The Inspector Is Getting Promoted! [EN]: Chapter 8

The Big Picture (1)

“You son of a bitch!”

Chief Prosecutor Lim Sung-jin threw a chair, shattering the mirror as it fell.

“What, a whistleblower? A whistleblower, my ass!”

“I’m sorry.”

“Is that all you can say? That’s why I told you to manage Shin Yong-ho!”

Lim Sung-jin’s shoe connected with Jo Won-hyung’s shin.

With a thud, Jo Won-hyung hopped, then stood awkwardly, enduring the pain.

“I’m sorry.”

“What are you going to do?”

“Somehow…”

“I said, what are you going to do!”

With Lim Sung-jin’s roar, another blow echoed through the office.

“How! Are! You! Going! To! Do it! Tell me specifically!”

Jo Won-hyung finally fell to the floor.

Still unable to contain his anger, Lim Sung-jin swept the documents off the table.

Damn it!

He’d been had.

The problem was that he hadn’t just relegated Shin Yong-ho to a rural area like the other guys.

Even though he had no money or connections, he never expected him to come at him like this, ready to die together.

Beyond his worries, he had joined hands with the Deputy Chief Prosecutor of the Seoul High Prosecutors’ Office.

Kim Seok-won.

One of the few high-ranking prosecutors out of Lim Sung-jin’s reach.

Moreover, with the High Prosecutor General’s reshuffle coming up in a few months, he would try to catch him with all his might for the sake of his performance.

He had to get out of this somehow.

Now, Kim Seok-won was naturally extending his reach, and the fact that he was trying to strike the Economic Crimes Investigation Department through his subordinate prosecutors naturally came to his ears, but Kim Seok-won must have anticipated this situation as well.

He must have started moving with a perfect plan in mind.

He couldn’t get caught up just because one desperate ghost was trying to drag him down.

He thought there would be a way out.

If there wasn’t, he would have to create one.

Otherwise, he would truly be drowned.

“Deputy.”

“Yes, Chief.”

“That bastard wouldn’t have gone directly to the Deputy Chief Prosecutor, would he?”

“From what I’ve gathered, Shin Yong-ho, Choi Seo-joon from the Gwangju District Prosecutors’ Office, and Song Hyun-sung from the Inspection Department are all college classmates. It seems Shin Yong-ho and Choi Seo-joon used Song Hyun-sung to get connected to the Deputy Chief Prosecutor.”

“Damn it! What is Chief Baek Seong-tak doing that he couldn’t cut off even a small fry like that?”

Chief Baek Seong-tak of the Inspection Department.

Until now, whenever something like this happened, Baek Seong-tak had cut it off at his level, so the relegated guys couldn’t even open their mouths.

But this time, the problem was that it was reported directly to Kim Seok-won, bypassing him.

“It seems Deputy Chief Park Seung-soo there is in Kim Seok-won’s line…”

“Do you think I don’t know that? I know it, you bastard!”

Lim Sung-jin’s nameplate flew through the air, narrowly missing the Deputy Chief Prosecutor’s head.

Startled, Jo Won-hyung barely calmed himself and asked.

“How should we handle the documents?”

“We need to seize the initiative by doing media play before dealing with the documents. Unless the High Prosecutor General intervenes, it will be difficult to get the warrant issued today.”

Lim Sung-jin clenched his fist and said.

“Contact Reporter Choi. If we screw up here, we’ll all lose our jobs.”

“Yes, sir.”

***

The Economic Crimes Investigation Department’s arrest operation, which began busily in the morning, proceeded urgently, skipping lunch.

By now, the news must have reached them. They would definitely try to do something before the warrant was issued.

As he was receiving instructions from Deputy Chief Prosecutor Kim Seok-won for the last time, someone knocked urgently on the door.

“Who is it?”

“Deputy Chief, it’s urgent!”

“Come in.”

Song Hyun-sung rushed in, speaking urgently.

“Have you seen the TV?”

“Why the TV? What’s wrong?”

“Right now, Lim Sung-jin…”

Before he could finish, Park Seung-soo, who was across from him, picked up the remote and turned on the TV. The words ‘Breaking News’ appeared at the top of the screen, along with Lim Sung-jin’s face.

This doesn’t feel good.

“Turn up the volume.”

-…I discovered that some of my subordinate prosecutors were involved in serious corruption. They were junior prosecutors as precious to me as family, so I struggled for a long time. However, as a prosecutor who became one to build a society where justice stands in the Republic of Korea, a nation governed by law, I decided that I had to reveal this. All of this is due to my lack of virtue. Please, criticize me. And I will take responsibility and strive to establish justice.

At the bottom of the screen, the phrase ‘Star Prosecutor Lim Sung-jin Uncovers and Begins Investigation into Corruption of Subordinate Prosecutors’ was emblazoned.

-At first, I thought about ending it by relegating them, but I thought that overlooking and covering up in the prosecution was also a crime. So, I am telling you, the people, that I will diligently investigate…

“That crazy bastard.”

Curses burst from Deputy Chief Prosecutor Park Seung-soo’s mouth.

He had expected that the news would naturally reach Lim Sung-jin’s ears as he applied for the warrant, but he didn’t expect him to move this quickly.

A guy with more action, brains, and decisiveness than he had imagined.

As expected, he was not easy to deal with.

However, it was within the expected range.

He knew he would try to get out through media play [using the media to influence public opinion].

However, the problem was that the timing was too early.

“Even if the Prosecutor General is backing him, isn’t that going too far?”

Deputy Chief Prosecutor Kim Seok-won chuckled and nodded.

“That’s right. That means he’s trying to save himself and kill everyone else.”

In the TV screen, Lim Sung-jin continued with a determined expression.

-Currently, the three prosecutors who have been relegated to the provinces are Jung Won-ho, Han Hee-joo, and Shin Yong-ho, and they have been found to have committed complex corruption such as bribery, abuse of authority, obstruction of the exercise of rights, forgery of private documents, and third-party bribery. However, I expect there will be more unrevealed criminal acts and additional accomplices…

He even mentioned Shin Yong-ho’s name.

The other two mentioned with him were also prosecutors who had been relegated from the Economic Crimes Investigation Department.

He was trying to shift the blame to the prosecutors he had already cut off as a tail-cutting measure [sacrificing a small part to save the whole].

He knew he was a thug, but at this point, he could be called a con artist rather than a thug.

He would lie low to get out of the crisis right now, but judging by the fact that Shin Yong-ho’s name was mentioned, he must have already figured out the collaboration between me and Song Hyun-sung.

If he survives, he will definitely try to retaliate against us.

The game has already begun. Now, he had to take down Lim Sung-jin to survive.

“Deputy Park.”

“Yes, Deputy Chief.”

“How much longer until the warrant is issued? Today, the Prosecutor General will contact Judge Kim directly and have it issued unconditionally today.”

Just then, Park Seung-soo’s phone rang.

He checked the caller and answered.

“I’ll check now.”

Kim Seok-won nodded, and Park Seung-soo answered the phone.

“Oh, okay.”

After answering a few times, he hung up and immediately turned to Kim Seok-won with a ready expression.

“The warrant has just been issued. We can leave right away.”

***

Except for Deputy Chief Kim Seok-won, he went straight to the Economic Crimes Investigation Department with the prosecutors from the Inspection Department.

Since the Seoul Central District Prosecutors’ Office and the Seoul High Prosecutors’ Office were right next to each other, they were able to go as soon as the warrant was issued, so they were not very prepared.

Perhaps they didn’t think the warrant would be issued today, so when they opened the door, the sound of the shredder echoed in the office, and various documents were scattered or flying around.

It seemed that they had not been able to properly finish processing the documents because the situation was so urgent that they had to put media play into practice first.

That would be their first mistake.

Chief Baek Seong-tak of the Inspection Department showed the search and seizure warrant and explained to the people of the Economic Crimes Investigation Department.

“As of this time, the Economic Crimes Investigation Department has been charged with a search and seizure warrant for a total of five items, including bribery…”

As if to openly prove that they were on the same line, he deliberately took his time reading the explanation, but it was far from enough time to sort out the situation.

Before the employees of the Economic Crimes Investigation Department could finish organizing, the prosecutors of the Inspection Department began the search and seizure.

He wanted to participate in the search and seizure, but his affiliation was the Gwangju District Prosecutors’ Office. He couldn’t step in here, so he stepped back and surveyed the interior.

Lim Sung-jin took a deep breath, picked up a briefcase, and approached Chief Baek Seong-tak.

“Chief Baek, how could the warrant be issued so quickly?”

He tried to lower his voice on purpose, but because he couldn’t control his anger, the tone rose and was heard even by me, who was standing a step away.

“You told me this morning, didn’t you?”

His voice, speaking through clenched teeth, sounded like he would eat someone alive.

As far as he knew, Lim Sung-jin was his junior in terms of class [referring to their graduating class year, a common way to establish hierarchy in Korean organizations].

But the fact that he was acting like this meant that his power was considerable.

However, with so many eyes of the Inspection Department watching, Chief Baek Seong-tak couldn’t answer, so he turned his gaze to me instead.

It looked like he was telling him that I was the reason for this mess.

“I don’t think I’ve seen your face before.”

Lim Sung-jin said fiercely, but I answered calmly.

“I came to support the work.”

“All the way from Gwangju to Seoul, I heard you’re Yong-ho’s friend.”

“We’re meeting for the first time, but you know about it.”

When I smiled brightly to provoke him, he clenched his fist tightly, as if he was having a hard time controlling his expression, and said quietly.

“Be careful.”

He glared at me with eyes that seemed to eat me alive and moved towards the door.

He was so dumbfounded by the obvious trick that he wanted to laugh.

He immediately followed Lim Sung-jin and grabbed the bag he was holding.

“You have to leave the bag behind, right? I read the search and seizure warrant earlier, didn’t you hear it?”

He was trying to use a trick that only third-rate criminals would use.

He was good at playing the media, but in a desperate situation, he could only think of such a basic method.

For a moment, Lim Sung-jin’s expression changed fiercely.

“Let go.”

“I don’t think I can.”

The fact that I had clashed with Lim Sung-jin drew the attention of the prosecutors of the Inspection Department and the employees of the Economic Crimes Investigation Department.

“Let me explain to the Chief Prosecutor, in case you don’t know, a search and seizure warrant gives you the right to search and seize everything in this office.”

If he took the bag without permission, that would also be illegal.

If so many eyes were watching, everyone would be a witness.

That’s why Lim Sung-jin glared at me and said through gritted teeth.

“This bag belongs to a friend from the Human Rights Protection Department next door. He came in the morning and forgot to take it. I’m returning it because it’s not our stuff. And…”

He put strength into the hand holding the bag and pulled it.

“This is not something a lowlife like you should get involved in. You’re not from the Inspection Department, are you?”

Despite the fierce voice, the bag that Lim Sung-jin pulled did not go to him. He knew this would happen, so he was holding the bag tightly.

“If it’s your friend’s, then it’s not an item of the Economic Crimes Investigation Department. Then that means I, who am not affiliated with the Inspection Department, can touch it, right?”

He smiled brightly and pulled the bag hard, and eventually the handle was torn off and the documents were scattered on the floor.

He never thought that the grip strength he had gained from learning judo as a child would be used like this.

“Oh, I’ll compensate you for the torn bag.”

He shrugged, looking at the fallen pile of documents.

“That is, if this isn’t a document from the Economic Crimes Investigation Department.”