Episode 6.
A garden beautifully landscaped with all manner of flowers and trees.
Along a stone path laid through that neatly maintained place, an old man in a wheelchair and a middle-aged woman were walking.
"How is it? Doesn't the fresh air make you feel much better?"
In her fifties.
An age where beauty would have faded from the passage of time, yet the woman had not lost that beauty.
She must have captivated many men in her youth; now, she exuded a nobility like a lone narcissus.
"...Hungry."
The old man mumbled in response to the woman's gentle words.
Slurred, and too soft to make out.
"Pardon? What did you say...?"
"I'm hungry."
The old man complained of hunger.
"...You..."
But the woman could only stare at him with tear-filled eyes.
"You just ate a short while ago."
Hungry?
He had finished a meal not long ago.
And he had even overeaten until his stomach bulged.
It hadn't been long at all, merely ten minutes; how could he be hungry already?
"I'm hungry, I said I'm hungry!"
Stomping his feet while seated in the wheelchair.
Like a child throwing a tantrum at a supermarket.
At eighty years old, it was behavior unthinkable for his age.
"Why are you trying to starve me? Are you going to kill me? You, you're going to kill me. Aren't you!"
At first, he cowered in fear, but soon he kicked the wheelchair and stood up in anger.
"Kyaa!"
The surprised woman recoiled.
Thud, crash!
The old man, unable to keep his balance, tumbled to the ground.
"Ouch, I'm dying. This wench is killing me. Mom, Mom!"
It wasn't a severe injury, but his knee seemed scraped, and blood seeped from the spot.
"Chairman!"
People approached at the commotion.
Bodyguards in black suits and housekeepers hired for the household.
"Ack! Scary. They're trying to kill me. They're going to kill me!"
Seeing the bodyguards, the old man began to crawl away.
Drip, drip-
What leaked in his wake was urine.
"Ugh!"
The woman collapsed to the ground as if her strength had left her.
"How did that strong person, how did he..."
Tiger Gang Seonghyeon.
The era's titan who had single-handedly built Taewang Group, a leading enterprise.
Construction, automobiles, smartphones—whatever he touched, he led the era's trends and achieved repeated success stories, but now he too had grown old.
Just a month ago, he had collapsed from a stroke and had been unable to regain consciousness for some time.
Fortunately, the surgery was successful.
He showed rapid signs of recovery, bringing relief, but that was short-lived.
After being discharged, he began showing abnormal symptoms, which soon led to dementia.
His age was a factor, but it was likely also due to the major brain surgery.
"If only I could see him healthy, even for just one hour..."
She would give anything.
Even if she had to pay a fortune, she would not hesitate if she could see the healthy Tiger Gang Seonghyeon.
Jeong Yujin, the woman who had truly loved him and married him despite a thirty-year age gap, wiped away tears of sorrow and longing.
*
"Phew."
The mansion stood before me.
Truly the very space where chairmen and madams you only see on TV live.
"As expected, a house with a lot of money is different."
Every time I saw such a mansion, I always wondered how many pyeong it was.
And whether soccer or basketball was possible in such a spacious house—such useless thoughts.
Normally, I would have simply admired it and moved on, but today I had business here.
I approached the mansion that radiated intimidation just by looking at it.
"Halt."
Naturally, there were those who stopped me.
Men in black suits who could only be taken for bodyguards.
Perhaps due to the chairman's condition, two bodyguards were stationed even at the main gate.
"You may not approach any further."
Their tone was polite, but their eyes were not.
A momentum that would not hesitate to use force if I took one more step or came any closer.
"I have business with Chairman Gang Seonghyeon."
Since I had no intention of fighting, I stated my purpose.
"Ch-Chairman, did you say?"
"Please wait a moment."
Originally, all schedules related to the chairman were shared, but just in case.
They began urgently communicating through their dedicated wireless earpieces.
However.
"..."
Their flustered eyes turned ice-cold.
"Are you certain you have an appointment?"
The polite tone from moments ago was gone.
"I don't have an appointment. I clearly told you I have business with the Chairman, didn't I?"
I said I had business, not that I had an appointment.
"...I won't say it twice. Step back..."
"Please deliver just one message."
I spoke to the bodyguard delivering a final warning.
"Tell him I've found the only medicine that can show improvement in the Chairman's dementia symptoms."
His recent symptoms had worsened.
Even if it were a lie, desperate people would have no choice but to take the bait.
*
Slurp.
I drank the tea prepared by the housekeeper.
Dark.
And smooth.
Even I, who knows little of tea, could tell this was the finest green tea.
What was it again?
Did they call it Yongjeong tea?
Since it's what a chaebol family drinks, it must be quite an expensive tea.
"Is the tea to your liking?"
The house was so large that even the end of the living room looked quite far.
In any case, a woman approached from there.
A two-piece suit and a neat updo added to her nobility.
'Jeong Yujin.'
After the death of Madame Sim Oksun, who had been Chairman Gang Seonghyeon's first wife, the love the Tiger had found after twenty years.
She had been featured in many news outlets and media.
Despite the great age gap, she was the protagonist famous for a fiery love.
That protagonist was now approaching me.
"I'm fine. Attend to your work."
I told the guarding bodyguard it was okay, but...
"But, Madame..."
"I won't say it twice."
But our madame was firm.
"Step away."
"...Understood."
As expected of the woman who monopolized the Tiger's love, she had an air of resolve.
"I received the report."
The madame sat modestly across from me.
But unlike her demeanor, her gaze was quite sharp.
"That you have a medicine that can cure dementia."
"That is an indisputable fact."
"Honestly, I called you on a desperate whim, but is it truly possible? That impossible task that even the finest medical team shook their heads at?"
Modern medicine has advanced greatly, but curing dementia is impossible.
Of course, some improvement can be shown through medication and cognitive therapy, but in a severe case like Chairman Gang Seonghyeon, there is virtually no method that can be used.
Yet there is a medicine that can cure such symptoms?
Naturally, one would think it a lie.
But humans are creatures who seek wells out of desperation.
Even if there is only a 1%, no, 0.1% chance, wanting to cling to that possibility is human nature.
Our madame had called me for that slim possibility.
And that was exactly what I had aimed for.
"There are often things in this world that cannot be explained by science or medicine."
"Show me the proof. If it is something I cannot accept..."
"I will gladly accept any punishment."
At this point, a fraudster would have been exposed.
But by speaking of punishment first myself...
"Very well."
She smiled a captivating smile, seemingly in a very good mood.
"So. Where is this medicine?"
Perhaps because she was impatient, she immediately got to the point.
Well, it's not as if we were going to exchange pleasantries and chat warmly.
"It's this."
What I had prepared—I carefully opened the wooden box.
Naturally, inside was the Jangno-sam I had purchased from the herb shop.
"This is...?"
People are quite honest.
Her eyes. Her face, everything showed disappointment.
"Is it wild ginseng?"
"Yes. But it is no ordinary wild ginseng."
Of course it wasn't ordinary.
It was cultivated with all his heart by our ginseng digger, Mr. I Chunsam.
"Honestly... I'm disappointed."
Her face hardened with disappointment.
"If it were wild ginseng, I have obtained ones hundreds of years old several times. But there was no effect whatsoever..."
"What if it is not hundreds, but thousands of years old?"
"...What do you mean?"
"This is not hundreds, but thousands of years old—a true elixir (靈藥), so to speak."
Of course it was a lie.
The herb shop owner said it was several decades old, but at best it's about ten years old?
No, if I investigated deeper, I'd bet it's only seven or eight years old.
"Thousands of years?"
She furrowed her brow once more.
What wild ginseng could be thousands of years old?
A blatant lie that wouldn't even fool the three-year-old girl Bak Ayul from my neighborhood.
"How could that possibly..."
"I'm sorry for constantly interrupting, but I can say this one thing for certain."
The surest way to persuade someone who doesn't believe.
"If it is not effective, you may cut off my head on the spot, and I will harbor no resentment."
That was offering a severe punishment myself.
"..."
And it was immediately effective.
Until moments ago, her eyes had been filled with suspicion, no, blazing as if she would devour me alive; now, a calmness settled over the madame's face.
Dementia is something no medicine, no treatment, and no surgery can cure.
Yet if there is even a chance it might help—even if the probability of it being a lie is 99%—it is worth trying.
Especially when I offer my very life as collateral.
"Then, I shall call a professional ginseng digger for appraisal..."
"Nonsense!"
That won't do.
"It is an unprecedented thousand-year-old ginseng. How could a mere ginseng digger possibly discern its value."
If I called them for no reason and the word Jangno-sam came out, things would get really troublesome.
"But if even a professional ginseng digger doesn't know, how can you be certain of a thousand-year-old ginseng?"
"It is a family heirloom passed down through generations."
"A family heirloom?"
"Yes. We have protected a wild ginseng found on the ancestral mountain for dozens of generations. There is no family heirloom like this one."
Lies flowed smoothly the moment I opened my mouth.
Since I had run simulations on what questions she might ask in advance, I could continue lying without hesitation.
"..."
She looked troubled.
Even after I offered to have my head cut off, if this was her reaction, it effectively meant the chances of her accepting were nearly zero.
But it was fine.
I had a final method for times like this.
"It seems you truly cannot believe me, so let us consider this transaction never..."
I stood up without lingering attachment.
And.
"Wait a moment."
She took the bait.
The desperate one was not me, but the madame.
Ah, of course, I too am desperate because I must avoid Gang Cheoljun's clutches, but since there are many other ways even without this, I am simply more at ease.
"I will ask just one thing. How can you be certain it is effective against dementia?"
A final confirmation procedure.
At this stage, it was virtually no different from having already taken the bait.
Of course, it depended on my answer, but who am I?
"My father suffered from dementia."
I had already run simulations on the answer to this question as well.
"Just in case, I fed him this family heirloom ginseng, and we saw definite results. Although he passed away not long ago, this ginseng will certainly show a definite effect on dementia."
"..."
The effect of my final remark was tremendous!
"...Very well."
"But if it is not effective... you must be prepared."
Of course, a final warning followed, but I was not someone to be intimidated by such things.
"As I have repeatedly stated, you may do with me as you wish then, so please do not worry."
"But what about the price of the ginseng?"
What remained was the price of the wild ginseng.
She would think it considerable, as it is a family heirloom, even if she didn't believe it.
But I must not decide the price hastily here.
This was a trap, the final gateway.
"Let us decide that after it has proven effective."
"Very well."
Judging by her satisfied smile, this had clearly been the final trap.
Had I hastily named a price first, I likely would not have left here alive.
"Can you wait a moment?"
"I shall."
With that, the madame went into the room.
I heard voices being raised in argument.
Likely a dispute with the attending physician waiting inside the house; the winner was obvious.
After a brief while.
Squeak-
The madame returned pushing a wheelchair.
Naturally, atop the wheelchair sat a frail old man who looked as though he could die at any moment—Chairman Gang Seonghyeon, once called the Tiger.
"...Hungry, hungry."
Perhaps due to a sedative, he muttered incessantly that he was hungry in a weak voice.
"Dear, you're hungry?"
The madame sat facing him at eye level, continuing the conversation with the chairman.
"Yes. Hungry."
"Then, would you like to try this?"
The Jangno-sam in the box.
Without hesitation, the madame took up a root and offered it.
"Yes. I'll eat it."
The moment it was food, he quickly grabbed it.
Chomp!
He bit right into it.
But.
"Blegh!"
He spat it out immediately.
It was neither sweet nor salty; with only bitterness, there was no way ginseng would taste good.
"This tastes bad. I won't eat it!"
"A-No, you mustn't!"
As she tried to stop him from tossing aside the family heirloom(?) so futilely.
"..."
She froze.
In that very moment, sharpness settled into eyes that had been hazy like a rotten pollack.
"Dear...?"
The madame's body trembled slightly as she noticed the change.
"...It seems."
But the Tiger's gaze was fixed not on his beloved wife, but on me.
"We have a lot to talk about, don't we?"
"I welcome it."
I immediately answered the chairman's words.
Indeed, there was far too much to discuss from now on.