The Inspector Is Getting Promoted! [EN]: Chapter 6

Prosecutor, You’re Going Places! – Episode 6 (4)

Whistleblower (4)

“Who the hell is that?”

Song Hyeon-seong asked, eyes wide, but I couldn’t answer.

“If I tell you, I’ll be in danger too.”

“Weren’t you going to expose this and screw him over?”

“I am, but…”

I said, trying to look apologetic.

“I need some safety net, too. This guy has amazing connections. If it gets to his ears, you and I are dead.”

“I can trust you, but… well, it’s hard to trust my superiors. Even in the Inspection Department, I can’t read my bosses. I don’t know how many snakes they’re raising inside.”

Song Hyeon-seong sighed and shook his head.

Considering that the message told me about Song Hyeon-seong, he should be trustworthy.

However, I couldn’t trust that message enough to reveal all my cards.

“So, what do you want to do? It’s hard to expose this alone. And you’re in the provinces, not Seoul.”

“That’s right. It’s hard to do it alone, so I came to you.”

I told him the purpose of coming to Song Hyeon-seong.

“Gather people from the Inspection Department. Only people you can trust. And they need to have the power to step on the chief prosecutor.”

“And then?”

“I’ll brief them directly when they’re all together.”

“People I can trust…”

He thought for a moment, then nodded.

It seemed like he had organized the personnel in his head.

“Okay. I’ll do whatever I can. But you, that evidence better be solid.”

I smiled and replied.

“Of course.”

***

“Are you going to be okay?”

“What do you mean?”

“If this comes out, you’ll have to go to jail too.”

With the operation ahead, I was worried about Shin Yong-ho.

If this case blows up, it will be hard for Shin Yong-ho to avoid a prison sentence.

“I’ll die before I go.”

“You crazy bastard, I told you not to say things like that!”

I glared at him, but Shin Yong-ho didn’t even look at me and replied.

“Just kidding, man.”

Was it just my imagination that his words didn’t sound like a joke?

“Don’t die. If you look like you’re going to die, I’m pulling out of this.”

“I’m not going to die, man. Do I look like I’m going to commit suicide?”

Shin Yong-ho smiled playfully and raised his head, but his face already looked like he had given up on a lot.

“But you know…”

After a moment of silence, he opened his mouth, filling his glass with soju [Korean distilled rice liquor].

“Can we catch Im Seong-jin with this?”

“We have to. With this much evidence, we can impeach the president.”

“Hahaha, really?”

“Yeah, man.”

Shin Yong-ho’s slumped shoulders looked even smaller today.

I felt annoyed for no reason and slammed the table hard with my chopsticks, saying.

“Straighten your shoulders, you bastard. I’ll take care of everything. Just trust me.”

Only then did he grin, stick out his chest, and straighten his shoulders.

“Okay, thanks.”

“Even if you’re involved, you’re a whistleblower. If it weren’t for you, this wouldn’t have come out and would have been buried. I’ll try to get your sentence reduced to the minimum. No, I’ll make it happen.”

“Sentence bargaining is illegal in Korea, you know?”

“So, have you ever seen sentence bargaining not happen?”

“…I guess not.”

He poured soju into his mouth.

“When I go in, put plenty of money in my commissary account.”

“I’ll put in enough for you to live a smart prison life, you bastard.”

***

I got a call from Song Hyeon-seong.

He said he had delivered it to someone trustworthy among the core members of the Inspection Department, with strict security.

Of course, the fact that I was the one holding the information was also kept secret, so the others thought Song Hyeon-seong was giving the briefing himself.

There might be someone with a connection to Im Seong-jin among them, but having come this far, I had no choice but to trust them.

If news gets to Im Seong-jin, I’m even considering having Shin Yong-ho step forward and hold a press conference as a last resort, but that’s really a last resort.

I can only hope that Im Seong-jin’s influence doesn’t reach the people Song Hyeon-seong chose.

I’ll be going up to Seoul soon when the case really starts, but Shin Yong-ho decided to stay in the provinces for now.

Our card that appears when the game is complete.

Of course, when the case breaks, Im Seong-jin’s line will immediately realize that Shin Yong-ho is involved, but it will be too late by then.

-Do well.

“Yeah, don’t worry and get some rest.”

Arriving at the prosecutor’s office on time, Song Hyeon-seong greeted me.

“Thanks for coming. Did it take long?”

“It’s quick on the KTX [Korea Train eXpress, a high-speed rail system]. You’re the one who suffered.”

He chuckled and sat down.

“Because the case is such a big deal, I didn’t gather many people. If too many people get involved in such a large-scale case, information leaks from the inside.”

He’s smart, as expected.

“So, who’s coming?”

He smiled and began to explain.

“The Deputy Chief Prosecutor is Kim Seok-won. You’ve heard of him, right?”

“The Cha Moon-seok Gate case?”

“You know about it.”

Kim Seok-won, who rose to fame at once by cutting off the deep ties of political-economic collusion that continued from Prime Minister Cha Moon-seok in the early 2000s, was the Deputy Chief Prosecutor.

The Deputy Chief Prosecutor of the Seoul High Prosecutors’ Office. Moreover, he is a leading candidate for the position of High Prosecutor General.

If you don’t know him in the prosecutor’s world, you can be called a spy.

A top-class prosecutor with glamorous modifiers such as an object of envy for prosecutors and a model of success.

“I heard he’s a candidate for High Prosecutor General.”

“That’s right. The current High Prosecutor General is retiring at the end of this year, so it’s almost 인사 [insa, personnel reshuffle] season. That’s why the Deputy Chief Prosecutor is obsessed with big cases. It was really hard for me to bring him here secretly from others.”

“Still, that’s amazing. How did you bring in someone who’s going to be the High Prosecutor General?”

“Thanks to this person.”

He pointed to Park Seung-soo in the organization chart.

“He’s the Deputy Head of the Inspection Department. My direct superior. He’s in Kim Seok-won’s line.”

“You got connected to the Deputy Chief Prosecutor through Park Seung-soo.”

“That’s right. It seems like he’ll be able to become a Chief Prosecutor if he blows up a few more cases. To be honest, if this case blows up, I might get into Kim Seok-won’s line by getting into Park Seung-soo’s eyes.”

He said with an awkward smile.

“I’m trying to get some crumbs, if possible.”

Do I think Song Hyeon-seong is detestable?

No, I’m relieved.

He’s much better than those guys who try to swallow the case alone and get into trouble.

Besides, he has something he needs, so he’ll be even more determined to make this case a success. That’s why the solidarity can be more solid.

The reason why guys who sacrifice themselves for the sake of the greater good without harboring selfish desires can’t survive is precisely because of that.

This world is a place where people only move when they need something and it will be beneficial.

“Are those two all?”

“Yeah. If you have the evidence you’re holding, the Deputy Chief will move. Then the people below will naturally follow.”

Knock knock.

As soon as I answered the knock, one of Song Hyeon-seong’s subordinates came in.

“Prosecutor, the meeting you mentioned is 10 minutes away.”

“Ah, thank you, Jiyeon.”

She bowed her head and left, and we immediately got up from our seats.

“Let’s go.”

“Okay.”

***

No sooner had I finished preparing for the briefing than Song Hyeon-seong brought Deputy Chief Prosecutor Kim Seok-won and Deputy Head Park Seung-soo into the conference room.

“Hello, I’m Choi Seo-joon.”

Kim Seok-won didn’t smile warmly but held out his hand to me with a completely expressionless face.

“Nice to meet you.”

The air hangs heavy.

I feel overwhelmed even though we’ve only exchanged a word of greeting.

I feel a charisma that I can’t describe in words.

It’s no wonder he’s even been nominated as a candidate for High Prosecutor General.

It’s amazing that he can suppress people with his atmosphere alone, even though he doesn’t have a fierce face.

“It’s an honor to meet you.”

He nodded and headed to his seat, followed by Park Seung-soo, who greeted me.

“I’m Choi Seo-joon from the Gwangju District Prosecutors’ Office.”

“I’m Park Seung-soo.”

He greeted me briefly with a prickly expression and took his seat.

I’m nervous for the first time in a while. A sense of tension I’ve felt in years.

Whoa.

Calm down.

You can do it.

Just as I was about to calm my mind and start the briefing, Kim Seok-won put his clasped hands on the table and asked.

“Is he the guy who’s on the list for Deputy Chief Prosecutor?”

“That’s right.”

After checking once again that the door was closed, Song Hyeon-seong lowered the blinds with a sense of tact.

I put up the picture I had prepared on the screen and said.

“This is Im Seong-jin, Head of the Economic Crime Investigation Department at the Seoul Central District Prosecutors’ Office.”

Kim Seok-won, who had captured a delicious prey, nodded in satisfaction, and I immediately began the briefing.

“The items I’ve summarized briefly are…”

I said, pointing to the contents summarized in PowerPoint.

“As you can see, there are bribery, sexual favors, illegal solicitations, and cover-up investigations, and if you include the minor ones, it’s hard to count with your fingers.”

As if he had been waiting, Song Hyeon-seong handed copies of the materials I had prepared to Kim Seok-won and Park Seung-soo.

I waited for them to read the materials.

Park Seung-soo let out a hollow laugh at the overwhelming evidence, but Kim Seok-won still read the materials with an expressionless face.

Song Hyeon-seong, who was encountering the perfectly constructed evidence for the first time, not the fragmented information he had previously handed over, couldn’t close his mouth in surprise.

I swallowed hard and looked at Kim Seok-won, and soon his lips twisted.

A faint smile created by the twisted lips revealed a greedy tongue licking his lips.

It felt like a ferocious beast licking its lips at the sight of prey.

That’s it.

It seems to have been enough to satisfy his greed.

“It wouldn’t have been easy to find such perfect evidence.”

Kim Seok-won raised his head and looked straight at me and asked.

“Is he a whistleblower?”

As expected, it’s Kim Seok-won.

He figured it out just by looking at the data.

“For now, that’s right.”

“I knew it.”

He chuckled and put the materials on the desk.

“What would happen if such a dirty human being existed in our prosecution service?”

Is he asking for an answer?

That can’t be.

As I waited silently, he continued.

“We’ll be treated like such dirty trash. Those bastards who disgrace the prosecution are very…”

Kim Seok-won continued, fiddling with the ring on his left hand.

“We have to smash them to pieces.”

I flinched at the last word.

Damn it, I promised myself not to be intimidated.

“Deputy Head Park, have you read it all?”

“Yes, I’ve read it all.”

Kim Seok-won turned his gaze back to me and said.

“Continue the briefing.”