Chapter 048: A Path Different from One's Intentions (7)
Hee-soo was feeling something he had learned to recognize through several deaths.
The feeling of death.
Should I give up?
Should I at least get myself out now?
Or should I just grab him and pull him up?
Countless thoughts flashed through his mind in an instant.
While he hesitated, a tool was lowered into the gap.
"Use that to cut the rebar!"
It was a tool capable of cutting reinforcing steel.
The moment Hee-soo saw it, he escaped from his fear.
What was I just thinking?
Feeling pathetic, he forced himself to focus.
"Okay!"
After shouting, he began cutting the rebar.
He cut the piece that had pierced the victim's abdomen as close to the body as possible from the back side.
Then he cut through the thick wire tangled around the leg.
He only cut enough to free the victim's body.
Once that was done, he tied the rope around the victim.
He placed his own helmet on the person's head.
"Pull him up!"
"Slowly!"
"We don't have time! You get up too! It's about to collapse!"
Another rope came down.
At the same time, the victim tied to the first rope was pulled upward very roughly.
Hee-soo's eyes almost popped out.
"Y-you can't pull him like that..."
The victim's helmeted head struck debris several times on the way up.
But Hee-soo immediately understood why they were rushing.
The structure had already tilted badly.
The leader shouted urgently,
"Get outta there!"
The moment he finished, Hee-soo began climbing the wall.
With people pulling the rope from above, climbing was not difficult.
He avoided obstacles as he went.
The moment he escaped through the opening, the wreckage collapsed violently.
Hee-soo was left hanging in midair.
The second victim he had rescued was also hanging beside him.
The debris below completely caved in.
Every hair on Hee-soo's body stood on end.
"Whoa!"
Only then did the alarm inside his body disappear.
Haah. I survived.
His hands and feet had no strength left.
Fortunately, he was hanging from the rope.
Otherwise, he might have collapsed directly onto the ground.
The two victims were loaded into waiting ambulances.
At the same time, a message appeared on Hee-soo's display.
[1 rescue successful. Hee-soo's remaining lifespan increases by one day.]
Even Hee-soo could tell that the other two were still between life and death.
Complex emotions crossed his face.
Even at a time like this, I'm thinking not only about that person's life, but also about the extra day I gained.
Are people really this selfish?
Dobong Fire Station Rescue Team Office.
After returning from his business trip, Hee-soo reported for night duty the very next day.
The rescue office was quiet in the early morning.
Some personnel were sleeping in turns, while others remained on standby in the office.
At around four in the morning, a text message arrived on Hee-soo's phone.
It's from Yoon-hee.
At this hour?
He opened the message.
[Can you talk on the phone right now?]
Hee-soo went outside and called her.
"What's going on this early?"
"Do you remember the villa fire from before?"
"Of course."
It was an incident he could never forget.
It was the first incident where someone had died after Hee-soo was dispatched.
It was also an incident where he had failed to save a rescue target.
Yoon-hee continued.
"The identity of the body found inside the septic tank has been confirmed."
"It was the owner of the second-floor unit, right?"
"Yes. That much was expected."
"But there's something really shocking."
"What is it?"
Hee-soo's reaction was indifferent.
Yoon-hee continued anyway.
"The daughter who was inside the refrigerator had already been dead for six months."
"That's a long time."
"But her cause of death was illness."
"What?"
That was unexpected.
Yoon-hee continued.
"They believe she died of cardiac arrest caused by muscular atrophy."
"And the body was very clean."
"Ah... keep going."
"People around them said the father cherished his daughter terribly."
"He had a disability himself, but still worked day labor jobs and lived very diligently."
"Then why would he do something like that?"
"Since he died, we can't know for certain."
"But there was government support money being paid for the daughter."
"He kept collecting it until recently."
"After the daughter died, officials came for inspections twice, but they found nothing wrong."
"They probably took her out of the refrigerator, dressed her, and made it look as if she were sleeping when the inspectors came."
Hee-soo sighed.
"It's only been about a week since the investigation started."
"Are you sure that's accurate?"
"It's not official yet, but a reporter covering the forensic team told me, so it should be true."
It was a completely unexpected scenario.
Hee-soo had thought the father killed the child and then fell into the septic tank while fleeing because he was afraid of being discovered.
He had only been half right.
He remembered that day, and regret began piling up again.
Yoon-hee continued.
"You were quite impressive in Mokpo this time."
"Could you please keep that quiet?"
"Hohoho. I'll decide after hearing your terms."
Hee-soo was not in the mood to joke.
But his opponent was a persistent reporter.
"Fine."
"I'll tell our PR team first."
"Release it after that."
"Can you at least give us that much time?"
"When will that be?"
"I'll tell them first thing tomorrow morning."
"Hmm. All right."
"Please respect the embargo."
"All right."
Hee-soo felt even more tired.
On the way home in the morning after everyone else was arriving for work, he told Chief Jang,
"Chief Jang."
"Assemblywoman Kim must be getting close to the truth by now."
"Shouldn't we release it soon?"
"Do you really want to make this that big?"
"If we want people to feel that she's doing good work, we have to make it as big as possible."
"That way the public pays attention, and the person at the center of the issue becomes firmly remembered."
"That's true."
"Anyway, it'll be on the nine o'clock news the day after tomorrow."
"The person best prepared will get the biggest reward from it."
"Ah, right. Is Assemblyman Kim Jin-gi going to be okay?"
"We need to watch him carefully."
"His political career is on the line."
"He may try to harm the person at the center of this."
"Will the People's Party stay quiet?"
"They're probably small fry on that side."
"They'll complain, but I doubt they'll strike directly."
"Just keep an eye on them."
Chief Jang watched Hee-soo, who could not take his eyes off his phone.
"How about resting while we're in the car?"
"I don't have time."
"I even want to turn the car into a mobile office so I can work during this little bit of travel time."
"I won't allow that."
"At least rest here."
Only then did Hee-soo look away from his phone.
"Thank you."
"Still, Assemblywoman Kim needs to reach the truth before the news airs."
"She'll handle it."
After his shift ended, Hee-soo went home, slept briefly but deeply, and woke up.
Angel greeted him from nearby.
"You're awake?"
"Yes."
Hee-soo answered indifferently and sat down at his desk.
Angel sat directly on the keyboard and asked,
"What're you doing, meow?"
Hee-soo frowned.
"Do you really have to sit there?"
"Not necessarily, but this body's instincts are telling me to."
Hee-soo shook his head.
"I'm going to record the locations of these markers over time and add height values."
"I'll also output my own coordinates."
"And I'll add a tracking function."
"My coordinates?"
"Yes. I need my own position displayed so I can know the exact relative position between myself and the victims."
"Do what you want."
Only then did Angel move away from the keyboard.
The clock showed twelve noon.
Hee-soo stretched his fingers and began coding in earnest.
The Strategic Planning Division under Hee-soo used a flexible work system.
It did not matter whether employees worked from home or the office.
As long as they completed their assigned tasks and produced results, their work hours did not matter.
The system had been adopted because Hee-soo could not always report to the office properly.
However, the high degree of freedom had actually led to very strong results from the Strategic Planning Division.
Hee-soo became so absorbed in work that he even skipped meals.
Eventually, he heard Chairman Choi return home from work.
Hee-soo paused what he was doing, created a short document, and went to his father's room.
"Father. I'd like Suseong Electronics to pursue this."
"What is it?"
Chairman Choi looked at him without much interest.
Hee-soo handed over the proposal.
The cover read:
[Suseong Electronics Mid-Term Business Plan]
"What is this?"
"You could've just given it to me at the company."
"I couldn't wait that long."
"What is it?"
"It's a proposal to build an AI farm using our Omniscient processors."
"You're saying a private company should build an AI farm?"
"No."
"It should be a government project."
"It's too large for a private company to handle alone."
"Using the Omniscient processor only as a mobile chip is a waste."
"Our foundry business also needs growth."
"If we can create sufficient internal demand, it should be easier to establish the ecosystem."
"So you want me to move the political world."
"I don't have enough connections there yet."
Chairman Choi read the three-page proposal and smiled.
"You could've shown me this at the office tomorrow."
"Why show me now?"
"I wanted to see how you'd react."
"My reaction?"
"If you say okay, I'll persuade the directors and move the project forward."
"If not, I need to find another method."
"Hahaha. Isn't that a shortcut?"
"Strictly speaking, yes."
"I'm skipping over the president of Suseong Electronics."
"Exactly."
"Talk to him first."
"It's been a long time since I entrusted Suseong Electronics to President Jin."
"And if he approves it, the chances of success are much higher."
"It'll also be easier to persuade the board."
"You don't have any major objections yourself, do you, Father?"
"I'm not certain the project can actually be realized."
"That makes it difficult to move the political world."
"If it can be realized, then you can move them?"
"Yes."
"The United States is currently moving toward treating chips as strategic materials and controlling them strictly."
"If this can work, I can move as much as necessary."
"Good."
"Then I'll persuade President Jin Yong-gi."
"Fine."
"If you can do that, it'll be easier for me to proceed as well."
President Jin was an MIT-trained PhD in quantum physics.
He was also the legendary figure who had raised Suseong Electronics' semiconductor division to its current level.
President Jin had been a major influence on Hee-soo's decision to attend MIT.
Hee-soo had double-majored in quantum mechanics and mechanical engineering, with a minor in biomedical engineering.
He also held doctorates in both physics and mechanical engineering.
Hee-soo showed confidence.
"I can definitely persuade Dr. Jin."
"He won't be easy."
Suseong Electronics' endlessly falling stock price had weakened President Jin's standing considerably.
That was exactly why Hee-soo felt confident.
The president was clearly not in a position to easily reject a request from a member of the founding family.
