Prosecutor Kim Seo-Jin - Chapter 182

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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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A Rope of Conspiracy (2)
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In front of the building where FLF Entertainment was located.
A van came to a halt, and investigators poured out in a flood.
Tension filled the eyes of every investigator.
“The goal is to arrest everyone! If any bastard resists, just beat them down!”
There was only one entrance.
The investigators rushed toward it without hesitation.
Shortly after, a police bus arrived, having received a late request for cooperation.
They too entered the building without pause for breath.
Soon, a cacophony of sounds erupted.
Crash! Crash! Crash!
“You bastard!”
“Die!”
The sound of breaking windows drowning out the curses.
And screams, followed by an endless stream of radio chatter.
Prosecutor Jang Ji-hyuk looked up at the building.
An old three-story structure with a clothing store on the first floor, but the second and third floors belonged to those thugs.
“I thought gangsters would have something flashy, but it’s pretty shabby.”
“It’s worth over five billion won. Kim Hyun-bong is the building owner.”
At my voice, Prosecutor Jang Ji-hyuk’s eyes widened.
“What? Five billion?”
“Maybe even ten billion….”
“Ten billion? Ten billion means….”
Prosecutor Jang Ji-hyuk began counting on his fingers.
A place where you couldn’t spend it all even if you just breathed and lived until death.
As Prosecutor Jang Ji-hyuk continued his calculations, he seemed to feel a certain emptiness.
He put a cigarette in his mouth and exhaled a bitter sigh.
I turned my gaze toward the entrance, waiting for Kim Hyun-bong to be dragged out.
My mind continued to churn with complicated thoughts.
Gangsters, Eom Seon-ju, and Kim Young-jun’s Wife and the Attorney General.
Within that twisted web of relationships lay my gains and losses.
A future that couldn’t be answered by simple calculation.
As I continued thinking, I felt a vibration in my pocket.
The caller ID showed Jang Seok-min.
I stepped away from Prosecutor Jang Ji-hyuk’s side and brought the phone to my ear.
“Are you hiding well?”
Jang Seok-min was not in this building.
Following Seo Jin’s instructions, he was hiding somewhere else.
But the man’s voice was urgent.
-Sir Prosecutor, I just got the call too.
The message was that Kim Hyun-bong got wind of it beforehand and fled.
As Seo Jin’s face crumpled, the man’s voice continued.
-He probably went to Jin Yong-sik! That bastard does contract killings! I’ll send you the address by message! If we miss him, he’ll escape overseas!
Jang Seok-min was equally desperate.
If he didn’t uproot Kim Hyun-bong’s organization in one fell swoop, the fallout could land on him as well.
‘I thought this would be easy…’
Nothing in this world comes easy.
Kim Hyun-bong had amassed enormous wealth through prostitution and used that money to buy influence.
This was the result.
He’d certainly taken the key ledgers with him.
Seo Jin ended the call and approached Prosecutor Jang Ji-hyuk.
“He’s fled.”
“What? Who?”
Just then, the radio brought the news.
-Kim Hyun-bong is not here. Given the state of the desk, it appears he’s already escaped. We’ve arrested twenty-four people and are concluding the operation.
Seo Jin bit his lip and shifted his gaze toward the building.
Kim Hyun-bong was the rope I could climb to reach Eom Seon-ju.
In truth, Eom Seon-ju’s charges were more than sufficient.
I could arrest him right now without any issues.
But there was one reason I wasn’t doing so.
If I moved against Eom Seon-ju immediately, I could lose the trust I’d built with Prosecutor General Kim Young-jun.
So I was trying to catch Kim Hyun-bong and make it seem like a coincidence when I entangled Eom Seon-ju in the process.
But he’d escaped.
Zzzzzt.
Seo Jin’s phone vibrated.
A message from Jang Seok-min.
The contents: Jin Yong-sik’s Karaoke Bar, its location—the place where Kim Hyun-bong had fled.
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At that moment, in a Karaoke Bar.
The place was quiet, devoid of customers.
A Waiter was all that could be seen, wiping down the hallway with a cloth.
And in the most secluded room.
A man with thick stubble was eating jjajangmyeon.
This man was the one who had faced Kim Hyun-bong, the representative of FLF Entertainment.
In other words, the man I was after.
His name was Jin Yong-sik. He spoke with his subordinate while eating jjajangmyeon.
“Pick someone desperate for money among the new faces. Someone unfamiliar with the Korean situation.”
“Shouldn’t they know at least something?”
“Listen, if they know too much, they’ll have a seizure just hearing the name Seo Jin. Don’t you know this bastard caught Jeo Hoo-an and Anna Roux?”
“But the payment came through, right?”
“It did, so why wouldn’t I be giving instructions now?”
“There’s been talk lately about guys taking the money and running.”
“No need to worry. This person is reliable when it comes to financial transactions.”
Jin Yong-sik wiped his lips with a tissue, then pulled out a sheet of paper and tossed it onto the table.
The subordinate sitting across from him picked up the paper and examined it. The paper bore Seo Jin’s photograph and home address.
Jin Yong-sik lit a cigarette and continued with additional instructions.
“Follow him around for a few days, figure out his movement patterns, have the actress ready, and get to work immediately.”
“Yes, sir.”
Jin Yong-sik exhaled cigarette smoke as he listened to his subordinate’s reliable response.
Then he shifted his gaze through the open doorway toward the empty hallway, his brow furrowing.
“Damn it, business is terrible. How is there not a single customer in sight? Haven’t we opened yet today?”
“Seems like word’s gotten around that our place is expensive with the older guys in this area.”
Suddenly, the sound of the door opening loudly echoed through the room.
A signal that a customer had arrived.
A bright smile spread across Jin Yong-sik’s face.
“Close the door. The jjajangmyeon smell will spread everywhere. Tell them to strip appropriately.”
“Yes, sir!”
The subordinate also smiled slightly at the news of a customer after so long, rising to his feet.
But just as he reached for the doorknob.
“Wait.”
Jin Yong-sik’s voice stopped his subordinate in his tracks.
The subordinate turned toward Jin Yong-sik, wondering what was wrong.
Something seemed off about Jin Yong-sik’s expression.
He stared down the hallway with a dissatisfied look, muttering under his breath.
“…Why is that bastard coming here?”
The one who had entered the establishment was Kim Hyun-bong, the representative of FLF Entertainment.
He was rushing in with an expression as if he might collapse at any moment.
He then burst roughly into the room and spat out incomprehensible words.
“L-lend me a boat!”
“…What?”
“Lend me a boat!”
Jin Yong-sik narrowed his eyes and asked.
“What are you talking about?”
“I’ll give you money, you bastard! You like money, don’t you! Money!”
Kim Hyun-bong’s voice was desperate, but a faint smile appeared at the corner of Jin Yong-sik’s mouth.
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BANG!
The door burst open roughly.
I had entered the Karaoke Bar.
But it was silent.
Despite being prime business hours, there wasn’t even the sound of voices—not even the rustle of clothing could be heard.
My gaze shifted toward the room at the far end.
Unlike the other rooms, its door stood open.
I walked toward it with heavy footsteps.
But this room was the same.
All that remained was an empty bowl of noodles, the nauseating stench of cigarette smoke rising from the ashtray, and not a single person.
The investigators who entered afterward checked the rooms one by one, but not a trace of anyone could be found.
Then Prosecutor Jang Ji-hyuk tore at his hair and spat out a curse.
“Damn it!”
If Kim Hyun-bong fled overseas like this, he’d take the money he made from coercing young girls into prostitution and continue living high and mighty.
Prosecutor Jang Ji-hyuk brought his phone to his ear.
“Shake down the ones we caught and find out where Kim Hyun-bong might flee to. If they won’t talk, beat it out of them!”
I continued checking the rooms.
The last place those bastards had been, what traces they might have left behind—I didn’t know.
Every second mattered, but in times like these, I couldn’t afford to lose my rationality.
That’s when it happened.
Again, the sound of a door opening echoed.
What entered were thugs—nine of them.
“What crazy bastards attacked us… huh?”
They had come after receiving a call from Kim Hyun-bong.
They didn’t know the Prosecutor’s Office was here.
They opened their eyes wide and asked politely.
“…Are you police?”
Kim Hyun-bong, having learned that the Prosecutor’s Office was heading here, had sent these men to buy time.
Moreover, if we arrested these thugs and sent them to the Prosecutor’s Office, the number of investigators here would be significantly reduced.
In other words, the dragnet hunting him would loosen right now.
I let out a dry chuckle as if in disbelief.
‘He’s using his head….’
But that thought caught me by the ankle.
I stepped out of the room and approached the thugs.
Passing by the investigators, I stood before the thugs and asked in a low voice.
“Which one of you got the call from Kim Hyun-bong?”
The thugs recognized my face instantly.
A demon who captured Jeo Hoo-an, devastated the illegal loan shark market, and even imprisoned a prosecutor and police chief in prison.
Their movements were swift.
He quickly handed over the phone while flashing the friendliest smile he could muster.
“Thank you. I’ll order you a special oxtail soup on the house.”
I handed the phone I’d received to Prosecutor Jang Ji-hyuk and spoke.
“If you check the network, you should be able to locate him.”
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The phone used by Kim Hyun-bong wasn’t difficult to locate.
His phone was currently at the Siheung Sky Rest Area on the outer ring expressway.
But my expression as I headed there wasn’t bright.
Kim Hyun-bong was the type who lured aspiring entertainers into overseas sex trafficking.
“Ever heard of celebrity sponsorship? All successful celebrities have gone through this process. Ah, I’m not saying you have to do it. Sure, your teammates might suffer because of you… but I’m not trying to force you to do something you don’t want to do.”
A piece of trash spouting nonsense while probing into people’s psychology.
More of a con artist than a thug.
The fact that he was holding the phone used by such a man—as I drew closer to the rest area, I found it increasingly unbelievable.
And my concerns proved to be reality.
“I, I don’t know. It seems like a customer left it behind…”
The phone was in a taxi.
The taxi driver swallowed hard as he looked at the investigators surrounding the area, insisting desperately that he had no connection to the criminal.
I picked up the phone Kim Hyun-bong had left behind.
Fortunately, there was no password, so checking the call history wasn’t difficult.
But after being led in circles by him, even this seemed suspicious.
Whether he intentionally didn’t set a password, what he was thinking.
I’d thought catching a thug would be simple, but things were becoming increasingly complicated.
“What if he’s already fled overseas?”
Prosecutor Jang Ji-hyuk exhaled cigarette smoke and asked. I shook my head.
“It’s difficult to flee immediately. He needs to get a passport, arrange a boat, exchange his money. Creating confusion in the investigation like this is a last-ditch effort to buy some time.”
“We’re planning to secure an escape route first and switch to a public investigation…”
It was while I was listening to Prosecutor Jang Ji-hyuk’s voice.
My vision began to drain into black and white as I touched his phone.
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A small hotel on Yeongjeong Island.
A place used by people catching early morning flights.
“Damn bastards…”
Kim Hyun-bong was there.
Scattered under the bed were a few snack packages and a bottle of soju.
Jin Yong-sik, the hired killer, spoke.
“You’ll stay holed up here, then we’ll smuggle you out of Incheon to the Philippines at dawn tomorrow. I’ll get you fake identification papers after that, so don’t worry about what comes next.”
“This damn country. What did I do wrong? Is it a crime to work hard and live honestly?”
The television was broadcasting the news.
Kim Hyun-bong kept checking the broadcasts, but there was nothing about him.
Kim Hyun-bong laughed while sipping soju.
“They’d need to conduct a public manhunt just to catch a glimpse of me. Idiots, all of them!”
Kim Hyun-bong believed the Prosecutor’s Office and Police could never catch him.
They were civil servants.
Men accustomed to regular paychecks handed out like clockwork.
He considered himself incomparable to them—a man who gave his all every single day.
Kim Hyun-bong rummaged through his pockets to find a cigarette, then clicked his tongue in frustration. “Tsk!”
He tossed the empty cigarette pack onto the floor and rose to his feet, remembering that the hotel had a Convenience Store on the first floor.
Moments later, Kim Hyun-bong emerged from the Convenience Store with a cigarette between his lips, leaning against the building’s wall.
His gaze was fixed on the planes departing this land.
Kim Hyun-bong would soon leave this land as well.
Only five hours remained until the promised time.
‘The Philippines?’
He’d need to hide there for at least two years.
But he felt no regret.
Operating an illegal gambling site there might let him touch even greater sums of money than now.
With that money, he could buy off powerful people and return to this land.
Kim Hyun-bong was grinning wickedly as he pulled out his lighter to ignite the cigarette.
A stranger’s lighter suddenly thrust toward him.
Kim Hyun-bong blinked and turned his head.
“…Huh?”
“Light up. It’ll be your last cigarette.”
Seo Jin was standing there.

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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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