Chapter 131: < Protect – Episode 130 – Hosoo Entertainment Group Year-End Meeting [2] >

Even if a bomb went off in Rome, even if New York got attacked with a nuclear missile, even if London went down in flames, there was no way the world would end. The media acted like something huge happened, but there was no way Koreans could hear the gunshots and screams that were going on on the other side of the world. The working people were busy going to work, the students were busy going to school, the farmers were busy farming, and the fishermen went out to sea as usual.

News about terror and whatnot were just stories of other worlds on TV. Just like how the States were watching Europe with popcorn during the World War, war had never happened on American ground. Some might ask if Pearl Harbor wasn’t American ground since it was an island located 9000 kilometers away from American land. With that distance, they might as well have been a foreign land.

No matter how much media and internet developed, there was no way Tokyo residents or Koreans could step into the shoes of New York citizens. While being alike, they were all living in completely different worlds.

“Even if New York goes down, there’s Philadelphia, D.C., Chicago, Miami, Las Vegas, LA, and San Francisco. There’s only one New York, but there many cities that can replace it. Same with Rome and London. The internet and media make it sound like the world is coming to an end, but there are more people who don’t even know it happened or don’t care.”

In particular, the natives of the Amazon didn’t care about what happened on the outside. What was funnier was that when j.a.pan suffered an explosion attack, Spain held a tomato festival. Would Brazil cancel their samba festival just because there was a terrorist attack in Spain? During the World Wars, human civilization was flouris.h.i.+ng. Just like how the war was war and living was living, terror and festivals were two separate things.

“Memorials could be a business. A very expensive business.”

“Are you sure you’re an American, Scott?”

“Haha! I’m a patriot.”

Seeing how he loved capitalism, he must have been an American after all. Ahn Soo Ho talked to Scott Warren on the phone while going back to Korea on his private jet.

“Soo Ho, you have no idea how much money goes into funerals. In America, it costs three times more to die than to be born. Oh! But that excludes childcare costs.”

“Stop the nonsense and get to the point.”

It was tiring to listen to a scam artist babbling on.

“Hosoo Entertainment America.”

“You’re going to work under me?”

“In order to accept foreign investment offers, this would be more of a collaboration… But yeah. I guess I’d be working under you.”

“Under what condition?”

“I want autonomous power.”

“Within reason.”

As long as he wasn’t out to destroy the company, he didn’t want to pose any restrictions, but he also didn’t want to be an investor who just watched on without doing anything. The right person to manage Hosoo Entertainment America was probably Seo Joo Kyung.

‘She has a lot of ambition.’

Hosoo Entertainment was going to be much bigger than the original. He was okay with Seo Joo Kyung going in and giving Scott a hard time. After ending the call, he looked at Jang Seol Hyun who was sleeping next to him. She was originally following Lila around, but once she heard about the London terrorist attack, she immediately flew over to Ahn Soo Ho.

‘What a foolish woman.’

Who would fly over to London where a terrorist attack was taking place? If he was on a battlefield, would she be there, too? While criticizing her for being foolish, he also got a weird feeling. He covered her back with a blanket that slipped off of her.

“CEO Ahn. It’s Director Oh Joo Kyung.”

In response to the secretary’s whispering, he left the private room to let Jang Seol Hyun sleep. Ahn Soo Ho stopped one of the employees from getting up and sat in another chair to take the call.

“What is it?”

“The National Tax Service changed their stance, CEO Ahn. They’re going to enforce the tax investigation.”

“For what reason?”

“Don’t you know?”

Ransel Straussmow, who fell from the 65th floor, actually kept his promise. Following the witch scandal, Africa’s secret mission scandal, as well as Ahn Soo Ho’s ident.i.ty, was exposed.

Code Name, Wizard! What does an international dispute mediator do?

Mercenary King, Ahn Soo Ho! The man who sentences people to death!

Mr. Guardian! The guardian angel for the rich!

There were more secrets that weren’t exposed than those that were, but even that small amount of information shocked the public. Some protesters called Ahn Soo Ho the living devil and others called him a psychopathic murderer. As a result, ridiculous rumors about him being a serial killer surfaced once more.

“Is this normal?”

“No, Sir. Korea is quiet. But the outside is very noisy. America is particularly fussy right now.”

Ahn Soo Ho stroked his chin. It had only been a few hours since he shaved, but he already felt some hair. Could it be true that gravitation affects the speed of hair growth?

‘I feel like this is revenge.’

After the American president’s a.s.sa.s.sination was prevented, everyone in the world wanted to know more about Captain America who was seen talking to Scott Davis, but the American government couldn’t reveal that. Captain America had to be remembered as an American. The problem was that it was good that he stopped the president’s a.s.sa.s.sination, but he failed to stop Scott’s mouth from blabbering which led to humiliation. So the American media’s criticism of Ahn Soo Ho was someone’s revenge.

“I don’t think you can avoid the press conference.”

“Yeah. Get it ready.”

“Yes, Sir.”

As soon as he hung up the phone, Jang Seol Hyun approached while rubbing her eyes. She opened her arms wide as she approached, and Ahn Soo Ho hugged her while still sitting down. Since they were all first cla.s.s seats, it was big enough to accommodate two people, but it wasn’t a pretty sight for those who were single.

“Why did you abandon me?”

“I did? Where?”

“In my dreams.”

Ahn Soo Ho laughed at Jang Seol Hyun’s mumbling.

“There’s not much I can do about that.”

“You can’t abandon me, Mister.”

She mumbled and then fell asleep in Ahn Soo Ho’s arms.

‘She must be tired.’

It wasn’t easy touring around. Meeting strange people in strange places easily made one irritated. Leaving home was hard work, and the romance and enjoyment of traveling only lasted a few days. As soon as he arrived at Incheon International Airport, he understood Oh Joo Kyung’s worries. Many people were gathered at the airport, and they weren’t Jang Seol Hyun’s fans, but men who were calling Ahn Soo Ho’s name.

Once he escaped the airport with the help of the police, he headed to Daesan Hotel to hold a press conference. There weren’t many questions about Jang Seol Hyun. There were easy questions such as how the States was doing, or if Lila was okay, and various things about the North American tour. However, once Ahn Soo Ho held the mic, things turned ugly.

“What are your thoughts on the claims that your collaboration with Scott Warren is simply an investment strategy that’s taking advantage of their crisis?”

“I’m not sure. All I know is that I wasn’t the one who asked for his help first.”

“The London terrorist attack took place as soon as you arrived in London. Do you see this as a coincidence?”

“If you put it that way, I wasn’t in Berlin or Rome when attacks happened there. I was just in the wrong place at the wrong time. It was a coincidence.”

“Why does the terrorist who was also the French amba.s.sador have a file about you? Are you also involved in Africa’s secret operation?”

“No comment.”

The questions slowly changed into ones appropriate for a hearing. The last one to speak up was a reporter from CNN. So the question was in English.

“According to the file that Ransel Straussmow revealed, you were involved in the death of a tribe leader of Hakunda people. Did you kill them when you failed to win the African natives over?”

Ahn Soo Ho smirked. It was almost a scoff. The vibe settled down, but Ahn Soo Ho looked the reporter right in the eye.

“What’s your name?”

“Tod.”

“Tod? Nice to meet you, Tod. Can I ask you a question?”

The reporter didn’t say no so Ahn Soo Ho asked him a serious question.

“Have you ever seen h.e.l.l before, Tod? Wait, let me rephrase that. What do you think h.e.l.l is like?”

The reporter had a hard time responding to his serious voice. Ahn Soo Ho leaned in and answered.

“Most Americans think of h.e.l.l in the exact same way. New York’s Harlem? Detroit’s slums? Miami’s red-light district? People who’d endured worse than that might think it’s like a battlefield in Afghanistan. It’s true. The battlefield is h.e.l.l. But there’s another h.e.l.l out there.”

In a world where cameras even reached the Amazon forests, Ahn Soo Ho didn’t think there wasn’t a single place where cameras couldn’t reach. However, there was a place like that in Africa.

“Eight years ago, I was asked by the UN to work as a guard for the African human rights research group. The location of the research group was not even Congo, but a more internal area that not even the rebels could reach.”

The Amazon forests were nothing in comparison to this place.

“What do you think happened there, Tod?”

The reporter kept his mouth shut in response.

“The investigators all went crazy. Why, you ask? Because they had to face cruelty that they never even imagined. If you want to know the details make a request to the UN. The records are all there. The point is… the leader of Hakunda was a pedophile. He looked for little children, especially little girls under 10.”

He started to hear groaning.

“The research group discovered that the Hakunda people and their leader were deeply involved in human trafficking and kidnapping. However, the research group isn’t an investigation organization. So the person in charge notified the UN. What do you think happened after that?”

The human rights research group thought they would do something about it, but they were being very naive.

“Nothing.”

Nothing happened.

“Do any of you know how the UN’s human rights investigations take place? Anyone?”

Half of the reporters were in the entertainment industry, some were in the local news department, and the rest were from other industries. And among the others, there wasn’t a single journalist. They were just a bunch of people who flew in looking for a scoop.

“The investigator goes to the scene and writes a report. In that process, he gathers all sorts of evidence. And using that report, the organization begins its evaluation. Local laws, international laws, as well as their country, and their relations.h.i.+p with the UN are conserved. And the corrective recommendation from the UN doesn’t come fast. They all usually end as armchair arguments. Why, you ask? Because the UN isn’t about justice.”

The UN wasn’t Sailor Moon who fought evil.

“It takes at least three years for the final human rights report to come out. And at the courts, you all know, only 0.01% of the cases are human rights cases. They have to be approved by them as well. So in order to prosecute the Hakunda people and their leader, it takes at least five years. Five years. Can you imagine how many girls and boys will suffer in that time frame?”

The top organizations only focused on the big picture and didn’t care for the small things. The tribal chief knew that, too. If he was a huge tyc.o.o.n, the media wouldn’t have left him alone, but he was simply the leader of a tribe who had a unique s.e.xual preference. For the politicians and diplomats working for the UN, this wasn’t an issue worth talking about.

“He knew that.”

The leader of the Hakunda people knew that there was nothing the UN could do in the near future.

“That’s because the leader graduated from Harvard Law School. So he’s a professional in the field of law.”

The mumbling got louder in response.

“People think all African black people are dumb and uneducated. That’s so wrong. Just like the rest of the world, Africa has changed. The heads leading the militaries and tribes are just as educated as the white elites. And they have more resources than those in the Middle East. However, in contrast to their growing knowledge, their ethical beliefs are still stuck at 1000 years ago.”

A century ago, the Europeans shred Africa to pieces, but they didn’t go as far to annihilate the tribal ident.i.ties themselves. Just like how not all Congo people were alike, not all Africans weren’t the same either.

The tribal wars were a dilemma that was never going to end.

“The States, the UN, and the EU don’t have any resolutions for the African civil war. That’s how it always was and will be.”

Nothing was going to change just because they investigated and talked about human rights.

“At one point the research group asked me if there was another way of stopping that tribal leader. So I suggested going to them and making a negotiation.”

Did they do what Ahn Soo Ho intended? The research group went to the Hakunda people and made some threats, and those under the leader from Harvard law school were simple-minded. They a.s.saulted and detained the research group.

‘In the case that the employees of the UN are kidnapped or threatened, they are allowed to do whatever it takes to defend themselves.’

Ahn Soo Ho and his security team wiped out the Hakunda people. That didn’t mean they killed everyone. That day, the research group saved 490 kidnapped girls ledgers including 10,000 cases of human trafficking and got the pleasure to kill the leader during the rescue.

“What was your question, Sir? Did I kill them once we failed to win them over? If we killed them, we wouldn’t have left a report. I’m not that stupid.”

The Korean reporters laughed in response and the Yankee reporter turned red.

“What else did you ask? Was I involved in the tribal leader’s death?”

He smirked again. It was another scoff. While Ahn Soo Ho was in Africa, he saved 115,821 people from human trafficking and kidnapping. The reason why he remembered the exact number was because he was still supporting them now. The money he earned in Africa was left in Africa.

“That’s all I have to tell you, Tod.”

Ahn Soo Ho lifted his middle finger.

“f.u.c.k you.”

Go home, Yankee!

< Protect – Episode 130 – Hosoo Entertainment Group Year-End Meeting [2] > The end.