NOVEL NEXT Chapter 65
065 – If You Insert a USB, You Can’t Move
“Damn it!”
Bang! Bang! Bang!
Wang Ja-hyeon stomped on the trash can of his house with all his might.
Even so, his anger didn’t subside, and he smashed all the windows in the living room.
“Aaaaaaah!”
Crash!
Only after the glass shattered and blood flowed from his injured fist did Wang Ja-hyeon sit down, overwhelmed by the unresolved anxiety in the mess of a living room.
“Hanam-jin, I never thought he would be such a disrespectful punk—.”
The events from a few hours ago kept replaying in his mind.
The noise from Hanam-jin shouting had stirred the villa.
“Nam Tae-geon and Seo Do-cheol set fire to N Mart?”
“Is there evidence with Wang Ja-hyeon?”
“If it’s true, it won’t end with impeachment.”
Everyone’s gaze was suddenly on Wang Ja-hyeon.
What if the police waiting nearby hadn’t entered the villa, breaking up the party and taking Hanam-jin away?
Just the thought of it made Wang Ja-hyeon’s knees quiver, and he turned on his phone to browse the internet.
Author: ㅇㅇ
Title: Did you guys see the chaos at Samjin Villa? LOL
Content: I watched the live broadcast at that time, it was literally legendary LOL
└If what Hanam-jin said is true, isn’t the country screwed?
└Yeah, having a crazy guy who kills people as he pleases sitting in the presidential seat is no joke LOL
└└Hey! How dare those morons from the Northern faction suspect President Nam Tae-geon!
Author: Horned Horse
Title: I’m withdrawing my support for Jin Eun-byeol from today.
Content: Jin Eun-byeol had a boyfriend, damn it! Wang Ja-hyeon is such a bastard, so envious.
└That breast of Jin Eun-byeol is actually being touched by Hanam-jin LOL
└└Hanam-jin is hilariously amazing every time his name comes up online LOL total alpha male I agree LOL
Author: Even if my head breaks, I’m Yu Do-gwan
Title: Finally, the true face of the conglomerates and the Northern faction has been revealed.
Content: If it’s true that Nam Tae-geon and the chaebols have been playing with citizens’ lives behind the scenes, it deserves more than impeachment, it’s a guillotine execution.
└They were all sucking up to Nam Tae-geon, claiming he did civic activism and was a human rights lawyer, but he’s the one who proposed policies that destroy human rights.
└Alright then, let’s have a French Revolution~.
└Seo Nam and Je Wang Group stocks are likely to plummet LOL
Bzzz, bzzz—
Wang Ja-hyeon’s phone kept buzzing, making it impossible for him to pay attention to the online reactions.
Hundreds of unread messages piled up, but he didn’t feel like checking them.
“Damn Hanam-jin!”
Wang Ja-hyeon looked down on Hanam-jin. He had been constantly butting heads with characters like Jang Geun-seong and Sa Ma-jun, but honestly, that was it.
In Wang Ja-hyeon’s view, Hanam-jin lived in a different world with a completely different weight to bear.
Once he graduated from school, they would forever be strangers.
He had thought that way but realized now how someone with nothing could have no fear of losing anything.
For Wang Ja-hyeon, who had much to lose, getting involved with Hanam-jin would only be a loss.
“Why the hell did he suddenly show up in my life to stir up trouble?”
Wang Ja-hyeon couldn’t contain his boiling anger.
Right now, it seemed more important to quiet the loud people than to be angry. So, he went to the bedroom and asked Jin Eun-byeol, who was fixing her hair.
“Eun-byeol, what happened? Did you call?”
“Yeah. I called grandfather earlier, and he assured me that he’d take responsibility for the public opinion. You don’t need to worry about that. They’ve bribed the newspapers and broadcasters, so it should calm down soon.”
“Really!?”
If she was talking about “grandfather,” there was only one person it could be.
If he had stepped in personally, there was no need to worry anymore.
Wang Ja-hyeon found himself admiring once again how amazing Jin Eun-byeol’s backing was.
No wonder people desired high positions.
“But there was no specific word about Hanam-jin. He probably wants you to handle that yourself. I think that makes sense.”
“…Me do it myself?”
The tension surged back over Wang Ja-hyeon.
Hanam-jin was an unknown entity to him.
That guy lacked a sense of common decency, so he could go erratic at any moment.
“Why? Don’t want to? Just going to sue and go to court isn’t fun. Do it yourself for me. Or what? Are you perhaps not confident in punishing Hanam-jin?”
Swoosh—
Jin Eun-byeol approached and wrapped her arms around Wang Ja-hyeon’s body.
“I’m feeling neglected.”
Wang Ja-hyeon was actually scared of Jin Eun-byeol too.
The unpredictability applied to her just as much.
“If the direct election system is abolished and the hereditary law is passed, the only adopted daughter, I, will have the highest priority for inheritance, right? And like that, I promised to give you that position.”
The presidency’s hereditary transfer.
It sounded absurd, but when martial law is declared, the world will change.
“So, Ja-hyeon, you need to prove your worth to us. To the brothers who disregarded you as a child of a concubine. To Nam San-ho and Hanam-jin, who called you a coward. Show them who you are in the world you will govern.”
Wang Ja-hyeon’s heart trembled at Jin Eun-byeol’s whispering words, like a snake in his ear.
Prove.
Wang Ja-hyeon’s life had always been about proof.
“I was planning to deal with that Hanam-jin guy soon anyway. To be honest, I could’ve resolved this whole thing by myself. Just trust me.”
Indeed, to Wang Ja-hyeon, Jin Eun-byeol felt far more daunting and remarkable than Hanam-jin.
She had an outrageous backing.
“You’re the best, Ja-hyeon.”
Smile—
Jin Eun-byeol smiled beautifully.
In Wang Ja-hyeon’s eyes, however, it didn’t look like a smile at all.
“Oh, by the way! You know Baek-Yeoul from your school, right?”
# # #
The detention center was surprisingly cozy.
It was cramped and a bit stuffy, but with its sturdy walls and ceiling, it was a step up from the shanty I used to live in.
If the world ends again, should I consider using a prison as a base?
“Are you out of your mind? Do you want to die?”
“Why did you do that? Who sent you? Who?”
The only disappointing thing was the noisy police dogs barking at me.
Why were they so curious?
About an hour passed like that.
A familiar face approached and spoke to the police.
“I’m Kim Jang-dong from the management office. I’m here to take custody of Hanam-jin. Is that okay? There’s an important witness interrogation scheduled.”
“Wh-What does someone from the management office have to do with us?”
“Do you have any idea how many of our people got hurt catching that punk? Just taking him away like that?”
“Shh! You guys! Quit it! Ahem, I’m Chief Kim Cheol-gwan. So you want to take Hanam-jin?”
“We’ll take over custody of Hanam-jin.”
Clunk, screech—
The iron door opened.
As I stepped outside of the police station, the world was dim.
Inside a black car cruising down the road, Kim Jang-dong spoke to me.
“Nam-jin, I know you’ve got a temper, but it’d be best to calm down for a while. I’m saying this for your own good, so listen well.”
“It’s fine. I’m just a ‘special management target’, right? So I’m under surveillance.”
When the world shattered, was it just a coincidence that Kim Jang-dong reached out to me for various requests?
Not at all. In fact, he’d been watching me even in the collapsing world.
Still is.
Of course, Kim Jang-dong pretended otherwise.
“Special what? Anyway, you might be okay, but I feel like I’m going to die cleaning up after you. Of all people, why did you poke at Jin Eun-byeol? Ugh, just do whatever you want.”
I always handled things just fine.
After Kim Jang-dong left, I returned home.
“……”
But there was a problem.
The “Intruder Warning Stick” I had set up at the front gate was toppled over inside, indicating someone had entered.
It was positioned to fall inward if the gate was opened.
Was it a burglary?
This is why you need a good neighborhood.
This neighborhood is great, but the security is absolutely terrible.
There are a lot of criminals.
Isn’t there even a terrifying high school girl abductor living in this neighborhood?
As I pondered that and entered the room, I found someone sitting on the living room sofa.
It was a man wearing a leather jacket with long hair.
His face was familiar, but what made it unusual was that he was petting Ying-ing.
Swoosh, swoosh, swoosh, swoosh, swoosh—
Ying-ing, you crazy bastard!
Letting anyone into my house!
I feigned nonchalance and asked.
“Didn’t we meet at the Seo Nam Group building?”
He was the man I met in front of the elevator when I first met Seo Do-cheol.
The guy who healed my broken leg back then.
Who would’ve thought we’d meet again.
“Hanam-jin, good to see you again. I’m Gu Se-jun.”
Gu Se-jun, wasn’t he the leader of the illegal awakened group “Billunners”?
He’s a comrade of “Yeomra” and “Pinocchio,” whom I fought.
“We don’t have much time, so I’ll be direct. Join us. Our goals are aligned. Destroying the old and welcoming the new.”
“I don’t work with terrorists. It generally doesn’t end well.”
“But you’ve made a difficult enemy for yourself today. Jin Eun-byeol. More specifically, the ‘concept’ residing within her. That thing is giving us a hard time too.”
Turning a “concept” into an enemy—.
It felt like a strange expression when the long-haired man Gu Se-jun kindly elaborated.
“The ‘concept’ that an awakened person possesses isn’t just simple power. It has a will like a living creature. And sometimes, that will can devour a person. In other words, being gobbled up by their own concept.”
Being devoured by a concept—.
A few things popped into my head.
Gu Se-jun seemed to read my thoughts.
“Originally, it was called ‘being devoured by a concept’, hence the term ‘Concept Person’, but since it sounds too positive, we should rename it. How about Demon (魔人) instead? Jin Eun-byeol is that demon.”
Jin Eun-byeol?
The demons I had met recently were entities that couldn’t be controlled, like erupting volcanoes.
Felt like they’d die immediately from their own explosive power.
But wasn’t Jin Eun-byeol different?
“The ‘concept’ within her is particularly malevolent. But fortunately, the clearer the will of a ‘concept’, the clearer its weaknesses become. This is Jin Eun-byeol’s weakness.”
Swoosh—
Gu Se-jun handed me a small plastic item.
It was a USB.
“How is this USB Jin Eun-byeol’s weakness? If I insert it somewhere in her body, will she be unable to move?”
Is there even a place in Jin Eun-byeol’s body to stick a USB?
When I raised my head, Gu Se-jun was nowhere to be found.
Such a fascinating man.
“Leader of a terrorist group, Gu Se-jun. Ying-ing, what do you think of him?”
━Ying-ing, yay.
“Yeah, there’s no good guy who walks into a house with shoes on. But you were the one who opened the door, right? Ying-ing, you crazy bastard!”
━Grrr…!
With nothing in particular to do, I plugged the USB into the computer.
And I found a video file inside.
“6.mkv”
Click.