The Rogue, Genius, Chaebol's Daughter is a Baby Master Detective! - Chapter 4
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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 hooligan, a genius, and a rich man’s daughter make one baby detective!
Chapter 4
“A Villain Test?”
“We’re gonna see if you guys are villains or not.”
“How…?”
Haru pointed at Kang Tae-jun, who stood at the front.
“You first.”
Kang Tae-jun’s face went blank as his mouth fell open.
“Me? A villain… test?”
Haru nodded and gestured to the other two men.
“Turn around. If you peek, you fail!”
Gong Dae-in and Lee Hyun-woo turned slowly, hesitantly.
Haru and Kang Tae-jun’s eyes met.
“Close your eyes.”
When Kang Tae-jun’s brow furrowed in resistance, Haru quickly placed her hands on her hips.
“If you don’t, Dad fails.”
“What? My eyes are closed now.”
Kang Tae-jun shut them immediately. It had been years since anyone had wrapped him around their finger like this. Not since Oh Jang-mi disappeared….
“Give me your hand.”
Kang Tae-jun obediently extended his hand through the gap in the door. Haru’s heart raced as she peeled off her gloves. The moment her fingers touched his hand.
Sparkle.
Light burst forth, and a Magnifying Glass popped out with a soft *boing*.
[Haru’s Case Notebook]
Investigating Dark-Haired Guy…♪
The Magnifying Glass orbited him, spinning and spinning. Haru’s vision spun too, and the scene shifted.
“Do you really need permission to smile? Try living while you laugh a little.”
A mother handing over coffee with a smile…?
She jerked her hand back at the fleeting afterimage, her eyes widening. Her mother had been in this man’s Memory.
Judging by her mother’s expression, this guy probably wasn’t a villain….
While Haru wrestled with the question in her five-year-old mind, Kang Tae-jun felt the loss of the small warmth slipping away.
Is this child really mine? It doesn’t matter if she’s not. I can raise her as my own either way.
“That’s it. You pass.”
“…Pass?”
“You can open your eyes now.”
Kang Tae-jun brushed off his knees and stood, flashing a triumphant smile at the other two.
“Next!”
Lee Hyun-woo rushed over and dropped to his knees.
“Haru, I’d do anything for you!”
“Close your eyes.”
Lee Hyun-woo closed them. Haru took his hand.
“Does the great Lee Hyun-woo really cry over a plate of Tteokbokki?”
A Street Tent Stall with steam rising. Her mother, laughing and sharing a plate of Tteokbokki—there she was.
“You pass too.”
“You hear that? I passed!”
Lee Hyun-woo made a peace sign with his fingers, beaming. Kang Tae-jun clicked his tongue and turned away.
“Last one.”
Gong Dae-in approached. He pushed up his glasses and shut his eyes.
A Dark Room.
The man with glasses was staring intensely at a Monitor.
A red warning window began flashing urgently over the black screen.
His typing speed accelerated. Then the warning stopped, and a message appeared in the center of the screen.
-Whoever catches me first buys coffee. Though I’ll win anyway. -Rose
The corners of the man’s mouth lifted slightly in the Monitor’s glow.
The afterimage faded. The last text was written in difficult, cursive script. But Haru knew it. That’s the signature Mom always used!
Haru tilted her head and watched the man intently as he kept his eyes firmly shut.
“You pass too.”
Gong Dae-in pushed up his glasses with a click and spoke.
“A natural result.”
Haru rubbed her nose. Investigating three times had left her head throbbing. On the third one, her vision had even spun a little. But as long as she didn’t look too long, there shouldn’t be a Nosebleed, just like Mom said!
‘Mom was right. It hurts a bit when you use the ability. Like when I was a puppy—if you look too long, that’s when you get a Nosebleed.’
Haru’s head tilted to one side.
‘All three of them have Mom in their memories. Are they really all fathers Mom sent? But in the Little Piggy storybook, there’s no pig with three fathers. Maybe this is Mom’s test to see if Haru can find her real father?’
Haru’s eyes gleamed with sudden brightness.
‘If Haru passes the test, maybe Mom will come back soon!’
Then Detective Haru’s grand operation to find her real father begins!
As Haru opened the door, the three men stepped into the cramped One-room Apartment. Haru sat on the sofa clutching Go-mi, looking down at the three fathers sitting on the floor.
“I confirmed you’re not villains.”
“So now I can call you Dad—”
“But!”
Haru raised her finger in the air.
“Not being a villain doesn’t make you Dad. I’m going to give you the Real Father Test now.”
“The Real Father Test?”
Kang Tae-jun folded his arms.
“Fine. I’ll try anything.”
Gong Dae-in pushed his glasses up.
“What are the criteria?”
“When’s Haru’s birthday?”
Silence fell.
Lee Hyun-woo spoke first.
“March!”
Haru clapped her hands together. “Clap!”
“That’s right? I got it right? Yes. You remembered. Oh Jang-mi said she wanted to give birth in spring if she had a baby! She said spring has the best weather.”
The other two tensed.
Haru shook her head with a sorrowful expression.
“You’re eliminated.”
“Wait, hold on! What? Eliminated? Me?”
“The eliminated should stay quiet.”
Kang Tae-jun spoke up.
“Winter. After we parted, you must have been born in winter.”
“Which month?”
As Kang Tae-jun furrowed his brow, Gong Dae-in cut in.
“December.”
Haru’s eyes widened.
“Wait. That’s invalid.”
Kang Tae-jun objected.
“I said winter first. You’re just riding on my coattails. That’s cheap.”
Gong Dae-in pushed his glasses up with a triumphant look.
“You were the one wandering around confused about which month.”
“Wait. Then I’ll ask one more question.”
Haru hugged Go-mi tightly and looked around at the three men.
“How did you meet Mom?”
All three men stiffened at once. Lee Hyun-woo spoke first.
“Can the eliminated answer too?”
“No.”
“I wasn’t asking you anyway!”
Kang Tae-jun went on regardless.
“A New Year’s party.”
“A party?”
Haru tilted her head quizzically.
“Oh? I met her at a party too?”
Lee Hyun-woo interjected.
“Being a reporter, she’d have been invited to many events.”
Kang Tae-jun picked up the thread casually.
“You mentioned Oh Jang-mi was a reporter?”
Kang Tae-jun and Lee Hyun-woo’s gazes turned toward Gong Dae-in. Gong Dae-in slowly opened his mouth.
“It was two in the morning. Someone broke into the company Server, and I attempted Backtracking.”
“What’s a Server?”
“Think of it as an important room inside a computer.”
Haru nodded.
“That intruder greeted me as if she’d been waiting. That… was Oh Jang-mi.”
Gong Dae-in fell silent. Then, his expression blank, he pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose. His speech quickened.
“For the first time, I’ve encountered someone I cannot analyze.”
“What? Jang-mi does Hacking?”
Lee Hyun-woo gasped. Kang Tae-jun frowned silently, his brow furrowed. Haru remembered what her mother had once told her about her father.
“Your father is in heaven, Haru. He was such a good person that he went to heaven.”
But these men didn’t look kind at all.
“He’s alive. Mom got it wrong.”
Haru clutched her head, her face crumpling. She was a genius baby, but this was too difficult.
Had Mom lied? Or were these men lying?
Haru looked from one man to the next, studying each in turn.
“Are you all friends with each other?”
“No.”
All three answered at once.
“Friends with Mom, then?”
This time, no one answered immediately. Kang Tae-jun spoke first.
“Since I’m your father, we’d be closer than mere friends.”
“I’m probably the closest? Jang-mi and I talked through entire nights together.”
Lee Hyun-woo interjected.
“If you’re counting sleepless nights, I likely have the most.”
Both men’s heads snapped toward him.
“Work-related.”
Gong Dae-in added quickly.
“Hmm.”
Haru pondered this.
She needed more clues. And to get them—
Haru dashed forward with a determined stride and pulled out her secret weapon with a flourish.
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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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