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The pit was camouflaged.

Perhaps to prevent someone from falling in, it was covered with wooden and metal boards, and dirt was piled on top along with twigs and leaves to make it indistinguishable from the surroundings. The craftsmanship was so skillful that unless you were aware of it, you would have passed by without a second thought.

“My eyes can’t be deceived….”

However, it was truly unfortunate for the soldiers who had worked so hard, as Lee Jae-soon was already certain.

He was convinced that a ‘shooting’ had taken place on this Mount Hwangjang, and that there was something very special in the pit—something that would make a ‘exclusive story.’

Therefore, he could easily detect the sense of incongruity.

Boom-!

He stepped lightly onto an area that felt strangely human-made, and the sound of emptiness echoed.

The feeling was very faint, considering how thickly it was layered, but if you were conscious of it, you could definitely notice.

‘If it weren’t for me, I would have never discovered this. Someone of my caliber is needed to pick up on something like this, yeah. That’s definitely it. Right?’

A regular hiker or herbalist would have felt no particular sense of incongruity and would have just passed it by…

But who was he?

He was someone who possessed a divine object, a journalist who was about to soar to greater heights.

Lee Jae-soon squatted down, patting the ground with his gloved hands, moving the dirt aside. After clearing some dirt, he revealed a pristine wooden board that was hard to believe was buried underground.

If it had been buried underground for a considerable period, it should have absorbed moisture, but the board was dry and free from insect damage or rot.

It was something that had been buried just recently, without a doubt.

Lee Jae-soon couldn’t hide his joy and began to move excitedly.

After clearing away the cumbersome cover that concealed the pit, he was ready to take pictures.

With sweat pouring down, Lee Jae-soon unsealed the makeshift obstruction of the pit, and as it was revealed, he began to get serious. He set up the rope ladder he had brought in his backpack and lowered himself directly into the pit.

Once inside, he illuminated the pit with his lantern and began snapping photos without restraint.

The pit was so deep it could evoke a villa, and with no source of light, it was engulfed in pitch-black darkness, but such issues could be overcome with modern technology.

He radiantly lit up the pit with a flashlight that boasted it could challenge even a lighthouse, and where the light didn’t reach, he unleashed a strong flash to capture images.

After taking plenty of pictures, Lee Jae-soon nodded, seemingly satisfied.

“Huff. I’ve roughly captured the original state of the pit in photographs…”

He took a moment to catch his breath, inhaling deeply a few times before pulling out a handheld metal detector. Holding the metal detector, he hoped for a reaction as he scanned various spots in the pit.

But had the production team already swept everything away?

Or was the metal detector’s performance just poor?

Unfortunately, the reaction he desired did not come forth.

In the pit, not even a bottle cap or a rusty nail could be heard echoing.

With a slightly disappointed expression, Lee Jae-soon put the metal detector back in his backpack and pulled out something else.

It was a pebble, smaller than a fingernail.

Of course, it wasn’t an actual pebble.

It was a miniature camera and recorder shaped like gravel.

He thoughtfully planted the camera in several locations around the walls, imagining where it would capture good footage for when the production team visited the pit again, and sprinkled a suitable position with the pebble-shaped recorder. To avoid any sense of incongruity, he covered it with dirt, disguising it as ordinary gravel.

‘Perfect.’

With his tasks complete, Lee Jae-soon smiled satisfactorily as he climbed the ladder back up, thoroughly restoring the scene to avoid detection of his presence. Then, using GPS, he pinpointed the pit’s location before turning around and starting his descent.

The return journey was not difficult.

Since there was a record of the route he had taken, retracing his steps was all he needed to do.

Thus, Lee Jae-soon returned safely after achieving his objective.

He had discovered the location of the pit, taken photographs, and even set up cameras and recorders inside.

It was flawless.

‘I will definitely go there. Whether it’s the production team, a soldier, or some other person… someone will definitely come to that place.’

Without realizing the cameras were set up, Lee Jae-soon chuckled while picturing the production team discussing various things upon their return.

His laughter was eerily similar to that of a hunter imagining the prey caught in his trap.

‘Evidence, I need evidence…’

At this moment, there were still too many gaps to write an article about this issue.

There was no evidence, it was hard to ascertain details, and there was no informant.

‘When I was in the entertainment department, I didn’t need any of that…’

Of course, having those things didn’t mean you couldn’t write an article.

When he was in the entertainment department, many journalists used mere rumors to write articles, and some even wrote articles resembling fiction based solely on whispers they had heard from someone.

Truth or fiction?

It could be good if it was true, and if not, it didn’t matter.

The important thing was views and interest.

But when he moved to the social department, the atmosphere changed.

Without at least minimal material evidence or situational proof, it would not be considered okay.

The reason was… simple.

It wasn’t easy.

In the entertainment department, it was merely about writing articles related to celebrities.

Celebrities were nothing but entities that attracted public attention.

Wasn’t it scary to be popular?

Yes, it is.

How could it not be scary?

But that popularity didn’t necessarily work in favor of the celebrities.

In this world, there are far more people wanting to drag those in power down to the sewers than those who long for heights.

There was always a chance that someone would leap at the opportunity to bite and rail against them with all sorts of insults, and these antagonists were often more active, aggressive, and organized than fans.

Thus, reporters in the entertainment department always had potential allies at their side.

Even if it was merely an unverified rumor, they would enthusiastically latch onto, chew, savor, and enjoy it alongside the reporter, reveling in the entrapment.

When they could insult, they acted as the reporter’s ally, and when the article was proven wrong, they became an excellent shield branded as “the public.”

Thus, in the entertainment department, unless they were dealing with a top star, reporters did not bear significant risks regarding the articles.

However, the social department was different.

While they used well-known individuals similarly, the essence was entirely different.

It wasn’t merely a profession flourishing on the popularity of people, but rather, those wielding real power—what you might call the ‘social elite.’

Politicians, professors, doctors, conglomerates, businessmen, and the government…

Power, influence, and connections.

They were individuals who held power, and if necessary, wielded that power.

To attack these individuals based on mere hearsay?

You would have to bear a risk unmatched compared to attacks on celebrities.

Were the returns good in that case?

Absolutely not.

Most of the time, such articles caused barely any ripple compared to those written targeting celebrities.

Thus, the social department meticulously weighed their risks before releasing an article.

They thoroughly checked if there would be any consequences from publishing the article and only published when they were sure they could handle whatever came next.

It was a form of risk management.

Was this bad? Not necessarily.

It was an act to prevent foolish behavior akin to butting heads against rocks.

It was merely a way to prevent one from suffering an ugly fate, and how could such an act be seen as bad?

But was this the proper attitude of a journalist? That was a bit ambiguous.

Though it was called risk management, it was akin to submitting to power.

‘Well, I shouldn’t care about that…’

Of course, Lee Jae-soon wasn’t particularly interested in any of this.

What he desired from the start wasn’t some idealistic journalistic integrity but rather high status and fame.

He merely craved the hunger to burst forth with exclusive stories, cementing his name in people’s minds, wanting to establish the formula that when they thought of a journalist, they thought of Lee Jae-soon!

Thus, he needed evidence.

Material evidence that could not be denied by anyone!

‘This case is mine without fail. Without fail, it must be mine. Since I uncovered the information and did the reporting, this must belong to me…’

In Lee Jae-soon’s eyes, this case was colossal.

The chaos of a monster appearing in mountains across the country, and its connection to the emperor?

This was undoubtedly a matter for the government to step in.

Therefore, no matter how brilliantly he wrote the article, it would inevitably be rejected.

Anyone with the brains to be a journalist couldn’t help but worry about whatever fallout would follow.

But could he abandon this exclusive?

Absolutely not.

He could never!

How could he let go of information he had worked so hard to obtain?

It was information gained through efforts performed amidst terrible fear, discovered from a divine object!

It was information acquired through his labor, an exclusive he recognized as his treasure!

He could never give it up.

Fallout?

Diplomatic friction?

War clouds?

What did any of that matter?

It was not for him to handle!

There was only one important thing.

At this moment, this case was an exclusive, and once he wrote it up for his name, he would become famous not just in the Republic of Korea… but surpassing the level of the Republic of Korea, he would become globally renowned.

‘So, once evidence emerges, I’ll just release it all online. Regardless of how things turned out, let’s just write it as an article…’

Hehehe.

Lee Jae-soon’s eyes glinted with desire.

Those eyes were undeniably gleaming with ambition.

 

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