The Unbelievers

Chapter 83

Team Leader Lee Joon-seung, who had been tracking the Seongha Group after his police academy classmate, who was like a brother to him, was murdered, hated everything related to this case.

This included Seo Eunseong, who had become a target against his will. Rather than feeling sympathy, he felt aversion towards Eunseong, whose existence as the unbelievable prophesied being seemed to justify their atrocities.

“But why is he mistaken for the ‘Great Gap’? I heard he develops dragon-like scale patches on his skin. As if he has a human shell but a reptilian body. Does he have something like that?”

Director Nam sighed in exasperation at his persistent questioning.

“Let’s stop this. Under no circumstances should anyone know that Eunseong is here. This includes Eunseong himself. Don’t say anything suggestive in front of him from now on. If the CEO finds out, he won’t stay quiet.”

“And if he doesn’t stay quiet? What, will he kill me too?”

“Team Leader Lee Joon-seung.”

“You guys are good at that, aren’t you? CEO Yoo Siwoon has been killing and beating people as Chairman Yoo ordered, acting like a thug. Who’s been cleaning up after that, and now you’re telling me what to do? I’m a police officer, Director Nam. Do you really know what the Seongha Group is doing in this country? Do you know what CEO Yoo Siwoon is doing outside? I don’t know how he persuaded you to be so loyal, but don’t forget that CEO Yoo Siwoon is also of Seongha bloodline.”

His eyes, boiling with contempt, looked at Director Nam pitifully, warning him not to try to teach him as he wasn’t their subordinate.

Director Nam started to explain Yoo Siwoon’s efforts but stopped, realizing it would sound like a weak excuse and reveal Eunseong’s identity. He knew Yoo Siwoon’s true intentions best.

“Are you done talking? It’s cold, let’s go inside.”

Lee Joon-seung pushed past Director Nam, who was blocking the door, and went inside.

In the employee lounge, people involved in this matter had gathered. Yoo Siwoon, an executive of Seongha Group who was one of the elders, a senior executive from the strategic planning office handling the group’s core business, Team Leader Lee Joon-seung from the violent crimes unit, and Chairman Yoo’s personal secretary.

The core of the massive cult disguised as Seongha was the Council of Elders and the group’s chairman, Yoo Wi-jun. In the absence of a leader, the power of the Council of Elders, which had continued for over two thousand years, started from the guardians called executioners and controlled half of Seongha. Chairman Yoo, the second breeder who had poisoned the first breeder, was frantically searching for the target to realize the birth of Asura. He mercilessly killed candidates who weren’t the ‘Great Gap’, regardless of nationality. As the head of Seongha Group, Chairman Yoo was committing all sorts of crimes to maintain his power and was trying to make his son the successor.

While some in the Council of Elders and within the group were skeptical about the ‘Great Gap’ itself, those qualified as breeders in the family had absolute faith in the prophesied being. Especially Yoo Siwoon’s cousins, who were of age to produce seed and allowed to breed, were even more devout. Their belief and devotion to the mark on the nape was close to worship, but Yoo Siwoon was an exception. He was a non-believer.

“Chairman Yoo has been traveling frequently to Japan and China recently. I overheard that they claim to have found the ‘Great Gap’. They said they’ll start managing it until they give it to Yoo Seong-il.”

The personal secretary reported on the chairman’s recent activities.

They already knew that successor preparation was underway after receiving reports that Yoo Seong-il had been frequenting the chairman’s office and recently started working there.

It was as Director Nam and Yoo Siwoon had predicted. They seemed to have started the process of putting forward a fake.

“It’s as we expected. They’ll try to pass off a fake ‘Great Gap’ as real and form public opinion.”

“Is there no possibility it’s real?”

“How could there be? How is that even possible in the first place? A man getting pregnant? How?”

Yoo Siwoon flatly denied the personal secretary’s statement that Chairman Yoo had secured the ‘Great Gap’. He could speak more confidently because he knew who the real one was. In the long 2000-year history of Yeongse Pacheon-gyo, there had only been two, and it was impossible to have two in the same era.

“They’ve started lying to prevent any objections to the successor’s inheritance. It’s fake.”

In response to Yoo Siwoon’s words, an old executive who had worked with Chairman Yoo reacted skeptically.

“Chairman Yoo is more obsessed with the prophecy than anyone. He might be lying, but he might also believe a fake is real. He’s quite capable of such delusion. Remember what he often says? ‘It shall be as you believe.'”

“…”

Chairman Yoo, no different from a cult leader, always said the same thing to doubters.

Yeosinyeosiseong-ui (汝信如是成矣)

“It shall be as you believe.”

“That’s from the Bible. Yeongse Pacheon-gyo just pieced together their prophecy from the Bible, didn’t they?”

Yoo Siwoon gave Lee Joon-seung, who was openly mocking, a meaningful look.

Yoo Siwoon had also been a non-believer. “It shall be as you believe” – he had seen this become reality through Eunseong. He now didn’t know what was fake and what was real.

As the old executive said, it could be that out of desperate desire to believe, he was mistaking a fake for real. Or, as Yoo Siwoon said, it could be a ploy for a smooth succession. The latter seemed more convincing.

“This might be for the best. It’s likely a show with a fake, but whether it’s real or not, Chairman Yoo’s family will focus on it. We need to use the evidence we’ve gathered, the corruption data, to oust Chairman Yoo first.”

“What about the kid I brought in? I heard there’s evidence with him too. Isn’t he the ‘Great Gap’ I heard about?”

Lee Joon-seung asked. His question was based on the calculation that if there was a probability of a fake, this one was more likely to be real.

“Are we going to suspect everyone with skin lesions? It’s just a coincidence that there are suspicious aspects. I’m protecting him simply because his life is threatened for that reason.”

Although Yoo Siwoon had trained for years to maintain an unreadable expression in front of Chairman Yoo, ever since confirming Eunseong as the real prophesied being, he couldn’t hide his turbulent emotions whenever Eunseong was mentioned. He deliberately furrowed his brow even more, trying to hide his sensitive concern for Eunseong as he answered.

“Then let’s use those coincidentally suspicious aspects. When Chairman Yoo is putting on a show with a fake, we’ll suddenly present a fake that seems real. Wouldn’t that completely ruin Chairman Yoo? He’d be lying to the Council of Elders. He’d be trying to deceive the prophecy. Is there a greater treason in Seongha Group? What are these coincidentally suspicious aspects? Is it the marks on his body?”

Team Leader Lee Joon-seung suggested using Eunseong somehow. The others seemed to have similar opinions. They all turned to look at Yoo Siwoon.

“We can’t use an innocent kid like that. Are you saying this because you don’t know what will happen if Chairman Yoo or others catch him? I’m going to have him flee overseas.”

Yoo Siwoon asserted that such a thing wouldn’t happen and rejected Lee Joon-seung’s proposal.

“From what I’ve found out, even the traffic accident that CEO Yoo Siwoon’s father investigated in the past happened because of that kid. Both his birth parents died then. If he’s not real, why did Seongha track him so persistently? Even Seo Jeong-gi, who was one of the successors, lived in hiding with him. What happened to Seo Jeong-gi in the end? He died recently, didn’t he? Isn’t it related to that kid? Moreover, if he’s not real, there’s no reason for CEO Yoo Siwoon’s father to have taken care of him for over ten years.”

Lee Joon-seung was asking rationally about Eunseong’s identity. He seemed to have investigated something without being asked.

If that was the case, it meant he might really be the ‘Great Gap’. Everyone focused on Yoo Siwoon, holding their breath. They were genuinely curious too. The atmosphere suggested that if there was a possibility, it needed to be confirmed.

“Do you think there’s only one non-believer like me? Brother Jeong-gi also despised Seongha’s cult-like behavior. And he didn’t want anything to happen to an innocent kid. How many times do I have to tell you he’s not?”

Yoo Siwoon responded as if tired of Lee Joon-seung’s excessive suspicion, asking why he was disrupting the meeting with such baseless talk.

“So how do you know if he’s real or not, CEO Yoo Siwoon? Have you tried?”

Yoo Siwoon’s eyes twitched at Team Leader Lee Joon-seung’s blatant question. His cold gaze turned towards Lee Joon-seung’s face.

Director Nam inwardly sighed. Being at a hot-blooded age and due to his colleague’s death, Lee Joon-seung didn’t trust Yoo Siwoon and distrusted and disliked him just for being of Seongha bloodline, often opposing his words.

“What do you mean by ‘tried’?”

“I’m asking if you’ve fucked him.”