Ch.624Chapter 24. Real Estate Never Die (2)

After North Korea’s collapse, those officially referred to as “North Korean refugees” had to adapt to South Korean society.

To survive.

They needed to adapt just like North Korean defectors did in South Korea, or rather, even faster and more definitively.

What was most necessary for that?

Money.

With money, they could somehow settle in northern Gyeonggi Province or anywhere south of the DMZ.

How should the government handle nearly ten million North Korean refugees?

The government employed various methods, and in the process, received help from Haeguneul.

They purchased Haeguneul’s supplies at low prices with tax money to send to North Korean refugees, and turned unsold apartments built by Haeguneul Construction into temporary residences for them.

Haeguneul industrial complexes were selected as places for them to work and earn money, and when they had the means, they were mobilized as construction workers to develop former North Korean territory under the supervision of Haeguneul employees.

This process continues today, and it’s close to what capitalist society calls the “proper way.”

I know the proper way is right.

But the proper way is difficult, painful, and offers little reward.

That’s why humans seek shortcuts.

They know it’s wrong to deviate from laws, principles, and norms, but straying from the right path offers sweet fruits.

Haeguneul attracted North Korean refugees who were inclined toward such shortcuts.

The most representative example is the leeches from underground Hwanghae Province.

They turned ordinary farmers into cyber information warriors for Haeguneul, paying them several times the minimum wage after taxes, making them their followers.

So then.

Are there only leeches?

Of course not.

Haeguneul poked into anything that could make money, committing illegal acts everywhere and scooping up money through loopholes.

Just like the scene before our eyes.

“This is our home! Please leave!”

A young couple shouts at a man sitting in front of a shabby building, in a somewhat stiff manner that sounds like reading from a Korean textbook.

“Ah, this here is my house, I tell ya!”

The middle-aged man sitting on a chair in front of a dilapidated brick house speaks with an accent that sounds strange even to me.

“Seol-hee, what accent does that sound like?”

“…Someone who defected from North Korea and came to Busan?”

While taking a break drinking beverages at a Haeguneul convenience store—not all traces of Haeguneul have been erased from North Korea yet—we listened to the dispute happening right next to the store.

“Please leave now! This is our house!”

“What nonsense! I’ve lived here for thirty-eight years!”

“Stop lying! We lived here until three years ago! You fraud!”

“Fraud? Watch your mouth! Calling fellow Koreans fraudsters crosses the line!”

As voices grow louder, Baek Seol-hee fiddles with her business card and points at the middle-aged man with meaningful eyes.

“That man is from Busan.”

Baek Seol-hee is also from Busan.

“You know those old movies with North Korean soldiers? He’s copying that accent exactly. But no matter how you correct your accent, you can’t hide your gestures.”

“Listen! I’ve been living here all along! This house is mine!”

“That’s exactly the pose people make when they get out of their car after being rear-ended. What do you think? That Busan man… seems like he’s squatting in someone’s house.”

“Correct.”

As Busan native Baek Seol-hee predicted, the owner of this house in former North Korean territory beyond the DMZ is not that middle-aged man.

“He’s someone paid by Haeguneul to move into an empty house. Later when government officials arrive, he pretends to be the homeowner.”

“What about documents?”

“Haeguneul was behind it all. They fabricate everything.”

If they’re in cahoots, they just need to create plausible documents.

A person employed by Haeguneul squats in North Korean territory, and a government official under Haeguneul’s influence purchases the land from that person.

Even if the real homeowner returns later, the house and land will have already been transferred to someone else.

“Seol-hee, did you know? Apparently some North Korean refugees are given special language training opportunities. Through a lottery.”

“Is that language training where they go far from home to the southern coast for about a year?”

“Kind of military-style. Can’t leave in the middle.”

“…Not really a lottery, is it?”

“I heard all sponsorship and education costs were covered by Haeguneul.”

“Ha. Really….”

Baek Seol-hee tapped her finger on her milk carton with an irritated expression.

“While others were doing hero activities, they were doing such things behind the scenes…?”

Even S-class heroes don’t know much about the underworld.

Baek Seol-hee has lived diligently to rescue citizens and defeat villains, and Haeguneul thoroughly concealed such shortcuts and crimes from heroes.

“This is so annoying. They’ve already collapsed, but I wish they would collapse again.”

“They will continue to collapse. Until all remnants of Haeguneul completely disappear from this land.”

It’s not fair to criticize her for not knowing.

The fault lies with those who kept everything hushed up in collusion, even from heroes.

“Get out! If you interfere any further, I’ll call the police!”

“Liar! This proves you’re not the homeowner! What North Korean refugee would call the police for a dispute!”

“Keuht…!”

The middle-aged man was finally caught.

“We report to the Party, not call the police like those South Korean bastards….”

“What? South Korean bastards? Are you perhaps admitting to being from ‘North Korea’?”

“Ah…!”

But he immediately seized on their words and started turning the tables on the young couple.

“Well, well, there are still Red remnants! How long has it been since that puppet state collapsed, yet you still call the Republic of Korea ‘South Korea’! I should call the National Intelligence Service, not the police!”

“No, no! We didn’t mean it that way!”

The young couple also panic and desperately deny something.

“Really? Then you can surely answer this question? Kim Il-s—”

“Son of a bitch!”

“……Not North Korean. Someone not fully de-programmed yet? Tsk tsk, the country must have spent so much on re-education, yet the red hasn’t fully washed out. Look at this!”

The middle-aged man pointed to the latest Taegeuk Watch on his wrist.

“This isn’t from those dirty American puppets you used to curse! It’s made with our technology! Capitalism and liberalism weren’t wrong! The Reds were wrong!”

As the man raised his voice almost aggressively, the young couple’s faces also began to redden.

“Why is he going that far?”

“The one who farted is getting angry. After stealing someone’s house, he’ll say anything to protect it so money keeps flowing into his account.”

“At least his praise for capitalism is sincere?”

“That’s right. …According to information gathered by the tavern owners, successful squatters get paid one million won per pyeong when they successfully transfer the land to Haeguneul.”

“What…?”

Baek Seol-hee’s expression, which had been smirking, immediately hardened.

“One million won per pyeong…?”

“How many pyeong do you think that land is? Including the yard, about 100 pyeong? Quite spacious, right? Even though the house is falling apart, if he just holds out until the government official under Haeguneul’s influence comes to create evidence and take over, he gets 100 million won. As compensation.”

And the time needed to hold out wouldn’t even be half a year, let alone a full year.

If only Haeguneul hadn’t collapsed.

“My goodness….”

“Surprising, isn’t it?”

“Busan is thirty million won per pyeong. Maybe I should buy land here too…?”

“……Of course, the government’s official price is higher.”

I had forgotten.

This woman has enough money to burn an enormous amount for one night with Do Ji-hwan.

“In reality, that land would be worth about 500 million won. It’s what they call….”

“‘Kickbacks’? I often saw that in documentaries about Haeguneul. So that’s what it is?”

“Right. Literally, kickbacks.”

Illegal ones.

“So what now? Did those people lose their home because they went to that training Haeguneul arranged?”

“…….”

“What?”

“No. I just think you’re still very much a hero.”

No matter how much of society’s dark side she’s seen, Baek Seol-hee is still a hero full of justice.

“Seol-hee. The world is full of people who deceive and are deceived. But the deceived aren’t always innocent.”

“…Ah.”

Baek Seol-hee frowned with a look of tremendous betrayal.

“According to your way of speaking, what I’m thinking is….”

“What do you think I was going to say?”

“…That those people are also con artists?”

Baek Seol-hee’s cold eyes pointed at the young couple.

“We’ll see. Fortunately, someone who can determine that has arrived.”

With the sound of an SUV driving on an unpaved road, a woman with striking orange hair stepped out of the driver’s seat of a car with a “Public Service” sticker.

“I received a report. What’s the matter?”

In a stiff, businesslike voice, the woman stood between the young couple and the middle-aged man.

“What’s the issue here?”

“Th-that…!”

“Look! These people claim this is their house! I’m the homeowner! I’ve lived here for 38 years!!”

“…….”

The young couple looked flustered seeing the government official, while the middle-aged man raised his voice even more arrogantly.

“Is that so? Then I’ll verify.”

“Yes, verify! I knew this would happen so I prepared documents….”

“I will read the memory of the land.”

“……Huh?”

As the woman extended her hand toward the ground, the middle-aged man’s expression froze.

“Geometry.”

“……W-wait. That’s similar to psychometry….”

“I will read the memories absorbed into this land to determine whether you are the homeowners or not.”

The woman’s government ID showed the name “Seong Ji-eun.”

“……Tsk.”

And she turned her snake-like narrow eyes toward the young couple.

“One side is a con artist.”

The moment Seong Ji-eun’s eyes turned toward me.

“The other side is a murderer. The homeowner.”

I rushed forward and kicked the young man in the back.

Splash!

…But before my foot connected, the young couple were trapped in an ice chamber.