I Became a Scoundrel of a Chaebol Family-Chapter 272

The next day.

The exposé on Mayor Choi Cheol-kyu that I had been briefed on the night before began spreading across every news outlet.

Shinmirae Daily was no exception. A report came in stating that they had received a tip from an anonymous source. I didn’t see any harm in it, so I gave the order to publish it.

“No matter how you look at it, this isn’t natural. Right?”

“Yes. It doesn’t seem like an organic exposé.”

If someone had really gotten fed up with Mayor Choi Cheol-kyu’s misdeeds and decided to expose him, there’s no way it would’ve all come out at the exact same time like this.

If anything, the stories would have surfaced one by one, with some delay between them.

This was clearly a coordinated exposé orchestrated by a powerful force.

One meant to completely bury Mayor Choi Cheol-kyu.

“How’s Choi Cheol-kyu responding?”

“No official statement yet. But reports from the mayor’s residence say he’s seething with rage.”

“Hmm.”

I paused for a moment to think.

Would this situation really work entirely in my favor?

If that bastard Choi Cheol-kyu gets completely cornered, he might go down swinging and try something stupid.

Like vetoing the Special Prosecutor Bill, for example.

“That’d be a real pain in the ass. Should I just get rid of him before that happens?”

Of course, that scenario isn’t very likely.

You’d have to be completely insane to actually go that far.

But even a cornered rat bites the cat.

And there’s no law that says a human won’t do the same.

“Yeah. What’s the point in talking to that bastard anymore? I’ve already given him more than enough chances.”

“We can initiate a special investigation into the mayor, right?”

“Yes, but since he’s a sitting mayor, you’d need both a majority vote in the City Council and the approval of the Incheon Central Prosecutors’ Office. It’s not something that can be decided by just one side.”

“That so?”

The Incheon Central Prosecutors’ Office is already something I can manipulate.

Not completely, but with the Prosecutor General and one of his close aides—Yang Soyu, the head of Planning and Coordination—under my thumb, it’s safe to say I control about 40%.

At the very least, I can appoint a special prosecutor at my discretion.

That just leaves the City Council.

Conveniently, it’s the season when politicians are lining up to make their apologies to me, so my influence is extremely strong right now.

The ruling party’s a bit of a hurdle, but once word about Joo Hyun-ah gets around and the mayor starts faltering, they’ll slink over to my side soon enough.

“If anyone asks whether we were behind this exposé on Choi Cheol-kyu, don’t give them a straight answer. Just play dumb.”

“Yes, understood.”

“And start leaking information about Joo Hyun-ah. Say that the Young Master is furious at Mayor Choi Cheol-kyu for orchestrating this entire scandal, and that as long as they stay in the ruling party, forgiveness is off the table. They must defect.”

“Understood.”

As long as we stay consistent with that tone, people will jump to their own conclusions.

“Ah! Young Master Go Muyeol is so enraged at Mayor Choi Cheol-kyu that he’s trying to completely destroy him with every exposé possible and sink the entire ruling party with him!”

They’ll think that.

And the timing is just perfect.

In truth, no one knows who actually orchestrated the exposé on Choi Cheol-kyu, but it doesn’t matter.

If I can use it, it becomes mine.

“So, is this the start of your counterattack?”

“Counterattack? What counterattack? I haven’t been hit.”

“Ah...”

I was just... mildly annoyed, that’s all.

“And get the special prosecutor ready. Start whispering in the ears of the opposition lawmakers. They’re from the opposing party anyway, right? Tell them to latch onto this like bloodhounds and keep barking for a special investigation nonstop.

Once it passes, hand it straight to the Incheon Central Prosecutors’ Office and appoint Lee Na-eun as the special prosecutor. Get it moving.”

If I preemptively set up the special investigation and appoint Lee Na-eun, then the special prosecutor in charge of the district mayor murder case will have to be someone else.

It’s a classic two-birds-one-stone move.

“Yes, understood.”

“It’s been a while since we’ve handed Na-eun the Terminator gear.”

+++

The full-on offensive had begun.

Just yesterday, the political world had been thrown into chaos over the district mayor’s murder case.

Now, it had once again turned into a battlefield, with razor-sharp words being hurled from all directions.

At the center of it all was none other than Mayor Choi Cheol-kyu of Incheon.

Accusations of pedophilia, abuse of staff, threatening and blackmailing fellow lawmakers, illegally procuring political funds, embezzling party funds, misappropriating city budget, abuse of authority, neglect of duty—

Each of these on its own would be career-ending.

Now, they were exploding in a rapid chain reaction, giving the opposition party the perfect excuse to unleash a devastating assault.

“We demand a special prosecutor be appointed for Mayor Choi Cheol-kyu!!”

Papers flying, people shouting, fingers jabbing—

A beautiful mess of chaos.

One peculiar detail, though—

While the ruling party members were pushing back, they weren’t doing it all that forcefully.

“This is... I mean, anyone can [N O V E L I G H T] see it...”

“This has Namdong Industrial Complex written all over it...”

“They’re planning to take out the mayor and seize total control of Incheon.”

“They’ve already wiped out every district mayor...”

“And that lawmaker who went to apologize? Forced to resign from the party!”

The reason morale was collapsing was Namdong Industrial Complex—in other words, Go Muyeol.

There was no mistaking the timing. The reason Mayor Choi Cheol-kyu’s corruption was erupting now was clear.

Go Muyeol’s fury.

The infamous psycho who had slaughtered every district mayor just for skipping out on a banquet was now trying to drag down Mayor Choi Cheol-kyu too.

On top of that, a rumor was circulating with a fair amount of credibility—that Go Muyeol had blacklisted every ruling party lawmaker connected to Choi, refusing to even meet with them unless they officially defected.

So of course morale was plummeting.

The ruling party lawmakers were at least putting up a token defense, but if any of them openly came out in support of the mayor, there was a very real chance they’d end up on Go Muyeol’s hit list.

“If that happens, I might be the next one to die, not just some district mayor.”

“He already wiped out all the district mayors—total annihilation of the ruling party isn’t some far-fetched fantasy...!”

Fear spread.

And morale collapsed.

+++

As time passed, Mayor Choi Cheol-kyu became increasingly cornered.

The opposition’s assault only intensified, and the number of defecting ruling party lawmakers kept climbing.

A major reason for that was me.

Everyone assumed I was behind this entire operation, and the panic that caused was hilarious. Lawmakers were rushing over to me barefoot like their lives depended on it, throwing their parties under the bus without a second thought.

I gathered up the defectors—starting with Representative Joo Hyun-ah, the first to jump ship—and grouped them together.

For now, I let them tag along with The Better Future Party and their initiative for a special investigation. But when the time came, I planned to peel them off and form a new party entirely.

“Once the district mayor elections wrap up, that’s when I’ll start revealing my hand.”

But there was one variable in all this.

Mayor Choi Cheol-kyu.

If that bastard is forced out of office over this scandal, then a new mayoral election has to be held within three months.

This wouldn’t be just any election—far more important than the district mayor by-elections.

It would be an enormous race, on the level of a presidential election in Korea.

Which means attention wouldn’t just flood in from Korea but from all across Asia.

“The mayor... What the hell do I do about the mayor...”

I had barely managed to gather candidates for the district mayor positions by cobbling together random nobodies like Dragon Balls.

But a mayoral candidate?

Not a chance.

With the district mayors, I could at least shove people like Lee Na-eun into the spotlight by force. But for the mayor’s office?

Not happening.

This is still an election, after all.

To cleanly win the mayoral seat, I’d need a candidate with proven political achievements and solid public trust.

And among the people I had with me...

“There’s not a single one.”

Really.

Not even one.

Not a single secretary, not a single lackey—none of them had the reputation, influence, or political credibility to run for mayor.

“In that case... maybe I’ll have to let nature take its course.”

First, I secure the district mayors.

Then, maybe I hand-pick one of them, feed them a string of wins, and build them up over time so they can run in the next mayoral election.

“That dumbass Choi Cheol-kyu. If he’d just listened, none of this would’ve happened. I wouldn’t even need to go through this crap.”

Now I’m pissed.

Why does this asshole keep complicating my life?

“Tch.”

A few more days passed.

Friday, February 12th.

The Incheon Central Prosecutors’ Office held a major press conference.

Amid the blinding flashes of hundreds of cameras, the Prosecutor General stepped onto the podium with a grave expression.

“On the morning of February 11th at approximately 10:00 AM, the City Council officially submitted a request for a special investigation into Mayor Choi Cheol-kyu of Incheon.

After extensive deliberation and comprehensive review, we at the Prosecutors’ Office have reached the following conclusion:

The charges brought against Mayor Choi Cheol-kyu include child prostitution and statutory rape, abuse of authority, workplace abuse, blackmail and extortion of fellow lawmakers, illegal political fund acquisition, and embezzlement of city budget.

Taken together, these charges are extremely serious, and we have determined that a fair and transparent investigation is absolutely necessary.”

The flashbulbs flared like lightning.

A few reporters threw out questions, but the Prosecutor General kept speaking without pause.

“To uphold the trust of Incheon’s 30 million citizens and to carry out justice, we are establishing a special prosecutor’s office.

The special investigation team will carry out its duties free from any outside pressure.

Through a swift and impartial investigation, we will uncover the full truth behind all allegations and reestablish justice in this country.”

“Everything’s going smoothly.”

As the press conference seemed to be wrapping up, reporters raised their hands.

“Who will lead the special investigation?”

“A special prosecutor was just approved for the recent district mayor massacre case as well—won’t running two special investigations simultaneously overload the system?”

“There’s been criticism that listing all the charges one by one is unnecessarily cruel. What’s your response?”

The Prosecutor General waved them off at first, but eventually picked the mic back up.

“The special prosecutor for the case of Mayor Choi Cheol-kyu is Lee Na-eun, Chief Prosecutor of the Namdong District Prosecutors’ Special Investigations Division.”

The moment his words dropped, chaos erupted again—but for a different reason.

Lee Na-eun had gained massive public recognition for successfully leading two previous special investigations, but she also had a ridiculous nickname:

“The Terminator with a trigger finger.”

“Master!”

Just as I was thinking everything was falling into place—

Soo-ah came rushing in to call me.

“Mayor Choi Cheol-kyu has called an emergency press conference!”

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