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# Chapter 1
The cold morning air mixed with the pungent smell of dust, stinging Kim Mingwan's nose.
Kim Mingwan alternated between looking at the site map displayed on the tablet in his hand and the scenery before him.
"This is no joke."
According to the documents, there was clearly a proper six-meter-wide access road marked on the map. A two-lane road, wide enough for large trucks to pass each other while carrying soil.
But reality was different.
The road in front of Mingwan's feet was nothing more than a rural farm path, barely wide enough for a single passenger car to pass. Even that narrowed at various points, making it easy for an inexperienced driver to send their wheels sliding into the rice paddies.
The farther he walked inside, the worse things became.
The turning area that should have been located at the entrance to the development site was completely blocked by construction waste someone had illegally piled up. Rusted rebar and chunks of broken concrete were stacked like a mountain, obstructing the passage.
With a familiar motion, he opened the camera app.
Click. Click.
He captured the faded red stakes marking the boundaries, the road surface deeply scarred by tire tracks, and the blocked access route, one after another.
The photographs displayed on the screen were automatically stamped with the time and location information in real time.
'It's common for the actual site to differ from the map, but this has crossed the line.'
Mingwan zoomed in on the cadastral map. His brow furrowed as he compared the red lines drawn on it with the actual terrain.
Part of the land being used as an access road overlapped entirely with privately owned property belonging to someone else.
"Did they get a land-use consent form from the owner here?"
Muttering to himself, he flipped through the submitted documents. As expected, there was nothing.
It was practically landlocked, a place where neither heavy machinery nor even passenger cars could enter without driving across someone else's property. This was the true face of the land that a major development company had presented as a business site on the outskirts of the metropolitan area and offered as collateral for a bank loan.
Mingwan removed his gloves and left a brief note on the tablet screen.
[Insufficient access road width. Turning impossible. Encroachment on private property confirmed. No land-use consent form.]
Nine years into his career at Taesung Appraisal Corporation, Mingwan knew exactly what the people asking him to stamp such an absurd property without even conducting a site inspection were after.
They either desperately needed funds or intended to make a huge profit from the beginning and disappear.
Without hesitation, he turned around and walked toward the corporate vehicle. He needed to return to the office and check the figures first. After all, judgments were made based on documents and data.
The headquarters of Taesung Appraisal Corporation.
The office was bustling as the afternoon workday began, filled with ringing phones and the tapping of keyboards.
As soon as Mingwan sat down, he displayed the past year's nearby actual transaction records on his dual monitors.
He placed the development company's proposed appraisal value calculation sheet alongside the actual data he had collected firsthand at the site and began comparing them.
"These bastards practically wrote a whole novel."
A hollow laugh escaped Mingwan as he skimmed through the materials.
The selection of comparable properties alone was a comedy.
The transaction records of properties with the same zoning as the site he had just visited and similar access conditions, including narrow farm roads, had been conveniently omitted from the list.
In their place were actual transaction prices for prime properties located a full kilometer away from the project site, directly adjacent to a four-lane main road.
They had forcibly used properties with completely different accessibility as comparables, so the base unit price was bound to skyrocket.
That wasn't the only problem.
'Development expectation premium: 15 percent.'
After checking the item, Mingwan immediately accessed the local district office's permitting system and searched for the relevant parcel number.
There were exactly zero records of building permits or development activity permits. Not a single document had been submitted to the district office, yet they had already factored in future value simply on the basis of a development plan.
The result was a combination of transaction prices for land along the main road and a hypothetical development premium.
The collateral value the development company wanted for its loan had been inflated by a whopping 30 percent above the market price.
"If the loan goes through like this and the project falls apart, what is the bank supposed to do with all this toxic inventory?"
Ultimately, the responsibility for that failure would fall squarely on the appraiser and the corporation that had signed off on it. The name attached to the documents would follow them forever.
Mingwan minimized the development company's faulty calculation sheet.
Then he opened a new spreadsheet using the data he had personally verified.
He restored three omitted transaction cases involving parcels with poor access roads. Since the land along the main road did not meet the conditions, he boldly excluded it from the comparable properties.
He deleted all development premium items that had no permit application records and added the risk factor of private property encroachment along the access road as a depreciation factor.
When he pressed Enter, a realistic appraisal range supported by market data appeared on the monitor.
It was a dry, precise figure, exactly 30 percent lower than the price the development company wanted.
"Appraiser Kim Mingwan. Come to the conference room for a moment."
At 3 p.m., Division Head Noh Jaehun approached his desk and issued a brief order.
Mingwan stood up with a composed expression, picking up his pen and notebook. In Division Head Noh's hand was a printed copy of the draft proposal Mingwan had uploaded to the internal network earlier.
As soon as the conference room door closed, Division Head Noh threw the document onto the table irritably.
"Appraiser Kim. Are you going to keep doing your work like this?"
"Which part are you referring to?"
"What the hell is this number? The development company already gave us a target amount they need for the loan. What are we supposed to do if you slash it by 30 percent? Will the principal even be recovered at this rate?"
His voice was filled with irritation.
Mingwan glanced at the document and replied calmly.
"I didn't slash anything. I brought the value back to where it belongs according to market principles. When I inspected the site, the access road was barely wide enough for one vehicle, and part of it encroached on someone else's private property. They don't even have basic documents such as a land-use consent form."
"They'll purchase it themselves after they get the loan!"
"The value should be increased only after they purchase the land and secure the rights. This land might not even be usable yet. How can we include that in the collateral value? Besides, all the properties used as comparables are located along main roads. The conditions are entirely different."
Division Head Noh loosened his tie roughly and scowled.
"Hey, Kim Mingwan. Have you only been working at a company for a day or two? When a major client brings us a picture of what they want, our job is to massage the figures until they match. Comparable properties? Just write that you used the closest available ones and give a reason. Development premium? They're going to develop the land eventually anyway, so just add it."
"The land hasn't even had a permit application submitted to the district office. Not a single document has been filed."
"So what? Are you the district head? Why do you keep saying something can't be done?"
Division Head Noh tapped his fingers against the table and raised his voice.
"Do it again. Use the development company's calculation sheet as the basis, change the comparable properties, and apply the maximum premium. The documents have to be sent to the bank tomorrow, so finish everything today, no matter what."
It was an unmistakably improper instruction.
An excessive appraisal that went beyond reasonable limits could eventually cost Mingwan his professional license if problems arose. It was a serious matter.
However, Mingwan didn't shout or lose his temper on the spot. Raising his voice would only turn the situation into an emotional argument, leaving nothing useful behind.
"To confirm, you're instructing me to completely revise the comparable properties based on the calculation sheet submitted by the development company and apply the maximum premium?"
"That's right. If you understand what I'm saying, go fix it quickly. Stop being so unnecessarily stubborn. Acting like the only upright person in this industry will only make things difficult for you."
"Understood."
Mingwan gave a brief reply and left the conference room.
He could hear Division Head Noh clicking his tongue behind him, but Mingwan's steps did not falter.
As soon as he returned to his desk, he sat down, opened his notebook, and began organizing the details of the conversation that had just taken place. He recorded the date, time, location, person issuing the instructions, and the specific orders, without changing a single word.
Before he knew it, the workday had long passed, and only a few employees, including Mingwan, remained in the office working overtime.
Mingwan was working intensely on the documents, his fingers tapping away at the keyboard.
What he was preparing was not the forced revision requested by Division Head Noh Jaehun.
It was the appraisal report he had calculated that afternoon, using only legitimate transactions involving properties with the same access conditions.
'Reason for excluding main-road comparables: Differences in access road width and pavement conditions.'
'Reason for not applying the premium: No permit-related documents submitted, and district office verification confirmed that no such applications exist.'
Mingwan attached clear sources and supporting evidence to every blank in the calculation sheet, explaining why each figure had been reached and why the figures desired by the development company could not be used.
He wasn't insisting on a low value. He was creating the most principled and transparent document possible, one where anyone could immediately confirm that only legitimate comparable cases had been used.
After completing the work, Mingwan moved his mouse and opened the company's internal project document repository.
He uploaded the original photographs he had taken at the site. The image files still contained all the original timestamp and location data.
Next, he bundled screenshots of the actual transaction searches together with the legitimate appraisal calculation sheet he had just completed and registered them on the server.
Then came the most important task.
Mingwan locked the version of the folder.
From that moment on, even if someone tried to arbitrarily change the figures or delete the site photographs, the system logs would permanently record what materials Mingwan had initially uploaded and when any modification attempts had been made.
This was how appraiser Kim Mingwan dealt with improper instructions. Instead of exhausting himself in arguments, he embedded irrefutable evidence and supporting documents into the system.
After completing all the registrations, Mingwan also uploaded the faulty draft file tailored to the development company, as requested by Division Head Noh.
Of course, he left out the electronic signature, which would signify that he was accepting full responsibility as an appraiser. He uploaded it merely as a document awaiting review.
"Phew."
Mingwan stretched and was just about to prepare to leave when it happened.
Ding.
The sound of an internal messenger notification rang through the quiet office. He clicked the pop-up window that appeared in the bottom-right corner of the monitor, and the message opened.
[Company-Wide Announcement]
Sender: Division Head Noh Jaehun
Subject: Internal Review Meeting Scheduled for 9 a.m. Tomorrow Regarding the Metropolitan Outskirts Development Site
Content: Immediately after arriving at work tomorrow, the electronic signature of Appraiser Kim Mingwan will be obtained for the revised proposal, followed by final approval. All relevant personnel must attend.
Mingwan's eyes grew cold as he read the message.
It was an overt announcement that they intended to pressure him into stamping the document in front of the entire staff tomorrow morning, somehow forcing him to meet the development company's loan deadline.
If he signed off, he would end up shouldering all the legal responsibility when the problems eventually surfaced. If he refused, he would be branded a traitor who had defied the organization's orders and suffer all kinds of disadvantages.
A shallow scheme designed to back him into a corner.
"Not bad, Noh Jaehun. You've put some thought into it."
Mingwan muttered briefly and closed the messenger window.
He shut down the computer and placed the tablet and notebook on his desk into his bag.
There wasn't the slightest hint of anxiety in his movements. He had never intended to stamp a document based on faulty paperwork in the first place.
Mingwan pushed in his chair and put on his coat. He slung the bag over his shoulder and headed toward the darkened hallway.
"Tomorrow morning's meeting is going to be quite long."