Chapter 93: Fireworks (5)

Translator: Dreamscribe

Kang Jae-ha, the expression drained from his face, asked Ryu Hyuk again in a dry tone.

"'Matsuda Hideo', tell me his weakness again."

He'd already heard it, but he wanted to confirm it once more. To be sure of what he'd heard, that is. At this, Ryu Hyuk kept his grave expression and answered.

"That piece of trash has been sexually exploiting male trainees."

"······"

Kang Jae-ha's gaze turned colder still.

"Sexual exploitation of male trainees."

"Yes."

"'Matsuda Hideo' did."

"That's right."

"Goddamn moronic bastard, this one."

For a moment, Kang Jae-ha choked back the nausea rising in him. If that old geezer called Matsuda Hideo had been standing in front of him, he might have smacked him across the face. That was how much disgust welled up in Jae-ha, and after gazing at Ryu Hyuk for a moment, Kang Jae-ha reined in the foul feeling spreading through him.

"...Sexual exploitation of male trainees. So that's the pleasure and the weakness of that moron 'Matsuda Hideo', is it."

"Yes. His one and only pleasure, and at the same time his most ferocious weakness."

"Even his weakness is the scummiest kind there is."

"I agree."

Ryu Hyuk's 'Ability' was to see through an opponent's weakness, whether material or psychological. In other words, the weakness of 'Matsuda Hideo', the 'Mirai Stage' CEO hailed as the godfather of Japan's entertainment industry, was nothing less than his own pleasure.

Kang Jae-ha rubbed his jaw.

'Old geezer like him, I figured his weakness would be some bum body part or other...'

'Mirai Stage', the agency Kamijo Yuu belonged to, was a mega-sized Japanese agency, and if its CEO Matsuda Hideo, who had reigned over it for decades, had been sexually exploiting male trainees...

'Sexual exploitation of male trainees? The more I think about it, the more revolting it gets.'

It was a solid weakness, no doubt about it. At this point Ryu Hyuk added an explanation.

"The male trainees who've been sexually exploited, they're not just one or two."

"And they'll span a range of ages, too."

"Yes."

Ryu Hyuk kept reciting the information he'd gleaned from Matsuda Hideo's weakness. Even as he listened to the briefing, Kang Jae-ha was gauging many number of things.

'Decades. That's how long Matsuda Hideo's had Japan's entertainment world in his grip. Which means the kids that moron sexually exploited number at least a few dozen, easy.'

Their ages would be all over the map, too. From young boys to young men. The crucial point here was that sexual exploitation itself was a serious crime, and minors were among the targets.

Matsuda Hideo, a Japanese entertainment mogul known even overseas, if word got out that he'd sexually exploited male trainees, minors included...

'If this gets out, it's more than just a scandal. Nuclear-bomb level, it could escalate into an international problem, not just in Japan and Korea.'

The whole world would probably fix its attention on Matsuda Hideo.

Around the time Kang Jae-ha had been turning things over in his head for a good while, Lee Chan-hoo, who'd been spitting curses nonstop, murmured coldly.

"A bastard like that, if this were the Other World, I'd slit his throat without a single soul the wiser."

It was a comment worthy of an Assassination Squad member. Then Cha Chung-hyeon asked Jae-ha in a leisurely tone.

"But... if he's been messing with this many male trainees... how's it stayed quiet all this time?"

As though he already knew, Kang Jae-ha answered in a low voice.

"It's a lot like Kamijo Yuu's case. The agency 'Mirai Stage', the power of 'Matsuda Hideo', it's all just too overwhelming. There's nothing a single person can do about it."

"If someone gathered the victims together."

"Somebody might have tried, but whether he crushed them by force or bought them off with money, 'Matsuda Hideo' would have taken care of it."

Ryu Hyuk nodded his close-cropped head in agreement.

"It's a picture we see plenty of in Korea, too."

Kang Jae-ha propped his chin on his hand.

"Similar, yeah, but Japan's murkier. Even the way they work behind the scenes is more insidious. Either way, if he's been at the sexual exploitation for decades, there'll be no shortage of wronged victims."

"Their lives ruined, or wronged and yet unable to do a thing......there'll be recent victims too."

At Ryu Hyuk's added remark, Kang Jae-ha nodded.

"Right. He'll have kept up his moronic shit this whole time. Past addiction, doing it like it's part of his daily routine by now, that moronic old bastard."

Having murmured this, Jae-ha slowly crossed his legs.

'Finding and confirming every last one of those many victims won't be easy.'

On top of that, Kang Jae-ha was busy. Of course, now that he knew about the sexual exploitation weakness, saving Kamijo Yuu while lopping off Matsuda Hideo's head was a given. Still, he couldn't pour all of his focus into that alone.

'I only need to make one single current.'

Kang Jae-ha sometimes described an issue as a wave. Let a current catch just once somewhere, and it gathered mass here and there until it turned into an enormous wave.

In other words, if Matsuda Hideo's sexual exploitation weakness went off properly, there was a strong chance many number of victims would rise up. From that point on, without his lifting a finger, a massive wave would come crashing down on Matsuda Hideo.

But his opponent was 'Matsuda Hideo', godfather of Japan's entertainment world. There was no manufacturing that first current without evidence.

'The tax evasion and slush funds and all that Cha Chung-hyeon turned up can't create that current, that's for landing follow-up blows.'

Evidence. A victim would of course be the surest thing, but they weren't easy to find, and Kang Jae-ha, quietly rubbing his jaw, murmured under his breath.

"Yeah, catching him in the act is still the best way."

He meant the moment right before 'Matsuda Hideo' made yet another sexual exploitation victim. If a moment like that came, everything would be solved. Making the current, the evidence, and saving one more victim, all of it.

Drawing up the plan in earnest, Kang Jae-ha handed his subordinates their orders.

"Cha Chung-hyeon, for now you get the dirty money you've already confirmed on 'Mirai Stage' sorted out, and keep an eye out for anything else."

"Yes, sir."

"And Lee Chan-hoo."

"Yes, Commander."

"Starting today, don't just go through the motions, mark 'Matsuda Hideo' hard. And when you check him with Search, do it in the afternoon or at night if you can, not morning or midday."

"Got it."

His orders given, Kang Jae-ha murmured inwardly.

'One time is all it takes, you moronic old geezer. Go on and make your move.'

Two days later, the morning of the 11th.

The location was a hotel near the 'MEG' office. In a fairly neat, tidy room, Kamijo Yuu could be seen. Her hair was wet, as if she'd just finished a shower, and her faintly flushed face bore no trace of makeup. Even so, her beauty was striking.

"Whew..."

She became her role in 'Spring at the Borderline' and began practicing her acting.

She melted emotion into it, chewed over every line, and let her expression and gaze pour out.

About an hour passed like that, perhaps?

"......Incredible."

Kamijo Yuu, pausing her acting practice for a moment, smiled faintly.

"All I did was meet the Commander and my comrades, and yet my acting comes this easily."

Her PTSD wasn't gone a full hundred percent, but it was nearly healed. On top of that, her condition lately was at its peak. It was a world apart from the past, when she'd even contemplated ending it all. In her mindset, her mental state, that is. Soon Yuu let out a murmur to herself in Japanese.

"I......the Other World. No, I suppose I did miss the Mercenary Corps after all."

She was so grateful to the Commander for appearing before her. And with good reason. There was no Other World now, but he'd carried on their shared world just as it had been back then, and had even saved her life.

'I'll repay him, the other comrades will feel the same, but......I have to work even harder.'

Just then, a message arrived on her phone.

-Hello, Ms. Kamijo Yuu. This is Ogawa Sayaka of Shiori Production.

The sender was Sayaka, the one who owed Jae-ha a debt.

Meanwhile, Gimpo Airport.

A familiar woman stepped into the airport, thick with jostling crowds. It was Ha Yeon-ji, wheeling a silver carrier. She had a hat on over her brown hair, but it seemed to do nothing to hide her outstanding beauty, for a few men passing by turned to look back at her.

Indifferent to any of it, Ha Yeon-ji checked the time and thought of where she was headed.

"Japan... been quite a while."

Ha Yeon-ji was soon to board a flight bound for Japan. She'd told her workplace, 'Prime Patch', that it was a business trip, but the real reason she was going to Japan was an order from her Commander, Kang Jae-ha.

Task one was investigating the mega-agency 'Mirai Stage', and task two was scouting out an agency to serve as the Japanese branch of 'MEG'. Just as Kang Jae-ha had declared, the Japanese branch of 'MEG' would take the form of an acquisition, and Ha Yeon-ji had to run advance checks with a list of Japanese agencies to acquire.

The one who'd been a big help with that list of agencies to acquire was Kamijo Yuu, who had recently joined them as a comrade.

In any case, Ha Yeon-ji arrived in Japan about two hours later, and at the Japanese airport someone greeted her warmly.

"Welcome, Ms. Ha Yeon-ji."

"Yeah, it's been a while."

The ones who'd been waiting for Ha Yeon-ji were, naturally, Japanese, a man and a woman. The two were acquaintances of hers. On top of that, they were reporters for the famous Japanese weekly 'Weekly Archipelago'. Ha Yeon-ji was the one who had handed them the A-class actress Towase Rino's affair.

Even now, the affair between Minase Kanata and Towase Rino was in an uproar as a huge issue in Japan, and the two 'Weekly Archipelago' reporters smiled and expressed their thanks to Ha Yeon-ji.

"Thank you, thanks to you we landed one hell of a scoop."

Ha Yeon-ji shrugged and answered.

"We all help each other out, don't we?"

Her Japanese wasn't native-level like Kang Jae-ha's, but Ha Yeon-ji's clumsy Japanese was no real problem for communicating. The two 'Weekly Archipelago' reporters then asked her.

"So, what do you need us to help with?"

Ha Yeon-ji showed them the list of Japanese agencies to acquire and answered.

"First, I'd like you to tell me what you know about these agencies. And if you've got nothing, look into it for me."

"That much isn't hard at all."

Soon Ha Yeon-ji added,

"And is there really nothing going on with 'Mirai Stage' these days?"

That same night, Korea.

The time was roughly nine o'clock. In a window-side seat inside the 'MEG' office sat the narrow-eyed Lee Chan-hoo, alone. As the figurehead CEO of 'MEG', he was handling some overtime.

After looking over documents for a while, Lee Chan-hoo stretched himself out long.

"Ugh, guess I'll head out soon?"

Sizing up his chance to clock out, Lee Chan-hoo gathered his things and was about to leave the office. Then he stopped short. Realizing one task still remained, he halted his steps.

"Let's see... where's this moronic old bastard and what's he up to right now."

He took the stance to use his 'Ability', Search. The target was 'Matsuda Hideo', the Japanese entertainment mogul. It was exactly as Commander Kang Jae-ha had ordered. Of course, Lee Chan-hoo had checked on 'Matsuda Hideo' at this same hour two days ago, and yesterday as well. But there'd been nothing worth mentioning.

He'd figured today would be the same.

So Lee Chan-hoo closed his eyes, recalling Matsuda Hideo. A little while later he opened them again, and having seen the present location of 'Matsuda Hideo' and what he was doing in that moment, Lee Chan-hoo's reaction was anything but ordinary.

"This crazy son of a bitch!!"

For his face had clouded over with rage and he'd suddenly spat out a curse. On top of that, his movements were desperately hurried. Whipping out his phone, Lee Chan-hoo placed a call. The person on the other end was Kang Jae-ha.

The line connected after barely a ring.

"Yeah, go ahead."

The instant he heard Jae-ha's low voice through the phone, Lee Chan-hoo shouted rapidly.

"Commander! 'Matsuda Hideo', that fucker, looks like he's about to pull that moronic shit of his right now!!"

*****

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