The immediate outcome of the alliance was the formation of the Strategic Triangle against Rion Kai:
Dusk Industries (Jungkook/Tae-Hyun): Provides technical forensics and market counter-intelligence.
Minji: Provides the complete blueprint of Kai's future plans and emotional strategy.
The FRC (Joo Seok-Kyung): Provides legal and regulatory firepower, the power to freeze assets, conduct audits, and process criminal charges.
The plot was entirely rewritten. Minji, the side character, had orchestrated an alliance between the two most powerful figures in the novel, saving both her life and Jungkook's future. The focus shifted from passive defense to aggressive counter-attack, using regulatory channels to expose Kai before he could ever launch the final strike.
The next major hurdle is finding a way to expose Kai without allowing him to retaliate politically, which means focusing on Chae A-Ri's public profile.
The Strategic Triangle—Jungkook, Minji, and Joo Seok-Kyung—met in a secure, soundproof conference room. The focus was Rion Kai's public facade, specifically his "Kai Prosperity Foundation," which Chae A-Ri often promoted.
"Kai's entire image relies on that foundation," Minji stated, tapping on the holographic screen displaying Kai's highly publicized charitable accounts. "A-Ri sees it as proof of his generosity. To truly break his hold on her and the public, we need to show the darkness behind the light."
Minji recalled a dry, heavily annotated footnote in the original novel that explained Kai's true source of untaxed operational cash.
"The financial irregularity isn't outright theft; it's a sophisticated tax dodge," Minji explained. "Kai uses a subsidiary, 'White Swan Holdings,' to buy distressed, rapidly appreciating real estate—like properties slated for rezoning. He then 'donates' them to the Kai Prosperity Foundation, but deliberately uses the pre-rezoning, undervalued price for the donation receipt. This allows his company to claim a huge tax deduction based on the low valuation."
Jungkook raised an eyebrow. "Legal, but ethically grey. Where is the loophole?"
"The Foundation, run by Kai's own cronies, then holds the land for precisely one year. After the rezoning goes through, the foundation sells the property at its new, inflated market value—often back to Kai's main corporation. This generates massive, untaxed liquid capital for Kai's operations, all while the actual funds used for 'charity' are minimal. The whole foundation is a liquidity and tax shelter disguised as philanthropy."
Joo Seok-Kyung, the FRC Chief, smiled, recognizing the sophisticated maneuver. "An elegant way to avoid capital gains and generate clean funds. The evidence lies in comparing the donation receipts to the Foundation's subsequent internal sales records for those specific properties."
"We need to audit three key property transfers from the last year," Jungkook ordered. "Madam Joo, can the FRC issue a discreet subpoena for those specific records based on the initial fraud evidence?"
"We can, but we must be careful," Seok-Kyung warned. "If Kai suspects we're targeting his charity, he'll smell a regulatory attack, not a rival. We need a pretext."
Minji provided the perfect pretext. She remembered a small scene where a journalist, attempting to praise Kai, accidentally revealed a tiny flaw in the Foundation's public reporting system—a glitch that incorrectly categorized a minor grant.
"We use A-Ri," Minji proposed. "A-Ri genuinely cares about the foundation's mission. Jungkook, you need to subtly suggest to A-Ri that the Foundation's recent public filing had a minor grant categorization error that might affect their government funding eligibility—a technicality that requires the FRC to investigate."
Jungkook contacted A-Ri, expressing "concern" that the Foundation's good work could be jeopardized by a silly administrative error. A-Ri, worried about the mission, immediately contacted the FRC herself, innocently requesting an internal review to ensure compliance.
Seok-Kyung, armed with A-Ri's internal request, now had the perfect, untraceable cover to launch a full, targeted audit of the Foundation's entire financial structure, focusing on the asset transfers.
Jungkook left the FRC office, the weight of the plan settling on him. He felt less like a CEO and more like a field operative in a high-stakes intelligence operation. He knew the next steps relied on his ability to maintain the "Quiet Contrast" persona with A-Ri.
The Audit Commences
Joo Seok-Kyung wasted no time. A-Ri's request, filed under a minor FRC compliance review, gave her team the necessary internal authority. The audit team, composed of Seok-Kyung's most trusted, anti-corruption investigators, began meticulously cross-referencing the three target property donations made by White Swan Holdings with the subsequent sales records generated by the Kai Prosperity Foundation a year later.
The evidence quickly materialized. Property A, donated at a valuation of $5 million, had a sales record showing it was sold for $25 million eleven months later—a $20 million gain realized tax-free by the foundation and funneled into a 'Non-Disclosed Operational Expense' account controlled by Kai's main company. The pattern was identical across all three properties, revealing a systematic, legally masked method of generating enormous, untaxed liquidity.
"The scale of this scheme is staggering," Seok-Kyung reported to Jungkook and Minji. "It's not just a tax dodge; it's the main financial engine for his shadow operations. It's a clean money laundromat disguised as charity."
The Personal Contrast
While the FRC was compiling the airtight case, Jungkook focused on Minji's other instruction: solidifying the confidante role.
Minji, using her knowledge of the novel, alerted Jungkook that A-Ri was stressed over a presentation she was giving to the City Council regarding a proposed green park initiative—a passion project of hers that was failing to gain traction due to complex bureaucratic hurdles.
Rion Kai, of course, was aware of her presentation. He sent her a lavish floral arrangement and a note wishing her "triumph," keeping his distance, portraying himself as the supportive but busy partner.
Jungkook did the opposite. He didn't send flowers. Instead, he dispatched Tae-Hyun, disguised as a city planning consultant, to discretely deliver a single, anonymous 30-page market analysis report directly to A-Ri's office. The report detailed the specific economic benefits of the green park initiative (increased property values, reduced energy consumption costs for surrounding businesses) using data A-Ri had failed to access. It wasn't advice; it was a silent, massive injection of professional support.
A-Ri, recognizing the quality and sheer cost of the analysis, was stunned. The report didn't contain a single signature or watermark from Dusk Industries. It simply allowed her to dismantle the City Council's financial arguments against the park, securing a unanimous initial approval.
She knew instinctively that the analytical power had to come from Jungkook, the only person she had recently shown vulnerability to regarding her career struggles. She sought him out, not to thank him for the report, but to discuss the sheer difficulty of navigating the political landscape.
This time, their conversation wasn't about spilled coffee; it was about the true weight of responsibility. Jungkook spoke softly about the crushing isolation of making decisions that affect thousands of lives, subtly showing her the struggle behind the CEO facade—a vulnerability Kai never dared to show. He talked about the burden of systemic good, which, unlike Kai's visible charity, requires anonymity and tough choices.
A-Ri left the conversation, her gratitude replaced by a profound sense of respect and connection. She realized that Kai showed her his triumphs to impress her; Jungkook showed her his battles to connect with her. The 'Second Hero' had finally offered his stable anchor, and A-Ri instinctively held onto it.