The Grim Reaper of the Tax Service Opens Joseon's Ledgers

"The evidence of tax evasion is airtight. The slush fund funneled through paper companies alone amounts to two hundred billion won. Their bookkeeping manipulation was quite clever, but they left too long of a paper trail."

Those were the last words I ever spoke.

I was standing before the fruits of my labor, having ground down my own flesh and blood as the Team 1 Leader of Investigation Bureau 4 at the National Tax Service of the Republic of Korea—a place widely feared as the "Grim Reaper of the business world."

I had spent three days and nights without sleep, cross-referencing thousands of balance sheets to finally track down the hidden money trail.

"Team Leader, you are truly relentless. How many nights have you pulled? You should get some rest."

"Rest? No time for that. File the search and seizure warrant. Freeze their accounts before they can funnel the assets overseas..."

My finger, poised to hit the enter ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠key, froze in midair.

Spin.

My vision spun like a top, and an excruciating pain, as if a sharp awl were gouging out the center of my chest, struck me.

Wait, this isn't good...

Even as I collapsed toward the floor, my trembling fingertips, unable to reach the approval button for the warrant, shook weakly.

That was Kang Jinsung's last memory.

"You insolent wretch, Jeongrang Kim! Have you truly lost your mind?!"

A thunderous roar snapped my eyes open. My vision was blurry.

A musty, stale odor and the acrid smell of smoke hit my nose.

I reflexively pushed myself up from the floor. Instead of the smooth linoleum tiles of my office, my hands touched rough, cold wooden planks.

What? Where am I?

The scene before me was absurd. A middle-aged man wearing a crimson official robe straight out of a historical drama was shouting at me, veins bulging in his neck as he spat with fury.

...Is this a hidden camera prank? Or some historical drama set? Why was I ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠sleeping here?

I furrowed my brow deeply. I couldn't comprehend why I, who had just collapsed in the middle of the National Tax Service in modern South Korea, was lying in a place that ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠looked like a folk village.

I looked around, half-expecting to spot studio lights or a camera director hiding somewhere.

"What use is glaring at me with that victimized look?! The copper meant for casting the Gabinja has vanished without a trace! As the Hojo Jeongrang responsible for managing the Jujaso, how do you intend to answer for this catastrophic loss to the state treasury?!"

Thud!

A thick bundle of books thrown by the middle-aged man struck my shoulder. A cloud of dust billowed as rough sheets of paper scattered across the floor.

"Argh!"

Instantly, a bone-deep pain flared through me. This wasn't a prop. It was a brutally thick, heavy stack of real paper.

"Damn it, what the hell...! Felt like my head was going to split open..."

I groaned, clutching my head, but my mind was completely blank, as if bleached white.

This isn't a dream. No, wait, I was literally in the office of Investigation Bureau 4 just a moment ago!

I had absolutely no idea why I was collapsed in a place like this, or who this middle-aged man in historical garb raving in front of me was.

Completely ignoring my confusion, the man in the crimson robe stomped right up to my face, huffing with rage.

"Do not think remaining silent with that innocent look will solve this! The massive amount of copper to cast the Gabinja at the Jujaso has vanished without a trace! Did you, a Hojo Jeongrang, truly believe you would get away with squandering such an astronomical sum from the state treasury?!"

I blinked blankly. Jujaso? Copper? Hojo Jeongrang? What on earth was he talking about?

"Me...? You're saying I did that?"

An absurdly dumbfounded voice escaped my lips. I was a man who wouldn't even blink in front of the chairmen of conglomerates guilty of hundreds of billions in tax evasion, but being suddenly accused of embezzlement on what looked like a Joseon Dynasty set completely short-circuited my brain.

"Y-you insolent wretch! Are you going to play mad now?! Instead of repenting for your crimes, you dare mock your superior!"

Veins popped on the man's forehead as he roared toward the door.

"Guards! Is anyone out there?! Bind this man immediately! He is to be handed over to the Uigeumbu tomorrow morning, so lock him up securely so he cannot escape!"

The moment his words fell, several fierce-looking guards rushed in, grabbing my arms and twisting them painfully behind my back.

"Ah, ow! Wait! You've got the wrong person! I'm Kang Jinsung! I'm a public servant with the National Tax Service of South Korea! Ow! That hurts! You're going to break my arm!"

"Silence! Drag him away!"

My desperate struggles were utterly ignored. As I was practically lifted and dragged away by the sheer strength of two grown men, the superior's mocking voice echoed in my ears.

"Once you are handed ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠over to the Uigeumbu tomorrow and subjected to harsh torture, you will sing like a bird about where you hid that copper."

Uigeumbu? Torture? As I was dragged across the cold dirt ground, the terrifying realization that this was no set sank deep into my skin. Wherever this was, I had been perfectly set up to take the fall for a massive embezzlement scheme.

Thud!

I was thrown onto a damp floor that reeked of musty straw and rotting decay.

Slam!

The heavy wooden barred door swung shut, and a massive padlock clicked into place from the outside.

"W-wait! Hold on!"

I scrambled to my feet and clung to the wooden bars. In the hallway lit by flickering torches, one of the guards who had dragged me here was loitering with an annoyed expression.

"Excuse me! Mister! I mean, officer! Guard!"

At my desperate cries, the guard glanced back, looking utterly dumbfounded.

"Offi... who? Have you truly lost your mind after being thrown into the cells?"

"No, that's not it! Who am I? Do you know me? Why on earth am I locked up here?!"

At my near-screaming questions, the jailer clicked his tongue. He looked at me with pity and disdain, as if staring at a rabid dog on the street.

"How truly pitiful. You must have lost your senses out of fear, knowing you will be dragged to the Uigeumbu tomorrow to have your head severed. If you are not Hojo Jeongrang Lord Kim Jinseong, then who else would you be?!"

"What? Hojo... Jeongrang? Kim Jinseong? Not Kang Jinsung, but Kim Jinseong?"

It was a name and title I had never heard in my life. As I muttered blankly, the jailer stepped closer to the bars and growled.

"Look here, Lord Jeongrang. You dared to embezzle tens of thousands of geun of copper meant for casting the Gabinja at the Jujaso, and now you plan to play innocent? Once they twist your legs on the torture chair tomorrow before the Lord Minister and the high officials of the Uigeumbu, your senses will return to you in a flash!"

Spitting on the floor as if he couldn't stand to talk to me any longer, he turned and walked away.

"..."

Inside the pitch-black cell, I froze, still clutching the cold wooden bars.

Hojo Jeongrang Kim Jinseong. Embezzlement of copper for casting the Gabinja. Torture at the Uigeumbu tomorrow. Fragmented pieces of information began to assemble like a chaotic puzzle in my head.

The man in the crimson official robe who was screaming at me earlier... he was raving that I was the one who stole the copper.

It was then.

"Ugh...! Not again...!"

A splitting headache, like a bomb detonating inside my skull, struck me once more. I staggered and collapsed onto the dirty straw, clutching my head.

This time, there was an overwhelming flood of information that left no room for denial or escaping into fantasies of being on a drama set. An entire lifetime belonging to another person was crashing into my mind like a tidal wave.

A suffocatingly bleak life flashed before my eyes like a panorama. And soon, the identity of the man in the crimson robe who had been raving at me became crystal clear.

The original owner of this body, Kim Jinseong, might have been intelligent, but without any political backing, he was nothing more than an easy scapegoat.

For the past few months, his direct superior, the Hojo Cham-ui, had been holding secret, suspicious meetings with merchants from the Ming Dynasty, and had frequently taken and inspected the transaction ledgers of the Jujaso.

And just this morning, the moment it was discovered that a massive amount of copper meant for casting the Gabinja had vanished, the Hojo Cham-ui—as if following a pre-written script—pinned the entire embezzlement on me and ordered me to be sent to the Uigeumbu tomorrow.

Ha, this is insane.

I let out a hollow laugh and slumped down onto the dirty straw. I didn't know where things had gone wrong, but I had to face reality.

I had ended up in the Joseon Dynasty. My name was Kim Jinseong, and my job was essentially that of a Ministry of Finance official.

And the most critical fact: someone had committed a massive copper embezzlement scheme, and they had set me up perfectly to take the fall.

"Are you kidding me? Who do you think you're trying to frame for embezzlement?"

Kang Jinsung, Team 1 Leader of Investigation Bureau 4 at the South Korean National Tax Service. I was the Grim Reaper of the business world, a man who tore apart multi-billion won book-cooking schemes and paper companies for breakfast.

And you're trying to frame me with such a sloppy embezzlement scheme? I refused to die such a dog's death.

No matter how much this felt like a crazy dream, the pain from being hit by those books earlier was undeniably real.

"They said the torture is tomorrow..."

There was no time to panic or be confused. I just needed to find a way to clear my name before I was dragged to the Uigeumbu tomorrow morning.

If tens of thousands of geun of copper vanished, there must be records of physical transport and cash flow left in the ledgers. If I can just get my hands on their accounting ledgers at the trial tomorrow...