Prosecutor Kim Seo-Jin - Chapter 130

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

Arrogance Continued (3)
Shin Il-seung shot a glare at me.
But it was difficult to hide the tremor in his voice.
“You think you can touch me and walk away unscathed?”
“I touched you? When?”
“What?”
“The shell company and embezzlement charges were filed by Lee Du-jin’s lawyer, and I’m not sure why Prosecutor Han Chang-hee is doing this. Didn’t you like the 500 million you were supposed to give?”
As I spoke with mockery, Shin Il-seung’s eyes twisted.
Now that I thought about it, my words were right.
There was no trace of me anywhere.
The crimes he’d committed over all this time had become a bomb, exploding relentlessly.
I continued speaking with a quiet laugh.
“And that’s not the end. Another one just broke.”
I stood before him and showed him my phone screen.
A breaking news alert was displayed on the screen.
[Lee Sol-ah Attempts Extreme Choice]
Lee Sol-ah, who was under investigation without detention, consumed sleeping pills at her residence in Cheongdam-dong, Gangnam-gu, Seoul…(omitted)…and was immediately transported to a nearby hospital. The attending physician stated there was no danger to her life…(omitted)…She posted on SNS: “What does it feel like to be betrayed by someone you loved? Will I be happy if I go to heaven?”…
Of course, it was a show.
Do Gwang-hyun’s plan, and Lee Sol-ah had only taken a single sleeping pill.
But that show changed the wind.
Until now, Shin Group Chairman had been controlling the media, and thanks to that, Shin Il-seung’s name was hard to find on search portals.
But that was the end of it.
It was difficult to suppress Lee Sol-ah’s suicide attempt.
Shin Il-seung’s name reclaimed the number one trending spot, and comments were already exceeding two thousand.
“Everyone’s calling for his execution.”
Shin Il-seung’s eyes were bloodshot.
His body trembled uncontrollably.
“F-fuck… If you’re going to die, hang yourself or jump! Why take sleeping pills!”
Shin Il-seung never regained his senses.
He was just spewing curses like a beast.
As I watched to see how much longer this would continue, he spewed another foolish remark.
“M-my father won’t just sit still, will he?”
I shook my head with a soft chuckle.
Such pathetic words.
“Poor thing, can’t live without a chaebol daddy.”
“You bastard!”
“Stop looking for your father. At this point, he can’t help you.”
Shin Il-seung bit his lip.
Though he didn’t want to admit it, the situation was spiraling toward the worst outcome.
Even if Shin Group Chairman stepped in now, it would be difficult to resolve.
As Shin Il-seung licked his dry lips, I stepped closer and continued speaking.
“You thought you could manipulate judges as you pleased? Treated people like animals?”
“….”
“The world doesn’t bend to your will.”
But Shin Il-seung, who had been staring blankly for a moment, suddenly let out a ridiculous laugh.
Then he glared at me and spoke.
“What, you think you’ve won now? Feeling good? Think you’re something special?”
“….”
“You said you could send me away for over ten years? That’s insane. Sorry, but I’ll be out in two years max? Maybe even sooner. Once things quiet down, they always quietly let people like me out. It’s how things work.”
“….”
“And don’t be ridiculous. I can live however I want, wherever I want. The world is the same. Nothing changes.”
“….”
“In two years, we’ll see each other again. Then… I’m going to kill you.”
Shin Il-seung stripped off the hoodie he was wearing.
Then he tossed it to his lawyer and continued speaking.
“Lawyer, come every day.”
“Understood.”
The lawyer accepted the hoodie and bowed his head, while Shin Il-seung’s gaze shifted back to me.
“Did you think I’d suffer? Sorry, but I can be comfortable anywhere.”
In that moment, I burst into loud, incredulous laughter.
“This is insane.”
There’s a term called “butler lawyer.”
Lawyers who serve as companions or errand runners for incarcerated tycoons.
An ordinary inmate typically meets with their lawyer about twice a month.
But certain tycoons have used lawyer visitation four times daily on average—two thousand five hundred and ninety-one visits over a year and a half.
They use the lawyer’s meeting room as a lounge.
That’s what money and power are.
“This is insane!”
For this bastard, prison is merely a confined space—not a punishment at all.
What he truly fears is something else entirely.
I’m about to teach him what that is.
I stopped laughing and fixed my gaze on Shin Il-seung.
Then, with cold eyes, I opened my mouth in a low voice.
“Those shell accounts, stock manipulation schemes, all that money you’ve accumulated. You weren’t saving that just to buy drinks, were you?”
“What?”
“I’m planning to tell your older brother and sister what you were planning to use that money for.”
Shin Il-seung’s eyes widened.
“…What did you just say?”
For the first time, his pupils began to tremble with anxiety.
I walked toward him with heavy steps and continued speaking.
“You were born as a stepchild, swore you’d only accept what was given and harbor no greed. Yet you’ve been devouring stakes in holding companies with that very money? What do you think your siblings will do when they realize they’ve been stabbed in the back?”
The children of Shinma Group.
Their moral compass operates differently from ordinary people.
Shin Moo-hak’s teaching was simple: even a beloved pet that growls must be dealt with mercilessly.
Shin Il-seung had crossed the line, and they would punish him by any means necessary.
First, they’d liquidate his assets, or seize them for themselves.
Shin Il-seung would be left with nothing.
But that wasn’t even the worst part.
They could kill him without anyone knowing—without a trace.
Shin Il-seung imagined his own death and terror seized him.
His eyes widened in fear as he stumbled backward.
I stepped closer, my voice glacial.
“I’m sorry, but from now on, you’ll live in fear for your life. You’d better beg for at least ten years in prison. And spend the rest of your days trembling in anxiety.”
My phone vibrated.
I answered, nodding as I tapped Shin Il-seung’s shoulder.
“The warrant’s been issued.”
Shin Il-seung squeezed his eyes shut.
*
*
*
“He’s been arrested.”
I was in the Prosecutor General’s Office.
Kim Young-jun nodded as he flipped through the documents.
“Let me ask you one thing.”
“Yes, sir.”
Kim Young-jun held up the papers, rustling them.
They contained the record of Shin Il-seung’s arrest.
“Is this all your design? Did you orchestrate it so Shin Il-seung had no escape?”
Shin Il-seung was a formidable opponent.
But a barrage of consecutive bombshells was impossible to evade.
First, Prosecutor Han Chang-hee confessed to accepting bribes, weeping about his torment as a prosecutor.
Next, Attorney Lee Du-jin filed charges for embezzlement and shell company schemes, and finally, Lee Sol-ah—who had been under non-detention investigation—was rushed to the hospital after a suicide attempt.
All those explosions detonated at once, and Shin Il-seung lost his will to fight.
It was my scenario.
But I shook my head.
“No, sir. Prosecutor Han Chang-hee is far my senior. How could I order him to confess? He wouldn’t listen anyway. And Attorney Lee Du-jin—I saw him in court for the first time and the last time. As for Lee Sol-ah, she even attempted suicide. How could I have—”
“I see.”
“I didn’t expect all these incidents to explode simultaneously either. I suppose I was fortunate.”
Kim Young-jun’s gaze returned to the documents.
And he didn’t press further.
The incident had erupted as if orchestrated, yet it held no connection to any of our individual puzzles.
Kim Young-jun, the Prosecutor General, placed documents on the table and continued speaking.
“Shinma Group might attempt retaliatory personnel actions. But don’t worry. I’ll block anything like that.”
Though he said he would block it, Kim Young-jun’s expression wasn’t particularly pleasant.
He was concerned about how much trouble the Shin Group Chairman might cause over the fact that his son had been touched.
‘Should I destroy Shinma Group this time?’
Kim Young-jun deliberated.
Shinma Group was an obstacle in Kim Young-jun’s path forward.
However, because the giant known as Shin Moo-hak existed, he was biding his time.
After Shin Moo-hak’s death, when the property disputes between his brothers erupted, it would be easy to tear everything to shreds.
‘But….’
The Prosecutor’s Office had trampled on Shin Moo-hak’s youngest son.
‘There’s no way Shin Moo-hak will tolerate this.’
Kim Young-jun was prepared to gladly accept a confrontation if Shin Moo-hak initiated one.
But Seo Jin had already prepared countermeasures for that.
“Uncle? There’s a way to negotiate with the Chairman.”
“How?”
“The subsidiaries that Shin Il-seung controlled were in construction and electrical work.”
With just that statement, Kim Young-jun immediately understood.
Kim Young-jun was a man who had climbed to his position through manipulation.
He simply hadn’t thought of it because the situation was developing so rapidly.
The moment Seo Jin touched on it, he grasped it immediately.
It was one of the Prosecutor’s Office’s most formidable weapons: search and seizure.
Shin Il-seung had used nominee accounts and engaged in embezzlement.
Therefore.
-He couldn’t avoid arrest given the multiple incidents that had erupted.
-But we’ll conduct the trial with only the evidence we currently possess.
-We won’t conduct search and seizure. Even if we do, we’ll only go through the motions.
If I present these three cards, the Chairman would surely interpret it as the Prosecutor’s Office’s sincerity and let the matter pass appropriately.
Kim Young-jun chuckled and nodded his head.
“You’ve become quite the fox.”
“That’s a compliment, isn’t it?”
“Well, get going then. You have plenty of work to do, don’t you?”
“Then I’ll be on my way.”
Seo Jin bowed respectfully and turned to leave.
And my expression shifted completely.
‘Thank you for this as well.’
Search and seizure must not happen.
Even now, the stock price was plummeting following Shin Il-seung’s arrest, and if the Prosecutor’s Office drove the knife in mercilessly, hyenas who savored rotten meat would certainly come rushing in, drooling.
‘That cannot happen.’
He intends to swallow the subsidiary companies that bastard possessed.
With Shin Ji-yeon’s help.
*
*
*
At that moment.
The hospital room where Lee Sol-ah was admitted.
The door creaked open and Do Gwang-hyun entered.
Lee Sol-ah, who had been reading a web novel on her phone, startled and turned her head.
Do Gwang-hyun raised his hand slightly and opened his mouth.
“An ally, and a fan. Now that I see your face, a photo is out of the question right now… Anyway, how’s your body feeling?”
“What’s the big deal about taking one sleeping pill? But you’re the person who called earlier, right? You designed this hospital and the doctor, didn’t you? What’s your identity? The prosecutor didn’t really tell me anything about you.”
Do Gwang-hyun laughed awkwardly.
He couldn’t very well say “I’m a con artist.”
Do Gwang-hyun, who had been lost in thought for a moment, answered belatedly.
“An investment specialist…”
“A con artist?”
“…Let’s just talk about work. I heard someone like you, Lee Sol-ah, would get a suspended sentence.”
Lee Sol-ah would have difficulty continuing her activities in Korea.
She would need to aim for overseas, and Seo Jin and Do Gwang-hyun decided to invest in her company to support her international career.
But Lee Sol-ah was curious about something else.
“You’re a con artist, aren’t you? I know how to read faces a bit, and it checks out, it does.”
“No, I’m not. Really, I’m not.”
Do Gwang-hyun thought, ‘If she can read faces, how did she fall for someone like Shin Il-seung?’
*
*
*
“Hey, good work.”
Seo Jin spoke with Do Gwang-hyun on the phone as I walked down the hallway.
Relieved that everything had been resolved smoothly overall, I grasped the office doorknob.
But then.
‘Huh?’
All eight prosecutors from the Anti-Corruption Investigation Division 1, where I worked, were gathered in the office—a space that should have contained only administrative staff and investigators.
I felt apologetic for having only participated in meetings without building personal relationships with them, yet they were smiling pleasantly upon seeing me.
And one prosecutor spoke.
“Wow, you’re one lucky bastard! That’s a jackpot, a real jackpot!”
“Excuse me?”
“Usually, when you catch someone like Shin Il-seung, the shitty tradition is that you either pack your bags and get exiled or have to resign, right?”
But this time was different.
Though I had caught such a man, it was dismissed as unavoidable due to the incident that erupted externally.
Suddenly, a prosecutor grabbed my hand firmly.
I tried to pull away, but he held on with surprising strength.
“Why… why are you doing this?”
“I need some luck.”
“Pardon?”
“The kind of luck that lets you catch big fish without getting exiled! The case I’m handling now involves bribery of a National Assembly member. If I catch that bastard, I might end up transferred to Dongnam County. No way. I’m not going.”
I could tolerate that much.
I felt his hand and let out a short laugh.
But it didn’t end there.
Another prosecutor started rubbing my stomach while muttering.
“I’ve come on a pilgrimage to a sacred site. Please let my wife have a safe delivery.”
“Prosecutor?”
“Just stay still. I’m praying for a safe childbirth right now.”
The prosecutors laughed and snickered.
Then the Chief Prosecutor of the Anti-Corruption Investigation Division 1 tapped my shoulder and spoke.
“We were all anxious because of this case. We’re just relieving that tension, so don’t resist no matter who touches you. You’re really bad for the stomach.”
Many prosecutors at the Seoul Central District Prosecutor’s Office resented me.
But my colleagues in the Anti-Corruption Investigation Division 1 were different.
Though we hadn’t built a close rapport, they’d seen me working late every day and coming in on weekends.
“We should have our year-end gathering too, right? How about today?”
I drank quite a lot that night.
And for the first time in a while, I felt what it meant to have colleagues.
It would have been perfect if not for that senior prosecutor rubbing my stomach.
*
*
*
A few days later.
The new year had begun.
I had turned thirty-one and was meeting with Shin Ji-yeon.
It was that abandoned commercial building we’d visited before.
Shin Ji-yeon opened her mouth while drinking beer.
“It’s cold.”
“Why not stay inside where it’s warm…?”
“I told you. My father is very suspicious. And this building—I use it whenever I want. I bought it yesterday. Want me to give it to you?”
Shin Ji-yeon claimed she came here for the night view, but I couldn’t imagine what I’d do with an abandoned commercial building.
I naturally refused outright.
“No, thank you.”
“Really? Then take this instead. A gift from Il-seung.”
Shin Ji-yeon tossed me a car key and continued.
“I saw the car you’re driving around in—you’re using a Daejeong automobile?”
The car key handed to me bore the emblem of Shinma Group.
“You have to be careful about what car you drive if you want to work in the Prosecutor’s Office, right? I picked out a mid-size sedan that wouldn’t draw attention, so use that one.”
“I appreciate the gesture, but I’m sorry, I can’t accept it.”
“Why? Do you prefer Daejung automobiles?”
“No, that’s not it.”
“Then you’re worried it might look like a bribe?”
There was no harm in being cautious.
And the higher one climbed, the more vigilant one had to be about even the smallest details.
“I’ll pay for it. How much is it?”
“I don’t know the exact price. My secretary brought it. Meet with my secretary later and settle the payment. Since it’s used, just pay a reasonable amount.”
And so the casual exchange ended.
Shin Ji-yeon set down a canned beer on the railing and turned her gaze toward me.
“Now you have to tell me. What does our brother really want?”
Shin Ji-yeon had asked me this question before.
The real reason I was going after Shin Il-seung.
Back then, I had said I would tell her once the matter was settled, and now that moment had arrived.
“I want to take over one of the subsidiaries.”
“What?”
For the first time, Shin Ji-yeon—who had remained unflustered through everything—showed genuine surprise.
Because I was aiming for something far greater than she had anticipated.
“…A subsidiary?”

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