Someone to Blackmail
In the outskirts of southern Gyeonggi Province stood the Korean restaurant Hanul.
Tae Seok-ho, Executive Director of Taeshin Mulsan, strolled leisurely toward the inner hall with his bodyguard Lee Jae-jun at his side.
As the door opened, a middle-aged woman who had arrived first and was waiting rose from her seat.
Tae Seok-ho had Lee Jae-jun stand behind him as he took the seat across from her.
“You look quite worn out over your son’s situation.”
The woman who received the question was Baek Min-sook, wife of the chairman of Munseong Mulsan.
“I know you’ve been doing your best, Executive Director, but the situation has grown far too unfavorable.”
Baek Min-sook’s second son, Mun Jae-min, was currently under prosecutorial investigation for a drug scandal. His name and identity had already been exposed online, dealing a heavy blow to Munseong Mulsan’s stock price.
Because of that crisis, Baek Min-sook had joined hands with Tae Seok-ho in a desperate attempt to pull her son out of the fire.
“As you know, even your brother has gotten involved, yet things have reached this point.”
The brother Tae Seok-ho referred to was none other than Baek Ji-woong, chairman of W&W Group, which was built around a major media company.
W&W had already used its flagship outlet, W&W DAYS, to publish vague articles that dragged in the popular idol group DDS—who had nothing to do with the scandal—in an attempt to muddy the waters.
“But looking at the current situation, it’s obvious someone is pulling strings. Chairman Baek said it felt suspicious too and is looking into it.”
“I agree with that assessment.”
Baek Min-sook had actually joined hands with Tae Seok-ho much earlier. It began when he informed her that her son Mun Jae-min had become entangled in a drug investigation at the Central District Prosecutors’ Office.
“You told me that if we followed your instructions, Executive Director, Jae-min’s problem would be resolved. That’s why I trusted you and asked my brother for help.”
“To be honest, I never expected the board to get this twisted either.”
Tae Seok-ho’s original plan had been to push the narrative that the idol group DDS was involved with drugs, then quietly extract Mun Jae-min along with other useful associates.
But suddenly, Mun Jae-min’s name had surfaced alongside Riseburn—the actual drug distribution channel—and even the identity of the senior prosecutor from the Central District Prosecutors’ Office whom Tae Seok-ho had recruited was exposed.
At first glance, it was clear that information had leaked. Yet no trace could be found anywhere, leaving him so frustrated he thought he might go insane.
On top of that, articles and anonymous posts continuously mentioning the identities of second- and third-generation chaebol heirs kept the issue alive, making it nearly impossible to bury. And though it was obvious someone was orchestrating it, they couldn’t track the source.
“So does that mean there’s no solution now?”
At Baek Min-sook’s deeply worried question, Tae Seok-ho let out a low groan.
“To be completely frank… the situation is not good.”
He had considered replacing the story with other articles to dampen the flames at least a little. However, the people entangled in the Riseburn drug case were too big, and the scandal refused to die down.
“Can’t you recruit the new chief prosecutor in charge of the case?”
“We’ve already passed the point where that’s possible. Besides, if Jae-min had simply used the drugs, maybe… but he’s connected to the distribution side as well.”
Outsiders would likely say that no matter how much of a spare heir Mun Jae-min was, why on earth would a second-generation chaebol son dabble in drug distribution?
But within Munseong Mulsan, Mun Jae-min had caused so many accidents that his father, Chairman Mun Dong-beom, had essentially disowned him. Yet Jae-min never learned restraint and only spiraled further into darker paths.
“So you’re telling me to just let him go to prison?”
“For now, covering up the immediate situation is impossible, so we’ll have to bring in former judges as defense attorneys. Since the prosecution side is difficult, we’ll focus on the courts to minimize his sentence as much as possible.”
“But…”
Baek Min-sook had hoped her son wouldn’t have to set foot inside a prison at all.
“It’s too late to pull strings now. And you know your husband’s personality, don’t you?”
Her husband, Mun Dong-beom, chairman of Munseong Mulsan, was famous for his unbending integrity. His principles were so rigid that he would rather break than rationalize moral failings through bloodline.
That was precisely why he had refused to bring his troublemaking second son into the company.
“Haah— That’s exactly why every day is pure stress for me.”
It was also the reason Baek Min-sook couldn’t openly seek outside help and had instead accepted Tae Seok-ho’s proposal.
“I will do everything in my power. We may have to accept a criminal record in the worst-case scenario, but there are options like parole and other measures, so please don’t worry too much.”
“Huu… I understand. However, given how things have turned out, I may find it difficult to view the conditions you mentioned earlier in a positive light.”
At that, Tae Seok-ho’s brow twitched slightly.
Baek Min-sook was no fool blinded by worry for her son. That was why she had come to meet him in person and carefully walked back their agreement.
“I understand completely.”
“Thank you. Then I’ll take my leave first.”
“…Please do.”
Baek Min-sook rose from her seat and left the room first.
In the meantime, Lee Jae-jun entered the room where Tae Seok-ho remained.
“Executive Director. Are you all right?”
“Just who the hell is sabotaging my plans like this… Have we identified the informant who leaked the tip to the internet news outlets? Still nothing?”
“I actually just received a call. They say tracing the informant’s email IP is impossible.”
“…Not difficult—impossible?”
Anything left on the internet always left some kind of trace.
“The experts say it appears a highly skilled professional intervened.”
“In what way?”
“There were too many technical terms to explain precisely, but they said the perpetrator used technology that completely erases server logs for every routed IP.”
Tae Seok-ho’s face grew even darker with worry as he drummed his fingers on the table.
“You said the tip was sent to outlets excluding the major media companies, correct?”
“Yes, sir.”
As his concerns deepened, another matter came to mind.
“Did you look into why the articles keep appearing on portal sites?”
“We checked for traffic overload on that front, but they reported no anomalies.”
If someone had manipulated it through external IPs, traces should remain since it would have to route through overseas servers.
At that answer, Tae Seok-ho’s expression grew even heavier.
“It’s too clean. That makes it even more suspicious. Someone knew about our plan in advance and moved first.”
It was too elaborate to dismiss as mere coincidence or prediction.
Moreover, the way they had deliberately targeted only places where pressure hadn’t been applied and lit the fuse there showed clear intent.
“Even the media outlets we’ve aligned with will find it difficult to maintain their current stance much longer.”
Even small voices, when numerous, could grow loud.
“This has become a real headache. The plan is falling apart, and the shares I was supposed to get from Baek Min-sook have flown out the window…”
“Perhaps it would be better to speak directly with Chairman Mun Dong-beom.”
Tae Seok-ho slowly shook his head.
“Chairman Mun is the type who thinks even giving a bushel and receiving a peck is a loss. If we can’t bite down properly, he’ll be the one ripping our throats out instead.”
The real reason he had tried to deal with Baek Min-sook was the 2.44% stake in Taeshin Mulsan—the holding company owned by Munseong Mulsan. He had planned to use Mun Jae-min’s drug scandal as leverage against Chairman Mun Dong-beom.
“I’ll look for other methods.”
“You’d better. Ah, now that I think of it, what happened with that accident where Kang In-hyuk and Tae Ju-ha nearly died?”
Tae Seok-ho had been slightly surprised when he first heard the news. He had considered intervening himself, but since Kang In-hyuk had delivered Tae Ju-ha’s files, he hadn’t paid it much attention.
Lee Jae-jun answered with a calm expression.
“It seems they wrapped it up quietly, perhaps because of outside attention.”
“So Kang In-hyuk and Tae Ju-ha simply accepted it as is?”
“Objectively speaking, it’s highly likely that Chairman Kang applied pressure. Of course, if those two have any sense, they wouldn’t ruin the relationship between companies over something like this.”
After thinking for a moment, Tae Seok-ho nodded.
“That makes sense. But they still haven’t contacted us?”
Last time, Tae Seok-ho had summoned Kang In-hyuk only to be ignored. At the time he had been furious, but pulling him in while avoiding Chairman Tae Geon-seung’s eyes had been difficult, so he had waited quietly.
“Shall I call him again?”
“No. We have plenty of our own work to do, so leave them alone for now. However, make sure to receive regular reports on the internal movements at Tae Shin Asset Management.”
“I will relay the order.”
Having finished the conversation, Tae Seok-ho stood up and left the room with Lee Jae-jun.
After work, In-hyuk visited Go Mi-ah’s workspace.
He entered using the password she had shared in advance. The moment the door opened, her venomous voice rang out.
“Who the hell dares touch our DDS!”
Tap tap tap— tap tap—
She was busy uploading the real drug lists to sink the articles claiming that DDS was involved in the Riseburn drug gate scandal.
Thanks to her efforts, even the major media outlets could no longer maintain their fact-defying counter-articles and began riding the new wave.
“You’re really out for blood, huh.”
“Just wait a second.”
The keyboard clacked even harder.
Soon, the view counts on the drug list posts and articles skyrocketed, once again dominating the main pages of every major portal site.
“If you flood it like that, won’t they catch it as view manipulation? If too many overseas IPs come through zombie servers, they’ll get suspicious.”
“Haha— You sure love to worry. Do you think I’m that sloppy? I’ve been using only domestic proxy servers from the start, and I distributed the click counts through an algorithm. There’s no way it’ll get caught.”
Though Go Mi-ah was much younger than when In-hyuk had first met her, her computer skills were undeniably exceptional.
“Teaming up with you was the right call.”
“I’m the one who made the better choice. If I hadn’t worked with you, I would’ve been dragged off by the National Intelligence Service by now. Or I wouldn’t have been able to stop this incident either.”
“Why does it sound like you’re more grateful for the latter than the former?”
The difference was clear even in her tone.
“Hey! That’s just your imagination. Oh, you asked me to install a program on your phone, right? Hand it over.”
At her request, In-hyuk passed her his phone.
Several programs were installed on the phone now connected to her computer.
“Same as the server bypass program you use?”
“I upgraded the volatility even further. And if you’re in a place with network access, you can connect through the stored server links from any other phone or computer. Just know the battery drain will be heavy.”
“I’ll have to live with that. More importantly, it’s safe even when the other party sends a reply, right?”
He was referring to the untraceable messaging program.
“No problem. If they don’t reply within the set time limit, the server location changes automatically, leaving no trace.”
“Nice.”
“But why do you suddenly need a program like this?”
Messages were normally used to exchange contact.
However, what In-hyuk emphasized wasn’t the communication aspect but the trace-free and self-destructing nature. In other words, he was deliberately setting a time limit on replies to make the other party anxious.
“I need to blackmail someone.”
“Blackmail? Coming from you, that sounds terrifying. Whoever it is, I feel bad for them.”
“They’re people I need for my work.”
In-hyuk took his phone back. He then skillfully entered an email address and message into the window.
“You’re using it right away?”
“The timing is perfect now. What about the stock purchase I mentioned last time? The price dropped all the way to 23,000 won.”
“You mean Solarview in Taiwan? I was just about to tell you—I barely managed to secure over the 31% you wanted. Because of that, AMK Partners’ inbox is flooded with messages.”
“I’ll reply to them myself.”
“From what I saw, it looks like some semiconductor-related company… What are you aiming for?”
In-hyuk gave a faint smile.
“It’s a way to grow AMK Partners’ assets, so there’s no need to worry.”
“You’ll handle it well, I’m sure. But from what I can see, there’s nothing particularly special about it. There are even rumors that its management is in danger.”
As Go Mi-ah said, Solarview was a semiconductor company, but it was currently plagued with problems due to outdated technology and poor profits.
Of course, that very weakness had allowed him to secure over 30% of the shares through small rumors and careful handling.
“Solarview is one thing, but I need the man who’s targeting it.”
“What the hell are you even talking about… Want some?”
Go Mi-ah reached into the bowl on her desk, grabbed a handful of potato chips, and held it out to him.
In-hyuk reached for the ordinary-looking chips, then suddenly paused.
“These… aren’t homemade, are they?”
“I made them myself.”
At her answer, In-hyuk quietly withdrew his hand.