The Cop Is Too Strong [EN]: Chapter 172

172. Change of Heart

A darkened office.

A man stands before the panoramic window, illuminated by the moonlight, gazing down at the night streets sparkling with neon signs.

Teacher Cheon, with his neatly combed white hair and gleaming skin, was approached silently from behind by Manager Ma.

“Royce is in contact with Shin Haesu.”

“Is that so? That friend will do well, right, Ilseong?”

“They lynched Royce. Shin Haesu was on the scene, so he avoided serious injury.”

At the word ‘lynch,’ Teacher Cheon turned his head and clicked his tongue.

“Tsk, that’s why they can’t do it. Ilseong people just don’t fit in with us. Manager Ma, assist him.”

“Yes, understood, Teacher.”

Manager Ma’s figure faded into the shadows.

* * *

Thump, thump, thump, thump.

Inside a club where music blared loudly, Royce Kim was lost in dancing, not even bothering to wipe the blood from his face, scratched by glass shards.

Tall with striking features, his undeniable wealth always attracted women around Royce Kim.

Despite having just gone through a major ordeal, he danced intimately with women as if he had no worries.

Shin Haesu watched him from a distance, sipping a drink before heading to the restroom.

Royce Kim glanced at Haesu’s figure.

“Ladies, that’s enough, stop, I want to rest.”

“Oh, are we going to rest?”

“Oh no no, I’m resting, it was fun.”

He sat at the table where Haesu had been, lost in thought.

Soon, Haesu arrived, and he quickly erased his stiff expression and raised his glass.

“Brother! We have to drink today! I’ll call a designated driver, drink, drink!”

Haesu chuckled and only clinked glasses.

Royce Kim downed a glass in one gulp and silently stared at Haesu for a moment.

“Get lost, you’re cheesy.”

“Brother, do you trust me one hundred percent?”

Haesu pushed away his face as he reached out with his hand and replied.

“I don’t trust you.”

“Then why did you take that steel pipe for me earlier?”

Haesu picked up some snacks and answered nonchalantly.

“Because I’m a cop.”

“Oh shit, brother, you were even cheesier than Royce just now.”

Royce Kim rubbed his arms with both hands, acting exaggeratedly. However, his eyes, as he looked at Haesu, held a strangely complex look.

* * *

That night, Haru, who had logged into the game after a long time, found a piece of mail.

[Seoeunidang: Haru, if you see this, please tell Shin Haesu. Your new partner, Royce Kim, is likely a member of the Chilseong Society [Seven Stars Society, a Korean criminal organization]. Royce Kim is a negotiation expert.]

“Ah….”

Haru didn’t know what the Chilseong Society was, but she roughly knew from what Haesu had told her.

Ttidik – Cheolkeok

Just then, the front door opened. Haru jumped up and hurried to the entrance.

“Haesu-nim! Seoeun… Heok!”

Haru was horrified at Haesu’s condition. His clothes were torn in several places, and his face had scratches from something sharp.

“It’s okay, it’s okay.”

Haesu patted Haru’s head, who had wide, startled eyes, and came in, taking off his coat. Then, the wounds on his forearms and shoulders, caused by blocking the steel pipe, became more prominent.

Haru grabbed a sharp dagger from somewhere, stuck it in her waistband, and said to Haesu with a murderous look.

“Did that Royce Kim do this? I will immediately pop that guy’s head off like a bottle cap.”

Haesu was examining his wounds in the mirror when he saw Haru, fully dressed in special stab-proof gear, and waved his hand.

“It’s nothing, don’t make a fuss.”

Then he paused as he was about to look at the wound again.

“By the way, how do you know Royce Kim?”

Haru had never seen Royce Kim, nor had Haesu told her his name.

“I heard it from Seoeun-nim. That person is likely a member of the Chilseong Society. That person is a negotiator. Do not partner with that person.”

“Seoeun? By phone?”

Under the assumption that Ahn Seoeun was being monitored by the Chilseong Society, they were told to refrain from contacting each other because contacting Seoeun would put Haru in danger as well.

Haru shook her head.

“We talked in Exit [a virtual reality platform in the story].”

“Ah….”

Only then did Haesu remember how he had contacted Ahn Seoeun when she was imprisoned.

“Is conversation still possible now?”

“It is possible. Seoeun-nim is almost always fully logged in.”

Haesu sent a whisper to Seoeun through Haru’s account.

[Harusal-i: Ahn Seoeun-ssi, this is Shin Haesu.]

[Seoeunidang: Ah yes, did that Royce Kim approach you first?]

[Harusal-i: Yes, I’m sorry about earlier. I spoke strongly on purpose because he was watching.]

[Seoeunidang: …I see, I was really hurt.]

[Harusal-i: I’m sorry. I have nothing to say.]

[Seoeunidang: You can repay me later, with a meal or something, anyway, don’t hang out with that person.]

[Harusal-i: I know. He revealed it himself.]

Haesu told Seoeun about what had happened with Royce Kim so far.

It was now certain that Daesung, where Seoeun was, was Chilseong Society, but after experiencing several incidents, it was also certain that Seoeun was not someone who would betray them.

[Seoeunidang: Still, the risk is high… He has a wide range of methods and means, as a negotiator. You never know when or how he will trap Haesu-ssi.]

[Harusal-i: The basis of a lie is 90% truth and 10% lie, isn’t it? To lie in front of a veteran detective, I expect him to mix at least half of the truth, and I plan to continue this dangerous journey for the time being, even to gather that information.]

[Seoeunidang: If Haesu-ssi says so, there’s nothing I can do… If anything happens, be sure to ask me for help with this. I’m always logged in.]

[Harusal-i: Thank you. For the day when we become partners again.]

Haesu suddenly struck a pose of raising a beer glass with Haru’s character.

[Seoeunidang: Cheers, cheers;;]

Seoeun was flustered but struck a matching toast pose.

* * *

After that, Haesu, hand in hand with Royce Kim, did not stop attacking Ilseong.

No matter how solid a castle is, it will inevitably collapse if you keep removing bricks.

Moreover, the Ilseong Group was a castle built of mud bricks, only large in area.

As a result, the stock price plummeted by half, and executives from subsidiaries to the headquarters were being replaced in real-time.

Jung Youngsu, who was asked to investigate Royce Kim, had found nothing unusual other than his complicated relationships with women. It was also true that he held a high position in a large foreign investment firm, as he had introduced himself.

* * *

Today was the day Haesu was going to meet Royce Kim’s informant with him.

It was a case that needed to be verified directly at the Ilseong Corporation headquarters, and Royce Kim, who was supposed to go with him, had an urgent matter and couldn’t make it, so Haesu was heading to the meeting place alone.

Now, the Ilseong Corporation headquarters building was just in sight.

Jiiiiing, jiiiiing.

The 2G phone [older generation mobile phone] in his inside pocket rang. It was a call from Royce Kim. Haesu tapped his earpiece to answer the call.

“Yeah, I’m almost there.”

-Brother, stop.

A calm voice, a chilling feeling, Haesu immediately slammed on the brakes. Royce Kim’s voice was so different from usual.

“What is it?”

-You had a car accident a few days ago and left it for repair, and you picked it up last night, right?

“Yeah.”

-I thought so, anyway… cancel today’s appointment, the informant is in danger, so I withdrew him.

“What are you talking about? Speak clearly.”

-God bless you, may God be with you.

“Royce Kim.”

Click.

The call was cut off immediately. Royce Kim had never hung up first. He was always talking non-stop, and Haesu would just cut him off in the middle.

Feeling uneasy, Haesu called back, but.

[The phone is turned off and will be connected to voicemail…]

Haesu frowned and looked at his cell phone, then suddenly remembered what he had said.

‘Car accident….’

Haesu got out of the car and headed to the trunk. When he opened the trunk, there were two tightly sealed apple boxes.

Buuuuuk-

He tore them open without hesitation, and they were full of 50,000 won bills [Korean currency, equivalent to approximately $40 USD].

Roughly, it looked like it was over several billion won [millions of US dollars].

Take this and go deep into the Ilseong Corporation headquarters?

It was a perfect setup to link Ilseong and Haesu and bring them both down.

Haesu closed the trunk again and called Jung Youngsu.

-Yes, Detective Shin?

“Write down this number, 010…

-Yes, yes, location tracking?

“Yeah, right away.”

After hanging up, Haesu immediately made a U-turn and headed to the police station to deposit the money, his face coldly sinking.

* * *

At the same time.

Royce Kim, who had hung up the phone, looked down at what he was holding in his hand with a bitter expression.

Call history, text messages exchanged, dozens of photos of Haesu and Royce Kim together.

Data collected to trap Haesu in a big trap and bring him down in an instant.

“Tsk.”

He clicked his tongue once and threw the data into the drum can that was burning brightly in front of him. Then, he also threw in the cell phone he had last talked to Haesu with.

* * *

Haesu tried to track Royce Kim’s cell phone, but he couldn’t find the location. This was due to the nature of 2G phones, which made it difficult to track the location unless they were in a call.

He decided to wait for contact for about a day, and then Haesu went straight to the repair shop where he had left the car. He even demanded CCTV footage and investigated, but the mechanics were clueless.

It was something that would be exposed soon, so it seemed like they had secretly left the money without getting caught.

That night, an email arrived from an unknown sender.

-To Brother

Brother, it was fun while it lasted, whether by choice or not, the time I spent with you was fun and refreshing.

Let’s put aside the unnecessary sentimentality and get straight to the point.

The Chilseong Society is a violent group. There is a company called the Tactical Training Group, and it is still in progress.

That alone shows the tendency of the Chilseong Society, which is to eliminate anything that goes wrong. They don’t go around in circles; the thing they do best is to handle it as an accident.

There is only one opponent they have not been able to defeat with force, and that is you.

Still, be careful, because their style is to uproot anything that doesn’t break, and you can’t dodge bullets, can you, brother?

The Chilseong Society seems to be the strongest group in the world with nothing to fear, but surprisingly, its weaknesses are clear: seven different groups are gathered to pursue profits.

They are holding each other’s hands, but if it gets in the way of their profits, they will not hesitate to stab each other in the back.

The downfall of Ilseong is Teacher Cheon’s instruction.

And Ilseong will soon find this out.

By the time you receive this email, I probably won’t be around, either out of this country or out of this world.

Brother, you are a true cop. I’ll cheer you on in my own way.

[File, File, File]

Attached at the end were files of Chilseong Society members and information on the weaknesses of Chilseong Society companies that he had collected.

Haesu smacked his lips bitterly.

The person who sent the email was clearly Royce Kim.

Judging from the contents, it was clear that he was trying to betray him, but he didn’t know why he changed his mind later or why he gave him such a big bomb [valuable information].

But.

Haesu immediately got up, grabbed his coat, and called Youngsu.

“Youngsu, can you track this email?”

-…Yes?

I need to catch him and hear the story in person.