Murders happen most often at night.
What’s the reason?
It’s simple.
Simply because it’s harder to be seen.
Fewer witnesses, and reactions are slower when someone disappears.
On the flip side, killing someone in the middle of a bustling daytime street drastically raises the difficulty.
More eyes, more attention, and from that moment on, it’s no longer a simple death—it becomes an incident.
And as for me right now…
It was still night.
An illegitimate child with no name attached.
A being whose disappearance wouldn’t raise an eyebrow.
No matter how much Choi Yuna treated me as the Chairman of Seonghwa Group, I didn’t possess the power befitting that title.
If that’s the case, there’s only one answer.
I need to step into the spotlight, even if I have to force it.
So that, from now on, no one in this Korean Empire remains unaware of my existence.
As quickly as possible.
“Chairman, all the setup is complete.”
Choi Yuna nodded after checking every piece of broadcasting equipment.
Neotube’s mobile live streaming feature.
By default, a starting condition of 50 subscribers is required, and if subscriber count is low, the number of viewers when going live will naturally be pitifully small.
But isn’t this Seonghwa Group?
Of course they’d run a Neotube channel for promotion, and as the Korean Empire’s top corporation, their subscriber count would be substantial.
“How many subscribers does the Seonghwa Group channel currently have?”
“8 million.”
…As expected.
The scale alone is on another level.
Even if only one-hundredth tuned in, that’s a whopping 80,000 viewers.
What’s more, Seonghwa Group’s current situation is, quite literally, the worst it’s ever been.
The unprecedented incident of the owner family being poisoned.
Which means everyone is bound to be on edge, desperate to catch even a scrap of news about Seonghwa Group.
And in the middle of all that, a live broadcast suddenly goes up?
And who appears on screen?
…Me.
The stain on Seonghwa Group, the illegitimate child whose very existence was never known until now.
‘…This is the only way.’
I had already steeled my resolve.
If I did nothing, nothing would change anyway.
And then it happened.
“…I can only apologize to the Chairman. Despite having lived your whole life being shunned, here I am pushing you to the forefront in a crisis like this.”
Choi Yuna spoke with a grave expression.
But really.
‘Now of all times?’
Had my expression perfectly conveyed exactly that sentiment?
Choi Yuna lowered her head and continued.
“I felt I had to say this. The reason I came to find you, Chairman, is because I believed you were the only viable path forward. But separate from that, I also feel remorse for dragging you into the affairs of adults.”
“If you feel remorse, how about dropping that ‘Chairman’ title? It genuinely makes my head spin every time I hear it.”
“Chairman, I’ll begin preparing the broadcast feed now.”
Choi Yuna swiftly changed the subject.
I had said it as a joke… but it was as if she was clenching her jaw, defiantly refusing to budge on that one point.
Letting out a small sigh, I cleared my throat.
A phone camera, a mobile broadcast from inside a car.
Quite literally, the worst possible environment.
And then.
“…Wouldn’t you need a script?”
Choi Yuna asked cautiously.
A script, huh…
Honestly, this was the first experience of its kind in my life, and since it was live, a script would be needed to prevent slip-ups.
But what I’m about to do isn’t that kind of thing.
A declaration for survival.
At a moment when I need to convey sincerity more than ever, if my gaze drifted to a script instead of the camera, there’d be no point in standing here at all.
And I’ve already roughly thought it through.
What I’m going to say, at least.
Still.
“Could you help me organize which expressions I should be careful about? I’ll decide what to say myself, but when it comes to phrasing or mannerisms I should avoid, an expert would know better.”
Choi Yuna nodded immediately.
After that brief coordination, I looked straight into Choi Yuna’s phone camera.
Soon, Choi Yuna pressed the on-screen button.
A long yet short minute of silence would now begin.
One minute to wait for viewers to receive the live notification and enter.
My face must be plastered across the Neotube live feed right now.
I wasn’t saying anything, but it would be a lie to say I wasn’t nervous.
Still, the anger outweighed the nerves.
You dare drop me into this absurd drama world and drag me into a plotline like this?
I was also curious what insane bastards had pulled off something this insane. The Department Head Kim situation, too.
Which is why.
“Greetings. I am Kang Geon, the 3rd Chairman of Seonghwa Group.”
I intend to go all out and make a mess of things too.
***
In the frame sat a boy who looked like a student, leaning slightly back in a car seat, staring straight ahead.
He swallowed dryly, seemingly tense, but there was no wavering in his eyes.
-Who is this kid and why is he on Seonghwa Group’s live channel?
-Came running after hearing the news from the shareholder group chat
-Why isn’t he saying anything?
-Ugh, this is frustrating
-Someone explain fast, ffs
-We’re all gonna die at this rate~
Viewers flooded in almost violently, along with their frenzied chat.
After confirming that a sufficient number of viewers had gathered, Choi Yuna nodded toward the boy.
That was the signal.
A signal indicating it was time for the unnamed boy who had kept a minute of silence to speak.
[At approximately 11 AM today, a horrific incident occurred at an internal Seonghwa Group event hall. As has been reported through the media, members of the Seonghwa Group owner family who were attending the event were killed by poison.]
And all of the owner family, at that.
And the result of that is…
[As of right now, the only person remaining who can carry on the Seonghwa Group bloodline succession is me. An illegitimate child who has been a stain on Seonghwa Group since birth, whose very existence they always wanted to keep hidden…]
Kang Geon.
That was the boy on screen.
The boy took a very brief breath.
[I’ll be honest. I’m just as stunned and bewildered. I never imagined I’d end up in a position like this overnight. Moreover, I’m still a minor, a child who knows nothing of the world.]
Nevertheless, the reason the boy had urgently stepped before the public was clear.
The boy looked straight into the camera.
As if making eye contact with the people beyond the screen.
[So I won’t ask you to trust me right this instant. After all, trust isn’t earned through words, but through results. That’s why I intend to verify things myself, and take responsibility myself.]
The boy’s words were less of a plea and more of a declaration.
To the public.
To the shareholders who trusted and invested in Seonghwa Group, and to the employees still working diligently in their respective positions.
A declaration that Seonghwa Group had not yet fallen, and that he would personally prove that fact.
[I don’t believe this incident was a simple accident. This poisoning is clearly a premeditated crime. And I don’t believe its purpose is mere grudges or revenge.]
In truth, the boy still didn’t know what purpose the culprit had for committing such madness.
But at this point, with things already blown wide open, it wasn’t exactly the most important issue.
Simply put.
[Someone is trying to bring down Seonghwa Group itself.]
It meant a little exaggeration was fine.
[Seonghwa Group is connected to the lives of hundreds of thousands… no, millions of people through its numerous subsidiaries and partners. Shaking a company like that in this manner is taking the daily lives and livelihoods of countless people hostage—an act that can never be tolerated.]
The boy put strength into his fingertips.
[Even if I’m an illegitimate child, even if I fall short in many ways, I too am a person who carries the Blood of Seonghwa. So I will state this clearly, right here. Seonghwa is not over yet. And—]
Those who caused this situation will surely be made to pay for their crimes.
With those words, a very brief silence passed, and the boy on screen slowly lowered his head.
Deeply, yet like someone who would never back down.
And with that, the live broadcast came to an end.
The beginning of a legend, in more ways than one.
***
Choi Yuna, who had been filming with her phone’s camera, stared blankly at the boy beyond the screen.
When Seonghwa Hotel had filled with the screams of the owner family and ambulances had swarmed the entrance, she and the security unit on site had been thrown into literal panic.
And the moment the owner family members at that location were all pronounced dead, ironically, one being had come to her mind.
Kang Geon.
The illegitimate child of Vice Chairman Kang Junhyuk, the eldest son who had been the frontrunner for the next chairmanship.
It was a truth known only to the owner family members, the secretary’s office, and high-ranking officials in the security unit.
What was certain was that, at this point, he was the only person carrying the Blood of Seonghwa.
At the same time, the likelihood of him being targeted was equally high.
Which was why Choi Yuna, on her own judgment, had swiftly led the security unit to where the boy was.
And she had barely managed to come face-to-face with him just as he was confronting Department Head Kim.
Truthfully, she hadn’t expected much from meeting him.
As an illegitimate child, he was bound to harbor strong resentment toward Seonghwa Group, and he was still a high school student who hadn’t even reached adulthood.
She had merely planned to ask him to play the role of a figurehead, offering to preserve the Seonghwa bloodline and compensate him for it.
After all, as the sole survivor of the owner family, he was obviously going to have his life threatened. She thought she could persuade him with that.
Fortunately—or perhaps not—he had nearly been killed by Department Head Kim, which made things simpler to explain.
However.
-Could you access the Seonghwa Group Neotube channel on your phone?
Perhaps Choi Yuna had been operating under a grave misconception.
She had naturally assumed they needed to go and seek the Imperial Family’s support.
A situation where no one knew who was ally and who was enemy.
Worse, a worst-case scenario with no reliable reinforcements to trust.
Which was why she thought borrowing the Imperial Family’s power was the best course.
At the very least, the Imperial Family was an existence with absolute authority on this land.
But the boy’s thinking was different.
He hadn’t simply sought a place to be protected.
Instead of remaining an easily erased illegitimate child, he had stepped before the world as the Chairman of Seonghwa Group—someone no one could dare touch.
The moment she realized his reasoning, Choi Yuna had no choice but to admit she had been underestimating this boy.
-Even if I’m an illegitimate child, even if I fall short in many ways, I too am a person who carries the Blood of Seonghwa. So I will state this clearly, right here. Seonghwa is not over yet.
As she heard those words, Choi Yuna’s fingertips trembled faintly.
Suddenly.
A saying that had been passed down within Seonghwa Group for a long time came to mind.
‘The word impossible is only used until Chairman Kang Seongcheol steps in.’
The founder of Seonghwa Group.
The man who created Seonghwa from nothing, and ultimately raised it into the Korean Empire’s greatest corporation.
He was said to have been bolder than anyone.
A man who, when others said it couldn’t be done and shook their heads at the danger, would instead walk forward himself and flip the situation in an instant.
Of course, Choi Yuna had always regarded that saying as merely a legend romanticizing the founder.
But now.
Watching that boy, who stood before the entire nation more confidently than anyone, speaking of responsibility…
She felt like she finally understood those words.
A still youthful face.
An age that hadn’t even reached adulthood.
Yet despite that, walking forward with more confidence than fear.
That was a texture she had never seen in any of the owner family members she had observed until now.
In that sense, perhaps it was still wishful thinking on her part.
‘With him, Seonghwa Group could become great again…’
The look in Choi Yuna’s eyes as she gazed at the boy had already changed.
The boy, having finished his speech, was utterly oblivious to the change in Choi Yuna’s gaze, thinking only of one thing.
How to crush the bastards who had dragged him into this godforsaken, absurd plot.
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