Chapter 200
Chapter 200
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 200
Chapter Title: In Israel (1)
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No matter what, once a major incident wraps up, the next order of business is always cleaning up the mess.
Especially in a case like this one with the [Garden of the Lord], where we'd caused a massive public scandal right out in the open.
“Ughhh. No, seriously, this is legendary. First case like this in my entire career as a prosecutor.”
“Ahem, Prosecutor Park Eun-ji!”
Interrogation room at the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office.
For my first prosecutorial investigation since regressing, it felt oddly... lax. Almost like, is this really an interrogation?
And to top it off, Prosecutor Park Eun-ji had barged in uninvited, despite this not even being her case. She burst into laughter nonstop while skimming the hastily scribbled report.
“Ehehehe. Oh man, this is insane. I have to keep investigating, but it's so funny I can't make any progress.”
“Park Eun-ji! Get out, you brat! You're disrupting everything!”
“Ah, come on. This is basically my case too. Remember I sent my team of investigators? Uncle!”
“Are you crazy? You need another smack to straighten up!”
It really took a solid hit before Prosecutor Park Eun-ji was finally chased out of the room.
Fifth cousins or something like that?
The lead prosecutor, whose face vaguely resembled hers, continued the interrogation with an awkward expression.
“Ahem, my apologies for the embarrassment, Chairman Han. Eun-ji's like a mutant from our esteemed Park family lineage...”
“It's... fine. Let's just proceed.”
He flipped through the stack of documents with a rustle and showed me the interrogation transcript of cult leader Park Geum-deok, briefing me on the current situation.
“Park Geum-deok's side is spouting nonsense about special aggravated assault or whatever, but Chairman Han, you don't need to worry about a thing.”
“Hm.”
“Justifiable self-defense, emergency evacuation, necessary action in defense of others. We've got VIP special directives to massage away any illegality issues.”
Special directives.
The president had cooperated surprisingly smoothly with the cleanup, without nitpicking.
Maybe because he'd been the one to first bring up Hina Princess's entourage?
Before entering the interrogation room, I'd spoken with the president on the phone. He'd said:
‘Good grief... You're a storm-bringer, aren't you? Or should I call you Angel Han Seo-jun now?’
‘Now that I've even earned the angel title, maybe I should just live my life as fate decrees.’
‘Ugh. Hard to say if I should praise you or reprimand you—it's giving me a headache. But overall, praise wins out. Especially with the Pope matter.’
Right on cue, the president was holding a summit with the Pope in the Vatican.
The perfectly timed [Garden of the Lord] incident had immediately prompted an excommunication decree from the Holy See.
-[Excommunication Decree]
The Vatican hereby declares cult leader Park Geum-deok of Naju’s [Garden of the Lord] and her followers to be heretics.
It came down like lightning striking to roast beans—excommunication in the blink of an eye.
Of course, with attempted ritual sacrifice murder, violations of narcotics laws, and sundry embezzlement on top of the heretical doctrines.
Even setting aside the cultish beliefs, it was something the Catholic Church couldn't ignore.
After skimming the final page of the investigation file, which sought the death penalty—or life imprisonment, at least—for Park Geum-deok, I addressed the lead prosecutor sitting across from me.
“Thank you for your consideration. Anything else?”
“Ah, that's all. This was just a formality anyway.”
He bid me farewell, apologizing for detaining a busy man too long.
As I gripped his hand in a handshake, I added one thing I'd held back earlier.
“Oh, and besides the cult issue, I'd appreciate a thorough probe into the entertainment industry as well.”
“Of course. It's deeply tied to Hina Princess, so we have to get serious about it.”
Eden Garden Records and the other entertainment companies under Park Geum-deok's umbrella.
In the end, the root of all this started with Hina Princess's thorny entry into showbiz, so they had to be investigated.
“Ugh, with the Japan diplomatic mess, we need to wrap this up cleanly on our end to keep it from blowing up.”
“Prosecutor, no need to worry too much.”
The lead prosecutor mulled over his political calculus.
For his sake, I shared a bit of the intel I'd gathered.
“For one, we've already discussed it with their prime minister.”
Japan's PM, whose lifeblood was political gain, had opted for quiet diplomacy—no protests to Korea.
Instead, he was using the opportunity to crack down harder on cults rampaging within Japan.
And then.
The reaction from the key player most deeply involved: Hina Princess herself.
“It's sorted with the principal party too.”
She'd risen from her hospital bed sooner than expected and, fortunately, hadn't suffered any mental breakdown from the shocking events.
* * * *
“How are you feeling? Body-wise.”
“A total mess. That peach hallucinogen was brutal. Sorry to the team, but debut's pushed to next year.”
Hina Princess, who'd spent about a week hospitalized for recovery.
Unable to stand the stifling hospital room, she'd bolted straight to my office.
Her inner sadness leaked through her expression, impossible to hide.
“And... honestly, my heart hurts more than my body.”
“Ah.”
Her mind was still far from healed.
It wasn't just from being trapped in the cult, beaten, and brainwashed.
Having to accept the dark side of the person she'd trusted like an older sister—Maria—that was the real pain.
Fortunately... during the Second Coming ritual, Hina Princess had passed out and missed it.
She hadn't seen Maria, half-mad with fanaticism, twisted into something grotesque.
‘Why...? Why...! Do you even know what you've done, Han Seo-jun, you bastard?!’
After I'd subdued Park Geum-deok and herded the followers into the chapel.
As I wrapped everything up, Maria approached with rolled-back eyes, unleashing a torrent of curses.
‘Maria, don't you know what you've done...?’
‘Shut your filthy mouth, Satan in human skin!’
Then, she knelt by the collapsed Hina Princess, embracing her emaciated frame.
Tears streaming uncontrollably with genuine anguish, she hurled curses at me.
‘Eternal rest! Bliss in the Lord's kingdom! You've shattered it all—even the ark of salvation meant for Hina Princess and me!’
‘Completely insane. Blinded by fanaticism... lost yourself? No, it's not just your own life you've ruined.’
Maria, ensnared in twisted zealotry, had dragged not just herself but her most cherished person into a sinkhole of sand.
Judging by her weeping, she still didn't realize... what she'd done wrong, or why her beliefs had driven her mad.
‘A calm spell in prison will clear her head. She'll come to her senses, realize her actions, and why she went blind.’
Faint police sirens flickering beyond the altar.
Gazing at them growing louder under the dark night sky, I muttered to myself.
‘I've... been there before, back before I returned.’
* * * *
“As you know, with the Maria situation and all, it'll take some time.”
Hina Princess needed time to sort through her tangled feelings about Maria.
I took a sip of coffee from the table and replied.
“Forget everything and rest for now. At least Nuclear Entertainment won't hound you over performance.”
“Typical chaebol. Anyway, I came here today because I have something to say.”
“Something to say?”
She pulled down hard on the black baseball cap atop her head with her own hands.
She wasn't one for big emotional displays, it seemed. After a long pause, looking a bit shy, she finally spoke.
“Thanks for saving me. I mean it.”
“Sounds like you've finally grown up a bit.”
“What's that supposed to mean? Anyway, that's my piece. You've got someone else coming in right away, right?”
More people entangled in this mess than expected.
The next guest, following Hina Princess, entered without even knocking.
One might call it rude... but this time, it couldn't be helped.
She wasn't just any ordinary visitor.
“How am I supposed to go on living... Why do you always dive headfirst into the most reckless stuff?”
“Ah, you've arrived?”
Ammunition Group's subsidiary, Nuclear Entertainment.
Its president—and Hina Princess's guardian—was none other than... my mom.
* * * *
“Grandma's worried too. Everywhere you go, everything you do, you pick the dangerous option.”
“Well, that's how it goes. I'm fine, that's what matters.”
“I can't even... Of course, you're in a position where nagging won't cut it.”
“More importantly, how's the entertainment side looking?”
The worry-laced scolding session ended only after the fresh coffee had gone cold. And in moments like this, swiftly changing the subject was the smart play.
The conversation smoothly shifted gears.
“Total vacuum. Every company under the [Garden of the Lord]'s influence.”
“Hm.”
“Funding dried up, ownership tangled, and no one wants the PR hit—frontline staff are just dodging bombs.”
“Perfect. Wasn't intentional, but things are turning out nicely.”
Mom tilted her head at my cryptic words, a question mark practically hovering above.
Instead of a long explanation, I pulled a USB from my drawer.
“This thing you gave me back then.”
The USB Mom had given me—outlining how the entertainment industry would evolve and the strategies to match.
“We might not bulldoze through all at once... but isn't this the right timing to prime the pump?”
The landscape had shifted thanks to this incident.
No need to keep all claws hidden anymore.
I didn't have to bare every blade—just revealing the tips between my toes wouldn't hurt.
“Won't CZ E&M push back? They won't sit idle.”
“Normally, yeah, but the board's flipped now. They need someone to fill the [Garden of the Lord]'s slot anyway.”
“True, but...”
“Let's do it slow, like ink seeping into paper. Just like the plan you showed me.”
Mom gazed at me with touched eyes.
But as always, perfect timing attracts saboteurs.
A knock, and Kim Won-cheol's voice echoed from the doorway—he'd arrived unnoticed.
“Ahem, as moving as this mother-son reunion is—tears without fail—but... Chairman, it's my turn now, yeah?”
“Oh, Won-cheol. Long time no see.”
“Mind if I cut in?”
“Good grief. Fine. See you later, Seo-jun. Visit the main house sometimes.”
After sending Mom off, Kim Won-cheol settled on the sofa with snacks from the fridge, as usual.
“You should head to the main house now and then. You're always cooped up at the office.”
“That's my fate. Anyway, what's up?”
While he practically lived at the office himself, he tossed me an impossible suggestion.
Normally, he'd spin some wild logic and play word games, but today he readily admitted his flaw.
“Uh... scratch what I just said. With your fate that just breeds chaos. Guess the fortune-telling nailed it big time.”
“Huh? What do you...?”
“Here, take a look at this.”
And that logical slip... hit me heavier than him.
A single external document clipped to a black approval pad. It bore content—and sender info—I'd never anticipated.
-[Embassy of Israel in Korea]
In order to handle the aftermath of the recent [Garden of the Lord] incident, we hope for a meeting with Chairman Han Seo-jun at the earliest possible date. Special Envoy Plenipotentiary Ambassador Baek Sang.
“Israel... Special Envoy Plenipotentiary Ambassador?”