My Alpha Era Began with Gongjindan – Chapter 32

Author: nicotine

“Anyway, no!”

For a moment, my head became too complicated. I had never deeply considered my feelings toward Jung Pureum, but it felt as if I had been forced to pry open Pandora’s box, which should never have been opened.

What had I just been thinking? Of course, it’s true that Jung Pureum is special and precious. Where in the world would you find a neighbor’s younger brother like that? Such a rare specimen is precious. Natural monuments ought to be protected.

But this felt different from that. I must have been out of my mind, getting flustered after our bodies accidentally brushed against each other once and then feeling a bit restless ever since.

I lashed out at him for no reason, telling him not to talk nonsense. It was dark, so I couldn’t see Jung Pureum’s face clearly.

“…Okay.”

I couldn’t see his face, but I could tell from his voice alone that he was deflated. I stepped closer to Jung Pureum again.

“If you don’t like it, hyung, I won’t do it.”

Obedient and kind Jung Pureum. Jung Pureum, who would even pretend to die if I told him to.

Awkwardly, I reached out my arms and pulled him into a hug. His body, warmer than average, was as toasty as if it were a living heater.

“As long as I’m the only one who doesn’t take a loss, that’s fine, right?”

Jung Pureum asked, burying his face in my chest. Like a person under a spell, I nodded.

∞ ∞ ∞

They say if you wait patiently, the enemy general’s head will eventually float downstream. I’m sure that’s what it said in the martial arts novels my grandfather used to read.

But Baek Wonhee’s head didn’t float downstream. Why on earth not? What in the world was protecting him?

Kim Minah used her YouTube channel to expose the harmful effects of Liri-tang. With her hair falling out in patches and her teeth loosening from such severe weight loss, Liri-tang became a hot topic for a while.

She had revealed that the ingredients differed from the label and that side effects were severe, so many people used that as ammunition to criticize Liri-tang.

But even in that situation, there were people who were impressed by Liri-tang’s effects.

Even if it was bad for their health, drinking it would make them lose that much weight. Liri-tang sold like hotcakes until it was eventually discontinued. Kim Minah’s attempt at achieving justice was about half a failure.

Still, the lawsuit proceeded remarkably well. Wonhee Oriental Medicine Clinic eventually closed down—though technically it was a suspension, it was effectively a shutdown.

At least the Gongjindan I made wasn’t reported for drugs, but Baek Wonhee’s Liri-tang caused quite a stir for testing positive for narcotics. No matter how medical-grade diethylamine was, a drug was still a drug.

But Baek Wonhee’s oriental medicine license remained intact. Unbelievable. I couldn’t believe the Korean Oriental Medicine Association had left him alone. Did justice not exist in this world? Truly deplorable.

“What do we do now?”

Today, Kim Miyoung and Nam Jungyoon were at my house again. Since the closure period was dragging on, both of them had started commuting to my place.

Nam Jungyoon muttered that Baek Wonhee was giving him stomach trouble. Hearing him say that his hatred had grown so intense it now felt like love made me think Nam Jungyoon was a bit unhinged too.

“At least Liri-tang has been discontinued, so that’s some relief.”

“I heard it sold like crazy until it was discontinued.”

“Korea doesn’t need anything else—they should just ban dieting by law.”

At that, Nam Jungyoon shot back, “That’s a bit…” How unfair. Just a moment ago he was being just as abnormal, and now he was only responding normally to my words.

Anyway, several days passed with little resolved. Wonhee Oriental Medicine Clinic hadn’t permanently closed, and the misunderstandings about our clinic hadn’t disappeared either.

At the stalemate, Kim Miyoung let out a deep sigh.

“Since it’s come to this, let’s just use Pureum…”

“No.”

“What’s the big deal? Everyone who knows already knows; it’s not like something catastrophic will happen just by making it official.”

“Even if everyone who knows already knows, officially revealing it as ‘Jung Pureum, who went from beta to alpha’ is a different matter.”

“Director, what’s the problem with just revealing that someone went from beta to alpha?”

That was a fair point. Most people would probably see becoming an alpha as a good thing.

But I didn’t want Jung Pureum to be talked about by others because of me. And selling Jung Pureum’s personal information wouldn’t even solve things cleanly.

“Huh?”

Just then, Nam Jungyoon, who had been frantically searching for Wonhee Oriental Medicine Clinic on my laptop, stopped clicking and looked up.

“Look at this. Isn’t this the broadcast that threw us under the bus? And now they’re going after Liri-tang?”

On the laptop screen Nam Jungyoon showed me, there was a notice from seeking informants.

is waiting for contact from those familiar with the prescribing of fentanyl and diethylamine.

Phone: 02-1234-5678

Email: [email protected]

Messenger Plus Friend: IWantToKnowEverything

Nowhere did it explicitly say “Liri-tang,” but given all the recent controversy over diethylamine being detected in Liri-tang, this announcement was clearly a targeted attack.

“Did they get a new PD?”

I pushed Nam Jungyoon aside, sat down in front of the laptop, and looked up the PD of . Unless the information was outdated, the PD was still the same creep who had been all over me.

“Maybe they’re trying to pressure Baek Wonhee because they think he’s about to go down?”

“That’s likely, but…”

Something felt off. Those broadcasting people had no sense of loyalty. But it seemed odd that they were already going after Baek Wonhee, who hadn’t even been jailed yet, still had his license, and would probably resume selling Liri-tang after paying a fine.

If their goal was to attack an oriental medicine clinic, wouldn’t it be better to just finish me off? I looked like I’d keel over if you just poked me.

“For now, let’s wait and see a little longer.”

There’s a saying: you can know the depths of a thousand-foot water, but not a person’s heart. Just like that saying, I had no idea what the PD was thinking right now.

All I could do was watch and wait to see what he was up to. Maybe even though they explicitly mentioned “diethylamine,” it might not be related to Liri-tang at all.

After all, drug problems are so serious these days. South Korea is no longer a drug-clean country. I shouldn’t get my hopes up for nothing.

But unlike my rational mind, my heart was pounding like I’d overdosed on caffeine. Please, let it be internal strife! I’d have no greater wish than for the broadcast PD and Baek Wonhee to tear each other apart and self-destruct.

A few days later, a new trailer for was released.

“That’s Liri-tang!”

The PD has gone crazy! When did he join hands with Baek Wonhee to beat me down, and now he’s attacking his own kind?

I was grateful, but it also felt awkward. Weren’t you guys on the same side? I wanted to unblock the messenger and ask the PD what exactly had happened between them.

Strictly speaking, this week’s topic on wasn’t Liri-tang. It was about the dangers of fentanyl patches, which are easy to prescribe, and diethylamine, which is often used in diet pills.

But the “diet pill” featured here did front flips and backflips, and even if you observed it with a telescope from a running KTX, it was still Liri-tang. Just because they vaguely called it a diet pill and blurred out the herbal medicine didn’t mean it would look like some other drug.

The narrator said, “The price of this diet pill is a whopping 800,000 won…,” which only strengthened my conviction. 800,000-won diet herbal medicines aren’t common anywhere. It seemed the PD and Baek Wonhee had become sworn enemies in the meantime.

Anyway, public opinion stirred more quickly than when Kim Minah had shared her damages on YouTube. Even if people say public broadcasting is dead, it still had more influence than personal broadcasting. It hadn’t been long since the trailer ended, and articles about Liri-tang were already popping up in droves.

It seemed the ripple effect was somewhat bigger than with our clinic. That was only natural, since there are more people who want to lose weight than those who want to become alphas.

I was reading the article comments with great interest when my phone vibrated. A messenger notification from Jung Pureum flashed on the screen and disappeared.

[Hyung]

[Did you see it?]

It seemed Jung Pureum had also seen the trailer for . So the enemy general’s head did eventually float downstream. As expected, martial arts comics never lie.

Instead of replying via messenger, I called Jung Pureum directly.

“What in the world is this?”

―I know, right. I guess Baek Wonhee really was a bad person after all.

“Those who rise through broadcasting will fall through broadcasting. It’s true.”

I also rose through broadcasting and fell through broadcasting, so it wasn’t wrong. I laughed hollowly. At that rate, Baek Wonhee wouldn’t be able to recover, right? I was so excited.

Now, if only I could recover, everything would be perfect. While the prolonged closure had considerably diminished interest in the Gongjindan I’d made, I still didn’t have a proper way to clear up the misunderstandings I’d received.

“If the PD has really lost his mind, I wish he’d also retract the broadcast about our clinic.”

That would be the simplest solution. I thought of the Omega God I’d been calling upon whenever things went wrong. I know he’s an incompetent god, but please help me a little. Your moderately young omega is waiting for a miracle.

And two days later, a notice was indeed posted on ’s account.

<Regarding the content of Episode 196, ‘The Desire to Become an Alpha,’ we would like to offer guidance.

Some of the content in Episode 196 was based on distorted facts during the reporting process… (omitted) Accordingly, apologizes to the businesses and individuals who suffered damage due to the broadcast.

…Is there actually such a thing as the Omega God?

I seriously considered converting to a religion. Either the PD had really gone mad, or the Omega God truly existed. It had to be one of the two.

I checked the notice posted by again. It stated that a correction broadcast would be aired as early as next week.

Was it enough to grab the wronged person by the hair, post a single apology notice, and then air a correction broadcast? I would definitely file a criminal complaint against the broadcaster. After winning that, I’d also file a civil suit for emotional damages.

A smile naturally spread across my face, as if an aching tooth had been pulled. Although it felt a bit unsettling that the broadcaster had suddenly decided to reverse course, it was a fortunate turn of events for me.

I immediately contacted Kim Miyoung. The long closure was finally over. Now that it had come to this, it really was all about noise marketing from now on.