Ch.625Chapter 24. Real Estate Never Die (3)

During a covert operation, he used his ability to attack an ordinary citizen.

Even if that citizen was suspected of being a murderer, he used his ability to detain them.

What happens in this case?

Do heroes have a special arrest license that exempts them from needing warrants?

Or would the hero be sued by the citizen for unlawful arrest?

Ideally, it would be the former, but unfortunately, in this world’s Korea, it was closer to the latter.

More precisely, that was the case for “heroes who didn’t cooperate with Haeguneul.”

Whenever heroes made any mistake against citizens, Haeguneul would use it as leverage to bring them to their side.

That method no longer works, but as an example…

“Those frozen couple, they won’t sue the government for excessive force against me, right?”

This was the case Snow White was worried about.

“Maybe I shouldn’t have used my ability…”

“…You did the right thing.”

In response to Snow White’s concern, Seong Ji-eun spoke in a slightly bitter, rigid voice and pointed at the floor.

“The original homeowner was killed during the Pyongyang incident. People who came down from Pyongyang killed the owner and took over the house.”

“So you’re finally talking.”

“…If I leave out details in my explanation, she’ll misunderstand again and attack me.”

Seong Ji-eun narrowed her eyes while pointing at Snow White.

“People with a strong sense of justice act before they think.”

“I get what you’re trying to say, but I’m past the stage of trolling and meddling without knowing the background.”

Snow White sharply responded to Seong Ji-eun’s irritation.

“Do you think I’m the type of woman who keeps things to herself and causes major incidents without telling anyone?”

“…That’s why I’m explaining so you don’t misunderstand. And it wasn’t a major incident. Haeguneul was behind that.”

“You knew Haeguneul was behind it but didn’t say anything.”

“It’s easy to talk about it now that Haeguneul has fallen, but how could I have spoken about it then?”

Their voices grew louder.

It seemed these two people with completely different personalities—like land and sea—should never have met, as their voices became increasingly sharp.

“You didn’t trust anyone. Setting me aside, you didn’t even tell Lord of Radiant Wings.”

“What good would it have done to tell two people who were carrying out missions every day saying ‘it’s for the country, so it can’t be helped’ while knowing Haeguneul was behind it?”

“You wouldn’t know if you never tried.”

“Well. Wasn’t the outcome predetermined? Anyone who exposed Haeguneul would be crucified online. Starting with me.”

Of course.

“How are you still like this even after death?”

“And you’re still like this even while pregnant. When you have your child, don’t raise them yourself. I’m afraid you’ll ruin their personality.”

“At least I won’t let them meet a certain aunt, so don’t worry.”

“Who said I wanted to be an aunt? I don’t know about the others, but I’ll make sure your child calls me ‘Ms. Seong Ji-eun.'”

“…You know we’re only a month apart in age, right?”

“Oh, really? You’re always clinging to this person wanting to be called ‘noona,’ so I thought it was much more.”

“This…”

When Seong Ji-eun wasn’t Seong Ji-eun yet, when she was still active, the person she had the most trouble with was Baek Seol-hee.

“You two fight well. It’s good that you’re arguing with words instead of abilities, but shouldn’t we deal with the situation here first?”

I willingly stepped into the whale fight to mediate between them.

“You froze the murder suspect with Geometry, but there’s another suspect in there.”

“Ah.”

“Hmm…”

Both turned their heads toward the house simultaneously.

“H-hieek?!”

There was a fake North Korean house burglar who had been hired by Haeguneul, frozen solid with only his face exposed.

“If you were going to freeze him, why leave just his face out like that?”

“Someone did it like they were making a Jeju Island harubang statue?”

“I just wanted to show what kind of people they were, but now we can just freeze their faces too.”

“We should at least hear it from their own mouths. Why are they still running these scams even after Haeguneul collapsed?”

Though it seemed like they were picking fights over even the simplest questions, I quietly walked forward and placed my hand on the shoulder of the frozen scammer.

“I’m going to erase your memory, so feel free to answer honestly. Let me introduce myself. I’m Goblin, and these are Snow White and Hundun.”

“…Huh?”

“You must be confused. Well, I understand. It’s natural to be surprised when a handsome man like me calls himself Goblin. But don’t worry. You just need to be ‘reformed.'”

The middle-aged man’s eyes began to fill with confusion, fear, and shock.

“N-no way…”

“Just like how Haeguneul’s executives transferred all their shares and were reborn as good people, you’ll be too. You real estate squatter scammer.”

“W-wait a minute…! I was just following the contract!”

Until just moments ago, he was claiming to be a 38-year resident of a house in former North Korean territory, but suddenly he started speaking with a Gyeongsang Province dialect.

“It’s not squatting! N-not a scam either! There are no house documents here anyway! E-even if you’re Goblin, you can’t execute me! I haven’t broken any laws!”

“Of course. Haeguneul lobbied lawmakers to make laws that make it easy to steal land. Laws that don’t recognize the property of former North Koreans.”

“Ugh…!”

The squatter scammer immediately shut his mouth at Seong Ji-eun’s criticism.

Communism doesn’t recognize private property.

Everything belongs to the Party, and individuals merely temporarily stay in the land and houses granted by the Party.

That Party has disappeared.

Even if someone lived in the same house for 38 years, since the Party that lent the house has disappeared, the person living in a house borrowed from the Party is “homeless.”

There was only one reason why all North Korean refugees were made “propertyless.”

To make their land and property belong to the state/government, and then win land development projects through public bidding or purchase the land outright from the government.

-No matter what, isn’t it wrong to take everything from the people who lived there without giving them anything?

-What, do you want to give them rights like compensation for original residents? If we take care of everyone like that, are you going to give them a studio apartment in Busan too?

-…They should at least be able to live. If that person becomes a beggar and dies in front of your house, your property value will drop.

-Ah.

For various reasons, the private property of North Korean refugees was recognized.

They needed documentation proving they had lived in that house for a very long time, and government officials had to come to the site to cross-verify the documents.

In the end, if they were recognized as homeowners and sold their property to either the government or Haeguneul, they could receive enough compensation to buy an apartment in Ulsan or the outskirts of South Gyeongsang Province, if not Busan.

So here’s a question.

Why are we talking about this now?

Because Seong Ji-eun, our Syndicate executive “Hundun,” is deeply involved in the issues of former North Korean territory.

“Even though Haeguneul has collapsed, it takes time for lawmakers to revise the laws. During that time, you’re trying to ‘hold out’ in this house to somehow get the land value.”

“Kuk…!”

“Whether Haeguneul revives and pays the proper price for the land, or someone with enormous capital comes to buy it. You just needed to call a pre-arranged government official to recognize your customary ownership rights.”

“Unfortunately for you, you ran into us.”

“Argghhh!!”

The squatter scammer screamed.

“Villains—!! Villains have appeared!! Snow White has teamed up with Goblin!!”

He shouted loudly in all directions.

Perhaps sensing that he was now finished, he seemed to be trying to spite us.

“…….”

And then he realized.

No matter how loudly he shouted, his voice wouldn’t reach anyone in this wide-open space.

“It’s useless. From the moment this person revealed himself as Goblin, from the moment you and these murderers were frozen, this place became ‘my domain.'”

“You just put up an ice barrier and you’re calling it a domain.”

“Thanks to the invisible barrier, we were able to discover this man’s true nature, weren’t we? It’s not like building a visible sand castle like someone else.”

“…….”

It wasn’t because there were no people around, but because the sound was blocked by a magical barrier.

Only now did the man realize that transparent ice walls were blocking the sound.

“Ha, hahaha…. You filthy bastards…! What did I do wrong?! Huh?! Everyone else does the same thing, what did I do wrong! Other people are making money the same way I am, what’s wrong with that! Anyway, anyway…!”

The middle-aged man shouted with veins bulging in his neck.

“The commies who lived here are all dead anyway! So it doesn’t belong to anyone! What’s wrong with me taking it?!”

“Since when did this house and land belong to you? That’s nonsense.”

I gestured to Seong Ji-eun, and she tapped her Syndicate watch to bring up something that looked like documents.

“All this land belongs to The Syndicate, The Company.”

“…What?”

“The South Korean government sold northern Gangwon Province and all of Hamgyeong Province to The Syndicate.”

Who owns the land deeds of former North Korean territory?

The South Korean government.

And now, our Syndicate has bought all the land deeds for northern Gangwon Province and the Hamgyeong Province area.

“Our proposal to demolish everything here and build an ‘American Town’ was approved.”

Instead of Haeguneul.

“So you’ve been trespassing and illegally occupying our Syndicate’s land.”

That’s right.

This land now belongs to The Syndicate.

We can do whatever we want with it.