Money Keeps Piling Up No Matter How Much I Spend

Chapter 202

Translator: Dreamscribe"Sir. Are you alright?"

Flooded with adrenaline, Trump had barely escaped the danger zone when his senses finally began to return.

He had no idea what had just happened back there, or what possessed him to thrust his arm out and scream like that.

He clearly heard several more gunshots and even saw Secret Service agents go down because of them, yet he never stopped raising his arm high and shouting.

"My left ear's been tingling for a while now. What happened?"

"It appears... a bullet grazed your left ear, sir."

"Grazed?"

"Yes. If the angle had been just slightly off..."

Just as the head of his security detail said, if the angle had been even slightly different, the bullet would have gone straight through Trump's head.

"......"

A chill ran through Trump's entire body.

Cold sweat trickled down at that suffocating, dizzying realization.

"The shooter? Did they get him?"

"We haven't received word yet."

"......"

As the tension drained from his body, Trump felt all his strength leave him.

"Sir. I'm truly sorry to bring this up at a time like this, but... when you were shot at earlier, the way you seized that moment without hesitation, that was incredible quick thinking."

"......"

"Today's news will be broadcast around the world, and your actions, standing firm even after being shot, will become a massive story. For a while, every news outlet will be talking about you."

"That's right. It's only fitting that people praise a candidate who didn't lose his courage even in the face of gunfire. The Republican Party will put out articles saying you're the one who truly deserves to be a world leader. Perhaps... just perhaps, this could be the opportunity to overtake Hillis in the polls."

"......"

Trump, still receiving first aid, said nothing in reply.

If anything, he was trembling all over.

"S-sir?"

"Matthew."

"Ah, yes."

"You saw it too, didn't you? Those bastards... those bastards shot at me."

"Pardon?"

His key Advisor, Matthew, could sense it.

Trump was completely terrified.

Wasn't this the same man who, after being shot, raised his arm high and screamed at the top of his lungs?

Yet the moment he got into the vehicle, his face had gone white and his whole body was shaking.

"Those bastards... those bastards tried to kill me."

"Sir. What do you mean, 'those bastards'?"

"Kwangwoon. Kwangwoon tried to kill me."

Kwangwoon?

The advisors exchanged bewildered glances.

"But there's no way Kwangwoon would do that. Why would they target you..."

"You all just said it yourselves. You said the whole world would be covering me because of what happened. That I might even overtake Hillis in the polls. Exactly what Kwangwoon wanted."

"...!"

The advisors couldn't believe it.

No matter the circumstances, would Kwangwoon really pull something that insane?

"Aiden told me. He said Kwangwoon wouldn't just talk, they'd take direct action. And that when the time came, I'd recognize the signal on my own."

"Even for Kwangwoon, would they really do something this crazy? If the shooter was truly acting on Kwangwoon's orders, what were they planning to do if he missed?"

"They were gambling too."

Either that, or they trusted the shooter's skill.

This was Kwangwoon they were dealing with.

There was no way they had made a mistake.

Just as they never did.

"Didn't things end up exactly the way they wanted? The second today's breaking news goes out, every stock tied to me will hit the Upper Limit Price, won't it? Kwangwoon was buying up my Theme Stocks even before today, weren't they?"

He was right.

Despite everyone mocking them, Kwangwoon had stubbornly kept buying Trump Theme Stocks.

And today, with impeccable timing, the assassination attempt on Trump had occurred.

To call it coincidence was far too blatant.

"Then those crazy sons of bitches at Kwangwoon really...!"

"Sir. We absolutely cannot let this slide."

"He's right. This isn't just anyone we're talking about. An assassination attempt on the man who could be the next president! Even if it was a strategy to boost poll numbers, they still wounded you! And above all, if the aim had been off, your life would have...!"

Trump shook his head.

"It's no use. Do you really think they left any evidence behind?"

"Forces are being deployed right now to apprehend the shooter. If we catch him, the full truth will come out."

"Don't you people know how Japan's former prime minister died? The shooter was caught that time too, but they couldn't find a single connection to Kwangwoon."

"Sir. Please leave this matter to us. We will uncover whoever is behind this."

Trump thought there wasn't a chance in hell.

These were lunatics who had devised a plan to boost poll numbers by sniping a former president in broad daylight.

People like that wouldn't leave loose ends.

Just like Japan, they were certain to find nothing.

"......"

Trump touched his freshly bandaged ear.

Aiden's warning suddenly came to mind.

Hadn't he said it was useless to try to pull anything on Kwangwoon?

This wound now felt like their warning.

* * *

"No. Are they seriously insane?"

The words burst out of me before I could stop them.

"How do you assassinate a presidential candidate in broad daylight?"

"Well, it is the land of the free where everyone's equal in front of a gun. But even I was pretty shocked by this one. No matter how many people in America hate Trump, I never thought someone would try to settle it with a bullet."

It wasn't just me and our staff who were shaken.

The entire world was the same right now.

As a country that had already experienced the unprecedented crisis of a presidential assassination once before, people were treating this incident with extreme gravity.

"What happened to the shooter?"

"They say he was killed during the standoff. Apparently, after his first shot missed Trump, he fired several more rounds. Security personnel were injured as a result, and there were casualties among the supporters at the Campaign Rally as well."

It was truly heartbreaking.

Because of one deranged person, innocent people had died.

"But why did he do it? Honestly, Hillis was ahead in this election, wasn't she?"

"At first, everyone speculated that the shooter acted to eliminate a variable, to prevent a repeat of the last election where Trump won despite trailing in the popular vote. But once they actually investigated, it turned out to be quite different."

Thomas, the twenty-year-old who had shot at Trump.

He had resisted the arriving forces and was killed, after which an investigation was immediately launched.

Everyone naturally assumed he was a mentally disturbed Democrat who had gotten too deep into politics, but it turned out to be the exact opposite.

He was a registered Republican, and reports were emerging that the motive behind the attack was a combination of mental health issues and a desire to escape obscurity and gain fame.

"So nobody put him up to it?"

"The investigation is still in its early stages, so that hasn't been determined yet. But from what's coming out so far, they're saying it was a solo act."

Assassinating a presidential candidate just to get famous.

What a terrifying country.

Thank God our country doesn't allow gun ownership.

Most men here have served in the military, so if they all had guns, they'd be capable of sniping from two hundred meters out.

"By the way, CEO-nim. You know those Trump Theme Stocks we bought?"

"Yes. What's happening with them?"

"The prices are skyrocketing right now. They were already scraping the bottom, and some of them were on the verge of Delisting, so the prices are shooting through the roof."

First tens of trillions of won, then hundreds of trillions had been poured into the global markets.

Not just in America.

Hundreds of trillions of won had been scattered across the globe, buying up every sector that stood to benefit if Trump became president.

Now, all of them were surging in unison.

"......"

But it didn't feel good.

The reason those stocks had risen was because of this shooting.

That was why a heavy weight was pressing down on me.

"But will this actually be enough to turn things around?"

"The Republican Party is pushing hard right now, but the decisive factor was Trump's behavior after being shot. Even with blood streaming down, he was out there shouting 'Make America great again!'"

That performance was still playing every time you turned on the TV.

That was how powerful an impression it had left.

"Is Trump seriously going to become president?"

"We still need to wait and see. This crisis definitely gave him an opening, though."

"But for him to actually win, there's still a long time until the election, and if Trump runs his mouth again..."

The staff kept debating whether Trump would win or lose because of this. But no matter what they said, I just sat back and listened comfortably.

Because I already knew, didn't I?

Who the next president would be.

* * *

The conference room was steeped in a solemn atmosphere.

No, to put it differently, it was suffocating.

"Report."

At Hwang Dae-woon's heavy voice from the head of the table, one of the executives carefully spoke up.

"After a week of thorough investigation by the FBI and U.S. Congress, they've concluded that the individual named Thomas acted alone."

"No one was behind it?"

"Correct. They searched everything from his phone to his computer, ran full forensics, and it only reinforced the conclusion that Thomas acted alone. He apparently had ongoing mental health issues, and above all, he had a strong desire for fame."

"And then Trump just happened to come to his area for a Campaign Rally?"

"Exactly. He believed that by shooting Trump, who was at the center of so much controversy, he could gain enormous fame."

At that, the Chairman let out a brief sigh of relief.

But was relief even the right response here?

"However, Chairman-nim. The Republican Party has apparently been investigating whether this incident might be connected to our Kwangwoon Group."

"...!"

"But no matter how much they've looked, they haven't been able to find anything linking it to us."

"So they're suspecting us right now?"

"Yes. But as I mentioned, there's no evidence."

The suspicion was understandable.

When everyone else had dumped Trump Theme Stocks, Kwangwoon alone had been scooping them up.

And not just a little. They had shown tremendous zeal, scattering hundreds of trillions across the globe.

Then this happened.

Unless you were a fool, you couldn't help but be suspicious.

"......"

Chairman Hwang recalled the conversation he'd had with Jung Jin-ho at the pork belly restaurant.

Back then, Jin-ho had refused to explain why he was amassing Trump Theme Stocks.

All he said at the time was to trust him.

That was why Chairman Hwang had stopped pressing and deliberately changed the subject.

Because he believed there had to be a good reason.

'But was this the reason?'

What if Jin-ho had known about this in advance?

No. What if he had gone beyond knowing and had planned it?

That was why he deliberately said nothing.

Partly to prevent any leaks, and partly because if he had told the truth, there was no way Hwang Dae-woon would have let it happen.

No matter how much he cared for Jin-ho like a younger brother, this was an assassination attempt on an American presidential candidate.

How could anyone not try to stop that?

"Perhaps he didn't want to drag you into it, Chairman-nim. So that he alone would bear all the blood on his hands."

At those words, Hwang Dae-woon's brow furrowed.

"Who the hell is spouting that Bullshit?"

"...Pardon?"

"Are you saying our Jin-ho is involved in something that terrible?"

"B-but Chairman-nim. Given the timing, the probability that CEO Jung Jin-ho is involved is very high..."

"Shut your mouth!"

The executives flinched at Hwang Dae-woon's roar and bowed their heads.

"Walls have ears. If anything we're discussing here leaks out, it could invite misunderstandings we don't need. And I don't believe Jin-ho had anything to do with this. Do I make myself clear?"

Even if Jung Jin-ho had been involved in the Trump assassination attempt, they had to deny it to the bitter end.

Which meant no one could breathe a word of it.

This incident had nothing to do with CEO Jung Jin-ho!

"Get the media under control too. SNS and online communities, same thing. Delete any posts that try to read too much into this, and if anyone makes an issue of it, sue them for spreading false information. Make sure this never comes up again."

"Yes, sir!"

"Now get out, all of you. Get to work."

As the executives filed out, Hwang Dae-woon, now alone, finally let out a shaky breath.

"......"

He stared blankly at the photo of Trump, bleeding, holding his hand high in the air.

For him to have acted that way in such a horrific situation, the explanation was obvious.

It wasn't simply quick thinking.

Trump had already known something like this was going to happen.

Which meant there had been a plan laid out between Jin-ho and Trump.

"......"

Hwang Dae-woon understood perfectly well why Jin-ho hadn't told him about this beforehand.

If things went wrong, Jin-ho wanted to protect him and take all the blame himself.

That was exactly the kind of person he was.

But Hwang Dae-woon wished he could have shouldered at least some of that heavy burden.