Chapter 41: A Player of Life (3)

The place that Young-Joon’s parents were living in was an old house that was in a remote area in Doma-dong, Daejeon. To get to the house, he had to go through a narrow, maze-like alley. Taxi drivers didn’t really like these kinds of roads.

“You can drop me off here.”

Young-Joon got off the taxi at the entrance to the alley.

Looking at the old, gray stone walls... old memories of the place surfaced in Young-Joon's mind.

‘I played a lot with Park Joo-Hyuk near here.’

Young-Joon went down the alley. And when he arrived in front of a rice shop that was no longer open...

Vrooom!

A truck suddenly came out from the left.

Crash!

Young-Joon could not understand what just happened. He felt a strong impact on his left shoulder and arm, then his whole body flew into the air. His body flew dozens of meters and tumbled on the ground.

Three men got out of the truck and confirmed the situation.

“Is it done?” The man with a mustache and wearing a leather jacket asked while lighting a cigarette.

“Check,” the man who was seemingly the leader ordered.

One of the gangsters approached Young-Joon with a wrench in his hand and flipped him over. Blood ran down Young-Joon’s head.

“I think it’s done, sir,” the gangster said.

“Huh! Hey! Behind you!” Spitting out his cigarette, Mustache yelled in surprise.

“Behind?”

The gangster turned his head and fell to his knees in shock. Young-Joon’s upper body was smoothly getting up from the ground. It looked as if someone was pulling on his collar to get him up. His cut on the back of his head was healed.

He stared at the gangsters with cold eyes void of emotions.

* * *

The order, which had passed through a few people, was to eliminate Young-Joon. They had prepared a lot for this. They did multiple simulations in this exact spot with the truck owned by the identity they stole. People didn’t really come by here, and there was nothing but stray cats and dog poop in this alley. There were no surveillance cameras either. Along with his subordinates, he planned a lot of potential scenarios. And when the time came, they attacked him just like they planned without hesitation, like a machine.

But they failed.

When the leader woke up, he found himself in the truck and tied to the driver's seat with green tape. His subordinates were seated behind, tied up and unconscious, and Young-Joon was seated in the passenger’s seat.

Tap! Tap tap tap!

Young-Joon tapped Lee Kwang-Soo’s phone.

“Uh.... Euh...” Lee Kwang-Soo moaned in fear.

This guy wasn't human. They had never seen a monster like him before. How did that kind of strength come out from a scrawny little nerd like him? Everyone fell to the ground in just a few minutes, and then Lee Kwang-Soo went unconscious after getting his joints twisted and hit on the back of his head.

“Who ordered you?” Young-Joon asked in a cold voice.

“... I-I don’t know.”

“There is a phone call and text from a man named Kim Il-Soo on your phone.”

Lee Kwang-Soo looked bewildered.

‘How did he open my phone? There’s a passcode on it?’

Young-Joon stared at Lee Kwang-Soo, then said, “Human fingers leave behind residue like fingerprints, bacteria, and dead skin on places they touch. Places you touch more often have more of those residues left than other places. Zero, one, three, four—these four numbers were exactly like that. And there aren’t many combinations you can make with four numbers.”

“...”

“The passcode was zero-four-one-three. And looking at your messenger, that was your wife’s birthday. You take care of your family even when you do things like this?”

“...”

“Kim Il-Soo isn’t in my memory. I assume that you got the order from higher up. Tell me who it was. Then I will let you live.”

“I-I don’t know. I only work with Il-Soo-hyungnim...”[1]Lee Kwang-Soo answered in a terrified voice.

“It’s Ji Kwang-Man, isn’t it?”

“N-No, it’s not!”

Lee Kwang-Soo desperately tried to hide it, but it didn’t mean anything to Rosaline. She already detected the change in blood flow in Lee Kwang-Soo’s brain. She could get the answer by looking at the limbic system that was activated when he heard Ji Kwang-Man’s name. But she needed to hear it from Lee Kwang-Soo himself since knowing and proving were two different things.

Rosaline got close to Lee Kwang-Soo. She smiled. To him, the smile was as chilling as a devil’s.

* * *

When Young-Joon regained consciousness, he was in his room at his parent’s house. He was hurt and throbbing everywhere.

“Ugh.”

He massaged his throbbing body and glanced at the clock. It was six o’clock. There was blood on his shirt.

—Do not move too much; you are still recovering.

The message Rosaline sent him popped up.

He had lost consciousness from the moment he was hit by the car, but he could faintly remember the things he saw through Rosaline’s eyes.

“What happened? It wasn’t an alley cars usually go through.”

—It was a deliberate accident. Aimed at you.

“No way. What if...”

—It’s true. They were people who Ji Kwang-Man sent. With a little bit of torture and threatening, they said it with their own lips.

“

Sigh

.”

Young-Joon covered his face with his hands. He did think that they were going to do something as their management rights were being threatened. He predicted a few different reactions, but he didn’t expect them to be this violent.

‘Are they crazy?’

“I think it was three people. What happened to them?”

—They are alive, so don’t worry. I subdued them and tied them up in the car.

“...”

—After that, I came to this house to disinfect the injury, and I controlled your consciousness while recovering you. So that control of this body could return to you.

“I need to go see it for myself.”

Young-Joon put on a new shirt and went outside. In the old car, three people were tied up with green tape. To be honest, Rosaline didn’t really have to tie them up as they had broken bones everywhere and could not move because their joints popped out of place. Two of them were unconscious, and Mustache, the only person who woke up, wiggled as he saw Young-Joon.

“Hup!”

Young-Joon ripped off the green tape from his lips. In fear, the man lowered his head and bowed.

“I’m sorry. Please let me live. I’m sorry. I’m sorry...”

“Why did you do it?” Young-Joon asked.

“We said no as well. At first, we told them that we couldn’t do it this time. It’s true. We kept saying no because it was too pressuring since the subject was a famous person. I’m telling you. But he kept on convincing us...”

“Ji Kwang-Man did?”

“... That is... I did say that it was ordered by the Division Director, but I am not completely sure. The order has gone through a few people...”

“You’re saying that someone else gave the order, right? How did they convince you?”

“They said that it was fine until now since Doctor Ryu was famous, but not powerful...” Mustache said as he glanced at Young-Joon.

“They said that Doctor Ryu has no ties to politicians because he is picky. And isn’t this a world where no one gets caught after a celebrity who was forced to engage in sexual entertainment writes a list of people and commits suicide? A famous person and a powerful person are different. The world does not care when an ordinary person dies, but when a famous person dies, the whole world pays attention, but it was a battle of power to find the culprit.”

“So they convinced you that even if you kill me, they could cover it up if they put their minds to it? Because I’m only famous and they are powerful?”

“Yes... They said they could bury it since there are no politicians linked to you and watching your back.”

“...”

“A-And they said they were going to give us a lot of money. We can’t keep living like this either. Since this was going to be our last time, we were going to get lots of money and move to a different country. They said they were going to get boat tickets for us too...”

“And you trusted that?”

“He is not a liar. He has worked with us for ten years, and we’re basically brothers...”

“You are really stupid. If you kill me, you don’t have a way to get out of this country. They are going to use you and cut ties.”

“But... We have worked with Il-Soo-hyungnim for over ten years...”

“Call Ji Kwang-Man right now.”

“We have never been connected with Division Director Ji Kwang-Man. We just assumed. We only talk to Il-Soo-hyungnim, so...”

“Is the middle-man’s name Il-Soo?”

“Kim Il-Soo...”

“Then call him. Put it on speakerphone. I’ll record it.

* * *

“Aren’t you crossing the line?” Gil Il-Soo asked in a hostess bar located in Bangbaedong.

He was a middle-man broker who took requests from customers like Ji Kwang-Man and moved illegal organizations accordingly.

“I did overdo it a little. But we were running out of time. I couldn’t help it,” Ji Kwang-Man replied.

“Right now, he has no power. All he has is a huge amount of fame. I think this is the maginot line. If we give him more time from here, he becomes untouchable as politicians get involved. But right now, I can cut ties and get rid of him, although it will get noisy.”

“Won’t they be suspicious of us?”

“Who? Us?”

Ji Kwang-Man sighed.

“They won’t find out,” Ji Kwang-Man said. He added, “The public does not know that we are not on good terms with Young-Joon.”

Publicly, A-Gen was a company that fully supported Young-Joon to the extent that they gave him full shares of induced pluripotent stem cells. They mobilized high-level personnel in the company and helped with optic nerve differentiation and clinical research by giving him all the retinal degenerative mice from the Experiment Animal Resource Center. They also hired him as a director even though he was just a Scientist. A-Gen had given him a huge share of four percent when he was a complete stranger. In addition, A-Gen should actively support Young-Joon as they were about to gain huge profits from the launching of his affiliate company. How could anyone suspect that they were behind Young-Joon’s murder?

No one would be able to suspect Young-Joon other than himself, but he was dead and gone. The dead did not speak. Then, the public’s anger would not be aimed at A-Gen or management since there was no way a company would cut open a goose that laid golden eggs. There would be anger toward the government, asking why they did not protect a gifted person like him. Public opinion will roar and demand a thorough investigation to catch the criminals.

“At that point, we can catch the worthless people who did it and throw them right in front of the public. Get them to pour out all their anger and hang him or pull his limbs apart,” Ji Kwang-Man said.

He added, “They rip them apart in excitement. The public is the great unwashed; they can only think so hard. Once you rise to my level, you can run simulations of them and predict what will happen next.

A cold sneer appeared on Ji Kwang-Man's face. “What’s next? After that, a conspiracy theory about the people behind it will come up. There are two suspects: America or SG Pharmaceuticals. I one hundred percent guarantee you these two will come up.”

The scenario was that Americans assassinated him to protect their lead in international science as the person who was going to transform medicine from now on was Korean. There was a similar conspiracy theory when Doctor Lee Hwi-So passed away as well, although it wasn’t confirmed whether it was true or not.

The other alternative scenario was that SG Pharmaceuticals assassinated him because they could not stand to see A-Gen’s growth.

“There will be no room for A-Gen to be raised as a possible suspect as they fight. In the meantime, A-Gen will gather all their employees, hold a memorial service, and it will all end beautifully with the CEO shedding a tear. Rather, the mom-and-pop investors might be moved by that and stock prices might increase.”

Kim Il-Soo felt chills on his shoulders.

“It’s okay to throw them under the bus, right?”

“Of course. They will keep their mouths shut if you give them enough money.”

“Of course. I will fill their pockets.”

Ji Kwang-Man finished his drink cheerfully.

He was thinking of reporting a celebrity sex scandal after the three garbage lives took all the public’s anger and disappeared. He would wait for the news to die down, then normalize A-Gen’s management that was disturbed by Young-Joon. The situation may have unfolded differently if Young-Joon had a politician like Shim Sung-Yeol watching his back, but there was no one. Nicholas? He was just fond of the man as a scientist; he wasn’t going to fight his own company for someone who was dead now.

‘Ryu Young-Joon. Your integrity was your poison. A clean fish can’t live in a big, dirty river, right?’

“This one was a big case, and I’m only asking because I’m nervous, but you’re only throwing my people under the bus, right? Not me?” Kim Il-Soo asked.

“Of course, how could you be included, Mr. Kim. Why are you so anxious?”

“Haha, never mind. I was just worried about taking out such a famous person like that.”

“Don’t get scared. We can do it. And this is the only way we can protect our company’s management rights.”

“Yes, of course. It will go well.”

Buzz!

Kim Il-Soo’s phone buzzed.

“I guess the job is done.”

Kim Il-Soo picked up the phone.

—H-Hyung-nim?

“Yeah. Is it done?”

—That is... Um... Ryu Young-Joon...

“Why? You didn’t take care of him?”

—Are you Kim Il-Soo?

It was Young-Joon’s voice. Kim Il-Soo froze. Ji Kwang-Man also heard it because the phone volume was quite loud.

“Uh... Yes, who is this?”

—This is Ryu Young-Joon.

Kim Il-Soo gulped. Ji Kwang-Man was glaring at him.

“I-I don’t think we know each other. What is this about?” Kim Il-Soo replied with a trembling voice.

—I already recorded you asking whether I was taken care of, so let’s talk freely.

“...”

—The people you sent failed. I called the police, so they will be arrested soon. I’m sure you will get arrested, too. I heard that you’ve been working with these people for ten years. They don’t know much about Ji Kwang-Man, but they sure do know quite a lot about you.

“Ha... Haha. Sir, I don’t know what you are talking about.”

—The reason I called you is because I wanted to ask you something.

“... Ask me something?”

—How much are you going to tell when you get investigated?

Kim Il-Soo took a deep breath. He put force into his tone of voice.

“I don’t know what you are talking about. I will hang up if you’re going to keep talking nonsense.”

—Tell them about everyone. If it includes Ji Kwang-Man, tell them about him too. This isn’t something you can handle by yourself anyway.

“Excuse me. Wait...”

—Just don’t talk and listen if you’re going to pretend like you didn’t do it.

Young-Joon went on.

—To be honest, I learned something from this. I also understand what kind of logic and plan was behind you doing something like this. And you people probably know a lot of powerful people who could make this go away, whether you bribed them or you know their weak spot.

“...”

—But it doesn’t matter how sturdy the ties you are holding onto are. I have the ability to take that from you. Only I can give them what they want the most, what they want more than money or prestige: a healthy life.

Whee!

They could hear the sirens of police cars and ambulances from Young-Joon’s side.

—I will make sure that not only the public’s anger is focused on you, but also the resentment of the majority of the political community as well. It’s going to be hard to take that all on your own. Tell them about everyone who was behind this.

“H-Hey, wait.”

—To be honest, I was recently thinking about how I was ripping apart Ji Kwang-Man and management too much. As a person, I felt guilty for destroying management with traps, bluffing, and blackmail.

Young-Joon said.

—But it doesn’t matter now. I feel like I can go as far as needed without anything holding me back now that I know that you people are garbage. From now on, your life will be a living hell worse than you could ever imagine. If you don’t want to be fucked by yourself, give me all the people you are hiding.

Beep.

Young-Joon hung up the phone. Kim Il-Soo stared at Ji Kwang-Man, frozen.

Ji Kwang-Man pulled out his electronic cigarette and put it in his mouth. His fingers trembled. He took a deep breath with his eyes closed.

Thud!

He slammed the table with the cigarette in his hand.

“This is how you get the job done?”

“That is...”

“You figure it out on your own.”

“... Y-You said that you’re not going to throw me under the bus.”

“Get lost. I don’t know anything about this from now on. Let’s keep this encounter a secret, too.”

Ji Kwang-Man took his coat and left.

* * *

Attempted murder of star scientist Ryu Young-Joon, a national hero. The nation was turned upside down. News articles poured out nonstop since the first breaking news in the media, and A-Gen’s stock prices plummeted sharply. Public opinion was raging in criticism against the government and gangsters.

Young-Joon was watching the news on the television inside the VIP hospital room at a university hospital. The anchor was reporting Young-Joon’s accident once again.

—Around 4 PM today in a remote neighborhood in Doma-dong, Daejeon, Doctor Ryu Young-Joon of A-Gen was attacked and transported to a nearby university hospital with major injuries. Thankfully, he suffered no severe injuries. The criminals were three gangsters...

Beep!

Young-Joon turned off the TV. He closed his eyes and thought long and hard. He could quickly recover from his injuries if he used Rosaline, but he didn’t use her on purpose. The reason why he was staying at the hospital was to take this situation to the extreme.

Young-Joon thought about Shim Sung-Yeol, who went to visit Son Soo-Young, the successful patient of the clinical trial, a while ago. There was no place better for them to create a positive impression than a hospital room.

‘They should be getting here anytime soon.’

“Mr. Ryu Young-Joon, you have a visitor,” The nurse said as she approached him.

“Who is it?”

“He says that he is Congressman Kim Joo-Chul...”

“Please allow all the visitors to come in,” Young-Joon replied.

1. Hyung-nim is a masculine word that males use to refer to older males. It means older brother, and it is commonly used amongst gangsters when referring to their superiors or bosses. ?