Chapter 139: Mastermind (7)

Translator: Dreamscribe

The ‘New Light Truth Church’, which had been a major issue after Kang Jae-ha brought it into the public eye. Thanks to that, the fog surrounding it had lifted, and it had become firmly etched in people’s minds. Around then, Ryu Hyuk’s investigation found that CBC’s terrestrial current affairs program ‘Trace File X’ had tried to air an episode on the ‘New Light Truth Church’, only to be stopped.

The biggest reason was the Director of CBC’s Current Affairs & Culture Bureau.

As soon as he heard the story, Kang Jae-ha suggested that the Director of the Current Affairs & Culture Bureau might be a follower of the ‘New Light Truth Church’. Some of his subordinates looked surprised, as if they hadn’t expected it, while others showed little reaction.

Among them, Ryu Hyuk, who had delivered the report on ‘Trace File X’, nodded.

“I had a similar thought, too. That the Director of the Current Affairs & Culture Bureau might be a follower. Of course, he might not be.”

Kang Jae-ha’s interest was piqued.

“Either way, it’s worth checking.”

There wasn’t a precise estimate, but the nationwide number of ‘New Light Truth Church’ followers was currently estimated to be close to 100,000, perhaps more. Considering the sheer scale of the ‘New Light Truth Church’, large enough to have a main headquarters as well as branch locations, and the fact that it was still carrying out proselytizing activities all over the country even at this very moment, perhaps that was only natural.

More than 100,000 followers.

Compared to the country’s total population, it could be considered a minority, but for a cult, 100,000 was an enormous number of followers.

Aside from CEO Han Tae-sung, Kang Jae-ha had yet to personally come across anyone connected to the ‘New Light Truth Church’, but if he actually set out to look, it probably wouldn’t be that difficult to find small-time ‘New Light Truth Church’ followers here and there.

‘I’m only not doing it because tracking down small-time followers isn’t worth the time it takes.’

However, the story changed if someone as high-ranking as the Director of a terrestrial broadcaster’s Current Affairs & Culture Bureau was a follower of the ‘New Light Truth Church’. Among the followers of the ‘New Light Truth Church’, there were bound to be celebrities or influential figures in various industries. Someone like Han Tae-sung or the Director of the Current Affairs & Culture Bureau counted as a person with real weight behind him, and was more than worth Kang Jae-ha making a move on.

‘If that Director of CBC’s Current Affairs & Culture Bureau really is with the ‘New Light Truth Church’- he might be easier to use than Han Tae-sung.’

Kang Jae-ha already had a scheme in place to nibble away at the ‘New Light Truth Church’. In other words, the Vice-Commander, starting from the outer edges and working inward. Like a full-on Mastermind.

‘The best move is to shake up the ‘New Light Truth Church’ without the Vice-Commander noticing, then eventually seize control of it altogether.’

To do that, he needed plenty of information related to the ‘New Light Truth Church’, along with as many powerful followers within the ‘New Light Truth Church’ as he could secure.

Quietly encroaching on the ‘New Light Truth Church’ that way.

A Mastermind or power behind the scenes standing far above some massive cult.

Once he had enough control, the day would come when ‘MEG’ had the ‘New Light Truth Church’ or the Vice-Commander by the throat. This kind of scheme was one Kang Jae-ha had often used back when he was with the Mercenary Corps in the other world as well. The enemies there were usually Demonic Beasts or members of the Demon Race, but depending on the circumstances and perspective, organizations belonging to the same Human Race could also be enemies.

‘Whether it’s Han Tae-sung or that Current Affairs & Culture Bureau Director. The information held by powerful followers will be far more useful, and I need to gather as many of those powerful followers as possible.’

Kang Jae-ha explained the rest of the ideas that had occurred to him to his subordinates in broad strokes, and Lee Chan-hoo nodded before asking his Commander.

“Then I guess we need to confirm whether that CBC Current Affairs & Culture Bureau Director is a follower or not first. Still, seems like he’ll be less of a headache than Han Tae-sung. What’s the call, Commander? Want me to keep an eye on him? Or Sato Shota?”

As his subordinates’ gazes gathered on him, Jae-ha smiled faintly and shook his head.

“Let’s not make things difficult when we can take the easy route. First, dig up everything you can on the Director of the Current Affairs & Culture Bureau. His name, personality, tendencies, how he climbed his way up to the Director position, and so on. I’ll get within 30m of that bastard at the right time.”

He meant the ‘ability’ Sensing.

“The Director of the Current Affairs & Culture Bureau should be easier to deal with than Han Tae-sung, so I’ll handle him myself.”

The discussion about the Director of the Current Affairs & Culture Bureau continued for a while longer, and toward the end, Ha Yeon-ji brought up the ‘K:FESTA’ matter.

“I contacted ‘HG ENM’ like you ordered, Commander, and they got back to me faster than I expected?”

Kang Jae-ha had never met with ‘HG ENM’, but he already knew a great deal about them.

“That tells you how desperate they are. Sounds like they really were going back and forth over whether to cut the initial funding, just like you said, Ha Yeon-ji. And we reached out right in the middle of it. What did ‘HG ENM’ say? They want to meet right away?”

“Yes. CEO Seok Ji-yeon of ‘HG ENM’ says she wants to arrange a meeting as soon as possible.”

“She’s worked up.”

It was only natural. To CEO Seok Ji-yeon of ‘HG ENM’, ‘MEG’ must have looked like a lifeline. Kang Jae-ha gave a small chuckle and instructed Ha Yeon-ji.

“Then how about we drag it out a little? Let them get even more worked up. The more desperate they get, the more smoothly things will go for us. I’ll tell you separately when to contact ‘HG ENM’, so leave them hanging for now.”

“Yep, yep.”

Kang Jae-ha soon rested his chin on one hand, his smile deepening.

“Interesting things keep popping up all over the place. Makes things fun.”

Naturally, his subordinates felt much the same.

Afterward.

About two days later, ‘MEG’ went through with the move it had already planned. The location was still Yangjae, but it moved into a much larger building than before. By connecting three office spaces, ‘MEG’ occupied an entire floor.

In other words, ‘MEG’ had grown much bigger.

On top of that, its teams had been structured in finer detail than before, and hiring staff for the accounting team that managed the finances of ‘MEG’ and the management planning team that oversaw its subsidiaries was also going smoothly. They didn’t hesitate to scout anyone who looked promising, either.

From the outside, ‘MEG’ looked like nothing more than an investment firm growing at a terrifying pace, and it was nearly impossible to know that ‘MEG’ was actually a modern-day Mercenary Corps.

Meanwhile, Kim Ha-jae, Kang Jae-ha’s masked persona, was also immediately promoted to Director.

No longer General Manager Kim Ha-jae, but Director Kim Ha-jae.

For the record, to the employees of ‘MEG’, Director Kim Ha-jae was a truly mysterious figure. They only saw him a few times a week at most.

Then, a few days later, around the 8th, An Ji-hee visited MEG Entertainment.

It was the day she would formally sign her exclusive contract.

“I look forward to working with you, Ms. An Ji-hee.”

“Yes! I look forward to working with you as well!”

An Ji-hee officially completed her contract with MEG Entertainment. At that moment, anticipation and regret coexisted within her in equal measure. A new future had opened up before her, but from now on, it would become even harder for her to see Kang Jae-ha.

‘......It’s okay. Manager Kang Jae-ha said he’d keep in touch, and for now, let’s focus even harder on my growth. So I can stand proudly in front of my manager.’

With that, ‘MEG Entertainment’ now had Moon Ji-a, Yoon Da-yeon, and An Ji-hee, three actresses in all, ranging from top-tier stars to actresses who had recently become hot. Though no official announcement had been made yet, word that An Ji-hee had moved to ‘MEG Entertainment’ quickly spread among actors before long.

Given the situation, even more than before, ‘MEG Entertainment’ became a hot commodity among all sorts of actors.

“Did you hear? Apparently An Ji-hee went to ‘MEG Entertainment’ too?”

“Seriously?? After Moon Ji-a and Yoon Da-yeon, now An Ji-hee too?? She’s insanely hot these days.”

“Exactly. Is there something at ‘MEG Entertainment’?? Why’s everyone moving there.”

“There must be something, because come to think of it, all the actresses there have had successful projects.”

“Hmm- maybe when my current contract ends, I should try moving to ‘MEG Entertainment’ too.”

It was rare for a small or mid-sized agency like ‘MEG Entertainment’, rather than a major entertainment company, to become this popular in such a short period of time.

Around this time, CEO Seok Ji-yeon of ‘HG ENM’, which organized ‘K:FESTA’, was growing increasingly anxious.

“What is this? Why aren’t they contacting us??”

Because ‘MEG’, which had made a dramatic entrance saying it wanted to become the running mate for ‘K:FESTA’, had suddenly gone completely silent. CEO Seok Ji-yeon had replied almost a week ago saying she wanted to meet, but ever since then, ‘MEG’ had been far too quiet. She hadn’t thought much of it for the first couple of days, but now she was beginning to feel uneasy.

‘No way they’re going to......just ghost us like this.’

It wouldn’t have been strange for the investment firm ‘MEG’ to change its tune or disappear. It was common enough for investors to look positive in a meeting, only to switch to an extremely negative stance just one day later. In business, setting up a meeting only for the other side to stop responding afterward was nothing unusual.

Of course, part of it was that CEO Seok Ji-yeon had gotten too worked up.

In fact, it was normal for about a week to pass after a meeting was first discussed. It was simply that, given CEO Seok Ji-yeon’s situation, she was desperate.

Fortunately, however, ‘MEG’ had not gone dark.

“CEO, ‘MEG’ has contacted us.”

Nearly ten days after all, ‘MEG’ had finally responded. Perhaps because of that, CEO Seok Ji-yeon’s expression instantly brightened.

“Oh! What did they say??”

Her secretary relayed exactly what she had heard from ‘MEG’.

“We were told that a Director from ‘MEG’ will visit our company next Monday morning, the 15th.”

“...Next Monday.”

“Yes. According to ‘MEG’, they’ll finalize all the major matters that day, including the investment.”

The ‘MEG’ Director in question was Kang Jae-ha.

Around lunchtime on Friday, March 12.

It was a little past 1 p.m. Kang Jae-ha could be found inside a car. He should have been at Leon around this time, but he was currently driving.

-Vrrm!

Kang Jae-ha was alone in the car.

“......”

Jae-ha was heading somewhere with a calm expression. Near Mokdong Station. After driving for a few minutes, one of the country’s terrestrial broadcasting stations came into Kang Jae-ha’s view.

It was CBC.

At a red light, Kang Jae-ha stepped on the brake and immediately called Lee Chan-hoo. The ringing was brief.

“Yes, Commander. Loyalty, loyalty.”

Kang Jae-ha asked Lee Chan-hoo matter-of-factly.

“I’m at CBC. Where’s Director Lee Chan-jin right now.”

Lee Chan-jin was the name of the Director of CBC’s Current Affairs & Culture Bureau, who had blocked the airing of ‘Trace File X’. Anyway, Lee Chan-hoo answered his Commander’s question a few seconds later.

“He just came out of the CBC station and got into a car. Black SUV, plate number 2XXX.”

“Got it.”

After confirming the information, Kang Jae-ha hung up and stepped on the accelerator again. Since Jae-ha was already near CBC, he soon reached the station entrance, and just as Kang Jae-ha pulled over at a suitable spot along the roadside.

“That’s the car.”

A black SUV soon came into Kang Jae-ha’s view as it exited the station entrance. Jae-ha’s eyes fixed on the SUV’s license plate. The plate number was 2XXX. The exact car Lee Chan-hoo had mentioned. In other words, Director Lee Chan-jin of the Current Affairs & Culture Bureau was in that car.

As Kang Jae-ha watched the black SUV carrying Director Lee Chan-jin, he also activated the ‘ability’ Sensing. What he was looking for was a follower of the ‘New Light Truth Church’.

His vision changed at once.

Only one spot turned red in the shape of a person. The driver’s seat of the nearby black SUV with plate number 2XXX. Kang Jae-ha smiled.

Of course. Just as he’d suspected, Director Lee Chan-jin of CBC’s Current Affairs & Culture Bureau.

“That bastard really is a follower of the ‘New Light Truth Church’.”

Because it was now confirmed that he was a follower of the ‘New Light Truth Church’.

*****

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