The current Chairman of Baekhak Group was the “second son” who usurped the throne while his elder brother was imprisoned due to political issues.
The media likened this situation to the royal family’s historical precedent, calling it the “Prince’s Revolt” or the “Brother’s War”, and within that context, the Chairman was naturally referred to as the “second son”.
Moon In-seop was also familiar with the term “second son”.
But the “second son” he met in person looked incredibly old.
“Nice to meet you. You must be Moon In.”
“Hello, Chairman~nim.”
An old man who looked as if he could collapse at any moment, a man who wore a seemingly benevolent smile, yet was the same man who had driven his elder brother into a fate worse than death, greeted Moon In-seop.
The words of the young genius continued.
The Chairman’s smile deepened.
“One must become accustomed to tormenting others and being tormented. Instead of delving too deeply into sin and darkness, one must become used to living within it…”
Moon In-seop sipped his green tea with a self-mocking smile.
For some reason, the Chairman felt like he understood the reason behind that smile.
“Since those thoughts were included in the novel, it is Dark Adaptation, not Theory of Evil.”
By the end of this interview with the author, the Chairman felt as if he had finally completed his review of the book.
“This is a novel that affirms twisted people, isn’t it?”
“That could be one interpretation.”
“And it’s also a novel that sympathizes with twisted people.”
“That could be another interpretation.”
It wasn’t exactly the right thing to say in front of the author, but the Chairman felt that this was a novel that only twisted people would appreciate.
Perhaps that was why he was drawn to it—so the Chairman thought.
Yes, he even thought – betraying his brother was something he had to do to survive.
At any rate, the second son felt that, for an author who acknowledged this twisted and ugly human nature, he could at least treat him to a meal.
“Well, the food is here. Enjoy your meal.”
The CEO of Baekhak Publishing changed.
「I couldn’t accept it.
Because she was no longer the woman who wore a knitted hat and mittens.
She was a woman who liked to gift knitted hats to others.
She was a woman who, every time I used the word ‘mittens’, would promptly correct me to say ‘hand warmer gloves.’
She, the daughter of Jonathan, a pitiful woman who lost two relatives by my hand, was also not on good terms with her father.
Jonathan became a different person after losing his wealth and fortune, and he abused her. In the end, she fled from him.
And at the end of her wandering, she learned that there was money that should not have been given to this wretched murderer, and she came to find me.
But she was someone who knew how to treat people like human beings, so every time I tried to escape into death, she stopped me.
She was my warden, my counselor, the shackle that kept me from escaping this hellish world, and my only reason.
She told me that it was okay to live. I was forgiven by her. I was absolved of the sin of stoning her two relatives to death.
Of course, I know that sin and judgment are illusions. I know she doesn’t have the right to forgive me. But that was the salvation that came to me.
She was the third bluebird that came to me like a miracle.
—No, that woman is a fraud.
—I have no daughter. You fool. Even after all this…
The pain of white, more cruel than red, visited me again, but I can no longer let the world take the bluebird away from me.
I realized that hoping for light is a form of greed. So I just wish to continue living, even in this darkness.
Even if she is a fraud who deceived me for money, even if the salvation and forgiveness she granted me were all lies.
To survive, I need even such things.
So I stoned Jonathan to death.
Now, the truth is forever shrouded in darkness. His words could have been true, or they could have been lies.
But I intend to submit to that darkness and surrender myself to it.
To escape from this cycle of torment, I must blind myself as if nothing ever happened.
To live, I must accept the darkness. I must become accustomed to tormenting others and being tormented.
Like a fish in a tank that eats its own kind, like a child who crushed a bluebird, and wretched beast that stoned three siblings to death…”
The handwritten note ended there.
I looked up at the woman who had hanged herself.
A special kind of trash I had to dispose of.
But to someone, it would mean something slightly different.
Is this woman the man’s third bluebird? It seems she couldn’t overcome her guilt after reading this note.
If that’s the case, then the man failed to protect even his last bluebird and ended up killing her with his own hands—what a pitiful outcome.
The man accepted the darkness, but it seems the woman could not. She couldn’t adapt to the darkness.
But as I see it, this so-called darkness is truly insignificant. Could there be anyone in this world who is less shameless?
Compassion is a limited emotion. In this vast world, one cannot care for the circumstances of every other person.
So, if everyone would just live according to their own circumstances, why does this note complicate such a simple truth in such an intricate and bizarre way?
Besides, there’s no guarantee that this diary is even true. Perhaps this woman was an unfortunate novelist who hanged herself in frustration while writing a depressing novel.
Like the man who killed three bluebirds and three siblings, I decided to lightly toss the truth into the darkness.
You shouldn’t look too closely into the darkness. Because when your eyes become accustomed to the darkness, you finally see what’s inside it.
Recalling that simple truth, I decided to close my eyes and move on.
Then, I carefully lowered the special trash hanging from the rope and began cleaning up.
Just like sweeping dust under a carpet where no one can see it, I neatly erased this uncomfortable and foul-smelling existence from the world.
Some might call me a cold-hearted person, but there are always people far more pitiable than this.