The Inspector Is Getting Promoted! [EN]: Chapter 120

Prosecutor, You’re Going Places! – 120

Winter (7)

-Oh, Chief Choi. You sound so down. Are you eating properly?

“Ah, yes. Minister. Thank you.”

-Thank you? I’m the one who’s sorry I can’t help. If there’s anything I can do or anything you need, let me know anytime. I’ll help you even if I have to put my position on the line.

Kim Seok-won became the Minister of Justice.

Kim Seok-won, known for his integrity, didn’t hold back his support and help for me, even after this incident broke out.

He only regretted that he couldn’t help.

-I met with the President the day before yesterday, and it seems the President is also trying to suppress the media as much as possible. As long as this doesn’t lead to a catastrophe, he’ll use his power to help you hold on, so hang in there a little longer.

Having received help from Kyung Dong-soo once, he continued to help me until the end.

“Thank you so much.”

-Really, you don’t need anything?

“No, not yet.”

-Okay. Let me know if you need anything, even financially.

“Thank you.”

He didn’t ask about bribery or anything that would put me in a difficult position.

Just words of encouragement and support.

Because it was such a sensitive matter, Kyung Dong-soo couldn’t contact me directly, but I knew he was helping me.

I could feel it even without Kim Seok-won saying anything.

However, as much as these great figures were helping me, the actions of those who turned their backs on me seemed so hypocritical.

When things were going well, they wagged their tails and tried to please me, but now that I’m in a pinch, they act like they have no connection to me, like they don’t know me.

They were even more infuriating than Chief Kang Joong-sik.

I pulled them up and helped them so much because they were on the number one line…….

Seo Ki-woong was better.

Chief Prosecutor Seo Ki-woong, the epitome of integrity, initially called me to his office a few times to tell me to resolve the issue well, and then stopped.

I could understand him well enough.

Because he had lived his whole life with integrity as his motto, his sense of betrayal towards me would be even greater.

I was more sorry than anything, and grateful that he didn’t scold me.

However, amidst all these betrayals, Deputy Chief Prosecutor Lee Doo-hyung, Prosecutor Jang Ha-young, and Prosecutor Jung Hyun-woo, who were my direct subordinates, were struggling to save me.

They were collectively exposing the incidents where True Media had put people in public office in trouble by spreading uncertain information, thereby undermining True Media’s credibility.

A method of undermining the credibility of their announcements.

In addition, they were attacking Viper, but because he was in a frenzy mode, biting at me and the case, they couldn’t easily stop him.

That’s how certain the information he had on me was.

I already knew what cards Viper, Chief Kang Joong-sik, had.

When Prosecutor Jung Hyun-woo was in the Busan District Prosecutors’ Office, I told him to properly secure just one person, and that one person came up to Seoul from the Busan District Prosecutors’ Office this time and was one of the only ten survivors.

I secured him because there was no evidence to bring him down, but it was a lucky situation that unexpectedly hit the mark.

Thanks to him, I succeeded in stealing data from Chief Kang Joong-sik.

But that’s why I couldn’t move.

He knew exactly about the 1 billion won I had hidden and was watching it.

I should have used the prosecutor secured by Jung Hyun-woo to strike Viper faster, but my miscalculation was being complacent with sending the nine prosecutors who came up from the Busan District Prosecutors’ Office.

Thanks to the desperate situation, I gained one thing.

Because I hit rock bottom, I could distinguish between my true people and those who were superficially flattering me.

PD [Production Director] Song Jae-hoon and Reporter Park Soo-hyung were also passing on the information they had obtained from their positions and helping me as much as possible, but the situation was not improving as much as I thought.

If I couldn’t resolve that 1 billion won, I couldn’t overcome this situation.

If a future text message came and helped me just once at times like this, I could reverse the situation, but so far, there hasn’t been a message or even a vibration.

Has the text message given up too?

It seems like I can’t overcome it with my own strength.

The more time passes, the more my head is filled with negative thoughts.

While I was repeatedly contemplating, my cell phone suddenly vibrated.

I was startled, thinking it might be a text message, and picked up my phone.

-Sender: Yoon Seol-ha

Feeling disappointed, I pressed the call button.

“Yes, Investigator.”

-Chief, have you eaten?

Somehow, everyone knows that I haven’t eaten for several days, and they ask if I’ve eaten first.

I vaguely answered, thinking that if I said I hadn’t eaten, they would tell me to eat, especially at times like this.

“I’ve had something.”

-That’s a relief. You sounded so weak…….

She went straight to the point.

-It seems like we’re still getting requests for press conferences. Fortunately, the amount of coverage from the media has decreased, but the public’s interest hasn’t waned yet…….

“Keep postponing it with the excuse of sick leave. I don’t think there’s any other answer right now.”

-Yes. I’ve already told them that. I thought you should know, Chief.

“Thank you.”

After a moment of silence, she said in an apologetic tone.

-The Deputy Chief and the prosecutors and I are really running around, but we still haven’t found a way to defeat Viper. I’m really sorry.

“No. It’s not something to be sorry about.”

-I’m really sorry. I promised to protect you for the rest of my life…….

She couldn’t hide her overwhelmed emotions and stopped talking, biting her lip.

“It’s not over until it’s over. I haven’t collapsed yet.”

-Chief, you need to eat something. You sound so weak that it breaks my heart. I’ve never heard you sound like this before, so it’s even more…….

She couldn’t continue and there was a long silence.

Yoon Seol-ha, who was so cold-blooded, seemed to be holding back tears because my voice broke her heart.

About five minutes of silence passed.

She opened her mouth with difficulty over the phone.

-I’ll figure it out somehow.

“Yes, thank you.”

I ignored Yoon Seol-ha’s last words.

This wasn’t something that could be overcome with the power of a single investigator.

Unless she could seduce Viper, I thought it was impossible.

No matter how capable Yoon Seol-ha was, it was greedy to expect even this.

I had to solve it with my own strength somehow.

***

Two days later, I received a call from an unknown cell phone number.

I hesitated whether to answer it or not, but I pressed the call button with difficulty.

“This is Choi Seo-joon.”

-Prosecutor Choi. Are you feeling better?

A low voice.

I felt like his voice was resonating even more grandly, perhaps because I had been under a lot of stress for several days.

“Yes. I’m doing okay, President.”

President Kyung Dong-soo, who had never called and had only sent news through Minister of Justice Kim Seok-won, called me directly.

Seeing that the caller ID was unfamiliar, it seemed to be a different cell phone altogether, not a burner phone.

-You need to take good care of yourself, especially at times like this. You have to protect your health first to have a future.

“……Thank you.”

He asked a simple greeting and went straight to the point.

-Actually, I also checked what information Public Security Chief Kang Joong-sik has.

It seemed to have reached President Kyung Dong-soo’s hands.

It was devastating.

Because it was like my weaknesses were exposed.

-Rather than dragging it out and making it worse, wouldn’t it be better to take off your robe now and rest for just one or two years?

He immediately continued, as if worried that I might misunderstand.

-I’m definitely not thinking of cutting you off as soon as you step down here. I still have more than four years left in my term. I can reappoint you when people have forgotten about you. There’s plenty of time.

It was actually possible.

Judging from President Kyung Dong-soo’s style, he wasn’t the type of person to cut someone off and pretend not to know them.

However, taking off my robe now and being reappointed by him later was, frankly speaking, no different from being abandoned.

If that happened, I could live out my days as a mediocre prosecutor, but I could never live the life I wanted.

The end of power. The act of ascending to the throne.

That would become impossible.

If I endure somehow, even if I get hurt now, there’s a possibility of achieving that dream, but if I step down here, it’s no different from all the dreams I’ve had so far becoming a pipe dream.

Everything I’ve built up so far will disappear like bubbles.

However, on the one hand, his words were right, and the thought that choosing that was the only way to overcome the current situation was slowly rising.

And I was so ashamed of the fact that I was thinking that.

It wasn’t that I resented the favor he was doing, but I was disappointed in myself for thinking that it would be okay to live by clinging to Kyung Dong-soo.

How did I get this far, but I’m thinking that it would be okay to live by clinging to Kyung Dong-soo?

However, I couldn’t just reject it in the current situation.

I bit my lip and answered with difficulty.

“……I’ll think about it.”

-It would be better to decide quickly. If the controversy gets any worse, it won’t be easy for me to promise the next time either.

“I understand.”

-Yes. Then take care of yourself and I’ll see you in Seoul next time.

“Goodbye.”

As soon as I hung up his phone, only a sigh escaped.

Han Ji-yoo, who had been quietly watching me, carefully approached me.

She silently took my hand and sat there for a long time.

How long had it been?

She carefully opened her mouth, watching my expression.

“Oppa [ term of endearment for an older brother or male friend], if it’s really hard…….”

She carefully refined her words, worrying that she might hurt my pride, and then said.

“I’m on your side no matter what happens, and I’ll be on your side in the future too. I can solve the financial part and other parts, so if it seems too difficult, you can give up everything and rely on me.”

As soon as I heard those words, I felt something welling up inside me.

Han Ji-yoo.

No.

It has to be Han Ji-yoo.

I have to catch this woman.

I’ve never met a woman who cares about me so much, and I never will in the future.

The words “Let’s get married” came up to my throat, but there’s nothing more uncool and pathetic than impulsively proposing in this situation where I’m cornered.

I can only make a vow to overcome this situation and then propose in a very splendid way.

I couldn’t say anything right now.

All I could do was say thank you as I looked at Han Ji-yoo, who was holding me in her arms.

That cold winter day, when the cold wave didn’t seem to stop.

That day, which seemed like it would never end, seemed like it would be remembered as the most miserable day of my life.

But that night.

A very big reversal happened.

The reversal I had desperately wanted.

In an unexpected direction.