Chapter 169: < Protect – Episode 168 – Bridal Mask [3] >

A gun terrorist attack was so taboo in Korea that no one even imagined it could ever happen. The appearance of the bridal mask with a gun just went to show that the firearm restriction that people so praised was no longer in place. The investigative authorities soon began looking into weaponry, and as long as they dug without everything they got, there wasn’t much they couldn’t find.

If they invested their national power into resolving the issue, no country would act so irresponsibly. They didn’t want to face criticism that they were using it on some and not on others. The foundation of democracy was that rights and responsibility had its limitations. There had to be negotiations and checks happening by the authorities within the system, and if some kind of power took place within it, that wasn’t a democracy but dictators.h.i.+p.

This was what a const.i.tutional scholar once said.

‘One must not ignore the law that already exists! In a const.i.tutional state, making rulings that are not based on the law cannot be allowed!’

The legal scholars said this during the highpoint of the candlelight vigils. Socrates never said this, but it wasn’t all wrong to claim that unjust law was still the law. It should be the one who created the unjust law that should die. The ones who follow it did nothing wrong. Anyone was capable of pointing out problems in the law, but the citizens weren’t able to resolve those issues themselves.

If people were going to give up their jobs because they were fed up with politics, why did they elect members of the national a.s.sembly? The reason why Korea’s political system was so stiff was because of how the people perceived the members of the national a.s.sembly. In some ways, they were privileged. Why? Because they were able to do many things that others couldn’t. However, the fact that there were terms meant that no one was supposed to monopolize that power.

The people always criticized the a.s.sembly for fighting and nothing else, but as expected in Korea, the members had killer workloads. The National a.s.sembly did a lot more work than people knew. It was normal for members of the national a.s.sembly to get cursed at, but it was especially serious in Korea.

There weren’t many Koreans who would say they respected the members of the national a.s.sembly. If all politicians took bribes and got drunk off of power, this country would have been doomed already. In the midst of getting ridiculed for being slaves to power, there were lots of patriots working hard due to their sense of duty. It was just that no one else knew.

Why?

Because the media liked provocative material. People instinctively liked criticisms more than praise.

Do you think President Lee Joong Hyun will postpone his statement?

The nation’s credit score will plummet! This is the second time this month! Are we looking at a second foreign currency crisis?

The bridal mask incident was definitely planned! There were traces of hacking police communications and CCTVs!

How did the Bridal Mask know of the kidnapping? How do we resolve the flaws of the criminal resolution system?

The government even created a special unit to catch the Bridal Mask. Experts predicted that he would be caught soon, but he was on the move more actively than before. Once there was a report of him being spotted in Seoul, there was another report of him being spotted in Busan.

Busan Gw.a.n.gmyung killed by Bridal Mask! The police started investigation later on!

Busan Gw.a.n.gmyung exposed for human and organ trafficking! Busan people are in shock!

Mokpo Youngsan killed by Bridal Mask! They forced kidnapped women into selling their bodies!

Mokpo Youngsan built an illegal prost.i.tution and gambling rink on no man’s land! The coast guards are in on it!

That was when people started believing there was more than one Bridal Mask. It didn’t make sense for one person to move from one place to 300 kilometers away in just a few minutes. Some of the media claimed it was North Korea while others stressed that he was a CIA agent.

While the Korean society was heating up, Bridal Mask was busy catching his breath.

“Don’t you think you crossed the line, Soo Ho? How could you act so foolishly?”

Ahn Soo Ho was contemplating hanging up to stop listening to Kosino’s scolding.

“This was your idea, Kosi.”

“I just said you should quietly find them and scare them away… When did I tell you to face off with the nation?”

“Same thing.”

The ones who avoided Ahn Soo Ho or were against him were the ones with power. Kosino eventually got tired of scolding him and changed the subject.

“Do you think we’ll get a response?”

“They’re probably taken aback since I boiled the hunting dogs that were working hard for their enjoyment in a pot.”

“Then are you just going to wait now?”

“No, I’m going to keep going. I’m going to boil more dogs. There are lots more a.s.sholes where they came from.”

When committing high-risk crimes such as human trafficking or organ trafficking, it was hard for them to do big jobs without protection. Ahn Soo Ho’s target was s.h.i.+lla Group, but he planned to take care of Youngjin Group first. Ultra was soon going to go down.

‘There’s no need to raise a headache in my front yard.’

He didn’t care about other countries going down because of Ultra, but he planned to live in Korea for a long time. Since he spoke with the military through his Naval Academy cla.s.smate, the only other obstacle left to take care of was Youngjin Securities Consulting. Countless criminal organizations went down in the last week. They weren’t just put in jail or dispersed, but not even a trace of them remained.

Bridal Mask

The Korean government deemed him as a terrorist, but the people thought it was refres.h.i.+ng that he only took down criminals. There were those with principle who didn’t accept any excuses, but many praised him for the killings.

Koreans were accustomed to justice.

They worked hard to hold candlelight vigils, but the country hadn’t changed much. The vicious cycle of the rich living well and the poor living miserably continued. Was the opportunity fair? It was as if nothing was certain and heartless justice was turning its back on everyone.

A country where the citizens were the owners. How exciting was that? However, the Korea of today was under the control of power and capitalism.

‘Can we really change the world?’

If not even the huge protests could change the world, what needed to be done? In the midst of that worry, Bridal Mask’s appearance caused quite the impact. He committed a sin that was the worst of the worst.

Murder

No one knew how refres.h.i.+ng a crime could feel. Perhaps they felt less burdened because they weren’t the ones who committed them. However, at that moment, Koreans had a little bit of suspicion in their minds.

‘Why can’t we do it though?’

They were able to see the worst crime with their own eyes, but was it ethically incorrect? However, there were lots of people dying all over the world at this very instant. It was true that murder was bad, but a premise was needed.

‘All members of the nation must respect and treasure life.’

People asked others to cherish them as much as they cherished others, and what stressed that belief was the law. But how much did Koreans respect the law? Nine out of ten did not. There was some influence from the military dictators.h.i.+p that lasted 30 years, but the real problem was Korea’s very short democratic history.

It hadn’t even been 30 years since Korea’s democratization. This country was still standing in between democracy and dictators.h.i.+p. The way Ahn Soo Ho saw it, there was something that Koreans were mistaken about which was that their homeland needed a fight more than stability.

It wasn’t logical to think that Korea could establish something in 30 years that took America and France over two centuries to reach.

‘The democratic history of Africa and Korea aren’t that different.’

The progressives wouldn’t have liked this, but the reason why the Korean peninsula didn’t end up like Africa was thanks to America’s help. This was an example of the close relations.h.i.+p between politics and the economy. If America didn’t help so much in the 60s and 70s, today’s Korea wouldn’t have existed.

No matter how much one hated America, that truth couldn’t be denied.

‘Until now, we imitated technology from America and j.a.pan.’

When it came to imitation, there was no imitation to stress the mother of creation.

It was clear that the rise of Korea’s industry was thanks to the blood and tears of the people, but the problem was that not all people could be responsible. They called it an export industry fostering policy, but the government stepped up and competed against other companies in ways that lacked common sense.

The result of that mistake was the harmful effect it had on the economy controlled by the rich. There was a simple reason for why most rich couldn’t compete in the world market besides the top few brands. It was because they weren’t compet.i.tive. Since those who were used to monopoly had to start over from ground zero, they had no idea of what to do. The global industry was completely different from domestic.

‘Large groups of stones are seldom captured.’

Daewoo and Hyundae might have gone down, but large groups wouldn’t die easily. They simply changed their sign to dodge public rage, so they were still rich. The reason why that was possible was thanks to the strong punishments given for economic offense. Korea was way too lenient on white-collar crimes.

The national debt was continuing to increase while those who committed economic offenses were released. The reason was to revive the Korean economy. Lee Joong Hyun couldn’t dodge this either. The president’s power to pardon was more used by the rich than the common people to change their ident.i.ties in society.

“Please come on in, CEO Ahn.”

Ahn Soo Ho was invited to the Blue House.

Of course, he was invited as the CEO of Hosoo Entertainment. If the public knew that he was the one who put the Korean society in chaos while wearing a mask, they would have been shocked. Everyone had to be checked before meeting the president, but not a single guard approached him.

“Welcome, CEO Ahn.”

Lee Joong Hyun lost a lot of weight. Actually, he just aged. Ahn Soo Ho laughed bitterly at how fast he aged. Lee Joong Hyung laughed and pushed back his hair.

“I don’t look so good, do I?”

“You should take care of your skin.”

“I don’t have time for that. Please sit.”

Ahn Soo Ho sat on the sofa.

“Would you like some tea?”

“No thank you.”

Lee Joong Hyun only asked to be mannerly.

“Since we’re both busy, I’ll get straight to the point, CEO Ahn. I’d like you to take a position in the group for the reformation of the rich.”

“Wasn’t making me into an inspector general enough?”

“Thank you for that. That’s why I’m asking you for another favor. Please volunteer one more time for our people, CEO Ahn.”

While Ahn Soo Ho worked as an inspector general due to the president’s orders, he hit a row of home runs. He weeded out quite a lot of rotten eggs, but it was impossible to get rid of corruption completely. As long as mankind didn’t go extinct, cheating and corruption were always going to exist.

“What made you think the reformation of the rich would work when not even the military reform worked out?”

“The media has my back.”

“Don’t fall for the numbers, Mr. President. The media is just an illusion, and they can always go back on their word.”

“The media favors me very much.”

“That’s…”

“I know it’s largely thanks to Chairman Kim Dae San.”

“Then you should talk to the old man about this first. That’s quite a headache.”

Kim Dae San was surprisingly for a reformation of the rich. It was also because of his pride, but the old man thought he was in a completely different category from the other rich. He despised those who picked the safe route out of fear of hopping over a tall wall.

No matter how much they succeeded in Korea, they were simply frogs in a well.

“I’d love to bring Chairman Kim into this, but as you know, Daesan Group is rich as well. They are the most influential group in our country. They’re different from you.”

“I’m one of the rich as well.”

“But Hosoo didn’t succeed with Korean capital. You’re different from the others.”

Come to think of it, a.n.a.lysts put Hosoo Entertainment Group under America or Europe. If companies had nationalities, Hosoo Group would have been a foreigner. However, the man who possessed all the shares besides HBS was definitely of Korean nationality.

After a certain point, he became known as the symbol of a self-made man.

“Okay then. I’ll think about it optimistically.”

Ahn Soo Ho avoided giving a direct answer. He didn’t hate the idea, but he didn’t have enough trust in Lee Joong Hyun as a politician to accept it easily.

‘He’s good as an agitator, but as a politician…? I’m not so sure.’

As it was made clear in China, he was a president who was obsessed with popularity. So he couldn’t erase the question marks over his potential in government operation. Operating a nation wasn’t as easily as people thought.

“You’re definitely not an easy man, CEO Ahn.”

Lee Joong Hyun laughed bitterly while Ahn Soo Ho shrugged. How could Korea’s citizens dilly-dally when their president came off this way? Kim Dae San would have had a hard time as well. However, Ahn Soo Ho was easy-going.

“Tell me what you want, CEO Ahn.”

Lee Joong Hyun was not only bowing, but he was lying flat on the floor.

“What I want, huh…?”

There couldn’t have been anything.

‘Oh!’

Actually, there was. As soon as Ahn Soo Ho smirked, the president got s.h.i.+vers up his back.

“The Secretary of Defense. Deal?”

< Protect – Episode 168 – Bridal Mask [3] > The end.