Chapter 73: |
Returning to the Blue House, I mentioned to Cheon Myung-guk my opinions about what had happened earlier.
“……”
Cheon Myeong-guk, who had a pleased expression because of the absence of casualties after the Transcendent Call, stiffened.
“I express regret for you witnessing the unfavorable aspect first. We did not expect such blind spots in welfare to arise. However, if I may offer an explanation, it is a phenomenon resulting from preventive measures to prevent indiscriminate abuse of the policy. I will suggest improvements to address this issue.”
In cases like this one, Cheon Myeong-guk mentioned that, in some instances, the mothers of runaway children collaborate with villains or were originally involved in sham marriages.
Come to think of it, I didn’t confirm with that brother and sister if she, the one who ran away, was their birth mother.
I had heard stories about the indiscriminate abuse of welfare from the government official I talked to earlier.
I agree with that part too.
“There are loopholes in policies everywhere.”
Resources were limited, and if qualifications were rigorously examined, blind spots would emerge.
In this era where monsters and villains ran rampant, resources were scarce, and those who seek them were plentiful. It’s reasonable for driven individuals to thoroughly prepare to secure the support they need.
Cheon Myeong-guk’s gaze toward me became cautious.
“Is there anything specific you want to do?”
“From my perspective, it seems like the support provided by the country is sufficient. The person handling the actual tasks may not have been able to do more due to regulations, but their response has been excellent.”
“That’s good to hear.”
In the end, support for vulnerable groups could be achieved through a simple manual revision.
By examining it more closely and reinforcing the clauses.
The problem lay in what came next.
I offered the lunch I brought from the local community center to Cheon Myeong-guk.
“This is…?”
“This is the lunchbox provided for those in need.”
“It looks quite poor in quality.”
Cheon Myeong-guk muttered with disappointment. If he knew the price, he would be even more surprised. So, I informed him of the price.
“It’s 6,000 won.”
“This is ridiculous! They didn’t even give us this during military reserve training!”
An unexpected reaction popped out.
Cheon Myeong-guk, with a wry expression on his face, said.
“I belong to the generation that still experienced military training. In the past, the reserved soldiers were also given terrible meals. Still, our time had somewhat decent lunchboxes, so this one is a bit much.”
Cheon Myeong-guk mentioned that the reserved military forces’ lunchbox also cost 6,000 won.
The quality was fine, even if it was a bit expensive. He said that inflation should be taken into account, he still found this a bit too much.
By the way, the military reserves. It was a system that disappeared a long time ago as the number of monsters increased.
It was all I heard when my father occasionally talked about the military.
Well, I didn’t remember him saying anything good.
Anyway, Cheon Myeong-guk was angry, making it easier to talk about this.
“In my opinion, the biggest problem is this.”
I pointed to the soup. It looked like an ordinary soybean paste soup, but the moment I tasted it, I couldn’t hide my shock.
“This is an insult to soybean paste soup.”
Daring to make soybean paste soup like this! I could probably make it more delicious at a cheaper price.
“Well, it’s a crappy soup.”
Cheon Myeong-guk also expressed agreement with a disappointed expression.
Crappy soup? Even though the expression might be a bit crude, it was definitely a perfect fit.
Taxpayers’ money supported this lunchbox. When I said that I was going to visit the lunchbox company to find out why they made the lunchbox like this, Cheon Myeong-guk was horrified.
“Wouldn’t it be better to think about it a bit more?”
“Why?”
I was just planning to visit the place that made the lunchbox and find out how this lunchbox could be priced at 6,000 won.
It’s natural for a company to want to make a profit to survive. Just the cost of the Big Bang series alone was ridiculous. That’s why the profit margin was high.
Even so, consumers purchased it because they perceived that price as ‘reasonable.’ No matter how high the margin was, as long as consumers considered the item they were buying reasonable, it didn’t matter.
However, would anyone be willing to eat this lunchbox for 6,000 won? Right now, even the convenience store’s 3,800 won lunchbox seemed to offer better quality.
In my opinion, if this lunchbox were the only option available and my balance was hypothetically 2,500 won, I would probably close my eyes, hesitate for about 30 minutes, and then reluctantly make the purchase.
“Perhaps it would be good to discuss this first. I will report it to the President.”
He said it in a way to dismiss the issue, but Cheon Myeong-guk was actually escalating the situation.
Was it even worth reporting to the president?
“Do you really need to do that?”
“I’ll report it right away. Please wait.”
Cheon Myeong-guk disappeared at a frightening speed and then reappeared.
“You shouldn’t go first.”
“…Really?”
Was it that bad?
How rational am I?
I felt a little sad that I wasn’t trusted.
***
The quite lengthy conversation came to an end.
The president, who successfully delayed Choi Jun-ho’s movements, let out a sigh mixed with relief.
“So, it finally exploded.”
“I’m sorry. I tried to resolve it in my end, but it was insufficient.”
“No, it was the right call. If you hadn’t stopped him, he would have gone straight to his destination, and I dread to think what would have happened. Director Cheon’s judgment prevented a massacre in the middle of Seoul.”
“…Thank you.”
The president’s words reflected Cheon Myeong-guk’s thoughts.
Choi Jun-ho was the one who unhesitatingly killed the chief prosecutor of the Central Investigations Department. Blowing up a lunchbox company or two would be easier than flipping the palm of his hand.
Above all, the 6,000 won lunchbox Choi Jun-ho showed to them clearly looked like it had been tampered with in the middle.
The problem is that this is a support project conducted by the city of Seoul.
The selection of the company that would make the lunchbox was the decision of the city of Seoul, and the final decision-maker was the mayor of Seoul.
By the way, the mayor of Seoul was a prominent politician in the ruling party.
The president persuaded Choi Jun-ho by promising cooperation with the city of Seoul on this matter.
This was the best option.
“I thought that sincere tax payment would contribute significantly to the finances, but unforeseen side effects seem to be emerging.”
“How do you plan to handle this?”
“I’ll be honest. It’s a tricky situation, and it’s hard to say anything. Even joking about it feels off when it comes to something as basic as food.”
The president how he ended up with the job of persuading a Transcendent.
But this phenomenon was also expected the moment they touched Busan.
The timing was problematic because it happened too soon.
And with this case, one more piece of information had been added.
Choi Jun-ho was very sincere about what food.
However, Cheon Myeong-guk expressed concerns in a different aspect.
“Mayor Han Jung-moon might resist.”
“So what if he resists? He’ll end up brainwashed like Yoo Sung-soo, spewing corruption until he dies. It’s not important even if he resists. And that bastard resisting won’t really make a difference.”
If Yoo Sung-soo was a strong presidential candidate from the opposition as the mayor of Busan, Han Jung-moon was a formidable presidential candidate from the ruling party as the mayor of Seoul.
With the appearance of monsters and the concentration of urban functions, the status of local mayors had risen to several levels.
Seoul was an exception here, as the government had largely taken over the functions of the city, creating a situation where Seoul’s functions were being significantly replaced by the central government.
As a result, unlike other cities with strong independence, there was a tendency to be dependent on the government.
While it wasn’t a position that could be easily dismissed, the situation was challenging due to the unfavorable conditions.
“Ignore the backlash and just think about suppressing it early.”
“Yes.”
“We need to crack down on it for now.”
The president pondered for a moment. After much consideration, he made a decision and ordered Cheon Myeong-guk.
“Summon Ji Chang-yong and Han Jung-moon. We need to prevent things from escalating, even if it means extinguishing the fire on one end while stopping an explosion on the other.”
“I will contact them immediately.”
Ji Chang-yong was a four-term ruling party representative, and Han Jung-moon was the mayor of Seoul.
The two influential figures in the ruling party hastily gathered at the Blue House.
***
The significant change that occurred for me after bringing Jin Se-jeong into the team was the introduction of a hurdle in terms of decision-making and actions.
I didn’t view that as a bad thing.
If she had tried to force my actions, I wouldn’t have worked with her, regardless of her competence.
As if sensing my thoughts, Jin Se-jeong accurately understood and didn’t cross the line I had drawn.
“I would never interfere with your decisions. The charm of Transcendent Choi Jun-ho is that relentless aspect of not looking back. I don’t have the skill to stop that, nor should I. However, I do think there’s a need to showcase it more prominently.”
“How?”
Jin Se-jeong told me that I need to act more sophisticatedly and straightforwardly.
“There’s undoubtedly corruption in the process of selecting the lunchbox company. However, if you confront this head-on, you’ll be facing the enemy alone. They are a community with shared interests in political survival, a powerful force representing the country’s authority. While you can win alone, they have the power to complicate things. So, the first step is to sway public opinion in your favor, neutralizing their ability to manipulate the situation. It’s about dividing the community.”
“Public opinion…”
In the past, I didn’t pay much attention to that, but experiencing Jin Se-jeong’s magic and seeing articles about me filled with supportive comments made me change my mind.
I couldn’t confirm whether they were being sincere or not, but the increase in allies was reassuring.
But most of the comments say they loved Oppa. Looking at the age distribution, it seemed like the majority were in their 30s. Even if I asked Jin Se-jeong, she would say it had always been like that. It’s like an unresolved mystery.
“They recognize that Transcendent Choi Jun-ho’s anger is justified.”
…So, I couldn’t resist Jin Se-jeong’s persuasion and ended up doing a live broadcast of eating the lunchbox.
Was this the right thing to do?
Really?
At first, I had no expectations.
I thought it was just a process to get a few people on my side, but it ended up with 300,000 people watching me eat a single lunch box.
Was this the effect of a live broadcast?
“They’re all rooting for you, Transcendent Choi Jun-ho.”
Jin Se-jeong, was she a magician?
Jin Se-jeong was more impressive than Argos’ eyes, that claimed to turn the world upside down.
What kind of magic was this, exactly?
The comment section was filled with anger. They shared a similar sentiment with me.
All I did on the broadcast was to say that this lunchbox wasn’t worth 6,000 won. That’s all I did.
The impact of a 30-minute investment was truly intense.
Articles were already coming out.
Among them, the prominent headline belonged, of course, to Go Ye-jin’s.
“Now, you can do as the Transcendent wishes. Do you have any other suggestion?”
“No, because I trust you.”
“Thank you for trusting me.”
Jin Se-jeong’s small body appeared very big.
***
When I headed to Seoul City Hall, the vice mayor of the city greeted me.
“I am Ham Gook-gi, the vice-mayor. It’s an honor to meet you, Transcendent-nim.”
“I’m Choi Jun-ho.”
It’s a name on the blacklist given to me by Cheon Myeong-guk.
Ham Gook-gi bowed his head.
“First of all, I apologize to Transcendent Choi Jun-ho for causing concern.”
“It’s okay.”
After all, what I felt was at a very small level. I just wanted to understand the process that led to such an incident.
Just how much local tax I pay to the city of Seoul from the taxes I pay to the government?
Wasn’t it natural to be curious about how that tax was being used?
“What I want to know is the process of selecting the lunchbox company.”
“Ah, yes. That’s, well, it’s quite an old matter.”
“Do you not have any documents?”
“No, I do have them. But it’s a bit ambiguous. Haha!”
Awkwardly laughing, he looked at me. Just by that, I could tell what he was thinking.
It seemed like he was trying to brush it off. Just as I expected.
“If it’s an old matter, then these lunchboxes have been distributed for a long time.”
“Yes, probably because we trusted them when assigning the work. These kinds of issues arose.”
“That’s an unbelievable story.”
“…”
Ham Gook-gi’s mouth closed. I could almost hear the sound of his thoughts rolling in his head.
Even if public opinion was on my side, that wouldn’t change the mindset of someone trying to justify themselves.
“Which department selected the lunchbox company?”
“Well, it was a department that existed before, but it’s currently in a state of dissolution and consolidation.”
“Then we should look around that department. Will you bring the documents?”
“Well, I…”
“Vice Mayor.”
“Yes.”
“What I want to know is about the department that was involved with the lunchbox company. I’m not here to be persuaded by the vice mayor’s words, but rather to quickly resolve the situation. Your words, no matter what you say won’t convince me.”
With my decisive words, Ham Gook-gi couldn’t deflect the conversation any longer. He called in an employee to fetch the documents and began justifying himself while glaring at me.
“At that time, the department went through the bidding process and selected an organization and company called ‘Together Sharing,’ which is a civic group. However, in addition to the lunchbox quality, we also considered their contributions to the city and the creditworthiness of the company’s representative…”
“Then we should start by investigating the civic group that selected that company.”
“Is that so? Then we will thoroughly investigate ourselves…”
“Vice Mayor.”
“Yes?”
Once I knew who was involved, the next steps became clear. There’s no need to wait for the city to investigate and provide information to me.
And having recalled information about Ham Gook-gi, I couldn’t bear it any longer.
“I’ve heard that Vice Mayor is listed as a director of that civic group.”
“Oh, no! I’m affiliated with a different organization. There’s no connection whatsoever.”
“Then why is your name on the list?”
If it’s falsely listed, it meant he had taken a serious bribe. If he was affiliated, then the vice mayor must have used his influence in selecting the lunchbox company.
Now that the truth had been blatantly exposed, watching him make excuses made me feel like he’s taking me for a fool.
“Well, um…”
I was starting to get allergic to his bullshit.
Listening to such pathetic excuses, I feel an impulse to smash his head against something.
Having had enough, I raised my hand.
“I want to see how long your eloquent tongue really is, so I kept listening to your nonsense.”
Crack!
“Ah!”
As my hand, loaded with Land Mine, reached his collarbone, a creepy cracking sound echoed, and Ham Gook-gi collapsed with a scream.
Regrettable, truly regrettable.
How could someone continue spouting nonsense in front of me and stick to their excuses when they knew what’s coming to them?
If he just admitted his mistake and confessed obediently… well, even then, I would probably still have made him like this.
As the door opened because of the screaming inside, people entered.
There was fear in the gaze directed towards me.
With a wave of my hand, I handed over the materials I’d brought with me. I called to Ham Gook-gi.
“Tell the mayor to come.”
Still, I thought being from the ruling party would make the conversation go smoothly.
Did the president not explain things properly?
If that’s the case, it would seem better to go and find out directly.
“If he doesn’t come, then I’ll go to him.”