I Became the Youngest Daughter of a Chaebol Family
Chapter 129: The Crumbling Fortress (4)

[Sampoong Department Store Collapse... Death Toll Mounting]

[‘Not a North Korean Terror Attack’, Collapse Caused by Simple Shoddy Construction]

[Rescue Operations Stalled – Public Fury at Government’s Disorganized Response]

[Sampoong Collapse Was a Man-Made Disaster Long Foreseen – How Many More Must Die?]

“...Phew.”

A villa near Myeongil Department Store.

I briefly closed my bloodshot eyes, then opened them again. Naturally, with such a massive accident having occurred, there was no way I could simply sleep peacefully. I’d been preoccupied with follow-up measures, worried that someone close to me might be harmed.

—‘Don’t worry, none of our group’s people died. Our Ha-yeon put so much care into it—no way anyone from Daehwa would’ve gone to Sampoong instead of Myeongil.’

That’s what Grandfather said... but you never know. Even inhaling asbestos dust near the site could cause serious harm.

“Thanks to you, we received a lot of help, Ms. Yoo Ha-yeon.”

A government official, with whom I’d been exchanging opinions until late into the evening, bowed his head slightly. During the chaos, the fire department, police, army, and Seoul City Hall clashed over jurisdiction, and the Blue House had to intervene directly...

I was the one who advised them then. Of course, it only worked because I had already positioned myself in opposition to Sampoong and persuaded Grandfather to have me act as the face of Myeongil Department Store.

I gently curled my lips into a smile and shook my head.

“Ha, it’s nothing. Honestly, even I didn’t expect it to collapse that badly...”

“No, because you gave us a preliminary set of guidelines, we were able to respond quickly from the beginning. I’d heard you were the prodigy of the Daehwa family, and now I understand why. Frankly, you don’t even seem like a kid anymore—you give off the air of a proper adult.”

“Aha-ha, I’ll take that as a compliment.”

Exchanging pleasantries with a bright smile, I walked the guest out into the morning sun.

—Rustle.

“Here’s a department store discount coupon. Just a small gift, so please take it. ‘Anywhere’ the doors are open, and you’re welcome to come ‘anytime’, okay?”

“...Hmm. Alright, I’ll accept it gratefully.”

.

.

.

“...So, Chief Kim. Is the confirmation complete?”

A man in a black suit and sunglasses approached cautiously from behind. The government official who had been speaking with Yoo Ha-yeon slumped into his seat in the car.

“Phew... yeah. But we still had to verify that lunatic Lee Jun’s claims...”

He ground his teeth and squinted his eyes.

The ANSP went into emergency mode at the time of the incident. At first, they believed it was a North Korean terror attack. Quite a few prosecutors and VIPs had died, so the President had been livid.

—‘If a department store collapses, it’s not just about civilian casualties—our company property is destroyed too! Huh? You’re ex-CIA, right? I worked there too. Shouldn’t you have known first?’

And then he had the nerve to insist that the Sampoong collapse wasn’t his fault and threw around the Daehwa Group’s name trying to weasel out of it...

Thinking about it still made his blood boil.

Even when the ANSP detained innocent people, if they were caught, they at least pretended to act remorseful (not that they really were), and the person responsible would have to submit a written statement for getting exposed.

“Man, this ain’t easy. If only I’d joined ANSP ten years earlier—then I’d have wielded unchecked power instead of getting caught up in all this democratization crap. Now they’re even saying the agency’s moving and changing names again...”

“Well, sir, some of your seniors got decapitated just for monitoring YS, right? Better off than them, I’d say.”

The chief chuckled and shook his head. Just thinking about those times gave him chills.

“That’s true. Who would’ve guessed the guy we tried every dirty trick in the book to kill would end up President? I need to retire before DJ gets elected...”

“Ah, didn’t you say you were involved when he got crippled?”

“...He probably wouldn’t go after a nobody like I was back then—but still, who knows.”

‘Once I retire, I’ll leave this world entirely and just live quietly running a business...’

That was what the chief told himself.

In this line of work, you could never trust anyone—not until the knife was already at their throat.

—Vrrrm!

The car cruised quietly through the streets of Seoul. Rescue work was still ongoing in the city, so they had to take a long detour.

“...By the way, what happened with the other matter?”

Inside the car, a subordinate asked cautiously.

“Hm? Which one?”

“You didn’t need to come in person, sir. You said there were some suspicious signs, and you were using this trip as a cover...”

The chief nodded and replied.

“Oh, the Russia thing? We decided to bury that. Chairman Yoo contacted us directly. We’ve got to make a living too, right? We already took political funds last time, so the VIP won’t complain... I don’t know how that kid managed to avoid the CIA’s eyes, but as long as she’s bringing in foreign currency, it’s fine.”

The driver let out a low whistle. Rumors had been circulating within the ANSP.

“...So the rumor from the First Deputy’s office was true after all. I thought it was nonsense.”

“You know Lee Hak-cheol, right? Chairman Yoo Seong-pil’s right hand. He arranged a black ops job in Russia. Seems they’ve decided that building an intel network on North Korea is more urgent now that Kim Il-sung’s dead.”

“...Wait, doesn’t that mean Chairman Yoo Seong-pil knows about ‘that’?”

“The Alpha Fund? Of course he does—we gave him the intel. At first, we even thought Yoo Seong-pil was secretly pulling the strings. That’s why we approached. Turned out he wasn’t.”

“...Shouldn’t we do something about it?”

“Do what, exactly? Aside from a few leaks of foreign currency during the fund’s setup, everything’s technically legal. The shady parts are—conveniently—full of holes.”

He sighed and puffed on a cigarette.

“Still, it’s impressive. My daughter’s the same age, and when I think about what I was doing at that age... That Yoo Ha-yeon girl really is a genius. The agents we planted inside Daehwa Securities all got kicked out early in the evening—we’ve got no idea what’s going on anymore. Overseas stuff isn’t even in our jurisdiction, so we’re totally in the dark. How does she know everything?”

At first, they had doubted her. Then, they’d looked at her like a monster...

Now, he was just bitterly jealous.

“Fuck, I should’ve invested too... If I’d put money in back then, I’d own half a dozen apartments by now.”

ANSP chief or not, once retired, he’d just be another ex-bureaucrat with a bit of money.

And today, his pockets felt especially cold.

***

Two weeks after the Sampoong Department Store collapse, by mid-July, rescue efforts finally came to an end.

[Final Survivor Rescued from Sampoong Department Store... Total of 50 Saved]

[Over 200 Dead... Looking Back on a Horrific Tragedy]

[Department Store Avoidance Spreads – ‘Too Scared to Go In’... Sudden Moving Frenzy at Sampoong Apartments]

[Textile Company Cambridge Sampoong Changes Name – Struggling with Public Image Due to Shared Name]

“Ughhh... This is killing me. I’ve got so much to study as ✪ Nоvеlіgһt ✪ (Official version) a high schooler, and now there’s so much work too...”

Seo Ji-yeon stretched out her soft arms and sighed. With newspapers filled every morning with Sampoong collapse coverage, her mood had clearly been dampened for days.

“Well, at least we didn’t die. Our school kids are all safe. I heard quite a few from the neighboring school got injured though.”

Shuddering at the memory, Seo Ji-yeon replied,

“...Ugh, true. Who’d have thought your weird possessiveness would end up saving lives. Thanks to you, we lived.”

I shrugged.

“If you’re really that thankful, show it more openly.”

—Tap tap.

A golden trophy gleamed brilliantly on my desk.

Thanks to a bit of stagecraft at the rescue site, I’d earned quite a few awards. I made sure to display them prominently and appeared in several media interviews—I even made the papers.

“Honestly, aren’t you embarrassed gilding your own image like that? Based on what the papers say, you'd think you personally saved half the victims.”

Ha. Shows how little she knows. The government had deliberately pushed the narrative of heroic citizens to deflect blame, ordering the media to focus on touching stories...

And well, it was thanks to me, wasn’t it?

I patted my chest proudly.

“I did save them, didn’t I?”

“...Yeah, I guess. If only you hadn’t shorted department store stocks right after the collapse—then the media would've praised you even more.”

Ah.

“T-That... that couldn’t be helped. It was a biological impulse.”

I averted my eyes, stammering. I’d made a mistake mid-trade due to exhaustion when shorting the stocks.

Normally I would’ve done it discreetly, but a reporter hunting for feel-good stories about Yoo Ha-yeon the hero had caught on...

Ugh, and I’d had to split my profits with the newspaper—my earnings got cut in half.

“It wasn’t a biological impulse—it was just biology! You can’t short stocks just because you’re in a bad mood! You said it yourself—over the long term, the market always trends upward.”

“But still, I made money...”

When the money’s right in front of you, how can you not grab it?

This... this was something I truly couldn’t help.