The Real Hero and the Fake Hero (2)
People were stunned. In the midst of it all, I spoke with perfect calm. “I have the right to send everyone back to the area near the original rooftop, of course.”
When I said that, all the survivors turned pale. Even my own people seemed to feel a significant sense of intimidation.
Then suddenly Jang Sara exploded and shouted, “You all better watch out. How did the Jeguk Guild grow this far without killing anyone until now? Huh?”
Jang Sara was the genius girl who had graduated from Harvard early and was already somewhat famous. The moment the word ‘Jeguk Guild’ left her mouth, everyone turned their heads and lowered their gazes.
The Jeguk Guild and its master, Jang Mageuk, had always had a notorious reputation. Stories of how they killed and burned houses both inside and outside the tower if anyone became a hindrance to their growth had already spread far and wide.
Of course, Jang Sara was on Hancheol’s side, the faction that opposed Jang Mageuk. So she had no connection to the Jeguk Guild and should have felt uncomfortable about it. But ordinary people had no way of knowing the internal dynamics of a chaebol family. Therefore, they could only assume that this matter was 100 percent connected to the Jeguk Guild.
At that moment, Han Yejin spoke in a kind tone. “If you all act morally, there will be no problem. Please hurry back home, as your families must be worried.”
Everyone dispersed. My companions also gave me a brief greeting before turning away.
A short while later, Jang Hancheol returned dragging the middle-aged man. “Uuhuk… I will never open my mouth again. Uuh… Please spare my life… I have a son… uuhuhuk.”
I snatched the man’s phone and said, “Go. I hope you never see me again. If you do, I’ll really kill you.”
The man kept lowering his head and fled from the spot as if running away. “With this much, the entrance test should be sufficient, right?”
“I can’t say for sure,” Jang Sara replied. “These days the world is full of crazy people.”
* * *
The next day arrived. As soon as I woke up, I turned on the TV and searched the internet for the news.
Of course, every major and cable news channel was broadcasting the gate incident that had erupted in the heart of Seoul in a continuous loop, and the internet was in chaos.
I had somewhat expected it, but reports about the mysterious pyramid that had risen above the accident scene also appeared. Someone had even uploaded blurry photos taken with a telephoto lens.
However, thanks to the UFO conspiracy theorists grabbing the photos first and creating a big stir, the mainstream media had a tendency to gloss over it. In addition, the comments were all condemnations. “How ridiculous is this conspiracy theory at a time when we should be mourning the victims?”
Good!
That was a decent performance.
But then a video posted in the community caught my eye. “The noble sacrifice of Gwanggaeto Guild’s Choi Cheon-yeol in the face of crisis! He saved the lives of two precious people!”
What?
I clicked immediately. The video began to play right away.
In the video, Choi Cheon-yeol was sobbing profusely as he said, “I’m really sorry. I wanted to save even one more person, but… because my Phoenix died and was reborn, uuhuhuk.”
Right after that, a scene of Omanda and Ki Ju-hye descending from the Phoenix appeared, followed by the anchor’s commentary that Choi Cheon-yeol had risked his life to save a burn victim at the scene. “This bastard, look at him?”
As expected, the comments were in an uproar. “Hey, I knew Choi Cheon-yeol, but his character is truly great!” “Choi Cheon-yeol is an idiot… even ‘looking’ at it, I want to ‘see’ it!” “At a time when nuclear bombs are about to fall and a huge Tinkerbell moth is hovering in the sky, entering alone to save a person… what the hell are you doing?!”
Sigh. I did a quick search and quickly figured out what had happened. Ki Ju-hye’s long SNS post had swept through every Korean community. “Hello. I am a normal university student who suffered burns in yesterday’s accident and am still hospitalized… I was able to escape that hell yesterday thanks to a certain benefactor.”
“That benefactor… came to me while my entire body was on fire, hugged me and put out the flames, and risked his life to protect me from hundreds of monsters until the very end.”
Hmm. The long post was filled with unnecessary rhetoric and continued at length. “…The man was none other than Choi Cheon-yeol, the master of the Gwanggaeto Guild. At first I didn’t pay much attention to him… but at the moment when my life was on the line yesterday, only then could I see! No, I could feel it with my whole body!”
“True courage that humans can show in the face of death! The real appearance of a strong person who is willing to give everything for the weak!”
My hands and feet went numb. I couldn’t read any further. Skimming through, I saw another wave of praises for Choi Cheon-yeol at the bottom. “…When a rich woman offered a huge sum to take the last spot on the Phoenix, Master Choi Cheon-yeol said, ‘Money is not as important as a person’s life!’ And that person reached out to me like a white angel’s hand…”
Hmm. So Gwanggaeto Guild had visited Ju-hye. She probably thought that since we all believed she was dead, she could lie without any consequences. Well…
Since all the attention had passed me by, it was actually fortunate. At that moment my phone rang. It was Han Yejin. “Hello?”
“Master, did you see it?”
“See what?”
“The Choi Cheon-yeol interview and that girl Ju-hye’s SNS!”
“Haha. I saw it just now.”
“This person… how shameless can they be?”
“Haha. Forget it. Maybe Choi Cheon-yeol is planning to run for president or something.”
“Even if we let Choi Cheon-yeol go, we really need to lecture that Ju-hye girl! After Master risked his life to save her, she repays kindness like this!”
Han Yejin kept grumbling as she ended the call. I didn’t put the phone down and immediately called Jang Sara, since her reaction was what I wanted to know most. “Hello?”
“Did you see the Choi Cheon-yeol interview and Ju-hye’s SNS?”
“No. What’s the matter?”
“Then what are you doing right now?”
“Running multi-pole mass selection experiments using amino acids extracted from the gaeggul in B4.”
Hmm. “Did the insurance cover it?”
“Insurance? What insurance?”
“That Konigsegg. It should have completely melted….”
“Oh, right. I didn’t think about it. I’ll tell the secretary to handle it today.”
Look at the gall of someone who lost a hyper car worth hundreds of billions, as if they’d lost a single temple!
Anyway, Jang Sara immediately returned to her research and showed no interest in the minor news at all. The incident seemed to end there, but in the afternoon I received a message from Han Yejin. “Did you see? The Choi Cheon-yeol video is up.”
“What video?”
“If you haven’t seen it, watch it and call me.”
I turned on the internet and searched for Choi Cheon-yeol. A torrent of videos appeared. The title was already chilling. “It’s unbearable! Choi Cheon-yeol’s true personality is disgusting!”
The video showed the scene from yesterday on the rooftop opposite us where Choi Cheon-yeol had been standing. Damn it. In the video, Choi Cheon-yeol was shouting while looking at his GPS. “Jang Sara! Is there a chairman of Jeguk Medipharm, Jang Sara? And… Omanda of the Oga Guild! Come out quickly! Your parents put a bounty on you!”
Hearing that, the faces of the citizens in the video, who looked devastated, flashed by. At that moment Omanda stepped forward and said, “I-I’ll arrange a spot for Master Choi…”
Choi Cheon-yeol’s reply was recorded right away in the video. “How much?”
“3 billion! No, up to 5 billion!”
Then Choi Cheon-yeol in the video sneered and said, “Drop it, you bastard. If Jang Sara’s mom rides in on her own daughter, I’ll give 10 billion. If you’re me, would you turn down 10 billion and take your 5 billion girlfriend?”
Choi Cheon-yeol shouted again in the video. “Jang Sara! Where’s Jang Sara? If you don’t come out, I’m leaving!”
In the video, Jang Sara was seen lifting up the injured Ju-hye and whispering to her, “Act like Jang Sara until I get down.” “Eh, noona… uuh.”
Jang Sara shouted loudly at Choi Cheon-yeol, “This young lady is Jang Sara. Take this young lady with you.”
At that moment, something like a white angel’s hand stretched from Choi Cheon-yeol’s shoulder, grabbed Ju-hye, and carried her to the opposite side. Then a man in the video stepped forward and said, “What about me? What about the rest of us?”
Choi Cheon-yeol had a bored expression and said, “I don’t know. Damn it, do you think I’m some 119 person? What do I care if you guys die or not? This is why I quit being a shuttle for the rich kids.”
And Choi Cheon-yeol flew away on his Phoenix. The video ended there. Damn it. This video must have been secretly filmed by one of the people who were on the rooftop yesterday. And that person had clearly uploaded it thinking they were educating Choi Cheon-yeol on true character. What…
Watching this video alone, I didn’t see any direct damage coming to me. No waypoints, pyramid spiderwebs, or Jang Hancheol were visible. But if this spread, it would inevitably stir up unnecessary public interest and cause trouble down the line.
The internet and SNS were already in an uproar. “It’s staged. How could the phone at the scene end up on the internet? There was supposed to be a bombing soon!” “Maybe they only broadcast the video?” “Are you stupid? Yesterday the entire area had no phone signal!” “That woman’s face matches the youngest of the Jeguk Group, Jang Sara, who graduated from Harvard early. We can just ask her!” “So~rm. Choi Cheon-yeol was such a two-faced person.” “They didn’t know that famous people act completely differently with and without cameras?” “By the way, if this is true, Jang Sara is a real hero. She gave up her spot to the injured person?”
At that moment, a call came from Jang Sara. “Hello?”
“I’m going crazy.”
“Interview requests are pouring in right now, right?”
“Ah, we can just ignore that… but the problem is the Gwanggaeto side. They’re begging for even one sentence saying the video is staged?”
The Gwanggaeto side had found a good way out. If the person involved, Jang Sara, officially announced that she was not at the scene yesterday, the video would be instantly declared fake and end. “There’s a reason for every coming and going. What are you offering?”
“100 billion. I guess they’re going to vomit up all the money they received for saving Omanda yesterday.”
“Choi Cheon-yeol doesn’t make hundreds of billions a year from CFs alone? Guild income is in the thousands of billions. If this video turns out to be true, all the CFs will be gone and there will even be an impact on Gwanggaeto partner companies, right?”
“Exactly. We have to peel it further.”
“How much would be appropriate?”
However, neither of us had talent for this kind of swindle. The only conclusion we got was ‘around 20 billion’. “Then let’s say 20 billion. When the money comes in, I’ll call the reporters and do the official interview.”
“Okay. When you make 20 billion, buy me a drink!”
“Buy me a drink? This money also has to be split between us two. It’s not a problem if it only blocks my mouth, right?”
It was ambiguous, but the logic wasn’t entirely without merit. “Let’s talk about the money first.”
“All right. Let’s do that.”
* * *
A few hours later, the official statement from Jeguk Medipharm, Jang Sara’s affiliated company, was released. “Chairman Jang was not at the accident scene yesterday and is currently coming to work normally to handle her duties.”
Since this statement was typical of the Jeguk Medipharm that had always built a good image among citizens, public opinion reversed sharply. In addition, the viral marketing by Choi Cheon-yeol’s extreme fans and the Gwanggaeto side was dazzling. “See? I told you it was staged!” “The room-cleaner bastards who take pleasure in biting off successful people, why aren’t they commenting on this article? They should all come out and leave even an apology comment for Choi Cheon-yeol!” “By the way, the technology to create staged videos has gotten so good that you can’t believe anything anymore. It’s really natural!” “Cheon-yeol-nim, since everything is out in the open now, don’t worry and spill everything! And from now on, walk a flower path!”
This was going to work out well. The internet war was basically a momentum battle. Once momentum started tilting to one side due to some trigger, no matter the truth, the side pushing forward with momentum would have its position concluded as fact. However, a reversal happened again a few hours later. Surprisingly, it was Ki Ju-hye who gave an interview on a public broadcasting station. “…I received threats from the Gwanggaeto side. They forced me to write the SNS that way. If I didn’t, they said they would sue me for a huge amount by claiming that I lied about riding the Phoenix.”
“Who threatened you?”
“Someone who claims to be a relative of the Gwanggaeto Guild. So I was too scared and wrote the SNS as a lie. Uuhuhuk. I’m so sorry and ashamed for lying to you all, I couldn’t even breathe. I was so miserable.”
“Then what about the truth of that rooftop video?”
“Everything in that rooftop video actually happened. That woman is Jang Sara of Jeguk Medipharm. She led us and bravely fought the monsters, and it’s a clear fact that she gave up her spot to me, who was burned.”
“Then what about the representative Choi Cheon-yeol? According to the SNS, it was said that Choi Cheon-yeol saved me from the Phoenix.”
“No. The person Choi Cheon-yeol is the one who only gave me a ride on the Phoenix. The person who saved me… is separate. That person is….”
Ju-hye’s face as she was interviewed flushed red. Aaaah! Stop it there! Don’t say it!