Time for a Special Meal
The video of the attempted otter slaughter exploded in popularity the moment it was uploaded.
It started with people leaving comments in sheer disbelief.
Comments mocking the village chief Park and his son, who were caught red-handed, flooded the section.
However, those were only a fraction of the total comments.
The vast majority of the comments expressed intense anger toward the perpetrators.
The reaction in the comments was hot, as if they were ready to punish the village chief Park's family right then and there.
However, that was an emotion shared only among the channel's subscribers. In reality, nothing changed.
Or so it seemed.
But then...
The video Seung-wan uploaded made it to the trending list.
Sensing the scent of clickbait and drama, various YouTubers specializing in social issues began to join the fray.
[Shocking True Story that Happened in Korea in 2020!]
[The Horrific Crime in Paju Hidden by COVID-19]
[A Village Chief Who Commits Crimes in Broad Daylight Without Any Punishment. The Second Sinan?]
Viewers hooked by the sensationalism and clickbait watched the videos, and naturally, the incident became even more famous.
As a result, the mainstream media finally caught wind of it.
[Father and Son Who Repeatedly Attempted to Kill Natural Monument Otters, Turns Out to Be Village Landowners?]
[Criminals Who Even Eliminate Endangered Species to Protect Their Illegal Business, Is the Punishment Just a Fine?]
[Psychopathic Father and Son Who Tried to Kill Otters, Even Tried to Kill the Person Who Ran to Stop the Crime]
Various news outlets and newspapers began reporting on the Boseok-ri otter incident.
It was the result of only three days since Seung-wan had uploaded the video.
While the media was buzzing about the incident, Do-jin was on the phone with his only connection and supporter.
"I spoke with the chief of police a moment ago. It seems they have no intention of letting this slide quietly either. Well, the incident has become far too famous for that anyway, heh heh heh."
"Thank you, Director," Do-jin said with sincere gratitude.
The reason Hye-seok had called the chief of the Paju Police Station was because Do-jin had asked her to.
"No need for thanks. Have you already forgotten who told you to watch out for the Mabong-ri people? Heh heh. Honestly, I doubt they've learned their lesson even to this extent."
"I have to hope they did. If they don't and cause trouble again, they'll face even harsher punishment next time."
"Heh heh, so you do know how to speak like that, Do-jin."
The director laughed at Do-jin's firm tone. It wasn't sarcastic, but rather carried a hint of satisfaction. In fact, she was quite pleased with the situation.
I thought he was just soft, but he has quite a backbone.
Of course, she knew what kind of life Do-jin had lived during his high school days.
However, giving up on life and living recklessly was a completely different matter from maintaining composure and tearing down an opponent.
In that sense, Hye-seok was delighted by Do-jin's request.
It would be troublesome if the child she had earmarked as her successor was a half-wit who didn't even know what power he held in his hands.
"Heh heh. A fellow who looked like he'd never ask me for a favor in his life. What wind blew to give you such courage?"
"..."
Do-jin organized his thoughts for a moment before replying calmly.
"First of all, thank you for granting this favor. But after looking into it, I realized that with my power alone, it would be difficult to punish them sufficiently."
Just because Do-jin had become a big YouTuber didn't mean he possessed real power.
Strictly speaking, he was just a citizen with high public recognition, nothing more and nothing less.
I need someone who can actually influence the punishment.
There was no one around Do-jin who held such public authority.
However, there was the director, who could influence such people.
"Actually, I thought it couldn't be helped even if you refused. But since I didn't know for sure, I did everything I could."
Do-jin had been quite busy over the past few days.
First, he asked Dunyang-i and Kkulnyang-i, with whom he was close, to share the video, and he also sought help from various animal associations whose contact information he had.
Not stopping there, he directly contacted various animal associations, YouTubers dealing with social issues, and the media to share the materials.
The reason the incident could become such a hot topic in just three short days was partly due to the influence of the trending list, but Do-jin's behind-the-scenes efforts played a significant role as well.
"Heh heh, wonderful. Yes, relying only on me and doing nothing would have been foolish. If you had done that, I wouldn't have helped you at all."
Perhaps pleased with Do-jin's answer, Hye-seok's voice sounded much softer than before.
"Well, I was going to stop here, but hang up for now. I'll make a few more calls."
"Calls? Do you have more connections?"
The chief of the Paju Police Station was already a massive connection. Do-jin couldn't help but be surprised to hear that she was going to make more calls.
However, the reply that followed was enough to leave him dumbfounded.
"I know a few kids in the Uijeongbu District Prosecutors' Office. By now... they should be around the level of Chief Prosecutor and Presiding Judge... For the sake of social order, shouldn't those fellows look into the case once in a while?"
"..."
Do-jin couldn't bring himself to say anything to Hye-seok's casual remark.
He didn't know much about the rank of Chief Prosecutor, but even he knew that a Presiding Judge was a very high-ranking position.
Hearing her talk about calling such public officials so casually made him marvel once again at Hye-seok's network and power.
"Hang up for now, heh heh. It's been a while since we spoke, so I'm looking forward to it."
With those words, the call with the director ended.
And the next day...
Do-jin realized all too well just how much influence Hye-seok's phone calls could exert.
[Paju Police Station Pays Special Attention to Punishing Frequent Crimes Against Endangered Species]
[No More Consideration for Criminals? Paju Police Station Declares It Will Deal Coldly with Claims of First-time Offenses or Mental/Physical Weakness]
[Uijeongbu District Prosecutors' Office to Strictly Punish Smuggling, Poaching, and Harming of Endangered Species in the Imjin River Basin]
[Endangered Species Protection Can No Longer Be Ignored. Uijeongbu District Prosecutors' Office Requests Maximum Sentence Even for First-time Offenders, Deviating from Existing Precedents]
"Those people must be in a frenzy."
"Seriously. How did this kind of atmosphere build up right before their trial? And it's like the police and prosecution planned it together."
Seung-wan nodded in response to Do-hee, who was checking the internet articles.
"They brought it on themselves. If they hadn't attacked the otters in the first place, this wouldn't have happened."
"True, now that I think about it. Serves them right! Hmph!"
"But what will happen to the trial now? The articles say the prosecutor is requesting the maximum sentence."
Just as Do-jin was about to answer Seung-wan's question, he smiled at a text message that arrived.
"They say Park Sang-hyun got sentenced to twelve years in prison."
"What? Really? Didn't they say the maximum he could get was eleven years?"
"Yeah, I thought so too, but the association just contacted me. The first trial resulted in a twelve-year prison sentence."
"Wow!"
"Awesome!"
Cheers erupted from the two at Do-jin's words.
If Park Sang-hyun's sentence was higher than expected, his family was likely to face a similar fate.
"I have a good feeling about this. You said the trial for the two who attacked you has the same prosecutor and judge, right?"
"With any luck, they might get prison time too."
Do-jin nodded at their conversation. Given the current social atmosphere, it was highly likely.
"Let's upload the result of this trial as a video. And I'm thinking of making progress update videos in between."
"Yes, I'll keep adding fuel to the fire so people stay interested until the trial of those two."
Do-jin nodded in satisfaction at Seung-wan's words, which showed he had grasped his intention.
This was the beauty of working with competent staff. Even without spelling it out, they handled things on their own.
I'm blessed with good people.
It wasn't just Seung-wan; Sekki House was full of talented individuals.
Obei, who was hard at work editing next to them, was one, and Shan-hun and Begter, who were working on construction near the annex, were the same.
Knock, knock.
At the sound of a knock echoing in the office, everyone's eyes turned to the door.
"Yes, come in."
At Do-jin's words, the door opened, and Shan-hun and Begter walked in.
Do-jin was just about to welcome them, having just thought of them.
"Boss, we're all done."
"Huh? Already?"
Do-jin checked his watch as he spoke. Only two hours had passed since he had assigned them the task.
He couldn't help but be surprised that they were already finished.
"Yes, it wasn't very hard, so we finished it quickly."
"It was... easy."
Following Shan-hun, Begter, who had recently been learning Korean, spoke as if it were no big deal, making Do-jin laugh in disbelief.
That was easy?
The task Do-jin had assigned them was waterway construction.
Although they had built a wall on the newly acquired land, they planned to move the otters' nest to Sekki House just in case.
I thought it would take even those two at least two days.
The task was to clean the existing waterway where the nest was to restore it to its original state, and then extend the bypass waterway to Sekki House.
Yet, far from taking two days, they had finished it in just two hours, which was bound to surprise him.
"Let's go take a look."
Do-jin stood up. It wasn't that he didn't trust them, but he needed to check just in case.
Ultimately, Do-jin's inspection proved to be unnecessary.
The new waterway was incredibly clean and sturdy, passing through the side gate and extending all the way to the vicinity of the annex.
They had even installed a device to block the bypass waterway at the side gate, though he couldn't tell when they had made it.
With this, if the waterway was about to overflow, there was no need to go all the way out to block the bypass.
"..."
"How is it, Boss? Is there anything to modify or add?"
"More... work?"
Seeing the two of them looking ready to do whatever he asked, Do-jin felt they were the most reliable people in the world.
I should reward them.
Do-jin had already formally hired Shan-hun's family.
If an employee delivered quick results, it was only natural for the employer to provide a corresponding reward, wasn't it?
"I'll have to ask the kitchen ladies to prepare a special meal for dinner tonight."
"A special meal?"
"What... kind of food?"
At the mention of a special meal, the gentle smiles on their faces instantly turned serious.
They were so sensitive to the topic that Begter, who still struggled with the language, asked again.
In response, Do-jin named the menu they loved and anticipated the most.
"Let's go with beef short ribs. I'll ask the kitchen ladies."
"Wow! Boss, you're the best!"
"Beef! Ribs! Beef! Ribs!"
The moment their shouts echoed through Sekki House, footsteps began to approach from all directions.
Pitter-patter, pitter-patter!
"W-what did you say?"
"Beef ribs?"
"..."
Obei, who had been editing in the office; Altani, who had been prepping ingredients in the kitchen; and even Sun-jam, who had been playing with Ttorang-i—they all gathered in an instant, salivating in unison.