Jungkook, acting on Minji's advice, contacted A-Ri, not about love or rivalry, but about a genuine professional opportunity. He offered her a highly visible, temporary consulting role for Dusk Industries on a new social sustainability project—a project that directly aligned with her personal values and would give her immense career credibility.
This served a dual purpose: it validated A-Ri's professional value, making Kai's attempts to "retire" her seem patronizing, and it provided Jungkook with a legitimate, protected avenue for further contact with the heroine, solidifying his role as the trusted confidant
The audit by Joo Seok-Kyung hit paydirt. The undervalued asset transfer documents were secured, proving the massive tax avoidance scheme and the deceptive nature of Kai's philanthropy.
Seok-Kyung leaked the preliminary, anonymous audit findings to a trusted business journalist—not to expose the full fraud, but to plant the first public crack in Kai's foundation. The news suggested the Kai Prosperity Foundation was spending only 2% of its claimed assets on actual charitable work, instead funneling funds into "land speculation."
The public reaction was immediate. A-Ri was horrified. She confronted Kai, not with accusation, but with genuine distress. Kai dismissed the reports as "a minor accounting dispute," but the flicker of panic in his eyes did not escape A-Ri.
Devastated by the news, A-Ri sought comfort, not from the increasingly strained relationship with Kai, but from Jungkook, her new professional anchor.
She confessed her deep worries to him during a private meeting about the sustainability project. Jungkook listened, offering sympathy but no judgment. He subtly encouraged her to trust her own instincts about the integrity of the Foundation.
"Trust what you feel is right, A-Ri," Jungkook advised, using Minji's words. "If the intention is genuine, the numbers should reflect that. Don't let anyone tell you to stop looking for the truth."
📈 Chapter 33: Kai's Escalation
Rion Kai realized the escalating threat. He didn't know the FRC had the Origin Point evidence, but he knew the Foundation audit was serious. He immediately launched a counter-move, using his political influence to pressure the FRC to shut down the audit.
He also accelerated his plan, issuing an internal directive to his mole network to execute the final steps of the Chapter 35 frame-up earlier than planned, hoping to crash Dusk Industries and discredit Jungkook before the Foundation fraud could be fully exposed.
"He's panicking," Minji observed, reviewing the encrypted logs Tae-Hyun provided. "He's moving up the timeline. We need to launch the final attack on his financial credibility before he can launch his final, fatal strike."
Joo Seok-Kyung completed the final FRC report, detailing the full extent of the fraudulent asset transfers. The evidence was irrefutable.
Minji presented the final strategy: They couldn't wait for Kai to attack. They needed to use the FRC report to launch a preemptive strike that crippled his financial power base and exposed him publicly, making his subsequent attack on Jungkook look like a desperate, retaliatory move.
The final action would be the simultaneous public release of the FRC report on the Foundation fraud and the private submission of the Origin Point evidence to an international regulatory body, ensuring that even if Kai tried to destroy the FRC, the truth would survive.
"We hit his image and his wallet simultaneously," Minji stated. "The FRC audit is the public grenade. The Origin Point is the quiet, legal execution."
-Ri sat in the conference room at Dusk Industries, the late afternoon sun casting long, sterile shadows across the sustainability project blueprints. Jungkook was across from her, his attention focused but patient, the kind of focus Kai had long since replaced with demands and hurried glances at his phone. She wasn't discussing green energy solutions; she was confessing.
"I went through the Foundation's donor logs," she admitted, her voice low and laced with guilt. "The anonymous audit leak... I couldn't ignore it. I found transfers, labeled 'Capital Reallocation,' that trace back five years. They don't look like minor accounting disputes, Jungkook. They look like a deliberate, systematic shift of charitable funds."
Jungkook didn't interrupt. He simply pushed a glass of water toward her. His silence was a refuge.
"Kai said it was an attack on his legacy, a political move," she continued, wringing her hands. "But he never showed me the numbers. He just told me to trust him. I realize now that's exactly what he trained me to do—to stop looking. To stop asking. But the thought of that Community Center land... the one we worked on for a year, promised to the city... if he sacrifices that to 'save' his image, then what was any of it for?"
"The numbers always tell the truth, A-Ri," Jungkook finally said, echoing Minji's earlier counsel. "Your project, your values—they are genuine. If you find a lie in the foundation of his work, you must trust your eyes, not his explanations." He offered her a gentle smile, not of victory, but of shared burden. He was her anchor, steady and immovable, just as Minji had planned.
The Final Coordinates
Two floors below, in a secure, non-descript office, Minji and Joo Seok-Kyung were finalizing the launch sequence. Tae-Hyun monitored the encrypted communications from Kai's camp.
"He's accelerating the liquidation sale of the Community Center land," Tae-Hyun reported, his fingers flying across the console. "It's scheduled for tomorrow at the Foundation's mid-day press conference. A fast, private sale to 'White Swan Holdings'—a shell we traced back to the Cayman Islands."
Minji leaned over the tactical map of the press conference room. "He's doing the public sacrifice early. He needs the cash infusion now and wants to frame Jungkook before the full FRC report drops."
Seok-Kyung closed a portfolio containing the final, damning audit report. "The FRC report is ready for simultaneous release. We hit his image the moment he starts signing that fraudulent document. I'll provide the video feed access to Tae-Hyun."
Minji tapped a key point on the map. "Jungkook needs to be there. Not to defend himself from Kai's accusation, but to plant the specific doubt in A-Ri's mind right before the broadcast. He needs to name 'White Swan Holdings' and expose the shell sale in person."
She looked up, her expression cold and absolute. "The press will see the criminal. A-Ri must see the thief. Tomorrow, the First Hero falls. Jungkook, you have the coordinates. Launch when he signs."
Jungkook stood on the rooftop balcony of Dusk Industries, the city lights below a vast, glittering expanse that Rion Kai had once tried to claim as his personal chessboard. The night air was sharp, carrying the distant, muffled noise of the metropolis—a calm before the financial storm. Tomorrow, that storm would break, and only one empire would remain standing.
He held his phone, re-reading the message A-Ri had sent an hour ago: I'm sorry. I have to be there. I owe it to the community to see this through.
Her decision to attend Kai's press conference was the final, critical variable Minji couldn't entirely control. A-Ri was no longer a pawn, but a person driven by deeply wounded conviction. Her presence wasn't a liability; it was the entire point. Her public act of repudiation would ensure Kai's defeat was absolute, destroying not just his finances, but his carefully constructed image as a benevolent hero.
He knew his role. It wasn't about revenge, but about dismantling a toxic fiction and protecting the woman who needed a truthful future. He didn't have to fight Kai's lies; he just had to present the truth in the most undeniable moment. White Swan Holdings. Undervalued asset transfer. He memorized the precise phrases, the clinical facts that would shatter Kai's theatrical display.
"You look like you're about to walk into a firing squad," Minji's voice cut through the silence as she stepped onto the roof, handing him a thermos of strong black coffee.
"More like a poorly staged play," Jungkook replied, taking a slow sip. "He's predictable when he's cornered. He'll throw everything at me—reputation, guilt, the first hero narrative. Will the FRC broadcast work?"
"Tae-Hyun has confirmed the secured channel. The moment Kai's pen touches the liquidation document, the headline will flash above him. We're not giving him a moment to pivot. The truth will be faster than his spin." Minji's voice was as cold and precise as polished steel. "Just stick to the script, Jungkook. You are the professional, the confidant. Expose the mechanics of the theft. The rest is A-Ri's to decide."
Meanwhile, in his sprawling, silent penthouse, Rion Kai felt the walls closing in. The audit wasn't a minor dispute; it was a noose. His political contacts were demanding higher payment to stall the FRC, and the money had to move now. The land sale was a necessary evil. He despised having to sacrifice A-Ri's pet project, but she would understand. She always trusted him, trusted his ultimate vision.
He paced the length of his antique Persian rug, the plush fibers doing nothing to cushion the frantic pulse in his temples. He saw Jungkook's shadow everywhere—in the FRC's aggressive questioning, in the sudden coolness of his political allies, and most damningly, in A-Ri's eyes when she looked at him.
"He is trying to destroy me," Kai muttered to the empty room. "He is threatened by my success, by the good I do!"
He picked up his phone and called his Chief of Staff. "Make sure A-Ri has the front-row seat tomorrow. And when I address the press, make sure that Jeong Jungkook is prominently visible. I want him to witness the price of his petty jealousy. I will frame him for this, and then I will destroy Dusk Industries, even if it's the last thing I do."
His rage solidified into a desperate resolution. He wasn't panicking; he was calculating. He would win this final battle because he was willing to sacrifice everything, including the last vestiges of A-Ri's love. Tomorrow would be his defense, his great public spectacle. The fall of the First Hero would begin, but Kai still believed it would be Jungkook who took the plunge.