All Chapters of The Red App: Min-Joon’s curse: Chapter 111
- Chapter 120
167 chapters
Chapter 111
Min-joon woke up the next morning to find Tae-hyun already awake, sitting at the kitchen table with two cups of coffee and a determined expression that meant he was not going to let the conversation from yesterday drop."We need to talk, hyung, really talk, not just you promising to think about boundaries and then ignoring them the moment someone calls for help," Tae-hyun said before Min-joon could even sit down."I know," Min-joon replied, accepting the coffee and sitting across from his brother. "You are right, I keep saying I want normal life and then I keep choosing to fight instead.""It is more than that," Tae-hyun insisted, his voice gentle but firm. "You are destroying yourself slowly, you nearly died in Vietnam, you have almost died three other times in the past few months, and every time you promise it was the last time but it never is."Min-joon stared into his coffee, seeing his reflection distorted in the dark liquid. "I do not know how to stop, Tae-hyun, people keep dyin
Chapter 112
She hung up and Min-joon set his phone down on the table. Tae-hyun was looking at him with an expression of surprise and hope."You actually did it, you actually said no," Tae-hyun said."I said no to one thing, that does not mean I have fully decided," Min-joon replied. "But you are right that I need to make a real choice instead of trying to do everything.""So what are you going to choose?"Min-joon thought about it for a long time, weighing everything. The resistance needed him, or at least they thought they did, and people would probably die tonight if he was not there to help defend the facilities. But Tae-hyun needed him too, needed him alive and present and not constantly sacrificing himself for strangers."I am going to choose you," Min-joon said finally. "I am going to step back from active fighting, I am going to keep my government advisory role because that is structured and bounded, but I am not going to personally raid facilities or hunt terrorists or put myself in dange
Chapter 113
Two weeks passed in what Min-joon was trying to think of as his new normal routine. He worked at the bookstore three days a week, attended government oversight committee meetings twice a week, and deliberately avoided any resistance activities that might pull him back into direct action. It was peaceful and boring and occasionally made him feel like he was slowly losing his mind from inactivity."You seem restless," his bookstore manager observed during a slow afternoon. "Is everything alright?""Just adjusting to a quieter lifestyle," Min-joon replied, which was technically true."Well, if you need more hours we could always use the help, you are one of our best employees.""Thank you, I will think about it."But more hours at the bookstore was not what Min-joon needed, he already had too much time to think and not enough meaningful activity to occupy his mind. He was discovering that stepping back from constant crisis management left a void he did not know how to fill.Tae-hyun noti
Chapter 114
Min-joon spent three days reviewing everything, cross-referencing it with regulatory language, identifying exactly how each loophole was being exploited. Then he prepared a comprehensive report for the oversight committee with specific recommendations for closing each gap.The committee meeting where he presented the findings was tense, several members had received lobbying pressure from the Collective and technology companies who did not want stronger regulations. Min-joon presented the evidence methodically, showing exactly how the regulations were being circumvented and why it was dangerous."These are not theoretical problems, these are things happening right now that are putting people at risk," Min-joon said during his presentation. "If we do not close these loopholes immediately, the Collective will continue manipulating vulnerable people into consciousness upload without genuine informed consent.""But some of your proposed regulations would affect industries beyond just consc
Chapter 115
Song Mi-rae's apartment was in a modest building in eastern Seoul, the kind of place where young professionals lived before they could afford something better. She answered the door looking exhausted, dark circles under her eyes and her hands trembling slightly as she gestured for them to come inside."Thank you for coming so quickly," she said, closing the door behind them. "The situation has gotten worse since I messaged you, we are up to seventeen people who cannot disconnect from the network now, and the number keeps growing.""Explain exactly what is happening," Min-joon said, sitting down on her worn couch while Tae-hyun remained standing near the door, clearly ready to pull Min-joon out if needed."The voluntary collective was working perfectly for the first two weeks," Song Mi-rae explained, pulling up data on her laptop. "People connected when they wanted to share experiences or thoughts, disconnected when they wanted privacy, everything was consensual and controlled. But fiv
Chapter 116
Song Mi-rae immediately started making calls while Min-joon sat down and began gathering his power. This was going to require enormous precision and strength, he had to cut seventeen sets of deeply integrated consciousness connections simultaneously without causing catastrophic damage to any of them."You are really doing this," Tae-hyun said quietly, sitting beside him. "Even though it is dangerous and exactly the kind of direct action you promised to avoid.""I approved Song Mi-rae's network, I bear responsibility for what it became," Min-joon replied. "How can I walk away when people are trapped because of my poor judgment?""You keep finding reasons to blame yourself for things that are not actually your fault," Tae-hyun observed. "Song Mi-rae created the network, the seventeen people chose to join it, the network malfunctioned for technical reasons nobody could predict. None of that is your responsibility.""I could have examined the network structure more carefully before approv
Chapter 117
Director Park's office was crowded when Min-joon arrived forty minutes later, government officials from multiple departments huddled around a laptop watching the Remnant's video statement on repeat. The atmosphere was tense and several people looked at Min-joon with expressions ranging from sympathy to accusation, as if his mere existence had caused this problem."Show me the video," Min-joon said without preamble.Director Park pulled up the recording on her computer and turned the screen so Min-joon could see. The video showed a masked figure sitting in a nondescript room, voice distorted electronically but speaking clear Korean."This message is for Kang Min-joon, the so-called hero who destroyed the Core and claims to protect humanity from consciousness technology," the masked figure began. "You have interfered with our operations repeatedly, you disrupted our Vietnam base, you defended facilities we targeted, you have positioned yourself as an obstacle to our mission. So now we a
Chapter 118
Min-joon looked at Tae-hyun, who was staring at him with an expression of pleading desperation."Hyung, do not do this, please," Tae-hyun said quietly. "You promised me you were stepping back, you promised boundaries mattered more than saving everyone. Do not let them manipulate you into breaking that promise.""But if I do nothing, thousands of people will suffer.""And if you go to this meeting, you will probably die and I will lose my brother," Tae-hyun countered. "Min-joon, I am begging you, choose yourself this time. Choose me. Let other people handle this threat."The room fell silent as everyone waited for Min-joon's decision. He could feel the weight of all those expectations pressing down on him, the government officials wanting him to negotiate, Tae-hyun wanting him to refuse, the distant awareness of thousands of uploaded consciousnesses whose fate depended on what he chose."I need time to think," Min-joon said finally. "Give me until tomorrow morning to decide.""The Remn
Chapter 119
"I am going to meet with them," Min-joon said, and he watched Tae-hyun's face crumple with disappointment and pain."Of course you are," Tae-hyun said, his voice hollow. "I knew you would choose them over me, I just hoped I was wrong.""I am not choosing them over you," Min-joon insisted. "But Tae-hyun, fifteen thousand people will be erased if I refuse, how can I live with that? How can I look at myself knowing I could have tried to prevent it but chose not to?""The same way soldiers live with not saving every person in a war zone, the same way doctors live with losing patients they could not save, the same way everyone lives with the fact that we cannot fix everything," Tae-hyun replied. "Min-joon, you are not responsible for every bad thing that happens in the world.""But I am responsible for the things I can prevent but choose not to.""No, the Remnant is responsible for threatening those people, you are just the person they are manipulating to get what they want," Tae-hyun said
Chapter 120
The abandoned factory was in an industrial area near Incheon Port, surrounded by other derelict buildings and empty lots. It looked like it had been closed for years, windows broken and walls covered in rust and graffiti. Min-joon felt System energy radiating from inside, confirming the Remnant had prepared something beyond a simple conversation.He walked to the entrance alone as instructed, pushing open a metal door that screeched on rusted hinges. Inside was a large open space that had once been a manufacturing floor, machinery removed but oil stains and debris remaining. Lights had been set up creating a pool of illumination in the center of the darkness.In that light stood three figures, all wearing masks that obscured their features completely. The one in the middle spoke with the same distorted voice from the video."Kang Min-joon, thank you for coming. We were uncertain whether you would prioritize innocent lives or your own safety.""Let us skip the philosophical debates," M