Chapter 496

Jae-soon found himself sitting on a mountain of debt that was almost too much to bear.

Of course, when considering that he had at least saved his life… spending a lot of money might not be such a bad thing after all.

It wasn’t that Jae-soon’s personality was flawed; it was just that he was an outstanding journalist.

With the use of divine objects, his name had been gaining a notoriety akin to infamy along with a rising reputation.

So, if nothing unexpected happened, he could have resolved his financial issues in no time.

If nothing unexpected happened, that is.

But unfortunately, an “unexpected” thing was at hand.

“Yes, how may I assist you?”

“Ah… we’re from the Homicide Division.”

Detectives flooded into the hospital.

And it wasn’t simply to investigate a suspect; they arrived with the ominous air of having come to capture someone definitively deemed a criminal.

The police at the hospital stated that Jae-soon was identified as a primary suspect in a murder case.

They even claimed to have recordings of near-confessions.

Moreover, a celebrity had clearly witnessed the crime and had reportedly agreed to testify in court.

At this point, calling him a suspect was virtually equivalent to declaring him the criminal.

Besides, it wasn’t just any crime.

It was a crime that far surpassed fraud, theft, or robbery….

They had come to apprehend a suspect in the recently notorious Eccentric Murder Case.

And that suspect was someone who had yet to regain consciousness….

So the hospital found itself in a tricky situation.

No, it was already in a bind.

“Hello. We’ve come to report.”

As if information had leaked from the police station, journalists began to swarm in after the cops.

“Hello! We’d like to interview Mr. Jae-soon. No, we want to interview him personally.”

“Can we enter the hospital room where Mr. Jae-soon is staying? No, we want to visit him.”

“We don’t need long—just 10 minutes, no, 5 minutes! Can we talk to Mr. Jae-soon?!”

And just like that, the reporters surged towards the staff like crazed zombies.

They began demanding to see Jae-soon, take his pictures, and gather information about him. They even went so far as to approach doctors and nurses to pry out whatever details they could.

“Security personnel! Security personnel!”

Naturally, the hospital was furious about the reporters’ antics.

It wasn’t just their overzealous enthusiasm; they were causing a disturbance that disrupted medical care, and they had no choice but to be angry.

The hospital mobilized security personnel to forcibly remove the reporters, who shouted about their rights, but hospital staff ignored them and pushed them out anyway.

It wasn’t just that the reporters’ behavior had escalated to the point of being called ‘antics’… it was also due to the nature of the reporters’ mission.

Had they come to cover some good story or light gossip about a popular celebrity, the hospital might not have been so resolute in kicking them out. After all, the focus would eventually shift to them, and the hospital would merely have to endure a brief inconvenience.

However, this time was different.

A murder case.

A violent crime serious enough to be called an Eccentric Murder Case.

And on top of that, a major suspect was at death’s door.

And the hospital… had to save that suspect.

Why?

Because it’s a hospital.

A place meant to save lives.

The issue was, despite the hospital acting with this basic principle in mind, there were plenty of people who would look down on them for it.

They would argue that focusing on a criminal while neglecting other patients is a bad idea, that letting a criminal die without treatment is cheaper, and that keeping him alive would just lead to wasting taxpayer money in prison.

The world was filled with people harboring intense animosity towards criminals.

And that animosity didn’t just stop at criminals themselves.

It directed itself towards anyone who helped or treated them.

This meant the hospital was put into a position where it could unfairly take the brunt of public ire.

In such a situation, there weren’t many options available.

Given the person brought into the hospital was a prime suspect in a murder case, it wasn’t acceptable to simply stand by and watch him die, was it?

To ignore him simply because he was a criminal, or to send him to another hospital on the grounds that they don’t treat criminals?

That was out of the question.

It was something that couldn’t be done—and even if it could, it shouldn’t happen.

So was there a way to minimize the backlash?

There were options.

Being cooperative, negotiating with the reporters, or suppressing them with power to keep them from acting recklessly.

None of those methods would be too difficult to employ.

But the problem was with this suspect.

The journalist.

Not just any journalist, but a rising star in the field.

And the problem was, this insane journalist had a rabid glimmer in his eyes as he observed the other journalists who had gathered to investigate.

Was it resentment?

Vengeance?

Obsession?

Who knew.

It was impossible to pinpoint their emotions.

But anyone who saw them trying to talk to Jae-soon or even reach for his belongings would realize—

It was a much darker, sinister connection, laced with interest and illegality, rather than one of friendship or camaraderie.

And naturally, to quell such madness, one shouldn’t resolve it through ordinary means.

Would simple cooperation or relationships with the newspaper work on people who looked like they were about to lose their minds?

Thus the hospital had but one course of action.

Just kick them out.

The hospital decided it wouldn’t engage with any reporters until those crazed eyes returned to normal.

But….

“Like hell, I can’t find it just because I can’t get inside!”

“I knew I should’ve brought a telephoto lens….”

Simply forcing the reporters outside wasn’t enough to quell their madness.

Some journalists snapped photos of the hospital room where Jae-soon was suspected to be with telephoto lenses, while others flew drones to capture footage inside the hospital. Some even attempted to scale the building’s exterior to break into the room Jae-soon was in.

“…Do you know why these crazy reporters are acting like this?”

“How would I know….”

It was hard for the hospital staff not to be perplexed by their desperate demeanor, which went beyond mere reporting.

Yes, being a suspect in a murder case was unusual.

But it hardly felt worthy of igniting such fervor.

And considering that the suspect still hadn’t regained consciousness, it felt even less so. What more could one do than snap a few photos of a person who’s lost consciousness?

Well, if it was a major scoop, one could perhaps justify it…. but it was hardly worth such high stakes.

Couldn’t they just write an article and grab a few routine pictures to accompany it? Even shooting from a distance or capturing the busy doctors and nurses inside the hospital could provide a similar effect.

So the hospital couldn’t help but feel something was off about the reporters’ behavior.

However, there was a reason behind these near-maniacal actions from the journalists.

It was that singular object that had sent all these reporters spinning into madness.

Not only had it provoked reporters from Chungcheong-do, but it had compelled journalists from all over the country to gather as well.

The cause for the illegal actions and the obsession with Jae-soon?

To steal away an item he possessed.

More precisely, they wanted to eliminate any chance of their “weakness” being exposed that was contained within that object.

“Dammit, dammit, dammit! I have to steal that photo he has…!”

“The memory card, the memory card! He’s definitely carrying a memory card around. My weaknesses are on there.”

“What a soulless bastard. Treating people like slaves.”

“This is the only chance I have. If I don’t do it now, I’ll never have another opportunity to steal that bastard’s belongings…!”

Jae-soon had done everything and anything to elevate his own honor.

The lengths he went to for evidence to back up the information he acquired through divine objects included installing listening devices and hidden cameras without a second thought, even going so far as to bribe those around him to collect footage. He had even manipulated evidence and was unrestrained in his threats against those involved.

What drove him to do such extremes?

Simple.

He had to write articles.

He had to break exclusives and raise his reputation.

Naturally, this process birthed countless enemies.

Those involved, the people around them, their families…

With each article Jae-soon wrote or exclusive he broke, the number of chances grew.

For ordinary people, the level of threat to their safety would be significant.

But even amidst these circumstances, Jae-soon did not stop.

Rather, to protect himself from those who had a grudge against him, he employed even more extreme methods.

He utilized divine objects to uncover their weaknesses, hired intermediaries to dig up dirt on them, and if necessary, enlisted gangsters to ensure they would feel threatened.

And if all that failed?

He took matters into his own hands.

Before being half-eaten by the fairy, Jae-soon had already proven that he would engage in illegal actions for his goals. Yet after being half-consumed by the fairy, his morals and ethics crumbled, making it laughably easy for him to harm anyone.

Thus, Jae-soon kept crossing the line.

Ever further beyond.

And the lines he crossed made it clear that even his associates weren’t exceptions.

“To hell with the spirit of partnership.”

“Just because I gave some honest advice about your love life doesn’t mean you can intervene? Like hell I care about your infidelity! Bastard…!”

“Adults can place small bets with money. You complain while sucking the life out of me…. What the hell.”

“I have to find a way, any way, to eliminate the evidence. I have to find and destroy it before I get caught by that bastard!”

“Die. I don’t care if you live or die. I just need that evidence…. The recordings that bastard has…!”

Surprisingly, Jae-soon treated the reporters the same way.

In fact, he treated them even more ruthlessly.

Unlike others, who would use them once and toss them aside for exclusives, he used the weaknesses he’d discovered to control his accomplices like slaves.

He manipulated their weaknesses and forced them to do arduous, thankless tasks they weren’t meant for. Sometimes he had them write articles for him under his name, and when valuable information came along, he would seize it first for his own.

And despite Jae-soon’s tyranny, they were powerless to resist.

Why?

Because their weaknesses were in his hands.

The fallout from his actions could shatter their families, endanger their journalistic careers, or even land them in prison.

Thus they had no choice but to dance to Jae-soon’s tune.

But now.

An opportunity had arrived.

A chance to break free from Jae-soon’s clutches.

A chance to escape from the hellish life of servitude.

The golden opportunity to eliminate the ‘physical evidence’ that had kept them in silence and subservience!

“Unconscious and a suspect in a murder case…”

“Plus, I heard that the important data he possesses is always carried on his person?”

For that reason, as soon as they heard news about Jae-soon, the reporters’ eyes lit up with mania as they hurried towards Chungju.

Fines meant nothing, and they rushed to the hospital where Jae-soon was, fueled by a single-minded purpose to get there as quickly as possible.

The oddity about how such detailed information had reached only those reporters bound by weaknesses, the question of how information had been disseminated at an unnatural speed to them, the fact that they couldn’t even clearly recall the face or voice of the mysterious informant, and the overheated atmosphere akin to one who had taken a drug—all these signs of collective madness were unnoticed by them, as they were desperately trying to approach Jae-soon.

---