Chapter 192

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Translated by Heavenly Cat

Read it only at Novelbyu.com & Utoon.net

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“Driver! Stop!”

“Ex… Excuse me?”

“Stop!!”

SCREEEECH—!!

The driver slammed on the brakes and the car stopped in the middle of the road.

The Vice President, startled beside me, gasped at my strange behavior.

“P-President. What on earth…”

Just then.

“W-Wait. T-That!”

CRASH—!!

The large truck I had just seen in my vision grazed our car and plowed straight into a building.

“…!”

We were all left speechless at that shocking sight.

“Is everyone okay?”

At my voice, the driver and Vice President finally came to their senses.

“Y-Yes, we’re fine. And you, President?”

“I’m okay too. The car just grazed us.”

The driver’s face was completely filled with terror.

“I-If I had hit the brakes even a little later…”

We would have been crushed like a can against that truck embedded in the building.

The vision from just now seemed to be my intuition sending a danger signal to save me.

“President, did you see that truck coming in that split second?”

“Ah… Yes.”

I had no idea at all.

If my intuition hadn’t shown me that vision, we would have had a major accident.

“But why on earth did that truck charge in like that? This isn’t the kind of place for that.”

“Maybe it was drowsy driving.”

“The speed was too fast for that. Just look at that building—it’s completely destroyed. For drowsy driving, it seems too…”

The Vice President made a strange expression.

I also felt something was off about this situation.

A truck, out of nowhere.

“President! Are you alright?”

Before long, the bodyguards who had been following behind us came rushing over.

“Director Kim, take the President to the hospital first and have him thoroughly examined for any issues.”

“Yes sir!”

“Ah, Vice President. I’m fine…”

“No. Traffic accidents inevitably leave aftereffects.”

“No, I’m really fin…”

“Director Kim, make sure he receives all examinations. No matter what.”

“Yes sir!!”

No matter how much I said I was fine, it was useless.

I looked at the smoldering truck while being dragged away by the fussing bodyguards.

“…”

Like the driver said, if the brakes had been just a little later…

It’s terrible just thinking about it.

***

“The driver?”

“He’s in critical condition. We’ve taken him to the hospital immediately.”

“You sent him to a Gwangwoon hospital, right?”

“Yes.”

“Keep him alive no matter what. He absolutely cannot die. Ah, and Director Kim.”

“Yes?”

“Do you have a cigarette?”

Executive Vice President Kang Ji-hwan put the cigarette he had quit back in his mouth.

“Shouldn’t you go to the hospital too, Vice President?”

“I’m fine. Rather than looking after my body right now, this comes first. What was this truck transporting?”

“We checked, and it wasn’t transporting anything in particular.”

“So a cargo truck with nothing to transport almost hit us?”

“Yes, we saw from behind too, but it was really by a hair’s breadth. Moreover, it was in a blind spot and the speed was so fast that avoiding it by sight would have been impossible.”

“Really?”

“Yes. It’s a mystery how the driver knew to slam on the emergency brakes to survive.”

At those words, he let out a small laugh.

“The driver didn’t know and stop. The President made him stop.”

“Pardon?”

“He was talking to me just fine and then suddenly made the car stop. Right after, the truck grazed us and crashed into that building.”

“That’s impossible. The side where the truck came from was blocked by a building, so he couldn’t have seen it in advance…”

Kang Ji-hwan was puzzled by that too.

In that split second, President Jeong Jin-ho was definitely looking forward, not to the side.

As if possessed by something…

“Anyway, that’s not the important thing.”

This truck is very suspicious.

“There’s not even any sign of braking.”

“Yes. Just by the speed, the accelerator was pressed all the way down. Plus, it wasn’t a highway, and drowsy driving in broad daylight isn’t easy.”

“It looks deliberate to you too, right?”

“Yes. It’s absolutely not drowsy driving. Can’t you feel the killing intent just from this accident scene?”

Killing intent, huh.

That would be the accurate expression.

“Find out which department is investigating this accident. And tell them to report to me every hour. I’ll contact the Police Commissioner directly.”

“Yes sir.”

Kang Ji-hwan flipped through his contacts and let out a short sigh.

Because there was someone who needed to hear about this first.

***

“Oh my, Jin-ho. What in the world happened?”

“Hyung-nim. Why is someone on vacation coming here?”

“Hey! Is vacation the issue right now!? I heard you were in a huge accident!”

“I wasn’t in an accident. As you can see, I’m perfectly fine. So please let me be discharged.”

“No! If that big truck grazed your car, you don’t know how scary post-accident effects can be, even if it seems like nothing!”

I was forcibly brought by the bodyguards, received all examinations, and was confined to a VIP ward.

The doctor fortunately said there were no problems, but said they wanted to monitor my progress for a few days just in case.

“Didn’t you suddenly squat down because you got dizzy before? And at the banquet, you didn’t eat anything saying your stomach was churning.”

That wasn’t because something was wrong with my body—my intuition suddenly activated on its own and made me that way.

“Just in case, stay here for a week.”

“A week? Then who will handle company work?”

“Forget about company work. Good timing. Your parents were worried because you’ve been working non-stop without rest.”

“You keep in contact with my parents too?”

“Hehe, I contact them regularly. I just met with them too. Besides, you’re about to have a wedding—shouldn’t you get some rest? The doctor also said you seem to be overworking a bit.”

Sure enough, the doctor had also noted that I was working late, my sleep patterns were a mess, and I seemed to need some rest.

“Don’t play games for too long either! Gaming is forbidden for now.”

“That’s a bit…”

“Quiet! You’re starting a family—you should take care of your health first.”

Hyung-nim’s will was firm.

Just looking at how he had already deployed bodyguards around the entire VIP ward, I was going to be stuck here for a week.

I’m already feeling antsy.

“What about your vacation?”

“It’s fine. I can go next time. And I was planning to end the vacation quickly and go to America with you.”

“America?”

“Yeah. You know President Aiden, right? His term is ending soon, and since he’s a puppet government, there’s not much to do, so he seems to be playing quite hard. They’re all going on a raid together with the American guild members.”

“Are you going to watch that?”

“Not just watch. We’re going to raid together. Aiden, that guy is a healer, you know? When else would I get to receive heals from the American president?”

“Wow. Can’t you take me too?”

“No. You’re forbidden from overseas travel for now too.”

“No, it really was a minor accident.”

“No means no.”

A raid with the American president, no less.

And even the opportunity to receive heals from that president.

But Hyung-nim doesn’t seem to be letting me go anywhere for a while.

I feel like a princess trapped in a magic castle.

***

“Take care of yourself. I’ll come again.”

“You don’t have to come.”

“Hehe. I’ll come so often you’ll get sick of it, so don’t worry.”

“Ugh.”

“Then I’m off.”

“Yes. Take care.”

Hwang Dae-woon, who had been smiling as he left the hospital room, had his face harden the moment the door closed.

“Is everyone gathered?”

“Yes. They’re all waiting in the conference room.”

“Let’s go right away.”

His voice was as cold as his hardened face.

“The Chairman has arrived.”

The executives waiting in the conference room also gulped at Chairman Hwang’s expression they had never seen before.

They could feel he was thoroughly angry.

“Everyone sit down.”

Hwang Dae-woon let out a shaky breath as soon as he sat down.

“Did everyone look into it?”

“Yes.”

“So, was this accident really a coincidence, or was it intentional? The Vice President who was with Jin-ho at the scene said it looked like someone deliberately set this up. Is that right?”

“We’ll need to investigate more thoroughly, but… there are definitely more than a few suspicious points. The driver had quite a lot of gambling debt, but suddenly paid it all off a few days ago, and it had been over a month since his freight work had dried up.”

“So such a guy suddenly crawled out and crashed into us?”

“Yes. Unless someone instigated him, it’s not easy for that to happen suddenly. Plus, the debt problem being completely resolved is even more strange.”

He could roughly picture the situation in his head.

Someone had lured this driver with money to make him do this.

“This is probably connected to the gambling operation the driver mainly used. They may have first threatened him and then paid him to do the job.”

“Aren’t these kinds of illegal gambling operations usually run by gangsters?”

“That’s right.”

“So you’re saying these gangster bastards fearlessly tried to take out our Jin-ho?”

Hwang Dae-woon’s face flushed red.

“Can we catch these guys?”

“They’re probably operating as cell organizations domestically and overseas. If we try to catch them legally, it will take quite a long time. We’d need joint investigations.”

“Then what if it’s not legal?”

“If we give orders to Sentinel overseas and send our Gwangwoon-operated security team domestically, it can be done quickly. However, if bloodshed occurs, the police might get involved, and someone might film it and post it on social media or community sites.”

Chairman Hwang shifted his gaze elsewhere.

“Director Yang. Can this be handled?”

“Yes. Just like we controlled social media through AI in France last time, it can be done this time too. Gwangwoon operates all major community platforms, so we can handle every video and post as soon as they go up. We can control the press as well.”

“What about the police?”

“We’ll contact them separately. Tell them not to respond to reports in certain areas. The police are on our side, so you don’t need to worry.”

Gwangwoon is a massive group that moves global finance, beyond just being Korea’s representative corporation.

Additionally, Gwangwoon had lines reaching from Korean politicians to every position of public authority.

For times exactly like this.

Even if they weren’t connected to Gwangwoon, there’s no politician in this country who would go against Gwangwoon’s will.

“Then start immediately. There’s no way these guys acted alone. Find out who’s behind them.”

“Yes, Chairman.”

The reason they deliberately exposed Jin-ho to media and made him a star was to prevent something like this from happening.

If Jeong Jin-ho became famous and his face known, he would become even harder to touch.

But some bastards crossed the line.

He didn’t know who those bastards were.

But they would definitely pay the price.

And it would be extremely terrible.

***

“…How could you fail again this time?”

That makes three times.

And yet failing all three times was extremely humiliating for people who had trained for a long time to carry out secret operations.

“The first was a sniper shot. But Jeong Jin-ho suddenly squatted in place, and we couldn’t get the angle, so it failed.”

“Yes. And the second was assassination using poison, but Jeong Jin-ho didn’t touch what was in his glass at all…”

“Right. So this time, we even risked exposure and brought in a truck to definitely kill him. But you’re saying we failed this too?”

The route was certain.

The truck even started properly according to the signal.

But Jeong Jin-ho’s car suddenly stopped, and the truck crashed into the building alone.

“Does this make sense?! How can we fail three times in a row! Can we still call ourselves the Central Operations Bureau that the Chinese Communist Party is proud of!”

Director Zhang Oming shouted in anger.

“Does everyone understand the importance of this mission? This was an operation to send a clear warning message to Gwangwoon, who dares to cause internal strife in our Communist Party. If we fail, it’s our heads that go flying!”

China is currently in turmoil.

Isn’t the regime that seemed solid showing signs of collapse?

And all of this was because of Gwangwoon.

Gwangwoon had been doing groundwork for years to induce China’s collapse, and as a result, they had reached a situation where civil war wouldn’t be surprising.

So the current regime planned to assassinate Jeong Jin-ho, called Gwangwoon’s core, as an extraordinary measure.

Killing Jeong Jin-ho wouldn’t end Gwangwoon, but at least it could send a message that China wouldn’t take this lying down.

But they had failed three times to kill that Jeong Jin-ho.

And all by a hair’s breadth.

“Other methods?”

“Jeong Jin-ho has entered a VIP ward and is under strict security, making it difficult. More importantly, Gwangwoon is conducting a large-scale investigation with the Korean government, finding and weeding out all organizations involved in our work. Our agents aren’t safe either and are all in hiding.”

If they had succeeded on the first try, maybe.

But failing even the third time meant they were exposed.

“You said you planned everything perfectly. So how can you fail three times?”

“Director. From the first sniper shot, to the second, to this third time. It might not be that our plans were sloppy.”

“What? What do you mean?”

“Isn’t it strange? As if the opponent knew all our plans, they dodged every assassination as if mocking us. The deliberate squatting, not touching the poisoned glass at all, and this time suddenly stopping the car right before the truck came.”

“That means…”

“Information is leaking from our side. Jeong Jin-ho has been mocking us by showing it through his actions.”

“!?”

The Director couldn’t believe it.

This was the highest Central Bureau that only Chinese elite agents could enter.

And yet there was a Gwangwoon spy here?

“Stop all operations currently being planned.”

“What? But…”

“If there really is a Gwangwoon spy, it means all our information is flowing to them right now. That means the Reform Faction threatening our government also knows all our plans. If we don’t want to be hit instead, we should stop everything. Find who the internal spy is! Now!”

Director Zhang Oming’s heart was pounding.

He had heard that Gwangwoon’s eyes were spread all over the world, but he never dreamed they had infiltrated even here.

Just how far do those bastards reach, and how much do they know?

China was no longer safe.

End