The Baby Seizes Fortune - Chapter 8

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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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Episode 8

As soon as I saw the news, my heart started beating like crazy.

Thump, thump, thump, thump.

-Yes, I’m currently standing in front of the hospital where fire accident survivors are being transported. The hospital emergency room continues to be in a state of extreme chaos. Among the injured transported here, many are….

Behind the reporter, the chaotic state of the emergency room was visible.

What did Mother say?

In my ears, along with the sound of my pulse, the voice I heard earlier echoed.

-Sob, sob, Older Sister, she’s dead….

In an instant, I shuddered greatly. It felt like my whole body was being thrust into cold ice.

I couldn’t take my eyes off the television screen showing the breaking news.

Bodies covered with white cloth were visible.

-In particular, this hospital includes many high school students who came on a retreat, so parents continue to wait in the hospital lobby and in front of the emergency room, calling their children’s names. Some parents still haven’t confirmed whether their children are alive or dead and cannot leave the scene.

My hands and feet trembled.

The floor I was standing on endlessly crumbled, falling down steep ice, further and further down.

“Older Sister…?”

A title I could no longer reach scattered into the cold air.

It was an unforgettable memory.

Haeryeong Resort, that was the name of the retreat accommodation where our school’s second-year students stayed.

On this day, half of the seniors in Older Sister’s class died.

The fire occurred in the eastern part of the resort, the East Wing, where the students were staying.

When the entire nation was preparing to mourn the deaths of young students, and when they were about to be angry at Haeryeong Resort for inadequate facility management, an unexpected fact was revealed through public broadcast news.

-Regarding the resort fire accident, new suspicions about the cause of the fire have been raised. Statements have emerged that some students may have used lighters inside the accommodation.

It was a story that could turn public opinion upside down.

Mother and Father put aside their livelihoods and began protesting in front of Haeryeong Corporation’s headquarters with other parents.

They said not to evade responsibility with inaccurate information.

But the media was on their side, not ours.

-If the students’ use of lighters is true, the controversy over responsibility could also grow.

-What is the reaction of the bereaved families?

-The parents are expressing strong anger, saying “Aren’t they trying to blame the children’s actions for the disaster?”

The parents went out day and night, wailing to return our children.

Even when thugs no different from gangsters dispersed them again and again, they stubbornly gathered.

‘Why go this far?’

I didn’t bother to ask.

I knew that anger was what made my parents’ hearts beat, hearts that had stopped along with Older Sister’s death.

After academy ended, I would often buy kimbap or hamburgers from snack shops as errands and deliver them to my parents and other parents.

Of course, we had no power, and public opinion gradually flowed in a direction unfavorable to us.

-Bringing lighters was the problem in the first place. Why blame the resort for an accident caused by smoking?

-Isn’t this natural death? The resort is pitiful. The bereaved families should look at their own children’s faults.

-Damn troublemakers, they’re all doing this to get money. Don’t give them a penny and file for damages.

Haeryeong maintained their position that they should wait for investigation results while mentioning the possibility of student negligence.

Surviving students and parents protested vigorously, and although forensic results came out regarding the lighter found in the students’ room, no specific student’s DNA was confirmed on the lighter.

However, Haeryeong insisted it was a student’s doing since it came from the students’ area anyway.

I continued attending academy.

My parents were still not at home.

Dust accumulated in Older Sister’s room.

My heart felt like it was dying black.

I knew it wasn’t the time to ask.

If even I asked ‘why’, it seemed our family would completely collapse.

But I kept thinking about it.

Why.

Why.

Why did Older Sister have to die.

Why did our family have to suffer such pain.

“Why.”

The early news came to mind.

A firefighter’s interview saying the fire spread very quickly due to building defects. Flammable interior materials in rooms and corridors and inadequate fire compartment compliance caused smoke to rapidly spread throughout the entire floor.

The installed sprinklers were outdated and less than half functioned.

‘The structure was wrong from the beginning.’

Even though students’ statements refuting lighter use were coming out one after another, media coverage was minimal and everyone was busy blaming the students.

The cause of the fire had already been attributed to the students, and Haeryeong hired experts favorable to their claims to speak to the media.

Unlike the parents who lacked the capacity to refute, Haeryeong had money and power.

At that time, I was a high school student.

With no power and no voice.

Public opinion completely turned.

And one truth was revealed.

[National Party Leader’s Cousin Confirmed as Resort Owner]

As the blame game continues over the large resort fire disaster, confirmation that the resort owner is the cousin of the National Party leader is causing major ripples in political circles.

According to our investigation, the actual owner of Haeryeong Resort where the fire occurred is Goh Mo, cousin of National Party leader Gochan-hyeong, and he was revealed to be the largest shareholder holding the majority of the resort’s shares.

It was also revealed that National Party member Gi Seung-cheol acquired some shares of Haeryeong Resort one week before the accident.

Regarding suspicions of student lighter use raised by some after the accident, some are raising suspicions that “the focus of accident responsibility was intentionally directed toward the students.”

The National Party had more than half the seats and was the ruling party, and Gochan-hyeong and Gi Seung-cheol were heavyweight politicians.

We learned for the first time how big the whales we were fighting against were.

On the day we realized it was an unwinnable fight from the beginning, rather than feeling hopeless, I felt refreshed.

Because we had been fighting for too long.

Now we could accept it and return to our place.

But we couldn’t.

We couldn’t do that.

Because the place where a person disappeared cannot be filled with anything.

* * *

“Father and Mother have to live separately now. You should also prepare for independence soon.”

“But…!”

“I’m sorry.”

Father could no longer work, and Mother, who had always been affectionate, couldn’t escape from severe depression that prevented her from caring for those around her. Eventually, my parents separated without recovering from their wounds.

Time passed and I crossed over one life, but it still remains on my chest like the primordial clothes I was born wearing, perhaps like an organ.

The process of our harmonious family being shattered to pieces – young and powerless as I was, I could only watch.

“….”

Since I came to the past, and since I know the future, perhaps I can change what will happen someday.

No, I will change it. Absolutely.

In the darkness, my eyes shone clearly.

‘For that, I need power.’

In a capitalist society, power means wealth.

I’ll grow big enough that the political heavyweights who hurt us won’t dare shake us.

Big enough to control the world, very big.

I’m curious about many things – what my family members are doing now, what the original me who is the same age as this body is doing….

Just wait a little.

Then, the white puppy in the corner of the screen brought a bone and panted.

As if asking for praise.

And suddenly a pink status window I’d never seen before appeared.

[‘First Step of the One Who Moves’ Achievement reward has added a new function.]

[Internet account transfers and stock investment are now possible!]

Soon, new windows appeared.

[Main Quest: Noah’s Recognition. Gain recognition for your abilities and establish yourself as the ‘real’ master.]

[Reward: Noah 0-stage > 1-stage upgrade pack applied ૮ ꈍﻌ ꈍა♥]

‘Noah’s recognition? ‘Real’ master?’

The meaning of these words was clear.

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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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