#39 The Price of Truth (4)
As Nam Juhyeon had asked, I grabbed a laptop and tossed it to her. She had her frizzy hair tied up high on her head and immediately opened a Korean text editor.
Pounding away at the keyboard with insane speed, Nam Juhyeon said,
"I've got a rough idea of how to do this."
"How?"
"Just make it so people have to pay attention to this."
Nam Juhyeon kept uploading posts nonstop. Was she planning to flood the internet calling Hyeonmu Pharma a bunch of scumbags? That kind of approach didn't seem like it would go anywhere.
The posts she uploaded at first got zero attention.
Even with her distinctive writing style, the content itself was nothing special.
Things like "My part-time job experience at Hyeonmu Pharma" or "Confession from a former employee." The titles were clickbait-y, but they'd skimped on the juicy details.
They said Hyeonmu Pharma were bad guys, sure, but without specifics on what bad things they'd done, it was just more conspiracy theory fodder—no one took it seriously.
People ignored the posts. At first, they were just baseless questions with no evidence. But as time passed, those questions started gaining traction, fleshing themselves out.
Nam Juhyeon was fast. A multitasking genius, she could pump out dozens of posts from a single laptop.
Sometimes as a college kid in her early twenties, sometimes as a housewife in her late forties, other times as a sixty-something professor—Nam Juhyeon scattered posts everywhere.
"Laying the groundwork for the future," or whatever.
Meanwhile, I shuttled back and forth between her and the main base, hauling whatever supplies she needed.
"What the hell are you even doing with that journalist?"
"Beats me. Not yet, anyway."
That was my response to Han Seohyun's grumbling. Even when I asked Nam Juhyeon point-blank what her plan was, she never gave a straight answer.
Something about showing it through actions instead of words.
"You think she's sending some kind of SOS signal?"
"Aren't we watching her right now?"
"Yeah, but she could still slip past our surveillance and contact the outside!"
Han Seohyun still didn't trust Nam Juhyeon one bit. Not surprising—he'd always been picky about strangers.
Our kid's so sweet, but shy around new people... Han Seohyun fit that description like a glove.
"Don't worry. She knows if she gets out, she's dead meat."
"Hmph."
Even if she slipped past us, there were people outside gunning for her life. The ones who'd let her get away right in front of them were probably pissed—and they'd seen my warning, so they had to be shaking in their boots.
They hadn't even leaked the incident, probably wanting to bury it quietly.
Either way, I spent the next few days bouncing between the two groups.
Contrary to our worries, Nam Juhyeon just glued herself to that laptop without any escape attempts. She did send me on a ton of errands, though—coffee runs, doughnuts, you name it.
Maybe all that effort paid off after a few days.
The seeds Nam Juhyeon had sown started sprouting.
But that was it. Without solid proof, it was just hot air. Stirring up this level of controversy was probably the limit.
"You really think this'll work?"
"Yeah."
Nam Juhyeon, eyes still glued to her laptop, continued without missing a beat.
"You're right. One person's will can't change a damn thing. The media and capital have been in bed forever— no article I write is making it to the top."
She'd quickly grasped her own limits. Just days ago, she'd acted like a clueless kid, but now her face was dead serious.
"But these people are different. I can't brainwash everyone, right? If I can get them on my side, even those bastards won't dare act recklessly."
Hmm, can't brainwash everyone, huh. That word—"brainwash"—hit different for me, with my history.
Nam Juhyeon went on.
"Capitalists make a big mistake. They think since they can easily erase one person in front of them, they can do the same to the masses. That controlling one is the same as controlling all. But the masses are different. Capitalists should fear the masses."
With that, she rapidly unpacked all the intel she'd gathered—and the stuff I'd given her.
"What I'm doing is tossing a stone into the lake in front of the masses. Praying they'll notice the ripples."
Classified info only Hyeonmu insiders would know, the filthy secrets they'd buried deep—those started spreading across the internet.
The sprouts Nam Juhyeon had nurtured formed buds. Just as those flowers were about to bloom, Kim Seongdeok's people made their move.
The info she'd posted vanished soon after. Plenty of people had seen it, but it got scrubbed fast.
All the SNS accounts she'd used got banned, and her pages went inaccessible.
It was better than the conspiracy nonsense from before, but still. Same result.
"The masses don't move recklessly."
I'd tried stuff like this before. The internet's a firehose of stories—it burns hot and dies fast. You could call it short attention spans, but a paper boat without an anchor getting swept away in rough waters? That's just physics.
In response to my words, Nam Juhyeon said,
"That's why we need a proper wedge."
If her stones created thousands of ripples, someone had to turn those into a real wave.
"Lieutenant Do Chae-hee. We need her."
Her words made me narrow my eyes.
"Do Chae-hee?"
Seeing my sour reaction, Nam Juhyeon quickly added,
"Yes! Oh, I get why you don't like her. She's a total hardliner, right? 'No compromises with criminals'—that's her motto."
She was gauging my reaction. Telling Beltsmets—a notorious criminal outfit—that we needed a Gakbeombu hardass like Do Chae-hee? Ballsy move.
She's got some guts, I'll give her that.
I sighed inwardly and opened my mouth.
"If we need her, fine, drag in whoever. But I wanna hear why her."
Nam Juhyeon swallowed hard and continued.
"While investigating Assemblyman Kim Seongdeok, it hit me. To cover up corruption like this, it has to be connected everywhere—prosecutors, police, even Gakbeombu. Everyone's turning a blind eye."
Her sharp insight made me blink. She couldn't see my face under the mask, but yeah, I was genuinely surprised.
Fitting for the first one to spot Seol Rokjin's madness. Obvious in hindsight, though.
"Gakbeombu's the most incompetent by far. The department's new, but even the old task force was a joke. And Park Cheol-wan, the current deputy chief? He doesn't even try to fix it. Probably why he got the job."
Nam Juhyeon kept going.
Gakbeombu had just three teams, each with five to ten people. "Department" was a stretch for that size.
Official reason for the shortages? No recruits.
Awakener civil servant gigs weren't that rare or bad, perks included. Persistent vacancies screamed interference.
"An outsider can't fix internal rot. But Team Leader Do Chae-hee? She's different. True to her 'mad dog' rep, she's got no backing."
Then she rattled off Do Chae-hee's flaws: narrow-minded, impulsive, zero mercy for villains.
Presumption of innocence? Tossed out the window. Anyone she pegged as bad got the full hammer.
But that's why we needed her.
"Without Gakbeombu stepping up, we can't break this corruption triangle. And Do Chae-hee's the only one who can."
"So you're pulling her into this?"
"Yeah. Make her an ally this time. She digs inside, I dig outside. Eventually, we'll smash those bastards from behind."
Teaming with Do Chae-hee. Impossible for me—she'd already branded me public enemy number one. But... not a bad idea.
One catch, though.
"If you're approaching her, you cannot let on you're connected to me."
Do Chae-hee doesn't forgive villains. She'd lump Nam Juhyeon in with me and lock her up too.
"Th-that's right! We'll just... trick her somehow."
Can I really trust this woman?
"You got a plan?"
"Huh?"
"You want her in. What do you do after that?"
She nodded and spilled her plan.
I listened quietly, then told her,
"Not enough."
Too naive. Believing in the people is fine. But underestimate evil's power? Fatal.
So I revised it. Added a hotter climax.
Nam Juhyeon's face went pale as she heard it.
"Th-that far?"
I nodded calmly. She gulped nervously, over and over.
"If things go your way, I won't need to step in."
Honestly, I didn't want to either.
Not laziness—just wanted to see a pure plan like hers succeed for once.
Do Chae-hee, huh.
If we're roping her in, Nam Juhyeon needs a solid cover too.
"First, there's somewhere we gotta go."