The Heavenly Demon Can't Live A Normal Life [EN]: Chapter 492

Moon Tae-joon gripped his pen so tightly that his knuckles turned white. He could hardly believe what he was hearing.

The report from his assistant was unbelievable. It was shocking.

“…Jo Min-woo lost? No, are you saying he’s *dead*?” Moon Tae-joon’s voice was barely a whisper.

“Yes, sir,” the assistant replied. “Jo Min-woo died during his test with Lee Tae-sung. And all thirty-one people from Incheon’s special unit passed their tests. What should we do with them? We’ve stopped them from going back to Incheon, but we don’t have a reason to punish them just because they are from Incheon.”

“This is crazy!” Moon Tae-joon exclaimed, pushing back from his desk.

The room seemed to spin for a moment. He felt dizzy and sick.

Thirty-one successful candidates. That alone was shocking, but the real problem was the death of Jo Min-woo, a valuable person in the central government.

‘Jo Min-woo works with Jo Dal-soo, a powerful leader from the Geumcheon area. I tried very hard to get his help for this, and now, if I say that Jo Min-woo is dead, everything will fall apart. How could this happen? The intelligence bureau told me that Lee Tae-sung couldn’t possibly beat Jo Min-woo, but he and his entire unit passed the test. Something I don’t know about is happening in Incheon.’

His mouth went dry.

Investigators from the central government were powerful. But council members like Jo Dal-soo were even more powerful.

Geumcheon-gu didn’t have a formal ‘council’ that included Jo Dal-soo.

In South Korea, powerful leaders are chosen by the President to oversee different areas.

So, Jo Dal-soo was like a king in Geumcheon-gu.

Moon Tae-joon had used him as a supporter, and now, the man’s prized Jo Min-woo was dead because of it.

‘Council Member Jo Dal-soo will never let this go. The problem is that I started this, so if I do nothing, I might end up taking all the blame.’

It was simple.

An important Hunter had died, and a valuable person connected to Council Member Jo Dal-soo’s power had been lost. Someone needed to be blamed.

Even if that someone was an investigator like him, there would be no escape.

Jo Min-woo’s death would weaken Geumcheon-gu’s power, so Jo Dal-soo would want to show his anger.

He felt helpless.

There was no way to fix the situation.

So, Moon Tae-joon needed to divert Jo Dal-soo’s anger as much as possible.

Moon Tae-joon spoke.

“Arrest Lee Tae-sung right away for killing Jo Min-woo on purpose.”

Lee Tae-sung was moved to another room.

It was a storage room in the promotion examination hall, turned into a temporary interrogation room.

The atmosphere was serious.

With the Capital Guardians standing guard, Moon Tae-joon entered the interrogation room and met Lee Tae-sung.

Click.

“Lee Tae-sung. Remember that everything we say from now on is being recorded. I’ll be direct. Why did you intentionally kill Jo Min-woo, the promotion examiner?”

“…I didn’t mean to kill him. He attacked to kill, and I was only defending myself.”

“Of course. That’s what you would say.”

Moon Tae-joon twitched.

Lee Tae-sung was probably innocent.

Moon Tae-joon knew the truth, but from now on, that truth was not important.

Lee Tae-sung was being made a scapegoat.

He was someone to take the blame for Moon Tae-joon’s actions. By getting rid of Lee Tae-sung, he could weaken the Incheon government’s power.

Killing two birds with one stone.

He wanted to use this bad situation to his advantage.

Moon Tae-joon said.

“The examiner who saw what happened said that the fight was within the rules of the test, but you suddenly used a terrible attack that blew Jo Min-woo’s head off. Lee Tae-sung, that’s why you’re here. Promotion tests can get intense, but no one uses such a cruel move as to blow off someone’s head. We think you intentionally killed him, and the problem is that the person you killed was A-rank Hunter Jo Min-woo. He was a valuable person that South Korea can’t afford to lose.”

“I want a formal trial. I was clearly defending myself.”

“Self-defense, you say? If you worked for the central government, we might have considered your excuse.”

The opponent’s weakness.

His affiliation.

The fact that he belonged to the Incheon government made Moon Tae-joon’s words stronger.

“The Incheon government has committed treason by openly going against the central government. You say you’re taking an independent path, but we can’t just accept that. Why? Because no other region in South Korea is like Incheon. Only Incheon has defied the central government’s orders, and that’s why I think this incident is part of that defiance. You, with your rebellious attitude toward the central government, intentionally killed a valuable person in the central government in a terrible crime.”

“Wh, what are you talking about!”

“So confess quickly. Tell the truth. If you tell the truth, I’ll make sure you have a decent life in prison. But if you keep denying the truth, you’ll be sent to the northern region.”

The North.

The land that was once North Korea had been destroyed during the first Great Cataclysm.

Monsters filled the land where no one could live, and with each Great Cataclysm, South Korea built a defensive barrier around Cheorwon because of the monsters coming from the north.

Being sent there meant a painful death.

In Moon Tae-joon’s eyes, which gleamed with murderous intent, Lee Tae-sung knew that the truth wouldn’t matter.

The opponent had already decided on the answer.

Seeing how desperately he wanted to hear the answer he wanted, Lee Tae-sung stayed silent.

‘If I say it was Incheon’s fault, Moon Tae-joon will use the central government to destroy the Incheon government.’

He couldn’t allow that.

He would rather die.

Incheon had a new hope in Roman Dmitry, and Kim Jun-hyuk was finally making his dream of a strong Incheon come true.

He didn’t want to ruin that dream.

He wanted to watch Incheon change with him, but he didn’t want the entire Incheon to suffer because of his actions.

He felt bad about himself.

If he had been stronger.

If he had been skilled enough to beat Jo Min-woo without killing him, he could have avoided this.

……

Continued silence.

Lee Tae-sung’s will was clear.

That wasn’t bad either.

Moon Tae-joon had planned to kill Lee Tae-sung to end this, but suddenly a guardian outside signaled him.

Creak.

“What is it?”

“Roman Dmitry from Incheon has come to meet Investigator Moon Tae-joon.”

“Roman Dmitry?”

It was unexpected.

He had disappeared a month ago, and now he suddenly appeared in Seoul.

Moon Tae-joon smiled.

“Interesting. Bring him in right away. I need to see the face of that liar, Roman Dmitry.”

It was familiar.

Moon Tae-joon, Roman Dmitry, and Kim Jun-hyuk.

Sitting across from each other, Moon Tae-joon smiled wryly.

“Where have you been all this time? Well, that’s not important to this case, so I won’t ask. However, the charge that Lee Tae-sung, from the Incheon government, intentionally killed A-rank Hunter Jo Min-woo, a valuable person in South Korea, is a serious crime that can’t be excused.”

Creak.

He crossed his legs.

This was Seoul.

The fact that this was the central government’s territory gave Moon Tae-joon great power.

However.

“You’re talking nonsense.”

“What?”

Roman Dmitry reacted coldly.

Unable to understand the disrespect, Moon Tae-joon twisted his expression and tried to yell at him.

Before he could.

Roman Dmitry spoke first.

“Investigator Moon Tae-joon, even though you clearly don’t like Incheon, why do you think I’ve been polite in our talks? Because of your power? Because of the central government? No. It’s because many lives depend on our conversation. The words and actions of those in charge carry a lot of weight.”

“What are you talking about?”

“I’m telling you to be careful. Your words could lead to the death of all your people.”

He gave a look.

Even without being told, Kim Jun-hyuk knew it was his turn to speak.

“Hunters in the special unit all wear body cameras. The footage is sent to me right away, so I was able to see what happened at the promotion exam without sharing the exam footage. This is that data. If you watch the video, you can see that Jo Min-woo clearly tried to kill Lee Tae-sung before Lee Tae-sung killed him. I ask you, Investigator Moon Tae-joon, who was at fault? Was Lee Tae-sung supposed to just let himself be killed by someone who was trying to kill him?”

He slid the data over.

Moon Tae-joon’s eyes flickered.

Framing someone starts with ignoring the opponent’s evidence, but he hadn’t expected them to have evidence like this.

Everything was unexpected.

Roman Dmitry’s attitude.

Kim Jun-hyuk’s evidence.

In the middle of his confusion, Roman Dmitry’s cold voice was heard.

“Incheon knows what’s going on. The central government has been openly watching the Incheon government, and during the exam, they showed they wanted to kill Lee Tae-sung, a valuable person in Incheon. And when that didn’t work, they blamed Lee Tae-sung. Investigator Moon Tae-joon, from now on, I’m going to see the central government’s actions as a declaration of war against Incheon. What do you think about that?”

He felt trapped.

He was shocked.

The words Roman Dmitry had said were not allowed for the weak, like the Incheon government.

‘Those Incheon guys must be crazy. How dare they even talk about a declaration of war against the central government!’

Declaration of war.

He felt a chill.

He had thought that a small threat would make the opponent back down.

That had been the usual way of doing things, but from beginning to end, the situation had not gone his way.

Anger rose.

This was not something he could ignore.

Meeting the sharp look directed at him, Moon Tae-joon let out his anger.

Wham!

“What the hell are you trying to do?!”

He raised his voice.

There was no reason to be scared by the opponent’s threat.

In the small land of South Korea, the central government had absolute power that no one dared to challenge.

Incheon?

They could destroy those things in a day.

“You crazy guys. I knew it. You meant to commit treason against the central government from the start, and that’s why you had Lee Tae-sung kill Jo Min-woo. Do you think you can get away with acting like that in South Korea? Just wait. I’ll contact my superiors right away and report your terrible actions, and the President won’t let such a terrible group cause chaos. Roman Dmitry, your threats as a con artist don’t work here anymore.”

He kicked his chair back and stood up.

He was about to leave.

“Those words. I’ll take them as a declaration of war.”

“Do as you….”

Thwack!

Wham!

It happened suddenly.

He tried to ignore Roman Dmitry’s words, but before he could finish, his face was slammed into the table.

Crack!

Blood splattered from his face.

The Capital Guardians quickly tried to draw their weapons, but they couldn’t move as if they were frozen.

Intense murderous intent.