episode_0000

I was just at home when I encountered an unexpected incident.

“This bastard!!”

An old man wearing hiking gear suddenly launched a surprise attack with a fierce slap.

Every time my head turned with a snap, it felt like my soul was being sucked out.

“What the hell is this?”

To be honest, compared to what I’ve experienced before, this was nothing.

When my aunt, who had swindled my father’s inheritance, threw a brick at me, or when I became a target of harassment after fake news spread that I was my father’s personal safekeeper, or even when I was beaten with a monkey wrench by some crazy guy, I somehow managed to survive.

Especially in recent years, I’ve been cautious and avoided crises in my surroundings.

However, the person who came this time seemed quite deliberate.

He didn’t even bother to urge me, just knocked on the door a few times while saying he was from the management office. When I checked through the front door camera, there was a middle-aged man fiddling with documents as if he found it bothersome. He definitely looked like someone from the management office.

“Why did he make such a fuss over a few slaps?”

Perhaps it was because I helplessly took the hits that he gained momentum. The emotions pouring out from the old man in hiking gear started to become more intense.

Gripping the collar, swearing, and some incomprehensible grumbling.

“Sir, please calm down.”

“Calm down!? You son of a bitch, bring out my daughter…!”

Words wouldn’t work. Luckily, there was a taekwondo trophy within reach. I grabbed it and swung it with all my strength.

Thwack! It hit his head perfectly. The feeling in my hand was satisfying.

But even so, it seemed that one hit wouldn’t be enough to calm him down, so I tried to hit him again, but…

“Wait! Just a moment!”

Surrender came surprisingly quickly.

It meant that he didn’t come here to mess with me from the beginning. Looking at the middle-aged man stumbling and cautiously observing his surroundings, instead of anger… What should I call this? A sense of disappointment welled up. I wondered why I had to get slapped in the first place.

“How much did we lose?”

“Well…”

“It’s about that guy, Choi Hee-joon, right? But what doesn’t make sense is that he’s currently in Anyang Correctional Facility. He’ll be eligible for parole next year, but… Ah, if it’s him, we can still manipulate things remotely.”

“……”

“Why go to such lengths over the losses? 100 million won? 200 million won? …But sir, I really didn’t manage Choi Hee-joon’s illegal funds. In fact, I even cooperated with the Southern District Prosecutor’s Office to investigate and apprehend him. If it weren’t for me, he would still be out there.”

The old man just awkwardly nodded his head in response. The momentum of slapping me out of the blue seemed to have disappeared, as he even took a step back.

Could it be that I misunderstood?

If that’s the case, it’s unexpected. So far, every person who has come after me was a victim deceived by Choi Hee-joon.

Choi Hee-joon, the swindler.

A financial criminal who turned the South Korean stock market into his playground, producing numerous victims.

He had a record of similar offenses, including fraudulent transactions, violations of the Special Act on the Control of Financial Crimes, and market manipulation. There were once fans who idolized him as the “30 billion super ant,” but now he was just a criminal.

Because of that man, eight companies went bankrupt, and the number of people who suffered losses was countless. He was a big shot who had been active since the dot-com bubble.

Choi Hee-joon had a cunning method he enjoyed using to save face.

Provoking the victims himself and inducing them to cross the line.

It was so clever that he could escape with a suspended sentence while the representative of the victims’ group even ended up in jail. Writing petitions to the victims was just a small part of it.

He didn’t care at all if sparks flew and hit someone else during that process, like trash among trash.

Even I, his own son, was not an exception. After all, who would spread rumors that I managed Choi Hee-joon’s criminal profits? It was all his doing or his cronies’.

“If it’s not Choi Hee-joon, could it be because of Mom?”

That side… There was a possibility too. Although she wasn’t famous, when it came to criminal records, she was on par with Choi Hee-joon.

If Choi Hee-joon’s major is economics, then his mother’s major is politics. In her younger days, she worked for a multi-level marketing company, but after divorcing Choi Hee-joon, she transitioned to become a political broker. Her job involves connecting politicians with financiers, manipulating internal party elections, and in return, engaging in various forms of solicitation. It may seem like an odd profession, but she had significant influence, as evidenced by her involvement in last year’s presidential special pardon list. “You’ve suffered because of my mother, right? Surprising, isn’t it? Unlike Choi Hee-joon, I’m not the type to hold grudges against anyone while working.” “Why do you…! How would I know your parents?” She also denied being his mother. Then who could she be? A mentally ill person? The bewildered expression on the face of the man who looked down at me made me wonder if he had mistakenly found the wrong apartment number. At this point, a certain presence crossed my mind. It was something I didn’t want to imagine, but if it wasn’t because of my parents, there was only one person left. Choi Ye-rin, my younger sister. Her occupation is a club MD. She’s also a promising piece of trash for the future, but she managed to get along with me relatively well. Could it be? “Choi Ye-rin. Do you know that name?” Only then did the man’s gaze return to me with a gun in his eyes. I hoped it wasn’t true, but it seemed like my sister, whom I considered to be the only family I had left, had betrayed me. “Ye-rin is friends with our daughter… When I asked her, she said her brother suddenly appeared at a gathering of friends and forcefully offered them strange drinks, and, huh? She said it seemed like there was something mixed in! That’s what you did!” “Slow down. So what happened to our daughter?” “Fentanyl overdose, unconscious for a week…” “I’ve never even seen fentanyl before. If you don’t believe me, you can have your sister testify.” “What…?” “Mixing drugs in drinks is your side’s business tactic. Maybe the accident happened while you were trying to involve your daughter. Either way, it wasn’t me.”

The gentleman sent a pitiful gaze without being able to retort to these words. Contrary to expectations, he remained calm, even though I thought he would explode because he couldn’t admit the misunderstanding. It’s probably thanks to him opening up about my family history, not because he was scared of my taekwondo trophies.

“Huh?”

With such foolish words, he left my house, stumbling as if his head had been hit.

“Just leaving like this?”

Well, what’s the use of receiving an apology? Just by looking at his antics, it was clear that he wasn’t in his right mind because of his daughter. If someone is in a coma for a week due to excessive alcohol consumption, it’s hard to expect them to wake up perfectly fine.

I should have chased after him, but somehow I lacked the motivation. I just let out a wry smile.

Even though I, who had been slapped by a stranger I saw for the first time at my doorstep,

even though my family, who might be planning a crime at this very moment,

even though I could never escape from this situation in the future,

it all just seemed ridiculous.

In the past, whenever I experienced something like this, I struggled to live. There was a time when I appeared on the Lekka Channel and declared my isolation from my family, and there was a time when I cooperated with the police investigation. There was also a time when I went to Choi Hee-joon with a baseball bat and gave him a good beating.

But ever since I realized that no matter what nonsense I did, I couldn’t escape from the shackles called family, not even anger arose.

“It’s pointless. Those people won’t change.”

After standing there dazed for a while, I suddenly entered a novel platform. Not because I wanted to read anything specific, but out of habit.

However, as soon as I logged in, a thought came to mind.

Instead of enduring this nonsense, wouldn’t it be better to possess someone else?

It’s a thought that occurs whenever I play games or read novels, but today, I felt an unusually strong desire to possess someone. I never expected my younger brother to be like this.

Since there’s no gain without pain, I decided to try asking a writer for support while sponsoring them.

The work I chose is a romance novel called “Even the Failed Student Wants to Be Loved.”

The protagonist, who had been hiding their strength for some reason at the academy, gradually reveals their talent and interacts with classmates in a friendly manner as they enter their second year. Among my previous works, it was the mildest flavor.

[Please send it, I want to live.]

How wonderful would it be if we could go to a world where we never have to see the faces of our family again? Filled with urgency, I pressed the “Submit Comment” button.

…

“If I knew it would be like this, I would have asked sooner.”

The wish was granted much easier than expected.

For some reason, there was a worn-out Morning Star in my hand.