The Genius Grandson Of The Cash King Becomes A Tycoon [EN]: Chapter 19

#019

‘Pat, pat.’

The dark clouds that had gathered since the afternoon unleashed a downpour late into the night.

A chilly late autumn night, yet still mild for the approaching winter.

The rain, a herald of winter, fell steadily.

Late November, unusually rainy for that time of year.

Kang Do-hyun stared out the window with a tense expression.

He nervously bit his dry lips.

The coppery taste of blood filled his mouth.

His lips, repeatedly bitten, were bleeding.

‘It’s all or nothing. Don’t think. Just close your eyes and do it.’

Kang Do-hyun tried to suppress the guilt gnawing at the edge of his mind.

But it wasn’t easy.

Shaking his head violently, he focused on Yoon Jung-hoon in the distance.

Yoon Jung-hoon, walking along the dimly lit street, stopped at a crosswalk.

Kang Do-hyun knew this was his last chance.

It was late, and the rain-slicked streets were deserted.

He had to succeed now.

The traffic light ahead turned red.

The pedestrian signal illuminated a bright green.

Yoon Jung-hoon, holding an umbrella, stepped onto the crosswalk.

Inside the car, Kang Do-hyun gripped the steering wheel, knuckles white.

Then, he slammed his foot on the accelerator.

The car surged forward, a sudden burst of power propelling it like an arrow.

The engine roared, mirroring the frantic pounding of his heart.

His eyes were fixed on the road ahead.

The wipers struggled against the downpour, blurring his vision, but he couldn’t afford to lose focus.

Yoon Jung-hoon, with his umbrella, was now directly in his path.

Gripping the steering wheel even tighter, he pressed the accelerator with all his might.

***

Watching the steady rain, Jung-hoon mused.

‘Winter’s coming soon.’

Life at the orphanage is always tougher in winter than in summer.

It would be nice to have a warm parka.

And with how fast he was growing, he’d need to buy new school uniforms as well.

Buying an expensive winter coat was out of the question, given his circumstances.

The clothing allowance he received was already earmarked for necessities.

He hoped to use his scholarship money this time to buy clothes.

His school uniform and everyday clothes were noticeably older and worn compared to his classmates.

As he settled into high school life, he became increasingly aware of it.

But Jung-hoon refused to let it distract him.

He had too many important things to focus on.

Material possessions would become irrelevant once he found his grandmother.

Hyeon Jeong-ok, the Cash Queen of South Korea.

For now, he needed to be patient and hone his skills.

“Ugh, it’s cold.”

He waited for the signal at the crosswalk.

There weren’t many cars out on the rainy streets tonight.

As soon as the light turned green, he started across the street.

– Vroooom

A strange roar sliced through the sound of rain drumming on the asphalt.

He snapped his head around.

A car was speeding directly toward him.

The car wasn’t slowing down.

‘You crazy bastard.’

Sensing the imminent danger, Jung-hoon instinctively threw himself out of the way.

He narrowly avoided being hit.

He didn’t even have a chance to register the car that had tried to run him down.

– Beep

Another one was coming right at him.

A huge dump truck was bearing down on him.

Without a moment to think, he rolled to the other side.

Fortunately, Jung-hoon managed to escape with his life.

He scrambled to his feet on the opposite sidewalk.

His clothes were soaked, and blood trickled from scrapes on his skin.

Jung-hoon glared at the direction the vehicles had disappeared.

‘These crazy bastards.’

They had been lurking in the shadows, and now they were trying to eliminate him.

Tonight’s attempt was just the beginning.

Now they would relentlessly try to kill him.

Then there was no reason to hide anymore.

The tide had turned.

To survive, he had to reveal his identity.

He considered how to make his identity known.

He didn’t have a concrete plan yet.

He needed to think strategically.

He couldn’t afford to waste his second chance at life.

As he was about to head back, drenched and shivering, he heard a deafening crash nearby.

It was definitely the sound of a car collision.

At the intersection in the distance, a traffic accident had occurred.

He saw an overturned car, smoke billowing from it.

The heavy truck that caused the accident slowly reversed and disappeared as if nothing had happened.

Jung-hoon knew he had to help, despite his own injuries.

As he approached the overturned car, Jung-hoon recognized something.

The license plate of the car he’d dodged earlier, ‘2XXX’

It was definitely the car that had tried to kill him.

But he couldn’t just leave it like that.

Jung-hoon forced himself toward the wreckage.

“Ugh, ugh.”

A bloody man was groaning inside.

He carefully pulled out the man whose face was covered in blood.

The smell of gasoline was growing stronger in the thick smoke.

He had to get him out quickly.

He strained to pull him free.

“Ugh… Jung-hoon.”

Jung-hoon was startled by the voice calling his name.

He looked at the bloody man’s face.

The rain washed away some of the blood, revealing his features.

“Uncle.”

It was Senior Cheol-jung’s father, Kang Do-hyun.

“J-Jung-hoon…”

“Stay conscious, Uncle.”

Jung-hoon kept talking to him, trying to keep Kang Do-hyun from losing consciousness.

“Jung-hoon… There’s a recorder deep in the glove compartment… Hurry.”

Kang Do-hyun, his voice fading, spoke to Jung-hoon.

“Hurry, you have to get it.”

“What? I’ll call for help first. And it looks like it’s going to explode soon.”

Thick smoke billowed around the car, the smell of gasoline intensifying.

Flames flickered from underneath the overturned vehicle.

“N-No. Hurry, it’s important, you have to find it, hurry.”

Reluctantly, Jung-hoon went to the car at his uncle’s desperate plea.

The surrounding area reeked of leaking gasoline.

He hurried, not knowing when the car would explode.

He reached into the passenger seat window and opened the glove compartment.

There was a small recorder tucked away inside.

He grabbed it and ran back to Kang Do-hyun.

“Uncle, I brought it.”

“Ugh, Jung-hoon, keep this, don’t tell anyone… and.”

“Yes. Uncle, stay conscious. Uncle.”

His consciousness was fading due to the extensive blood loss.

“Hoo, Jung-hoon. I’m, I’m really sorry, Uncle.”

With those words, the uncle lost consciousness.

And with a deafening roar, the car exploded.

Soon after, fire trucks, ambulances, and police cars arrived, sirens blaring.

The paramedics administered first aid to the uncle and rushed him to the hospital.

Firefighters quickly extinguished the car fire.

Police officers directed traffic and tried to manage the chaotic scene.

A tow truck arrived and hauled away the burnt-out car.

In less than 30 minutes, the scene was eerily peaceful, as if nothing had happened.

Jung-hoon stood there, soaked in the rain.

He stared at the scene of the accident.

Until now, he had believed that if he kept a low profile, they wouldn’t target him.

But now everything had changed.

The rules of the game had shifted.

If he remained silent, he would be killed without anyone knowing.

He had to make a decision.

Clenching his fist, he headed to a nearby PC cafe [internet cafe].

He turned on a computer and opened a word processing program.

He began to write an introduction about himself.

Of course, he didn’t reveal his real name.

He started writing a story about his friend.

There is a grandson of the Cash King in the second grade of Joongbu High School.

He was always being watched.

But recently, his friend has been receiving death threats.

He wrote as realistically as possible about the stalking and death threats his friend had suffered.

At the end of the article, he pleaded for help to save the Cash King’s grandson.

He pondered what to title it.

He decided on something direct and attention-grabbing.

‘The Cash King’s Grandson is My Friend.’

Jung-hoon saved the document and opened an internet browser.

He clicked on a rapidly growing online newspaper.

A platform where anyone could write articles, with the motto ‘Everyone is a Reporter.’

He went to OhmyNews, which was rapidly expanding its influence with its open-door policy.

Jung-hoon copied and pasted his article.

He took a deep breath.

If this content is posted on the internet, 90 percent of people will dismiss it as the rantings of a madman.

But even if only 10 percent, no, even if only 1 percent believe it, that’s enough.

He was confident that if it reached Madam Hyeon Jeong-ok’s ears, his grandmother would find him.

The money she had spent searching for him already amounted to billions of won.

It might seem like a crazy article, but she would definitely check it.

Jung-hoon, taking another breath, clicked save.

His article was published online.

He stared at the monitor screen.

‘The Cash King’s Grandson is Here.’

The eye-catching headline was now visible to the world.

***

“Hyeon-jung, Hyeon-ju, don’t go.”

Hyeon Jeong-ok reached out to grab her son and daughter-in-law’s hands, but they slipped through her fingers.

“Gasp.”

She woke up from her dream with a sharp, choked cry.

Her wrinkled face was etched with longing.

Her son’s face, which she hadn’t seen in her dreams for a long time, looked so happy.

Her daughter-in-law also seemed to be in good spirits.

Hyeon Jeong-ok suddenly chuckled softly.

She replayed the dream in her mind.

Her son, whom she missed every single day.

Today, her daughter-in-law had joined him.

Her son had handed Hyeon Jeong-ok a gift box wrapped in golden cloth.

When she opened it, it was filled with sweet potatoes.

They looked freshly harvested, as if they had just been dug from the field.

But the number of sweet potatoes kept increasing.

Soon, they covered the entire green lawn of the garden.

It became a purple garden overflowing with purple sweet potatoes.

Hyeon Jeong-ok had stared in bewilderment at the absurd scene.

Her son and daughter-in-law had waved and disappeared, smiling.

She knew she wouldn’t be able to fall back asleep.

Hyeon Jeong-ok got out of bed and went to the window.

A heavy rain was falling, unusual for late autumn.

‘It’s going to get cold when this rain stops.’

She thought about the approaching winter.

She thought of Yoon Jung-hoon at Joongbu High School.

Her most likely grandson candidate, no, he was definitely her grandson.

If not, there would have been no reason for the article about him to be taken down.

The article that had mysteriously vanished from the internet.

That could only mean that Yoon Jung-hoon was her grandson.

Hyeon Jeong-ok had been meticulously planning how to bring Jung-hoon to her, with Man-ho’s help.

They had put their heads together and devised several realistic strategies.

They had to be fully prepared, knowing that her grandson’s life would be in danger if they failed.

The preparations were progressing slowly, as they had to avoid the watchful eyes of the Cheonji Association, who were constantly monitoring her.

It seemed like it would have to wait until next year.

Her heart ached at the thought of her grandson spending another winter in an orphanage.

She prayed that he would survive the cold winter unscathed.

Her heart heavy with thoughts of her grandson, she went to her study, turned on the computer, and started browsing the internet.

Computers and the internet were challenging for an elderly woman like her to master.

But Man-ho and Hyeon-soo had insisted that she learn.

She had almost smashed the monitor in frustration several times.

But now she was quite proficient.

She could find articles and gather the information she needed on her own.

A vast new world had opened up within the small screen in her room.

Hyeon Jeong-ok navigated to OhmyNews, where she had posted the article searching for her grandson last time.

She scanned through various articles and noticed an eye-catching headline.

‘The Cash King’s Grandson is Here.’

There had been several articles with similar titles before.

Many were posted randomly, as the platform allowed anyone to become a reporter.

Recently, the number one dream of Korean high school students for the past month was to become Hyeon Jeong-ok’s grandson.

She almost dismissed it.

But out of habit, she clicked on the article.

She had to check, even if it seemed absurd.

Hyeon Jeong-ok slowly began to read the article.

Her eyes, glued to the monitor, remained fixed on the screen.

Hyeon Jeong-ok reread the article several times.

‘It’s him, it’s definitely my grandson Jung-hoon.’

And she was certain that the author of the article was Jung-hoon himself.

Her grandson was in danger.

He was sending her an S.O.S signal.

She had to make a decision.

She looked out the window.

It wasn’t dawn yet.

Without hesitation, she picked up the phone and dialed Man-ho’s number.

“Yes, Elder.”

“I don’t know if I called too early.”

“No, it’s alright. Is something the matter?”

Man-ho, uneasy about the early morning call, asked cautiously.

“Today… no, come to the house first. Let’s have breakfast together.”

“Yes, Elder. I’ll leave right away.”

“Hahaha, drive slowly and carefully.”

***

She told him to come slowly, but a storm was brewing.

Madam Hyeon Jeong-ok was polite and formal in her speech, but she couldn’t conceal her impatient nature.

Kim Man-ho, after preparing as quickly as possible, left his house.

It was 6 a.m., and fortunately, traffic wasn’t too heavy.

Man-ho arrived in Seongbuk-dong before 7 a.m., opened the front gate, and went inside.

“Elder, I’m here.”

Go Seong-daek, who was in charge of the kitchen, came out while preparing the meal.

“She’s in the study.”

“Elder.”

He knocked and waited in front of the door.

“Come in.”

He carefully opened the door after hearing Hyeon Jeong-ok’s voice.

Hyeon Jeong-ok, who had been staring at the monitor, turned her head.

“You’re here. You didn’t come slowly, even though I told you to.”

“It’s been over 20 years since I started serving you… really.”

“Is that so? It’s a big problem because the fun of teasing you is gradually disappearing. It’s so much fun to tease you.”

“Really, Elder.”

“Come here and look at this.”

Hyeon Jeong-ok showed Man-ho the OhmyNews article.

His expression gradually turned serious.

“It seems he’s already in danger. What should we do?”

“We have to start.”

“The preparations aren’t complete yet…”

“It can’t be helped. They’re already trying to kill him. We can’t wait any longer.”

“I understand. I’ll start with everything I have, even if it’s not enough. Just tell me what to do.”

“Start.”

Hyeon Jeong-ok’s firm voice echoed softly in the room.

Kim Man-ho took out his phone.

And sent a few text messages.

“Is it all done?”

“Yes.”

“Let’s go eat. It might be the last time. So, I prepared a feast.”

“It’s an honor to be with you, Elder.”

“Hahaha, words without sincerity…”

“No.”

“…Thank you, Man-ho.”

A gamble with their lives on the line.

They couldn’t predict how the Cheonji Association, consumed by madness, would react.

They were the kind of people who could blow up a plane with hundreds of people on board without batting an eye.

Those who would inflict bloody revenge in any way if their interests were threatened or their displeasure was aroused.

The project, prepared in secret while avoiding their surveillance, was about to begin.

An extremely tense moment where lives could be lost.

But with a calm step born from years of experience, she slowly walked toward the kitchen.

The Genius Grandson of the Cash King Becomes a Tycoon.