The 65 Billion Won Phantom
The girls had only blurted out that they were selling their bodies, and no further details emerged. Of course, they had been too busy fighting to spare any thought for other matters. Clearly, the two of them shared a secret no one else knew. Regrettably, however, their conversation had not progressed beyond that point.
Yoo Seok-yeon never once mentioned how much was in his account.
“Sixty-five billion. How the hell did he manage that?”
After Min Hee-jae left, Yoo Seok-yeon kicked his chair, kicked his desk, and vented his fury in every way possible. Yet, because he shared a conspiracy with her, he could not easily touch Min Hee-jae. Without proof, there was nothing he could do.
“Ah, fucking hell… What the fuck is this? Only that bitch Min Hee-jae can enter this room, and no one has touched my PC. But just looking at her face, she really seems to know nothing. Damn it. Who the fuck took my sixty-five billion? What the hell am I supposed to do now? Those bastards will go ballistic. Should I disappear for a while?”
Disappear? What kind of nonsense is that? Disappear from what? From whom?
Yoo Seok-yeon’s inner thoughts made no sense to him. In the end, watching the two of them trade vicious insults and fight so happily filled his heart with relief.
“Hmm… Not bad at all. Seeing them tear each other apart makes me feel so much better. While I prepare, let them bite each other to their hearts’ content.”
The sixty-five billion won he had smuggled overseas had gone through several layers of money laundering before returning to Korea. Thanks to foreign exchange controls, no cash—whether in dollars or won—could legally enter the country. The moment massive funds appeared, the National Tax Service and prosecutors would target him. Even gold conversion would be caught.
“How lucky I am that cryptocurrency exists.”
He bought cryptocurrency overseas with the smuggled money, then converted it to won through domestic exchanges.
≫ 60 BILLION WON!
After several rounds of laundering, roughly five billion disappeared, but the fee was worth it. In the blink of an eye, sixty billion had been deposited into his account.
“Having this kind of money… I never imagined anything like this would happen.”
Cryptocurrency transaction records were private, known to no one. When asked how he suddenly had sixty billion, he could simply say he had sold the cryptocurrency he had bought and buried long ago. The exchange records would confirm the sixty billion source. And since he had already sold the coins, no one knew when or how he had acquired them. Even if they did, the National Tax Service could not legally open cryptocurrency wallets. That was precisely why cryptocurrency served as the perfect tool for laundering black money.
In any case, a legitimate sixty billion had landed in his account.
≫ REVENGE BEGINS!
Yes, the revenge against Yoo Seok-yeon for stealing his money had truly started. With this fortune, he would hunt down those bastards one by one and exact vengeance. He would make every person connected to his father’s death pay in full—and inflict on them far more suffering than his father had ever endured.
After converting the money, the next few days were incredibly busy. He needed a space that was not his home to handle several upcoming operations. So he purchased two separate offices: one for work and another as backup. He then carried out the interior renovations himself.
Using the hacking tool he had installed on Yoo Seok-yeon’s PC, he extracted not only the files on the computer but also Yoo Seok-yeon’s cloud ID and password, securing every piece of data the bastard possessed. The sheer volume meant it would take considerable time to analyze. Still, he was certain those files contained damning evidence of the crimes Yoo Seok-yeon had committed.
Busy with the new workspace, he had not accessed his PC for several days. When he finally checked, there was nothing there. All logs for Molka videos were empty.
“He must have replaced his PC or discovered and removed the tools I installed.”
He should try sneaking back in to reinstall? That was far too dangerous.
“After losing sixty-five billion, he must be paranoid. He probably thoroughly inspected his PC and found my tools, or he replaced the entire machine. In that case, the representative’s office security would have been strengthened. He might have installed hidden Molka cameras or other surveillance in places I cannot easily discover.”
Just as he had hidden cameras to spy on Yoo Seok-yeon, the bastard had likely hidden surveillance in hidden spots to watch whoever used his PC. Entering such places again would be risky.
“Well, the most important part is done—he was reduced to a pauper, his partnership with Min Hee-jae was ruined, and his entire cloud was hacked. Now I can analyze slowly and confirm his crimes at my leisure.”
Infiltrating Yoo Seok-yeon’s representative office again was off the table. If the bastard had hidden cameras, he would be discovered.
He spent the next several days in a whirlwind of interior work and simple moves, his mind constantly occupied.
While he was busy, a news report flashed across the screen: the representative of Mercury Planning had gone missing.
“What the hell is this? Why would that bastard disappear? Mercury Planning’s representative vanished?”
This was an incomprehensible situation. He had to investigate it personally. A few days later, he made his way to Yoo Seok-yeon’s villa.
When his father ran the company, the atmosphere was warm and family-like among the staff. Employees had visited the representative’s family, and when Yoo Seok-yeon moved, the staff had come over to give housewarming gifts. Thus, he had always known the family. He knew their names too.
“Fucking hell! We have to pay back even if we have to sell our bodies!”
A scene he never expected unfolded at Yoo Seok-yeon’s villa. The gate and front door stood wide open. A group of rough-looking men were cornering his wife and daughter. Instead of entering, he stepped just outside the doorway and peeked inside.
“Bring your husband back by tomorrow. Otherwise, both you and your daughter will be delivered to the red-light district.”
The men delivered their brutal threat to his wife, then left.
“Sob… sob… sob…”
“Mommy, I’m scared!”
Both mother and daughter stood frozen in terror, weeping bitterly.
Knock knock knock
“Huh?! Who is it?”
The mother and daughter, startled, thought the men had returned. They cracked the door slightly and peered out.
“U-um… You probably know who I am?”
“Who… Ah! Are you the representative’s son? The assistant manager?”
Yoo Seok-yeon’s wife recognized his face.
“Yes. You remember me.”
“Oh, I’ve seen you several times. At the housewarming, right?”
“But… why are you here? The news said the representative went missing, so I came by and saw this.”
“That’s… haa… Everything’s in such a mess…”
“Madam, may I have a moment of your time?”
“Ah, yes. Please, come in.”
Once inside, he asked what the situation was. She sighed deeply, her face etched with fear, and began to explain.
According to Choi In-sook, her husband had been in partnership with someone and had agreed to invest jointly. The moment he vanished, however, the business collapsed into the air, and the joint investor demanded repayment. She herself did not know what kind of business it was—her husband had never mentioned any details.
“Ever since a few days ago, they’ve been coming every day, demanding he reveal the hidden location of my husband. Every hour has been hell.”
“Mommy, I’m scared. I’m afraid those people will kidnap us tomorrow and sell us in the red-light district. What should we do? I’m so scared… sob…”
Yoo Min-ji, her daughter, kept sobbing in utter terror. The thugs had been harassing them for days, and now they threatened to sell the girl in the red-light district. She had every reason to be frightened.
“This is my chance.”
Watching the trembling mother and daughter, he felt a surge of opportunity.
“They’ll probably come again tomorrow.”
“Likely.”
“And who knows, they might even take your daughter.”
“Nooo! I’m scared!”
Min-ji’s entire body began to tremble with fear.
“Have you reported this to the police?”
“Haa… I called them, but they said it’s a civil debt, not something police handle, so they left. They weren’t entirely wrong.”
“Tomorrow is going to be very worrying.”
“Yes… If we endure another few days, we might actually take our own lives.”
“You haven’t heard from the representative?”
“No. He suddenly disappeared.”
“Dad’s bad. He left us behind and vanished like that.”
Even in the midst of terror, Min-ji’s resentment toward her father burned brightly. She had been tasting that fear for several days now; the bitterness would only deepen.
“We should escape to a place where those people can’t find us, right?”
“Where? They already know my hometown address. If we go there, they’ll just follow us.”
“I own an office in one of my properties. We could hide there. It’s completely unknown to anyone.”
“Assistant Manager Nam’s office? Are you sure that’s safe?”
“Those thugs are probably coming tomorrow anyway. If you’d rather not be caught by them, you can stay here. But if you prefer to take your chances…”
Of course, he knew the two women had no desire to endure such horrors. Right then, Min-ji began shaking her mother’s hand violently, her body still trembling.
“Mommy, if those men take me tomorrow, they’ll sell me in the red-light district! Let’s get out of this house right now!”
The reason he was leading them to his office was not to protect them from thugs—quite the opposite. It was because the Yoo family deserved to experience the same agony he had suffered.