Chapter 476: An Unwanted Encounter (2)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 476: An Unwanted Encounter (2)
Some call the Tower a hell created solely for the amusement of the Constellations.
But for Lee Serin, at least, the Tower was heaven.
Unlike on Earth, where she was surrounded by people who recognized her everywhere she went, here she could go out in broad daylight without sunglasses, a hat, or a mask.
What’s more, she could enjoy a date with the man she loved, arm in arm, as much as she wanted.
These were happy days she couldn't have even dared to imagine before.
Of course, nightmares of the past would sometimes resurface to torment her, but whenever they did, Lee Serin would seek out Kang Hyun-woo.
She was shy at first, but she couldn't resist his gentle touch as he wrapped his arms around her.
In Kang Hyun-woo's warm embrace, she would quickly find her calm and soon drift off into a peaceful sleep.
Although her heart ached knowing she could never see her family again, she still prayed with all her heart.
That her days with him would continue forever.
But there was one thing Lee Serin had yet to realize.
“...Director Choi?”
The past is something you can never truly escape.
And sometimes, it shows up unannounced.
Seeing the familiar face, Lee Serin's complexion turned deathly pale in an instant.
She gasped, her body trembling faintly.
It was a face she had tried to forget time and time again, but one she could never erase from her memory.
Director Choi Taeho.
He was the man who had served as the Executive Managing Director and Head of Management at Moment Entertainment, the agency Lee Serin once belonged to.
Moment Entertainment was one of Korea's top three agencies, and Choi Taeho was the only son of its CEO, Choi Hocheol.
In short, he was a classic case of nepotism.
Choi Taeho knew exactly how to wield the power given to him, and not a few celebrities had left the company, unable to endure his blatant advances and threats.
But there were also those who couldn't leave due to various circumstances, and Lee Serin was one of them.
Moreover, Choi Taeho's obsession with her was abnormal. He would show up at her recording sessions for no particular reason, volunteer to be her road manager with absurd excuses, and frequently invite her out for drinks.
Fortunately, as a globally recognized star, it wasn't too difficult for Lee Serin to refuse his invitations.
Nevertheless, Choi Taeho was persistent, and people around them began to speculate that she would soon leave the company to start her own one-person agency.
But in the end, Lee Serin never left Moment Entertainment.
This was due to a sense of debt she felt toward Choi Hocheol, who had discovered her when she was unknown. However, the doting father, Choi Hocheol, did little to actually help her.
Considering the profits Lee Serin brought to the company, the neglect was incomprehensible, but she managed to endure it.
After all, Choi Taeho hadn't crossed the line yet.
The problem began after Choi Hocheol, well past his sixtieth birthday, handed over the actual management rights to Choi Taeho.
One day, without any warning, a series of allegations against Lee Serin surfaced.
Plagiarism, sexual favors, school violence, tax evasion, personality controversies, and more.
Each one was a career-ending issue for a celebrity.
At first, with her solid fanbase, a counter-narrative quickly formed. But as reporters presented plausible-looking evidence, the tide began to turn.
It was a classic case of "the more fans you have, the more haters you get.”
To Lee Serin, the evidence was nothing more than sloppily patched-together fabrications, but the public didn't see it that way.
Crucially, her agency, Moment Entertainment, fatally damaged her case by delaying their official statement.
At some point, she was no longer a beloved singer but a criminal who deserved to be in prison.
Having focused solely on her career as a singer since she was young, barely even attending school, it was incredibly difficult for Lee Serin to respond quickly to the situation.
Still, she tried relentlessly.
She posted explanations on social media and protested to her agency multiple times, but the answer was always the same.
-We are doing our best.
What they were doing, and how, she had no idea.
Finally, unable to bear it any longer, Lee Serin hired a lawyer and took legal action, but there was a limit to what an individual could realistically do.
Despite her repeated threats of lawsuits, only a handful of media outlets issued corrections.
They knew it too.
They knew that the truth was too ambiguous and complex to be sorted out legally, and that it would take a long time for any court verdict to be reached.
In the end, with public opinion having soured beyond control, Lee Serin had no choice but to announce a hiatus.
At the same time, she had to pay penalty fees for various commercial contracts, pushing her into a financial corner.
It was, without a doubt, the worst situation imaginable.
The only silver lining, if one could call it that, was that the number of media outlets continuing to report on her drastically decreased after Director Choi Taeho suddenly went missing.
But that didn't mean the flames surrounding Lee Serin showed any sign of dying down.
If anything, the fire was constantly fed by the sensationalist content of clickbait NewTubers.
And so, after nearly half a year of suffering following Director Choi Taeho's disappearance, the situation came to a close when Lee Serin was summoned to the Tower.
Serin had always felt a sense of relief.
The Tower was dozens, even hundreds of times larger than Earth. Surely, she wouldn't have to live in fear and torment of her past anymore.
But reality proved otherwise.
“I had a feeling, but it really is you, isn't it?”
A sleazy smile spread across Choi Taeho's lips.
His eyes glistened with an unconcealable, filthy desire.
“D-Director... How are you here...?”
“Hm? Because I'm a Player, of course.”
Six months ago, Choi Taeho had been dragged into the Tower without any explanation.
Having cheated death several times, his considerable talent allowed him to break through the 20th floor in just half a year.
“It was fucking shitty at first, but once I got used to it, this place isn't half bad. As long as you have power, you can do whatever you want. Same as Earth.”
Choi Taeho glanced back at the men standing behind him. They were members of his clan, the Reapers Clan.
They weren't an Under Clan that engaged in illegal activities, but they were undoubtedly a clan with some shady rumors surrounding them.
Moreover, in terms of size alone, their clan was much larger than Black Lore.
“Anyway, I never imagined I'd see you here again...”
Choi Taeho's eyes raked over Lee Serin.
“You have no idea how happy I am to see you.”
“...”
“Heh heh, you'll never know how much I regretted it after coming to the Tower. If I'd known this would happen, I wouldn't have bothered with the hassle of manipulating public opinion. I would've just been more... direct.”
“W-What does that...?”
Lee Serin's voice trembled at his words.
Seeing this, Choi Taeho gave her a meaningful smile.
“No need to play dumb. You suspected it all along, didn't you? That I was the one who used the reporters to shape public opinion.”
Among the evidence released with the allegations against Lee Serin, much of it was so elaborate and plausible that even insiders were fooled.
In fact, even Serin herself was shocked when she saw the reports.
The officetel, registered under her family's name to spend her days off away from the prying eyes of reporters, had been transformed into a secret rendezvous spot with her sponsor.
Even her quiet trips to the movie theater, a simple pleasure due to her love for late-night films, were sensationalized as secret dates with a boyfriend.
There was a mountain of other information that was too suspicious to have been uncovered by reporters alone.
It was the kind of information that could only have been known if someone from the inside had intentionally leaked it.
Circumstantially, Lee Serin had suspected Choi Taeho, but hearing the truth from his own mouth was a shock beyond imagination.
“W-Why... Why would you...”
Lee Serin's eyes trembled violently as if an earthquake had struck.
Watching her, Choi Taeho continued with a nasty smirk.
“Because you'd only listen to me once you'd been dragged down to rock bottom. Wouldn't it have been better if you'd just listened to me from the start?”
To Choi Taeho, women were nothing more than toys to be played with whenever he pleased.
There had never been a woman who hadn't spread her legs for him.
But Lee Serin was the exception.
Choi Taeho glanced at the faces of the women sitting at the table.
'Damn, how are they so beautiful?'
Even he, who had slept with celebrities as if it were a daily meal, was stunned.
A vile smile crept onto his face.
Choi Taeho reached a hand toward Lee Serin's shoulder.
“Serin, you know it's not too late, right? If you and your friends join our clan, oppa will take good care of y—”
Grab—
In that instant, Kang Hyun-woo stepped between them and snatched his wrist.
“How well are you planning to take care of her?”
Kang Hyun-woo's expression was utterly frigid.
Sensing the dangerous atmosphere, Choi Taeho instinctively became wary of him.
“...The hell are you?”
“Nothing much. Just that, as a clan leader, I can't stand by and watch someone touch my clan member with their filthy hands.”
“Clan leader?”
Choi Taeho quickly sized up Kang Hyun-woo, a habit he'd developed since entering the Tower.
'...Other than his annoying face, he doesn't seem that strong.'
Flick!
Having made his assessment, Choi Taeho scoffed and pulled his wrist away.
“There are always guys like you wherever I go. Bastards who don't know their place and try to act tough in front of a girl, only to get utterly humiliated.”
Poke, poke, poke—
Choi Taeho jabbed Kang Hyun-woo's chest with his fingertips.
“Ever heard of the Reapers Clan?”
“First time.”
“Figured. Ignorant bastards are always the bravest.”
At a subtle signal from Choi Taeho, the men behind him surrounded the table.
Swords hung ostentatiously at their waists.
“From the way you're talking, you must be a pretty big clan?”
“Pretty big?”
At Kang Hyun-woo's words, Choi Taeho and his men burst out laughing.
“Ha, it's been a while since I laughed this hard. Alright, I'm in a good mood today, so I'll give you a chance too.”
“A chance?”
“Yeah, a chance to get out of here in one piece.”
Choi Taeho patted Kang Hyun-woo's shoulder and continued.
“If you don't want to die, get the fuck out of my sight. Right now.”
“Don't worry, we'll escort the ladies and send them back in a few days.”
“Boss. I really don't like the look of him. Can't we just make him crawl out on all fours?”
“Hey, you bastard. Are we thugs? We have to send him off like gentlemen.”
It was a clichéd and blatant threat.
But not a single person reported them or intervened.
It was because of the Reapers Clan's notoriety.
They were an organization that practically had one foot in the Under Clans. Getting involved with them would surely lead to retaliation.
No one here wanted to willingly get tangled up in something that was guaranteed to be a pain.
Smack—
“Before that, there's one thing I'm curious about.”
“Hm?”
Kang Hyun-woo brushed Choi Taeho's hand away and spoke.
“Are you done talking now?”
“...What kind of bullshit are you—”
KRAAANG!!!!!
In that moment, Kang Hyun-woo grabbed Choi Taeho's face and slammed it straight into the ground.
The marble floor cracked.
“Keoheok?!”
His nose instantly broken, Choi Taeho coughed up blood.
Vwooom!!
Despite the attack, he immediately gathered his magic and assumed a combat stance.
“This bastard, do you know who I—”
But there was one thing he didn't know.
Right now, Kang Hyun-woo...
“You're still speaking like a human.”
...was in an exceptionally foul mood.
CRACK!! CRACK!! CRACK!! CRACK!! KRAAANG!!!
Each time Choi Taeho's face was smashed into the floor, a brutal crunch echoed through the restaurant.
Red blood and what looked like fragments of teeth splattered in all directions.
At the gruesome sight, the men who had surrounded them didn't even dare to move.
As the restaurant floor became a bloody mess, Kang Hyun-woo leisurely lifted Choi Taeho.
Not only were his teeth and nose shattered, but his facial fractures, including his cheekbones, were so severe that he was a mangled wreck, his original features unrecognizable.
“So, what was that you said just now? You'll give me a chance?”
“Ghuuuhhh...”
“Hm? You want me to save you?”
“Guhh, uhhh...”
Kang Hyun-woo seemed to ponder for a moment before slowly opening his mouth.
“Why should I?”