Ch.573Chapter 22. The Price of Labor (5)

10 minutes ago, at a pension near Cheongsong, North Gyeongsang Province.

“What a complete mess this is.”

Chairman Choi Ho-jung, who had secretly escaped from the branch office by helicopter to hide at a mountain lodge in Cheongsong, twisted the corner of his mouth as he watched the protesters.

“In my day, it was the commies stirring people up with propaganda leaflets. Now it’s these rabble calling themselves Hwalbindang or The Syndicate making trouble. Ah, my dear. Do you even know what propaganda leaflets are?”

“…I do. I learned about them in history class.”

Choi Ho-jung’s wife, Yang Da-rin, patted the child in her arms while staring at the anger of the protesters displayed on the 70-inch TV.

“What are you going to do? They seem unusually angry.”

“They’re just fools who’ve fallen for propaganda. They’re like a pot of water—just need to press down with some force and they’ll quiet down.”

“……?”

“They’re in a state where they won’t listen to anything we say. I’m sure there are Hwalbindang members or Syndicate operatives hiding among them. They’ve planted agitators.”

Chairman Choi clicked his tongue repeatedly as he pointed at the protesters.

“Look at that. That man dressed like an office worker, that pregnant woman with her child—they’re all Hwalbindang members and Syndicate thugs. Even those opposition party members are out there with them. How many people there do you think are genuinely angry at us? Hmm?”

“…Just because there are agitators, you’re saying all those tens of thousands are agitators?”

“If there are roughly 50,000 people, planting just 200 agitators is enough to stir them up. When 200 loud voices take the lead and shout, the ignorant masses will follow regardless of the truth.”

The chairman gave the protesters a contemptuous look.

“This is what we call ‘mob psychology.’ They’re using the negative perception of Haeguneul to interfere with our business. Through agitation and fabrication.”

“But it’s true.”

“True? Ah, yes. That?”

The external display advertisement at the Haeguneul headquarters still showed the man who had called him a “leech” continuing his whistleblowing.

“Nonsense. Actually receiving 5 million won? Ha, I’m Choi Ho-jung. I’m the greediest man among all the greedy people in this country. Would someone like me give 5 million won to such worthless people?”

Yang Da-rin found herself nodding vigorously without realizing it.

“My dear, do you know who 80% of those leeches underground are? They’re from North Korea—refugees from the puppet regime after North Korea collapsed. Why would I give 5 million to people who would be overjoyed with just 500,000 won a month for rice and meat soup?”

“Then is the person claiming to receive 5 million an actor hired by The Syndicate?”

“…….”

The chairman took a sip of tea to moisten his throat.

“…After being fooled a few times, or rather, after the first time, I started to see The Syndicate’s typical methods.”

“Which are?”

Yang Da-rin perked up her ears.

“They reveal about 30% of the truth, then distort and falsify the remaining 70% to confuse people.”

“……What have they done this time?”

“They’ve exaggerated. Enormously. I paid those blood bags 160,000 won monthly, but they’re talking nonsense about 5 million.”

Chairman Choi Ho-jung pounded his chest, genuinely feeling wronged about this particular matter.

“The people receiving 5 million won were supervisors dispatched from headquarters. They managed the blood bags, moved goods, took care of their health, and were S-class hero secretaries assisting ‘Dark Hair’!!”

Though the assigned duties seemed excessive to be called secretaries, the chairman continued pounding his chest in anger.

“The money that flew to that bastard Dark Hair Zenros alone amounts to 200 billion won now, and they’re saying I gave 5 million to those non-recyclable social garbage?! I’d rather load a helicopter with cash and scatter it over Seomyeon in Busan!!”

“…….”

“Damn, what do they call this these days? ‘Fucking pissed’? Whew, Kimsuhanmu….”

“…….”

Yang Da-rin twisted her rising lip corner but immediately stiffened her expression.

Pat, pat.

The child in her arms patted Yang Da-rin’s chest, and she patted the child’s back while looking ahead with an expressionless face.

“This won’t do. I didn’t want to resort to this.”

Chairman Choi Ho-jung stood up and tapped his Taeguk Watch.

“Hey, it’s me. Director Choi. Which team is in the basement of the headquarters building right now? Ah, Changgi’s team? Send them up. Tell them to beat down anyone trying to enter the headquarters, even if they have to half-kill them.”

“Chairman!!”

Yang Da-rin quickly rose to her feet and shouted.

“That men’s team…! They’re a group of killers!”

“…My dear, those friends haven’t been charged with anything yet.”

Chairman Choi Ho-jung firmly pressed his thumb on the Taeguk Watch screen.

“They’re just young people employed by Haeguneul. They may be somewhat violent in nature, but who’s being more violent right now?”

On the TV, angry citizens were pushing back the riot police and approaching the headquarters.

“Those are rioters, rioters. Rioters should naturally be beaten to death.”

“…If you’re really going to kill them, I’d rather let people know I’m here.”

“Ha. My dear. Such threats won’t work. Have you forgotten that I control the Taeguk Watch you’re using?”

“……!!”

Crackle.

Black smoke rose from Yang Da-rin’s Taeguk Watch.

“If you want to report this, go out and call the police yourself. There’s a police station about 4km down. But if you’re going to go….”

The chairman pointed at the child Yang Da-rin was holding.

“Leave the child behind.”

“…….”

“The moment you flee with the child, you become a villain who kidnapped Choi Ho-jung’s child. Despite the current situation, making you into a villain is nothing for me. So—”

BOOM!!

Somewhere, an explosion sound rang out.

It was somewhat ambiguous to call it an explosion, but it couldn’t be thought of as anything other than a blast.

“What…?”

The sound came from the TV, and soon the footage zoomed in on someone in front of the headquarters.

“……Hwalbindang?”

A man in a flowing white traditional robe was wearing a nobleman’s mask and holding a daegeum flute that was well over 1 meter long.

“Wait, why is one of our men lying there…?”

And beneath him, one of the Haeguneul headquarters security team members lay with his eyes rolled back and mouth agape.

“No way, that bastard…! What villain dares to attack Haeguneul…!!”

CRASH!!

The glass of the Haeguneul headquarters’ main entrance shattered.

Simultaneously, the unidentified nobleman stepped into the headquarters with an extremely leisurely gait.

“Ugh, ugh…! Who is that nobleman…! Why do all these crazy people appear wearing hanbok and masks!!”

The chairman hurriedly tapped his Taeguk Watch again.

“Hey!! Stop that bastard!! Forget the live broadcast, the Haeguneul headquarters is under terrorist attack! Call the Hero Association and tell them to send someone, A-class or S-class!! Right now!! …What?”

The chairman froze with his mouth open and a pale face.

“The Association President can’t come because he’s managing leeches in Hwanghae Province…ah, damn!! Not even one S-class hero?! How can there not be even one in Busan…no, there is! Baek Seol-hee—”

Click.

“…damn it, haa, tell them to send anyone, A-class or whoever can subdue that crazy nobleman! Somehow! I don’t know what he’s trying to do to the headquarters, but stop him first!!”

The chairman could only shout at his Taeguk Watch.

“…….”

Yang Da-rin bit her lip as she silently watched the nobleman’s movements on TV while holding the child.

“That’s in the prophecy…. Tsk.”

Yang Da-rin tilted her head, then looked down at the child.

“…….”

The child merely stared at the TV with a blank face.

“Why a nobleman’s mask…?”

* * *

“Show your face, you filthy villain!!”

The Haeguneul security team rushes at me.

They swing their three-section staves and electric shockers trying to remove my mask, but I easily dodge them and strike the back of one’s head with my daegeum.

‘I chose a nobleman’s mask specifically to cover my whole face, and yet.’

Masks, or specifically Hahoe masks, come in various types.

Among them are yangban (nobleman) and jung (monk) masks, but the most famous is probably the “bride mask.”

‘I’d rather not have my lower face exposed yet.’

It’s not time yet.

In a world without CCTV, it might be different, but right now my actions of breaking Haeguneul security team members’ heads with a daegeum are being broadcast live worldwide, so I can’t expose my lower face.

When the time comes to reveal my lower face, it will be when the bait has ripened.

I haven’t even planted the seeds yet, so removing the flower sepals would be premature.

So, for now, I focus on planting the seeds.

“Kyaaaah!!”

A receptionist screams and runs away.

“You can’t pass, you madman!!”

A young man blocking my path trembles and grows until he reaches the lobby ceiling.

His appearance resembles a Asiatic black bear from Jirisan Mountain.

“If you want to get past me, you’ll have to defeat me—huh?!”

As I swing my daegeum upward and jump, he hurriedly closes his legs to protect his lower area.

“You trash!! As a fellow man, you’re aiming for the cradle—”

[Not at all.]

BOOM!!

[I don’t kill.]

While his hands went down to protect his cradle, I swung my daegeum downward toward the crown of his head.

[Even if it’s a villain like you.]

KWANG.

As an explosion occurred on his head, the man who had been a black bear shrank back down.

[I don’t kill, I don’t.]

Thud.

Non-lethal.

That applies both as a human and as an ability user.

“You, you…!”

The protesters still haven’t entered.

They couldn’t enter.

“C Team, control the exterior! B Team, subdue that guy immediately!!”

If they tried to enter, they would obviously be stopped by the black-suited men who popped up like cockroaches from somewhere.

Instead.

They could only send gazes of support and aspiration toward me, who was turning the security team into a wasteland on their behalf.

“You.”

Among the security guards, a particularly shiny-headed man in sunglasses pointed his black leather-gloved fist at me.

“You know where you are… right. So, why are you here?”

[I’ve come to collect money.]

“…Money?”

[Yes. Money that’s been withheld. More specifically….]

[I’ve come to collect taxes.]

The trap of actual take-home pay.

[Your hired comment army didn’t report any of their earned income tax to the National Tax Service.]

Literally, actual take-home pay.

[Receiving 5 million won in cash into their accounts without paying a penny in taxes, and you call that take-home pay? I’ve come on behalf of the tax office employees to collect taxes. For the blood bags, and for the profits from ‘blood trafficking’ using those blood bags.]

Even Hwan’s will would acknowledge this.

[If you’ve committed crimes and evaded taxes, you need to cough up all that dirty money.]