Chapter 127
Chapter 127
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 127
Chapter Title: Closing the Net
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“Should I fill out the shareholder registry request form?”
“Haha. A form? Not at all. I’ll take care of it.”
As he spoke, the lawyer’s face filled with admiration upon seeing the number of my shares.
“My, my… The gift you received is quite substantial. I’m envious, hahaha.”
Based on the last transaction, it was worth a little over two billion won, but with no further trades, it was an amount whose value was difficult to even assess.
*I should buy Sung-hoon hyung a drink. I’d be a jerk not to, after he helped me make billions.*
After confirming my information and shares, the lawyer spent a good while typing on his computer.
“Please understand that printing is not possible. Here you go.”
He handed me a USB drive containing the shareholder registry.
It was surely a file with a DRM lock that would automatically delete itself after the deadline.
“That’s all for today. I’ll contact you again once we’ve settled on a course of action.”
“Ah! Yes.”
The lawyer quickly made a phone call.
“Ms. Lee Jung-min, the client is leaving. She’s a VVIP, so waive the consultation fee and just process the inquiry fee.”
Thanks to the lawyer, I saved several hundred thousand won on a consultation fee that would have cost more than the service itself, and paid only the 135,000 won registry inquiry fee.
“Please, this way.”
“Yes, thank you.”
Even though he told us to go in, the lawyer followed us all the way out, clearly wanting to see the car we arrived in.
“Wow, a Maybach. Heh… I hope to ride in one myself someday.”
The lawyer opened the back door, and Ro-si got in with a practiced motion.
“Well, take care. If even the smallest question arises, please don’t hesitate to call. I’ll do my utmost to answer.”
“Yes. Thank you for your hard work.”
We left the place, receiving a polite bow from the lawyer.
“How’d it go? Success?”
Sung-hoon hyung asked as he started the car, but we remained silent.
“What’s wrong? Why so quiet?”
“…Phew… Haa, haa.”
“Success!”
Only when the lawyer was out of sight did Ro-si finally let out a breath, her act as an heiress over.
“Whew, you were in there so long I thought something went wrong. I was wondering what could take so long just to look at a list of names.”
“I was so nervous I thought I was going to die. My toes were sweating and everything…”
Despite Ro-si’s cool expression earlier, the thought of her toes wiggling inside her shoes made me laugh even harder.
“Pfft. You should’ve seen it, hyung. Ro-si’s acting was killer.”
“…Really? It wasn’t awkward?”
Ro-si asked, her face tense.
“Awkward? Are you kidding? When Ro-si said in English, ‘Are you an idiot?’ and ‘I can understand that much,’ I broke out in a cold sweat.”
“Pahaha! Ro-si did? For real?”
I recounted Ro-si’s incredible performance to Sung-hoon hyung, and she covered her face in embarrassment.
I went straight to the company, pulled up the shareholder registry on the screen, and started taking pictures.
“You really got it?”
The Director watched the monitor with interest.
“…But I don’t see Do Chang-ryeol’s name.”
“……”
Just as the Director said, Do Chang-ryeol’s name wasn’t on the list. But he was definitely in there. Even if it wasn’t under his own name.
I called reporter Shin Dong-min.
-Yes, Timjang-nim. I’m looking into it, but I don’t have any useful information yet.
“What about his wife’s name?”
-I have that much. Choi Shin-woo…
⋮
-Jang Jin-gu: 75,305 shares
-Park Seong-cheol: 52,251 shares
-Choi Shin-woo: 50,000 shares
-Min-jun: 48,792 shares
⋮
There it was. He had put it under his wife’s name to avoid punishment.
Annoyingly, she had more shares than me. But stocks were all about timing. If you couldn’t pull out at the peak, having more shares didn’t necessarily mean you had more money than me.
“…Thank you, Reporter-nim! By any chance, could I get her phone number as well?”
-I’ll text it to you right away. Is this really helpful?
“Yes! It’s a huge help. Thank you.”
After I hung up with Shin Dong-min, the Director focused on me, curious.
“Is he on it? Is it a borrowed name?”
“He is. Under his wife’s name, right here.”
“Ha! That son of a… So what are you going to do? The guy has his phone turned off right now.”
*Vzzzt.*
Just then, a text came from Choi Yoo-kyung.
-I’ll introduce you to an unni I used to work with. A call probably won’t work; she’ll want to meet in person. She doesn’t like legal complications… If you think she won’t be of help, let me know. I know it’s not much, but I’ll step up myself.
Kim Hyo-jung 010-XXXX-XXXX
*Grumble.*
My stomach, empty since I’d skipped breakfast and lunch, let out a loud growl, but I was in no mood to eat.
“There’s a way. I’m sure of it. I’m heading out.”
The final key was sure to be in this next meeting. The system only ever gave me trials I could overcome.
* * *
“You’ve made a truly great decision. The losses are immense, but I believe they will return to you tens, even hundreds of times over,” Manager Jang said, flattering Gyeon Sang-jin.
“They’d better.”
“So, is that Min-jun kid going to come?”
“We’ll see.”
“…Are you really going to take him in? He might seem resourceful for now, but isn’t it possible this is just a series of coincidences? Just thinking about his insolence toward you, hyung-nim—no, Chairman—still makes my blood boil.”
“…We’ll see once we use him. If he can’t prove his worth, we’ll just make him cough it back up several times over.”
“Aha. So that was your plan. The kid is pretty easy on the eyes, I’ll give him that.”
Manager Jang’s words made Gyeon Sang-jin smirk.
“Yuri Fox agreed, right?”
“Of course. Think of all the money they’ve taken from us. And reporter Do Chang-ryeol is on standby. The moment anyone from JD Enter goes in, the final mission will begin.”
“Excellent! The final mission.”
The two shared a nasty smirk as they enjoyed reading the comments on the articles they had orchestrated.
* * *
I headed to the meeting spot to meet Kim Hyo-jung, the person Choi Yoo-kyung had introduced me to. It was a cocktail bar, surprisingly crowded for lunchtime.
*Wait, is that cigarette smoke? Can you smoke indoors?*
The well-dressed male and female customers occasionally held cigarettes, but surprisingly, the smell wasn’t too strong.
It seemed the numerous air purifiers running in every corner were doing their job.
“Over here.”
A woman in her late twenties, wearing a tight outfit with a precariously short hem that threatened to reveal her underwear and a top that exposed her cleavage, waved at me.
It was Kim Hyo-jung, a former member of Hey Girl.
*But how does she know my face?*
“Whoa! Is that your boyfriend, noona?”
“Look like my boyfriend?”
“Yeah. A top-tier madam?”
The bartender teased Kim Hyo-jung.
*Top-tier madam? Is that some kind of host bar term?*
“Pfft, boyfriend? Please. He’s a former member of Fire Emblem.”
“For real? Whoa! I have seen him before, for real!”
Kim Hyo-jung already knew who I was.
“It’s a pleasure to meet you. I’m Min-jun.”
“Yes, hello. I expected it, but you look much better in person. If you became a madam, you’d probably earn more than most celebrities.”
“That’s a bit forward for a first meeting. A madam?”
“Ahaha, it’s a joke. Why so serious?”
“Haha, I was joking too. Look who’s flustered.”
“Ah, haha… You’ve got some bite.”
Kim Hyo-jung’s expression soured for a moment before returning to normal.
Sorry, but I wasn’t in the mood for this kind of pointless power struggle. This was a serious situation.
I had the shareholder registry, but there were still many threads to unravel, and with every passing moment, the malicious articles about Answer were spreading further.
“…We’re moving. You know what to bring?”
“Yes, noona!”
Conceding defeat, Kim Hyo-jung tucked her tail between her legs for the time being. We moved to a private room with a curtain.
She walked with an exaggerated sway of her hips, clearly very confident in her rear view, which I found deeply off-putting.
Inside the private room, Kim Hyo-jung sat on the sofa, crossed her legs, and took a cigarette out of her purse.
“Cigarette?”
“I don’t smoke.”
“You’re nicer than you look.”
“I’m just pickier than I look.”
Kim Hyo-jung smirked and lit her cigarette with a practiced ease.
“Is smoking allowed in here?”
“*Sss… Whoo…* Yes.”
Kim Hyo-jung blew a cloud of thick smoke in my direction. To an outsider, it might have looked like she was trying to seduce or belittle me, but to my eyes, she just seemed like a pitiful, pathetic person trying to act tough.
Still, I had to say something.
“I’m used to the smell of cigarettes, but I can’t really stand that funky, foul smell mixed in with it.”
“……”
“Please blow the smoke in the other direction.”
Suddenly called out for her bad breath, Kim Hyo-jung seemed momentarily speechless. She must have realized that trying to start a power struggle with me was a bad idea.
I savored her miserable expression for a moment before leisurely changing the subject.
“I heard you were in a group with Choi Yoo-kyung.”
“…She talks too much.”
Beer, sausages, and french fries arrived. Kim Hyo-jung picked up her fork, her previously arrogant attitude completely gone.
“Sorry. I have to eat if I want to work later. You wanted to know about reporter Do Chang-ryeol, right?”
The playful, flirty Kim Hyo-jung was gone. With a serious face, she began to rattle off the information I wanted about reporter Do Chang-ryeol.
“Weaknesses? He has tons. He’s always been a piece of trash. Always hitting on any girl he thinks is halfway decent.”
“A leaky bowl at home will be a leaky bowl outside.”
“…Pffft… Min-jun, your choice of words…”
“I’ve spent a lot of time around older folks.”
Lately, I often had these moments of disillusionment, wondering if I really needed to talk like I was in my early twenties.
“Ah… Anyway, that bastard, he’s still sponsoring someone. She’ll be here soon, that girl.”
“Are you saying the person Do Chang-ryeol is dating is coming here?”
“Dating? Please. It’s a sponsorship.”
“……”
“I did good, right? Calling her here for you.”
I felt like the final piece of the puzzle to solve this case was falling into place.
*Vzzzt.*
My phone vibrated. It was Seol-ah.
“Excuse me, I need to take this call.”
“Go ahead. I’m going to eat.”
Kim Hyo-jung chugged her beer and popped a large piece of sausage into her mouth.
“Yes, Seol-ah.”
-Can you give me reporter Shin Dong-min’s number?
“Why do you need it?”
-I’m going to try and find the Yuri Fox instructor. If the person involved says it’s not true, the rumors will be cleared up, right?
Seol-ah’s voice trembled. She was clearly furious. But my intuition was telling me to stop her.
“I’m handling it, so don’t you dare move. Absolutely do not go!”
-They said half of our commercial contracts have already been canceled. The longer this goes on, the harder it will be to recover!
What Seol-ah said was true, but there was a very high chance Gyeon Sang-jin had set a trap. Anyone would think to approach the person at the center of the rumors first.
“I’m telling you again, do not move. Ro-si knows the general situation, so ask her. I’ll sort this out by today. I’m busy, so I’ll see you tonight.”
I hung up on her.
[Quest ‘Answer in Crisis’ has been updated.]
The confused members of Answer may act unpredictably. Have the malicious articles deleted and make the reporter post a handwritten apology across all platforms.
Reward: 5 Stat Distribution Points, S-Rank Random Draw Ticket
Failure Penalty: Change of ownership of JD Enter
Time Limit: 06:59:59
A seven-hour time limit appeared, and a stopwatch started ticking. It seemed to predict that if that time passed, one of the Answer members would lose their patience and do something irreversible.
Answer was one thing, but our CEO, though a bit of a ditz, was a good person. I needed to move faster.
* * *
To carry out his final mission, reporter Do Chang-ryeol was on standby in his car across from the Yuri Fox Dance Academy, camera in hand.
“Damn it, what if they don’t show up?”
He was waiting to pin one last bogus charge on anyone from JD Enter who tried to make contact.
“Come on, help my stocks grow a little. Huh? Please, somebody show up. I’ll write a real juicy one for you.”
Do Chang-ryeol muttered to himself, opening the calculator app on the phone that was on, next to the one that was off.
“Once it goes public and the price skyrockets… my fifty thousand shares will be… 7.5 billion! Hah! Life is all about one big score. Who needs this damn reporter job?”
Do Chang-ryeol believed that for his SJ Enter shares, held in his wife’s name, to grow, Answer had to be eliminated.
Just as Fire Emblem was monopolizing the female fanbase, he thought Your Girl needed to get rid of their biggest rival, Answer, to monopolize the remaining pie.
“Mojito in Maldives before it sinks, mojito-♪♬”
Do Chang-ryeol bobbed his head, excited. He was getting antsy and hungry from being in the car since early in the morning, but he told himself this was the last day of hardship.
Just then, the phone that was on started to ring.
It was his second phone, a number known by only three people, not even his wife.
“Ooh~ Se-ha’s calling me first? Did you miss Oppa?”
-…
“Oppa has to be here for a few more hours, you know? Why don’t you come here, Se-ha? And grab some toast and coffee on your way. Oppa will wire you some money… Oki.”
Do Chang-ryeol considered sending 100,000 won but then remembered he was about to be rich and sent 1,000,000 won instead.
“I should get rid of this piece of junk car, and what else? Should I become a building owner too?”
Do Chang-ryeol’s time passed in pleasant daydreams.
*Knock, knock.*
He saw Se-ha’s torso through the crowd of passersby as she knocked, and Do Chang-ryeol unlocked the car.
*Click.*
“…Wh-What the!”
Do Chang-ryeol jumped in shock as a large, dark figure of a man slid into the passenger seat.
A murderous aura radiated from Min-jun’s eyes as he sat in the passenger seat.
“You wanna die?”
At Min-jun’s chilling question, Do Chang-ryeol suddenly felt the urge to piss his pants.