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Chapter Text

"Huh, I remember this one. This was a Detective Conan fanfic where the cast reacted to the anime," A young man, Skai Kaishi, sat at his desk and scrolled through his old fanfics. "Man, this was years ago! It's actually been so long since I wrote a fanfic where the cast reacted to their series,"

"Why don't you make one of Weak Hero?" The man's twin brother, Kai Kaishi, asked from the doorway as he ate a tub of ice cream. "You're super into that series right now,"

"Yeah, but it'd be a bit weird since there's no animated version," Skai said. "And no, I will not do the kdrama. I was disappointed when it deviated greatly from the webtoon. If I'm going to do a reaction fic, it'll be about the webtoon cast reacting to the webtoon. It makes no sense for me to have the webtoon cast react to the kdrama if they're completely different," 

"The webtoon cast wouldn't really consider the kdrama cast to be them so it wouldn't bother them at all. And Class 1 only had Gray, Stephen, and Bryce. I heard Class 2 doesn't have a lot of the webtoon cast, meaning it deviated even more from the webtoon. I want the webtoon cast to react to themselves and their story,"

"If you want, you could just have the webtoon cast react to the webtoon," Kai suggested as he ate another spoonful of ice cream. "Just scroll through it like a read along video or something,"

"I guess if I really do want a universe where they react to themselves, I'll have to just do that," Skai agreed. "Alright then, time to kidnap the cast!"

XXX

It was the middle of December when winter break started. It was supposed to be a normal break for most, as normal as it could be after Donald Na had died a few months ago. Most students were able to go about whatever they had planned. But those students were mainly the unnamed background characters in the webtoon.

But for most of the characters that were important enough to be given names, they suddenly disappeared in a flash of bright lights. Whether they were walking down the street, playing in the arcade, or at home watching TV, they all disappeared. The only ones that didn't disappear at the same time were people driving their motorcycle. Once they parked, they then disappeared like everyone else.

They all reappeared in a large auditorium with a huge screen in the front. Everyone was on high alert from the sudden teleportation, especially since they quickly realized they were in a room with people from other schools and other gangs.

From Yeo-Il there were Kingsley Kwan, Dongha Baek, and Seongmok Do. From Daehyeon there were Jake Ji, Dean Kwon, Timothy Park, and Eunchan Hong. From Ganghak there were Wolf Keum, Hwangmo Joo, and Hayden Ma. From Hyeongshin there were Forrest Lee, Robin Ha, Grape Lee, and Myles Joo. From Yoosun there were Jimmy Bae and Jack Kang. 

From Eunjang there were Ben Park, Gray Yeon, Alex Go, Gerard Jin, Teddy Jin, Rowan Im, Eugene Gale, and Phillip Kim. Stephen Ahn was also with them. From Cheongang there were Changhui Han, Joowon Lee, Gijoo Seol, Doyoon Kim, and Jaeryeong Lee.

"What the fuck is going on!? Where the fuck are we!?"

"Greetings everyone," A man in his twenties with messy black hair and sapphire blue eyes stood at the front of the room and clapped loudly to get everyone's attention. "Please take a seat and do not kill each other,"

Wolf immediately tried to lung at him. The man sighed and snapped his fingers. All of a sudden, everyone was teleported to a seat. Some of them tried to stand back up but it was as if an invisible force was keeping them down.

"My name is Skai Kaishi and you guys are all fictional characters from the webtoon Weak Hero," The man casually revealed. "Now I know you might be skeptical or straight up not believing me. But I brought you all here to see your reactions to various chapters of the webtoon!"

"What's Weak Hero about?" Jake spoke up.

"Let me read you the synopsis," Skai scrolled through the app to find the synopsis. "Once the bullies target you, it's game over. The school is run by tyrants whose favorite hobby is tormenting the weakest kids in class. But then Gray arrived. This mysterious new student threatens to dismantle the established order. He may be small in stature, but his calculative and brutal fighting leaves unsuspecting opponents lying on the floor begging for mercy. Now the school's toughest bullies have to scramble to take down this new and unusual hero,"

All eyes were now on the White Mamba. "You know," Rowan said. "Based on the title it does make sense that Gray is the main character,"

"The idea of us being from a webtoon sounds so crazy though," Alex brought up.

"Alex, that guy just teleported us here out of nowhere," Gray said. "That man is not normal,"

"Hey, I feel like we're missing someone," Skai frowned and scanned the crowd of people. His eyes landed on Kingsley who had dark bags under his eyes. "Oh right, Donald died. I teleported you guys from after the series had finished,"

Kingsley glared at him for bringing up his boss' death. "If we're from a webtoon like you said...then Donald's death was planned?"

"Unfortunately, yes," Skai sighed. "I didn't want him to die. A lot of readers were upset by Seopass' decision to kill Donald off. Good thing we're currently in my realm right now though," He snapped his fingers and Donald's urn appeared in the seat next to Kingsley. 

"Is this some kind of cruel joke to you!?" Kingsley shouted.

"Chill!" Skai held his hands up. "I needed to bring his ashes here first before I could revive him!" He snapped his fingers and the urn glowed before shattering and taking the form of Donald.

Donald blinked and stared at his hands before looking around in confusion. "How...how am I alive!?"

"Because in this realm I'm pretty much like a god," Skai shrugged. "Anyways, I don't feel like showing the webtoon in order right now. Let's start off with showing the main villain's tragic backstory!"

More characters might be brought into this realm if I feel like it. I might even revive Sua next chapter.

Chapter Text

"DONALD!" Kingsley hugged his friend tightly. 

"Kingsley, am I really alive?" Donald asked.

"Yes, yes you are!" Kingsley sobbed, not bothering to hold back his tears. 

"Where exactly are we?" Donald furrowed his brows, not recognizing the place. "And why is everyone here?" He was surprised by Kingsley's tears and the hug. He didn't think Kingsley cared this much about him.

"Hi Donald, welcome back to the land of the living!" Ben greeted casually. "We were kidnapped," 

"I didn't kidnap you guys!" Skai denied.

"Dude," Kai popped his head into the auditorium from the exit. "Your exact words were 'time to kidnap the cast'," He then left before anyone could question who he was.

"Okay, maybe I technically did kidnap you guys," Skai mumbled. "But I revived Donald!"

"It would've been fine if you just left him dead," Changhui said.

"Normally I wouldn't hesitate to do something for a hot guy like you," Skai flirtatiously winked at the gang leader. "But I need Donald alive so he can also react to other people reacting to his tragic villain origin story. By the way, did you hire the guy to run over Donald?"

"What are you talking about?" Changhui glared at him, neither accepting nor denying that he did do it.

"Although the whole Donald getting hit by a truck could be a genuine accident since he was standing in the middle of the road while wearing all black at the dead of night," Skai explained. "Some people theorize that the one deal you made with Mr. Jang was for him to run over Donald since he had a transportation company and transportation companies have big trucks like the one that killed Donald,"

"Cheongang had nothing to do with that brat's death," Changhui claimed with a smirk. "Maybe he should go back to school and learn common sense to not stand in the middle of the road,"

'I wish Seopass directly confirmed or denied Changhui's involvement because I can't tell for sure if Changhui really didn't hire a hit on Donald,' Skai sighed. "Anyways, shall we start looking at Donald's backstory?"

"Isn't that kinda rude though?" Stephen spoke up. "It's Donald's personal story so shouldn't you ask him permission before showing it?"

Donald was surprised to see this guy he never met before was sticking up for him. He noticed how the boy was sitting with the rest of Eunjang, so they must've told him about him. They must've told him about the bad things he and the Union had done...yet this boy was sticking up for him.

"Nope," Skai laughed. "He has no choice! Now let's start off with Chapter 257!"

Skai sat down in the front row and clapped his hands. The lights dimmed and the screen lit up as it showed the webtoon.

I am...an abandoned dog...alone in the wild.

The panel was of a skinny malnourished, exhausted dog in a large field.

I have to survive. I have to become stronger. I have to look stronger. 

The panels showed a close up of Donald's defeated opponents, blood dripping form Donald's fist, and Donald's tattoos.

No matter what...

The dog stared up high at a large mountain that was illuminated by the full moon.

I have to get to the top.

The scene then shifted to a young Donald Na who was asleep. A gentle hand was placed on his head. Donald woke up and sat up. "Oh, did I fall asleep? You should've woken me up,"

"I didn't want to wake you. You seemed really tired," The person in the hospital bed had the same pale skin, red eyes, and blonde hair. She had an oxygen tube attached to her nose and had a very gentle expression. "How is school?"

"School's great," Donald claimed. "And the teacher said that work-study students get financial support throughout middle school and high school. And..." Donald's smile disappeared. "Mister treats me really well now,"

"That's Donald!?" Ben exclaimed. "He looks so small and innocent!"

"How old is he in this?" Forrest inquired.

"That's him from five years ago," Myles answered, not really interested in the webtoon since he already knew about Donald's past. He wanted to scroll through his phone and do something more interesting but his phone wasn't working in wherever they were so he was forced to read the webtoon with everyone else. "He's twelve,"

"What work-study is he talking about?" Jimmy asked. "Does Donald actually attend school or something? Doesn't he just always stay in his office at Yeouinaru?"

"This was before he got his office in Yeouinaru," Skai informed. "It's even before he even formed a gang,"

"Who's the lady?" Eunchan questioned.

"She's Sua Lee, Donald's mother," Kai casually strolled in. "She's a MILF,"

"What?" Donald turned his head to glare at him.

"Your mom's hot," Kai said without any shame. "If she were alive, I'd ask her out on a date,"

Donald lunged at Kai. Surprisingly, Donald wasn't held down in his seat and his fist made contact with Kai's face. Kai screamed for his brother to help him, but Skai just laughed. After a few minutes, Skai snapped his fingers and teleported Donald back to his seat. Kai scrambled out the door.

"It's a good thing that he left since I planned on also reviving Sua," Skai snapped his fingers once more and Sua's urn appeared in the seat next to Donald. 

Sua's urn glowed before shattering and the ashes took the shape of her before transforming into her alive human form. She was confused and shocked. "Where...Where am I?"

Donald rarely let his poker face drop, but he allowed himself to show shock and even allowed tears to well up in his eyes at the sight of his mother alive next to him. "Mom?"

Sua turned to face him. "Who are you?" She didn't immediately recognize her son due to him having grown. "Did...Did you just call me 'Mom'?" She stared at Donald and noticed the familiar red eyes, pale skin, and the shade of platinum blonde hair. "D...Donald? Donald, is that you?"

"Yes..."

"You've grown, Donald..." Sua teared up and hugged him tightly.

"He lived for another five years after your death and then got hit by at truck and died," Skai casually told her.

"What!?" Sua exclaimed.

"He died at seventeen years old," Skai casually added.

"Oh my poor boy," Sua hugged Donald even tighter. "I'm so sorry I wasn't there for you..."

"It's okay, Mom," Donald, not caring about his image at the moment (hey, he died so let the man have a break), leaned into her hug.

"I revived you and your son so that you two can also react to Weak Hero and react to other characters reacting to Weak Hero," Skai said. "Let's continue on with the first chapter of Donald's backstory!"

The next chapter will have the reaction to the rest of Chapter 257.

Chapter Text

The panels showed Sua with a sad expression. "Donald...I'm really sorry,"

"Sorry for what?" Donald asked. "I'm having a great time now,"

Donald looked out the window where three middle schoolers were. "Do you see those big kids outside?"

"Yeah,"

"I'd always hoped...I'd see you go to school in one of those uniforms one day," Sua said sadly. "I'm so happy to hear...that you'll get help all the way through high school. Oh, check in the drawer. I bought you a little gift,"

Donald opened the drawer and found a small piece of chocolate. "Wow, chocolate?" His face lit up. "My favorite," He took out a note that was on top of the chocolate bar. 'Hehe...she even wrote a note...'

"Mom, Mom, I have another test coming up," Donald excitedly told her. "I promise I'll get another perfect score,"

The only time Donald could act his age was the brief time he spent with his mother.

"It's so strange seeing Donald Na behave like an actual child," Alex commented.

"We were all kids once," Ben reminded. He wondered what could have turned Donald into the person he had become.

"It's the environment and experiences that shape our personalities," Gray added.

Her hospital was far, so he always saved up his money to spend it on the fare to go see her.

"It's almost time for my bus," Donald told his mom. "I'm gonna go now,"

"Okay, sweetie..."

The scene shifted to nighttime and Donald was doing his homework in his apartment. He heard the door open and Donald stood up to greet the person who opened the door. His head was hung low, not daring to make eye contact. "H-Hello..."

"Donald's actually scared of someone?" Dean asked.

"It's a tragic backstory!" Jake sobbed. A box of tissues appeared next to him and he used them to wipe at his tears. "That bastard's definitely Donald's abusive father!"

"Stepfather," Donald corrected. "I've never met my biological father, but I won't let him take the blame for the shit that bastard put me through,"

"It's the Evil Stepparent trope!" Eunchan, who was also sobbing like Jake, sniffled.

"The two of you are being overdramatic," Donald rolled his eyes. 

"Jake cries over fictional characters," Dean deadpanned. "Crying over your tragic past isn't that farfetched,"

"What?" The  man's face was shadowed and his tone was aggressive. "You're home? Damn it..." He took out his phone and dialed a number. "Hello? Yeah, the bitch isn't home. Don't worry. Yeah, come over," He ended the call and glared down at Donald. "Hey kid, you have any money left over?"

I used it all to go see my mom. If I didn't give him the answer he wanted... 

A panel of a heavily bruised and bloody young Donald appeared on screen. 

He'd hit me. In the past, I never gave him the answer he wanted. Because on the days he hit me, he wouldn't hit Mom. But since Mom wasn't here anymore...all I have to do is give the right answer.

"His face is so beat up!" Jimmy exclaimed.

"What kind of adult beats up a twelve year old that badly?" Jack frowned. Even when he, Jimmy, and Hayden got beaten up by Manwol Squad 2 in middle school, they weren't as injured as badly as Donald's younger self.

"His face looks worse than during the Han River Battle," Forrest said.

Stephen understood Donald in that scene. He had done the same thing in middle school, making Oswald Yang and his gang target him and solely him while keeping Gray out of their line of fire. Although they still talked shit about Gray, they didn't physically go after him. He couldn't believe that someone who was supposed to be a parental figure hurt a kid that badly multiple times.

Meanwhile, Sua looked away from the screen and down at the floor. She felt guilty whenever Donald purposefully painted a target on his back so that her husband would attack him and not her. It should've been the other way around. She should've been the one protecting her son.

"Mom, it's okay," Donald quietly told her. 

"Yes, I have some money," Donald lied.

"Get lost and don't come back until morning," The shadowy figure ordered. "And fucking don't come back at dawn like last time,'

"Okay," Donald was kicked out of the apartment. 

It's easy. All I have to do...is withstand the cold...and stay awake. Too easy.

He wandered around the streets and his stomach growled. He stared into a bakery and then dug into his pocket but found nothing. 'The chocolate Mom gave me...oh, I left it in my backpack...'

The store was on the verge of ruin. The security cameras didn't work. It was always a quiet street. And there wasn't even an insect in sight. 

Donald threw a brick and shattered the door. 

I just couldn't bear how hungry I was and began to scarf down some bread. I was sure I wouldn't get caught.

Phillip was surprised to see just how low Donald's life had been. He had previously idolized Donald so much and put him high up on a pedestal that he couldn't ever imagine Donald in a situation like that.

He knew that the Union never always made as much money as they did in high school. In middle school, the meetings were literally held at that rundown Haedong Building. But Phillip never expected Donald's financial situation to have ever been so bad that he had to steal food just to survive.

Myles was still bored and completely unfazed by the revelation. He really didn't understand the point of him being dragged there along with everyone else since he already knew Donald's backstory. He knew Donald longer than even Kingsley had known him.

The scene changed again to Donald sitting on the apartment stairs with cardboard wrapped around him like a blanket. 

I was sitting on the same apartment stairs where I usually spent my time. And I looked up at the building in my view. To me...the brilliant sparkling lights...made the building look like a castle in the sky.

The scene shifted to Donald sitting on the playground swings in front of his apartment. He glanced up at his apartment where his stepfather was and the loud chatters could be heard all the way from downstairs. 

"There's a place that's still open,"

"Nice! Let's go,"

"Then we're drinking till morning!"

It was late at night, approaching dawn and only then was I able to go back home. 

Donald entered the apartment and laid down on the floor with only a small, old pillow and not even a blanket. 

"Hey, kid,"

And...morning came as always.

Donald's stepfather kicked Donald. "Hey, get up,"

"Did he seriously just kick him!?" Ben's blood began to boil. Although he didn't always step in whenever a fight occurred at school, he still wouldn't just stand by and let an adult hurt a child.

"Do you think Donald got revenge against him once he became stronger?" Rowan asked Eugene.

"I mean, I don't see why he wouldn't get revenge against the guy who hurt him," Eugene replied.

"I got partial revenge," Donald, who had easily overheard them, said. "I'd never be able to get full revenge because he made me and my mother suffer for years,"

Rowan and Eugene were startled and didn't expect Donald to actually answer them. They were surprised by how much more...mellow Donald was now.

"Huh?" Donald tiredly blinked.

"Go to school so you can get more financial support money," Donald's stepfather ordered. "Hurry up and get ready," He slammed the door shut.

"If he's getting financial support money, then how much is that bastard stealing?" Forrest asked.

"Buses aren't too expensive, even if it's to a far place," Robin added.

"Does it really matter?" Donald pointed out. "Most of the people in the Union are just as bad. You guys are bullies who don't care about their victims' personal lives. Jake and his friends are one of the few that don't bully others,"

"I'm pretty sure Jake would've joined Manwol and become a bully if Kenny had wanted him to," Skai said. "Kenny just had a moment of repent or whatever you call it and decided to change. That dude must've done some pretty bad things to become an executive of Manwol,"

Jake wanted to refute him but he knew that he was right. Although Kenny had changed and had intended to focus on his dreams of becoming a professional soccer player, he was never a saint. He had gotten into fights and had bullied others before.

Financial support.

The scene changed to Yeowon Elementary School. Donald was reading a book while making copies.

I was able to go to a private elementary school as a part of a pilot program...for Work-Study students. And this was something I couldn't' even hide from the other students. Because the school was so kind as to give me a different colored name tag.

The book was yanked out of Donald's hands by a bully. "What the hell's this? Are you allowed to read this stuff while you work?" The student mocked. "Why are you reading this crusty old crap?"  The student ran out into the hallway with the book. "Teacher! Donald is slacking off during work!"

Donald chased after him but as soon as he entered the hallway, another bully tripped him. Donald fell to the ground.

"Hahaha," The bully handed the book to the leader of the trio. "Dumbass,"

"The Work-Study Bandit has been arrested,"

"Case Closed!"

"You get financial aid, don't you?" Seungjae Heo tossed the book into a trashcan. "So you should be working, right? So why are you slacking off? While all of us have to pay to go here, you really have no conscience, do you?"

When I left that hell that was home...

"And you know what else?" Seungjae said. "You smell,"

...Another hell waited for me at school.

"No way, Donald used to get bullied as a kid!?" Dongha exclaimed. 

Seongmok raised a brow at Dongha's surprise, reminding Dongha that they both got bullied as elementary schoolers.

"Yeah but since it says 'another hell waited for me at school' it means that Donald probably didn't fight back or sucked at fighting!" Dongha pointed out.

"Donald," Sua addressed her son. "You said that school's great. You never mentioned being bullied,"

"I didn't want you to worry," Donald told her. "You were already under enough stress. I wanted you to focus on your health and to not worry about me,"

"Donald," Kingsley asked. "Are you not at all bothered by everyone learning about your past like this?"

"Kingsley, I'm dead," Donald sighed. "I don't care,"

"But you're alive right now!" Kingsley argued. "And then when we get out of here, you'll continue the Union—"

"I disbanded the Union," Donald interrupted. "And I intend to keep it that way,"

"No, you didn't want to stop—"

"Yes I did!" Donald snapped, growing more impatient with him. "Even if I had survived getting hit by a truck, I would have never continued the Union. I would have kept it disbanded and either try to live a quiet life in Yeongdeungpo or move somewhere else,"

"But...but..." Kingsley was devastated to hear those words from Donald. 

They finally finished reacting ot Chapter 257!

Chapter Text

"Since we finished the first part of Donald's backstory, let's take a break!" Skai announced. "There's some food and drinks in the room next door! I'll be back when it's time to start the next chapter!" He disappeared into thin air.

"Come on Mom," Donald told Sua. "Let's get something to eat. I'm sure it'll definitely be better than all that hospital food you had," Everyone watched as Donald was the first to go to the room next door, followed by his mother. 

"Donald seems so different," Robin commented. 

"Yeah, he seems much more relaxed," Grape added. "He's still intimidating but that's because we know about his reputation. He isn't actively trying to intimidate others,"

Kingsley overheard it all and grew frustrated. 'He's just happy to be with his mother again! With time, he'll return to being the Donald Na who's feared by everyone!'

Everyone else entered the food room. As each person grabbed their plate or plates of food, they all still stuck in their own groups. Kingsley grabbed some food and walked over to where Donald and Sua were. Donald was still calmly and happily chatting away with his mother without a care.

"Donald, I think it would be wise to still maintain your usual demeanor around everyone," Kingsley advised.

"Kingsley, I already told you," Donald was visibly annoyed now. "I'm dead,"

"But you're alive now," Kingsley said. "And once we get out of here—"

"My mother and I will revert back to being ashes in the columbarium," Donald cut him off. "She and I are only alive now because we're in this realm,"

"Donald's right," Skai popped out of nowhere. "My powers are only limited to this realm. I can't control what goes on in your world," He snapped his fingers and everyone was teleported to their seats with their food. "Time to start Chapter 258!"

"Haha, look how old his pants are,"

"They're so worn they're starting to shine!"

"He probably picked them out of a dumpster," Seungjae scoffed. "No wonder he smells!"

Donald ignored their words and began to pick up his fallen papers. 

"Let's go," Seungjae glared down at him and recalled how Donald was always first place in the academic rankings while he was second place. 'Damn it, why is he here? I thought he dropped out,'

Both Stephen and Gray felt déjà vu. The fact that those bullies had done all of that right in front of the teachers' room with the bullies themselves making loud noise to draw attention was proof that the teachers were aware of the bullying and just simply didn't care.

Seungjae being upset about Donald beating him in the academic rankings reminded Gray of Bryce Oh. Gray remembered how Bryce insulted Stephen, saying his real place was in the lower-middle range. He remembered Bryce calling Stephen the dumbest out of the three of them, but both Gray and Stephen had brushed it off and friendly teasing. Gray remembered how, when Stephen placed first again, Bryce was furious.

 The scene changed to the classroom just as the bell rang. The Dean of Academic Affairs entered the room. "Didn't you hear the bell ring? Everyone in your seats," He noticed that everyone except Donald was wearing their school jacket. "Hey Work-Study kid, why aren't you wearing a jacket?"

"Sir?" Donald was confused. "I didn't know—"

"Haha,"

"Dumbass,"

"Class president!" The Dean of Academic Affairs scolded. "Didn't you tell him!? I told you the school supervisors and the chairman of the foundation are going to be sitting in on today's class,"

"I texted everyone, teach," Seungjae claimed.

"But Donald doesn't even have a phone," One of Seungjae's lackeys added.

'What was the principal thinking, admitting a kid like that?' The Dean sighed. "Look, until the supervisors leave, I want you to go mop the stairs,"

"Okay, teach..." Donald quietly grabbed the mop and bucket.

"No, not the stairs," He quickly retracted. "The hallway upstairs.  Got it?" 'I don't want the supervisors to see him at all...'

"Okay..."

"They remind me a lot of Byuksan," Stephen said to Gray. 

"In a lot of schools, the school admin tend to look down on those who aren't from prestigious  or influential backgrounds," Gray told him.

As Donald cleaned the hallways, he enviously watched through the window as the class ate the burgers Seungjae's mother had bought and sang happy birthday to him. As a result of all the food, the trash cans were a mess. The homeroom teacher ordered Donald to clean it all up and Donald quietly obeyed.

At first...I hesitated a little. But now I don't care anymore. I have no need for pride. Pride is a luxury. My homeroom teacher said his childhood dream was to become a NASV engineer

Donald was shown being ordered to rub his homeroom teacher's feet and despite complying, his homeroom teacher left him several negative reviews on his student record. 

"What the fuck!?"

"That's horrible!"

"That teacher is disgusting!"

"Not even Byuksan teachers forced kids to give them foot rubs," Stephen said, feeling even more sorry for Donald.

"And he's also just an elementary schooler too," Eugene added.

Even Cheongang was disgusted. They would never order their underlings to give them foot rubs like that. They just had them do the more tedious and annoying tasks like delivery documents and collecting money. The most personal thing that they'd order underlings to do would be to light a cigarette or pour some alcohol.

Afterwards, he gave a bag of bread to Donald.

"Aren't those pastries from the break room?" The Dean of Academic Affairs asked Mr. Jeong. "I was going to throw those out because they're all moldy,"

"Hey, it won't kill him," Mr. Jeong claimed. "Besides, it'd be a waste to throw them all away.,"

"Eating moldy bread can cause respiratory issues," Gray said. "There are also certain varieties of mold that produce dangerous mycotoxins,"

Even after everything they had seen in the previous chapter. To see Donald so desperate for food that he was resorting to eating moldy bread that he surely knew wasn't safe to consume just seemed so...shocking to everyone.

Dongha realized that Donald was much worse off than when he had been a kid. Dongha's mother had been able to feed him everyday and even afford knockoff brand clothing. But Donald had been stuck wearing rags and barely was able to eat.

Sua was furious. "I can't believe people like them work with kids!" She felt even guiltier now because at the hospital, whenever she did have an appetite to eat, she was always able to eat meals. Meanwhile her son had to resort to eating moldy food that could've gotten him incredibly sick.

"Anyway, I saw he got a perfect score on the last test," The Dean said. "What are you going to do about the advanced class roster? The kid really just doesn't know his place, ugh,"

A flashback showed Seungjae's mother asking, "What do you mean Seungjae can't be in the advanced class?"

"Well, you see, there's only room for one student per class," Mr. Jeong told her. "And policy states that only the top ranking student from each class be put in the advanced class,"

"Isn't the top student in this class the Work-Study student?" Seungjae's mother sneered. "You can't seriously be putting a boy like that in the advanced class,"

"Everything gets recorded in official documents, so we have to be sure we're equitable, ma'am," Mr. Jeong told her. 

"Official records, policy...why insist on complicated things?" She slid over a Rorex watch. "I'm sure there are ways to get around it. I can count on you, right?"

"Well, of course," He picked up the box. "As they say, where there's a will, there's a way. I'll make sure everything gets sorted out, ma'am,"

The scene shifted back to the present time of Donald's flashback and Mr. Jeong was frustrated. 'I even leaked him the test questions the day before. How did he not take first place? And the grading is done by other teachers so I can't fudge the results,' He looked over at Donald's perfect scores and sighed. "What a headache..."

The Dean of Academic Affairs told Mr. Jeong that the class president's parents are influential people and they're known to hold grudges, so he better not screw things up.

Rage filled Gray. "Those people are exactly like Oswald Yang and the teacher at Byuksan..." 'Just how similar were our pasts, Donald?' 

He remembered Oswald's father, city representative Oscar Yang, covering up all of his wrongdoings at Byuksan. Even when Stephen had been shoved from the rooftop, Oswald and Bryce got away scot-free. They showed zero remorse and immediately continued bullying other students.

The scene shifted to Donald being kicked into a cabinet. "You cheating scum," Seungjae glared at him. "How could you get a perfect score? You can't even afford practice workbooks. Just admit it already. You used your status as a Work-Study student to steal the test from the teachers' office, didn't you?"

The class president always brought hamburgers for everyone on Fridays. In our class, anything he said was law.

"I didn't," Donald answered. "As for workbooks, I used the old ones that the upperclassmen threw away. And even without those, you can still do well on the test with what we learned in class,"

"You talk too damn much!" One of Seungjae's minion punched Donald and sent him crashing to the floor.

I can never resort to violence. Because whatever little fault I may be guilty of...will be multiplied by ten, twenty times over.

Seungjae's minion repeatedly kicked and stomped on Donald.

No violence.

He recalled how his mother hoped she'd see him go to school in a Yeo-Il uniform one day. 

'Mom has to see me going to school in that uniform. and until she does, I can't make any trouble. Ever,'

"You should've fought back, Donald..." Sua whispered.

"I didn't want to stress you out," Donald told her.

"You shouldn't have worried about me," Sua said. "You should've worried about your own safety! You're just a kid. You shouldn't have had to bear the burden of not wanting me to worry!"

Stephen, Alex, and Jake empathized with the young Donald Na. Stephen hadn't wanted to endanger Gray by getting him involved. 

Alex, who felt guilty after Ben got badly injured protecting him in middle school, had hid his wounds after Jimmy had beaten him up at the pool hall. 

Jake, who didn't want to involve his friends in Union-related business, always fought alone.

Eugene, who had been bullied by Minsu Gong, didn't want to burden his friends and stayed silent until Gray quickly caught onto what was going on.

"You're too poor to even buy workbooks," The minion was somehow out of breath already from attacking Donald. "You think it makes sense for you to score better than Seungjae?"

"Hey, forget it," Seungjae placed a hand on his friend's shoulder. "Look, I'm going to tell the teacher you cheated. I was just giving you the chance to come clean," He turned to leave. "You're probably going to get kicked out. There's zero tolerance for cheating,"

"That kid is the one actually cheating, right?" Wolf asked.

"Yeah," Hwangmo nodded, recalling the previous panels.

"What a fucking moron," Wolf laughed. "Even though he had the questions leaked to him, he still couldn't score first place. Even an idiot like Jared was able to correctly copy down shit,"

The scene shifted to after school when Donald was on his way home. He froze upon hearing some voices coming from an alley.

"If you borrow money, the normal thing is to pay it back on time, right?"

Donald carefully peered around the corner and into the alley. His stepfather was on his knees and being threatened by a loan shark.

"Why do you want to make us the bad guys?"

"Loan sharks?" Joowon questioned.

"Is Donald going to get sold off to human traffickers?" Gijoo asked.

Everyone grew quiet and turned to stare at Gijoo.

"What?" Gijoo blinked in confusion. "It's already established that all the adults in Donald's life sucks except for his mom. His stepdad abuses him so I wouldn't be surprised if he got sold off to pay his debts,"

"Surprisingly, he didn't sell me off," Donald spoke up. "I think it was because he didn't have any connections to do so, though,"

"I think it's because the webtoon is a Young Adult rating," Skai said. "If it was a Mature rating, Seopass might've included human trafficking and other darker things,"

Those dizzying marks on his body were repulsive and nauseating. But what caught my eye more than that repulsiveness..."

"Please...just give me one more day..." Donald's stepfather begged. "I'll pay the interest tomorrow. And I'll have the rest of the money soon,"

...was seeing my stepfather trembling in fear. 

"Wait a second," Jake said. "Donald, you think tattoos are disgusting?"

"Yes," Donald answered.

"But you're covered in tattoos," Jimmy pointed out.

"Because I wanted to look intimidating," Donald replied.

"You'd be still just as intimidating without your tattoos..." Forrest said under his breath, too scared to say it directly to his boss.

"Do you think Dean's tattoo is intimidating?" Eunchan inquired.

"Flower tattoos aren't typically intimidating," Donald told him.

"Hold up one fucking second," Skai interrupted. "Boy, you have flower tattoos on your back!" He briefly exited the webtoon and showed a screenshot of the panel where Donald was changing in front of Wolf.

"But the main focus is the dragon," Donald pointed out. "The flowers accompanies the dragon's aesthetic, but it doesn't do the intimidating,"

"Donald must be the tattoo parlor's number one customer with how much ink he has," Ben commented.

"He's literally covered neck to ankle in tattoos," Skai deadpanned. 

"The needles must've hurt," Sua said. She herself had a bunch of experience being constantly stabbed by needles for treatment.

"It didn't really hurt that much," Donald claimed. "Compared to other things, tattoo needles are nothing,"

The next day, Donald was called into the meeting room where Seungjae, his mother, Mr. Jeong, the Dean of Academic Affairs, and the principal were. "Now tell us the truth. Donald, did you know what would be on the test ahead of time?"

"They're not going to believe him even if he tells the truth," Stephen said sadly, recalling how Bryce had spread lies about Stephen. "They've already decided the lies are the truth,"

This chapter was more focused on Gray and Stephen's reaction because it's similar to what happened to them at Byuksan Middle School.

Are there any characters that are in the auditorium (see Chapter 1 for the list of who's there) that you'd like to see more of their reactions?