IC C2

Chapter 2

Director Park’s proposal was this:

“There’s a place called Sovereign Casino in Macau. If you carry out the tasks we assign for three years, we’ll erase your debt.”

“A casino? Do you mean the restaurant attached to the casino, perhaps?”

“No, I mean the casino itself. You’ll be working as casino staff.”

When Kang Siwon first heard the proposal, he thought it was absurd.

To suddenly command a chef like him to work in a casino? He neither had the skills nor the educational background. Surely, he’d be filtered out during the résumé screening stage.

But even when he said that, Director Park merely snorted in ridicule.

“Who said anything about submitting résumés fairly? We’ll provide you with an identity. You just follow orders.”

“You’re telling me to disguise my identity and infiltrate?”

“Exactly.”

“…Then what about the language? One can learn the job with time, but language isn’t something solved in a single day.”

“You’re good with Chinese, aren’t you?”

They must have done their research. Truth be told, Kang Siwon was fluent in Chinese. Back in high school, his part-time employer—the owner of the Chinese restaurant he worked at—had been an overseas Chinese, and Siwon learned from him. Afterward, he continued studying Chinese consistently in pursuit of his dream to become a Chinese cuisine chef.

“Even so, I’m still a foreigner. If I converse with native Chinese speakers, won’t I get caught immediately?”

“That’s your problem to deal with.”

“….”

“Kid, it’s 3 billion won in three years. Three billion! Given a chance like this, you should be groveling in gratitude.”

He wasn’t wrong. Even if he sold his organs, he would hardly be able to amass such a sum, but to have 3 billion cleared just for enduring three years was indeed a stunning proposition. It was enticing to anyone, which made it all the more suspicious.

“May I ask just one question?”

“What?”

“Why me?”

“What the hell do you mean?”

“I mean there are better people out there. Why approach me? I’m just an ordinary civilian.”

“Ordinary civilian?”

Director Park retorted with a sneer. He pulled out a pack of cigarettes from his shirt pocket, slipped one between his lips, and a subordinate rushed forward to light it for him.

“That really something you’re curious about?”

“…Yes.”

“Jeez…”

Director Park inhaled deep and exhaled a cloud of smoke.

“We need someone smart enough, good-looking, and skilled with cards.”

With a snap, he pointed the lit cigarette at Kang Siwon. Ash fell from the glowing tip.

“Someone like you.”

“….”

“You’re the one who ran wild at the gambling table in place of your old man.”

Siwon kept silent. Park’s words weren’t entirely wrong, though not entirely accurate either. Perhaps it was best to say they were both wrong and right at the same time.

Siwon’s father had been completely consumed—not just by overseas casinos and illicit house gambling, but even by online gambling games. Living with such a man since childhood, he had inevitably learned how to play, though he had never wanted to.

On his twentieth birthday, when his father was about to lose all his in-game money and threw a tantrum, Siwon cautiously gave him some advice. Half skeptical, his father took that advice just to see—and won big.

His father, eyes blazing, then sat him down in front of the computer, pressuring him to gamble in his stead.

“You’ve inherited my blood and talent for turning money into more money! Before beginner’s luck runs out, win more—fast!”

He even patted his shoulder as though he were an affectionate father. The grotesqueness of it chilled Siwon. Yet, at the time, still unable to escape his father’s shadow, he lacked the strength to refuse. Occasionally, he was forced to gamble online in his father’s place.

Absurdly, his win-rate was fairly high. Though he lost at times, he also struck big wins. That was why, three years ago in the container when he had been kidnapped, Siwon had crazily demanded to use a laptop. Betting everything, he gambled and raised enough interest to appease them.

Director Park had undoubtedly noted both his gambling ability and his moral corrosion that day.

“I think I now understand why you picked me. But if I get caught spying… what’ll happen to me?”

“You’re fucked, of course.”

“….”

“You said you had one question, but you’ve asked two. I answered, so now you answer. Will you do it or not?”

As he said this, Director Park flicked his cigarette. The butt was crushed under his shoe.

Siwon clenched his teeth. The fact that he was tempted by such a proposal left him in disbelief. If it were up to his heart, he’d throw everything away, pull a coward’s midnight escape like his father, and never look back.

But again, he couldn’t flee.

And so Kang Siwon found himself on a plane bound for Macau.

Departing the land he was born and raised in left him with little emotion. Only when he passed through immigration amid swarms of tourists did a strange feeling sink in. Outwardly, he seemed a tourist like the rest, but in truth, he was nothing of the sort.

After clearing immigration and exiting the airport, a black van stood waiting at the agreed location. Confirming the license plate, Siwon climbed in.

“You Kang Siwon?”

The driver wasted no greeting, demanding bluntly. Siwon bowed his head deeply in affirmation.

“What a rude little bastard.”

“….”

“Call me Jushang. At Baeksa‑pa, and in Sovereign, I’m your senior. So know your place. Got that?”

“Yes. I look forward to your guidance.”

Senior? Siwon scoffed inwardly.

Though he was moving in accordance with their orders, he was scarcely part of them. He considered himself no member of Baeksa‑pa whatsoever, nothing more than a mercenary.

“Here’s your ID.”

Jushang passed him a card. His own face was printed on it, but the name was different.

Xie Wei (謝伟).

As he stared silently at the name, Jushang added an explanation.

“You were born in Macau but immigrated to Canada at age four with your parents. Don’t forget it.”

“This person—Xie Wei—is he real?”

“Hey.”

Jushang cut him off, glaring murderously through the rear‑view mirror.

“You want me to spoon‑feed every fucking detail to you?”

“…That was my mistake.”

“You’ll be in the cage team. If you manage to endure, you live. If not, well… drop dead.”

Cage: the word immediately evoked images of steel-barred animal enclosures. Siwon pressed his lips together grimly.

“Save the endless questions for rookie training, and hand over your passport and phone.”

He quietly yielded both. Jushang tossed him something. Upon taking it, he saw it was another phone.

“From now on, this is yours. My number and Director Park’s are programmed inside. When it rings, pick up immediately. Understood?”

“Yes.”

The brief instructions ended, Jushang started the engine, and the van sped away from the airport toward some destination—surely the Sovereign Casino. How many gamblers like his father would swarm there?

“….”

Siwon gripped the ID card tightly. Its hardened edges bit into his palm until they throbbed.

Thus began his first day as “Xie Wei,” an employee of Sovereign Casino and a spy of Baeksa‑pa.