Ch.596Chapter 22. The Price of Labor (28)

Occasionally, the government shows movements reminiscent of military operations.

Citizens show interest in these movements, but sometimes they lose interest.

“So what was that fireball that appeared in Seoul?”

“Don’t know. Probably some signal for Phoenix’s resurrection.”

“??? That’s impossible, you fool.”

“Shut up! Phoenix is alive!!! I’ll definitely find out what that flame was!!”

“Go ahead and try to investigate all you want. Your effort is commendable, but you’ll never find out. Even journalists can’t figure it out.”

People are curious, but there’s no way for an individual to find answers.

“I heard it can’t be revealed even off the record. Must have been a truly important military operation. Four S-rank heroes were mobilized for it.”

“What? Did they kill a demon or something?”

“Who knows. They might have killed someone demonic, or maybe an actual demon.”

The truth is out there.

“Lord of Radiant Wings wouldn’t have personally stepped in to handle it without reason.”

“Then maybe… a demon from Pandemonium?”

“Who knows. Since Goblin, the Pandemonium demon slayer, died in Osaka, maybe Lord of Radiant Wings stepped up this time.”

No one knew what had happened at that hotel near Gwanghwamun in Seoul.

Those who wanted to know soon lost interest due to other issues.

“Woah!! Breaking news, breaking news!!”

“What’s so breaking about it?”

“Choi Ho-jung is confirmed dead!!”

“……?”

Choi Ho-jung, deceased.

“The government and Hero Association released their joint investigation results! Choi Ho-jung is dead!”

“That brutally murdered person was Choi Ho-jung? Really?”

“That’s what they’re saying!”

The body found in the mountains near Gangwon Province was surprisingly confirmed to be Choi Ho-jung himself.

“Nah, I don’t believe it. In this age of superpowers, they could easily fake a corpse.”

“Lord of Radiant Wings personally made the announcement!”

“What?! Is that true?! Really?!”

There was only one reason.

The announcement was made by a blonde young man in a black suit, ‘Lord of Radiant Wings’ Kim Jin-ho.

“Finally…! After nearly 10 months of silence, Lord of Radiant Wings has finally reappeared!”

People gained something just from Lord of Radiant Wings’ appearance.

‘Hope.’

This was the people’s trust and faith in a hero who had sacrificed everything for the country, and the reward for Lord of Radiant Wings’ hard work for the nation.

And so, Chairman Choi Ho-jung’s death became yesterday’s news.

The wish-granting demon is still alive, and members of the Choi family are still missing, and suspicious incidents occurred at Gwanghwamun.

But the appearance of Lord of Radiant Wings, who hadn’t shown himself for a long time and had only appeared as Mecha Lord of Radiant Wings on Liberation Day, swallowed up all other issues.

The leeches of Haeguneul.

The blood trafficking case.

The downfall of Haeguneul.

“Lord of Radiant Wings! Lord of Radiant Wings! Lord of Radiant Wings!”

“I believed in you all along, damn it…!”

“Victory is practically guaranteed now!”

In the face of the upcoming massive event—the Superpower World Cup—these were just major issues that would always exist in this world.

That the Syndicate had been quietly moving underwater during all this was classified information known only to those who needed to know.

Some even disparaged the Syndicate, claiming “all they did was create clone heroes to cause confusion,” but the Syndicate was quite satisfied with this outcome.

And for good reason….

[Gol-den I’m truly grateful to Choi Ho-jung.]

The woman on video call with me, the Chairwoman, looked much more at ease.

[Thanks to him, I was able to recover one ‘pass’.]

The Chairwoman has returned.

Though it’s her avatar, she’s back to her usual self that I’m familiar with.

[Really, I can’t thank Chairman Choi Ho-jung enough.]

“I’m worried we might be causing you stress, Chairwoman.”

[Not at all. What stress would I have? I just need to sign at the end of the approval line.]

“This is when you should be resting the most.”

[If I don’t do at least this much, I’ll feel useless. It’s fine. If it gets too difficult, I’ll just hand everything over to the Wall Street people.]

“…….”

As a mere citizen who was once just a reader, even though it came from the Chairwoman, it sent chills down my spine.

In this age of superpowers.

One word from the Chairwoman could mobilize five S+ rank superhumans immediately.

But at the same time, one word from her could summon five of Wall Street’s best investment expert groups with their laptops and pens at the ready.

For me, the latter is more impactful than the former.

The power the Chairwoman holds, the woman who rules all of ‘America’.

[Now is the right time. With the public going wild over Lord of Radiant Wings, this is the perfect opportunity. The so-called buying timing.]

And there’s something in Korea right now that requires mobilizing such power.

[With Choi Ho-jung officially dead, and his ex-wife also deceased, all his assets will go to whoever is closest to Choi Ho-jung.]

“That, word choice…”

[Oh my, you’re concerned about such things? Hehehe. How considerate.]

“A sergeant a month before discharge gets anxious even at a private’s sigh.”

There’s no need to create unnecessary problems.

Especially in this world where anything could happen.

[Alright. So all of Choi Ho-jung’s assets are now up in the air. Specifically, according to Choi Ho-jung’s prepared will, all his assets should legally go to his ex-wife, from whom he was legally divorced.]

Planning to body-swap, Choi Ho-jung was prepared to pay inheritance tax as his assets transferred to his ex-wife.

This is a man who burned 2 trillion won of personal assets on Phoenix’s feather (a fake tracking device).

He would consider such inheritance tax as the cost of identity laundering, and would try to minimize it using Haeguneul scholarship students.

That’s how it should have been.

“But his ex-wife is dead.”

Choi Ho-jung’s ex-wife is dead.

When attacked using Phoenix’s feather to track location, Choi Ho-jung used body-swapping to put the ‘Body Changer’s’ soul into his ex-wife’s body and destroyed the physical body.

Choi Ho-jung, dead.

His ex-wife, also dead.

Then where does Choi Ho-jung’s wealth go?

[His current wife is still alive.]

“…….”

[Yang Da-rin. The unfortunate hero who was forced to marry Choi Ho-jung and bear his child.]

Yang Da-rin is not dead.

Though her whereabouts are unknown, even a quick look at social media shows she’s still alive.

[All eyes in South Korea are on her. Will she become the next chairperson of Haeguneul after Choi Ho-jung, or will she continue as a hero? Even now, her social media activity immediately becomes news.]

Her Taegeuk Watch and social media accounts show “online” status—Yang Da-rin is alive.

She accessed her social media account just a minute ago before disappearing.

Although we can’t immediately confirm her location, unless someone cut off Yang Da-rin’s arm along with her Taegeuk Watch, she’s definitely alive.

[Since she’s having a child, I think I understand. Though she hasn’t given birth yet, she’ll want ‘compensation’ for everything she went through as Choi Ho-jung’s wife.]

“So her wish is to inherit Choi Ho-jung’s assets and pass them on to her child.”

[Yes. That might be her wish. …Haven’t you found it strange? Choi Ho-jung would surely have kept Yang Da-rin with him, but she wasn’t by his side.]

“…There are only two cases when a man doesn’t wear his luxury watch: when he needs to be careful with it, or when he’s lost it.”

For Choi Ho-jung, Yang Da-rin was a global luxury brand.

He’s the type who would use Yang Da-rin as a shield to protect himself, through threats or whatever means necessary.

But Yang Da-rin wasn’t there?

[Perhaps Yang Da-rin made a wish to a demon. That Choi Ho-jung would die as soon as possible, and all his assets would be inherited by her. Just a guess, a guess.]

“Did you read it?”

[No. I don’t need to see the future to deduce this much. As a woman, and someone who will become a mother.]

“Mother….”

A mother is the most fearsome being.

[For her child, a mother can become a demon, make deals with demons, or become something worse than a demon. What do you think?]

“…Mothers everywhere might be like that, but Yang Da-rin is Korean.”

And this is Korea.

“Should we capture Yang Da-rin then?”

[No. What we need to capture isn’t Yang Da-rin. It’s Choi Ho-jung’s shares and assets that will be scattered and divided in the process of going to Yang Da-rin, and the numerous ‘remnants of Haeguneul’.]

“…There will be dark-haired ones all over the country.”

Choi Ho-jung’s gone, and the S-ranks who contracted with Haeguneul have lost their sponsor.

There’s only one thing villains without financial backing will do.

“Leave it to me, Chairwoman. I’ll eliminate all the villains.”

All evil belongs to ‘Zenros’.

“As a villain executioner, I’ll do my best.”

[Yes. Oh, and I’ll send you that.]

“That…?”

[Your success fee for creating the situation where the Syndicate could buy Haeguneul shares. And what you wanted….]

The Chairwoman grins at me.

[The position of major shareholder in Haeguneul Publishing.]

For labor…

There must be appropriate compensation.

“I love you, Chairwoman.”

Villains are no exception.