Chapter 12
***
Dobong-gu Mural Village.
Once a shantytown, now a place many people had moved into.
It remained a preserved district, a neighborhood covered in murals.
It was not a good place, not even to put it mildly.
There were many abandoned houses, and public safety was hardly good.
A place where things like CCTV weren't even properly installed.
What would happen if a fire broke out here?
'Perfect. Just perfect.'
Lee Il-je grinned.
Though there were many abandoned houses, there were still plenty of people living here.
Just imagining them fleeing in terror from the fire he started made his excitement surge.
This is what I'm capable of.
I rule over you.
Drunk on the overwhelming sense of power, he walked through the darkness.
In his bag was thinner.
As a chemistry teacher, getting it wasn't difficult.
All he had to do was sprinkle enough of it and light it.
This rundown neighborhood.
A place without CCTV.
Even if a fire broke out, they'd probably think some punk smoking around here had done it.
Lee Il-je laughed.
And he poured out the thinner.
The smell of thinner, which made his body heat up, stung his nose.
Overcome by excitement, intoxication, and a sense of omnipotence, he took a lighter out of his pocket.
Now all he had to do was light it.
-Whoosh...!!
The fire on the paper blazed.
Without hesitation, he flung it, and the scrap materials soaked with thinner instantly began to burn.
Now, let's hope this fire engulfs the entire Mural Village.
Slowly.
Then he'd go home, watch the news, and bask in that sense of omnipotence.
"Got you!!"
Before the excitement in his body had even fully settled, pain hit him.
The pain of having his head pressed to the ground.
The pain of having his arm twisted.
Unable to understand what was happening, Lee Il-je panicked.
"Put it out!! Hurry!!"
"Yes!!"
Burly men carrying fire extinguishers stepped in.
He couldn't bear it.
That fire.
The fire I made.
The fire that was supposed to make me omnipotent was being extinguished by only a few fire extinguishers.
"No!! No!!"
"Shut up! Lee Il-je!! You're under arrest for arson in the act! You have the right to remain silent...!!"
Handcuffs clicked around his wrists.
He didn't even have the presence of mind to complain of the pain.
His eyes were fixed only on the dying flames.
And then.
Beyond the extinguished flames, he saw a man.
A rough-looking man with a gruff expression.
Definitely.
It was clearly the detective who had made him turn over the card at school.
***
"Thanks to you, we arrested Lee Il-je. And we also stopped the fire in Mural Village."
I was in the middle of playing a game when I got a call, and when I went out, Kang Injeong was waiting for me.
He hadn't come empty-handed.
He even brought a gift set of Spam.
"I don't know if you'd be satisfied with just this, Teacher..."
"I'm just glad nothing big happened. You didn't need to go so far as to buy this."
"Thanks to you, I even got promoted."
"Then you owe me a promotion treat."
"Understood. I'll treat you properly."
Seeing him grin from ear to ear, he really did seem happy.
"Thanks to you, we were able to stop a major incident."
"That's a relief."
"So, um. If something like this happens again later, would it be all right if I contacted you?"
He let out a heavy sigh.
"There are still many unresolved matters in this world. If you would step in, Teacher..."
"I'll cooperate as much as I can."
"I-is that really true?"
"Yes. As you know, I was an orphan. I've been able to live this long thanks to the people's taxes and help."
I had been able to survive thanks to the kind-hearted people of Korea.
If that's the case, it wouldn't hurt to give something back.
"But I won't get involved in political matters."
"I see. Understood."
He smirked, saying he hadn't planned on that anyway.
"And I've been watching your stream. It's more entertaining than I expected."
"Really? Haha. That's a relief."
"It was really satisfying when the guy who was doubting you and trash-talking you on today's stream got booted out."
"Haha. There'll be a lot more of that in the future."
"Still, once you said one word, didn't he vanish? What was it again? 'Kim Juhyeon in Incheon. Don't you have work tomorrow? Do you have time to be doing this?' That's what you said, right?"
"Haha..."
Once I started getting popular, a few attention-seeking trolls appeared.
Guys who spammed the chat or donated one gold just to send all kinds of curses and porn clips.
So when I caught one who had gone too far and said something to him, those guys disappeared in an instant.
They really are funny little bastards.
Crazy bastards who rely on anonymity to do all kinds of things.
They're even worse than those so-called orphans whose parents are fine but who never learned how to behave. What a bizarre world.
"Teacher. I'm truly grateful."
He stood up and bowed deeply at the waist, greeting me formally.
"And, I'm not sure how much help I can be, but..."
His eyes were utterly serious.
"If there's ever a moment when you need me, please contact me anytime."
Police assistance.
Someday, it would surely be a big help to me.
"Don't worry. I'll definitely put you to work."
"Hahaha. Please do."
Kang Injeong gave me one more quick bow and left.
I sipped the remaining sweet coffee and looked at the Spam gift set.
Tonight's dinner was grilled Spam.
.
.
.
It was after today's stream had ended, while I was in the middle of playing Dunsa.
A call came in.
"Hello."
"-Hello, Teacher Kang. This is Han Yuna."
"Yes. Hello."
"-If it's not too much trouble... would you perhaps have time tomorrow?"
"Tomorrow?"
Tomorrow... I don't really have anything planned.
It's not even a streaming day.
Hong Si-yeon was in Japan on a business trip, so it didn't seem like she'd be introducing any guests either.
"That's fine."
"-Then would you be able to go somewhere with me tomorrow?"
"Where?"
"-A party... sort of place."
A party, huh.
I'd never been to a place like that.
Though back in school, I did go to a few birthday parties for friends who stayed close to me even knowing I was an orphan.
The party Han Yuna was talking about clearly wasn't that kind of party.
"Do I need to bring anything?"
"-You will need an outfit, but I'll take care of that for you."
"Understood."
If it was a party Han Yuna would attend, then there was definitely something going on there.
It wouldn't hurt to go.
And so, the next day.
Han Yuna took me to a luxury suit shop.
"Please wear this."
"Wow... this looks really expensive."
"It's about ten million won for one suit."
"Ten mi...!?"
Ten million won for one outfit?!
"I was bothered that I'd received your help but hadn't properly repaid you."
If she was saying that much, I should just accept it.
Han Yuna casually bought me a ten-million-won suit and handed it over.
"Wow..."
"It suits you well."
"It's a ten-million-won suit, so of course it should look good on you. I was supposed to buy you something better, but the party was arranged suddenly..."
It was a luxury-brand suit I didn't even know the name of, and I wasn't sure if it was okay for me to wear it.
But Han Yuna moved on to the next place as if nothing were unusual.
"W-watch?"
"It's a necessary accessory."
"No, I'm fine with just an Apple Watch."
I had also splurged on this after becoming an outside director at Hong Si-yeon's company.
I found one being sold a little cheap on Karrot Market.
Even so, it was almost 500,000 won, but the watches Han Yuna was looking at easily went over ten times that.
"This one should do."
"...Do you not see anything under ten million won as money?"
Thirty million for a single watch...
"You need to wear something at least this expensive to be treated like a person there."
"Where on earth are you taking me?"
"You'll know when you get there."
Anyway, after that came the tie and shoes.
Only after she had me fully styled, down to the hair, was Han Yuna satisfied.
"Then let's go."
The place we arrived at in her car was a hotel.
Striman Hotel.
One of the five-star hotels in Seoul, and there was a party today on the top floor.
"Could you wait here? I'll go change too."
Dressed neatly in a semi-formal suit, Han Yuna carried a bag and headed somewhere.
And when she came back.
"Wow..."
Black jacket
A black H-line skirt with a slit.
She wore a white shirt, but strangely enough the chest area was missing, leaving her full bust exposed.
It was an outfit that looked sexy yet refined, a perfect match for her sharp beauty.
"So you can wear clothes like this too?"
"I don't especially like it. But given the occasion, it can't be helped. It's better than a dress."
She pointed to one side.
There stood a woman wearing a red party dress, being escorted by a man in a suit.
"I should be wearing a dress like that, but anyway, I'm here for work, more or less."
"I see..."
"Shall we go, then?"
"I feel like I should be escorting you too."
"Hmm. That's true as well."
After thinking for a moment, Han Yuna held out her hand.
"Shall we?"
Wait, shouldn't I be the one doing that?
.
.
.
Escorted by Han Yuna, I arrived at the party hall on the top floor.
There weren't that many people.
Even though the place was disgustingly spacious.
"Oh. Look who it is. Han Yuna, isn't it?"
The one who approached was a sharp-looking man wearing silver-rimmed glasses.
He wore his tie so tight it was almost choking him, and he looked back and forth between me and Han Yuna.
"I heard you've been taking heir training lately. Guess you even have time to come to places like this?"
"I came because I had the time."
"So? Who's this?"
"Someone I know. Teacher Kang. This is Jang Ik-gyeom, the second son of Chairman Jang Ok-su of Taeyoung Construction."
"Ah... I see. Nice to meet you. I'm Kang Noa."
"...By any chance, what do you do...?"
"I'm an outside director at Sejin Trade."
"Sejin Trade? Was there such a company...?"
Tilting his head, he walked away without saying anything else.
After that, a few more people came by to greet us.
Sure enough, since Han Yuna was one of the heirs of a chaebol family, she knew a lot of people.
"Teacher. Can I fortune-tell here by any chance?"
"It's possible. Am I supposed to tell fortunes for those people?"
"No. The person I want is someone else."
It was then.
The party hall suddenly fell silent.
"Chairman Han is entering."
Saseong Group.
A group that ranks last among Korea's top 30 chaebols.
A company especially famous in the hotel and construction sectors.
The head of that group, Chairman Han Junho, appeared in the party hall.
A major figure in Korea.
He looked around with a stern face, then spotted us and came over.
"Hah. I came because it was surprising that my daughter would suddenly attend a party. This is quite something."
His gaze landed on me.
They say he's sixty this year, but his eyes are no less sharp than a young man's.
"Are you Yuna's boyfriend?"
"I'm hoping that will be the case."
This woman?
She suddenly wrapped her arm around mine.
What? What's going on?
The softness pressing against my arm was making my heart flutter.
"Hahaha! Is that so? But could I ask what work you do? You look quite young."
"I'm an outside director at Sejin Trade."
"Sejin Trade? Was there such a company...? Right. What do your parents do?"
"I'm an orphan."
His expression hardened.
Right. This was the normal reaction.
Quite a few of my close friends' parents had made this exact expression.
And most of them hoped I wouldn't be close with their children.
I had no particular complaints.
That's just the social perception of orphans.
"Ahem. I see."
It was probably uncomfortable.
But he didn't show it.
That alone was enough to tell me he was a good person, for a chaebol.
"Mr. Noa."
"Yes?"
"If possible... could you tell my father's fortune?"
Fortune-telling for Chairman Han of Saseong.
"Fortune-telling? I don't believe in that."
"Mr. Noa's fortune-telling is really accurate. Father. Please trust me and try it once."
I pulled the tarot cards from inside my jacket.
Whether he would have his fortune told was his decision.
With a face that looked more offended at being asked to have his fortune told than at hearing I was an orphan, Chairman Han looked back and forth between me and Han Yuna before finally flipping over my card.
Then I could say it now.
"Chairman Han."
"What is it?"
"You'll be under investigation by the prosecutors soon."
"...What? Why would I..."
"The apartment building you're constructing right now is going to collapse."
Because your son ripped the rebar out pretty thoroughly.