The Lost Children of Mir City
Kim Si-jun.
Baek Hyeong-guk, the Mayor of Mir City, was embezzling funds.
This was one of the crucial pieces of future knowledge Yun-hyeok possessed from his previous lives.
If he played his cards right, the mayor would be forced to step down, triggering a by-election to fill the remainder of his term.
That was exactly what Yun-hyeok was aiming for.
'The residents of the massive three-thousand-household apartment complex, the influential figures of Doma-myeon, and the ten thousand-plus commuters traveling to and from Pangyo.'
These were the actively recruited supporters he could count on, but in reality, the actual number would be much higher.
That was the mystery of politics.
When he had only resolved the Raymi Castle incident, his actual supporters might have been fewer than the number of residents in that complex. Now, however, his support base far exceeded the number of people he had directly secured.
Why?
Because pulling off three major incidents in a row like that inevitably set the rumor mill spinning among the citizens.
And the proof of that was clear.
"Oh? Aren't you Lee Yun-hyeok...?"
The number of people who recognized him was growing.
"Hello," he would reply.
Whether he was grocery shopping at the supermarket, working out at the gym, or just walking down the street, he now occasionally crossed paths with citizens who would strike up a conversation.
And, of course, this happened even when he was covering the convenience store counter for his parents.
"Whoa! It's the ghost of Mir Station!"
A group of high school students carrying chips and banana milk recognized Yun-hyeok and clamored excitedly.
"Hyung, I subscribed to your channel!"
"I even left a comment!"
"I liked all your videos."
"I watched all your live streams!"
The live streams consist of twenty-one sixteen-hour videos. How on earth did you watch all of that?
"Since you're subscribers, here's a MyChew on the house."
Yun-hyeok handed them a pack of chewy candy as a bonus.
"Whoa! Thank you!"
"Thanks for the food!"
"But is it okay for you to just give things away like this?"
Yun-hyeok chuckled at the last student's question.
"Do you really think I'll get booked for bribery just for giving a high schooler some MyChew?"
He thought the little punks were worrying over nothing, but...
"No, not that. Won't you get in trouble with the convenience store owner?"
Ah, so that was what they meant.
"The owner of this convenience store is my father."
"A convenience store landlord!"
"Whoa! A convenience store landlord!"
"We'll come by often then, Hyung!"
The students giggled and scurried out the door.
Even after they left, many of the customers who came in recognized him.
Watching them, Yun-hyeok fell deep into thought.
'I want to tackle one more issue.'
Before he completely dismantled Baek Hyeong-guk.
There were a few key demographics in Mir City whose support he absolutely had to win. Even if he couldn't win them all over, he wanted to secure at least one more.
What would be best?
The massive religious organization, the High Love Church? Or perhaps the issue of attracting a large general hospital in front of C-Mart...?
There was so much to do. In the limited time he had, the most ideal move would be one that won over a large number of voters while simultaneously exposing the sheer incompetence of Baek Hyeong-guk's local government.
"Yun-hyeok."
While he was lost in thought, his mother returned to the convenience store, holding Subin's hand.
Since Yun-hyeok's sister and brother-in-law were a dual-income couple, his mother usually picked Subin up from daycare around this time. That was why Yun-hyeok had been covering the counter.
"Everything quiet?"
"Yes."
"No suspicious people hanging around?"
"Suspicious people?"
"You know, with all the noise lately about teenagers and drugs."
Yun-hyeok instantly understood what she meant.
At this point in time, South Korea was grappling with a sudden surge in youth drug offenses.
The reasons were threefold.
First, media exposure had lowered the psychological barrier to drugs for young people.
Second, over-prescription of narcotics had vastly increased the overall supply of drugs.
And third.
The distribution methods had become incredibly sophisticated.
In the past, drug distribution had been a closed-loop system, spreading through word-of-mouth introductions in club VIP rooms or secluded alleys. Now, however, distributors openly recruited through anonymous channels like Telegram, open chats, and the dark web.
And they didn't just recruit buyers; they recruited "mules" as well.
This was where teenagers came in. Under the pretext that they wouldn't face real punishment because they were minors under the Juvenile Act, distributors lured them in using delivery fees or the drugs themselves as bait.
"But I heard those kids are using convenience store smart lockers to distribute the drugs."
His mother looked toward the automated parcel locker in the corner of the store with a worried expression.
"We can't monitor them every single time a student puts something in or takes something out. It's a real mess."
Convenience store smart lockers were indeed the perfect route for youth drug couriers.
Convenience stores were ubiquitous and always bustling with customers, making it difficult for the police to monitor them constantly. Since the smart lockers were literally "unmanned" systems, a supplier could walk in wearing a mask and a low-slung cap, drop the package in a locker, and vanish. Then, a student would retrieve it and distribute it elsewhere.
"Back when kids just tried to sneakily buy cigarettes, it was almost cute. Nowadays, it's terrifying. Especially for the mothers of elementary schoolers—they're worried sick that the drugs might find their way to the younger kids."
"..."
"If you ever become mayor, make sure to do something about this. Root out corruption, declare a war on drugs, that sort of thing."
Yun-hyeok's mother took Subin and headed back home.
Yun-hyeok immediately pulled out his phone to search for news on youth drug abuse. He quickly found a striking article.
A few weeks ago, a high school student in Mir City had been caught by the police while acting as a drug courier.
'I remember now.'
This was currently the hottest topic among parents in Mir City.
"Let's go with this."
It was a necessary task for the safety and justice of the city.
And it would yield a massive return that couldn't even be compared to adding more subway runs.
In any city, parents always held the strongest political sway.
The student arrested for drug courier work attended Tanseo High School. Of course, he hadn't actually attended classes properly since enrolling.
The local mom cafes were boiling over with anger toward the student.
That was the current situation.
The parents were feeling immense anxiety over the fact that the student, who had been a drug courier, was released on probation instead of being sent to a juvenile detention center.
However...
Some parts of the story had been distorted, demonizing him. The reality of the boy was quite different from what was known.
Which meant...
"I'd like to meet him. Do any of you know who he is?"
The next day, Yun-hyeok asked the Tanseo High students who had come to the convenience store to buy banana milk.
"Uh..."
The students, who had been joking around and talking about being subscribers, instantly turned guarded.
"We don't know who he is either."
"The kids who know him know, though."
Yun-hyeok asked them again.
"Then could you connect me with the kids who know him?"
The Tanseo High students fell into a dilemma.
They began to whisper and discuss among themselves.
"What should we do?"
"They told us not to tell adults."
"But he's not a cop or a teacher."
"That hyung is still unemployed."
"Just tell him! They'll handle it themselves."
"Since he runs a convenience store, maybe he can give them the expired food?"
Yun-hyeok's brow twitched.
"Expired food?"
"Well..."
One of the boys scratched his cheek and said, "They're a runaway family—a Gachul-fam."
Understanding the situation immediately, Yun-hyeok did his best to entice the students.
"Instead of expired food, I'll give you the good stuff."
Yun-hyeok swept convenience store bento boxes, kimbap, milk, and cup ramen into a bag.
"Introduce me to that Gachul-fam."
The wariness of teenagers at this age was similar to that of wild animals in need of rescue.
If the police asked, they would play dumb. If teachers or parents asked, they would do the same.
But Yun-hyeok was just an unemployed neighborhood hyung and a YouTuber—one who happened to have convenience store bento boxes.
Using that to his advantage, he managed to contact the Gachul-fam through a few degrees of separation.
However, he couldn't go straight to their base. Instead, he met a male student who appeared to be the leader of the Gachul-fam at a park they had agreed upon.
The boy was heavily built and had the rugged look of a mountain bandit.
"Are you really just giving this to us? You're not going to report us, right?"
"I told you, I won't."
"...Hyung. Since you run a convenience store, could you maybe give us some cigarettes too?"
"No way, you punk."
Yun-hyeok handed over the food, and they parted ways.
"I'll bring more tomorrow, so let's meet again."
The next evening, he met the bandit-like leader of the Gachul-fam again and handed over convenience store bentos, milk, and cup ramen.
"But why are you giving us this?"
"Does an adult need a reason to help kids?"
"..."
"See you tomorrow."
Yun-hyeok continued to deliver food to the Gachul-fam the following day.
This was what was known as street outreach.
It was a method of supporting homeless people or youth in crisis by meeting them directly on the streets and providing immediate assistance like food or medicine.
Even professional welfare organizations often intervened this way in the early stages to build trust.
It just required a bit of time.
Yun-hyeok was confident.
Three days, five days, a week.
As the days of meeting the Gachul-fam's bandit leader flew by, rumors about Yun-hyeok eventually spread to the school.
"Park Ju-hye from Tanseo High told us to give this to you."
Thanks to that, he even ended up delivering gifts from kids who were close to the Gachul-fam. This time, what he handed to the bandit leader was a hand-embroidered phone strap.
"Ju-hye used to be my girlfriend. We broke up, though."
"Why did you break up?"
"Her dad said he'd shave her head if she kept seeing me."
"Ju-hye tried to give you cigarettes too, but I blocked it in the middle."
"Ah, why?!"
"If I deliver those, doesn't that make me a smuggler? I'm trying to meet your friend here."
"..."
The Gachul-fam leader scratched his cheek, lost in thought.
"I'll try calling him out."
The next day, Yun-hyeok went out to deliver the food to the Gachul-fam leader again.
And there, he finally met the student.
The number one ranked juvenile delinquent in all of Mir City.
The dread lord who supposedly ruled Tanseo High.
The monster rumored among parents to beat up his peers, extort their money, and even be connected to adult gang syndicates!
"I heard you wanted to see me."
Kim Si-jun, a freshman at Tanseo High, finally appeared before Yun-hyeok.
"I'm on probation, so I have to get home quickly. If you have something to say, say it fast."
His appearance was vastly different from what the world believed.
He was barely in the mid-160s in height.
His scrawny, emaciated body was so frail that he didn't look capable of bullying anyone. If anything, it was more believable that he was the one being beaten up.
His eyes were aggressive, but it was pure bravado.
His legs were shaking as if he were suffering from anxiety.
There were self-harm scars on his wrists.
And ligature marks on his neck from where he had tried to hang himself.
His dirty clothes hadn't been washed in a long time. Beneath his stretched-out t-shirt, dark bruises were visible near his collarbone.
The soles of his shoes were completely worn out. He limped on one leg as if it were injured.
He looked no different from a beggar, standing in an unstable posture as if he might collapse at any moment.
"You're being abused at home, aren't you?"
"...Haha."
Kim Si-jun laughed with a face that looked on the verge of tears.
"Mister. There isn't a single kid in our fam who doesn't get beaten at home."
For this boy, home was hell.
There was a demon waiting for him there.
Yet, a student on probation couldn't even run away. If he did, he could be put on a wanted list.
"You..."
Yun-hyeok stepped closer to Kim Si-jun.
As the adult man approached, the boy flinched and took a step back.
Yun-hyeok gently wrapped an arm around his shoulders so as not to startle him.
"Let's go get some food."
This boy was a student abandoned in the blind spot of Mayor Baek Hyeong-guk's local welfare system. And in that neglect, he had been painted as a monster.
Yun-hyeok intended to rescue Kim Si-jun and, in doing so, win over the parents' association.