July 15, 1999.
Colton Manor, Tote City.
The evening light slanted through the floor-to-ceiling windows, casting long shadows across the carpet.
Outside in the garden, the fountain tirelessly sprayed water as a few birds circled above the neatly manicured shrubs.
Everything was as usual—quiet, respectable, and imbued with the composure of a mafia Family.
Vivian sat at her desk with a report spread out before her.
Her fingers tapped lightly on the desk as her eyes skimmed over the numbers, though she wasn't truly processing them.
Her thoughts drifted further away—to the underworld auction on September 1st, the items she had been eyeing for a long time, and the heights the Colton Family might reach in the future.
A knock sounded at the door.
"Come in."
The door opened, and a middle-aged man in a dark gray suit walked in.
Lean and stern-faced, he was a veteran of the Colton Family who had served Vivian's father for five years and her for three.
He was one of her confidants.
"Head of the Family."
He walked to the desk, stood still, and bowed his head slightly.
Vivian set down the report and leaned back in her chair.
"Speak."
The middle-aged man opened the folder in his hand, his voice steady and devoid of any unnecessary emotion.
"Our goods supply has increased by twenty percent recently. The suppliers say they have ample stock and have proactively increased our quota."
Vivian's brow twitched slightly.
A twenty percent increase wasn't a bad thing, but suppliers proactively increasing quotas usually meant they were clearing inventory, or... someone was pulling strings behind the scenes.
"And the casino?"
The middle-aged man turned a page.
"Someone won two billion."
Vivian's fingers stopped.
Two billion. The figure wasn't massive, but it was enough to garner attention.
"Have you looked into it?"
she asked.
The middle-aged man nodded, his expression somewhat subtle.
"We have. We couldn't catch them cheating. The casino's technical team reviewed the surveillance repeatedly and confirmed that every round was within the rules. We paid out normally without using any forceful means to stop them."
Vivian was silent for a moment, then nodded.
"Good."
Her voice was calm, but her tone carried a hint of approval.
"To the current Colton Family, money is not the most important thing. Reputation and credibility are."
She wanted to lead the Colton Family further, to a position where everyone looked up to them—reputation and status were the key bargaining chips.
A two-billion-dollar payout sounded like a fortune, but in exchange for a reputation that 'the Colton Family accepts their losses and never reneges on a debt,' it was money well spent.
The middle-aged man continued turning pages, his voice remaining steady.
"Occupancy rates at our major hotels have dropped by twenty percent. There are also issues with our liquor supply; suppliers claim raw material prices have risen and they need to adjust production capacity, so supply will be reduced in the short term."
Vivian's fingers resumed tapping on the desk.
Falling occupancy rates and reduced liquor supplies sounded like normal business fluctuations.
But for these fluctuations to occur simultaneously at this specific time was far too coincidental.
"Furthermore, the Douglas Family has been very active lately."
The middle-aged man turned to the last page, lowering his voice slightly.
"According to our observations, they've purchased a large shipment of arms and are recruiting personnel in bulk. I'm afraid... something big is about to happen."
Vivian's expression didn't change.
The Douglas Family specialized in pharmaceuticals, smuggling, and money lending. Their business scope didn't overlap with the Colton Family's, so there was no competition.
She pondered privately.
She wondered who the Douglas Family intended to clash with; she hadn't heard of them having disputes with any other Family recently.
"Have our people had any conflicts with the Douglas Family recently?"
Vivian asked.
The middle-aged man shook his head.
"There shouldn't be. All business dealings have been normal, with no friction."
Vivian nodded.
"I see. Give the word for everyone to stay alert. You may go."
The middle-aged man closed the folder, bowed slightly, and turned to leave.
His footsteps were nearly silent on the thick carpet, with only the slight metallic friction of the doorknob turning.
Click.
The door closed, and the room returned to silence.
The light outside dimmed further, and the sound of the fountain became clearer.
Vivian sat in her chair, unmoving.
She stared at the report before her, her gaze unfocused.
She had taken in the entire report; every word was etched clearly in her mind.
A twenty percent increase in goods supply, two billion won from the casino, falling hotel occupancy, reduced liquor supply, and the Douglas Family purchasing arms and recruiting men.
Taken individually, each event could be explained away as "normal."
Ample supply from vendors, a lucky gambler, market fluctuations, a competitor's natural expansion.
But for all these "normal" things to happen at once made them anything but normal.
Vivian stood up and walked to the window.
The garden outside gradually blurred in the twilight, and the distant city began to twinkle with scattered lights.
Her reflection loomed faintly on the glass, her expression obscured.
She felt that something was wrong—not any specific event, but an indescribable sense of dissonance when all these events were combined.
Like a painting where every stroke was well-executed, yet the overall picture felt off.
Who was behind the increase in goods supply? Was that two billion at the casino really just luck?
Were the simultaneous drops in hotel occupancy and liquor supply due to market fluctuations or someone applying pressure? Who was the target of the Douglas Family's arms and recruitment?
She didn't have the answer to a single one of these questions.
Vivian closed her eyes and took a deep breath.
Her intuition told her—something was happening, something was approaching.
She opened her eyes and looked at the night outside.
The lights grew more numerous and dense, the entire city unfolding beneath her, prosperous and bustling.
But she knew how many eyes were watching the Colton Family beneath those lights.
Although they had gathered a fair amount of intelligence, it was far from enough.
She needed more information; she needed to know the Douglas Family's true target and what was hidden behind those "normal" occurrences.
She thought of someone.
Vivian's gaze fell on the phone at the corner of her desk.
Goreinu—the name flashed through her mind.
She hesitated for a moment but ultimately didn't pick up the phone.
"Not yet," she told herself.
There was no concrete evidence yet; it was just her intuition ringing.
She couldn't trouble someone based on a hunch; at the very least, she had to wait for things to become clearer.
Vivian turned and walked back to her desk, sitting down once more.
She picked up the report and began to study every line of numbers and every piece of data, attempting to find any clues hidden beneath the surface of normality.