Chapter 38
Chapter 38
-------------------------------------------------
Translator : M.N 1391
Chapter: 38
-------------------------------------------------
A righteous prosecutor who used even a criminal’s abilities to trace the proceeds of a fraud case, and a criminal who cooperated with that prosecutor, then broke out of prison to avenge him when the prosecutor was murdered, and crippled a member of the National Assembly.
Could there be any incident more dramatic than this?
While Korean society was in chaos with all kinds of talk, "We must conduct a special investigation into the party Rep. Yang Seung-tae belonged to," "This is political mudslinging from the other side," "Give me my money back," "Nothing is certain yet", Geongwan’s trial proceeded swiftly.
“I sentence the defendant to 20 years in prison.”
Bang bang bang!
Whatever. Geongwan’s expression as he received his sentence was uninterested.
And when Geongwan left the courtroom to be transferred to prison, countless flashes welcomed him.
Geongwan closed his eyes and received the flood of lights on his face.
“Mr. Lee Geongwan! What do you think about having crippled Rep. Yang Seung-tae?!”
“It feels exhilarating!”
“Hey! Shut your mouth!”
When Geongwan loudly answered a reporter’s question, the detectives holding him panicked. If a commotion broke out here, they would be reprimanded.
And when reporters saw Geongwan reacting far better than expected, they swarmed him like flies catching the scent of rotting meat.
“Move, please! Move!”
The detectives tried to clear a path, but it was impossible to break through a wall of reporters crazed for clicks.
“Mr. Lee Geongwan! There's a claim you committed the attack under orders from the opposition party, is that true?!”
“That’s bullshit!”
“There’s a rumor you’re a North Korean operative sent under Pyongyang’s orders, is that true?!”
“Kim Il-sung is a bastard who deserves a stake driven through his asshole!”
“Was the motive for your crime a sense of responsibility for Prosecutor Kim O-min’s death?!”
“It’s closer to anger than responsibility!”
“How do you respond to the argument that your actions are private vengeance that destroys the judicial order?!”
“Standing up to unjust power is an individual’s right!”
“Do you consider yourself a revolutionary?!”
“I think I’m simply one conscientious individual!”
“There are several people you crippled! Don’t you feel sorry?!”
“I don’t have even a speck of interest in the pain of perpetrators!”
Geongwan responded to the reporters’ questions in a loud and clear voice.
The reporters surrounding him looked like deranged sasaeng fans crowding a celebrity they adored.
The detectives escorting him were having a hell of a time. They were tasting the hardship of bodyguards protecting a superstar.
“Move! I said move!”
“Hey! You, shut your mouth!”
“Detective, the cameras are rolling.”
“I don’t give a shit, so shut up!”
A furious detective shouted. Whatever, he could write a reprimand later!
At that moment, Geongwan twisted his body sharply. His strength was so great that both detectives lost balance and fell. They tried to quickly grab him, but instead of running, Geongwan was holding the wrist of a masked man. In that man’s hand was a sharp knife.
Crunch!
“Aaagh!”
“Kyaaah!”
Geongwan yanked the wrist hard, threw the would-be assassin to the ground, twisted his arm at a strange angle, and forcibly dragged him up by putting him in a chokehold.
Then he ripped off the man’s mask and hat and shouted:
“Everyone! This is an assassin!”
“N-no!”
The man who tried to kill Geongwan turned his face and covered it with his one good arm, but hiding his face was impossible in front of the storm of shutters and relentless lenses.
Holding the assassin in a choke, Geongwan grabbed his jaw and turned his face from right to left so the reporters could see it clearly, then shouted:
“Reporters! You know what my specialty is, right?! The Twenty Questions of Truth! A miraculous skill where lies don’t work no matter what!”
It sounded like the sales pitch of a snake-oil merchant wandering a country fair, but no reporter would give up such a juicy scoop.
“Oh right! Detectives! If you try to stop this, I’ll snap this bastard’s neck. Or bite off his ear.”
The detectives’ footsteps froze.
They wanted to tackle him, but too many cameras surrounded them. If bloodshed or injury happened here, it would be impossible to handle. And since this lunatic Geongwan had already turned a National Assembly member into a cripple, nobody took his words as a joke.
With the detectives hesitating, Geongwan turned to the failed assassin.
“I’m sure the capable reporters here will find out your name… but you, little knife-boy, where did you come from?”
“...”
“Are you perhaps connected to Creative Capital?”
“...”
The assassin clenched his eyes shut and refused to answer, but that didn’t stop Geongwan’s questioning.
After a few questions, he quickly dug out who sent him.
“Aha! So the only person who can give orders to this so-called team leader is Chairman Oh Taekwang’s secretary, right?”
“...”
“Well well, I don’t know if this is overzealous loyalty or if Chairman Oh Taekwang really wants me dead this badly. At this rate, won’t he send assassins even into prison? My heart’s pounding, you know?”
His expression clearly didn’t belong to someone afraid. If anything, he looked like a child excited to open a beautifully wrapped Christmas present. Flashes went off again.
“But that doesn’t mean you’re guilt-free. Whether you took money or not, if you try to harm someone, you should be ready to be harmed yourself, right?”
“I surrender! I surrender!”
He had seen Geongwan turn a member of the National Assembly into a cripple. He was terrified of what this man might do to him.
Suddenly, the arm choking him loosened. The assassin tried to run, but the handcuffed Geongwan grabbed his good arm. The man screamed and tried to yank free, but he couldn’t escape the monstrous grip.
“Let go!”
Thunk!
Geongwan head-butted his philtrum. The man’s eyes rolled back without even a scream.
But Geongwan didn’t stop there.
“Lee Geongwan, stop!”
“Enough!”
The detectives knew well that yelling “Stop school violence!” never stopped school violence. They rushed in, but in that instant, Geongwan spun, twisting the man’s arm around like a pretzel,
“Kkeuaaaagh!”
As the assassin collapsed, screaming with his arm twisted, Geongwan stomped on his mouth with a crunch! His jaw shattered, and teeth flew.
It all happened in the brief moment before the detectives grabbed him.
While being held, Geongwan looked directly at the cameras.
“Chairman Oh Taekwang. I’ll be waiting for you in prison.”
Smooch!
Geongwan winked and blew a kiss, and flashes erupted again.
The frenzied reporters wouldn’t stop until many more police arrived.
= = = = =
05-The Untouchable of the Prison
Lifers, and long-term inmates.
Simply put, they were people who had to rot in prison for a very long time.
The Lee Geongwan syndrome, the assassination attempt on Lee Geongwan, Taekwang Group, Oh Taekwang fleeing overseas. All real-time search rankings on major portals were filled with keywords related to Geongwan. With public attention focused, he received an additional 20 years, becoming a bona fide long-term inmate. Turning a National Assembly member into a cripple must have greatly displeased very powerful people.
But the media’s tone was strange. They focused not on Geongwan, but on Oh Taekwang.
For the powerful, this was killing two birds with one stone. If attention stayed on Geongwan, every incident connected to him would gain spotlight, from Wang Daehan’s trillion-won Ponzi fraud to the Creative Capital Gate, and the death of Prosecutor Kim O-min.
Those heavy issues burdened certain important figures, so they tried to distract the public by using Oh Taekwang, the entrepreneur with a background as a political gangster, as a scapegoat. Someone had to take the blame anyway, and a businessman who broke the law like he breathed was the perfect tail to cut off.
And since there was evidence he ordered Geongwan’s assassination, they could grill him and burn public anger on him like firewood. The shrewd ones would lick up whatever crumbs fell from the feast.
“You fucking bastards! After how many years I cleaned up your mess!”
But Oh Taekwang felt wronged. After spending years as someone’s hunting dog, he thought he had finally become a wolf, but a dog is a dog. He wasn’t strong enough to avoid being discarded.
Cursing politicians and CEOs who wouldn’t take his calls, he pictured one madman’s face. The crazy bastard who held the biggest share of responsibility for the mess, Lee Geongwan.
See you in prison?
Oh Taekwang had been a fierce political gangster in his youth, but he had never met a lunatic like this.
And that lunatic was waiting for him inside prison?
That was why Chairman Oh was secretly fleeing the country to escape the investigation. That lunatic wouldn’t stay quiet even behind bars.
“We’ve arrived, Chairman.”
“Good job, ”
Stepping out of the car, Oh Taekwang suddenly saw himself surrounded by police vehicles, then saw his longtime secretary, Kim Min-sik.
“You, you bastard!”
Kim Min-sik bowed.
“Thanks to you, Chairman, I’ve gained a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. Thank you, Chairman.”
Oh Taekwang remembered what he entrusted Kim with, the bribe ledgers and sex tapes of high-ranking figures from various fields he had entertained over the years.
For the fugitive chairman, those were negotiation cards he needed for a comeback. Kim Min-sik had swallowed them whole.
“You bastard, Kim Min-sik!”
Oh Taekwang tried to charge at him but was restrained by investigators. As his longtime boss was dragged away, Kim Min-sik said:
“Don’t worry about the company. As always, I’ll manage it well.”
Of course, the ownership would be his.
= = = = =
As a long-term inmate, Geongwan knew nothing about what was happening outside. Naturally so, he had been placed in solitary confinement. Judging from the atmosphere of the guards, he would likely remain there a long time, even if it violated regulations.
His latest stunt must have pissed off many important people.
Chuckling to himself, Geongwan was escorted by guards. It was the one-time-a-day yard time. Only 30 minutes, but it was still a chance to see the high sky and distant scenery.
Left alone in the yard, he looked at the floating white clouds, the blue sky, and then at the mountaintop peeking above the distant wall. Apparently, looking far away helped preserve eyesight?
“Six-Nine-Eight-Eight! Yard time is over!”
“Yes sir!”
Geongwan answered cheerfully and offered his hands forward.
The guards gave bitter smiles. It was hard to adapt to the fact that the man who caused so much trouble was now being so obedient. Because of his jailbreak, many guards had to write reports, and some were even disciplined.
At least he kept his clothes on. Even when he acted polite and agreeable, they had to stay alert.