Promising baseball player Lee Hwan was kicked out of his league and lost everything after being implicated in a match fixing scandal. While waiting for an opportunity to make a comeback, the disgraced pro gets recruited into working for Emperor Capital, the biggest private loan company in Busan. Its loan shark boss, Jeong Sang-ha leads his organized crime mob with a combination of authority, loyalty and cold-bloodedness. Sang-ha takes the naïve young man under his wing, and fascinated by money and power, Hwan soon finds himself climbing the ranks at Emperor Capital. Hwan and Sang-ha successfully take control of all Busan gangs, collecting money through gambling and lending, and killing hundreds of people in the process. Hwan also falls under the charms of a bar owner, Cha Yeon-soo. But when Yeon-soo suddenly vanishes, Hwan suspects that Sang-ha had something to do with her disappearance, and begins to face off against his mentor in a cutthroat, winner-takes-all rivalry.