Chapter 49:Money and Talent Pour In

 Chapter 49: <Thorough Beating (1)>

The smartphone kept ringing nonstop.

(“Thank you so much!”)

“What are you talking about? Please keep doing good things in the future.”

It was a confirmation call because more money had been deposited than the original amount.

“Yes, it wasn’t a mistake. I’ll visit in person next time. Really. If I do, could you recommend other good orphanages? Actually, I’m thinking of increasing the number of places I support. Yes, yes. Thank you.”

He didn’t feel the slightest bit annoyed.

He simply explained everything with sincerity. As he talked, a smile naturally formed on his face.

“Yes, take care.”

After ending all the calls, Ryu Seong lay down on his bed.

*Ugh-cha.*

It had been a while since he could relax like this. He decided to watch some YouTube videos—checking out new ones and rewatching old videos from channels he subscribed to.

“Puhuhu.”

He was enjoying himself when a related video with a disturbing thumbnail suddenly popped up. Just looking at it made him frown.

His good mood instantly soured.

From the title and thumbnail text alone, he already understood what the video was about.

So he clicked on it.

He wanted to see with his own eyes just how trashy the video really was. As soon as it started playing, an even more outrageous scene unfolded than he had imagined.

Inside a subway car.

A young couple who looked to be in their mid-20s were smoking cigarettes.

Smoke drifted through the air.

*[Puuuuff.]*

No one tried to stop them. The young man then loudly cleared his throat and spat.

*[Khaaaak—Ptoo!]*

The phlegm landed right on the thigh of a middle-aged man sitting on the seat. Only then did the middle-aged man look up, stand, and scold them.

“Hey, you can’t smoke and spit on the subway like that.”

“Ajusshi, if you don’t like it, go somewhere else.”

The woman chimed in as well.

“Ugh, it stinks. It’s dirty, so get lost already.”

“What did you just say…?”

“Look, there’s spit on his thigh. Puhup.”

“Khh khh.”

“Hey! Young people shouldn’t act like this!”

“Ah, seriously, so annoying.”

“Why avoid shit because it’s scary? We avoid it because it’s dirty. Let’s just move to the next car, oppa.”

“Yeah, whatever. Khaaaak—Ptoo!”

The young man spat again and tried to lead the woman to the next car. The middle-aged man blocked their path.

“Where do you think you’re going? I’m calling the police, so stay right here.”

“If you don’t want to get beaten, move, ajusshi.”

The young man tried to push past, but the middle-aged man blocked him again.

“Ah, fuck! Seriously!”

The young man cursed and suddenly pulled out a Zippo lighter from his pocket.

“Move. I’m warning you.”

When the man still didn’t step aside, he swung the Zippo lighter at the middle-aged man’s head.

*Thwack! Thud! Thwack!*

The ajusshi staggered. Blood gushed from his head.

“Hey, what are you doing!”

“Oh my god, he’s crazy…!”

“Wow, what the hell?”

Only then did the surrounding passengers step in to stop him.

But they couldn’t restrain the young man.

“I told you to move, didn’t I!”

“Let’s go, oppa.”

“If I see you again, you’re dead. Watch your back, ajusshi.”

As the young man tried to move to the next car again, the bleeding middle-aged man grabbed his clothes and refused to let go.

“Ah, what terrible luck, seriously!”

“Kyaaak! How dare you touch him with your dirty hands! Do you even know how much oppa’s clothes cost?”

“Fuck, let go!”

The ajusshi was struck several more times with the Zippo lighter. The woman also hit and pushed him, but he never released the clothes he was holding.

He just kept getting beaten.

“Argh, seriously!”

Blood poured out and soaked the floor.

Only then did the subway doors open.

Police officers boarded, and the video ended.

*Clench.*

Ryu Seong tightly clenched his fist, grinding his molars.

“Fucking trash.”

It had been a long time since he felt this kind of rage surge through him.

Reality was worse than fiction.

If something like this had appeared in a novel, people would have complained about how unrealistic it was. Yet such things happened all the time in real life.

“…”

Even after the video ended, Ryu Seong’s hardened expression didn’t loosen.

He stayed like that for a long time.

Unbearable fury completely took over his body.

He couldn’t just let this go.

He made up his mind.

He had to help that ajusshi somehow.

But first, he needed to calm down.

The priority was to accurately understand the situation. The video had been uploaded two days ago, so he needed to find out what happened afterward.

First…

Just as he was about to search for updates—

**[Life is the real deal.]**

**[An innocent man who had never harmed anyone in his life was assaulted with a blunt weapon on the subway. He is currently suffering not only from a laceration on his head but also from deep disillusionment with the life he has lived. Help this father of a family, who is suffering severe emotional trauma.]**

**[Remaining time: Unlimited]**

**[Success Reward: Random Card, Good Deed Points.]**

**[You will feel a headache if the quest fails.]**

A quest had appeared.

“Hmm.”

He hadn’t expected a quest to pop up just from watching the video. Maybe the conditions had changed slightly after the shop was updated. It was a question, but right now, with his current mood, it wasn’t important.

Whether a quest appeared or not,

Nothing would change from the start.

*

While searching for updates on the victim’s current situation, he found a comment.

[Hello, I am the daughter of the victim in this incident. My father suffered three lacerations on his head—approximately 7cm, 4cm, and 5cm each. He underwent suturing surgery for all of them. He was assaulted simply for pointing out behavior that should obviously not be done in a public place.

He is so wronged that he can’t even sleep. He is receiving counseling due to severe psychological shock. The perpetrator is claiming it was assault because my father grabbed their clothes.

Even though the police were called, under the pretext of needing to investigate, my injured father was taken to the police station, where he had to write statements and undergo questioning.

I feel so angry and frustrated.

Please pay attention so that the perpetrator can be properly punished.]

It really was an absurd world.

Fucking bastards.

Just thinking about the perpetrator made him curse inwardly.

He didn’t leave a reply. Instead, figuring out how to actually help them was the priority.

He began searching.

For ways to help them.

“Ugh…!”

But the law was more complicated than he thought.

It wasn’t easy to understand either.

After looking around for a while, the first idea that came to mind was hiring a lawyer with his own money.

However, upon further research, there were legal restrictions. Under current law, a third party couldn’t hire a lawyer on someone else’s behalf.

“This is tricky too.”

While digging deeper, he discovered a new method. If public opinion formed, a support fund would naturally appear, and he could donate to it. Unfortunately, after checking, no support fund had been established for this case yet.

This wasn’t going to work.

He needed help.

After thinking for a moment, he called Lee Shin-woo.

“Hey, do you know any lawyers?”

(A lawyer?)

“I have something I want to ask about.”

(Hmm, I don’t really have any around me. But I’ll look into it.)

“Thanks.”

After hanging up, he checked his contacts again. Kim Chang-ho’s number caught his eye.

If it was the teacher, surely…!

There was a high chance he knew a lawyer among his acquaintances. He carefully made the call.

(Oh, isn’t this Ryu Seong?)

“Yes, teacher. I have something urgent I need to ask.”

(Go ahead, ask.)

“Well, by any chance…”

When he asked, a positive answer came back.

(I have a few former students who are lawyers.)

“Really? Could you introduce me to one?”

(I don’t know what this is about, but sure. I’ll contact them first.)

“Thank you, teacher.”

(No need to thank me. He’s a good kid, so he’ll explain everything well.)

“Yes, I’ll call you again later.”

After ending the call, he waited a short while, and the lawyer called right away.

“Hello?”

(I received a message from Teacher Kim Chang-ho and am calling you. This is Attorney Lee Cheol-ho.)

“Hello, I’m sorry for bothering you with a question. First, let me apologize.”

(It’s fine. I heard you’re a junior from the same school, so this is what we do—help each other when needed.)

“Thank you. Actually…”

He explained the subway assault case and asked if there was any way to help.

(Ah, that case.)

“Do you know about it?”

(Yes, it’s been quite the hot issue lately.)

“Is there really no way? I looked into it myself, but hiring a lawyer with personal funds isn’t allowed, and no support fund has been set up yet.”

(Hmm, I see. Then how about this?)

“What…?”

(There are quite a few clean civic groups these days.)

“Civic groups?”

(Yes. There are many different civic organizations, and quite a few of them support victims of injustice and provide direct or indirect help.)

He hadn’t known such good places existed.

(The problem, however, is…)

“What’s the issue?”

(Those places are always short on funds. There’s an endless stream of wronged victims, but not many people are willing to donate to causes that don’t bring any return.)

The more he listened, the more perfect it sounded.

This was exactly what Ryu Seong had been looking for.

Since money wasn’t a problem for him, the donation part wasn’t a big concern.

(Even handling a single case properly costs thousands. However, since this case already has a video that has spread quite widely, that much funding isn’t really necessary for shaping public opinion—

“…won’t be necessary. With enough donation to cover lawyer fees, we should be able to handle it cleanly.)

“I see.”

(Did that help?)

“More than enough. Ah, one last thing—could you recommend any specific organizations?”

(Hmm, I’ll send you a few. I’ll text them over. Still, it’s best if you look into them properly yourself.)

“Yes, I will. Thank you so much.”

(I hope things work out well.)

It was an enormous help.

Civic groups.

Just as he wanted, several organizations with the right character were sent to him via text.

At that moment—

**[Quest Activated!]**

**[For Whom Does the Law Exist?]**

[‘Future Hope Civic Group’ is well-known for its integrity. They want to help with the currently controversial subway assault case, but they lack the funds and have no capacity. Sponsor this civic group and exert a small amount of influence.]

A regular sponsorship quest had appeared.

The detailed explanation was a bonus.

Thanks to it, he no longer had to worry about where to donate.

*

Hong Sang-hoon, the representative of the Future Hope Civic Group, sighed while checking the donation records.

“Is this really all we have?”

“Yes, sir.”

“Haa… I really wanted to help with this case…”

“Same here. Sigh.”

“If a bundle of cash just fell from the sky, I’d have no regrets. Seriously, the more I watch that subway assault video, the more my blood boils. It’s unbearable.”

“Ugh…”

All the staff of the civic group were gathered together.

Every single one of them wore a gloomy expression.

They had created and joined the group because they wanted to help the wronged, but reality was harsh.

“It’s tough… really tough.”

“Representative, please don’t be too discouraged. I’ll go out and promote hard again today.”

“I feel so sorry for all of you, I really do.”

“What are you saying?”

“That’s right! We’re doing this because we want to!”

“Thank you for saying that.”

But nothing changed.

Still, they had to move forward.

Even if it was just to help one more victim of injustice.

*Ring ring ring.*

Just then, the office phone rang.

“Yes, this is Future Hope Civic Group. …Yes? Ah, that’s right. Yes, yes. We’re also very interested in that case. Yes, we want to help, but… Huh? Oh, thank you…!”

After a long conversation, the representative put down the phone. His slightly dazed expression made the staff rush over.

“Representative, are you okay?”

“Huh? Y-yeah, I’m fine.”

“What was the call about?”

Hong Sang-hoon turned his head. He scanned the puzzled faces of the staff one by one and opened his mouth.

“They said they’ll sponsor us.”

“Oh, really? That’s great!”

“Whew, thank goodness there are still people donating even a little these days.”

But the representative wasn’t finished.

“So… it looks like we’ll be able to help with this case.”

“Huh?”

“Representative, properly helping with this case will require quite a bit for lawyer fees. Even with the video, we still need to build more public opinion.”

“It’s fine.”

“What do you mean it’s fine…”

“I told you. We received a sponsorship.”

“No, that’s why I’m saying…”

The representative couldn’t hold it in any longer and burst into loud laughter.

“Kwahahaha! 20 million! 20 million won!”

“…Excuse me?”

“They’re donating a full 20 million won!”

“R-really?!”

“Yes! So hurry up and contact the victim’s family! Let’s do this properly!”

“I’ll start right away!”

“Let’s get moving!”

All the staff members, now with bright expressions, dove into their respective tasks.

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