Chapter 35 – Magic Boy (13)
Before heading into Choi Kang-min’s dream—a death trap akin to enemy territory—I sat down with Uncle for a strategy meeting in reality.
How could we persuade him in a way that would earn praise?
Uncle defined it simply.
“Just pass the company to the second son.”
“Will that work?”
In the dream, Choi Kang-hoon had been in prison for 20 years.
I was worried about his mental state, and with all the company’s interests already cemented in Choi Kang-min’s favor like reinforced concrete, overturning it seemed tough.
“We’ll have to figure that out together from now on.”
“Oh, okay.”
“Haha! Don’t take it too seriously. I was just throwing it out there. Who knows how inheritance laws will change in 13 years, but it’ll be hard to reverse unless I, the former chairman, am alive…”
“Uncle, do you have to be alive?”
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
“Would a will do?”
“I haven’t thought about a will since the eldest turned out like this. If something happens to me, the second son will naturally inherit.”
There’s no will. Even if there was, Choi Kang-min would’ve destroyed it long ago.
Then,
“Let’s write one now.”
“…Moon-soo, telling this old man to die already is a bit much, don’t you think?”
“Don’t misunderstand. It’s for use in the dream.”
“I don’t follow…”
Uncle frowned, still not grasping my intent.
“When I first entered the dream, my smartphone was in my pocket.”
“Smartphone? What about it— Oh! I get it!”
Slap!
Realizing mid-sentence, Uncle slapped his knee in excitement.
“If we put a will in your pocket beforehand, it’ll come with you into the dream.”
“Great plan, right?”
“It is!”
“But it’s a failure.”
“What?! Why?”
“For a will to have legal effect, you need a third party to verify it’s my intent. A handwritten one is an exception, but even then, you’d need proof I wrote it.”
“…True.”
But I wasn’t about to give up just because it was difficult.
Uncle seemed to feel the same.
“I’d love to call in my advisors…”
“Are you confident you can explain this?”
“Wanna come with?”
“I’ll pass.”
One thing I learned from being in Choi Kang-min’s dream:
Don’t stand out!
The attention from doctors who mistook me for a ‘special human’ was exhausting.
‘I can’t repeat that mistake!’
But wasting time without a plan wasn’t a good option either.
So,
“Uncle.”
“You’ve got an idea, I can tell.”
“Yes. Can you make the company go bankrupt overnight?”
“…Think it’s a corner store? I’d be ousted by the shareholders first.”
“Do you trust me?”
“Hm?”
“I said, do you trust me?”
“Of course. You’ve protected my treasure for over a decade.”
His voice, accompanied by a gentle smile, held no trace of doubt.
“Though, that trust depends on the matter.”
He added a caveat.
“I’m going to record a video now.”
“A will?”
“Yes.”
“A video without a witness has no legal weight.”
“That’s fine. I’m not taking it to court—I’m spreading it online.”
“…”
Uncle’s jaw dropped at my plan.
“Of course, only in the dream.”
“So that’s why you asked if I trusted you.”
“Yes.”
“…It’s a gamble requiring more than trust, but I can’t weigh my son’s life against it.”
Uncle sighed.
“If it makes you uncomfortable…”
“Let’s do it. I bear a big share of why Kang-min’s trapped in that dream.”
“Then let’s start record—”
“Wait! If we’re doing this, let’s do it right. With a high-quality camera.”
“Got it.”
We prepared a blockbuster gift set to drive Choi Kang-min up the wall.
***
The ripple effect of that meticulously crafted video was tremendous!
“Smooth sailing.”
I was at a resort hotel a bit outside the city.
Lazily sitting on a terrace overlooking the beach, I was playing with a futuristic smartphone.
(Kang-min, how long will you keep running from the fact that you incited your friends to bully your brother Kang-hoon?)
“He must’ve freaked out.”
I regretted not seeing Choi Kang-min’s face when he watched it.
But what could I do? Meeting him would mean getting toyed with like a bug again.
I had no choice but to hide in the hotel and monitor the situation.
I’d planned to stay in a cheap single room at first, but the money Vice Director Seo provided exceeded my imagination, so I changed plans.
‘When else will I enjoy such luxury?’
It’s a shame it’s a dream, but it’s only possible because it’s a dream.
A development where someone is persuaded by a letter from their past self would never happen in reality.
“Oh!”
Swoosh~
As I dove toward the bed, the cloud-like white mattress softly cushioned my body.
‘Money sure is nice!’
The bed in the Sports University dorm wasn’t bad, but this was on a whole different level.
Comparing them felt almost blasphemous.
I was going to enjoy this to the fullest.
(If anything happens to me, all my assets will go to my second son, Choi Kang-hoon. I hope this video reaches a righteous person.)
The video I spread online propagated like a plague, rapidly infecting various media outlets.
It even made the news!
Some claimed it was fake, but since we anticipated that reaction, the video was prepared to counter it.
(You’ll doubt the authenticity of this video. So, I’ll reveal information only the executives know. The password to the safe holding confidential documents is…)
We spilled details only an insider could know.
How could anyone not believe it?
Even I was shocked by the ‘intensity’ of Uncle’s video while recording it.
“What an incredible man.”
I suggested it, but if I were him, I’d have chosen a different approach.
It was too risky!
And this was the result. As dangerous as it was, the impact was undeniable.
“Chairman Choi Kang-min, answer us!”
“The heir is the second son, Choi Kang-hoon!”
“Major shareholder’s testimony: The video is real.”
“The stock market is reeling…”
Since Uncle’s company wasn’t some small shop, the world was in an uproar.
It was like a silenced victim revealing the culprit’s identity from beyond the grave.
Only possible because it’s a dream.
“I’m dying to see how Choi Kang-min reacts.”
Ding~♪
I munched on popcorn heated in the hotel’s microwave, watching the chaos unfold.
***
Twenty years had passed since an astronomical fortune was inherited by the wrong person.
Ignore it?
Or return it now?
Even those indifferent to most issues were deeply intrigued by the inheritance drama of a global corporation.
“…Call the legal team.”
The flood of confidential information pouring out couldn’t be dismissed as a prank.
Most of it was outdated, useless after 20 years, but not for the company executives who remembered that time.
If that video circulating online was real?
This wasn’t a trivial matter.
“Chairman, we’re getting calls—”
“Can’t you hear me? Call the legal team! Now…!”
“Yes, sir.”
The situation and public opinion were turning sharply against him.
As Magic Boy, who could eavesdrop on conversations from the other side of the planet, Choi Kang-min felt the gravity of the crisis even more acutely.
“Wow! How could he do that…”
“Killing his father for scolding him!”
“Is he insane?”
“Poor Choi Kang-hoon.”
There had always been people jealous of him as a chaebol heir, but this was different.
Outright condemnation!
Those who’d long resented the arrogant Choi Kang-min, backed by Magic Boy’s power, were now rallying the masses like fish in water.
“No… This can’t be…”
Thud.
His legs gave out, and Choi Kang-min collapsed to the floor.
Bad public opinion?
As the superhuman Magic Boy, he could forcibly silence critics by defending ‘Chairman Choi Kang-min.’ He’d framed his innocent brother 20 years ago using similar methods.
The real problem was something else.
(Kang-min, were you happy framing your only brother and sending him to prison? Pathetic. Grow up.)
“Father…”
More shocking than his father’s scathing words was the wrinkle on his forehead in the video.
Older than the father he last remembered.
Proof he was alive somewhere.
In other words,
‘A dream…?’
If everything the villain ‘fake Kang Moon-soo’ said was true?
It meant he’d been a vegetable for seven years.
“Ha, ha, ha…”
A hollow laugh escaped Magic Boy Choi Kang-min, who feared no nuclear bomb.
Was this attachment?
Even with clear evidence before him, he couldn’t believe it.
Taste, touch, sight, hearing, smell…
Everything he’d felt for 20 years seemed so real.
“…Kang Moon-soo.”
The mastermind behind it all.
Choi Kang-min’s face was filled with hatred as he muttered his name.
‘If only I didn’t know.’
If Kang Moon-soo hadn’t shown up!
Sometimes, ignorance of uncomfortable truths is bliss. And this might just be one of those moments.
Beep—
Picking up the phone, Choi Kang-min issued orders to his secretary.
“Find Kang Moon-soo.”
“Sir? He’s already dead…”
“Find him! Use any means necessary, now…!”
“…Yes, Chairman.”
Clack!
Slamming the phone down in irritation, Choi Kang-min transformed into Magic Boy.
From adult to child.
But the innocent expression he’d maintained for image management was nowhere to be found.
‘Kang Moon-soo!’
Flap~
To hunt down the culprit himself, Choi Kang-min soared into the sky.
***
To evade Choi Kang-min’s surveillance network while he searched for me, I couldn’t let my face be exposed.
But I had to lower my mask to eat, didn’t I?
So, I avoided restaurants with security cameras or crowds.
‘What a life… I have money but can’t even use it!’
Delivery was safer than restaurants, but still not entirely secure.
Cooking?
Heating up convenience store frozen food in a microwave was the extent of it. If I stretched it, maybe instant ramen…
Anyway,
“Ugh! Heavy.”
I bought a ton of frozen and instant food from the convenience store in the hotel’s basement.
This much should last at least ten days, right?
Click—Creak—
I unlocked my hotel room with the keycard and stepped inside.
But then,
“Hmm~ Humm~♪”
“…”
Freeze.
A woman’s humming from inside the room stopped me in my tracks.
‘Who? How?’
It couldn’t be hotel staff.
And since it was a woman, it wasn’t Choi Kang-min either. Unless he could transform into a ‘Magic Girl’ too.
“Mr. Kang Moon-soo.”
“…”
She even knew I was here and broke in.
‘Should I run?’
Caught off guard by this unexpected situation, I hesitated.
“How long are you going to stand at the door? Come in.”
“…Gasp!”
Curious about the intruder’s identity, I headed toward the source of the voice and sucked in a shocked breath.
‘That weird customer?’
The woman in wizard attire, who once visited the convenience store, was sitting on the bed with her legs crossed.
But, as before, her black conical hat was pulled low, hiding her face except for her slender jawline.
More importantly—
“This makes it our second meeting.”
I could tell at a glance without her saying it.
This woman wasn’t from ‘this world.’
“Are you surprised I’m here?”
“How did you get in?”
“Oh my! Did you think you were the only special one?”
“Ahem!”
Her jab hit the mark, leaving me speechless with embarrassment.
Shaman.
Ever since I heard that this aptitude was so rare it might as well not exist, I’d unconsciously assumed I was special.
“I’m quite offended right now.”
“I’m offended too, since you barged in uninvited.”
“You’re quite brazen. You’re the one who barged in first, aren’t you?”
“Me? You must be mistaking me for someone else…”
I’ve never broken into anyone’s place in my life.
“Here.”
“This is my room.”
“This world.”
“Hm?”
“You’re the one who barged in and stirred things up, aren’t you? Still going to deny it?”
“…”
A chill ran through me.
This wizard-clad woman was dangerous, my instincts warned.
“Oh my! It’s almost time for the protagonist to arrive. I’ll be off.”
“Wait! Protagonist? What’s that supposed to— Huh?”
I tried to stop her as she spoke cryptically and left.
‘Where’d she go?’
Rushing to the hotel terrace, I looked around, but she was nowhere to be found.
“No way?”
Recalling Song Sun-young’s suicide method, I leaned over the terrace railing to check below.
“…”
Nothing. Gone. If she’d jumped, there’d at least be a body…
“Gasp!”
“You…!”
Coincidence or fate?
My eyes locked with Magic Boy, hovering above the hotel parking lot!
…I’m screwed.
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