The Genius Grandson Of The Cash King Becomes A Tycoon [EN]: Chapter 5

#005

Kang Cheol-jung was being dragged away by thugs.

A person who had saved me in my past life through an unfortunate incident.

I wanted to help him.

Maybe I also wanted to offer some arrogant advice, just like he did.

I was actually envious of him the day he told me to live righteously.

He was someone with power.

Jeong-hoon slowly warmed up.

He cautiously entered the dark alley, lit by only one dim light.

Kang Cheol-jung was lying on the ground, surrounded by three students.

The sound of their snickering reached my ears.

“You should know your place before you try to act tough, you moron.”

“I was scared for nothing. Ugh, you damn bastard.”

In the corner at the end of the alley, a female student was trembling like an aspen leaf.

‘He can’t stand injustice? But he doesn’t have the ability to do anything about it….’

Jeong-hoon could easily imagine what had happened.

Some high school students were harassing the female student.

She must have asked Kang Cheol-jung for help as he passed by.

Or maybe he reacted to her scream.

It was obvious that Kang Cheol-jung, who jumped in without hesitation, couldn’t handle the three guys.

Jeong-hoon stopped Eun-soo, who was trying to help.

“Eun-soo, I’ll take care of it.”

“What? You? What’s going on?”

A flustered Eun-soo looked at Jeong-hoon with a questioning expression.

Jeong-hoon hated showing his strength more than anything.

But now he was trying to use his strength not for himself, but to help someone else.

It was enough to make Eun-soo bewildered.

“Just… who knows, it might be helpful later.”

Leaving Eun-soo, who still looked suspicious, Jeong-hoon stepped forward.

“Hey, you thugs, aren’t you ashamed to gang up 3 against 1 like that?”

The guys surrounding the fallen Kang Cheol-jung turned their heads.

“What’s this moron? Do you want to end up like him?”

They grinned and slowly walked towards Jeong-hoon.

Jeong-hoon wanted to show off his overwhelming strength in front of Kang Cheol-jung.

Just like the immense power of the prosecutor who saved him from going to jail with a single word that day, he wanted to show the power he possessed.

The first guy who stepped forward was punched squarely in the jaw.

The guy flew across the alley and crashed into the opposite wall.

The second guy, flustered, threw a clumsy punch.

Jeong-hoon dodged it and struck him in the abdomen, causing him to collapse and pass out.

The last guy was terrified and backed away.

As Jeong-hoon walked towards him, Kang Cheol-jung raised his head and shouted.

“Watch out behind you!”

Turning his head, Jeong-hoon saw the guy who had passed out earlier now standing up and trying to hit him in the head with a brick.

Ducking the attack, Jeong-hoon accurately struck the philtrum [the vertical groove between the base of the nose and the upper lip] between his nose and upper lip.

He felt the sensation of the guy’s nose bone and three teeth breaking with his punch.

He remembered being careless in the past and getting hit in the back of the head.

He stomped on the fallen guy’s body several times.

“S-Save me…….”

“Get lost, you bastards.”

The guys supported the fallen one and hurriedly ran away.

Jeong-hoon reached out his hand to Kang Cheol-jung, who was staring at him with a blank expression.

Then, he delivered the line he had prepared.

“Don’t act tough if you don’t have the ability, senior. Fighting is too much for a weak body like yours. People need to know their limits. You’ll end up in the gutter if you act recklessly, senior.”

Cheol-jung’s face flushed with displeasure at those words, but Jeong-hoon had a truly satisfied expression.

He had returned the words that had scratched his pride that day.

“Dying for nothing is a dog’s death. A meaningless death. Right, senior?”

Cheol-jung, after hearing Jeong-hoon’s words, slowly nodded with a stiff expression.

He stood up and brushed the dust off his clothes.

After brushing off all the dust, Cheol-jung looked at Jeong-hoon.

And then.

– Whack.

He smacked him on the back of the head.

“Don’t be so disrespectful……. to your senior…….”

‘I can’t talk back because he’s my school senior…….’

I endured it. It didn’t really hurt that much. But I couldn’t just stand there.

“To hit someone who saved you from thugs……. Ugh, if you weren’t my senior…….”

Jeong-hoon grumbled and glared at Cheol-jung.

Cheol-jung was startled by his gaze, but soon pretended to be magnanimous.

It was then, as they were engaged in a strange war of nerves.

“Are you okay?”

Eun-soo approached the female student, who was crouching in fear.

Her face was rapidly changing as she looked at Eun-soo.

The face that had been crushed by fear was now filled with joy, as if she had seen an idol.

“Ha, that bastard…….”

I was speechless. He was a natural.

Eun-soo…… should have become a legendary Casanova. But he became a gangster for nothing…….

She repeatedly thanked Eun-soo.

She had no interest in Jeong-hoon and Cheol-jung, who had actually saved her.

She only looked at Eun-soo with a regretful expression before leaving the alley and disappearing.

“Thanks. It’s all thanks to you.”

“Be careful. You’ll be in big trouble if you jump in recklessly. It’s just high school students today, but if you do that to gangsters, you’ll get your stomach cut open in an instant. You look big, but……. Know your place…….”

Kang Cheol-jung glared at Jeong-hoon.

Jeong-hoon also shut his mouth.

A senior from high school, like the sky [a Korean idiom emphasizing the respect due to elders or superiors].

“Anyway, I’m glad you weren’t seriously hurt. Our senior-nim [a sarcastic way of saying ‘senior’].”

Remembering how he used to call him ‘junior’ sarcastically, Jeong-hoon imitated him in front of him.

Was his lid blown [did he lose his temper]? Cheol-jung’s face turned even redder.

“Hyung [older brother or male senior], are you okay?”

“Eun-soo, tell your friend. If he acts disrespectfully one more time…… I’ll……”

He wouldn’t be able to do anything with force…….

Realizing that, there was a moment of silence.

“……Tell him to be respectful.”

“Yes. But hyung, are you really okay? It looked like you got stomped on a lot earlier.”

“Ahem, I’m fine. It’s not like this is the first time.”

“That’s why I keep telling you not to interfere recklessly, hyung.”

“My head knows it, but my body doesn’t listen. What can I do?”

His expression was full of bravado.

Jeong-hoon thought that he wouldn’t do that again if he got properly hurt once.

“So hyung, stop reading those martial arts novels. You don’t know your place because you read that stuff…….”

“Ahem, the value of chivalry has fallen to the ground. Even though I have a meager body, I have to step up and protect it. Eun-soo. Hehehe.”

He was a mental patient reciting martial arts lines with a serious expression…….

Eun-soo shook his head.

“Okay. We’re going. Be careful going in.”

“Okay. Hey, Yoon Jeong-hoon, thanks today.”

“It’s nothing. I’m just repaying a debt.”

Cheol-jung had a puzzled expression at Jeong-hoon’s words.

Well, he wouldn’t understand that he was repaying a future debt in advance.

As they turned around and left the alley, Jeong-hoon froze in place.

He realized that this incident had also happened in his past life.

The only difference was that he talked to Cheol-jung and said goodbye.

In his past life, he had knocked down the thugs, saved the assaulted man, and returned home.

Jeong-hoon didn’t even know who the assaulted man was.

Kang Cheol-jung’s face, which had stared intently at his face and name tag that day, belatedly came to mind.

‘That person back then was Kang Cheol-jung.’

Now he understood why he had saved him at the risk of being disciplined.

They came out of the alley.

Kang Cheol-jung was still glaring at Jeong-hoon with hostility.

Then, he thanked them once again and disappeared in the opposite direction.

Eun-soo stared at me.

“Hey, why is a guy who tried so hard to hide his fighting skills suddenly acting like this? And studying too, and not stepping up like usual……. I’m worried.”

“What are you worried about? I’m just bored. And is there any point in hiding my abilities?”

Eun-soo’s expression hardened at those words.

He remembered the insults he had suffered because of his mismatched, outstanding abilities.

“Hey, have you forgotten everything?”

“No, I’m just not going to lose anymore.”

Jeong-hoon’s eyes sparkled, but Eun-soo’s expression was anxious instead.

“Anyway, Eun-soo, you’re so damn scared. It’s okay.”

“Fuck you, you bastard. It’s because you’ve changed too much.”

“Is that so? Well, I don’t think it’s bad to live like this, heh.”

“Hey, they say you die if you change too suddenly. I’m worried about you, hyung. I feel like you’re really going to be found dead in the morning.”

Jeong-hoon wanted to tell Eun-soo that he had already died once, but he held back.

But how did they know each other? Come to think of it, Eun-soo seemed to be close to Park Da-hye too…….

“Hey, how do you know that senior? You seem pretty close.”

“Well, unlike you, I’m incredibly popular. Is there anyone in this neighborhood who doesn’t know me? Hehehe.”

“Where are you lying, you bastard?”

I hit him on the shoulder.

“Ugh. It hurts, you son of a bitch. I’m in the literature club. That hyung is also in the literature club. Although all he does is talk about martial arts.”

“Let’s go.”

Eun-soo hit Jeong-hoon on the back and ran away.

“Ugh.”

Jeong-hoon crouched down as if it really hurt.

His eyes lit up.

‘That bastard hasn’t been hit in a while. Oh yeah, be prepared to get hit all night tonight. You’re dead!’

The friendship between male high school students deepens and intensifies as rough swear words are exchanged.

“Hey, you, you son of a bitch, you’re dead. Don’t stand there?”

***

Kang Cheol-jung slowly closed his book.

His hero, Yongbi [a popular Korean martial arts comic character], subdued the leader of the Demonic Sect and restored justice to the land.

He chose a quiet life as a recluse, leaving behind the emperor’s call and the praise of the martial artists.

Cheol-jung couldn’t help but be moved by his ending.

He looked up at the blue sky and dreamed.

Someday, he too would restore justice to the land like Yongbi.

But he frowned at the pain rising from his side.

The side he had been hit on a few days ago was aching.

The hospital said he had a hairline fracture in his ribs and told him to rest.

He enjoyed the leisure of lunchtime while reading a martial arts novel and then stopped by the store to buy snacks.

As he opened the snacks and passed by the store, he saw Jeong Eun-soo and Yoon Jeong-hoon sitting on a bench.

Eun-soo had a small book, and Yoon Jeong-hoon had a workbook open.

He was surprised to see them studying, as they didn’t seem like the type to study.

It was the first time he had run into them since that day.

Kang Cheol-jung felt bad that he had only thanked them but hadn’t bought them a meal.

He slyly sat down next to Eun-soo and offered him the snacks.

“Oh, hyung. Have you had lunch yet?”

The sociable Eun-soo spoke first.

Jeong-hoon also bowed his head and greeted him.

“Hello, senior.”

“What’s with the ‘senior’? Just call me hyung.”

Kang Cheol-jung subtly tried to act friendly.

“Yes. Is your body okay? You got hit a lot that day…….”

Kang Cheol-jung’s eyes widened again, and his face contorted.

“Ahem. I didn’t get hit that much. What’s with the fuss…… But you’re a good fighter.”

“Hyung, Jeong-hoon is probably the top high school student in our entire Jungbu district.”

Said a delighted Jeong Eun-soo.

“Huh? The top of the 2nd grade?”

“No. Including the 3rd grade. To exaggerate a bit, he can even beat college students or adult gangsters. He even beat up a gangster in the city when he was in the 1st grade.”

“What? That’s nonsense…….”

Kang Cheol-jung had an expression of disbelief.

“It’s true. Hyung, you saw it that day too. With one punch…….”

“Eun-soo, you’re embarrassing me!”

Jeong-hoon raised an arm as if he was embarrassed and stopped Eun-soo.

But Eun-soo continued to speak without paying attention to Jeong-hoon.

“He’s really the best at fighting. But studying……. Hehehe. He’s been stuck on one math problem all day. Hehehe.”

“Pfft, ugh, you blockhead Eun-soo, you have to solve math problems like that to improve quickly. Of course, it’s much faster to ask. Let’s see what the problem is.”

Eun-soo had a dumbfounded expression at Cheol-jung’s unexpected reaction.

Cheol-jung had already snatched the workbook that Jeong-hoon was looking at and began to read it.

“But why are you suddenly studying math? Wouldn’t it be better to give up on math and focus on other subjects?”

“If I give up on math……. I can’t go to a good university. I have to go to a good university.”

“Pfft, a good university…… It’s not Seoul National University [the most prestigious university in South Korea], but are you confident in other subjects?”

Cheol-jung raised his head and stared intently at Jeong-hoon.

The two’s gazes crossed for a while.

Cheol-jung saw an unpleasant feeling in Jeong-hoon’s eyes as he looked at him.

Avoiding his sharp gaze, he asked.

“Hey, what kind of good university are you trying to go to that you’re rolling your eyes at your senior?”

Eun-soo burst out laughing at those words.

“Seoul National University, law school, hehehe.”

“Puhut”

Cheol-jung also naturally burst out laughing at Eun-soo’s words.

“Ah, sorry. Then you’ll be my junior?”

“Ah, are you going to Seoul National University too, hyung?”

“Of course. I’m also going to law school.”

Kang Cheol-jung shrugged.

“Hey, it’s natural for the top student in our school to go to Seoul National University Law School……”

He looked at Yoon Jeong-hoon with a questioning expression.

“Do you think you can go too? But why law school? Do you want to become a prosecutor or judge and screw someone over?”

At first, I thought about engineering.

The economic magazines I had diligently read in the past contained information that engineering was more promising than law school.

The rapid development of IT technology that would begin soon.

The center of everything is moving from offline to online.

And that place will be the center of the future.

Nevertheless, it was the lawyers who ultimately dominated Korea.

The network of this group, consisting of judges, prosecutors, and lawyers, is moving Korea.

It is clear that the Cheonji Association, which killed me, has already firmly taken control of the legal profession.

Otherwise, how could they cleanly blow up the Seocho-dong law firm with an explosion?

They control almost every corner of this society so perfectly that they are not afraid of the aftermath.

Then there is only one choice.

You have to enter the legal network.

The most important core of that network is the Seoul National University Law School alumni network.

Know yourself and know your enemy, and you will never be defeated.

“Hey, can you go to Seoul National University if you just do math?”

Kang Cheol-jung smiled ambiguously as he looked at Jeong-hoon.

It was ambiguous as if he was mocking him but not.

“Pfft, hey, then I’ll teach you math.”

“It’s okay.”

Jeong-hoon was still awkward with the help of others.

“Can’t a senior teach a junior who wants to study?”

“You’re busy studying alone because you’re a senior in high school. I’ve been doing well on my own. Senior.”

He rejected the offer because he hadn’t received much kindness.

There was also the reason that he wanted to protect his pride.

But what he needed most right now was clearly math tutoring.

“Hey, I can go to Seoul National University Law School even if I do it roughly now. The important thing is whether I can become the top student in the country or not.”

Jeong-hoon and Eun-soo had the same thought at the same time after hearing those words.

‘This senior doesn’t seem to be in his right mind either.’

“I’ll make time to teach you. I got help last time too……. And……. I have something to ask you too…….”

He stopped talking and hesitated.

“Tell me. Don’t be so frustratingly hesitant.”

“Hey…… how dare you talk to your senior like that……”

He glared at him once and then shyly opened his mouth.

“……So, teach me how to fight.”

“Yes?”

Jeong-hoon and Eun-soo’s eyes widened.

“No. Actually, I would have been in big trouble if you guys weren’t there last time. I’ll tutor you in math, and you can teach me how to fight? Sounds good? I can also help you with other subjects if you need it. You’ll get it quickly if you learn from me, who’s aiming to be the top student in the country.”

I was speechless at his insane self-praise.

He made hot-faced self-praise that ordinary people would never be able to do without blinking an eye.

But nothing he said was wrong.

‘Heh, he was an interesting person.’

Jeong-hoon looked at Cheol-jung with an interested expression.

He thought he would be arrogant and rude, but he looked different.

And he resolved to teach him some humility while teaching him how to fight.

Cheol-jung called Jeong-hoon with a serious face.

“Jeong-hoon, Seoul National University Law School is not a place you can easily go to just because you want to. It’s free to dream, but don’t be too disappointed if you don’t make it.”

I felt like he was looking down on me in the expression he was looking at me seriously.

I was slowly getting annoyed.

“Senior, would you like to make a bet with me? Whether I can go to Seoul National University or not?”

His eyes began to shine at the word ‘bet’.

‘Does he like gambling?’

“A bet? Hey, you have to bet something if it’s a bet. Jeong-hoon, what are you going to bet?”

Cheol-jung looked at him with an interesting expression.

Cash King’s Genius Grandson, Becoming a Chaebol.