Chapter 161 – GOY 161
#161
Currently, Joo Seung-hyuk was an excellent cook. In the original work, he was a man who didn’t know the first thing about cooking. Could this also be related to Ju Jeong-han?
When Ju Jeong-han started putting poison in the food, Joo Seung-hyuk must have noticed and started cooking for himself.
If even Joo Seung-hyuk—who was recognized as Chairman Joo’s biological son and officially acknowledged as the next successor of Seong Han—had no other choice but to cook for himself, then the Joo Seung-hyuk of the original work would have been utterly helpless.
In The Swamp of the Guide, Joo Seung-hyuk was completely isolated, and even his exclusive guide, Lee Yeon-soo, did nothing but try to use him.
Furthermore, the Joo Seung-hyuk of the original work was a drug addict. It was said that he avoided drugs that affected mana, like Dust, but Ju Jeong-han might have mixed in Red Rune Transformation components without his knowledge.
Perhaps the very fact that he fell into drug addiction was related to Ju Jeong-han.
Having ingested drugs containing Red Rune Transformation components through unauthorized copyfood or [Read on Read BL Novels]narcotics, Joo Seung-hyuk’s mana [stolen content]was already contaminated, which is why even Aaron’s Dust failed to detect it.
Of course, none of this was mentioned in the novel. However, the original work also failed to mention Joo Seung-hyuk’s miserable childhood.
Just because it wasn’t in the original doesn’t mean it didn’t happen. Rather, it’s more likely that Ju Jeong-han prepared everything so secretly that outsiders couldn’t notice.
The Necklace of Nemesild, which could increase the matching rate by 30%, had garnered worldwide attention and reached an astronomical price.
If a new drug were released that could significantly increase the matching rate, the world would be turned upside down. Seong Han Pharmaceuticals’ stock would hit the upper limit every day. The value of Seong Han Pharmaceuticals could potentially exceed the combined value of all other Seong Han affiliates.
Yet, despite knowing this, Ju Jeong-han did not reveal the existence of the drug. This likely meant he hadn’t solved the problem of side effects. Even Lexington Pharmaceuticals, currently the world’s number one in Red Rune Transformation research, could not announce a new drug containing those components due to the risk of side effects.
If they achieved results but suffered massive side effects like in the 90s, the company could go bankrupt.
Ju Jeong-han must have feared the same. Or perhaps the Special Red Rune Transformation drug only worked on a very small number of people.
For example, someone with a special constitution like Kim Joon, who recorded an exceptionally high matching rate with all Espers.
Ju Jeong-han was likely the mastermind behind the recent attempt to kidnap Kim Joon. He probably wanted to experiment [stolen content]with the [Read on Read BL Novels]Red Rune Transformation drug on him, and when Kim Joon refused, he tried to take him by force.
He would have made the same attempt in the original work. Ju Jeong-han offered to increase Kim Joon’s matching rate, and Kim Joon, who was despised as an F-Rank at the Esper Academy, succumbed to that temptation.
By the second semester, the matching rate between Kim Joon and Joo Seung-hyuk exceeded 90%. And Joo Seung-hyuk, who had suffered under Lee Yeon-soo’s disgusting Guiding, became obsessed with Kim Joon, who showed such a high matching rate.
Perhaps this, too, wasn’t just Joo Seung-hyuk’s one-sided obsession, but something entirely planned?
Using the drug made from Special Red Rune Transformation, Ju Jeong-han not only increased the matching rate between Kim Joon and Joo Seung-hyuk but also caused Kim Joon to manifest as an Omega.
And in return, he likely demanded or even threatened Kim Joon to approach Joo Seung-hyuk.
In the original work, Kim Joon acted differently only toward Joo Seung-hyuk. While he was always pushed around by others, he stood his ground and faced Joo Seung-hyuk confidently. He never bowed, even amidst confinement and violence.
Until now, I thought he acted that way because he was “clueless.” But perhaps he was moving according to a script provided by Ju Jeong-han. He wasn’t clueless; it was all intentional acting.
In The Swamp of the Guide, Kim Joon eventually resigned to whatever Joo Seung-hyuk did and found peace within eternal confinement.
Perhaps Kim Joon accepted eternal confinement because the guilt of systematically approaching Joo Seung-hyuk overlapped with the sense of liberation [visit our site]from Ju Jeong-han’s threats? Because of that guilt, he was unable to confess [visit our site]his feelings even after falling in love with Joo Seung-hyuk.
If this hypothesis is true, Ju Jeong-han’s goal was obvious. He wanted to degrade Joo Seung-hyuk’s capabilities as an Esper and weaken his influence within Seong Han.
If an Esper as outstanding as Joo Seung-hyuk obtained an S-Class Guide with a high matching rate, it would be like giving wings to a tiger. If Lee Yeon-soo manifested as an Omega and his mana increased, there would be nothing to stop him.
Even if Lee Yeon-soo were ousted, it would be useless if Joo Seung-hyuk met another outstanding Guide. That’s why he intentionally pushed the F-Rank Kim Joon toward Joo Seung-hyuk.
No matter how high the matching rate, there were clear limits based on rank. No matter how great an Esper Joo Seung-hyuk was, if he continued to receive Guiding only from an F-Rank, it would be difficult for him to fully exert his abilities.
When Aaron came to Korea in the original work, Ju Jeong-han sided with Lee Yeon-soo. He claimed that loyalty should be kept toward Lee Yeon-soo, who had guided Joo Seung-hyuk for a long time, but in reality, wasn’t he using Lee Yeon-soo to keep Aaron in check?
After all, forming a connection with a Guide from a world-famous S-Class family would elevate Joo Seung-hyuk’s position.
Ju Jeong-han had been checking him for a long time. But these moves were somehow unnatural.
No matter how great Joo Seung-hyuk’s abilities were, there was the limit of bloodline. Unless he was Chairman Joo’s biological son, it was realistically difficult to take over the Seong Han Group.
Of course, the Joo Seung-hyuk of the original work broke through those realistic limits with his own power and devoured Seong Read on Read BL NovelsHan at a terrifying [visit our site]speed, but that was a story from around the time he became an adult.
In his childhood, Joo Seung-hyuk was a small boy with nowhere to lean. Although he awakened as an S-Class, he was merely a child who, amidst long-term abuse, didn’t even know the alphabet, let alone receive a proper education.
Yet, Ju Jeong-han felt threatened by Joo Seung-hyuk even then. To the point of secretly feeding him drugs made from Red Rune Transformation.
Perhaps Ju Jeong-han knew from the beginning that Joo Seung-hyuk was Chairman Joo’s biological child?
In the original work, Ju Jeong-han was portrayed as a kind man who pitied the twisted Joo Seung-hyuk. In the latter part of the novel, he was even the one to first suggest a DNA test between Chairman Joo and Joo Seung-hyuk.
People praised Ju Jeong-han for making such a suggestion even though he knew his own position would narrow.
However, if Ju Jeong-han knew the whole truth from the start, the story changes.
Ju Jeong-han tried to hide this fact by any means. But as the days passed, Joo Seung-hyuk’s appearance became a mirror image of his biological father, Chairman Joo, and Chairman Joo was noticing it too.
Perhaps Chairman Joo had decided that another DNA test was necessary, and Ju Jeong-han realized this. Knowing he could no longer hide it, he spoke first and acted as if he had no interest in the position of successor.
The Joo Seung-hyuk of the original work never truly loved Kim Joon until the very end. And visit our sitehe remained sharp even toward [stolen content]Ju Jeong-han, who was the only one to treat him with kindness.
This, too, might not have been because Joo Seung-hyuk was an obsessive madman, but because he knew the whole truth.
As I was piecing together the puzzle fragments of the differences between the original and reality, I heard Kang In-ho’s voice.
“Lee Yeon-soo, we’re here.”
“Huh?”
Startled, I looked ahead. The car had already stopped at Joo Seung-hyuk’s house.
“What were you thinking about that you didn’t even notice we arrived?”
“Ah, just…”
“If you’re sick, let’s go back to the hospital.”
“No. I can just rest at home.”
As I tried to undo my seatbelt, a wave of dizziness hit me, and my hand slipped. Kang In-ho tried to help.
“No. I’ll do it myself.”
I didn’t want to receive this kind of kindness from anyone other than Joo Seung-hyuk.
As I unbuckled the belt and stepped out of the car, my legs wobbled. Kang In-ho quickly approached and supported me. I couldn’t refuse this much.
Supported by him, I entered the house and pointed to the living room sofa.
“Here, here…”
“You should go to the bedroom.”
“I’m fine. More than that, I think I need to take some antipyretics.”
“Alright.”
Kang In-ho sat me down on the sofa as I wished.
“I’ll get you some water.”
“Ah, In-ho, I’m sorry, but I drink a specific brand of bottled water. Could you get that for me?”
“Where is it?”
“In the basement shooting range. The Calyps green label.”
“Got it. Wait a moment.”
Kang In-ho headed down the basement stairs.
Calyps was a foreign brand of bottled water famous for ability users. However, neither I nor Joo Seung-hyuk drank that water, and naturally, there was no such thing as Calyps water in this house.
It would take some time to look for something that didn’t exist in the first place.
I waited until Kang In-ho had completely gone downstairs before standing up from the sofa. Putting strength into my trembling legs, I climbed the stairs to the second floor.
My thoughts were merely conjectures. Moreover, even if all my conjectures were true, not all my questions had been fully resolved.
In the original work, Joo Seung-hyuk pursued an arranged marriage with Lexington Pharmaceuticals in the process of taking over Seong Han. However, he eventually gave up on the marriage because Kim Joon strongly opposed it. Was that purely Kim Joon’s will? Or was it Ju Jeong-han’s order?
Currently, Ju Jeong-han strongly pushed for Joo Seung-hyuk’s arranged marriage. Was that his true intention?
And who was the real culprit behind the Nemesild incident? Who orchestrated Park Geon-woo’s car accident? Also, unlike the original, why did Ju Tae-han re-awaken as an S-Class?
In truth, I had a rough idea of the answers to all these questions.
And even the reason why Joo Seung-hyuk was currently arrested. But even if I felt certain, it was merely a conjecture based on a conjecture.
This wasn’t enough to clear Joo Seung-hyuk’s name. I couldn’t exactly explain my reasoning based on a novel to other people.
To save him, I needed decisive evidence.
I stood before a room on the second floor. Joo Seung-hyuk didn’t care where I went in the house, but he forbade me from entering this specific room.
And if my thinking was correct, the evidence would be in this room.
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