I Became a Scoundrel of a Chaebol Family-Chapter 518
It was a brutally tense dinner in more ways than one, but that didn’t mean every last minute felt like that.
At the core, our family gets along extremely well with each other. As long as it’s not an issue tied up with me, we help each other and talk things through.
Of course, mortal enemies like Go Minji and Go Hayan don’t exactly fit that mold.
But even there, it feels like that’s just youth and hot blood. Give it time and ◆ Nоvеlіgһt ◆ (Only on Nоvеlіgһt) they’ll naturally converge into something closer.
“Hh—so fucking dark.”
Go Minji hunched like she was cold and shook her head side to side.
Some people chuckled at that, and Grandfather stared blankly up at the sky.
Right now all of us—every last one—were looking past the beach toward a pitch-black horizon.
Why the beach all of a sudden?
Because a thing happened.
I said earlier that, if it isn’t a problem entangled with me, our family gets along great. Which also means if it is about me, it can nosedive to the absolute worst.
Today is the night that flips from December 31, 2077 to January 1, 2078.
Because it’s the night when the old year ends and a new one begins, a night spent as “lovers” carries extra weight.
Which is how, on such a meaningful night, the topic after dinner became: so then who exactly is going to sleep with me?
Tea time with warm tea and coffee.
People traded glances, signaling without words, waging a sharp silent war.
No one opened their mouth easily. One moment they’d watch the other women, the next they’d glance at me and at my lips, slipping in their pitch.
Even Go Hayan—who isn’t yet in a deep relationship with me—showed a quiet look of wanting in her eyes.
In the end Grandfather intervened again, and a shocking rule was declared: for the time being, at family gatherings, no being alone as a pair.
It’s true there are times he seems to get steamrolled by Min-young or Hayoung, but he’s still the Chair of the great Koryo Group and the head of our house. When he throws his weight, no one quibbles with his decision.
This one stung a bit, but the women all accepted it.
On the surface.
The problem started once everyone scattered to their own rooms.
Not just Min-young and Hayoung—Minji and Seonyul too—each tried to slip past everyone’s eyes one way or another to come to my room, or invite me to theirs, or even spend time outside altogether, and that, too, got caught by Grandfather.
So—
“Er—don’t any of you make those kinds of plans tonight.”
We all got gathered back into the same space again.
Until the New Year arrived and the new morning of 2078 was fully bright.
Which is here.
A beach you’d hit if you drew a straight line due east from Pyongyang.
Not a famous spot—just a dime-a-dozen beach—but we didn’t come to watch the sunrise anyway, so that hardly matters.
It’s just about our whole family “uniting” to welcome the new year together.
“Fuck’s the point of a beach if we’re not even watching the sunrise.”
“...”
Some people did have complaints.
Still, there’s a certain mood to it. Not bad.
Sometimes this kind of thing is good.
“But what’s Grandfather thinking about? He’s been staring at the sky this whole time.”
“Who knows~. How would I know.”
“He’s letting someone go.”
“Ah, Min-young...”
Min-young, in a light coat, came to my side.
With Go Minji and Go Min-young both there, the looks converged again, but everyone seemed busy whispering within their own “camps,” mother and daughter pairs murmuring deep.
“Letting someone go? Did someone die?”
“Rather than died... mmm, yeah. That could be it, too. Depends on how you define death.”
“...?”
“Point is, you send someone precious up into that open sky. There comes a time you have to do that when you get older. The old man does that sometimes.”
“Ma’am.”
“...Minji, do you want to get scolded?”
Hmm.
Letting go of someone precious...
So wait, did Master Han Guk-young pass on to peace???
He suddenly swapped out his board, and yet he also put the master’s board I gave him on display like a treasure—that makes it more than plausible.
Yeah. That’s a lot more likely than any business about “experimenting with a soul.”
He got to play all the Go he wanted with Grandfather.
So maybe he was satisfied and moved on.
If that’s it... then of course he’d be sad. A great star of Go going completely down.
He’d been staring at the sky for hours, blankly, endlessly. It makes sense.
How empty it must feel.
“Well, Muyeol, it’s nothing you need to worry about. By tomorrow the old man will be back to his usual crank.”
“I see...”
Still—
Shouldn’t I at least offer a word of comfort?
He loved Go that much, and if it’s about his favorite master Han Guk-young, he must be hurting.
“What should I say to him?”
“I said it’s nothing you need to worry about... but if you really can’t help it, just stand next to him. Don’t say anything.”
“That’s enough?”
“That’s enough. You’re his only grandson.”
I guess that’s that...
So I went to Grandfather, doing as Min-young said.
I stood next to him, awkward, saying nothing. He flicked his eyes my way, then faced forward again.
Quite a while like that.
I cupped my hands to the fog of my breath, and Grandfather spoke.
“Got something to say?”
“No. I just... figured it might be good to stand with you.”
“Heh... what nonsense.”
“You seemed to be doing that kind of thing.”
“...You rascal.”
I didn’t know what I was saying either. I just let it spill. But I guess it wasn’t bad.
Grandfather smiled faintly.
He closed his mouth again, still watching the horizon, but his expression felt a bit lighter.
“Muyeol, you...”
Then, as if to say something.
But after a long silence, he shook his head.
“No.”
“Why, Grandfather?”
“It’s nothing. Don’t mind it. Hoo—”
“Nothing,” and then he sighed like the ground would cave in.
He really must have loved Master Han Guk-young.
“Well, now I feel unburdened. Something in my chest’s been heavy for a while. Now I can live. I can breathe again.”
Irony?
His face doesn’t say that at all.
“Father~! It’s almost time!”
Min-young’s voice.
When I turned back, the family had all gathered.
We’d bunched up to send off 2077 and welcome 2078.
[Encoded junk string omitted.]
It was 11:50.
In ten minutes it would be 2078.
“Go on ahead. Those brats will kick up a fuss again.”
“What about you, Grandfather?”
“I’ll come in five.”
“Okay. Then.”
He seemed to want a last moment alone, so I headed back.
The women greeted me, each with her own expression.
“Muyeol.”
Then Grandfather called after me.
“Yeah?”
“...Thank you.”
Something restless and unsettled showed on his face.
“I’m glad you’re here.”
An ambush of sentiment, just like that...
“Nothing to thank me for. I didn’t do anything.”
He turned back with a smile.
I turned back to the women.
Ah—before I go all the way, I should say my piece too.
Farewell, Master Han Guk-young.
He’s a Go hero. I can afford a word.
“What did Grandfather say?”
“Nothing in particular?”
“Yeah?”
“Is Muyeol about to inherit a fat chunk of assets?”
“He developed a room-temperature, ambient-pressure superconductor. That much is the least of it.”
“He’s got Incheon. How about we set our sights on Gyeonggi next year?”
“Excuse me?”
“Maybe we should be a little more aggressive. We’ve been working too much from the shadows.”
“That’s Dad’s motto~. Quietly from behind.”
“It’s not a motto, it’s a strategy. And do we really need to do that now?”
“Running a state costs too much and it’s inefficient. He said he’s not doing it~.”
“Next year we should launch the Muyeol Prize and make it a proper brand. Are you prepping it?”
“Uh, yeah. To a point...”
As soon as I got back, the noise level spiked.
I took in the stream from all directions, answered where I should, kept the chatter going—and before long, Grandfather arrived.
He slipped into our circle, face a shade lighter.
“Dad, what were you spacing out about for so long~”
“There are things like that, you punk.”
“Father, say a word, will you? It’s almost 2078.”
“What’s the point of mouthing off. New Year comes every year.”
“It’s not pointless. Everyone lives by watching you.”
“Sure they do, you little shits.”
In the warm mood, Grandfather spoke lightly.
“Well, you all worked hard this year—” 𝚏𝕣𝕖𝚎𝚠𝚎𝚋𝚗𝐨𝐯𝕖𝕝.𝕔𝐨𝕞
Pretty much the usual: good work, let’s keep at it next year, that kind of thing.
Nothing special, but no one in the family took his words lightly.
“If any of you have something to say, keep it short and say it.”
Then, one by one, we went around with our thoughts and resolutions.
Nothing earthshaking there either, but you could feel it—this family really does get along.
If not for me, we’d be living perfectly...??
[Ding! It is now 2078.]
[You have reached your third year on Hell Difficulty!! (’76, ’77, ’78)]
With the new day, a message window that had been quiet lately rolled up in a stream.
Summarized: how the hell did you make it to a third year on a brutally horrific difficulty? Have a reward—something like that.
But honestly...
Does any further system buff even mean anything to me?
Being the eldest grandson of Koryo Group is so busted it barely registers.
It’s enough... that I’m family with these people. That’s the best reward and spec there is.
“Happy New Year, everyone.”
