Chapter 52: Hako Cartel (7)

I ignored Rejin, who couldn’t say a word, and picked up my phone, showing the screen to the people.

The screen displayed someone’s call history, and I turned the phone back to play an audio file.

[…Hello?]

[Hello, this is the internet streamer using the name Hiro. Have you heard the story?]

[Ah… yes, yes. I heard you would call.]

One side was, of course, my voice.

But I bet you can’t guess who the other person is?

[I’ll ask for your real name first for confirmation, but in case, I’ll use your streaming name from now on.]

[Yes, yes….]

“.…”

As expected.

Well, if you had the presence of mind to remember each person like that, you wouldn’t have done that kind of thing.

But the main character of this voice will remember you and that b*stard very clearly.

Because

[I heard that Mr. ■■ attended the same high school as streamer Shung, real name ●●●… is that correct?]

[……. ]

[Yes, we were in the same class.]

This is a victim of school violence from you guys.

I paused the playback for a moment and put my hand on the mouse.

“Wait, wait a minute!! You b*tchㅡ”

With a click, the call with Rejin was disconnected.

I had already said everything I needed to say, so there was no need to continue the call and pollute my ears any further, right?

“Shall we keep playing it then?”

From some point on, the lights went out and only murmurs remained in the chat window.

Everyone seemed to be guessing what kind of story would come out from now on.

And the content everyone guessed flowed out of the phone.

[Have you ever been directly subjected to violence from Shung?]

[No… I was good at studying, so I was forced to cheat, but I was never hit.]

[So, Shung didn’t hit anyone or anything?]

[He didn’t hit anyone much.]

[…Instead, he had his boyfriend hit them and led the bullying.]

Although it wasn’t being broadcast, I kept hearing requests to talk on the phone.

Rejin, who I was just talking to, Shung himself, and another streamer who was their ringleader.

“Hello~?”

I happily accepted the call.

Then, anger overflowed from beyond the landline.

“Is it okay to just talk about yourself and hang up? Are you crazy, you b*tch?”

What is this crazy b*stard saying?

Was it okay to try and hang a person based on suspicion alone?

I let out a laugh of disbelief and asked back.

“What?”

“When you were making excuses, I didn’t say anything and listened to everything, but then you hung up without saying anything and only said what you wanted to say, huh? Shouldn’t you have at least the minimum of manners as a human being, you b*tch.”

“What are you talking about, you school bully? You’re just listening to my excuses, and now you’re just making it public, is that the same?”

“So, you should let me make excuses too, you b*tch!!”

“It’s like they made a place for you to make excuses. I made a place for you to make excuses by wearing a bunny girl outfit and acting crazy, so you guys should make your own place.”

Was he deliberately being stubborn knowing all this, or was he really thinking that what he was saying was right and confidently asserting it?

I don’t think I’ll ever understand people like that in my life.

[~♪♬]

At that time, a person was invited into the room where I and Rejin were talking.

“Hello?”

Ah, that familiar voice.

Disgusting.

“Long time no see, Shung?”

I greeted him happily with a smirk.

“Hey, you fcking btchㅡ”

“Wait a minute, Rejin. I’ll talk.”

Oh oh.

Still, he seemed to be the head of their group and had some thoughts.

“Hiro, it’s been a while.”

“Don’t be pretentious and just get to the point? My viewers are waiting for the next content?”

I could hear the sound of him grinding his teeth, but the Miscode’s sound reaction sensor didn’t react.

It seemed like it was just my imagination.

“…I didn’t think you would make things this big. I thought you were someone who had that much sense.”

“I guess you’re lacking in sense, since you didn’t think about how I would act.”

“……Hoo. There’s no point in making things this big and it’s not good for either of us, right? Let’s solve it nicely.”

Ah~ Nicely?

You hit me first and now you want to solve it nicely?

F*ck that.

“If you were going to say something like that, you shouldn’t have done that kind of public shaming in the first place.”

“…I thought that if it wasn’t true, you could just say it wasn’t.”

“Then just say that the school violence incident I made public isn’t true, it’s simple.”

When I didn’t give him any leeway, Shung changed his strategy.

Until just now, he was trying to persuade me, but now he lowered his voice as if trying to threaten me.

“Do you know what?”

“That Shung beat up kids during his school days?”

“Whether that’s true or not, you can be sued for defamation, you know?”

Ah, defamation?

That was a valid point.

Regardless of right or wrong, in this case, Shung could sue me for defamation based on stating the truth.

But

“I can do the same, though?”

From the beginning, they slandered me first, so I can sue them for defamation as well.

I felt pathetic thinking that they didn’t even know such an obvious fact…

It seemed like they had their own intentions.

“That’s right. So, both you and I can sue each other. Is there a need to make things so complicated?”

It certainly wasn’t wrong.

No matter how confident I was that I would win, the process of suing was very tiring and annoying.

He was poking at that point.

“Yes.”

But even if it’s tiring and annoying, I’m going to f*ck you over.

“There’s more than enough need.”

You crossed the line.

“There was a precedent around the end of 2018, right?”

“The content is simple.”

“It’s about recognizing the channel of a person who does internet broadcasting as a business place for doing business.”

“And you interfered with my business by spreading false information.”

No matter how much you dislike someone, you shouldn’t touch their livelihood.

“Let’s go all the way to the end.”

Shung didn’t answer for a long time after hearing my words.

“…Okay, so you want to go all the way to the end?”

Then, as if he had made up his mind, he opened his mouth.

“Try it, but you won’t get away with it either. Get ready to be sued for defamation by false information.”

“False information? That’s ridiculous… you’re going to argue that it’s not true when there’s even a witness?”

As if he had organized his thoughts in the short silence, Shung immediately retorted my words.

“Do you think that just because someone you don’t even know said that, it’s evidence? You could have just grabbed a random person on the street and asked them to record it, right?”

“Ah, how can you say such obvious things so shamelessly when it’s obvious that it will all be revealed in court? Aren’t you ashamed?”

“And even if I really am a perpetrator of school violence and that witness is telling the truth, are you really making this public by bringing in someone who wasn’t even the victim of the violence as a witness? Do you even know that I have a high chance of winning even if I sue you for defamation by stating the truth?”

Aha.

So that’s how you’re going to play it?

Certainly, with just one witness, it’s difficult to argue that it’s the truth about public interest.

If it’s not the truth about public interest, there was a high possibility of losing if I sued for defamation by stating the truth.

You know it well.

“There’s no way I wouldn’t know what you know.”

I said that and continued to play the remaining part of the recording that I hadn’t played yet.

[Then there must be other victims. Do you know anyone who can be contacted?]

[I don’t know anyone who can be contacted, but… I know someone who can be contacted.]

[Ah, then please leave me a message.]

[Yes, yes.]

[You must really dislike Shung, you’re helping me so actively.]

[…Everyone except their line of people must have hated them?]

[It seems like it was even worse than it is now.]

“Who said it was just one person?”

“…Huh??”

“I’ll see you in court.”

With those words, I hung up the phone.

“Um?”

When I hung up and looked at the Miscode screen, there were a lot of personal messages piled up.

It was a message sent by one of the three people who had been calling me continuously, a person who could be said to be the second-in-command of the Shung cartel.

It looked quite desperate, so I opened the personal message window out of curiosity.

[Hiro, I can help you]
*
*
[I’ve captured all the details of bullying and backstabbing within the crew?]
*
*
[I’m really, really on Hiro’s side]
*
*
[I’ll really do my best to help Hiro, so please reply!]

It was filled with messages offering to help bury Shung.

“…Puhaha.”

It was such a ridiculous sight that a smile leaked from my face.

Hey, Shung.

Looks like you’ve been dumped by your crew members.

“Well… then.”

I calmed my heart and expression again and stared at the camera.

“Egh… I think I’ve shown you a lot of not-so-good sides. I’m sorry!”

When I apologized to the viewers who had been watching me, the chat window that had been coming up sporadically came to life again.

[It’s okay, it’s okay, the catfight was so much fun ㅋㅋ]

[Are you going to bring justice to the school bully?]

[Hiro, really go all the way to the end, without any leniency or anything]

[He was hanging on, but now he’s the one hanging on ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ]

[There’s a reason why a small streamer is a small streamer]

When people were expressing their various opinions,

[ㅇㅇ donated 1,000 won!]

Someone asked with a donation like that.

[Even so, you’re ruining someone else’s life… you’ll keep thinking about it and you’ll be in a daze, are you okay?]

To that nosy question, I answered like this.

“It’ll be less disturbing than keeping alive the b*stard who tried to ruin my life.”

With many twists and turns, the public shaming case came to an end.

[solar9532 donated 10,000 won!]

[Video Support – Zero Two Dance 50,000 won per minute…?! Ah ㅋㅋㅋ I can’t stand this ㅋㅋㅋ]

[(Hirobukji soft and fluffy) donated 10,000 won!]

[Video Support – Zero Two Dance 50,000 won per minute…?! Ah ㅋㅋㅋ I can’t stand this ㅋㅋㅋ]

[(Be careful of the big bang) donated 10,000 won!]

[Video Support – Zero Two Dance 50,000 won per minute…?! Ah ㅋㅋㅋ I can’t stand this ㅋㅋㅋ]

“Ugh, I’m so tired, really!!!”

[ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ]

[ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ]

[ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ]

[ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ]