Chapter 175
(Posted by: Apollo)
Myeonghwa Pharma grunts. Is the work environment nice and comfy? It's getting hot out—do those Myeonghwa Pharma bastards crank the AC full blast for you? That's what I'm worried about, man.
You guys are just taking the paycheck and reciting whatever sutras they tell you to. What crime is there in that? I'm just writing this for the Myeonghwa Pharma insiders to read and feel the sting.
But before that, some of you are wondering why a guy like me, who was always playing it coy, is stepping up now. Wondering if I've taken their money? Fine, I'll answer that.
Yeah, you're right. I'm originally a gray-area operator. Didn't give a damn about corporate ethics, just shoved money where it made more and lived off that. True story.
But this incident? As a human being, I couldn't keep my mouth shut. Dude, Antrozol Alpha isn't just some drug—it's the arthritis injection old folks mainly take. And my family's elders have arthritis too. Imagine if one of them got the shot and keeled over from cardiovascular issues. My heart would rip into a thousand pieces. Anyone with a shred of humanity would feel the same.
But Myeonghwa Pharma's trying to sell that shit? Sleep's been evading me. All I can think is, I have to stop this somehow.
Oh, and a word for that Myeonghwa Pharma researcher Lee Junseong, the clown who claims he led the Hyzollam study in the US. Lee Junseong's a fresh PhD who joined Myeonghwa right after graduation. Hired in 2003, leading a Hyzollam study in 2007? A measly 5-year vet? How the hell does a noob like that run a US study, you idiots? lololol Talk shit after you know the facts, kekeke.
Anyway, back to the main point. Myeonghwa Pharma insiders reading this? You seem kinda dumb, so I'll spell it out nice and slow.
Tell me straight: You know Aphillatylene and Lopetamin together ramp up cardiovascular risks, right? That's why you said you added Hyzollam to block it—your own words.
But now it's out that the institute running the Hyzollam study had issues. The guy in charge during that time faked clinical records.
If you're human, wouldn't you be freaked out enough to redo the study yourselves? And honestly, as industry peers, how could you not know that institute was shady? If you really didn't, it means you're a company too lazy to track industry trends.
And if you did know? Then showing people that institute's results and saying "We're clean, so shut your traps" means you're treating everyone like total suckers. What else could it be?
I've said it a million times: Redo proper clinical trials, prove it's safe, and sell it. But nah, you never say that. Instead, it's "That study's fine, fuck off, or we'll sue." And that's when I figured it out.
You decided to launch Antrozol Alpha knowing the problems, planning to hide them and cash in. You don't give a shit about easing arthritis patients' pain. You just want to prove it works on the joints and rake in dough, whether heart attack victims drop dead or not. You're all about the money.
And you MF Food and Drug Safety dickheads. Do your damn jobs. Is Wooshin's cash that tasty? lol
Finally, to the assholes claiming I'm paid to say this: Think about it. You know I'm a big name. In this situation, me writing a post shilling Myeonghwa as clean for their cash, or slamming them like this—which do you think makes more money? Use your brains.
Broadcasters and experts already smell blood and are gunning for Antrozol Alpha's flaws. When they pounce, Myeonghwa stock won't just halve—it might get quartered, then eighth-ed. Who knows? Delisting? lol Good luck.
Jo Bongjun hit the post button and leaned back deep in his chair, exhaling heavily.
"Ha, fuck. I'm really gonna get sued."
He refreshed the page obsessively, counting the views exploding upward like mad.
While he braced himself for the lawsuit, I logged into Jo Bongjun's email and fired off compressed files of all our collected materials to every media outlet in Korea. To make sure every recipient knew it went to all of them, I skipped BCC and sent it as one massive group email. Outlets that had written pro-Myeonghwa pieces were obviously on the list too.
Since they're the ones taking Myeonghwa money for articles, they'd be the first to report our "false facts" flood to Myeonghwa HQ.
"Se-yeon messaged—Iljungilbo says absolutely no go. Sounds like they're prepping a defense piece instead."
Choi Jonghyeon cracked his knuckles wearily as he spoke. He'd been reaching out to his reporter contacts, trying to find someone to run a story compiling Apollo's post and our materials.
No bites yet, but Yun Se-yeon had replied fastest.
"Wasn't expecting much anyway. It's Iljungilbo."
Considering Iljungilbo's ties to Wooshin Group, them attacking Myeonghwa Pharma was a non-starter from the jump.
"True, but anyway, Se-yeon's heading to a reporters' meetup today to gauge the vibe."
"Reporters are probably torn on which side to back right now. If Antrozol Alpha launches clean, they gotta defend it. But if it blows up later as defective, they'll eat shit for taking Wooshin cash to cover for Myeonghwa."
Jo Bongjun chuckled.
"Vibe's good, though. That bit about my family elders' arthritis, how it'd tear my heart if my parents died—that's hitting hard."
He'd posted minutes ago, but it had already rocketed to #1 best with tons of upvotes. Comments were flooded with stories of parents, relatives, teachers suffering arthritis. One even threatened to bomb Myeonghwa HQ if their parents died from this crap.
Jo Bongjun's inbox was blowing up nonstop with DMs.
The standout was from a broadcaster. News Now topped the time-slot ratings for radio news. Sure, less impact than TV, but far from negligible.
Its core audience was middle-aged and up. Put simply, hop in a taxi during broadcast time, and unless it's a religious channel, over 80% chance it's tuned to News Now.
"Ooh, radio's solid. Any TV stations hit you up yet?"
"Nope."
"TV contacts will probably be last. When they call, that's success. Radio reaching out means they're testing the waters— if it flies, they'll push it to TV."
In this era, news spread fastest online. Once something trended there, cable channels scooped it up. Last stop: terrestrial TV.
TV trends were already dead among trendsetting youth. Same here—but exposing the issue beyond youth to all ages amps the blast radius.
"Yeah. Net's quickest, TV slowest. Anyone can post online, but terrestrial's got heavy restrictions—air crap and the Broadcasting Review Committee slaps warnings."
Myeonghwa Pharma was hot only among niche interested circles so far—national buzz lacking. Cables had touched it, but just rehashing known facts, no direct Apollo interviews.
Meaning: Game on for real now.
"You should go on, Bongjun."
I said to Jo Bongjun, who was searching "News Now" online.
"Me? Not Lawyer Cha?"
"It's a DM to Apollo. You gotta go as Jo Bongjun."
"Ah, I've never done radio..."
He rubbed his stubbly jaw sheepishly—but he looked thrilled. Guy's got exhibitionist vibes. Better that way.
Apollo was the face of the Antrozol saga. No point shying away all bashful or scared.
"Choi reporter's internet broadcast starts soon anyway. Go plug it."
"Right, Bongjun. Promote our show on air."
Choi Jonghyeon slapped his knee. Site dev talks with NIS wrapped recently; they were building it now.
Plan: Simultaneous stream on our site and big platforms. Kick off with stock streams guesting Bongjun to build hype—but this called for tweaks.
"After radio, jump straight to internet broadcast. Cover stuff too hot for radio there. Announce Apollo's diving deep into Myeonghwa—viewers'll swarm like bees."
"And one step closer to that lawsuit?"
"Lawsuit incoming just from the radio spot."
Wooshin affiliates first threatening suit? Meant they were desperate.
Why not? Geumsan Card acquisition needed stock higher, but Apollo tanked it.
"Blast 'false facts' on top radio? Can't ignore some online loudmouth now. Post-suit internet stream? Topic gold. Heh."
Choi Jonghyeon grinned wickedly.
We'd planned nonstop posts till sued, but radio locked that in. No need—articles would spawn organically, spreading Myeonghwa to boomers far from net.
As he said, lawsuit bait primed.
"Man, itching to get sued already. Hit me, Myeonghwa. Please."
Sued for "defamation via false facts"? First step: Court checks if it's actually false.
Pharma and MFDS should've handled that—but MFDS sided with Pharma. With regulators idle, lawsuit was perfect pretext to dig truth.
"Exciting. Should do a ritual for quick suit."
"Ask Lawyer Cha's general buddy when Myeonghwa sues Bongjun."
"...How the hell would I know that?"