The staff checking the visitation reservation number tilted their head and said, "Prisoner number 1174 has been reclassified to level 3. Since the visitation schedule has changed, please check again and come back later." Once sentenced and imprisoned, prisoners were managed according to their assigned levels. These levels ranged from 1 to 5, with level 5 indicating the most dangerous offenders who faced restrictions on visitations and phone calls. Kang Eun-Gi had been a model prisoner with level 1 status, which allowed daily visits and calls. However, he had suddenly been demoted to level 3, typically given to violent offenders, repeat criminals, or those who caused serious incidents inside the prison. At that moment, Lee Soo-Chan couldn't hold back and raised his voice. "He was level 1 just yesterday. Why was his level changed all of a sudden? Aren't the updates announced on the 10th of each month?" The staff at the reception desk looked at us and shrugged. "Beats me. I'm just going off the information on the system. You should check through his lawyer for more details." Since today's visit was supposed to be routine, Lim Hyung-Joo, the legal director from Reverse Entertainment, hadn't come with us. The fuming Lee Soo-Chan immediately pulled out his phone and called Lim Hyung-Joo. "Mr. Lee, hyung-nim got downgraded to level 3! Didn't you hear anything when you visited yesterday?" -Pardon me? What are you talking about? When I visited yesterday, he was still level 1. I'll check right away. "Yes, please do. Mom and Yeon-Sil are here too, and we can't even see him." -I'll look into it and call you back immediately. The call ended, and Lee Soo-Chan trembled with anger. At that moment, I placed my hand on his shoulder. Lee Soo-Chan quickly turned his head. "Calm down. If you lose your temper, what will Mom and Yeon-Sil do?" I said. Only then did Lee Soo-Chan snap back to his senses. He realized late that Mom and Lee Yeon-Sil were sitting in the waiting chairs behind us. "This isn't something to apologize for. Just take a deep breath first. If you waver, others will too." To Lee Soo-Chan, Kang Eun-Gi, me, and the people from the orphanage were everything. That was the reason he often lost his temper when something bad happened to his family. After taking a few deep breaths, Lee Soo-Chan finally calmed down. "Sigh... Hyung-nim, what should we do now?" "You scheduled a visit with Dong-Hyuk today too, right? See if you can reschedule that. Since they're sharing a cell, he might know something." Choi Dong-Hyuk had helped run Reverse Entertainment with Lee Soo-Chan after Kang Eun-Gi was arrested. Later, when Kang Eun-Gi was stabbed and discharged from the hospital, Lee Dong-Hyuk voluntarily turned himself in to protect him. Now that he was in the same cell with Kang Eun-Gi, if we brought his visit forward, we might learn what happened sooner. "Hold on. I'll go ask if we can reschedule his visit right away." Today, not only Choi Dong-Hyuk but also other kids from the orphanage had scheduled visits, so Lee Soo-Chan quickly went to the reception desk to request a change. Meanwhile, I went to Mom and Lee Yeon-Sil and explained the situation. Lee Yeon-Sil asked anxiously. "Yoon-Ho oppa, did Eun-Gi oppa get into trouble? He told me he was living honorably for the sake of our kids." "We're checking now, so don't worry. It's probably just a clerical error. And since our brothers are in the same cell, how could anything have happened?" "That might be true, but people don't just get downgraded to level 3 for nothing." Mom looked worried too, so I told her we would try to move up Choi Dong-Hyuk's visit. She nodded. "If it's Dong-Hyuk, he'd know what's going on." Then Lee Soo-Chan came running back. "Hyung-nim, Dong-Hyuk's visit time has been changed. We just need to wait a bit." At that moment, Mom and Lee Yeon-Sil held each other's hands tightly, waiting for the visit to begin. In the meantime, I called Prosecutor Seo Jae-Ill, who was in charge of the case. -The person you are trying to reach cannot take your call. Please leave a message after the tone... Seo Jae-Ill didn't answer, likely due to being busy. I immediately sent a long message via Kk Talk, explaining the situation in detail. While waiting for a reply from him, the visitation time with Choi Dong-Hyuk came first. "Prsoner number 1197. Those who applied for visitation, please proceed to the visitation room now." Lee Soo-Chan and I supported Mom and Lee Yeon-Sil, handed in our phones at the entrance, and headed to the visitation room. Across the visitation room, Choi Dong-Hyuk appeared with inmate number 1197 pinned to his chest. He looked a little thinner than before. Mom, Lee Yeon-Sil, Lee Soo-Chan, and I all called out to him happily. After warmly greeting each other, we began talking. Choi Dong-Hyuk, already aware of why his visitation had been moved up, spoke first. "Eun-Gi hyung-nim got a notice this morning saying his level assessment had been incorrectly done." Normally, prisoner levels were announced on the 10th of each month. But today, they said it was assessed incorrectly and had now been corrected. That was why all visitation schedules had to be readjusted. At that moment, Lee Yeon-Sil asked, "Eun-Gi oppa didn't get into a fight, right?" "No way~ Not at all. Ever since that incident at the detention center, around ten of our guys are here now. No one dares to mess with us. And of course, we don't mess with anyone either." There were three from our orphanage and seven others from similar backgrounds. So apparently, no one dared to touch Kang Eun-Gi or his company. Knowing Kang Eun-Gi hadn't caused any trouble, everyone including Lee Soo-Chan felt relieved. However, I couldn't bring myself to smile. Though I had told Mom it was probably an administrative error, I didn't believe that for a second. If the level had been misjudged on the 10th, it could have been a clerical mistake. But claiming the mistake was discovered days later made it more likely someone had intervened. Only one person would do something , but I couldn't figure out why they would bother changing the level. After all, being downgraded to level 3 wouldn't block lawyer visitations and Kang Eun-Gi rarely met outsiders anyway. I looked at Choi Dong-Hyuk and asked just in case, "Did you file an appeal?" "Yes. We submitted it right away, just in case." Then Lee Yeon-Sil forced a smile and spoke. "Dong-Hyuk oppa, please tell Eun-Gi oppa I'll come see him next time. I have to come to Seoul every week now for the hospital." "Got it. Hyung-nim already told me to say he's really sorry to you and Mom. He said he misses you both." "Tell him I'm okay and to take care of himself. And you too, eat well and stay healthy." Tears welled up in Lee Yeon-Sil's eyes as she spoke. Seeing that, I silently vowed to get back at whoever was behind this. After finishing the visit with Choi Dong-Hyuk, I picked up my phone from the desk in front of the visitation room. There were three missed calls from Seo Jae-Ill. Leaving Mom and Lee Yeon-Sil with Lee Soo-Chan, I stepped away to call Seo Jae-Ill back. "Mr. Seo, I was visiting another younger brother who's in the same prison." -Ah, yes. I looked into it and just as you suspected, it was an order from higher up. Prison wardens don't usually change levels so abruptly . "Could it be that President Choi Man-Sik asked Assemblyman Park Sang-Gon for a favor by any chance?" -It's not certain, but it's possible. Even if that were true, I couldn't understand why he would go so far as to involve Park Sang-Gon. "But besides limiting visitation, does anything else happen when a prisoner's level drops?" -A lower level implies that the prisoner is considered problematic. That means they could be transferred to a different prison with worse conditions. At that moment, I realized what Choi Man-Sik was aiming for. Kang Eun-Gi was currently being protected and managed safely in this prison, making it impossible to get to him. But if he were moved to a less secure prison, he could be targeted again, just like before. "So they're trying to go after Eun-Gi." -That's likely. But please don't worry too much. I'll meet with the prison warden immediately and take care of it. I'll also reach out to the Ministry of Justice. At that moment, the story I had heard from Choi Eun-Tae about a special pardon came to mind. "By any chance... could someone like Eun-Gi be included in the March 1st special pardon?" -With this recent downgrade to level 3, it'll be difficult. If that was the case, this was no longer something I could resolve on my own. "I understand. Then I'll leave Eun-Gi in your hands." -Don't worry. I have no intention of sitting back and watching either. After ending the call, I walked over to Mom and Lee Yeon-Sil. To avoid alarming them, I kept a smile on my face as I spoke. "I spoke to the prosecutor too, so nothing serious will happen. Since we're already here, let's apply for the next visit and stay overnight." Mom and Lee Yeon-Sil nodded. Then I turned to Lee Soo-Chan. "Soo-Chan, I need to take care of something now. Can you take Mom and Yeon-Sil to my place after the visit?" Understanding this had to do with Kang Eun-Gi, Lee Soo-Chan quickly responded. "Yes, I got it. I'll see you at home later." I told him to pass along my apologies to Mom, Lee Yeon-Sil, and younger brothers we couldn't see today, then left the prison immediately. Right away, I called Choi Eun-Tae. 'An eye for an eye. A tooth for a tooth.' If the opponent was using connections, then so would I. I arrived at Choi Eun-Tae's residence in Myeong-dong. The moment he heard what had happened at the prison, Choi Eun-Tae began trembling with anger. "That bastard Man-Sik is targeting Eun-Gi?" "It's not confirmed yet, but who else could pull something if not Choi Man-Sik?" Choi Eun-Tae turned to Choi Yung-Ho, who was sitting next to me. "Yung-Ho! Set up a meeting with the opposition party leader and the deputy head of the ruling party. Immediately!" Choi Yung-Ho stepped out. Left alone in the room, Choi Eun-Tae spoke. "If I have to twist the prison warden's arm to adjust the level, so be it." "You must be careful. If President Choi Man-Sik finds out that you know Kang Eun-Gi is your son, things could get dangerous." "I know that bastard Man-Sik better than anyone. He'll use someone else to handle it." If word got out that Choi Eun-Tae knew Kang Eun-Gi was his son by any chance, Choi Man-Sik would stop at nothing to go after him. That was the reason it was safer to help him while pretending not to know. In any case, after promising to readjust the prisoner level, Choi Eun-Tae looked straight at me. "Chief Jung. One more thing. In the April by-election, I plan to bring down Assemblyman Park. Just so you know." The by-election involved quite a few key positions. If Park Sang-Gon failed, he would have to resign as party leader. Since Choi Eun-Tae had promised to deal with Park Sang-Gon, all I had to do was handle Choi Man-Sik. I nodded. "Then I'll head to Japan and shake up President Choi Man-Sik." If we terminated the contract with Aris Production under the Bunnies Inc., Choi Man-Sik and Kim Gwan-Woo wouldn't be able to manage the Japan business on their own. That would also prevent Choi Man-Sik from accessing the shell companies used to hide slush funds in Japan. "Understood. While you're in Japan, talk to Suzuki Moeka, the president of A1 Entertainment who manages my slush fund. With her help, we can cut off Choi Man-Sik's ties there." At thirty-two-years-old, Suzuki Moeka had once worked as Choi Eun-Tae's secretary in his Japanese business. However, she wasn't just a secretary. As a brilliant lawyer and accountant, she was now the head of Hoop Entertainment's Japanese subsidiary, A1 Entertainment. The fact that she managed Choi Eun-Tae's slush fund despite the handicap of being Japanese showed just how competent and loyal she was. "Understood, Mr. Chairman." "Good. Then take care." Choi Eun-Tae gave me a few more pieces of advice and wished me success. Once cornered by allegations of receiving political funds—so severe that his secretary attempted suicide—Ruling Party Leader Park Sang-Gon had now regained his footing, as if nothing had happened. The public, busy with their daily lives, couldn't always pay attention to politics or politicians. Now carefree, Park Sang-Gon was sharing drinks with his future son-in-law Choi Man-Sik and his daughter Park Sang-Ah at a Japanese seafood restaurant located in Yeouido. "President Choi, I put the money you gave me to good use." Having received political funds, Park Sang-Gon treated Choi Man-Sik like family, smiling warmly. Choi Man-Sik politely poured him a drink and replied, "I'm preparing more." Park Sang-Gon burst into laughter. He was pleased that Choi Man-Sik had immediately grasped that more money was needed. "Hahaha. I'm really benefiting from my son-in-law. Thanks to you, this upcoming election will be a breeze." "Yes, sir. You will definitely win." "By the way, I took care of that favor you asked. But seriously... What kind of grudge do you have that you asked for police help before, and now for a prisoner's level to be downgraded?" Just as Choi Man-Sik was about to answer, Park Sang-Ah, sitting beside him, smiled and picked up a slice of longtooth grouper sashimi. "That guy used to constantly harass Mr. Man-Sik when he worked at the bank. He's a gangster, number three in the Kanghan faction." As Choi Man-Sik's fiancée, Park Sang-Ah deliberately hid the fact that Kang Eun-Gi was Choi Eun-Tae's son from her father. If her father found out, no one knew how much more money he might demand. Park Sang-Ah already considered Choi Man-Sik's money as her own, so she had agreed with him to never reveal Kang Eun-Gi's identity. At her redirection, Park Sang-Gon gave a curious smile and asked, "Is that so?" "Yes. And my arm hurts. You've had your drink, now try some of the food I picked out." "Hahaha. Alright, alright." Chuckling, Park Sang-Gon downed his drink in one shot and took the sashimi his daughter offered. After a few more rounds of drinks, Park Sang-Gon said, "After this April by-election, have the wedding. You've postponed it long enough." Choi Man-Sik's face lit up. "Thank you, sir." "Also, it's time for you to break free from your adoptive father. Our party is favored to win in April. Once it's over, we'll take down your adoptive father in one go." Park Sang-Gon was already planning to bring down Choi Eun-Tae after the Myeong-dong election. And through Choi Man-Sik, he intended to gain control of that massive fortune. Choi Man-Sik nodded. "I understand. I'll be ready." At that moment, Park Sang-Gon's phone rang. Frowning, he answered and heard something unbelievable. "What? The prison warden reversed the downgrade?" When his aide said the warden wouldn't talk no matter what, Park Sang-Gon asked incredulously, "That timid guy won't say anything?" -I'm not sure why, sir. "Is there anything unusual going on?" -Earlier today, Jung Yoon-Ho tried to visit Kang Eun-Gi. When the visit was denied, he met with one of the other inmates from the same cell. He might've heard something. At the mention of Jung Yoon-Ho, deep lines formed on Park Sang-Gon's forehead. The downfall of Ace Entertainment, which had been a source of funding; the collapse of Assemblyman Lee Dae-Boong, who was trying to join the ruling party; and the arrest of the heirs of HK Inc.—all of it traced back to Jung Yoon-Ho. ʀᴇᴀᴅ ʟᴀᴛᴇsᴛ ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀs ᴀᴛ Nove1Fire.net "It's that damn Jung Yoon-Ho again?" Fuming, Park Sang-Gon barked at his aide. "Aide Choi, get that warden to talk, even if you have to shake him by the throat! And don't even think about coming back to Seoul until you find out why! Got it?" -Yes, Mr. Assemblyman. Park Sang-Gon slammed down the phone and glared at Choi Man-Sik. "President Choi Man-Sik, how long are you going to let that Jung Yoon-Ho run around unchecked?" Suddenly, the fire turned on Choi Man-Sik. All Choi Man-Sik could do was grit his teeth and bow his head. "I'll handle it soon, sir..." However, that didn't stop Park Sang-Gon from lecturing him about always being a step behind Jung Yoon-Ho. Choi Man-Sik's mind was now fully consumed with one thought: no matter what, he had to crush Jung Yoon-Ho. As soon as I returned home around the evening and stepped into the first-floor living room, Seo Jae-Ill called. -Mr. Kang Eun-Gi's issue was just resolved. "Ah. Thank you for your work." -Not at all. Anyway, he'll be restored to level 1 tomorrow. So starting next week, you'll be able to visit him daily. It seemed Choi Eun-Tae had moved faster than expected. Seo Jae-Ill promised to thoroughly protect Kang Eun-Gi and ended the call. I immediately turned to Mom and Lee Yeon-Sil in the living room and shared the news. "Mom. He's getting reinstated to level 1 tomorrow. But visits start next week." Mom and Lee Yeon-Sil clasped hands and cheered. Seeing them, Yoo-Jin and Miso, who were with us, also smiled with joy. Then suddenly, Lee Yeon-Sil winced and held her stomach. "Oww, they're kicking! Haha. Are you guys happy too?" Lee Yeon-Sil gently stroked her belly and talked to the babies inside, but the kicking didn't stop. Her expression gradually twisted in pain. "They're really worked up today. Oww, guys, Mommy's hurting~" She held her belly and tried to soothe the twins. Mom and Yoo-Jin, alarmed, moved to help. At that moment, Miso ran over and stood in front of Lee Yeon-Sil. Then she did something completely unexpected.