Streaming Life After Paying Off Debt - Chapter 38

As I turned my head to the familiar sound I heard, one of my few connections was approaching me. Our landlord, who had an attractive puppy-like face, was coming toward me.

“Jihye…?”

‘Could it be that Jihye has also fallen for a scam?’

I first felt worried at the unexpected face of an acquaintance. However, that soon turned into guilt.

‘I should have warned her in advance…’

I felt regret for having let a friend fall victim to a scam while I prided myself on being a coin investor. Then I heard a questionable conversation in my ears.

“Oh my! Branch Manager, what brings you here…!”

“I just stopped by for a moment.”

“If I had known the Branch Manager was coming, I would have brought you honey or something…”

“Ah! What are you talking about! Honey! Branch Manager, I have some new liquor I made…”

It was as if Jihye and the people were having a familiar conversation not just from meeting once or twice. The title of ‘Branch Manager’ that I heard intermittently sparked one suspicion in my mind.

‘Could it be… Jihye…?’

Suddenly, memories of the past surfaced in my mind. Unlike me, who had no room to my name, she was a property owner with dozens of houses. Her wealth, which didn’t match her young age, added weight to my suspicions.

“So… Jihye got caught too…? I’ll find a way to save her…!”

However, the words that came out of my mouth were very different from my previous thoughts. In front of a truth I didn’t want to believe, I too began to escape from reality like the people just moments before me. But my hands, which had already realized all the truths, were trembling.

“Let’s go inside and talk, Sister.”

Jihye said as she tightly held my trembling hand.

A large auditorium and a small room attached to the back. Here, I could hear all the details of the situation.

“So… you’re saying that the main culprit behind all of this is your father?”

For a moment, I was startled by an unexpected identity, then began to sort through the information I had learned step by step.

According to the story, Jihye’s family was a major player in the loan shark industry that had been passed down through generations. In the world of politics and business, there was no one who hadn’t borrowed money from her family.

“However, the chairman was not satisfied with this. He always said that money and connections shouldn’t just be accumulated but utilized.”

And he was a person capable of turning words into actions.

It started with stock manipulation, they said. He bought up shares of a crumbling company, artificially inflated the stock price, and then repeatedly offloaded shares to retail investors who came in seeing the rise.

“Eventually, he got caught.”

But you can’t cover the sky with your hand. After numerous sharp declines and spikes, suspicion arose, and ultimately, it became public news. Of course, he wasn’t arrested directly because he had a network built over the years.

“Though he got caught, the chairman found a way out here.”

Having made significant profits from other companies’ stocks, what if he started with shares that belonged to him from the beginning? The result of that line of questioning was Udon Coin.

“So… the rise and fall of Udon Coin were all your father’s doing?”

As the true identity of the enemy was revealed in the whirlwind of a massive conspiracy.

“No. The crash was my doing.”

But once again, my expectations were off the mark.

“Why…?”

“Because it was the time when I could minimize the damage the most.”

Jihye’s explanation of my doubts continued.

According to her original plan, she was supposed to release news as the stock price continued to rise. Then, with the title of being the first coin in the country to allow payments, she would hold investment briefings and pass shares to the second and third round investors, and then boom.

“Before this plan could become a reality, I sold everything.”

She said she returned as much of the remaining money to the investors as possible. Additionally, she was helping victims in various ways, such as waiving interest for those suffering from loans.

‘Ah, that’s why the people earlier were so friendly.’

I understood the way they treated Jihye like a benefactor. In reality, from their perspective, Jihye was an angel who had saved them.

“In the end, because of that, I was demoted to Branch Manager.”

“Ah… I see…?”

The noble attitude of putting others first even at the cost of her own suffering. I felt a sense of embarrassment at the self-sacrificial appearance of someone I had thought of as an enemy.

‘I had aimed for a decline from the beginning…’

While it was said that she had crashed the market, it was actually an action that helped me. I excluded Jihye from my enemy list.

While I was still lost in thought, Jihye continued speaking.

“And that was my oversight. I never expected that a new set of investors would be gathered again under the name Apocoin…”

Apocoin was created, based on the investors of Udon Coin. However, Jihye, who had become a powerless puppet due to her demotion, said she couldn’t find out who was currently in control or how it was being run.

As Jihye’s long explanation came to an end, I thought about solutions to resolve this.

“How about reporting it to the media?”

If the briefing they were currently doing were to hit the news, even the people who had been escaping reality would come to realize the truth one by one. Additionally, as soon as it became a hot topic, it was clear that several obstacles would arise in launching the coin. It was a method with many advantages, but Jihye dismissed it before it could even be explored.

“It’s useless. The media has already long been in the chairman’s hands.”

In fact, she continued that although she reported several relevant videos, not a single one had ever been made into an article.

“Then what about reporting it to the police?”

While saying this, the scene from just moments ago came to mind. The police who escorted the men while guarding the building, just like security.

“The police are already connected, so it’s meaningless.”

Once again, negative words came back as proof. In a situation where various methods were blocked, the moment a thought came to mind that only I could do something.

“Then how about a live broadcast? They can’t stop a real-time broadcast!”

Although it was awkward for me to say, I was a corporate streamer with thousands of viewers. I explained this situation to Jihye.

“That also won’t work. He’ll probably just block your stream and that will be the end of it.”

But even after my explanation, the answer was negative.

“And even if we assume we stop Apocoin this way, a second or third Apocoin will just be created.”

Deep feelings of resignation could be felt in Jihye’s continued words.

“Is there really no other way?”

A thick veil of despair descended before we even began. I pouted, not wanting to acknowledge it.

“There’s only one way. There is a way.”

Then a positive answer came back, different from just before.

“What is it?!”

“In the end, the wealth and connections are not the chairman’s but the family’s. So we need to kick the chairman out.”

According to Jihye, there are a significant number of people within the family who feel repulsed by the chairman’s methods. If we unite them, it would be possible to expel the chairman.

“I need your help with one thing in that part.”

Jihye took out her mobile phone, showed me a YouTuber, and continued speaking.

“Seongmin Su, a stock YouTuber. He was involved during the Udon Coin and is probably quite deeply connected to Apocoin as well.”

On the phone’s screen, a middle-aged man was smiling, with the number 200,000 glowing below.

“What can I do?”

“This person holds an online stock investment competition every month, and I would like you to participate in that.”

If it’s stocks, then it’s also my area of expertise. Winning first place in the competition was a given.

“Just need to get first place, right?”

“No. He is so eager to increase his viewership that even just expressing your desire to participate will get him to approach you.”

As those words came, Jihye handed me a small USB drive.

“When you meet this person, please plug this USB into his computer.”

Through this, she said she would hack information related to those involved with Apocoin.

“The most important thing right now is distinguishing between allies and enemies.”

Before making the rebellion, identifying traitors is the most crucial element. I understood why Jihye had asked me for this.

I looked at the USB in my hand. Handling this made me feel like an agent on a secret mission. Then suddenly, I remembered an essential trait that an agent should have.

“Since we’re kind of on a secret mission, don’t you think we need our own title?”

Various names came to mind—Men in Black, Mission Impossible—but they fell short for various reasons. During that moment, our characteristic emerged.

“Since we’re catching scammers instead of performing police work…”

Women catching scammers. There was a name that fit that theme.

“We are now ‘Girl Cops!'”

I announced our newly created name with a smile on my face.

“You’re not allowed to name yourself.”

In response to my words, Jihye laughed. It was the first smile I had seen from her today.

And three days later,

– Is this the broadcast for financial scammers?

– Miju will be going live soon!

– Wow, the ban is lifted, what’s happening with the morning broadcast!

– Please, let’s live honestly this time…

“Hello! I am Misu Christ, resurrected after three days!”

My broadcast began.