"Good afternoon."

Dae-su Park, documents in hand, stood before the reporters.

The moment he appeared, the reporters were busy pressing their shutters.

"I am Prosecutor Dae-su Park, Chief of Investigation Division 2 of the Central Investigation Department at the Supreme Prosecutors' Office. I will now begin the briefing regarding the accounting-fraud case involving the card companies, currently under investigation by the Central Investigation Department."

As Dae-su Park began the briefing, the clatter of shutters died down, and only the sound of typing echoed through the room.

"The Central Investigation Department has secured evidence that the card companies concealed non-performing loans. We have confirmed that the card companies hid their insolvency while asserting the soundness of their own capital, thereby inflicting harm on a great many investors. In particular, our investigation has revealed that the non-performing loans held by Ilhyeon Card constituted a crime with a high potential to cause serious problems for the economy of the Republic of Korea."

The moment Dae-su Park cut straight to the heart of the matter, the typing grew louder.

The reporters gathered in the briefing room had come precisely to hear about Ilhyeon Card.

Dae-su Park lifted his head for a moment to look at the cameras, then returned his eyes to the paper and began to read again.

"At present, Ilhyeon Card holds non-performing loans amounting to nearly 5 trillion won. While concealing this insolvency, the company carried out duplicate borrowing and solicited investment from banks and other financial institutions. As a result, it inflicted losses of more than 500 billion won upon the financial sector and investment institutions—this is what the Central Investigation Department has ascertained thus far."

Clack, clack.

At the figure of 500 billion won, the reporters present could not hide their astonishment.

They all understood that when a specific number was disclosed at a briefing, it signaled an enormous case.

Ordinarily, briefings dealt only in the rough outlines of a situation.

Because if any details were leaked while an investigation was still ongoing, there was a high likelihood of tremendous repercussions for the investigation still to come.

Especially in…