Prosecutor Kim Seo-Jin - Chapter 118

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————

The Shadow (3)
*
*
*
“I’ll proceed with the investigation without detention, so cooperate willingly. If you’re uncooperative, I’ll lock you up and start from there.”
Seoul Central District Prosecutor’s Office, my office.
Sitting across from me was a loan shark I’d just brought in.
The loan shark exhaled heavily and nodded his head.
“Yes, I understand. I understand.”
The man across from me was a prosecutor, and this was a prosecutor’s office.
If he didn’t listen quietly, he could be stripped bare—soul and all—to the point of developing trauma.
Right now, nodding was his best option.
I crossed my legs and asked.
“Have you ever beaten someone for not repaying their debt?”
“I’ve never done that….”
I waved the USB drive I’d brought from his office.
It contained a list of people who’d borrowed money from him.
“Once I call the victims and ask them, everything will come out. Don’t bother lying—be honest. Have you beaten anyone?”
“Well… a few times. But I never beat them savagely like in the movies or anything like that. I just… hit them in the chest a few times to scare them? That’s all.”
“Okay, you’ve admitted to assault. Now, have you killed anyone?”
“No! That’s not admitting to assault!”
“Never mind. Have you killed anyone?”
I spoke as if I were laying every unidentified corpse found and every missing person at his feet.
Each time, the loan shark shook his head desperately.
“Why would I do that! Why would I kill someone? If they’re dead, I can’t collect the money anyway!”
The loan shark’s name was Lee Dong-jun.
He’d lived by inserting a straw into the spines of people standing on the edge of a cliff.
He’d viewed people as money and treated them like idiots.
He’d often felt a sense of superiority watching people tremble before him.
But now, before me, he was wringing his hands like a fly.
“No. Really, no! Please! Please!”
The terrifying thing about prosecutors is that they can fabricate crimes that don’t exist.
Once charges are created, you’re locked in a detention center until the trial ends.
You might even end up in prison.
And he was a loan shark.
While they say no one escapes without dust, he would reek of rot the moment he was exposed.
“From now on, I’ll really just follow the law.”
Loan shark Lee Dong-jun’s voice was pitiful.
“I was wrong. Okay?”
The Seo Jin he saw was insane.
It seemed he was trying to pile all unsolved cases onto himself and build up accomplishments.
Then Seo Jin smiled faintly and leaned toward him.
“Dong-jun, so from now on you’re going to be honest with me?”
“…Yes?”
“You said So Sang-woo was your loan shark, right?”
Seo Jin’s target wasn’t the loan shark Lee Dong-jun.
It was So Sang-woo, the man known as the mastermind behind the ENS stock manipulation.
When the loan shark nodded with vacant eyes, Seo Jin continued.
“The way I see it, So Sang-woo is just a puppet too. What do you think?”
So Sang-woo, who’d been nothing but a thug in the provinces, suddenly debuted as a major player in Jongno.
A man who hadn’t even finished middle school was orchestrating stock manipulation.
‘It doesn’t make sense.’
There had to be a shadow standing behind him.
And the moment I stepped on that shadow, I could seize the tail of the Shinma Group.
I believed I could get one step closer to my death.
They were merchants.
Merchants who bought and sold ‘money’ itself.
If money was involved, they’d do anything.
Kim Yun-hwan’s voice flashed through Seo Jin’s mind.
“Didn’t you know what those bastards fear? They don’t care if it’s a prosecutor or anything else—if money’s on the line.”
Seo Jin’s gaze turned back to the loan shark Lee Dong-jun.
“Answer me. If you don’t know, just tell me what you think.”
“…Are you trying to catch Manager So Sang-woo?”
“Yeah.”
“Sir… it’s not blackmail or anything like that. Those people are genuinely dangerous. It would be better if you didn’t….”
“I appreciate the concern, but I’ve always said the most useless thing in the world is worrying about a prosecutor. So just talk.”
Seo Jin was looking out the window.
I could see the loan shark Lee Dong-jun stumbling out of the Prosecutor’s Office.
Watching him with cold eyes, Seo Jin turned his body.
Seo Jin’s face reflected in the mirror hanging on the wall.
Shifting his gaze to the mirror, Seo Jin murmured quietly.
‘I’ll take revenge for you.’
*
*
*
After work, Seo Jin came home.
Jin-young hadn’t arrived yet, and Father, who’d left work early today, sat in the reception room overlooking the Han River with a glass of wine.
Father’s expression was grave.
He stared out the window with heavy eyes.
When Seo Jin greeted him, Father raised his wine glass and opened his mouth.
“Care for a drink?”
“Ah, yes.”
I took a seat across from my father.
Father decanted the wine slowly, swirling it as he spoke.
“The pseudo-religious cult case—you’ve worked hard. These days, watching what you do is what keeps me going.”
“…But, is something the matter?”
My father’s expression was unusual.
I was about to listen to his concerns while sipping wine, but my mother answered as she entered.
“We’re thinking about moving.”
“…Moving?”
I’d heard something through Jin-young.
Apparently, Kim Young-jun’s wife had been showing up at the house more frequently lately.
She was saying that since she lived so well because of her own efforts, why wouldn’t they accept Kim Yun-hwan.
‘Surely not….’
Going back and forth through courtrooms, I’d seen many families fighting over assets.
And the endings were always similar.
Catastrophe. Changing phone numbers, moving to a new address so they couldn’t be found.
‘Because of Kim Young-jun’s wife?’
My gaze turned toward my mother.
Mother sat beside me and continued speaking.
“Your articles—the house is too small to store them all, she says.”
“What? What do you mean….”
I couldn’t understand what my parents were saying.
‘The house is too small to store them?’
Then my father let out a deep sigh and spoke.
“It’s cramped. Really cramped. Should we move to a house with a warehouse in Seongbuk-dong or Pyeongchang-dong? What do you think?”
But my mother’s voice was firm.
“I prefer an apartment.”
“Dear! There will be more articles about Seo Jin coming out, so where are we supposed to store all of them! Even now… ugh….”
Now I understood.
The house was filled with boxes as if we were about to move.
Of course, they weren’t filled with moving supplies—they contained articles about my accomplishments.
‘Good grief….’
The reason they were considering moving wasn’t because of Kim Young-jun’s wife. It was because of my articles.
I laughed hollowly and brought the wine glass to my lips.
‘I don’t need to worry about my parents’ mental state.’
My parents weren’t concerned about Kim Young-jun’s wife at all.
They seemed to just accept it as it was.
Still, I wanted to hear what they thought.
“…But, what are you going to do about Yun-hwan?”
The conversation between my father and mother came to an abrupt halt.
And my father’s gaze shifted toward me.
“Yun-hwan?”
“Yes.”
My father shook his head.
“I know the kid’s sharp. But can someone who’s been coddled his whole life really understand construction? He’ll just use his brain to pull schemes—cutting wages, skimming materials.”
“….”
“Your aunt overestimates Yun-hwan and thinks he’ll handle everything perfectly, but that kind of manipulation doesn’t work here. Your uncle knows that too, which is why he doesn’t ask for more.”
My aunt’s obsession with Kim Yun-hwan bordered on fanatical.
The fanatics I’d met recently seemed almost reasonable by comparison.
And my father understood this well.
“…It won’t be easy to convince my aunt.”
“You don’t need to worry about that.”
My father responded to my question with a bitter smile and drained his wine glass in one gulp.
A moment later, I entered my room and began examining the bookshelf.
Before the accident, the original me had been investigating loan sharks.
‘Then there should be traces left behind….’
The original me was quite meticulous.
I was certain I’d left records of the investigation somewhere.
Somewhere I believed was safest—my own room.
‘Sigh….’
My room was quite spacious.
And one entire wall was filled with books.
Until now, I’d never examined all those books thoroughly.
I’d only checked their titles, trying to understand the person named Seo Jin.
But now I had to check.
“Behind the bookshelf.”
As I was rummaging through, Jin-young’s voice reached me.
He was leaning against the wall with a faint smile, though I couldn’t tell when he’d entered.
“It’s behind the bookshelf.”
“Huh? You know?”
“No. I don’t. It’s just a space where my brother scribbles. You look like you’re searching for something, so I’m telling you.”
I nodded.
‘Scribbles….’
I’d seen such scribbles before when I transferred from the Dongnam District Prosecutor’s Office to Chuncheon.
Things the original me had jotted down behind the bookshelf.
‘Again this time?’
I grasped the bookshelf and tried to move it.
The wheeled bookshelf turned easily, and I saw the wall behind it covered densely with chaotic scribbles.
Terrible handwriting—writing that looked like it had been hastily scrawled.
Even the person who wrote it would have difficulty recognizing it.
Jin-young chuckled and spoke.
“Looks like ancient Egyptian hieroglyphics, doesn’t it? I thought you had schizophrenia. Haha.”
Jin-young’s words were understandable.
The crooked scrawl was clearly left intentionally this way.
Yet Seo Jin could decipher the cryptic characters. It was truly strange, but I could sense what had been written.
A-24.
B-L,m. : loan shark
A/B-separation
Seo Jin ran his finger across his lips.
Loan shark meant a usurer, and separation meant division.
And.
‘A-24?’
I could sense what it meant.
Prosecutor Kim Young-jun owned 24% of Jaejeong Construction through a shell company.
And the original Seo Jin had been planning to seize Kim Young-jun’s 24% stake.
‘A is Prosecutor Kim Young-jun, so does B mean Kim Young-jun’s Wife? Could L,m possibly mean Little Mom? How juvenile. In any case, it means I need to separate Prosecutor Kim Young-jun and Kim Young-jun’s Wife, right?’
But as Seo Jin continued his thoughts, he tilted his head in confusion.
The word “loan shark” was written next to Kim Young-jun’s Wife, which didn’t fit.
Seo Jin shifted his gaze to Jin-young.
“Did Kim Young-jun’s Wife ever do anything with loan sharks?”
“Huh? That handwriting is about loan sharks? Wow, even after losing your memory, you recognize your own handwriting? That’s completely amazing.”
“Answer first.”
Jin-young shrugged.
“Kim Young-jun’s Wife’s family is a big-money family, you know. I heard they cut ties now, but I don’t know if that side of the family still does money lending.”
Seo Jin’s eyes widened.
And slowly, I shifted my gaze back toward the wall.
‘What is this….’
I felt as though I’d heard something horrifying.
-Kim Young-jun’s Wife’s family is a big-money family.
-The original Seo Jin was killed while investigating a big-money family.
A helpless smile escaped from Seo Jin’s lips.
‘It couldn’t be, right? It shouldn’t be. No matter how insane….’
Seo Jin’s eyes grew increasingly cold.
If what I suspected was true.
‘They’d have to be killed.’
There was no forgiveness for this.
After washing up, Jin-young sat on the bed and relayed various stories.
That when father first started his business, he borrowed quite a lot of money from that family, and had since paid it all back.
That it had been difficult for a while because of it.
Prosecutor General Kim Young-jun had also gone to great lengths to sever ties with that family, among other things.
And then.
“By the way, when are you getting married?”
The conversation suddenly shifted to reporter Lee Eun-ha.
I waved my hand dismissively.
“We’re really not like that.”
“Come on, it doesn’t seem that way.”
Just then, my phone vibrated.
The caller ID showed Lee So-hee.
“Hold on a second.”
I excused myself to Jin-young and brought the phone to my ear.
“Hey, So-hee.”
This was our first call since Lee So-hee had returned to Chuncheon.
She was calling after seeing the outcome of the pseudo-religious cult trial.
But Jin-young was already beside me, phone in hand, fingers moving rapidly across the screen.
He was searching for Lee So-hee’s name.
And then.
“Jackpot!”
Among the few articles, he found one with Lee So-hee’s photo.
Jin-young’s eyes locked onto her face.
He immediately jumped to his feet and bolted toward the living room where our parents were.
“Mom! Mom! It’s a different woman this time! Another woman called him at this hour. And this one’s pretty too!”
He’s my enemy. Truly my enemy. We must have fought bitterly in a past life.
I spoke urgently to Lee So-hee.
“Tomorrow, I’ll call you tomorrow. Right now….”
But it was too late.
Mother, Father, and Jin-young were standing at the doorway, staring directly at me.
And Father opened his mouth with eyes full of anticipation.
“This one’s a prosecutor?”
*
*
*
The next day.
I was taking a call from reporter Lee Eun-ha.
-Really, you’re going through with it like this?
“Yes.”
-Are you sure you’re okay with it?
“I have security, you know. I’ve made preparations.”
Reporter Lee Eun-ha hesitated.
But I had already made my decision.
“Post it.”
-…Understood.
I ended the call.
Shortly after, a message came from reporter Lee Eun-ha with a link to the article.
I pressed the article link with an expressionless gaze.
The screen changed.
Prosecutor Seo Jin Declares War on Illegal Loan Sharks
I let out a faint smile.
Yesterday, I’d released loan shark Lee Dong-jun.
His mouth would spread rumors of my ruthlessness.
Now the article had broken.
A declaration of war delivered directly to them.
I gazed out the window and spoke in a low voice.
“Try killing me again, if you have the guts.”
Just then, the office phone rang.
The administrative official answered the call.
“Yes, Prosecutor Seo Jin…. Ah, yes. Understood.”
The administrative official hung up and spoke to me.
“Prosecutor, the Chief Prosecutor wants you to come up….”
I nodded.
Then, with heavy footsteps, I headed toward the door to leave the office.
I grasped the doorknob and turned it—the door creaked open.

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————