12 Hours After

Translator: Khan

Editor: Aelryinth

The incident went dynamic. Another counter-article came out two hours after Tak Joon-gi's counter-interview at 5 p.m.

[I don't have any acquaintance.]

[I never did.]

[I can't remember.]

However, an article with evidence contradicted everything that Tak Joon-gi had said. The Internet comments went crazy.

- Wow, this son of a bitch is lying without licking his lips.-

- He's a real jerk. He thinks common people are pigs and dogs, so he is lying like that.-

- Wow, is the third generation of Suyeon Group manipulating stock prices? We need bamboo spears to kill him.-

- We don't have to pick up bamboo spears. I think the judge will take care of it.-

- I think there are murder threats and conspiracy to commit murder... I'd like you to make a stern judgment, Your Honor.-

At this point, he was stuck between a rock and a hard place. These days, Internet public opinion was very scary. If the people's court went like this on the Internet, the judiciary would be affected as well. I scrolled down and read them one by one.

- I'm mad hearing this. Let's boycott the Suyeon Travel.-

There was also such a story written. We had never done a boycott properly in our country, but it was still interesting. If people went so far as to boycott Suyeon Travel, Tak Joon-gi would lose all his remaining money.

'Oh... yes.' I checked the stock price of the Suyeon Travel, long after the stock market was over. Today's trading was generally good. Shares of Suyeon Travel, which had been rising in the plus or minus two percent range early in the day, plummeted by -6% at around 12:30 p.m on the news of Oracle News. Even a small Internet news article would have done the same because of the words "stock manipulation." On the KOSPI and KOSDAQ, it would cause a delisting without allowing any excuses if the owner manipulated stock prices.

'Even Tak Joon-gi didn't manipulate the stock price of Suyeon Travel.' If he had done something strange with Suyeon Travel, he would be dead. Investors must have been scared, too. However, after a while, the stock price bounced back a little, as there was no follow-up article. There was low-cost buying in a situation where the truth was not known. It stayed level a moment, and around 1:50 a.m., at the same time that the article appeared in the Daewon Daily News, it plunged to -18%. There was also a difference in public confidence. Suyeon Travel shares ended with a -24% plunge.

I suddenly remembered the conversation I had had with Tak Joon-gi: 'What do you get from doing this?'

At that time, I had confidently said, "implementation of justice," I made a lot of money, too. This was because Vice President Jang had put up a short stock sale on Suyeon Travel.

'Well, if the Suyeon Travel itself doesn't have any big problems, it'll rebound, but...' However, Crow's report said Tak Joon-gi secretly used his shares of the Suyeon Travel as collateral when buying Bisang Construction shares. The embezzlement and breach of trust were also scary negative factors that could cross the threshold of delisting. It was highly likely that it would also be revealed if an investigation was launched.

I picked up the phone and called Secretary Seo, "Get me through to Vice President Jang."

"Yes, boss." As requested, Secretary Seo connected the phone to Vice President Jang, who was sitting in his office.

"Did you call me, boss?"

"Vice president, how's the short stock sale team doing?"

"They have made a big profit today."

I didn't mention the name of the stock, but Vice President Jang knew. They'd been putting a mark on the Suyeon Group since almost a month ago.

"Let's go a little stronger. I read the article and I don't think it'll be able to rebound until next week, at least."

"Yes, boss."

Come to think of it, it was quite similar to the tactics of Tak Joon-gi. It was a way to make money by putting in a short stock sale, making news, and plunging stock prices. However, there was a fundamental difference: Tak Joon-gi had manufactured bad news that was not true and had sent it out to the world, and I had revealed the bad news that had been hidden.

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Tiriri, tiriri, tiriri. I opened my eyes. When I got out of bed and looked at my watch, it was an alarm ringing for me to see the email at 8:50 p.m.

'How long have I slept?' This evening, I had dinner with Secretary Seo and Jang Geun together, and as soon as I got home, I fell asleep. It must have been because I had been worried about handling the case against Tak Joon-gi all day. Still tired, I stood up, rubbing my eyes.

I had to go to the computer as intended by the alarm, but instead, I sat on the sofa and turned on the television. I wanted to see what the nine o'clock news said. I put the afternoon email news off a little bit, because it didn't hurt much if I watched it a little later.

'I'll look at it as soon as it's over, though.' I watched the news with such thoughts. As it became a hot topic, the first item was naturally the news about Tak Joon-gi.

[In April of this year, there was an incident that shook Seoul City. It was a stock price manipulation case, a breach of trust by Bisang Construction. Three months after the case was closed, a new suspect is in the spotlight. Kim Yoon-soo reports.]

I watched it with my hands behind my head and my legs crossed.

[Tak Joon-gi, a director of the Suyeon Group, has been a very active individual investor and…]

The nine o'clock news clearly listed everything that had happened today.

[Director Tak Joon-gi denied the article, but it turned out that in the following articles…]

I had two thoughts when I saw it. The first was that now Tak Joon-gi was done. As his evil deeds were so starkly exposed on the nine o'clock news, he was completely done. He wouldn't make it back. Even if it was the Suyeon Group, they couldn't stop this.

The second thought was, 'This... what I did is on the nine o'clock news.' Thinking about it, it was true. The start was just fucking up Tak Joon-gi, but now it was on the nine o'clock news. And was the nine o'clock news the end? Every Internet community was making the best of the articles in which Tak Joon-gi's bad behavior was being denounced. The event I had planned was becoming a hot topic for the country. I didn't mean it to, but it happened.

'Well, the power of the media is sure strong...'

In the past, I had met with Lee Won-jae in the president's office for the second time.

"First time seeing you. I'm Han Sang-hoon of Invictus Investment."

"I'm Lee Won-jae of the Daewon Ilbo."

Since then, I'd been thinking that as my power to know the future and the current power of the media met, they could display tremendous synergy. If I intended to do so, I might be able to sway public opinion.

"... We are afraid that he's going to run away. We are determining who will have custody of the investigation."

While I was thinking about it, the news on Tak Joon-gi finished up. I was watching the news, but it didn't stick with me, probably because I knew everything, or I expected it.

'Of course, he should be in custody. We can't let that trash in human form walk around.'

I turned off the television and walked toward the window. If I looked outside the window from my apartment, I could see Gangnam. There were so many people coming and going. All of them must have known what happened today, what happened to Tak Joon-gi...

Someone was with a family and someone was with a friend, and they might have talked about it.

'Did you see the news, Mom?' 'Yes, it was scary. That's what the third generation of chaebol did.'

'Wow, he is a son of a bitch. But even if he had so much money, would he still want more?'

As I thought about it, suddenly, I felt a little scared. 'Maybe... all of them... I can instill my thoughts in… I can falsely deceive the public, if I want, or I can honestly guide them. It is easy to release future information through the Daewon Daily News and Oracle News.'

Once again, I returned to my question and the answer from Customer Service.

'Why did you give me this opportunity?'

'Think of yourself.'

I muttered to myself, "Think of yourself..."

Perhaps it was not just evading an answer, but a reply to inspire me to ask questions on my own. 'Surely this is such a great force, letting me see into the future. I can have goodwill without limit, or with an evil will, I can bring about great destruction. If I don't think for myself, it could be a catastrophic event.

'Tak Joon-gi was a piece of filth, so it is natural to bury him… but I'll have to be as careful as I can when it comes to other things. Especially when I spread the news of the future on modern media...'

As I was thinking about this, the cell phone on the sofa rang. Wi yi-ying. I went and picked it up. There was a message from Ah-young. The long text said, "I arrived in LA after a month and I am enjoying my last few days of vacation with Sarah. Many men have made passes at the two of us, but I have turned them down. I miss you." I grinned at it.

'By the way, she doesn't know the news about Tak Joon-gi yet. What will she say when she sees the last enemy go to jail?' I started to reply to her with such thoughts.

But there was another text message. The sender was surprisingly Tak Joon-gi, and he had sent a text himself at 8:42 a.m.

'What is this?' 8:42 a.m.? It had been before the alarm woke me up. He had sent a text message, but I didn't see it because I was sleeping.

I opened the text. It was as long as Ah-young's, but I didn't want to see this very much. From beginning to end, it was full of vicious curses and threats and abuse. I scrolled down quickly. It was a fine-grained text, so I could see the speaker's intentions just by looking at the last sentence.

'... Watch what will happen. I will avenge myself. You son of a bitch!'

I guessed he had not been under arrest because he had texted me on his cell phone. I was looking at the text. 'Do it if you can in jail.' I was going to reply, but I didn't want to send it.

'Shall I classify it to the spam mail?' I thought, but I decided not to. Only one text came at 8:42. After tomorrow, he would not be able to send a text message anyway. He could not take his cell phone to prison.

'Well, I'm a little nervous, though.' I thought he might do something strange before he went to prison tomorrow.

'... Do I do a search on the news in 12 Hours After?' This was what I was trying to prevent something. I turned on the computer, got the email and wrote 'Tak Joon-gi' in the People Search.

"Hun?" Something surprising happened, different from what I thought. I clicked on the article right away. After reading the article carefully, I bit my lower lip and thought, 'This... this can't be right?'