The Inspector Is Getting Promoted! [EN]: Chapter 45

Prosecutor, You’re Going Places! – Episode 45 (45/341)

The Hilt (1)

“How about it? Can you take care of it for me?”

The President’s request.

It’s not exactly welcome, but it’s not something I should shy away from either.

If he isn’t impeached, I’ll have secured a solid connection.

Now that things have come to this, all I can do is hope for the best.

I had no choice here.

Fulfill his request and bask in the President’s favor.

Stay firm until he’s impeached.

But create an escape route for myself the moment he is.

That’s the best-case scenario I’m envisioning.

“Yes, anything you say, sir.”

“The Vice Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism.”

The President got straight to the point.

“I want that guy out of office.”

The Vice Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism, huh?

He’s already asking for a vice-ministerial level favor right off the bat.

He’s really thinking big, as expected of the President.

“If you’re referring to the Vice Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism, are you talking about Vice Minister Park Seong-hyun?”

“Yeah. That guy’s been giving me a lot of headaches lately.”

“Wouldn’t it be better for you to deal with a vice-ministerial level official directly, sir?”

“How can I take down someone I appointed myself?”

Judging by his brazen tone, it sounds like he’s planning to milk everything he can from him and then discard him once he’s no longer useful.

“Do you have any plans or methods in mind?”

“Hey, Prosecutor Choi should be the one figuring that out. I have too much national business to take care of to think about things like that.”

You son of a bitch.

He’s not even giving me any leads and expects me to take down a vice minister on my own.

The fact that the President called me for something like this means he’s testing me.

If there are no problems, this is an opportunity for me to become his closest confidant.

Even if he’s a dangerous figure, I can’t afford to miss this opportunity.

The moment I succeed, his power will be mine for the duration of his term.

I need to get everything I can before he gets impeached.

“So, would you prefer a large-scale approach or a small-scale one?”

“A large one would be better, wouldn’t it? I don’t want him ever returning to politics.”

I could hear the President’s sinister laughter over the phone.

“If anyone gets caught in the crossfire while you’re wielding the sword, I’ll take responsibility for them, so don’t worry.”

“Understood.”

“Alright, Prosecutor Choi. I’m counting on you.”

He ended the call with those brief words.

The Vice Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism.

A figure in a position that seems to have no connection to the prosecution.

How am I supposed to bring him down?

The sound of cold wind seeps in through the gaps in the windows of the officetel [a type of studio apartment commonly found in South Korea].

It doesn’t seem like it’ll be an easy task.

Buzz, buzz.

As soon as I had that thought, my phone vibrated.

-Sender: 26

-Video

Wait, what is this?

The sender is 26.

A message from the future… no, the term ‘message from the future’ isn’t quite right.

It seems there are still things I don’t know about these messages.

I need to check the contents of the message first to know for sure.

I immediately played the video.

“Come over here.”

A man’s authoritative voice is heard.

“J-just a moment.”

A woman’s terrified voice.

“I said, come over here.”

The voice is forceful, but the screen is still black.

The voice sounds familiar.

“The zipper is caught on my dress…”

“I don’t care, turn on the light and stand properly in front of me.”

Click-!

Instantly, the video screen brightened, and the figures of the two men and women talking came into view.

The man is Park Seong-hyun, the Vice Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism.

He’s naked except for a gown, staring intently at the woman.

The woman who turned on the light is… huh?

No way, this video…

“Hehehe, come here.”

Vice Minister Park Seong-hyun slyly grabbed the woman’s wrist and pulled her towards him.

“You said you’re twenty-three years old?”

“……Yes.”

“Good, now Eun-jeong, you can end your days as an extra. Right?”

The woman nodded, tears welling up in her eyes.

“Come here.”

The man personally took off the dress the woman was wearing.

As her skin was revealed, clear, blue bruises were visible on her abdomen and thighs, unlike the rest of her skin.

“Haa.”

Unlike me, who couldn’t help but sigh deeply at the sight, Vice Minister Park Seong-hyun in the video seemed to care nothing for the bruises, only revealing his greed as he desperately tried to embrace the woman.

“Heueueu, I’ll make sure you get a good role this time.”

“……”

Vice Minister Park Seong-hyun couldn’t hold back and stood up, untying the string that was holding his gown together.

At that moment, the video ended.

These pieces of trash.

Seeing this disgusting scene with my own eyes, it was hard to hold back the curses that were bubbling up.

“Hoo.”

I ran my hand through my hair, took my eyes off the phone, and looked out the window.

Suddenly, looking at my reflection in the window, I realized that my eyes were already red and teary.

That’s because this video was a sad story that revealed the whole truth of a truly tragic incident.

The woman in the video is Choi Eun-jeong.

She’s the one who revealed a few years ago that she had been forced into sexual favors led by the CEO of her agency.

She testified that she was threatened and assaulted if she refused to provide sexual favors, and the blue bruises and trembling figure in the video were proof of her testimony.

It became a hot topic and a large-scale investigation was launched, but because many high-ranking people were involved at the time, they were all found innocent and released.

The case was closed without any perpetrators, creating an unprecedented situation where there were victims but no perpetrators.

In the end, she was not only blacklisted from the entertainment industry because of the case, but she also took her own life after being greatly shocked by the tragedy that none of the perpetrators were punished.

The list of people she submitted for sexual favors included a total of thirty people.

Ten of them were revealed to the media, but the remaining twenty have not yet been revealed.

It seems that Vice Minister Park Seong-hyun was also included in those twenty.

Ha.

A hollow laugh escapes me.

The perpetrator who drove a woman with the profession of actress to suicide is now the Vice Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism.

It’s such an ironic reality.

I pressed my fingers between my eyebrows, trying to calm the rising emotions as much as possible.

If I kept thinking about it, I felt like I wouldn’t be able to control my emotions, so I switched my mind to something else.

The message.

Yes, let’s think about the message first.

The fact that the sender is 26 means that it happened 4 years ago.

Choi Eun-jeong revealed the list of sexual favors 4 years ago, and she committed suicide 3 years ago after all the trials were over.

The timing is definitely right.

It seems that this message not only shows me a series of events that will happen in the future, but also shows me both what has actually happened and what will happen.

If I think about it that way, it answers the question about this message.

As soon as I finished thinking that, the terrified face of Choi Eun-jeong that I saw in the video came to my mind.

Damn it.

Park Seong-hyun, you son of a bitch.

Even if it wasn’t because of the President, I’m going to have to take care of this bastard with my own hands.

If he cleverly escaped the law using his power, it’s my turn to use my power to make him receive the punishment of the law this time.

I immediately took out my phone and called Yoon Seol-ha.

It was late, but she answered the phone right away before it even rang a few times.

“Yes, Prosecutor.”

“Investigator, I’m sorry to bother you so late.”

“It’s alright, what is it?”

“Please investigate the people around Vice Minister Park Seong-hyun.”

“Park Seong-hyun, as in, the Vice Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism?”

“Yes. Focus on the people around him who are dissatisfied with the Vice Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism, or who are experiencing personal difficulties. Please be thorough.”

Yoon Seol-ha seemed to understand what I meant right away, and she agreed without asking any further questions.

“Understood.”

“As quickly as possible.”

“Two days will be enough.”

***

“Lim Seon-mi?”

“Yes. She’s the secretary to the Vice Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism, and it seems that her family is having a lot of financial difficulties overall.”

“It’s harder for someone who is a vice-ministerial secretary to be in a bad financial situation. What happened?”

“The truth is, Lim Seon-mi’s older brother seems to have started a big business.”

According to what I heard from Yoon Seol-ha, Lim Seon-mi was in a very precarious financial situation.

Her older brother started a business and not only borrowed money from Lim Seon-mi, but also took out loans from financial institutions and even got involved in private loans [loans from non-traditional lenders, often with high interest rates], and then completely went bankrupt, failing to recover his investment.

In the end, he couldn’t repay the money to the loan sharks and fled overseas, and the loan sharks came to Lim Seon-mi and demanded that she repay her brother’s debt in his place.

Recently, they even broke into her house and made a mess.

Lim Seon-mi would like to report it to the police, but the loan sharks threatened to kill her older brother if she did, so she couldn’t move easily, and her position as the vice minister’s secretary, who shouldn’t cause a disturbance, played a part.

If it’s a situation created because of money and not other factors, it’s not difficult for me to solve.

No, it’s much easier to win her over.

“How much is the debt?”

“After paying off all the private property Lim Seon-mi had, she’s still short about 230 million won [approximately $175,000 USD].”

“What kind of business did he start?”

“They say it’s cryptocurrency.”

“Ugh.”

230 million won.

A large debt if it’s large, and a small debt if it’s small.

I can handle that much.

I made a decision right there and then.

“Let’s go with Lim Seon-mi.”

Although I didn’t say it separately, Yoon Seol-ha had already noticed who my target was and what my goal was.

“Should I meet Lim Seon-mi separately?”

“Let’s create a scenario before that.”

Yoon Seol-ha gave a sly smile.

“Of course.”

We moved to another location and entered into an in-depth discussion.

“The relationship between the vice minister and the secretary. The most ideal thing would be that, right?”

“Yes. Even if it’s Vice Minister Park Seong-hyun, he recently made derogatory remarks against women, so it’s an even better condition.”

The two most common cases to get involved in are:

Adultery and sexual assault.

Either one can be used to get involved, and there’s no problem in getting Vice Minister Park Seong-hyun out of office.

However, if you want to go for something short, impactful, and bold, it’s definitely the latter.

Above all, it was also a crime that suited the guy who was included in the Choi Eun-jeong list.

Yoon Seol-ha carefully opened her mouth.

“How about going with sexual harassment?”

It seems she had the same thought.

“Good. It’s a hot topic these days, so there’s bound to be a hit.”

Since the timing is so sensitive, if the incident hits the media, the citizens will rise up and help us.

“According to recent precedents, a prison sentence can be given without any physical evidence, right?”

“Yes.”

Investigator Yoon Seol-ha said, checking the documents she had brought.

“Recently, a company superior was sentenced to 6 months in prison based solely on the testimony of the victim. Well, that guy seems to have actually committed the crime.”

“The actor is decided, and the material is out. The scenario is good too.”

All that remains is whether the actor will be cast or not.

However, given Lim Seon-mi’s financial situation, the chances of failing the casting were very slim.

“What is Lim Seon-mi’s tendency?”

“She’s average. She’s neither bad nor good, but with 230 million won in private loans, it’ll be hard to even handle the interest with her regular salary.”

“In this situation, things might proceed more easily than I thought?”

“How should we make the offer?”

“Let’s test the waters first. 20 million won [approximately $15,000 USD] as a contract fee, and the remaining debt will be paid off in full as soon as the case is closed.”

Yoon Seol-ha couldn’t hide her surprised expression.

“Prosecutor, you’re really not an ordinary person.”

“People have to be greatly surprised. What’s the point of wielding power and playing around in the neighborhood?”

“That’s right. That’s why I like you, Prosecutor.”

She gave a bright smile.

“If she accepts these conditions, we’ll proceed immediately, or else…”

“If she refuses, we’ll have to think about future measures then. It wouldn’t be too difficult to find a route to connect with Lim Seon-mi’s brother.”

“Understood. Then should I proceed as you said?”

“Yes, please meet her once and talk to her first, Investigator.”

“Understood.”

Yoon Seol-ha smiled and got up from her seat.

“I’m getting a lot of interesting cases because I’m working with the Prosecutor.”