Chapter 77: Chapter 77

The large door swung open, and a well-dressed man entered, bowing deeply at a ninety-degree angle. Striding into the spacious office, he delivered his report.

"Madam, stabilization is complete. The medical team has confirmed there are no issues with discharge."

"Really? Bring her in."

"Yes, ma'am."

After his respectful bow, the man left the room, only to return ten minutes later, accompanied by two medical staff members and an array of life-support equipment. He bowed once more before standing in front of Min Ji-ah.

“Tsk, tsk, tsk.”

Min Ji-ah clicked her tongue as she approached the medical bed. Seeing Do Eun-joo lying there in restraints, eyes fixed blankly on the ceiling, elicited a fleeting pity.

Ji-ah waved her hand, dismissing the others from the room, leaving her alone with Eun-joo.

"How are you feeling, Sister?"

Eun-joo’s eyes rolled to glare at her, though the fury had mostly faded. Her bloodshot eyes held only regret and sorrow.

A single week. In that short time, she had lost everything.

When the loss is too overwhelming, revenge often gives way to desolation.

Ji-ah approached her, crouching to meet her gaze, and spoke in an elegant tone.

“Who would’ve thought a daughter of a wealthy family would load herself up with so many implants? It’s disgraceful, Sister. I told you before, didn’t I? People should live within their means. It wasn’t meant as an insult. ‘We’ must maintain a level of decorum. How could you sully yourself with things fit only for the lower class?”

After losing her sons and failing in her last resistance, it turned out she had an unexpected number of implants in her body. Was it for personal revenge? No, based on the timing, that wasn’t it.

So much effort went into removing them over the last few days. The procedure itself wasn’t the issue, but adjusting her body and restoring her to normal took considerable effort.

“When you bring such vulgar things into your body, Sister, your life becomes vulgar too. Don’t you understand?”

Eun-joo seethed with anger, though she could do nothing but thrash against her restraints.

“Tsk, tsk. Pitiful. I’ll make sure I don’t end up like this.”

Just then, the office door burst open, and Ji-ah’s husband—Eun-joo’s younger brother—rushed in.

“N-Noona?!”

He ran over to the restrained Eun-joo. Ji-ah sighed as she stood.

“Didn’t I tell you to stay home?”

Her cold tone made him flinch, but he forced himself to speak.

“What… what do you plan to do with Noona?”

“What else? She’ll be offered up to the Young Master. If he wants her dead, then she’ll die. It’s a pity she didn’t have a daughter.”

“You killed our father, our nephews, all of our relatives… and now, my sister too?”

“What, should I spare her?”

“….”

“If you’re going to stand in my way, then leave. Right now.”

Her complete lack of empathy drained him. He should feel furious, but the strength eluded him, as if he were a livestock worn down by years of gaslighting. The terrifying part was that it all felt natural to him.

‘No… I can’t keep avoiding this… I’ve been running away all this time!’

But he mustered up his courage.

As a distant branch of the Go family and the husband of a woman who was practically Chairman Go Yeong-man’s daughter, he had never truly voiced his opinions. Even within his own home, he’d always been treated as the lowest priority, more a servant than a husband.

So, he’d stayed silent even then.

When his father died? They hadn’t been on good terms anyway.

When his mother died? Her health had always been fragile.

When his nephews died? They were only nephews, not his own children.

Hiding behind rationalizations, he suppressed his fear, though in truth, he was just too scared to act.

But this… This was truly—

“Ah. So tiresome.”

“N—”

Before he could finish, Ji-ah pulled a gun from her side and pressed it to his head, pulling the trigger.

Bang!

His lifeless body crumpled to the floor, blood and brain matter spilling out.

“!!!”

Eun-joo’s eyes widened in horror as she shrieked.

“This should’ve been done long ago. Sentiment… it’s such a nuisance.”

Ji-ah placed the gun down on the desk and pulled out her phone to send a message to the family chat group.

- "Your father is dead." -

There was no response.

Ji-ah pressed a button on her desk.

“Send Director Lee in.”

Shortly after, a man in a sharp suit entered. He paused at the sight of Ji-ah’s dead husband but soon continued without hesitation.

“You called for me, Madam?”@@novelbin@@

“Clean this up and wrap that one. I need it sent to the Young Master tonight.”

“Yes, Madam.”

October 17th.

Saturday had come again, which meant today was LUMINA’s debut.

Strictly speaking, it wasn’t their debut debut, but since they’d be making their first appearance on a music show, it practically counted.

Thanks to this, I found myself at a broadcasting station in Ganghwa early in the morning. I wanted to boost the members’ morale and keep any unwanted pests away.

“As per your orders, we canceled all the new releases that were set to launch today, and for the next three months, no new or comeback promotions will be allowed except for Go-Ryeo Entertainment and Rainbow Miracle.”

“Good. Perfect.”

Honestly, LUMINA may not be incredibly competitive right now. Even though they’re my trainees, I have to be realistic.

In the original, they were nobodies until they gained traction in ‘78, so debuting them now in ‘76 wouldn’t exactly make waves in the market.

That is, if we were to just throw them into the market as is.

“If I time it right, though, it’s not impossible.”

In sync with LUMINA’s debut, I ensured that no other new or returning releases would enter the market. Only albums released up to last week were allowed to circulate, and only LUMINA would have any “new” releases for the next three months.

Honestly, it didn’t take much effort. The recent scandal had led to many groups being caught up, so few were even left to perform. The music shows were actually scrambling to fill their slots.

Since they had no choice, they ended up letting each group perform three or four songs, with a notice onscreen explaining, “Due to recent incidents, new releases are limited.” That way, viewers wouldn’t think it strange and would simply assume the lack of new songs was due to the scandal.

“Which means LUMINA gets more screen time. This is working out perfectly.”

Bzzz.

My phone buzzed. It was a message from Min Ji-ah.

- "Young Master, I’ve dealt with the entire Daejin family. I captured Jeon Seong-hyun’s mother, Do Eun-joo, alive and packaged her neatly."

Packaged? What does she mean by that?

I called her immediately.

- "Y-Young Master! M-Madam Min—"

“I told you the final report should be delivered in person. What’s with this impersonal text message?”

- “Ah! My apologies! I planned to meet you this evening to deliver the final report in person, but I thought I should inform you immediately—!”

“Ah, so you’re coming today?”

Of course. The deadline I gave her was up this week.

- “Yes! I will personally meet you to deliver my report in full, Young Master!”

Her choice of words made me chuckle. Personally meet… I wonder if any other nephew receives such formality from his aunt.

“Don’t be late.”

- “Understood, Youn—”

I hung up before she could finish. That rush of satisfaction flared up within me again.

I don’t know why, but there’s something gratifying about wielding power over her. I wonder what I’ll do to her when she arrives tonight.

“Are you not going to greet them?”

“…Excuse me?”

The first to approach LUMINA as they busily prepared wasn’t me. It was the girl group NoKoNoKo Girls, who had debuted three weeks ago with their song Jiga Motenoko NoKoNoKo, claiming the top spot on music shows for two consecutive weeks.

A five-member group, they each represented a character—an adult delinquent high school girl, a gyaru, a gang member, a triad member, and a mafia member—each embodying a retro, edgy concept from decades past that somehow became a hit.

True to their delinquent theme, everything about them—their image, outfits, even their songs—was provocative, and yet they emerged unscathed from the recent scandal. The mother of the high school girl concept member owned the agency, and the company itself was far too small to have been involved in any bribes.

“Oh, look at these bright-eyed kids.”

“Kids these days just don’t have manners~.”

“Back in my day, newbies would make the rounds of every dressing room at the crack of dawn, bowing so low their heads touched the ground. And you can’t even get up to greet your seniors?”