Chapter 134
Chapter 134: It's a Total Mess (2)
"Tae, Tae-yang!"
Kang Hae-san leapt to his feet from the park bench where I always found him and came rushing toward me.
His appearance was even worse than before.
Whether he had started living on the streets, his clothes reeked of a foul stench, and he looked an absolute mess—clearly hadn't washed in days.
"Did something happen? Why haven't you been picking up?"
The way he pressed me with that tone of his.
I glanced at him and asked in return.
"Do I have to pick up just because you call?"
"……That's not what I meant."
His voice, which had risen, quickly shrank back down.
I smiled and gave him a light pat on the back.
"Why so serious? I was joking."
And I wrapped my arm around his neck.
"Are you mad?"
"……Ah, no."
Kang Hae-san, deflated, forced a smile at me.
[Kim Tae-yang spits out, ‘How does it feel to get a taste of your own medicine!’ +100,000 Happiness]
Inside Kim Tae-yang's memories.
They were always scenes of what I had endured.
Kang Hae-san's bullying and violence.
The times when I would tremble, get beaten and writhe on the ground in pain clutching my stomach, eyes brimming with tears—
—Kang Hae-san would casually slide up beside me and drape his arm just like this, then say,
‘Are you mad?’
‘I was joking.’
‘It was just teasing.’
I know it was neither a joke nor teasing.
It wasn't my fault either—it was entirely Kang Hae-san's fault, and the fault of those other perpetrators.
But Kim Tae-yang, I had no choice but to answer.
[……No.]
As if everything were my own fault.
Aah.
These are Kim Tae-yang's memories, but they're giving me PTSD.
I shook my head and pulled my arm free.
I asked him.
"Hae-san, what on earth happened to you? What did you do with the money I gave you?"
"……"
"If you'd been careful with it, you'd have had enough to stay at a goshiwon or somewhere for a while."
The money I'd given him back then was two million won.
Prices had shot up sky-high.
And with goshiwon rents in Seoul being outrageous, it was only natural that months later, every last coin would be long gone.
But I said this to him on purpose.
‘I was the one who gave it. You were the one who spent it.’
So.
‘It's entirely your fault.’
"……I'm sorry. I spent it all."
"On what?"
"Rent, food."
"And."
"Whatever little was left, I put it into crypto……"
"Crypto?"
I shot to my feet.
"Are you out of your mind?!"
Kang Hae-san hurriedly said.
"I, it wasn't much. Seriously. It wasn't even two hundred thousand won. There was nowhere to work, and you weren't reachable. I had no choice……"
"You're absolutely worthless to help!"
He might have been trying to survive in his own way, but I had found my foothold, and I wasn't letting it go.
"Tae-yang."
"Is two million won a small amount? I gave it to you so you could at least buy a padded coat or something for winter! And what is that you're wearing? Standing there in nothing but a hoodie. Aren't you cold?"
"I'm sorry."
"Forget it. Let's never see each other again."
Whoosh—
I turned and walked away.
"Ta, Tae-yang! I'm sorry. I, I was wrong."
He ran after me and blocked my path.
"I really……Must be out of my mind. Right, I'll never touch crypto again. Yeah? Just this once. Help me just this once."
Kang Hae-san clung to me, armless as he was.
‘This bastard.’
‘Should I drag him to the Poison Herb Field?’
[Kim Tae-yang says, ‘The Poison Herb Field would be too good for Kang Hae-san’. +100,000 Happiness]
That's right.
The Poison Herb Field at least provides food and a place to sleep.
I let out a long sigh.
Kang Hae-san called out desperately.
"My, Myeongmun High School!"
"What?"
"Our high school classmates are apparently getting together soon."
"Like a reunion?"
"Y, yeah."
Kang Hae-san quickly spilled something he figured would pique my interest.
"You know Do-han, right?"
"Kim Do-han?"
One of Kim Tae-yang's main tormentors.
"Seems like Do-han talked to Prosecutor Pyeon about it. About getting the old classmates together."
Odd.
Park Je-hwang, Kim Do-han, Ye Bo-yeong.
Those three had transferred out of Myeongmun High School and received diplomas from different schools.
So why would they be calling a reunion?
"Do-han's joined Gukmubon now. His father became the new minister of Gukmubon."
"And?"
"Maybe that's why he's trying to form an alumni association. Looks like he's planning to get into politics……"
That was an interesting thing to hear.
Trying to build a power base by gathering together the alumni of a high school he didn't even graduate from.
[Kim Tae-yang shouts, ‘Let's go and wreck it’. +10,000 Happiness]
……Obviously.
I reached for my wallet.
"Here, take this for now."
Around two hundred thousand won this time.
Kang Hae-san's expression eased a little, then stiffened again.
He had clearly been expecting something like two million, the same as last time.
Barely a tenth of that.
I gave him so little on purpose.
The more he felt the shortfall, the more he would cling to me.
"Thank……you."
"Doesn't seem like you're all that grateful. I'm not running a charity."
"No. I'm grateful. Really."
I shoved the money into his pocket.
"Go and wash yourself."
"Alright……"
He sniffled.
I took off the coat I was wearing and draped it over him.
"Tae-yang……"
[Kang Hae-san is moved by his friend's heart. +100 Happiness]
Well, well.
It was absolutely baffling to be getting points from this guy.
[Kim Tae-yang grumbles about why he's taking off his coat. +1 Happiness]
‘Why ask when you already know.’
It was obvious he'd end up sleeping rough. If this idiot froze to death on the streets of Seoul in winter—
[Kim Tae-yang exclaims, ‘Now I finally understand the grand plan’. +1,000 Happiness]
‘Stay alive, Kang Hae-san.’
‘The more you roll around in misery, the happier Kim Tae-yang gets.’
"I'll be in touch. I'm off."
As I was leaving, Kang Hae-san called out urgently.
"Tae-yang."
"What?"
"If, if you put the money in my pocket, I'll lose it……"
‘Ah, this guy.’
‘So much trouble.’
I shook my head in disbelief and pulled the money back out, holding it out to him.
"Put it in here for me. Sorry."
Kang Hae-san tilted his head toward his foot.
He wanted it tucked into his sock.
A man living on the streets.
Kang Hae-san, having no arms, would be easy prey at the very bottom of the food chain.
"I'd rather not."
"Huh?"
"Do it yourself."
"Uh, okay."
I set the bills down on the ground. Kang Hae-san pressed them firmly with one foot so they wouldn't blow away in the wind.
"See you next time."
I walked away.
Behind me, Kang Hae-san called out once more.
"Tae-yang, there, there are euros in here too?"
……Ah.
"Go exchange them."
* * *
This time I had come to meet the Choi brothers.
The spy Im Ye-rin.
I needed to get to the bottom of that.
"Senior!"
I had called ahead, so—
Choi Jae-jun was waiting for me outside the building.
The moment I arrived, he opened the taxi door.
‘Quite the reception.’
"Good to see you."
"Ah, you could've at least called once."
He let his hurt feelings show.
"You know how it was. The situation was what it was."
"Please come in."
I went inside his home.
Choi Jae-hwa wasn't there.
"Where's Jae-hwa?"
"He's been in a frenzy lately. Ever since he got beaten by that Murim Alliance Leader, he hasn't left the Goryeo Sword Sect training hall."
"I see."
"I sent him a message since he wasn't picking up. If he'd seen it, he'd have come sprinting here."
"We'll meet another time."
I settled onto the living room sofa.
"You've really done so much in the meantime. Truly remarkable."
"Haha."
Choi Jae-jun clearly had a mountain of things he wanted to ask.
He kept firing questions, and I answered only what I could share and kept my mouth shut about the rest.
At last he asked, in a serious tone.
"You received the tablet?"
"Yes."
I pulled out the tablet I had brought with me.
"Is what was written on it true?"
Choi Jae-jun nodded.
"It is. Im Ye-rin is undoubtedly a spy."
I exhaled quietly.
It had certainly been strange.
That gym she had invited me to in the past.
The gym's owner, Seong Chu-hyeon.
He was the uncle of Park Seon-su, one of the perpetrators.
Of course she had explained it away, but the coincidence was far too perfectly timed.
Things had worked out in the end, and Kim Tae-yang had yelled at me so relentlessly not to be suspicious that I had let it go—
"What's the evidence?"
"It's right here."
He took out his phone and showed me.
It was CCTV footage.
A long time ago, I had asked Choi Jae-hwa to hire Im Ye-rin as a special recruit and to keep a close eye on what she was up to.
This was the material the Choi brothers had been gathering since then.
"These are scenes captured on the CCTV in our Goryeo Sword Sect building. Here, and here. You can see Im Ye-rin repeatedly lingering and trying to slip inside without anyone noticing, right?"
He pointed to the footage.
"The place Im Ye-rin is trying to get into is our Goryeo Sword Sect's Secret Vault. It's where we keep treasures like martial arts manuals, priceless blades, and spirit medicines."
It was a somewhat suspicious sight.
The anxious look on Im Ye-rin's face.
I knew she had an ambition to grow stronger, but to think she was pulling something this dangerous right after managing to get into Goryeo Sword Sect.
[Kim Tae-yang grumbles that this is barely enough to call evidence. +1 Happiness]
He was right.
"This alone is too thin."
"That's not all."
Choi Jae-jun showed me more photographs.
Scenes of Im Ye-rin meeting someone.
"These men in suits here are the Section Chiefs of Changbai Sect."
He flipped to the next photo.
"Her contact with the Changbai Sect Section Chiefs happened multiple times."
There were several photographs.
"And Im Ye-rin boards a car sent by Changbai Sect and goes somewhere."
The photo of her getting into their car was followed by a picture of a quiet house in a secluded area.
"Gapyeong. When we looked into it, all the surrounding land is owned by Changbai Sect. Including this house."
Choi Jae-jun produced several photographs of the house.
"Im Ye-rin stayed for about half a day before going back home."
I asked him.
"You investigated this house?"
"Of course."
Photos taken of the house she had visited with a telephoto lens kept coming.
"We photographed it for about four days. People from Changbai Sect came and went occasionally, and the notable thing is this photo."
He pointed to one photograph.
It showed a blurry image of the back of a middle-aged man.
"A government official."
The face in the photo was far too blurry to make out clearly.
"You can't see his face. I looked into the car."
"Whose was it?"
"A vehicle belonging to Gukmubon."
"Minister Kim Mu-ok, then."
Choi Jae-jun was startled.
"How did you know?"
‘How would I not.’
[Kim Tae-yang shouts, ‘It's Kim Do-han, that bastard's father—Kim Mu-ok!’ +1 Happiness]
"That's right. Kim Mu-ok. The second minister of Gukmubon, succeeding Minister Han Seung-pyo."
[Kim Tae-yang's face flushes red. ‘Kim Do-han, you piece of shit!’ +1 Happiness]
My heart began to pound fiercely.
I stroked my chin.
"That means someone truly powerful lives in that house."
Choi Jae-jun nodded.
"Yes. Unfortunately, the owner of the house never appeared. No one came or went at all."
[Kim Tae-yang says, ‘Why only four days—you should've kept filming for at least a week!’ +1 Happiness]
"Are these all the photos?"
"We couldn't take any more."
What did that mean?
Choi Jae-jun let out a long breath and answered.
"The disciples I had doing the filming went silent. They vanished without a trace. The reason……I think you can guess without me saying."
They had been caught.
By the owner of the house.
If Choi Jae-jun had trusted them with the job, they would have been highly capable people.
‘……A master.’
"Those are all the photos I received via message too."
"Did you report it to the police?"
"Yes. But we've heard nothing back yet. We used the connections we have, and we also consulted Attorney Jang Hyeon-seung of Jang & Kim."
"What did Attorney Jang say?"
"Apparently the case was never even filed."
This was a case reported by Choi Jae-jun, an elder of Goryeo Sword Sect and a man with Baekgyeong Group behind him.
And yet it was never filed.
Meaning someone with the power to press down on even Choi Jae-jun was involved.
"The Blue House must have stepped in. Everyone knows that Park Jae-yeol's grandson is Park Je-hwang—that Murim Alliance Leader bastard—and Park Je-hwang belongs to Changbai Sect."
Choi Jae-jun worked himself up as he continued.
"Putting all the circumstances together, only one person comes to mind as the owner of that house."
He paused briefly, then forced the name out.
"Hwangbo Geom."
"……"
In stark contrast to Choi Jae-jun's expression—which said he had just spoken an earth-shattering name—
I tilted my head.
‘Who is that?’
"Hwangbo Geom. The Founder and Supreme Elder of Changbai Sect!"
"Pardon?"
"The master of Gukmubon's Chief Han and the teacher of Jang Ae-guk! Hwangbo Geom, the Greatest Sword Under Heaven, A Demon! Until a few years ago, the greatest climber in all of Korea! No—the strongest climber in the entire world!"
[Kim Tae-yang groans, ‘Hwangbo Geom……’ +1 Happiness]