The Fact Mad Dog, Masugomi Rin
Masugomi Rin. Journalist for Cyber National's Korean branch. Her nickname is Fact Mad Dog. Why "Fact Mad Dog," you ask? Unlike other hack journalists peddling fabricated bullshit, she only writes articles based on pure, 100% real facts. The "mad dog" part comes from her literal tendency to chase stories relentlessly, legal or not, by any means necessary.
There was a scene in the original story that exemplified just how insane this woman is.
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Lexi, a top CJ on one of the three major platforms, Foresta, and a member of a wildly popular idol group. Deep into the night, Rin entered Lexi's officetel, buzzing with excitement.
"Everyone's been swallowing that interview whole where Lexi said he had no plans for marriage or dating until retirement. Today, I'm finally gonna shatter that illusion!"
It had been a long time coming. For a whole month, she'd tailed Lexi's movements, stalking his every step. And she'd caught him on a sweet, affectionate date. But Rin didn't snap the photos and run a story right then. She held back, saving her energy like gathering qi for a decisive blow, waiting for the perfect moment.
And tonight, she'd seen Lexi bringing a woman into his officetel.
"Reporters have a duty to deliver the facts to everyone, not just parrot some interview. I'll show 'em what facts really look like!"
Standing before the officetel door where Lexi and the woman were, Rin pulled a small case from her pocket and extracted a single lens.
"This here's a prosthetic lens that matches Lexi's iris data 100%!"
No idea who she was talking to, but what she'd pulled out was none other than a prosthetic lens synced to Lexi's iris info. Rin had "borrowed" it (temporarily, of course) from the former manager of Lexi's group, who for some reason hadn't disposed of it and was still holding onto it.
With the lens in, Rin pressed her eye to the iris-recognition door lock. A message flashed: Match confirmed. The door slid open.
Honestly, this was on Lexi. In an era where prosthetics roam free and hacks happen with a flick, using a lock like that? In cyberpunk times, analog was safer, frankly.
Anyway, Rin slipped inside.
"Ahh♥ You're so rough~ honey~♥"
"I've been slammed with overseas lives and all that crap, so we couldn't meet. Cut me some slack."
"Haaah♥ Of course I will♥"
Moans of them making love drifted from the bedroom. Rin's lips curved into a sly grin, and she kicked the door wide open.
"Hello there!"
"Wh-what the hell?!"
"Kyaa! Wh-who are you?!"
As Rin burst in with a cheerful greeting, Lexi and the woman, still locked together, jolted in shock and stared at her.
"Mr. Lexi, I'm Masugomi Rin from Cyber National. In your last interview, you said you had no intentions of marriage or dating, but isn't this situation deceiving your fans?"
"Y-you're insane! This is trespassing!"
As Rin fired off questions while snapping photos from every angle, Lexi trembled with rage and pointed at her, yelling.
"Who's the insane one? Isn't it you, Mr. Lexi, for deceiving your fans?"
"What did you say? Fuck... you crazy bitch!"
"Oh? Cursing at a reporter now? Whatever happened to the clean image you always bragged about? Is this another deception of your fans?"
Lexi was speechless now. What the hell was this madwoman? And how did she even get in here?
"Y-you... I'm suing your ass!"
"Wouldn't a lawsuit be more fitting for you, Mr. Lexi, after scamming fans who believed in you blindly?"
"Urgh... uuuugh...!"
"Honey! Honey!"
Exhausted from the intense romp, Lexi's blood pressure spiked from Rin's assault, and he clutched his neck before passing out cold.
"This is more than enough for a story. See ya!"
Winking at the fainted Lexi and the woman shaking him while crying, Rin sauntered out leisurely.
++++++++++++++++++++++
After that interview on the 14th last month where R, the main vocalist of a certain popular idol group, declared once again, "To reiterate, until I retire, I'm the fans' property—no dating, no marriage," I started harboring suspicions and tailed him.
On April 19 at 11 AM, I witnessed R on a date with some woman. It could've just been a close "girl friend," so I held off on jumping to conclusions. As a reporter who values facts above all, I didn't run with it.
Then, April 20, 9:32 PM—I remember the exact time. That's when suspicion turned to certainty. You don't bring a casual girl friend back to your own officetel, right?
I immediately stormed R's officetel to verify the facts and caught the decisive scene. (Censored photo)
I said to R, "Why have you been deceiving the fans all this time? I was a fan too, but I'm so disappointed!"
But what came back? Calls of "crazy bitch" and a barrage of unspeakable curses.
Here, R deceived the fans yet again. This was the polar opposite of the clean image he'd always touted—one free of profanity. This was R's true face.
Shocked, I considered just dropping it. But then I realized: fans like me have a right to know the truth. As a reporter with the duty to inform those with the right to know, I wrote this article to fulfill that mission.
— Masugomi Rin, Reporter
[email protected]
++++++++++++++++++++++
Not long after the article dropped, a lawsuit landed in Rin's lap. Lexi sued her for trespassing and defamation.
But the courts didn't side with him. The trespassing charge? The door was "open," and Rin had "happened by," heard suspicious emergency-like noises, and checked it out— no crime found. Defamation? No evidence she'd damaged his rep—dismissed.
Lexi appealed, screaming it was bullshit, but lost in the second round and Supreme Court third. Even with top lawyers, he got crushed. Why? Rin's lawyer was more competent. Or rather, better at fabrication.
Ironically, Rin—who obsessed over "facts" in her reporting—just sat back while her lawyer bullshitted in her defense.
Normally, writing articles like hers would've gotten her roasted by the media, hauled before a disciplinary board, and suspended or stripped of her credentials depending on severity. But Rin faced zero backlash over the Lexi piece. If anything, his fans thanked her for exposing the scam.
No disciplinary hearing either. All thanks to her background.
N.Y. Neo Yamato's Masugomi Conglomerate—one of Neo Yamato's "Big Four" chaebols, founders of the cyber revolution that birthed Japan as Neo Yamato. Rin was the cherished granddaughter of its head, Masugomi Ryūgo. And her dad, Masugomi Reiji, chaired Cybernetic National, the era's top media outlet.
With that kind of backing, no one dared touch her.
So was that why? Rin could rampage like this—committing crimes disguised as "fact-chasing"—because she trusted her pedigree to shield her?
Today, too, she pondered what "fact" story to chase next.
---
* * *
Thinking back on it now, she really was a total psycho. Getting bitten by her would be a nightmare—no escape.
And fuck... I was about to get chomped.
"Oh, really? And what business does the esteemed Masugomi Rin have with me?"
"When a reporter approaches someone, it's for an interview, obviously. It was supposed to be my day off, but I spotted the Golden Sun Hero by chance. And just call me Rin."
If it's your day off, fuck off and rest... you lunatic! Screw this up, and I'd be bitten, then death-rolled into shreds.
"I refuse the interview. I have nothing to say to you."
"Does that mean you're infringing on the public's right to know about the Golden Sun Hero?"
"Pardon?"
What the hell? Right to know? What bullshit is that?
"Don't know what the right to know is? It's right there in Article 21 of the Republic of Korea Constitution. The Constitution. The law."
"I'm not saying 'pardon' because I don't know it."
"Then you should cooperate with my interview, right?"
"How the hell does that follow?"
Fuck... she wasn't someone you could reason with. In the novel, I'd just pegged her as a loose screw, but up close? She wasn't loose—she was flat-out retarded.
"How about we head to a quiet café for the interview?"
"Ow! I said no interview!"
"I'm exercising the right to know here."
Her grip was insanely strong. HERA was in standby mode post-Bohemia Church mess, so no system access. And slamming a woman on the street? No way.
I was about to get dragged into the jaws of this crocodile named Masugomi Rin when—
"Let go of Ae-ri Gamei's handda!"
My rescuer had arrived to yank me from the depths.