The Inspector Is Getting Promoted! [EN]: Chapter 9

Im Seongjin trembled as if furious, but Song Hyeonseong, observing the scene, approached and gathered the documents scattered on the floor himself.

Chief Baek Seongtak, unsure how to react, avoided eye contact. Eventually, fearing involvement, he urged the other prosecutors to secure their documents and hastily departed.

I ensured Song Hyeonseong collected all the documents and quietly stepped back to avoid interference, but Im Seongjin’s gaze remained fixed on me, piercingly.

While inspectors from the Office of Inspection busily confiscated documents into blue boxes, Im Seongjin gulped water, took a deep breath, and strode toward me.

Park Seungsu, the deputy chief prosecutor, noticed his movement, but Im Seongjin disregarded him entirely.

“How’s Yongho doing?” he asked sarcastically, invading my personal space.

“He was my cherished junior, but it’s a shame he’s gone.”

It was clear he was looking for a fight.

I considered ignoring him, but I didn’t want to give him the satisfaction of thinking he’d won some petty battle of pride.

“Thanks to you, he’s resting well in the countryside. He doesn’t think about Seoul at all.”

“It seems he doesn’t miss it here. It seems he left well.”

“I think you’ll be going to a place with good air soon, so you don’t need to be envious, do you?”

A vein throbbed on his forehead, but I pressed on.

“Ah, there was a house with high walls in Seoul too.”

Im Seongjin’s lips curled into a nonchalant smile, but I noticed the lack of genuine emotion in his eyes.

“Please give my regards to Yongho.”

“Don’t bother, do it yourself. He’ll be coming out as a witness soon, so you can meet him in person and say it.”

He took a ragged breath and stepped closer, his shoulder almost touching mine.

“Hey,” Im Seongjin lowered his voice, laced with venom, ensuring others couldn’t hear.

“If you’re going to kill, kill decisively (확실하게).”

His murderous intent was palpable, but I remained unfazed.

“If I don’t die and survive, you’re the one who’s going to die.”

Im Seongjin twisted his mouth and tapped my shoulder.

“I don’t know if I’ll be able to kill you properly.”

I might have been intimidated in the past, but after several private meetings with Deputy Chief Prosecutor Kim Seokwon, my confidence had grown, and I felt no fear.

I spoke to the back of his head as he turned to leave.

“I have no intention of killing you.”

He stopped abruptly.

“I’ll let you live. Flail around. I want to see even an earthworm wriggle when you step on it.”

He turned, clenching his fist before resuming his departure.

This was sufficient provocation.

His gait betrayed his feelings of humiliation, not just stimulation.

Im Seongjin wasn’t the type to cower and run, even if stripped of everything.

Having suffered such humiliation, he would undoubtedly struggle to retaliate once this situation subsided.

When the situation settles, he will definitely contact the chief prosecutor.

When he tries to climb up by grabbing the lifeline called the chief prosecutor, I can catch both of them connected to that lifeline at the same time.

After Im Seongjin left, Song Hyeonseong quietly approached.

“What did he say? I think he was talking about Shin Yongho.”

I shrugged and replied, “He told me to kill him properly.”

Song Hyeonseong, surprised, frowned and asked, “So, what did you say?”

“I said I wasn’t going to kill him.”

I smiled brightly and added, “Instead of being satisfied with catching a big fish, using it as bait to catch a shark is the real jackpot.”

After dealing with Im Seongjin and then Song Hyeonseong, I sensed the Economic Crime Investigation Department’s intense focus on me.

After all, everyone here knew that Song Hyeonseong and I had planned this operation together.

“I think I need to get some fresh air. Let’s see each other after work.”

“Okay.”

As I turned from Song Hyeonseong and headed for the door, I noticed an intense gaze from the side.

It was Deputy Chief Prosecutor Jo Wonyoung.

Im Seongjin’s right-hand man and the presumed next chief prosecutor.

Or rather, the man who *was* supposed to be promoted.

That guy also did quite a bit of 해 처먹었지 [profiteering/corruption].

Jo Wonyoung glared at me with eyes as fiery as Im Seongjin’s.

Buzzing, buzzing.

My cell phone vibrated, signaling a text message.

I left the Economic Crime Investigation Department’s office, stood by the window, and checked the message.

-Sender: 29

-Photo

This time it’s a photo.

What does that number 29 mean?

Looking at the large headline and the smaller text below, the photo contained an internet news article.

Before I could ponder further, I zoomed in on the photo.

-Deputy Chief Prosecutor Jo Wonyoung, a key figure in 검사 비리 [prosecutorial corruption] including bribery, found dead in a motel!

-Deputy Chief Prosecutor Jo Wonyoung, a central figure in the ‘Economic Crime Investigation Department 비리 사건’ [corruption case] involving the so-called ‘Im Seongjin Line 비리’ [corruption], which has recently ignited public outrage, was found dead in a motel. The prosecution announced that Jo Wonyoung failed to respond to the final summons, leading them to track his whereabouts and discover his body, the cause of death being carbon monoxide poisoning in a motel in Ilsan. In his suicide note, he expressed his inability to cope with the pressure from the prosecution and the public, stating that he was ending his life. The suicide note also contained a brief summary of this 비리 사건 [corruption case], along with his acceptance of full responsibility and apologies to the people and his family. Based on this, it is believed that Deputy Chief Prosecutor Jo Wonyoung committed suicide, taking responsibility for this case. However, the suicide note also voiced serious grievances regarding the Office of Inspection’s oppressive investigation and raised questions about the targeted nature of the investigation, prompting calls for further verification of these claims.

-Reporter Cheol Hyeongwoo, Political District 1

This is insane!

Deputy Chief Jo Wonyoung committed suicide?

The image of him glaring at me with such venom moments ago was still fresh in my mind, and now this.

Reading the article, it seemed Jo Wonyoung was taking all the blame.

That couldn’t happen.

In this typical investigation pattern, if someone takes responsibility and ends their life, the case is usually closed soon after.

Was this Im Seongjin’s escape route?

The scenario: he sacrificed his loyal right-hand man as bait to save himself.

Whether Jo Wonyoung chose death out of loyalty or was coerced through threats, Im Seongjin had undoubtedly cut off a limb to survive.

There’s no way Im Seongjin was unaware of Jo Wonyoung’s death.

The situation couldn’t proceed like this.

If it ended here, not only would I fail to seize Im Seongjin’s lifeline, but it would also completely erase the 비리 [corruption] he had committed.

If I had been caught off guard, I wouldn’t have known, but if I knew that the incident was going to happen and I was caught like that, I’m an idiot.

I will never be such an idiot.

Unfortunately, the article’s upload time wasn’t visible in the photo, so I couldn’t determine the exact date, but considering it had reached the final summons stage, it wouldn’t happen within the next few days.

There was still time.

I had to find a way in the meantime.

A way to persuade Jo Wonyoung and grab Im Seongjin’s lifeline.

***

“When will the data analysis come out?”

“What data?”

“The documents that Im Seongjin was trying to sneak out in the bag at the end.”

“Ah, the analysis is finished.”

Song Hyeonseong handed me a file folder from his desk.

A ledger detailing bribery.

It contained over 90% of the bribes received by the Economic Crime Investigation Department.

Likely written by Im Seongjin.

It meticulously recorded where, when, what for, and how much he received.

“They’re crazy. It’s scary to just eat it, but they wrote it all down.”

Usually, even if the bribe-giver keeps a ledger, the recipients prioritize destroying any trace, but these guys were truly remarkable.

“How much did he 처먹었으면 [gorge/eat] that he wrote it all down because he was afraid he would forget it?”

This wasn’t written from memory.

He must have recorded it accurately each time he received something.

As I opened the first page of the file folder Song Hyeonseong had organized, I had a feeling.

“These bastards were trying to completely frame Shin Yongho.”

The documents in the bag were of two types.

One detailed the actual bribery.

The other was the phone call history of three prosecutors demoted to 지방 [rural areas/provinces], including Shin Yongho.

It was obvious.

They were trying to match the location and time of the bribery with the 이동 기록 [movement records] from cell tower data in the phone call history.

If this ledger was completed, the bribery charges would fall on those three prosecutors, not the Economic Crime Investigation Department.

I could easily imagine it; they were trying to put a plan that they couldn’t put into practice into action.

If the warrant had been issued just one day later, it probably would have gone their way.

These guys inspire admiration the more you investigate them.

“The only downside is that the actual content of the bribery is also a copy of the file created by 옮겨서 [moving/transferring] it to a computer once. If there was an actual ledger, we could know, but it’s a printout, so we can’t even do a handwriting analysis.”

I didn’t expect that much.

He’s not an ordinary guy, and there’s no way Im Seongjin would have left such traces.

The Economic Crime Investigation Department took bribes, but there’s no evidence that Im Seongjin did.

Using that as an excuse, Im Seongjin will somehow get away with it.

This was Deputy Chief Prosecutor Kim Seokwon’s initial concern, and a fact I fully understood.

However, it was enough to prove that Im Seongjin’s media play to cover up the bribery of the demoted prosecutors, including Shin Yongho, was false.

This alone would significantly weaken Im Seongjin’s position.

“I’ll contact Yongho and the other prosecutors first. Yongho may not be worried, but the other two must be worried about 불똥 튈까 봐 [getting burned/splashed by the fire], right?”

Song Hyeonseong said, reaching for his cell phone, but I grabbed his wrist and shook my head.

“No.”

“Why? Those people must be very anxious. Wouldn’t it be better to tell them in advance?”

“Even a mouse bites a cat when cornered.”

He frowned, confused.

“Jeong Wonho, Han Heeju. If it becomes clear that they can live, will they try to testify?”

“Ah!”

Only then did Song Hyeonseong seem to understand.

If the two prosecutors knew their lives were safe, they wouldn’t commit to either side to protect their titles as prosecutors, even in 지방 [rural areas/provinces].

If they 반기를 들었다 [rebelled] against Im Seongjin for no reason and he doesn’t collapse, they might not only be demoted but also lose their positions as prosecutors.

However, if time passes like this, they will stick to us to survive, thinking that Im Seongjin is trying to cover up their crimes.

That way, it becomes possible to receive additional testimony from two people who can 몰 수 있는 [drive/corner] Im Seongjin as a criminal.

It’s like making Im Seongjin’s initial 언플 [media play] a 자충수 [self-destructive move].

Song Hyeonseong admired and put his hand on my shoulder.

“This bastard, your head is 장난 아니네 [no joke/amazing].”

“Of course, you idiot. Who do you think I am?”

I’m the person who will become the king of this world right away?