NIS Agents Tearing Up the Japanese Empire - Chapter 74



Only Krnovel

Paperman (3)

Governor-General Saito secretly ordered me to purchase the Chosun Ilbo and transform it into a newspaper that would write articles to their liking, just like his organ.

And he gave me a huge sum of 50,000 won to use for the acquisition of Chosun Ilbo.

“Um… … It must be a lot of money, right?”

“With 50,000 won, you can buy dozens of cultural houses in Gyeongseong’s yolk land and still have some money left over.”

“That’s true.”

But what I’m trying to buy is not dozens of cultural houses located in prime Gyeongseong land, but a company with a widely known name, the Chosun Ilbo.

It goes without saying that this is a whole other level of difficulty than trading just a few houses.

I heard that it’s not just me who’s jumping into this bidding, but others are also getting involved.

“Who intervened?”

“It is said that several pro-Japanese collaborators from Pyramid and Mr. Shin Seok-woo, the head of the Shanghai Provisional Government Transportation Bureau and our madam’s superior, got involved in purchasing the Chosun Ilbo.”

“Hmm… … That would be difficult.”

Anyway, if you politely visit those pro-Japanese swindlers like Pyramid on a quiet night and tell them that if they outbid you, you can show them a magic trick where their head and torso are separated the next day from a first-person perspective, they will obediently give up.

But those fools who didn’t give up, they just had to put on a real magic show.

But I couldn’t do that to Mr. Woochang.

“But if we try to suppress them with money, it means that our opponents are not easy.”

Mr. Woochang didn’t have much money, but his father was one of the wealthiest men in the land.

So, if we look at it only in terms of funding capability, it means that there is a high possibility that they will be able to spend a similar amount of money as me.

Of course, if I were to push myself a bit, I could take over the company by writing several times the amount that Mr. Woochang had written down… … But if I did that, I wouldn’t be able to avoid the suspicion of the Governor-General even if I did a good job.

“Ugh… … . As soon as I solve one problem, another one arises!”

“What are you so worried about?”

“Why? Did you come up with a good idea, Madam?”

“Why don’t you just go to the director, reveal your identity, and ask for his cooperation in this matter?”

Madame’s words were orthodox, but at the same time, they were not worth listening to.

The reason was simple.

“How can I trust that person?”

“……yes?”

Madam looked back at me with a surprised face at my overly direct speech.

“That… … . What do you mean?”

“Oh, I guess I said something thoughtlessly that could be misinterpreted.”

“… … ?”

To be exact, it doesn’t mean that I don’t trust Mr. Woochang himself, but if I confess my identity to him and receive help, his attitude toward me will naturally change, and a gap of alienation will form between us.

Right now, in Gyeongseong, the Imperial Police and the Joseon Garrison Command were searching Gyeongseong with their eyes wide open, trying to capture me.

Wouldn’t such people notice the strange change that occurred between Kuroda and Shin Seok-woo, who had never met before?

Of course, that could have been possible.

But on the other hand, there was also a possibility that they might notice these subtle changes.

“If there is even the slightest possibility of a threat or accident in the plan, then the plan is something that needs to be approached with caution from the beginning.”

“Ah, yes… … .”

I smiled faintly at the trembling madam.

“Was that a bit difficult for you, Madam?”

“If you explain it like that, I think it will be difficult for anyone to understand.”

“this.”

Anyway, for that reason, it seemed best to postpone approaching Professor Woochang until there was absolutely no other way.

“So, in the end, we’ve come full circle?”

“Um… … . Right?”

How to safely take over the Chosun Ilbo.

What is that?

“But… … If what the teacher said a little while ago is true, then doesn’t that mean Mr. Woochang doesn’t have a single penny in his hands right now?”

“hmm?”

Come to think of it, that’s true.

The source of the funds that Mr. Woochang will invest before this acquisition is not his own pocket, but the wallet of his wealthy father.

If so, the method was very simple.

All you have to do is keep the money from leaking out of Mr. Woochang’s father’s wallet.

“Attack the messenger, not the message! Wow… … You’re smart, Madam!”

“In times like this, you should just praise them for doing a good job.”

But I didn’t answer that.

Instead, he got up, grabbed his clothes, ran outside, and said something.

“I’ll be back in a bit! I’ll be eating out for dinner tonight, so don’t wait for me and eat first, Madam!”

“… … .”

I went outside and was suddenly hit by a rock.

* * *

The death of patriot Noda Heijiro gave people quite a shock.

It would be natural to be surprised to see the death of someone who was of a relatively high position within Joseon and who had considerable wealth.

But what surprised people was not his death, but what happened afterward.

“I heard that Lord Noda’s funeral will not be a state funeral but a small, private one held by his family?”

“Really? What’s going on at the Governor-General’s Office?”

“How would I know? I wonder what the wind is blowing… … .”

“Aren’t you just worried that the Joseon people will gather together and do something?”

“Maybe so.”

The Japanese Government-General of Korea simply ignored the funeral of pro-Japanese collaborator Noda Heijiro.

He was not just any pro-Japanese collaborator you could see on the streets, but he was also the one who handed over Joseon to Japan, and the funeral of Song Byeong-jun was passed over without a trace.

Of course, no one pointed a finger at the Governor-General’s Office and criticized it for abandoning the funeral of a big shot like Song Byeong-jun.

There were only a few voices of discontent among the few factions that were close to Song Byeong-jun, but others either kept quiet or actively supported the Governor-General’s choice.

Up until this point it was a realm of emotions, but as it moved into the realm of reason, naturally people began to want to analyze it.

In particular, this was the case for Mr. Hyun, a social affairs reporter at the Chosun Ilbo.

“Senior, have you heard anything?”

“what.”

“No, there was a major incident at the Governor-General’s Office where they skipped Lord Noda’s funeral. There must be something going on.”

“So what.”

“Oh, please don’t be so stuffy and speak frankly!”

“How would I know~ Our chairman died, they keep nagging me to pay special attention to the article, and the police keep coming by every day to make a big fuss, so what do you want me to do about it!!!”

As the social affairs editor’s irritation exploded all at once, Mr. Hyun and other reporters quickly packed their bags and left the newspaper office for fear of causing further trouble.

Mr. Hyun, who was thrown to the floor of Jongno like that, looked around at the citizens walking down the street and became lost in thought.

‘There’s definitely something… … Mr. Ha… … No, the manager seems to know something… … .’

Mr. Hyun, who is now 23 years old, kicked rocks on the street out of frustration and vented his anger.

Even the stone that received his uncontrollable anger seemed to have lost its temper and ran down Jongno Street, mercilessly hitting the heads of pedestrians passing by.

“Ouch!”

“omg!”

For a moment, Mr. Hyun considered running away, but the streets of Jongno were now lined with police officers trying to catch the ghost of Gyeongseong, so Mr. Hyun, with his heavy build, would not be able to run far.

Mr. Hyun, who was very good at self-objectification, hurriedly ran to the poor victim who had fallen victim to the madman’s stone.

“Are you okay?”

“Write… … .”

“No, heh heh… … .”

I couldn’t tell from a distance, but when I saw the victim up close, I could tell he was quite large.

Although Mr. Hyun was not in a weight class where he could be easily outclassed by his size, his opponent was of a different size.

If Mr. Hyun was a wild boar that rolled around in the mountains and acted as the leader, then his opponent was a mountain lord who lived off of the wild boar, or a tiger.

“Ah… … . What are you doing all of a sudden?”

“Oh, I’m sorry. I wonder why it rolled that way… … .”

“No, why are you throwing rocks at people like that? What kind of times are we in right now!”

Mr. Hyun’s back kept bending as the other person shouted at him, and an apology appeared on his face.

“I’m sorry. I will compensate you as much as I can for the damages… … .”

“What?! This guy said, ‘Let’s see, let’s see,’ so it won’t work? Who asked for money?”

“That, that’s not it… … .”

Mr. Hyun was at a loss as to what to do with the very angry passerby.

Only after a long time of being scolded by angry passers-by was he able to become free again.

“… … Do you understand?!”

“Yes, I’m sorry… … .”

“Young people… … If you don’t have anything better to do, why don’t you just look for a day job? Why do you harass innocent people on the street! Harass them… … .”

At the word unemployed, Mr. Hyun unknowingly got angry and showed signs of discomfort.

“No, I’m sorry, but why are you calling a perfectly capable person a bum?”

“It looks exactly like that, but what the… … .”

“I’m a reporter for the Chosun Ilbo! Not just any reporter, but Hyun Jin-geon, a social affairs reporter on the front page of the newspaper! You’ve probably heard my name, right?”

Mr. Hyun was very angry.

It’s a little embarrassing to say this myself, but he was a writer who did not neglect his creative work while working as a journalist.

In particular, works such as 『Bincheo』 and 『The Society That Promotes Drinking』 that I wrote in the past received favorable reviews from the literary world and even put Hyun Jin-geon’s name firmly in the list of young writers to watch out for in this era.

As such, Mr. Hyun’s pride was so strong that it could hit the sky twice and fly away.

“Hyunjin? Who is that?”

“… … ?”

At that moment, Mr. Hyun’s world collapsed.

“You don’t know me?”

“Do you need to know the personal information of the person who throws rocks at others? If you’re just trying to kill time, go to Tapgol Park over there.”

“Ta, Tapgol Park… … .”

Mr. Hyun was angry that his achievements were being ignored.

But even if he was angry, there wasn’t really anything he could do about it.

I was just angry by myself.

‘under…….’

The person you meet on the street doesn’t know you.

It may not seem like a particularly strange story to others, but it was a very strange thing to the next great writer of Joseon, Hyun Jin-geon.

Meanwhile, Mr. Hyun had a decent job as a newspaper reporter and was praised by those around him as a writer who had successfully entered the literary world.

That may be why I thought to myself that I was shrugging my shoulders a little.

‘I’ve been so arrogant all this time.’

The world is wide, and there are countless people like Mr. Hyun.

Even among the great writers of the West, there must be many who are praised by Westerners, even though they may not know his name.

‘A frog in a well cannot see the sea.’

Thinking about it like that, the anger that had been building up inside him subsided and Hyun gained a new realization.

He felt grateful to the unknown passerby who had given him this realization and tried to express his gratitude to him… … .

“Where did you go… … ?”

When I came to my senses again, the pedestrian had long since disappeared.

I tried to chase it by hurriedly walking around the streets, but I couldn’t find any trace of it, whether it had sunk into the ground or risen into the sky.

“This is incredible… … .”

Mr. Hyun scratched his head and looked around.

There were lots of people around, but there was no one he was looking for.

After he had been wandering around like that for a while, a rickshaw man wandering around approached him and asked him.

“Oh my! Are you looking for a rickshaw?”

“No. I was just looking for someone.”

“Oh, you’re going to the police station! If you go from here to Jongno… … . Just give me 50 cents.”

“No, I don’t ride a rickshaw.”

“Hehe, if you walk in this kind of weather, you’ll die of heat. It’s better and more comfortable to take a rickshaw and go in a cool way.”

“I told you not to ride! It’s annoying… …!”

Mr. Hyun harshly kicked out the rickshaw puller who kept clinging to him and then turned around.

The rickshaw puller, whose innocence was ignored, spat on the floor and screamed as he watched Mr. Hyun walking away.

“If you don’t want to ride, then don’t. With that kind of personality… … . If you keep going like this, you’ll end up stepping in shit!”

But then he let out a sigh.

“Damn… … . I had a strangely unlucky day today, I met some real shit at the end!”

NIS Agent Tears the Japanese Empire Episode 75