The Lawyer Who Reads Tomorrow - Chapter 40
—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————
Episode 40
Ten A4 papers organized in tables.
One USB drive at the bottom of the document envelope.
The evidence Shin Da-ye handed over was much more extensive than I had expected.
“Entertainment dates, locations, trainees who provided entertainment, and even special notes… How did you obtain all of this?”
At my words, Shin Da-ye tried to continue her answer while sobbing.
“…Those… bastards… have a management program. There’s… this crazy son of a bitch called ‘Hwan’…”
“You mean Hwan.”
“…He’s a piece of shit who handles all the dirty work under Kang Hwan-pil.”
Hwan’s presence had been quite distinct in the recording she sent before as well.
It was the same when I encountered him at the abandoned building.
Hwan was indeed a remarkable talent who even possessed a sense of ownership.
Enough to return to that abandoned building in the middle of the night, fearing something might be stolen.
“Anyway… that bastard Hwan has times when he’s away from his post.”
“Is that so?”
“…Yes. All the kids working under Hwan are stupid. So they’re easy to fool…”
Shin Da-ye’s voice seemed about to break but never quite did.
In the end, her claim could be summarized as follows.
She obtained the list by targeting times when Hwan was away and his lackeys were stupidly sprawled out, drunk on alcohol and drugs.
And on that list, she could spot several well-known politicians and business people, including Kang Hwan-pil.
“What about this USB drive?”
“…That’s the most important thing.”
Shin Da-ye gulped.
The woman trembled violently and whispered as if she truly couldn’t bear her fear.
“That’s… really my lifeline…”
“What’s the content?”
“…I, I… that…”
Shin Da-ye seemed to have traumatic breathing difficulties as she breathed roughly like having a seizure.
I patted her back while simultaneously pouring water from the drawer and handing it to her.
“If it’s difficult, you can speak slowly. We still have time.”
However, Shin Da-ye’s will was remarkable.
She continued trying to calm herself while letting out trembling breaths.
“…Drugs, drugs… the drugs they fed to the kids…”
She must be talking about that plastic bottle.
The intention clearly shown on the label.
Lee Na-yoon and I had already investigated it once, but there was no direct evidence that could definitively connect it to the agency or Kim Wan-gil, Kang Hwan-pil, and other pharmaceutical companies.
“…They mixed those drugs into beverages and gave them to us…”
“Take your time.”
“…Those, those drugs… when you take them, you feel like you’re not yourself…”
“It’s okay.”
“…Huh…”
Shin Da-ye, having composed herself again, was making constant efforts to speak to the end.
“…Hwan distributed the drugs. We had to take them all… and after taking them, our will would disappear.”
“…”
“And, and… they also conducted some kind of experiments with them.”
Shin Da-ye’s voice trembled finely.
“…I secretly copied it onto that USB drive. I, I… seized that opportunity… what those people recorded… Nexarum, those researchers… ah…”
Shin Da-ye pointed to the drawer while trembling.
“There’s a laptop I asked Se-hyung to bring…”
“…”
“You can check the video with that.”
* * *
(Project NRX-18β)record_#182_(fail).mp4
(Project NRX-18β)record_#193_(fail).mp4
(Project NRX-18β)record_#213_(fail).mp4
Project NRX-18β.
It was identical to the project name written on the plastic bottle label I had discovered before.
While Shin Da-ye had told me to use the laptop, she was curled up hiding under the blanket as if she absolutely wouldn’t watch.
That’s understandable.
I looked at several video files displayed on the laptop screen and played one of them.
[Nexarum Bio – Internal Use Only]
“Haha.”
The upper right corner of the video.
Nexarum Bio’s confidential marking was stamped right there.
“This is real.”
What appeared on the screen was a man wearing white research staff clothing.
With a tired expression, he brought a familiar collagen drink bottle.
Soon, as the distance between the man and camera closed, the Nexarum Bio logo embedded on his clothing clearly came into view.
-Ah… Date, 20■■ year ■ month ■ day, ■ hour ■ minute. Um… Experiment number one-nine-three, beginning now.
The screen was adjusted.
Behind the research staff, a woman who looked somewhat familiar was sitting on a chair.
“…Huh.”
Looking closely because she seemed familiar, it was Shin Da-ye who appeared younger than now.
Behind the woman, a man in a black suit could also be glimpsed briefly.
-What are you doing? Why aren’t you starting quickly?
-Ah… I need to attach the label. I have to record… Just a moment.
It was a voice I had heard before.
The voice that seemed to be pressuring the research staff, the black suit.
Though his face wasn’t properly visible, his arms, legs, and torso appeared briefly.
Hwan, could it be him?
-Beginning now.
Soon the research staff handed the mixed drink to Shin Da-ye who was sitting.
As if this kind of thing was very familiar to her, she drank the beverage without hesitation.
Following that, video footage at 30-second, 1-minute, and 3-minute intervals flowed by.
Her body, which had been unresponsive, trembled violently.
With her gaze becoming hazy and pupils dilated, Shin Da-ye suddenly burst into loud laughter and began cursing.
-Ah… This time it’s a failure. The levels rose too quickly so the reaction was excessive… Hmm, next time we should try reducing it by 0.1ml.
The research staff seemed to be taking notes while watching her.
However, not long after, Shin Da-ye laughed even louder and charged toward Hwan who was standing behind her.
-Oh no.
When Hwan stepped back to avoid her, the research staff quickly approached and administered drugs to the back of her neck as she fell.
-This is a failure… I think we just need to change direction…
-How long do you think those old folks will put up with watching failures?
-Ah… Next time should I just switch to serotonin-based…
The video ended.
I closed the laptop and slowly stood up from my seat.
Shin Da-ye was still hiding her body under the blanket.
“This is real.”
I sat on the chair next to the bed where she was lying.
“Ms. Shin Da-ye.”
Shin Da-ye cautiously pulled back the blanket and came out.
After arranging her disheveled hair several times, she spoke in a whisper.
“…Yes, it’s real.”
“I see. That’s real. And it was filmed directly at Nexarum Bio.”
“…That’s right.”
Shin Da-ye’s face was red with fever, her eyes swollen red from crying too much.
“Not everything was a lie.”
“…!”
I smiled gently as if to reassure the red-eyed woman.
“Shall we talk about it again?”
“…Wh, what do you mean…”
Shin Da-ye’s eyes shook greatly. How many seconds had passed?
The corner of the woman’s mouth, which had been frozen like a mannequin, trembled slightly with tension.
“That video, it’s, it’s me… You saw it. What do you mean was a lie…?”
Was she feeling guilt?
Shin Da-ye denied it mechanically, but couldn’t hide her trembling facial muscles and hands.
“Who told you to do it?”
“N-no one… It’s real. No one…”
There are often cases where the line between victim and perpetrator becomes blurred.
Shin Da-ye’s case was exactly that.
For some reason, I spoke once more to the woman who had mixed lies and truth half and half.
“Kim Wan-gil.”
“…!”
“Kim Wan-gil is missing.”
I handed back to Shin Da-ye the papers she had given me.
The woman endlessly examined the papers with the list written on them with trembling hands.
“Did Kim Wan-gil order you to do this?”
Asking that, I took out a new list from my bag and kindly handed it to Shin Da-ye.
“But it’s unfortunate. I’ve already found the ‘real’ list.”
At the top of the thicker list.
Da-ye’s eyes shook greatly at Kim Wan-gil’s name embedded on the first page.
* * *
I hadn’t suspected Shin Da-ye from the beginning.
It would be more accurate to say I hoped I wouldn’t have to.
[D-2]
Once discovered in the abandoned building, Shin Da-ye had served her purpose.
Since it became possible to clear Sage of the kidnapping charges.
Of course, Da-ye’s existence wasn’t only useful to me.
[The woman is alive.]
That day, the sentence Sung Tae-hyun wrote in his diary was a hint in itself.
“Haha, Tae-hyun. You need to speak properly.”
I was roasting Sung Tae-hyun’s diary over a gas flame.
Was it really some kind of ghost?
The diary remained intact even under direct fire.
Sage’s signature on the back page instead of the cover turned black and burned to ash,
but everything else seemed completely unaffected.
“When making reports, use a deductive structure. Don’t you know that?”
Fine.
I should stop berating Sung Tae-hyun.
A diary that doesn’t even burn in fire, after all.
I turned off the gas flame and carelessly threw the diary aside.
“Let’s see…”
The day I began to suspect Shin Da-ye was the very day Sung Tae-hyun wrote [D-2] in his diary.
Even when I visited Da-ye’s house and met her alcoholic father, I still thought Da-ye was a victim.
His reaction was genuine.
As was the fact that he had sold out his own daughter.
Da-ye’s father had been perfectly manipulated by the plan devised by Kim Wan-gil or Kang Hwan-pil’s side.
But.
‘Hyung was right. The body of Da-ye we found and the blood on the ground were animal blood.’
Shin Da-ye found abandoned in the abandoned building.
I was distracted by Sage bursting into tears, but one thing was certain.
‘It’s too contrived.’
There were countless rooms in the place where she was found, but only one victim was discovered.
Only Shin Da-ye.
The reason why those guarding the abandoned building, including Hwan, fled while leaving only Da-ye among all those test subjects.
I had been suspicious of that all along.
“Shin Da-ye is a victim.”
A victim exposed to prolonged violence, experiments, and even entertainment services.
Having already been exposed to the media, Da-ye was solidified in the role of victim.
“But.”
What if Kim Wan-gil or Kang Hwan-pil could win over Shin Da-ye by proposing a good deal?
Could there be a puppet as easily manipulated as her?
Young, inexperienced, and equally desperate.
Moreover.
‘…All blood test values are normal. It’s close to miraculous. Aside from slight malnutrition, there are no concerning abnormalities.’
Da-ye’s attending physician, whom I visited with Sung Tae-jun, had said the same thing.
‘Normal.’
The period written on the illegal drug experiment record labels found with Da-ye was close to two hundred days.
Yet.
‘…Liver and kidney values, inflammation markers, dehydration, electrolytes – everything is fine.’
It was clear that Da-ye had been used as a victim in the early drug experiments.
The problem was what came after.
I exchanged glances with Sung Tae-jun.
He seemed to be thinking the same thing.
‘Hyung.’
‘If things go wrong, they might use Da-ye as a disposable card.’
‘…’
‘Wait until they cast the fishing line first. Don’t let on that you know.’
It would be troublesome if Shin Da-ye died.
At my words, Sung Tae-jun eventually nodded his head as if agreeing.
And.
There was a separate incident that further solidified my suspicions about Shin Da-ye.
[D-■■■]
Hwan came to find me.
It was surprising.
I had thrown out the ultimatum that if he wanted to live, he should bring everything he had and surrender, but I didn’t really think he would come.
“You made your decision faster than I expected?”
Even at my sarcastic words, he only silently held out a large bag.
As I reached out to take his bag, the man clutched it back as if snatching it away and said.
“Lawyer Sung Tae-hyun, can you save me?”
No.
Though I didn’t bother to answer, he seemed to already understand the meaning of my smile.
“Let me ask again. Then, can you make them all go to hell?”
I nodded my head.
—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————
YOU MAY ALSO LIKE
