Money Keeps Piling Up No Matter How Much I Spend

Chapter 192

Translator: Dreamscribe"Driver! Stop!"

"Wh... what?"

"Stop the car!!"

Screeeeech-!!

The driver slammed the brakes and the car came to a halt in the middle of the road.

Next to me, the Vice President nearly jumped out of his skin and let out a gasp at my bizarre behavior.

"S-sir, CEO. What on earth......."

Right at that moment.

"W-wait. That, that thing!"

Cra-cra-crash-!!

The very same massive truck I had just seen in my vision grazed our car and barreled straight into a building.

"......!"

The shocking sight left us all speechless.

"Is everyone...... okay?"

Only at the sound of my voice did the driver and the Vice President snap back to their senses.

"W-we're fine. What about you, sir?"

"I'm fine too. It only grazed the car."

The driver's face had gone completely white with fear.

"If, if I had hit the brakes just a moment later, by now we'd be......."

Crushed like a tin can against that truck currently embedded in the building.

The vision just now must have been my Intuition sending me a danger signal to save my life.

"You actually saw that truck coming in that split second, sir?"

"Ah...... yes."

I hadn't seen a thing.

If my Intuition hadn't shown me that vision, we would have been in a devastating accident.

"But why on earth would that truck charge through like that? This isn't the kind of area where that would happen."

"Maybe it was drowsy driving?"

"For drowsy driving, the speed was way too fast. Just look at that building, it's completely destroyed. To call it drowsy driving......."

The Vice President wore a peculiar expression.

I found the situation strange too.

A truck, out of nowhere.

"Sir! Are you all right?"

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

"Chief Kim. Get the CEO to a hospital first. Have him go through a full examination to make sure nothing's wrong."

"Yes sir!"

"Ah, Vice President. I'm really fine......."

"No, you're not. Traffic accidents always leave aftereffects, guaranteed."

"No, I'm seriously fi......."

"Chief Kim. Make sure he gets every single examination. No matter what."

"Yes sir!!"

No amount of insisting I was fine made any difference.

I was dragged off by the fussing bodyguards, and as I went, I stared at the truck, smoke still billowing from it.

"......."

Just as the driver said, if the brakes had been a moment too late.......

The thought alone was terrifying.

* * *

"What about the driver?"

"He's in critical condition, they say. He was taken to the hospital right away."

"You sent him to one of ours, right?"

"Yes."

"Tell them to keep him alive no matter what. He absolutely cannot die. Oh, and Chief Kim."

"Yes?"

"You got a cigarette?"

Vice President Kang Ji-hwan put a cigarette back in his mouth, one he had long since quit.

"Shouldn't you go to the hospital too, sir?"

"I'm fine. Right now, looking after myself can wait. This comes first. What was this truck supposed to be hauling?"

"We checked, and it wasn't carrying anything in particular."

"So an empty cargo truck nearly plowed into us?"

"Yes. We saw it from behind as well, and it was truly a razor-thin margin. On top of that, the line of sight was a complete blind spot, and the speed was so high that seeing it and dodging would have been impossible."

"Is that so?"

"Yes. Honestly, it's a mystery how the driver even knew to slam the brakes in time."

Ji-hwan let out a short laugh at that.

"The driver didn't know. The CEO made him stop."

"What?"

"We were in the middle of a conversation and he suddenly had the car stopped. Right after that, the truck grazed us and slammed into the building."

"That's impossible. The side where the truck came from was blocked by buildings; there's no way he could have seen it in advance......."

Ji-hwan had been wondering the same thing.

In that split second, CEO Jung Jin-ho had clearly been staring straight ahead, not to the side.

As if entranced by something.......

"Anyway, that's not what matters right now."

This truck was extremely suspicious.

"There aren't even any signs that the brakes were applied."

"Correct. Judging by the speed alone, the driver had the accelerator floored. And falling asleep at the wheel in broad daylight on a road that isn't even a highway, that's not easy to do."

"You agree it looks deliberate?"

"Yes. This was absolutely not drowsy driving. Just looking at the crash site, you can feel the intent to kill."

Intent to kill.

That was the precise way to put it.

"Find out which department is handling the investigation. And tell them to report to me every hour. I'll also reach out to the National Police Commissioner directly."

"Yes sir."

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

There was someone who needed to hear about this before anyone else.

* * *

"Good lord, Jin-ho. What in the world happened?"

"Come on, hyungnim. You finally go on vacation and you come all the way here?"

"Hey! You think I care about vacation right now!? I hear you were in a massive accident!"

"I wasn't in an accident. As you can see, I'm perfectly fine. So please let me check out."

"Absolutely not! That huge truck grazed your car. Even if it doesn't look like much, do you have any idea how serious post-accident aftereffects can be?"

I had been forcibly dragged in by the bodyguards, put through every examination, and was now confined in the VIP Ward.

The doctor said there were thankfully no issues, but suggested we monitor things for a few days just in case.

"Didn't you suddenly crouch down because you got dizzy a while back? And at the banquet, you said your stomach was churning and didn't eat a thing."

That wasn't because there was anything wrong with my body. My Intuition had activated on its own and done that to me.

"Just in case, stay here for a week."

"A whole week? Then who's going to handle things at the company?"

"Forget about the company. This works out perfectly. I've been hearing you do nothing but work without taking a break, and your parents have been worried sick about it too."

"You've been in contact with my parents?"

"Heh. I reach out to them regularly. Just visited them, in fact. Anyway, you're a guy who's about to have a wedding. You need to rest. The doctor also said it looks like you've been overworking."

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

"And don't play games for too long either! Games are off-limits for now."

"That's a bit......."

"Quiet! A man who's about to start a family should take care of his health first."

Hyungnim's mind was made up.

Just looking at the bodyguards he had already stationed all around the VIP Ward, it was clear I would be stuck here for a full week without any escape.

I was already getting restless.

"What about your vacation?"

"It's fine. I can go another time. Actually, I was planning to cut the vacation short and take a trip to America with you."

"America?"

"Yeah. You know President Aiden? His term's almost up, and since he's basically running a lame-duck administration, he doesn't seem to have much to do, so apparently he's been gaming pretty hard. He said he'd go on a Raid with all the Guild Members on the American side."

"You're going to watch?"

"Watch? I'm going to join the Raid. Aiden, the man's a Healer, you know? When else am I ever going to get a Heal from the President of the United States?"

"Whoa. Can't you take me along?"

"No. You're banned from overseas travel for the time being."

"I keep telling you, it was a minor accident."

"Doesn't matter. The answer is no."

A Raid with the President of the United States, no less.

And the chance to receive a Heal from that very president.

But hyungnim seemed determined to keep me from going anywhere for the foreseeable future.

I felt like a princess locked in an enchanted tower.

* * *

"Take good care of yourself. I'll come again."

"You don't have to."

"Heh. I'll come so often you'll be sick of me, so don't worry."

"Ugh."

"Well then, I'm off."

"Okay. Take care."

Hwang Dae-woon walked out of the hospital room with a smile, but the moment the door closed, his expression turned to stone.

"Is everyone gathered?"

"Yes. They're all waiting in the conference room."

"Let's go."

His voice was as cold as his hardened face.

"The Chairman has arrived."

The executives waiting in the conference room swallowed nervously at the look on Chairman Hwang's face, one they had never seen before.

They could tell he was absolutely livid.

"Everyone, sit."

Hwang Dae-woon sat down and exhaled a trembling breath.

"Has everyone looked into this?"

"Yes."

"So, was this accident a genuine coincidence, or was it intentional? The Vice President who was at the scene with Jin-ho says it looks like someone deliberately set it up. Is that right?"

"We need to investigate further to be certain, but...... there are definitely more than a few suspicious points. The driver had substantial gambling debts, which were suddenly paid off a few days ago. And he hadn't had any hauling work for over a month."

"And a guy like that suddenly crawls out and rams into us?"

"Yes. Unless someone put him up to it, it's hard to imagine he'd do something like that out of the blue. And the fact that his debts were completely settled...... makes it all the more suspicious."

The picture formed roughly in his mind.

Someone had lured this driver with money and made him carry out the deed.

"It's likely connected to the gambling ring the driver frequented. They may have threatened him first, then paid him off to do the job."

"Aren't those kinds of illegal gambling outfits usually run by gangsters?"

"That's correct."

"So these gangster bastards had the nerve to try and take out our Jin-ho?"

Hwang Dae-woon's face flushed red.

"Can you catch them?"

"They'll be operating as a Cell Organization, both domestically and overseas. If we try to do this through legal channels, it'll take a considerable amount of time. We'd need joint investigations with multiple agencies."

"And if we don't go through legal channels?"

"Overseas, we can give the order to Sentinel, and domestically, we can deploy Kwangwoon's own security team for a swift resolution. However, if things get bloody, the police might get involved, and someone could film the whole thing and post it on social media or community forums."

The Chairman shifted his gaze.

"Director Yang. Can this be managed?"

"Yes. Just as we controlled social media through AI during the France incident, we can do the same this time. Kwangwoon operates all the major community platforms, so we can handle any videos or posts the moment they go up. The press can be controlled as well."

"What about the police?"

"We'll reach out to them separately. We'll instruct them not to respond to calls in certain areas. The police are on our side, so there's nothing to worry about."

Kwangwoon was more than just a flagship corporation representing South Korea; it was a colossal group that moved the gears of global finance.

Furthermore, Kwangwoon had connections reaching from Korean politicians to every branch of public authority.

Precisely for moments like this, when those connections needed to be put to use.

Even if someone somehow lacked a direct line to them, there was not a single politician in this country who would defy Kwangwoon's will.

"Then get started immediately. There's no way these bastards acted on their own. Find out who's behind them, every last one."

"Yes, Chairman."

The deliberate media exposure that had turned Jin-ho into a public figure had been done precisely to prevent something like this.

If Jung Jin-ho became famous and his face was widely known, it would become that much harder to touch him.

But someone had crossed the line.

He didn't know who they were just yet.

But he would make them pay.

In the most horrific way imaginable.

* * *

"......How is it possible to fail again?"

Three times in total.

And to have failed all three, that was a tremendous blow to the pride of people who had spent years in training and carrying out covert operations.

"The first attempt was a sniper shot. But then Jung Jin-ho suddenly crouched down on the spot, and we lost the firing angle."

"Yes. And the second was an assassination by poison, but Jung Jin-ho didn't touch his glass at all......."

"Right. So this time, to finish him for certain, we took on the exposure risk and sent a truck straight at him. And you're telling me that failed too?"

The route had been confirmed.

The truck had even set off right on cue with the traffic signal.

But then Jung Jin-ho's car suddenly stopped, and the truck plowed into the building all by itself.

"How does this make any sense!? How can you fail three times in a row!? Can we even call ourselves the Central Operations Bureau, the pride of the Chinese Communist Party!?"

Bureau Director Zhang Ao-ming raged and shouted.

"Does everyone understand how critical this mission is? This was an operation to send a clear warning to Kwangwoon, which has the audacity to sow internal discord within our Party. If we fail, it's our heads that roll!"

China was in turmoil.

The current regime, which had seemed unshakable, was showing signs of collapse.

And all of it was because of Kwangwoon.

Kwangwoon had been working behind the scenes for years to engineer China's destabilization, and as a result, the country had reached a point where civil war could erupt at any moment.

In response, the current regime had taken the drastic measure of planning the assassination of Jung Jin-ho, considered the core of Kwangwoon.

Killing Jung Jin-ho would not end Kwangwoon, but it would at least send the message that China would not sit idly by.

And yet they had failed to kill him three times.

Every single time, by the narrowest of margins.

"Any other options?"

"Jung Jin-ho is currently in the VIP Ward under heavy security, making it extremely difficult. More importantly, Kwangwoon and the Korean government are conducting a massive investigation, rooting out every organization that was involved in our operations. Our agents are no longer safe either; they've all gone into hiding."

Had they succeeded on the first attempt, perhaps things would have been different.

But by failing through the third, they had been exposed.

"You said the plan was executed flawlessly. So how is it possible to fail three times?"

"Director. The first sniper attempt, the second, and now this third one. It may not be that our plans were sloppy."

"What? What do you mean?"

"Doesn't it seem strange? As if the target knew our plans all along, he's dodged every assassination attempt as if mocking us. Deliberately crouching down, not touching the poisoned glass, and this time, stopping the car just before the truck arrived."

"You're saying......."

"There's a leak on our side. And Jung Jin-ho has been showing us through his actions, laughing at us."

"!?"

The Bureau Director couldn't believe it.

This was the highest-level central bureau, one that only China's elite operatives could access.

And yet there was a Kwangwoon spy inside?

"Halt all operations currently in progress. Every single one."

"Sir? But......."

"If there really is a Kwangwoon spy, then all our intelligence is flowing straight to them right now. Which means the Reform Faction threatening our government knows every one of our plans too. If we don't want to be the ones caught off guard, stopping everything is the right call. Find out who the internal spy is. That comes first! Now!"

Bureau Director Zhang Ao-ming's heart pounded violently.

He had long heard that Kwangwoon's eyes were scattered across every corner of the world, but he had never dreamed they could have infiltrated this far.

Just how far did their reach extend, and how much did they already know?

China was no longer safe.

*****

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