in front of my house.”
“…What are you talking about?”
“Idiot. Kim Yul’s dad is the waste collector for my house.”
Of course, it’s a lie. The trash collector for your house is not Kim Yul’s father, actually. But that doesn’t matter. You know what paths Kim Yul’s father usually took.
“Will that mister give Kim Yul a present if he sees new shoes being thrown out? Why wouldn’t he? So, look. If Kim Yul’s father really is the trash man, then Kim Yul will wear these shoes tomorrow.”
“Uh…”
“I guess?”
“I bet that Kim Yul will come to school wearing these shoes tomorrow.”
Now.
You’ve privately prepared a second pair of shoes.
“There we go. I’ll leave it here. You all saw, right? I won’t ever touch it.”
One pair, you threw out with the trash at your house in front of your friends.
“Okay.”
The other pair had already been placed on the route Kim Yul’s father walked the day before.
Needless to say, both pairs have a ★ on the soles.
You want to show your friends some magic. So, you pretend to draw the ★ in front of them. If you’re cautious enough, you can also establish a perfect alibi by hanging out with your friends for the rest of the day.
“Hey, check the shoes!”
It is lunchtime on the following day. We are in the classroom.
“What if someone catches us?”
“Just look quickly!”
“We’re just sneaking a peak. It doesn’t matter…”
While Kim Yul is gone, having headed down to the cafeteria, we gather. Kim Yul’s desk. There is a bag holding the shoes hung on the hook.
The students’ eyes sparkle. Giggling to show that [it’s only a joke], we lift up Kim Yul’s shoe bag. Then, we take out shoes that are cleaner than normal.
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