Koizumi, the Pri Minister of Japan, was the nation’s highest authority on paper — but that was only on the surface.
In reality, under Japan’s political structure, a stable ruling party could keep a Pri Minister in office for decades.
Koizumi, who thought he had “taken Japan” upon becoming Pri Minister, must have felt crushing despair the mont he learned of Daedonghoe’s existence.
In the end, under their pressure, Koizumi had visited Yasukuni Shrine and poured cold water over the warming relations between Korea and Japan.
Still, since he wasn’t an actual mber of Daedonghoe, they wouldn’t have shared all their secrets with him.
He must have discovered the Self-Defense Forces’ preparations for military action while struggling within his own position to resist them.
And then, perhaps suddenly, he rembered — the man who had once worked with him years ago.
Using the World Cup festival as a convenient excuse for contact, he ca to see , hoping for one thing — that by giving this information, I would take care of Daedonghoe myself.
“Na your price.”
With those words, I fell silent. I folded my arms and leaned back deeply into the sofa.
It was partly to give Koizumi ti to think — but also because I needed ti to sort through my own thoughts.
Daedonghoe had suddenly appeared in this story, and now I was hearing that it was connected to Choi Sun-man.
Part of wondered if it might also be linked to Cheongpunghoe, but that seed unlikely; Cheongpunghoe had shown no activity after its fall.
‘The board’s already been set. If I’m going to play, I’ll be the one moving the pieces.’
I had no intention of becoming a pawn in anyone else’s ga.
“What could I possibly offer you as paynt?”
After a long silence, Koizumi finally spoke, his face stiff.
“...Is there sothing you want from ?”
Sothing I wanted from Koizumi? Nothing ca to mind. Honestly, I had never thought about it.
“You’re the one who should find sothing to offer . Surely you don’t intend to hand over everything I ask for.”
“Hm...”
Koizumi let out a strained sigh — clearly flustered that his plan wasn’t going as expected.
“I suppose you didn’t anticipate that I’d demand compensation. You must’ve assud that once I heard the information, I’d rush off to fight Daedonghoe by any ans necessary.”
“...”
“Frankly, from your point of view, it doesn’t matter either way. If Daedonghoe and I destroy each other, that’s fine. If I win, that’s fine too. And if they win, you probably have a backup plan ready for that outco. Don’t you?”
I decided to end the eting there. Without proper information, I was still playing on Koizumi’s board — sothing I despised.
“Think about what you can offer . The deadline is the end of the World Cup. Daedonghoe — or Ilhwahoe, whatever they call themselves — won’t make a move in the middle of the tournant. I’ll visit ★ 𝐍𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 ★ Japan on the day of the final match.”
“Mr. Kim, that’s... If you suddenly enter Japan, Daedonghoe will grow suspicious.”
“I’ll go with Congressman Song Chan-hyuk. One of my club’s players will be playing in the finals — it only makes sense that the owner should attend.”
“The finals?”
Koizumi echoed my words, trying to read between the lines, but I changed the subject.
“If Daedonghoe disappears, you’ll be the biggest beneficiary, Pri Minister. Which ans your paynt to should match that — sothing big enough to make want to move.”
I rose from my seat. Since I had him cornered, I might as well deal with another headache while I was at it.
“Before that, show so sincerity. End Toshiba and the Japanese governnt’s attempt to acquire Ilseong Electronics’ semiconductor division.”
“What? That’s—”
“Can you do it or not?”
I looked down at Koizumi with cold, expressionless eyes.
“That’s not sothing I can just—”
“If you can’t even show that much sincerity, what’s the point of talking further? If this simple thing is too hard, do you really think I’d join hands again with soone who’s already stabbed in the back once? You must think I’m easy.”
“Mr. Kim, please... Let’s just talk a little more—”
I raised a hand to cut him off.
“Will you do it? Or will you handle it your own way? If it’s difficult, I can even give you a convenient excuse. Say there are rumors that the hedge funds currently stirring up the markets are preparing to partner with Dreamhigh, and that what Dreamhigh wants is for the Ilseong acquisition to be dropped. That scenario should make it easy for you to act, don’t you think? No matter how powerful your Ministry of Finance is, they can’t predict what’ll happen if we join the fight.”
A chill flashed in my eyes, and Koizumi flinched visibly.
He must have believed I really might do it, because he quickly nodded.
“Fine. I’ll see what I can do. But Daedonghoe—”
“Think about it until our next eting — both the paynt and how you plan to deal with them. I’ll co up with my own approach, and next ti we can coordinate and discuss a proper strategy.”
My head was a tangle of calculations, but I showed nothing.
Instead, I replaced my cold smile with a calm, courteous one.
When I extended my hand, Koizumi reluctantly took it, his face stiff.
“Oh, by the way — is the current head of Daedonghoe Abe Shinzo?”
“...”
Koizumi said nothing, but the strength in his grip told everything.
The mont I’d heard the na Kishi Nobusuke, Abe Shinzo’s na had imdiately followed in my mind.
Kishi’s grandson — the sa Abe Shinzo who would beco Japan’s youngest Pri Minister after Koizumi’s retirent.
His rise could only have been possible with Daedonghoe’s backing.
So had claid Abe succeeded because he was Koizumi’s political protégé, but the truth was that after retirent, Koizumi and Abe had beco adversaries.
If Daedonghoe was truly behind all of this, then every grinding cog in the machine suddenly aligned perfectly.
Over the next few days, I began investigating Daedonghoe.
I mobilized Black Bear’s main intelligence division — not the Korean branch — and even reached out to Russia for assistance.
I had barely a month to co up with counterasures.
And then...
I couldn’t trust Arica, but if anyone held the most information about Daedonghoe, it would be them.
In the end, I contacted the one person I could call an ally — Jessica.
As part of the Departnt of Holand Security, she had access to intelligence across all agencies.
After a few casual exchanges, I got to the point.
“Jessica, I need a favor.”
— A favor? Charlie, you’re asking for a favor?
“Yes. There’s an organization in Japan called Daedonghoe. I need information on its key mbers.”
— ...
Silence lingered over the line.
“Jessica.”
— Charlie, are you asking to be your informant?
Her voice was cold as winter.
As a woman who loved her country deeply, her reaction was understandable.
But I didn’t have ti for hesitation.
“That’s not what I’m asking. I’m talking about an information exchange. I heard the Kabul bombing was prevented. You must have identified the culprits thanks to the intel I gave you. But you still have no leads on the Bali bombing, do you?”
— That’s true, but...
“And on top of that, you used in your ‘Bad Cop, Good Cop’ act.”
I reminded her of the recent stunt.
The classic psychological ploy — an “evil cop” followed by a kind one — ant to manipulate.
— That wasn’t my idea. I truly wanted to see you, Charlie. I didn’t know anything about it.
Nonsense. The tremor in her voice told it was a lie.
“So, no orders from above?”
— ...
“I’m sure there wasn’t a direct order. More like they suggested you et , catch up, and see what you could learn. If you had co under orders to deceive , I would’ve noticed. But you were genuinely angry, genuinely sincere.”
She didn’t answer.
But the faint sound of her biting her nails told she was wavering.
“That’s why I’m asking you now. In exchange, I’ll give you the identities of those behind the Bali bombing.”
— ...You know who they are?
I added lightly, before she could misunderstand.
“I found out after being attacked in Afghanistan and tracking them since. Here’s a hint: Al-Qaeda.”
— Al-Qaeda?
“Yes. The main perpetrators behind the U.S. terror attacks — Al-Qaeda. I think that’s more than a fair trade.”
— It certainly is...
My past-life mories were hazy — I could recall that certain events happened, but not the exact perpetrators.
Still, with a few puzzle pieces, it wasn’t hard to reconstruct the picture.
Through Igor, not Eric — since Eric’s ties to the U.S. governnt were too deep — I had already obtained the relevant intelligence.
— You can really hand that information over?
“Of course. I want to stay on good terms with you, Jessica. I’m not asking for top-secret U.S. files — just data on a Japanese organization, Daedonghoe. You wouldn’t be betraying your country; if anything, this helps Arica. Al-Qaeda is still Arica’s top priority. It’s not Bin Laden’s location, but it’s still valuable.”
The U.S. had lost two perfect chances to capture Osama Bin Laden.
The whole Afghanistan war had begun to find or kill him — yet they had done neither.
Early in the invasion, they’d had a shot, but confusion in the chain of command had let him escape.
Later, a test drone had spotted him again — but no one had realized who he was.
By the ti the administration found out, it was too late.
That drone had been ard with Hellfire missiles. One press of a button, and Bin Laden would’ve been dead.
Since then, his trail had vanished completely.
I didn’t know his whereabouts either.
If I had, Arica would have given anything I asked for. Unfortunately, that was one piece of information I didn’t possess.
“So, will you trade?”
— ...All right. I’ll report it upstairs and get approval.
“No. I’m putting my trust in you, Jessica. I want this to be between us. You’re the only one I trust.”
— ...
Jessica went quiet again.
She knew that bypassing her superiors would let her personally access highly classified data — the temptation was clear.
“If Daedonghoe truly spans Japan’s political and business worlds, they’ve already poured a fortune into U.S. lobbying. That’s why I’m asking you — check it quietly, alone.”
— Charlie, you really... sigh...
I heard her deep sigh through the receiver.
— Fine. I’ll look into it myself. I can access most data, though anything limited to presidential or director-level clearance might be beyond .
“That’s fine. Do what you can. If sothing’s locked, we’ll talk again.”
— I can’t believe I’m doing this... How soon do you need it?
“The sooner, the better.”
— Got it. I’ll call you.
After hanging up, I let out a long breath.
My phone was hot from the prolonged call. Absentmindedly, I rolled it in my hand, trying to cool my thoughts.
“Ha... complicated.”
Manager Ma poured a glass of cold water and handed it to .
“Thank you, Manager Ma.”
“Is sothing not going well, Boss?”
I smiled faintly. His usually impassive face showed a trace of concern.
“No. We’ll take it slow. There’s still ti. By the way, did the newspaper ad go out?”
“Yes, Boss.”
“Good. Bring the paperwork I need to review.”
Manager Ma bowed and left the study. My desk was already stacked high — as tangled as my thoughts.
The next day.
The front page of every major Korean newspaper carried a massive ad:
[Congratulations to Korea on its first World Cup victory.]
And that day, Korea’s first match began.
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