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Chapter 4: The Scoundrel Awakens
Chapter 4: The Scoundrel Awakens
Chapter 4: The Scoundrel Awakens
Room 601 of Gangnam Hanseong Hospital had a notorious reputation among the nurses.
It was the room where the infamous chaebol heir, a third-generation scoundrel, lay in a coma.
Three years ago, he was the nation’s most hated celebrity, constantly making headlines with his drug and sex scandals.
He had a charisma that attracted attention, but also a recklessness that invited trouble.
He was a scoundrel, but he was also incredibly handsome.
Even with his severe injuries, his face looked like a prince from a romance manga.
Some nurses secretly wished to take care of him.
They fantasized about a forbidden love between a patient who was a chaebol heir and a nurse, like in a drama.
But when he was declared to be in a vegetative state, their interest quickly faded.
Now, three years later, he was a forgotten legend of the hospital.
The only thing he got was an occasional bet on when he would die.
But then, on an October night, the intercom at the station suddenly rang.
A nurse picked up the receiver and heard an anxious voice.
“Please come to Room 601 right away! My son has woken up!”
“Room 601…?”
Wasn’t that where the chaebol heir, the third-generation scoundrel, was?
How could the vegetative-state patient wake up?
The nurse was stunned, holding the receiver. She called the doctor on duty and ran to the room.
When she opened the door, she saw a middle-aged woman hugging a frail patient.
And that patient had his eyes open.
“Impossible…”
The nurse couldn’t believe that the patient, who had been almost brain-dead, had woken up.
“Sob… My son… Ji-ha, my son…”
He was in his mother’s arms, weakly moving his head.
“What day is it…? How many years have passed?”
“It’s October 2025! It’s October… Ji-ha, you’ve been asleep for three years…”
“Ah… my head hurts.”
The nurse felt sorry for him, hearing how feeble his voice was.
She didn’t have time to celebrate…
She brushed off the mother in tears and checked his mental state.
“How many fingers do you have on your hand?”
“What’s 31 plus 65?”
“Can you bend your right thumb?”
He answered correctly, correctly, everything was correct.
He said his head hurt, but his mind was clear.
The doctor on duty arrived soon, his eyes full of shock, and they did a Glasgow Coma Scale test.
They asked him various questions, gave him commands, and even stimulated him physically.
It was a hectic scene.
And finally, the results came out.
“We need to do more tests later, but for now, it looks like he’s fully awake. This is very rare. Congratulations.”
“Sob… it’s… it’s over… It’s finally over…”
Jung Hye-won cried as she hugged her son’s face.
She felt a huge relief, as if she had waited for this moment for so long.
Meanwhile, he followed the instructions whispered in his ear by Arma and got ready.
[You will have a memory test soon. If they ask you about any crimes you did before, just say you don’t remember.]
—For important people, you will see some information next to their faces.
He saw a lot of data coming and going, and he tried to remember what he could.
Luckily, people didn’t notice his poor Korean skills.
But when it came to his past memories, Yu Ji-ha had trouble, and he looked sad.
“You seem to have gained some amnesia from before… Do you remember anything about the accident?”
“No… I don’t remember anything… Ugh…”
He held his head, and Jung Hye-won quickly tried to calm him down.
“It’s okay, my son. You don’t have to remember that.”
Soon, the door opened and Chairman Yu Kyung-seok and his secretary came in with happy faces.
“My son!”
Jung Hye-won glared at them.
“You’re drunk after making a scene? Get out!”
“Well, I had a few drinks…”
“If you’re drunk and noisy, you should leave.”
“Sir, please wait outside for a bit.”
He wanted to talk to his son alone, just the two of them.
The doctor saw that and left with the nurse.
When Yu Kyung-seok was about to go out, confused, Yu Ji-ha said something.
“Father… I’m sorry…”
Those two words touched something deep in Yu Kyung-seok’s heart.
He had so many regrets for the last three years, for saying terrible things to his son before the accident.
He had even wished sometimes that he was the one in a coma instead.
Now that his son was awake, he had nothing to hold back.
He looked at his son with tears in his eyes and smiled.
“It’s fine… It’s all fine…”
…
A week later, Yu Ji-ha left the hospital and went back to his home in Gangnam.
His parents wanted him to stay at their mansion, but he said he had things to do and they agreed.
The parking lot of his huge house was full of expensive foreign cars, even though he lived alone.
He walked around the house with his secretary and shook his head.
—He was crazier than I thought.
[In this time, being a chaebol means living like this.]
—What a waste of money. Even if you don’t have a car, one is enough. Why do you need ten?
Yu Ji-ha looked around and felt dizzy from the luxury.
He was a Supreme Council member and a Colonel, but he lived simply.
The war with the Plague had taken all the resources like a black hole, and there was no place for luxury.
In that world, luxury was just a fantasy.
[You can change it, Master]
That’s right…
He looked at the parking lot and talked to his secretary.
“Mr. Kim.”
Kim Dohyung, a middle-aged man, bowed to him.
He was the secretary that his father, Yu Kyung-seok, gave him.
“You can call me Secretary Kim, Young Master. Whatever you want, I’m here to help. We have a lot of work to do together.”
He hoped it wasn’t anything illegal like drugs or racing…
“I’ll do my best to help you.”
“By the way, can we get rid of these cars? I don’t need them all. Just one is enough.”
“…”
Kim Dohyung was shocked.
Was this the same Yu Ji-ha he knew?
Three years ago, he loved supercars like a kid…
“Sell them all and keep one. No, wait. Don’t we have cars from our group? Get me one of those.”
“Do you mean the electric cars from the group? I’m sorry, but they’re not good enough for you, Young Master.”
Kim Dohyung said that because the electric cars from Silla Group were not great.
Now that Japan had made solid-state batteries, electric car companies without them were behind.
Silla Auto was one of them, and they had a hard time competing with Chinese electric cars.
In short, it was not a car for a chaebol heir.
But Yu Ji-ha didn’t change his mind.
“Just get me one that can run. I’ll drive it myself.”
He wanted to drive an electric car by himself?
Kim Dohyung asked with a worried tone.
“Do you have a specific model in mind? I’ll get it for you.”
He was thinking about how Yu Ji-ha used to be.
He was moody and impulsive.
Kim Dohyung got a fat envelope from Chairman Yu Kyung-seok, who knew his son was touchy and bad with people.
‘You know, our son is a bit sensitive and not good with others. Please be patient with him for a while.’
He wondered why their son, who had such a good background, had grown up like that.
But Kim Dohyung wanted to stay in Silla Group, so he tried to be as humble as possible.
But Yu Ji-ha’s answer surprised him.
“Did I tell you to take away the cars and then bring them back?”
“No, you misunderstood.”
“No arguments. Just bring one electric car and sell the rest. Also, I want to make this place a home gym.”
“A home gym… Are you serious?”
He shrugged his thin shoulders.
“I’ve been lying down for too long. It feels like my bones are rotting. If I want to live longer, I need to exercise more.”
How strange…
Three years ago, Yu Ji-ha didn’t care about exercise at all. He didn’t even like walking.
As a chaebol heir, he didn’t have to worry about that, but his weak body was always his insecurity.
But now, he was talking about exercise. Was this another change in him?
Kim Dohyung looked at him closely.
He felt a different vibe from him than before.
He walked with confidence, and even though his shoulders were small, he stood tall and spoke fluently.
When he thought about what happened three years ago, he wondered if it was the same person.
Even though he had lost his memory…
Kim Dohyung stopped thinking.
It was not his job as a servant of Silla Group to question his master.
A servant should just help and obey their master.
“As you wish, I will do it.”
“By the way, it’s time for dinner. Are you hungry? I ordered some Chinese food. Let’s eat together.”
Yu Ji-ha, who used to be fussy and snobbish about his food, was now ordering Chinese takeout and eating with a servant?
Kim Dohyung almost said something but decided not to and followed his master.
A faint smile appeared on his face.
…
In the next few days, Yu Ji-ha went between his family mansion in Hannam-dong and his own home.
He wanted to start his plans right away, but he knew he had to prepare first.
He had to think about his parents.
‘Parents…’
Yu Ji-ha had biological parents before, but they didn’t mean much to him.
That was how most people were in the United Human Federation.
The idea of blood ties was weak, but seeing how these people welcomed him with warmth and love, he felt something in his heart.
So, since he was here, Yu Ji-ha decided to be a good Korean Yu Ji-ha.
That meant changing everything from his way of thinking to his habits.
Of course, there were some awkward moments, but luckily, Yu Ji-ha’s excuse of memory loss covered most of them.
Yu Kyung-seok and Jung Hye-won, his parents, taught their son patiently.
Thanks to them, it didn’t take long for Yu Ji-ha to act like a normal Korean man.
“Mmm, this is good.”
Nom, nom, nom.
Yu Ji-ha sat at the table and finished three bowls of rice.
His appetite made Jung Hye-won happy, who had cooked the food.
“Our son eats well. Do you want some more braised ribs? You liked them, right?”
To be honest, the only thing he liked was the braised ribs.
He was picky and hard to please with food.
He patted his belly and said, “I’m full, but I have some room for this.”
Everyone laughed at his joke.
“Haha… Yes, eat more.”
Yu Kyung-seok smiled as if he couldn’t believe it.
He had really changed.
The reports from his assistant, Kim Dohyung, were also good news.
Yu Ji-ha had sold all the supercars at his home and started driving a cheap electric car from Silla Group.
He had made a home gym and exercised every day.
He had also bought many books and studied hard.
They were all difficult books in foreign languages.
He almost cried with joy when he thought about his son coming back.
He had to do it sooner or later…
Yu Kyung-seok looked at his wife and said.
“Ji-ha, it’s time to show yourself to the world. It will be hard in many ways, but I trust you can handle it.”
The news of the awakening of the troublemaker of Silla Group would surely cause a sensation.
But they couldn’t hide it forever.
He had to deal with the unwanted attention from the media and the public by himself.
Yu Ji-ha smiled calmly.
“Well, I have to face it at some point. Don’t worry, I’ll do it well, so you don’t have to worry.”
He was a reliable son.
Yu Kyung-seok said with a happy face.
“Also, about the engagement with Ha Yoon-yang… I didn’t tell you because I thought it might shock you…”
Ha Yoon.
According to Arma’s information, she was the youngest granddaughter of Shin Ju-ho, the chairman of Hanseong Group, the top business group.
She was a secret child and had lived in the US until recently.
The group had protected her well.
That was why only Yu Ji-ha was in the media after the accident they had together.
“So, they broke off the engagement?”
“You know it well. They couldn’t wait any longer.”
If they didn’t want to marry someone else, then why?
Yu Ji-ha said casually, “It doesn’t matter. I’ll be busy from now on, so it’s better this way.”
“Are you really okay with it?”
Jung Hye-won asked with concern because her son used to be obsessed with someone else.
A few years ago, he said he would die without her, and now he didn’t care.
“After breaking off the engagement, what else is there? We have to go our separate ways. Anyway, Father, I’ll start working at the research institute in a month.”
He meant the Silla Energy Subsidiary Research Institute, where he had worked before.
His parents were surprised by his decision.
“You’re going to work already? Don’t you want to rest more?”
“I can’t stand staying at home. And I have some good ideas.”
“Ideas… That’s good.”
Yu Kyung-seok didn’t really expect much from his son’s ideas.
Modern society was too advanced and complicated for one person to make a big difference.
Sometimes a genius would come up with something amazing, but he couldn’t say that his son was one of them.
Yu Kyung-seok hoped that his son would learn business management like other chaebol heirs and live a normal life.
…
“The financial reports are bad. What’s the reason?”
[The electric cars from Silla Auto are not competitive. And Silla Hi-Tech, the defense company, is not meeting the requirements of ROC.]
“Can we keep going like this?”
[The stock prices of all the group’s subsidiaries are falling. If we don’t pay the bonds soon, we will have a big crisis.]
“It sounds like a failing company. We need to get money first.”
[Master, there is something called cryptocurrency in this time.]
Yu Ji-ha frowned at Arma’s explanation.
“You mean investing in worthless data?”
Yu Ji-ha valued efficiency and thought it was a waste.
“It looks peaceful, but spending money and time on such useless data.”
[True, but what matters is that it can be turned into money. With a little bit of my computing power, we can get money in a short time.]
Arma’s real form was a superconducting quantum computer with hundreds of millions of units.
Each unit was like a toy compared to the supercomputers of this time.
[Right now, cryptocurrencies are regulated by the government. If I use my computing power without breaking the financial laws, we can get 300 billion won in a month.]
“That sounds good.”
He could hack into the financial network and make money, but it was too risky.
[I’ll use your account for the initial funds… Wow, you have a lot of money.]
“Do it carefully. Don’t let me get caught.”
Of course, that wouldn’t happen.
Even if the whole Earth’s military tried, they couldn’t fight the Settler’s Ship, let alone an assault armor.
Yu Ji-ha thought to himself and said.
“By the way, I have a car, right? Modify it as you like.”
[Is it the thing that tests my patience more than Jupiter’s atmosphere, Master?]
He nodded eagerly.
“Isn’t it too bad for a range of less than 500km? No wonder it doesn’t sell.”
If he used Japanese solid-state batteries, he could get 700km.
It was not competitive, and Silla Auto’s sales were bad because of this.
And with the cheap Chinese electric cars in the market, Silla Auto was in trouble.
“Well, we’ll fix that soon enough.”
[I’ll change the motor and battery to ion thrusters and power cells.]
“That means we don’t have to charge it ever. But make it look like it needs charging, so adjust it.”
[And for anti-terrorism purposes, railguns and plasma shields…]
“You’re watching too many movies.”
[I’m sorry. It looked fun.]
“But I guess EMP shockers and optical camouflage networks are okay. Check them out.”
Yu Ji-ha started taking physical enhancers and training hard.
His body that was weak like a dried fish got stronger with muscles.
…