Descent of The Demon Master [EN]: Chapter 1503

“Seo Jong-gu.”

“Huh…?”

Seo Jong-gu turned his head and flinched, seeing two burly men standing behind him.

“…You are under arrest for…” The part about what crime and the Miranda rights that followed weren’t properly heard. It wasn’t that he didn’t understand the unfamiliar words, but it felt like those parts were intentionally glossed over.

However, Seo Jong-gu couldn’t ask about the parts he didn’t hear properly.

That’s because the men who rushed at him in an instant forced him to the ground and handcuffed his wrists.

“Hey, no! What is this!”

“Be quiet!”

A hand like a pot lid pressed down on the back of his neck. It was a brutality that made him not even think of resisting.

“Why, why are you doing this?”

“We’ll talk about the details at the station. Come along quietly.”

Seo Jong-gu’s vision went dark for a moment.

‘Could it be because of that?’

Even though he didn’t know exactly what was going on, he knew for sure that something serious was happening to him.

“Who hired you?”

“Tell us straight.”

“Hey, officer.”

Seo Jong-gu said, his eyes slightly trembling, looking at the detective sitting in front of the desk.

“I don’t understand any of this. Why are you really doing this to me?”

“Ha, look at this guy?”

The detective sitting in front of him chuckled and turned the monitor towards him.

“Here. Isn’t this Seo Jong-gu?”

The CCTV footage clearly showed him throwing hot coffee at the clerk.

“That’s…”

“There’s no point in trying to deny it. We’ve already tracked your movements, and we’ve got footage of you going into your house. Your face is so clear that anyone can tell it’s you, Seo Jong-gu.”

Seo Jong-gu bit his lip slightly.

“Yes. It’s me.”

“You admit it. Then you also admit to throwing coffee at that person?”

“No, that’s because they made me so angry…”

“Seo Jong-gu.”

The detective sighed and said,

“Do you know this is assault? Hot water is considered a weapon. Throwing it at someone’s head means you intended to cause harm. Do you think this will end easily?”

Seo Jong-gu kept his mouth shut. The detective observed his reaction and then quietly opened his mouth.

“Who told you to do it?”

“Wh-who told me to do it?”

“Seo Jong-gu, a large sum of money was recently deposited into your account. You deposited it in cash, right?”

“Where did you get that money?”

“Hey, no! Do I have to explain how I earned the money I put in?”

The detective shook his head.

“If you keep being uncooperative, it won’t be good for you either. You can’t get away with it like this these days. Do you know how much of a difference there is in sentencing between denying and admitting the crime?”

The detective’s voice gradually rose.

“It seems like you were given instructions on what to do if you got caught, but do you think that’s really in your favor? It would be beneficial if you at least kept the money. But will that money even be left?”

“…Huh?”

Seo Jong-gu’s eyes wavered.

“If it’s confirmed that the cash was earned through illegal activities, it will be recovered from your account. Then you won’t earn a single penny and will only serve time in prison.”

“P-prison?”

Seo Jong-gu jumped up from his seat.

“Ah, sit down. I misspoke. It’s not up to me to decide if this will lead to prison. That’s for the prosecutor or judge to decide. I’m just saying it looks that way based on my experience, based on my experience.”

“D-detective, will this really lead to prison?”

“Hey, is this guy messing with me!”

The detective raised his voice sharply. Seo Jong-gu flinched at the force of it.

“You poured hot coffee on someone’s face, and on top of that, you punched the person who came out! Did you think you’d just get a fine and be done with it? What kind of world do you think we live in!”

His legs trembled.

Prison.

Seo Jong-gu had never heard such a word before. He had only heard that he would end up paying a fine.

“If you admit everything now and tell us who told you to do it, it will be taken into consideration. But Seo Jong-gu, do you know this?”

“Yes?”

“That leniency is also on a first-come, first-served basis. If someone else being investigated speaks up first, it won’t matter what you say. It’s already a known fact. Then you’ll take all the blame. You might even get a heavier sentence for denying the crime. Let’s see, if it’s aggravated, how many years would that be?”

“Aggravated?”

Seo Jong-gu shook his head as if he was completely out of it.

“W-wait a minute. Does that mean there are other people being investigated besides me?”

“This guy really doesn’t know anything.”

The detective chuckled.

“Listen, Seo Jong-gu. There are six other people who were caught doing exactly the same thing as you. If they’re going to use people, they should at least change their routine. Isn’t it too cliché to have six people throwing coffee and hitting people in the same way?”

“Okay, that’s enough. No need to say more…” The detective threw the file he was holding onto the desk.

“So, Seo Jong-gu, you don’t know anything, and you just fought because you got into an argument, is that right?”

“…Yes.”

“Then, there’s no need to say more. You can go to the detention center. There’s nothing more to investigate. Did you contact your family? You’ll be in jail until the investigation is over, so contact them in advance.”

“C-can’t I go home?”

“Is this guy messing with me? It seems like he still doesn’t understand the situation.”

The detective shook his head.

“Okay, that’s enough. We’ll investigate again later, so I’ll see you then. Come this way.”

Seo Jong-gu was dumbfounded as he watched the police officer grab his arm and drag him to the detention center in a corner of the police station.

‘Why did it turn out like this?’

He had never heard of an arrest warrant being issued just for throwing coffee at someone. But the way things were going, it was clear that this was not going the way Seo Jong-gu thought it would.

‘Then am I really going to serve time in prison?’

Let’s say he goes to prison.

What if all that money is recovered?

Then Seo Jong-gu would literally not earn a single penny and only serve time in prison.

“W-wait a minute, detective!”

“Don’t waste my time. I’m a busy man.”

“N-no, that’s not it!”

The detective slightly turned his head. The hand that was holding Seo Jong-gu’s arm loosened slightly.

“If I tell you everything, can I avoid prison?”

“That depends…”

The detective chuckled.

“It depends on how cooperative you are, Seo Jong-gu.”

Seo Jong-gu squeezed his eyes shut.

There might be room for more consideration. But if there really were that many people being investigated with him, then that time for consideration would only tighten the noose around Seo Jong-gu’s neck.

“…I’ll talk.”

“Really?”

The detective smiled gently.

“Then let’s go back and sit down. Aren’t you hungry? Should I order you some seolleongtang [ox bone soup]?”

Seo Jong-gu couldn’t bring himself to joke about having to eat the seolleongtang through his nose.

“…They all confessed?”

“All six of them.”

“In one day?”

“I told you.”

Lee Hyun-soo shrugged.

“It’s not that the Korean police are incompetent. If they think they’ve got something, they’re capable of anything.”

“No, then they should have worked like that from the beginning.”

“Geez, it’s not the police’s fault, I’m telling you.”

Lee Hyun-soo chuckled.

Ordinary people could just point out the police’s laziness and be done with it. But those who manage specific groups, like Lee Hyun-soo and Lee Hyun-joo, should never stop their analysis there.

“People who risk getting stabbed in the gut dealing with violent criminals get the same salary as people who do drunk driving checkpoints. Who would want to work hard? If they get hurt, it’s all their fault. And when they retire, who’s going to take care of them?”

“But this is something that can be done just by working hard…”

“That’s not how it is. What’s the point of working your butt off? It’s a world where the person who posts good promotional material on social media gets promoted.”

Lee Hyun-joo closed her mouth.

“People won’t move if there’s no fair evaluation and reward in the first place. Creating a system to properly evaluate all these people is no easy task. The world isn’t that simple.”

If it were that simple, the General Assembly would have already become the most powerful force beyond Hong Wanggye. It’s just that things in the world don’t go as planned.

“Anyway, so they all confessed?”

“Every single one of them confessed.”

“Who’s the culprit?”

“It hasn’t come out yet.”

“Huh?”

Lee Hyun-soo smiled wryly.

“These guys are no ordinary people either. The people who hired them are all different.”

“…Really?”

This was a situation that even Lee Hyun-joo hadn’t anticipated.

“It seems like they hired a kind of errand center through one or two intermediaries. We’ll have to dig a couple of steps deeper to find out where the funds came from and who the main culprit is.”

“What if it gets tangled up?”

“The Korean police are competent, I’m telling you.” Lee Hyun-soo smiled.

‘They can’t escape.’

They might be able to hide their identities, but they can’t hide money. Eventually, following the flow of funds will lead to a result.

“And we can also provide help from our side.”

“…You said not to get involved?”

“We can’t touch those guys. They’re just small fry. They live hand to mouth. They were just lured with money to do the job. When you think about it, they’re pitiful too. A guy who was studying for the civil service exam for four years in Noryangjin [a neighborhood in Seoul known for its cram schools] ran out of living expenses and jumped at a high-paying part-time job. What crime did they commit?”

“They’re bad guys, but…”

“Yeah. They’re not the ones to be so angry at. The problem is the people who told them to do it.”

Lee Hyun-soo smiled.

Errand centers are basically supposed to do only legal work, but some of them also take on dirty jobs like this.

And the place that handles those who live half in the dark the best is the General Assembly.

“For now, let’s see how they work, and if we don’t like it, we’ll have to release a few of our guys. There won’t be a better Doberman.”

Kang Jin-ho, who had been listening to their conversation, opened his mouth.

“Then, all we have to do is find out who ordered it?”

“Ah, I’m not going to wait that long.”

“Hmm?”

“Sales are still falling, so we can’t be that relaxed. This incident itself will be all over the news starting tomorrow. There’s an organized movement to disrupt business, and we’re tracking down the culprit.”

“Is that okay?”

“It’s good to have a big bang all at once, but it’s also fun to unravel things one by one. And…”

Lee Hyun-soo grinned.

“Those bastards need to feel some tension too. The feeling of the media going wild and the police and prosecutors chasing after them with bloodshot eyes is a sensation that most people wouldn’t dare to experience.”

“Whoever it is, they won’t be able to sleep. We need to catch them quickly and let them sleep with their feet up in the detention center. Heh, I’m so merciful.”

Lee Hyun-soo was saying words that would have made Buddha curse him out, with a straight face.