Genius Grandson Of The Loan Shark King

Pitch-black night.

In an abandoned factory somewhere in Gyeonggi Province, Hong Seokki regained consciousness.

He had been unconscious for quite some time. As soon as he came to, he darted his eyes around.

“Where... where is this?”

While trying to recall what happened, his eyes widened.

He remembered leaving Ilseong Hospital right after his shift, opening the door to his house—

and being ambushed by intruders.

They had clearly been waiting for him inside.

Gritting his teeth, Hong Seokki confirmed that his body was tied to a chair fixed against a pillar.

“What bastards... how dare they...!”

Just as his eyes were getting used to the darkness, the factory interior lit up.

As the steel door rolled open, Hong Seokki spotted a familiar face.

It was Ma Seokdae—the man who had broken his fingers at the hospital.

Hong Seokki glared and shouted.

“W–What is this! Untie me! Right now!”

“You’re awake. Nice to see you again.”

Unbothered, Ma Seokdae dragged a chair over and sat down right in front of him.

Then he locked eyes with Hong Seokki.

“If you answer my questions sincerely, you can go home unharmed. But every time you refuse or lie, you’ll lose one finger.”

He pointed at the fingers tied down on the chair.

The threat was unmistakable. Hong Seokki’s face twisted.

“What? Who the hell are you! You think you can get away with this? I’m a corrections offic—”

He shook his body, shouting—

until he froze.

Ma Seokdae’s cold stare, sharp enough to radiate killing intent, made him shrink without realizing it.

Ma Seokdae spoke in a chilling tone.

“I ask. You answer. Understood?”

“.......”

“Answer.”

“Y–Yes. I understand.”

“Good. Getting hurt only harms you.”

Slowly interlacing his fingers, Ma Seokdae leaned forward.

“Who ordered you to kill Seo Jaehoon?”

“What... what are you talking about? Kill... who...?”

Hong Seokki’s eyes trembled. He tried to act unfazed, but the end of his voice was shaking.

At Ma Seokdae’s signal, the man beside him walked forward.

CRACK!

A pinky finger was smashed off with a hand axe.

Hong Seokki writhed, convulsing. The pain was on a whole different level from simply having a finger broken.

He couldn’t even scream properly. He only let out strangled breaths—

while Ma Seokdae remained utterly calm.

“I told you. I ask the questions. If you know something, answer. If you don’t, still answer. That’s the only way you leave here alive.”

“Uuuhk...”

“Answer.”

The man who had chopped off the finger crushed the severed pinky under his shoe.

Hong Seokki’s vision blurred. His mind reeled, panic overriding all thought. Ma Seokdae raised a brow at the pathetic sight.

He jerked his chin again, and the subordinate silently lifted the hand axe.

Hong Seokki shrieked out in desperation.

“I–I’ll answer properly! I’ll answer!”

“Good. I’ll ask again. Who ordered Seo Jaehoon killed?”

“No one told me to kill him directly! They just told me to leave the door open and step out for a bit, and they’d pay me... I didn’t know they were really trying to kill him!”

Ma Seokdae frowned.

What kind of bullshit is that?

“So you just opened the prison door and stepped out? Then who carried out the act? And don’t say you don’t know. I know exactly how detention centers operate.”

Hong Seokki answered quickly.

“One of the inmates. I didn’t recruit him myself—they already had everything prepared and came looking for me.”

Ma Seokdae nodded.

As expected, you only talk properly after taking a beating.

“And the one who told you to step away? And the one who carried it out?”

“A lawyer. I mean... uh...”

He paused, searching his memory.

Ma Seokdae stared coldly. Hong Seokki hurried.

“An Jiho! Yes, it was Attorney An Jiho. His business card should be in my wallet!”

“Is that so? And the executioner’s name?”

“Kim Seokjae. He’s in for robbery-murder.”

One subordinate brought over a thick stack of business cards from the wallet.

Ma Seokdae flipped through them.

“A corrections officer carrying this many lawyers’ business cards?

You really milked the system, didn’t you?”

Hearing that, Hong Seokki’s face flushed.

He was notorious for taking bribes in exchange for leniency toward inmates.

Ma Seokdae had chosen him precisely for that reason—but even he thought this was excessive.

After a long moment, Ma Seokdae lifted one card.

“An Jiho. Hyesung Law Firm? This is getting interesting.”

His lips curled slightly as he confirmed the name.

Holding the card up in front of Hong Seokki, he asked:

“This one? An Jiho. Partner attorney at Hyesung Law Firm.”

“Y-Yes! That’s him! He promised me 300 million before the job, and 500 million after!”

“You got it all?”

“......”

He fell silent mid-sentence.

“What? Didn’t get paid? No... something else? If you don’t want to talk, don’t.”

Hong Seokki glanced nervously at the man with the hand axe before stammering:

“N–No! He said they had... one more job. At the hospital. He told me to step away again tomorrow at dawn...”

“One more job? Are they killing him or not?”

“I... I don’t know. He just said if I moved aside, they’d handle the rest, like last time... And when it’s all done, they’d give me the 500 million...”

Ma Seokdae continued questioning him for some time.

Hong Seokki spilled everything he knew.

Satisfied that he had extracted enough, Ma Seokdae straightened up.

“Listen carefully. You helped someone attempt to kill Seo Jaehoon, the Vice Chairman of Ilseong Group. Once this gets out, you’ll never survive in Korea.”

“I didn’t know they were really trying to kill him! They just said to—”

“Cut the crap. Maybe you didn’t know the first time.

But not the second.”

Panicking, Hong Seokki scanned the room helplessly.

Ma Seokdae sighed lightly and continued.

“Get your hand treated. Go to work tomorrow as usual. Do exactly what they told you. As soon as you get the 500 million, submit your resignation and leave Korea. Immediately.”

Hong Seokki’s eyes widened.

“Leave... Korea?”

“Yes. Leave. If you don’t, you will die. Not by my hands—by the hands of the one who paid you. If it were me, I wouldn’t keep someone like you alive.”

“Wh–What does that even...”

Instead of answering, Ma Seokdae stood and addressed his subordinate:

“Take him to the hospital, get him treated, take him home.

Watch him. Don’t allow a single mistake. Got it?”

Hong Seokki shouted desperately:

“W–Wait!! What does that mean?! Are they going to kill me?!”

Ma Seokdae looked down at him blankly.

“Of course. Why would anyone leave alive a man who knows everything? You didn’t take money—you took poison. You were dead the moment you accepted their offer. Be grateful you’re at least getting paid before you die.”

With that, Ma Seokdae turned away without hesitation.

“S-Save me... I’ll do anything... Please...”

“Go back and keep your mouth shut. Do exactly what they tell you. Whether you live or die depends on the boss.”

His boss—Kim Muhyuk—was the only one who could decide his fate.

Hong Seokki stared blankly into the void.

* * *

There was a knock on the study door.

“Come in.”

Upon permission, Manager Ma opened the door.

I put down the newspaper I had been reading and moved from the desk to the sofa.

Seems the cleanup is done. I motioned to the opposite seat, and Manager Ma sat down.

“Did everything go well? What did Hong Seokki know?”

“Yes, boss. We found out who ordered Seo Jaehoon killed.”

Now that was interesting. I expected only a hint—but this was progress.

“Who is it?”

“An Jiho, partner attorney at Hyesung Law Firm. He told Hong Seokki to step away.”

A law firm?

What is a law firm doing in this?

And Hyesung Law Firm of all places—

was that that Hyesung?

“Hyesung Law Firm... you mean that one?”

“Yes. The firm handling Seo Heekyung’s lawsuit. We haven’t found proof that Seo Heekyung ordered it directly, but An Jiho being involved is no coincidence.”

A law firm working for Seo Heekyung...

This really was getting entertaining.

So Seo Heekyung tried to kill Seo Jaehoon.

No—more accurately, she pretended to kill him.

If she meant to kill him, she wouldn’t have left him alive like that.

“Did Hong Seokki say he strangled Seo Jaehoon himself?”

“No. Another inmate strangled him. Hong Seokki only opened the door and stepped out. We confirmed the inmate’s identity as well.”

I nodded.

Hong Seokki loved money, yes—but he didn’t seem like someone who’d get his own hands bloody.

“And Hong Seokki? You sent him back?”

“Yes. He said they plan another job tomorrow, so I told him to go in as usual and do exactly as instructed. What shall we do, boss?”

“Oh? Another job?”

“Yes. They told him to step away again.”

A thought struck me.

What were they trying to accomplish?

If they wanted to kill him, they could have done so in the detention center.

“What could they want? They could’ve killed him already.”

“I wonder the same. It doesn’t seem like they actually intend to kill him.”

I sank deeper into the sofa and crossed my legs.

What a stupid little scheme.

I should really ✧ NоvеIight ✧ (Original source) meet with Seo Heekyung.

“Contact Seo Heekyung and set a date.”

“Yes, boss. And what about tomorrow?”

“When did they tell him to step away?”

“Dawn. It aligns with his night shift.”

“Dawn... Which option is more fun, I wonder.”

Letting it happen could be fun.

Stopping it could also be fun.

A brief dilemma—but only brief.

Letting them move freely sounded more amusing.

Watching how far they'll go wasn’t a bad idea.

“Let’s watch how they do it. Install a camera in Seo Jaehoon’s room beforehand and monitor their movements.”

“Yes. I’ll do that. And what about Hong Seokki? If we leave him alone, he’ll certainly die.”

That was indeed the issue.

Hong Seokki could become a major weakness for Seo Heekyung.

I didn’t like his attitude or his voice—but a living tool was better than a dead one.

“Let’s keep him alive for now. He might be useful.”

“I agree. Then I’ll inform the prison director. Where should we send him afterward?”

So Manager Ma thought the same.

His answer came without hesitation. I nodded, pleased.

“Send him to China. Tell Hao Xun to handle him from there.” freёwebnovel.com

“Yes, boss. Understood.”

Even after Manager Ma bowed and left, a smile lingered on my lips for a long while.

“Did Seo Heekyung have claws after all?”

The Seo Heekyung I knew wasn’t that kind of vicious woman.

Vain, yes.

But deeply timid.

“This feels more like Cheon Jisoo.”

Something about this reeked of her—cruel, arrogant, and unmistakably familiar.

While Seo Jaehoon lay in deep sleep, the door to his hospital room slowly creaked open.

Half-opened door—and a man slipped inside.

As if well-acquainted with the darkness,

he crossed the unlit room without hesitation and approached the bed.

Seo Jaehoon remained sound asleep, completely unaware.

The man stood over him for a moment—

then climbed onto him.

Seo Jaehoon’s eyes snapped open.

“Wh–What?! Who are you?!”

Even as he cried out in terror, the man gave no response.

Behind the black hood covering his head, the only visible part—his mouth—

curled into a faint smile.