Netori: I Shall Steal All Of My Enemies' Women For Revenge!-Chapter 256: A Good Friend

However, it was different from what Haruto had thought. The bullying didn’t stop there. It got worse, but in a different way.

The kind that slowly gnawed away at his patience and growing desperation.

For example, his desk was scrawled over with mockery, insults, and even death threats. His books were thrown out into the school garden, drenched and muddied. His shoes disappeared the moment he switched into his indoor slippers.

Childish pranks. Something immature and petty. But for a kid like Haruto, it was terrifying.

The silent treatment in class. The loud whispers behind his back. The laughter when he tripped, the forced kindness of a teacher who clearly knew what was going on but pretended not to.

It was as if he had become something wrong. Something twisted. Something to be ridiculed.

And all of it—every smirk, every shove, every petty sabotage—made his blood boil.

It was fury, not fear, that pushed his feet back toward the temple courtyard where it all began.

Jin was sitting by the koi pond, skipping rocks across the surface. The koi scattered each time the water rippled, the once-clear pond now murky from the disturbance.

"You told me they’d stop!" Haruto shouted, voice cracking as he stormed up to him. "You said they’d back off if I fought back!"

He stood beside Jin, who was sitting lazily by the koi pond, skipping rocks until the once-clear water turned murky, making the koi scatter.

"And you’re falling apart over something that pathetic?" Jin replied with a sigh, not even bothering to look at him.

"Well—no! Yeah, but... Anyway, it’s all your fault!"

Jin finally turned his head. His eyes held no sympathy as he looked up at the boy in front of him.

"Is it? I didn’t make you do anything. You came to me. You chose to listen."

"You tricked me! You acted like you had all the answers!"

"I only said what you already wanted to hear." Jin shrugged. "You’re just pissed because it didn’t fix everything overnight."

Haruto clenched his fists, jaw tightening. "You... asshole! I should’ve known not to take advice from a psycho like you!"

"Psycho? You’re the same as me, you know." Jin scoffed and picked up another rock.

"Tch. Don’t throw that! You’ll hurt the fish!" Haruto snapped and grabbed his wrist mid-motion.

Jin looked at him for a long second, expression unreadable. Then he let the rock slip from his hand.

"Is another life really that important to you?" Jin asked. "Creatures, humans, everything dies. What’s the difference if it’s by my hands or time?"

"It’s not about you," Haruto said firmly. "I don’t care about you. But that fish didn’t do anything wrong. It doesn’t deserve to suffer just because you’re bored."

Jin stood up, brushing off his knees. A faint smirk tugged at his lips.

"That’s a good answer. But also a foolish one."

He stepped forward, voice quieting.

"Then what about those upperclassmen? The ones who bully you. Do they deserve your compassion too?"

Haruto stiffened. The answer caught in his throat. He didn’t know. Would he feel sad if they disappeared? Or would it be relief? Would it be justice?

"You’re afraid of the responsibility," Jin said flatly. His hand reached out, gripping Haruto’s shoulder. Not harsh, but firm.

"So let others carry it for you."

"Find their weakness," he continued, voice low. "Something embarrassing. Something they’re ashamed of. Something dirty and disgusting they’d rather die than have revealed."

Jin’s voice was calm, almost gentle.

"Once it’s out there, it’s not your fault if they break. You didn’t do anything. You just showed people the truth."

Haruto stared at him, lips parting but no sound coming out.

"You’re not the one making them miserable," Jin whispered. "You’re just showing the truth to the world. That’s not cruelty. That’s honesty."

It was twisted logic. But something in those words planted a seed inside Haruto. A seed of understanding.

He didn’t fully grasp the depth of what Jin had said.

But he knew what it felt like when someone found your secrets. When you were dragged into the light and mocked for the shadows you tried to hide.

He gave a small nod.

He had a plan now.

***

Haruto then stole his father’s camera. It was something he had never done before. But that day, he didn’t hesitate.

He started with the loudest one. The boy who always laughed the hardest when Haruto was being punched. The one who pointed and cackled when his textbook was found floating in the pond.

A bastard named Suzuki.

He was taller and bigger than most kids his age, making others afraid to speak up. His voice boomed in the hallway, and most followed him out of fear. But Haruto didn’t follow. Not anymore.

He stalked Suzuki quietly after school, hiding behind walls and parked cars, clutching the camera tightly. His fingers trembled, but his focus didn’t waver.

It turned out Suzuki lived in a place children were told not to go—a no-go zone filled with shadowed alleys, blinking neon lights, and the smell of cigarettes and stale perfume. A place where prostitutes roamed.

Click. Haruto took a photo when Suzuki was talking to one of the women.

Click. Another time, when a man and a woman entered Suzuki’s run-down apartment in the middle of the night. It was probably his mother and one of her clients.

Night after night, it was always someone new. Every time, Suzuki would leave the house quietly, walking to the nearby park where he sat with shady men and accepted their cigarettes. His shoulders were always slumped. His face looked older than it should’ve.

Haruto had another picture too of Suzuki helping his drunken mother back into the apartment, her makeup smudged, her dress slipping off her shoulders, and her breath fogging up the cold air.

Such a sad life. A life fitting for a bully.

It didn’t take long for Haruto to print out all the pictures. He worked carefully, cutting them with precision and arranging them like a gallery.

Then he pinned them to the school’s main notice board before anyone arrived.

But that wasn’t enough.

He snuck into every classroom, taping the photos to blackboards, lockers, and even under desks. By the time the first bell rang, chaos was already unfolding.

Students swarmed the halls, laughing and pointing. Whispers echoed in every corner.

Suzuki stood frozen. His face turned pale as he saw the pictures. His body trembled, and the sound of his friends laughing at him cut deeper than any insult he had ever thrown.

Turns out, his so-called friends had hated him all along. They joined the others in tormenting him. His table was flung from the third floor. His books were shredded and thrown into the toilet.

Suzuki didn’t even realize who was behind it all. Since he was too busy with his own misery.

Haruto sat calmly in his seat, headphones in, listening to his favorite track. He watched as Suzuki picked up his soaked textbooks from the hallway, face down and humiliated.

A smile tugged at Haruto’s lips.

Not a cheerful smile. A satisfied one.

One filled with quiet contempt, the kind that settled deep into the heart. The same expression Jin once had when he spoke of exposing people.

Now Haruto understood.

He was already planning who to destroy next.

And now he has a new friend who always has good advice by his side.