Max-Level Son of a Chaebol Family - Chapter 3

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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03. Saving Mother

My hands, small as fern leaves, trembled violently.

My mind was clear, but my short limbs wouldn’t move as I wanted.

This was something I had experienced once before.

‘Coal briquette gas poisoning!’

Carbon monoxide is heavier than air so it sinks down, and when absorbed into the body, it reduces the blood’s oxygen-carrying capacity, causing suffocation.

“Mother, wake up!”

Snoring is a symptom that appears when carbon monoxide poisoning is severe.

I shook Mother with all my strength.

“Mother, open your eyes! You’ll die if you keep sleeping like this!”

No matter how much I shook her, Mother wouldn’t regain consciousness.

Then behind Mother’s curled-up form, a dark shadow flickered.

It was the Grim Reaper who had taken me away.

[1 hour remaining until the Path to the Underworld.]

“No!”

It was literally the Grim Reaper’s death sentence.

“I can’t lose Mother like this!”

When I was only seven years old.

In the past, I didn’t know what to do and cried my heart out for a long time.

Not knowing that I was wasting Mother’s precious time.

But now it’s different.

‘Ventilation first!’

I jumped up and opened the room door.

Creak!

I opened every single door there was.

Whoosh.

Late December, northern winds and snow.

Sleet was mixed in with the bone-cutting cold wind.

‘This isn’t enough! I’ll turn on the Electric Fan too!’

Instead, I wrapped the blankets tightly to prevent her body temperature from dropping.

I pulled out every thick coat from the wardrobe and covered Mother with them.

‘This is something I’ve never seen before.’

A Jewelry Box hidden deep inside the wardrobe.

This wasn’t on the list of Mother’s belongings from the past, and it looked far too precious for our family’s circumstances.

‘Now isn’t the time to get distracted by such things. I need to somehow move Mother out of this room.’

But with this body, it’s impossible.

‘I need to get help.’

I rushed out of the house.

I didn’t even have the presence of mind to put on socks or shoes.

A midwinter night with sleet falling.

The dirt ground was muddy, and my bare feet stung with every step I took.

“Please help! It’s Coal Briquettes gas! Someone’s dying here!”

Whooosh.

My hoarse voice kept getting scattered by the cold wind.

So I grabbed the Coal Briquette Tongs that were placed nearby and frantically banged on the window frames.

Bang bang bang bang bang!

Startled by the noise, the neighborhood dogs began barking in unison, and one by one, lights started turning on in the dark shantytown.

I screamed at the top of my lungs.

“Save us! Someone save us!”

Creak!

“Is that you, Jeonghyeok?”

The landlord’s window opened and the Landlady Grandmother leaned her body out the window.

Huh, this grandmother is someone who wouldn’t wake up even if you carried her away once she falls asleep?

“Oh my goodness! Why are you outside in just your underwear when it’s so cold? Where’s your mother?”

“Coal briquette gas…!”

“Coal briquette gas? Oh my, what on earth is happening?”

Landlady Grandmother immediately rushed over and shook Mother.

“Junghyuk’s mother, snap out of it! What do we do about this!”

Landlady Grandmother put her arms under Mother’s armpits and struggled to drag her outside.

“The Grim Reaper appeared in my dream and startled me awake, and it seems like he came to take Junghyuk’s mother!”

The Grim Reaper, who appeared like a ghost behind Landlady Grandmother, gave a thumbs up.

[57 minutes.]

Grandmother dragged Mother out.

Getting her halfway outside the Single Room.

That was the best Grandmother could do.

Panting heavily, Grandmother shouted loudly.

“Neighbors! Help save someone! Come outside!”

Her voice was incomparably more booming than any sound a young child could make.

Grandmother was the most capable person in this neighborhood with the loudest voice.

“Changsik’s father! Minho’s father! Yongkwon’s father! Come quickly and help!”

The neighboring men who were directly called out by Landlady Grandmother opened their windows and leaned out.

“Help save someone! It’s coal briquette gas! We need to get her to the hospital quickly!”

This was an era when there were hardly any ambulances.

Until 1981 when the Fire Department established the 119 Emergency Squad to begin emergency services.

Only some large hospitals in Seoul or Busan had their own emergency patient transport during nighttime curfew hours.

It was actually faster to take a taxi and go directly to the hospital.

[53 minutes.]

Every time the Grim Reaper spoke, my heart sank with a thud.

“Grandmother, I’ll call an ambulance from the public phone! If that doesn’t work, I’ll call the police!”

This place was Guro Shantytown.

The shantytown where people barely scraped by with factory work had many particularly poor households.

Since telephones weren’t widely available yet, everyone relied on public phones.

I rushed into the room and grabbed Mother’s bag.

Worried there might not be enough money, I also stuffed the jewelry box into the bag.

“I’ll go catch a taxi!”

“Jung-hyuk, it’s curfew time now. There’s no way taxis are running around.”

Landlady Grandmother massaged Mother’s arms and legs while sighing like a lament.

“On a day like this, why hasn’t our Cheol-gu come home yet!”

Uncle Cheol-gu was Landlady Grandmother’s only son.

He looked like a bear and was always busy running around saying he was catching spies.

He drove the most expensive Jeep in this neighborhood.

It was routine for him to leave at dawn and return at dawn, or often stay out overnight.

“Let me see. Jae-ho’s house should have a truck…”

“I know where Jae-ho’s house is! I’ll go ask them!”

“Alright, go ahead first. I’ll follow soon once people arrive!”

It was reassuring.

I ran through the alley without looking back.

A place where coal briquette ash was scattered at every corner of the alleys half-covered with snow.

In the shantytown alleys where Industrial Complex workers lived together, a few streetlights flickered.

* * *

Because of the coal briquette gas.

My body felt heavy like waterlogged cotton.

I kept staggering and swaying.

But I had to run now.

Tap-tap-tap-tap!

In the past, whenever I ran on roads covered with coal briquette ash, I would trip and tumble several times.

But today, I managed to run without falling even once.

I was lucky.

Feeling a chill on the back of my neck, I turned around to see the Grim Reaper following like a ghost, speaking with lip movements.

[47 minutes.]

“If you’re not going to help, then shut up! If my mother dies like this, I’ll slit my own throat and go to the Underworld to grab King Yama by the collar first!”

This is different from what you promised!

“You told me to ask Mother! Then you shouldn’t be doing this to me!”

I glared at the Grim Reaper.

“Right now I can’t see straight! This time let’s start with divine punishment and settle the score properly, one by one!”

I’m the type who follows through when I say something.

For some reason, the Grim Reaper looked flustered and made a gesture of zipping his mouth shut.

‘From here to the nearest Taeseong Hospital is a 15-minute drive.’

I gritted my teeth and ran.

‘Will I not be able to catch a ride in Jae-ho’s truck this time either?’

That’s what happened in the past.

Jae-ho’s Father had coldly rejected my request.

He cruelly turned his back on me, telling me to find someone else.

‘Thanks to that, I learned that requests must be accompanied by sincerity.’

I glanced at Mother’s bag that I had brought with me.

The money in her wallet was at most 9,850 won.

It was an amount that would make anyone sigh.

“Damn it.”

I sighed for a different reason.

Because I couldn’t trust Jae-ho’s Father’s character.

If he were the type to listen to emotional appeals, he wouldn’t have turned his back on Mother in the past.

“First, I’ll try explaining the situation. If that doesn’t work, I’ll have no choice but to cut off a finger and throw it at him.”

Then he’d have no choice but to take us to the hospital.

He wouldn’t want to be branded as a vicious criminal who cut off a child’s finger.

“If I can save Mother’s life with just one finger, what choice do I have? I’ll have to cut it off.”

If I had known this would happen, I should have grabbed the Hand Axe from the warehouse first.

“Even with the nighttime curfew, how can there be nowhere to rent a car!”

That was just how the times were.

In the Republic of Korea, the car craze didn’t hit until the 80s.

When even the Trucks used at the Factory had to have their keys returned during commuting hours, where could one possibly rent a car?

‘A Public Phone!’

I happened to spot a Public Phone booth at the entrance of the Alley.

How much was one Public Phone call back then?

Didn’t they say it recently went up to 10 won per unit?

“Ugh!”

I stood on my tiptoes to insert the Coin.

Even jumping was useless.

I couldn’t reach it.

‘Too short!’

I remembered the Jewelry Box I had brought.

If I placed it vertically and stepped on it, I might just be able to insert the Coin.

My hand slipped and the Jewelry Box opened with a thud.

‘Bank Passbook, Notebook, Men’s Luxury Wristwatch.’

Under the yellow streetlight.

I gathered the treasures that Mother had been hiding.

‘Ha, Vacheron Constantin Patrimony 1970 Special Edition.’

This was a top-tier product from the Swiss watch company that held the industry’s number one position until Patek Philippe emerged as the king of watch brands in the 1990s.

A Luxury Goods watch of such caliber that the counterfeit artisans of this era in the Republic of Korea couldn’t even imitate.

With our family’s financial situation, we couldn’t afford it even if we died and came back to life.

Being able to import this, or purchase it directly from abroad, meant having tremendous wealth.

‘So Father really was a chaebol heir?’

Then why are Mother and I living like this?

‘I can use this to borrow Jae-ho’s Truck.’

He’d covet the expensive watch, so money-grubbing Jae-ho’s Father would lend me the truck.

Beep beep!

I turned my head at the sound of the horn.

The jeep window rolled down smoothly and a man in his thirties stuck his head out.

“Hey kid, what are you doing there right now?”

It was Uncle Cheol-gu, the Landlady Grandmother’s son.

“Uncle!”

I was so happy I could cry.

Of course, because of the jeep!

“Are you trying to report spies or something?”

“Mother collapsed because of coal briquette gas! I need to get to the hospital quickly!”

“Get in!”

Before I could even finish speaking, the jeep’s passenger door swung wide open.

I quickly grabbed everything including the jewelry box and got into the car.

Vroom.

The jeep raced through the alley without hesitation.

‘I’m so lucky!’

Memories of stomping my feet in frustration trying to catch a taxi on the empty night streets in the past flashed through my mind.

Back then, no matter how much I shouted at the top of my lungs, not even a single ant passed by, let alone a taxi.

What was that damn night curfew all about anyway.

I had sat down on the street cursing the heavens and wailing.

‘This time will be different. I can save Mother!’

Landlady Grandmother came out to the front gate and shouted loudly.

“Take her to the hospital quickly! Her breathing is back to normal and she’s regained consciousness!”

It seemed the village people had gathered around and properly administered first aid in the meantime.

We helped the staggering Mother into the jeep and headed to the hospital.

* * *

Taeseong Hospital Intensive Care Unit Corridor.

I had to sit in a chair and wait, wrapped up in a hospital blanket from head to toe.

‘The Grim Reaper stopped the countdown and retreated. So she’ll be fine.’

I let out a long breath.

It was a sigh of relief.

Only then did my eyes fall on the jewelry box protruding from Mother’s bag.

‘Her taste in watches is quite luxurious and extravagant. Just who is our father?’

I became curious.

‘The surname Cha isn’t a common family name in Korea. Moreover, among chaebol families that use the surname Cha, there’s only one place.’

I closed my eyes.

‘Taeseong Group?’

Taeseong Group.

Electronics, chemicals, construction, automobiles, distribution, hotels, hospitals, food, fashion, and more.

It’s a massive chaebol group ranked 5th in the Republic of Korea’s business hierarchy.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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