Prosecutor Kim Seo-Jin - Chapter 142

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Beneath the Surface (1)
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“I slept well.”
The next morning, 7 a.m.
I was on the phone with my mother.
Yesterday, I couldn’t leave work and spent the night at the office.
Twenty-four hours wasn’t enough to handle the backlog of cases and clean up the mess I’d created, and my desk was buried under mountains of unprocessed documents.
But I couldn’t tell my mother any of that.
“I slept well, so don’t worry. Today? Well, I think I’ll be a bit late.”
My mother expressed her hope that I’d leave early, but it’s difficult to leave early after pulling an all-nighter and working through the night.
New documents will keep arriving today without pause.
“Yes, I’ll make sure to eat a good breakfast.”
I ended the call while listening to my mother’s reminder to eat a proper breakfast.
Then I draped a towel over my shoulders and made my way to the restroom.
After washing my face and drying off, I stared blankly at my reflection in the mirror.
And I muttered to the original me.
‘Wait. Their tail will be caught soon.’
Last night’s conversation with Anna Roux flashed through my mind.
“It’s a gathering formed by wealthy individuals from South Korea, Japan, and China. The overarching purpose is money, but the specific objectives differ for each party.”
Japan targets corporations, China targets government institutions, and South Korea hunts those in power.
Of course, that’s their primary objective.
Hunting corporations doesn’t mean they ignore institutions or politics.
“Eom Seon-ju is the director on the Korean side. In terms of rank, he’s equivalent to our boss. He operates directly under Chân-chu.”
I asked if that made Chân-chu the chairman, but Anna Roux shook her head.
“Chân-chu is called an executive director and managing director. The chairman—I’ve actually never seen him in person.”
I let out a short laugh.
‘Pathetic bastards.’
These parasites sucking the blood of the nation parade around with fancy titles like chairman, boss, director, and executive.
‘Play a little longer. Your game will end soon enough.’
I turned my body.
And I stepped out of the bathroom with heavy footfalls.
“Good morning.”
The investigator had arrived, and the administrative officer was at their desk.
But both of them kept glancing at me.
I tilted my head in confusion as I handed over the documents.
“…Why are you looking at me like that?”
I wondered if something was on my face, but the administrative officer approached me with their phone, as if they’d been waiting for this moment.
“Look at this.”
I blinked and reached for my phone.
The screen displayed yesterday’s events.
Me apprehending the arsonist and breaking his arm.
Shot from up close, the audio came through crystal clear.
-You have the right to request a review of your detention. So let’s go quietly.
-Let go! Release me! You bastard…. My arm! My arm! Don’t break it! Aaaahhhhh!
Police officers rushed over, thinking a fight had broken out, and tried to restrain me.
But I raised my hand toward them and spoke in a measured tone.
-I’m Seo Jin, prosecutor at the Seoul Central District Prosecutor’s Office. Could I borrow some handcuffs?
The video ended there.
The title of the video was equally ridiculous.
[Arsonist Set Fire, Watched the Blaze, Met Prosecutor Seo Jin, and Got Absolutely Destroyed]
The comments were going wild.
People called it cool, praised my fighting skills, and now many recognized my face and name, offering their support.
“People absolutely love it.”
The administrative officer gave a thumbs up, and the investigator chuckled along.
When a prosecutor you work with succeeds, the mood of the investigator and administrative officer naturally lifts as well.
I smiled faintly and shrugged my shoulders.
“I’m a bit embarrassed, honestly.”
As the administrative officer returned to his desk, the lively atmosphere gradually quieted down.
Work resumed.
I had to finish the mountain of documents on my desk before moving on to the next investigation.
But as I worked for a while, I paused and looked up.
Rubbing my chin, I pulled out my phone and accessed the video I’d just watched.
Not to watch the video again.
I was reading the comments.
A few among many opinions.
-But how did he know the guy was the arsonist?
└Must have been caught on CCTV footage.
└The idiot was just standing there watching?
└Only stupid people play with fire lol
I narrowed my eyes.
‘This….’
If I played it right, I could use this.
And then Anna Roux’s words echoed in my mind again.
Anna Roux hadn’t even entertained a 0.1% chance that they would set the fire.
She said if she’d encountered the arsonist at the karaoke room, she would have fled without looking back.
In other words, Anna Roux didn’t know the arsonist was there either.
‘A guy like that got caught in one go.’
The higher-ups in the organization must have started harboring suspicions.
How the Arsonist had been caught, and where they had made their mistakes.
‘If I dangle a little bait into this situation….’
They would agonize over it.
‘Was Anna Roux not the traitor? Could there be another informant hidden within our ranks?’
Suspicion and doubt would chain together endlessly.
When suspicion grows, people turn a blind eye even when truth stands before them.
I slowly rose to my feet.
Then I stepped into the hallway and brought my phone to my ear.
The person on the other end was reporter Lee Eun-ha.
“I’d like to request an article. The content will be my interview—you don’t need to come in person. I’ll write it and send it to you.”
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Shortly after, the article went live.
[Serial Arsonist Arrested]
A certain Mr. Lee, who committed arson at a karaoke room, has been arrested…(omitted)…Prosecutor Kim Seo-jin of the Seoul Central District Prosecutors’ Office explained how he was able to apprehend the serial arsonist…(omitted)…stating that a citizen’s report had come in about a suspicious person loitering in the area…(omitted)…Prosecutor Kim Seo-jin discovered through interrogation that there was a female accomplice, but failed to apprehend her….
‘A citizen’s report?’
A darkened room with curtains drawn.
A man reading the article on a tablet PC narrowed his eyes.
‘That doesn’t make sense.’
The Arsonist was a professional.
Over the years, he had committed crimes multiple times, but all had been ruled as short circuits and explosions or fires of unknown origin.
If he’d been caught by a mere citizen’s report, there would be no criminals in this world.
The man interpreted the citizen’s report as an insider’s tip.
Otherwise, there was no reason the Arsonist would have been caught so quickly.
I had been able to catch him through my psychometry ability, but it was difficult for a normal person to anticipate superhuman powers.
“Tsk.”
The man clicked his tongue and scrolled down through the article.
Then he focused on the sentence about the ‘failure to apprehend the female accomplice.’
‘Did we lose Anna Roux?’
The man had also contacted the prosecutor and police officers who had been with Anna Roux after she escaped the hospital.
But the response that came back was: ‘Prosecutor Kim Seo-jin? We haven’t heard anything about him bringing a woman in.’
The man furrowed his brow.
He had been thinking of Anna Roux as a time bomb waiting to explode.
There was nothing more terrifying than a wounded beast on the run.
‘Where did things go wrong? Who exactly is this person contacting Kim Seo-jin?’
At that very moment.
I was also looking at the article that had gone up on the laptop.
It was a brief article with not a single comment, but they would have read it.
And they were surely agonizing over it, again and again.
Seo Jin laughed quietly to himself.
‘After prolonged deliberation, a bad move emerges.’
The saying about a bad move following deep contemplation—it was a term from the game of baduk.
When one became lost in overly complex thinking, they would forget the flow of the board and make poor moves or reckless plays with clouded judgment.
Seo Jin believed those men would ultimately move according to his design.
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A few days later.
Seo Jin stood before a small building in Gangnam alongside Prosecutor Jang Ji-hyuk.
The building belonged to Eom Seon-ju, Kim Young-jun’s Wife’s biological brother.
The peculiar thing was that the basement had remained vacant for a long time.
“With this much foot traffic, it’s been empty all this while. Doesn’t that strike you as odd?”
“I suppose so, but… whose building is it? Why do we have to hide in a car and watch?”
Seo Jin and Prosecutor Jang Ji-hyuk were sitting inside a vehicle.
Seo Jin wanted to avoid any chance of Eom Seon-ju catching sight of his face.
“Just a moment.”
Seo Jin handed documents to Prosecutor Jang Ji-hyuk.
It would be faster to show and explain the materials about Eom Seon-ju.
Prosecutor Jang Ji-hyuk flipped through the documents and asked.
“Eom Seon-ju? Who is this?”
“The owner of that building. He’s a Loan Shark Boss that I’m currently investigating. You can think of him as an executive in that organization.”
“So there’s suspicion but no evidence, which is why you haven’t arrested him yet?”
“More than that—he’s my Kim Young-jun’s Wife’s biological brother.”
“Your Kim Young-jun’s Wife?”
“Yes.”
Prosecutor Jang Ji-hyuk nodded.
Then suddenly his eyes widened.
“Your Kim Young-jun’s Wife? So Eom Seon-ju is Prosecutor-General Kim Young-jun’s brother-in-law?”
“Yes.”
Prosecutor Jang Ji-hyuk stared at Seo Jin with a dazed expression, muttering, ‘This guy really knows how to stir up trouble.’
Seo Jin pulled a chocolate from his pocket and handed it to Prosecutor Jang Ji-hyuk, speaking as naturally as if nothing were amiss.
“If you want to back out now, you can.”
“Wait, I’m just confused. If he’s your Kim Young-jun’s Wife’s brother, he’s not exactly close, but he’s still family, isn’t he? But arresting him means…”
“You’re a prosecutor. If someone committed a crime, we have to arrest them. That’s our job, and that’s what we’re paid to do.”
Prosecutor Jang Ji-hyuk scratched his short hair vigorously. Then he spoke with irritation.
“Since you’ve said this much, it’s awkward for me to back out now, isn’t it? Fine, what do I need to do?”
“I should warn you in advance—you might get exiled.”
“Sigh… Exiled? Dongnam County is fine?”
“The ocean is beautiful there. The sashimi is delicious too.”
“That’ll do. If I end up getting reassigned, could you recommend that place to me?”
Jang Ji-hyuk nodded, his voice brimming with resolve.
The outline was becoming clear.
While I pursued Anna Roux’s associates, Jang Ji-hyuk would investigate Kim Young-jun’s Wife’s family.
The investigation would lead to the same conclusion, but on the surface, it was a perfect two-track operation.
I set down the chocolate wrapper and spoke.
“First, could you cause a minor traffic accident?”
“What?”
“I was trying to avoid this kind of hassle, but I happen to see Eom Seon-ju’s car. I want to see her face and verify something in person.”
Eom Seon-ju’s vehicle was parked along the roadside.
Jang Ji-hyuk muttered with a bewildered expression as he watched me casually request a traffic accident.
“That’s an expensive car.”
“You have comprehensive coverage for 1 billion won, right?”
“Damn it…”
Moments later, Jang Ji-hyuk stood with an awkward expression, his head bowed.
“I’m sorry. I was trying to be careful, but…”
Standing before Jang Ji-hyuk was Eom Seon-ju.
Her appearance looked far younger than her age.
It was evident just how much money she had poured into her face and figure.
Eom Seon-ju regarded her automobile with a cold gaze.
A black luxury sedan.
A scratched bumper.
“I’ll handle all the insurance claims, so please don’t worry.”
Jang Ji-hyuk broke into a cold sweat under Eom Seon-ju’s icy stare and glanced toward the building entrance.
I was entering there, my hat pulled low over my face.
‘Finish quickly.’
Jang Ji-hyuk silently prayed.
Though he had encountered countless criminals, Eom Seon-ju’s gaze was uncomfortable to maintain for long.
I surveyed my surroundings as I entered the building interior.
I had no interest in the ground floor.
What I needed to verify was only the basement level.
But first, I boarded the elevator.
I needed to check the directory listing what was on each floor.
As expected, the basement level was listed as vacant.
I exited on the third floor, surveyed the area, descended to the second floor via the emergency stairwell, and confirmed the same.
‘The CCTVs are only at the building entrance and elevator.’
No trace of surveillance cameras appeared on the second or third floors.
‘Then, next.’
I headed back toward the emergency stairwell.
My destination was the basement below.
Descending into the basement, I cracked open the emergency exit door and peered outside.
‘There’s a CCTV camera here.’
The second and third floors, packed with shops, had no surveillance cameras.
But installing CCTV in an empty space made no sense whatsoever.
The stench grew increasingly foul.
I didn’t push the door open to step into the hallway.
I had no desire to be caught on camera, so I simply peered through the narrow gap between the door and its frame.
But it wasn’t an empty space. There was an office.
No signs of activity at the moment, yet it was certainly not abandoned.
The office’s glass partition was pristine, and the hallway bore traces of frequent passage.
I considered two possibilities.
‘Either a private space used by Eom Seon-ju, or a place where the organization handles its illicit operations.’
Either way, neither purpose would be legitimate.
That was when it happened.
“You there?”
An unfamiliar voice echoed through the space.
I slowly turned my gaze toward the staircase.
A man stood on the stairs.
The building’s caretaker.
He was young.
His physique was far from ordinary.
The caretaker descended the stairs with heavy, deliberate steps.
“What are you doing there?”
His voice dropped to a low, threatening register.
His posture suggested he was ready to engage me in combat at any moment.
Yet I smiled faintly.
The reason I had come here directly, leaving Prosecutor Jang Ji-hyuk behind.
It was to meet this caretaker.

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