C9 - The Big Game (2)
Im Seong-jin was so furious that he was trembling all over, but the documents that had fallen on the floor were picked up by Song Hyun-seong, who had been watching the situation.
Watching this, Deputy Chief Baek Seong-tak, unsure of what to do, averted his gaze with effort, and eventually, fearing that the blame might fall on him, urged the hapless inspectors to take care of the documents before leaving.
Song Hyun-seong confirmed that he had gathered all the documents without missing any, and quietly stepped back so as not to disturb others, but Im Seong-jin’s gaze was still piercing.
While the inspectors from the Inspection Department were busy gathering numerous documents into a blue box and conducting a thorough search, Im Seong-jin gulped down some water, let out a deep sigh, and strode over to me.
His movements caught the attention of Deputy Chief Prosecutor Park Seung-soo, but such things were not even a consideration for Im Seong-jin.
“How is Yong-ho doing?”
He approached right up to my face and said mockingly.
“He was a junior I really cared about, so I’m really sad that he left.”
It’s obvious that they came to pick a fight openly.
I thought about ignoring him, but I didn’t want to give this guy the satisfaction of thinking he won a petty battle of pride.
“Thanks to you, I’m fully recuperating in the countryside.” Not thinking about Seoul at all.
“It seems like you don’t really miss this place.” It seems like it left well.
“Since you’ll be going to a place with good air quality soon, don’t you think there’s no need to be envious?”
A vein popped up on his forehead, but he didn’t stop.
“Oh, there were houses with high walls in Seoul too.”
Im Seong-jin pretended to lift the corners of his mouth nonchalantly, but it was clear that his eyes didn’t move at all.
“Please send my regards to Yongho.”
“Don’t do that, just do it yourself.” “You’ll be coming out as a witness soon, so you can see each other then.”
He took a rough breath and stepped one step closer to me.
Shoulder-to-shoulder level.
“Hey.”
Im Seong-jin spoke in a low voice so that others couldn’t hear, but with a tone that conveyed his venom.
“If you’re going to kill me, make sure you do it right.”
Even though my shady dealings were exposed, I never backed down.
“If I survive and come back to life, it’s not me who will die, but you.”
Im Seong-jin twisted the corners of his mouth and patted my shoulder.
“I don’t know if I can kill him properly.”
If it had been in the past, I would have definitely been scared, but after having several one-on-one meetings with Deputy Chief Prosecutor Kim Seok-won over the past few days, I seemed to have gained some courage and wasn’t scared at all.
I spoke to the back of his head as he was about to leave after finishing his words.
“I don’t plan on killing anyone.”
He suddenly stopped in his tracks.
“I’ll spare your life.” Try to struggle. Even a worm will squirm if you step on it.
Turning around, he clenched his fist tightly before moving his feet again.
Provocation is enough at this point.
You can tell from the way they walk that they felt not just provoked but even humiliated.
Im Seong-jin is not the type to get scared and back down even if all his limbs were cut off.
If I’ve been humiliated to this extent, once this situation is over, I’ll struggle to make a comeback, even if it means repaying in some way.
When the situation is resolved, I will definitely contact the chief prosecutor.
When you try to climb up by grabbing the lifeline called the chief prosecutor, you just need to grab the two connected to that lifeline at the same time.
After Lim Sung-jin left, Song Hyun-seong subtly approached me.
“What did he say?” It seems like they’re talking about Shin Yong-ho.
He shrugged and replied.
“If you’re going to kill me, do it properly.”
Song Hyun-seong, unable to hide his startled expression, furrowed his brow and replied.
“So what did you say in response?”
“I said I wasn’t going to kill you.”
I added my words with a bright smile.
“Don’t be satisfied with catching a big fish; the real catch is using it as bait to catch a shark.”
Following Lim Sung-jin, I felt that all the attention of the Economic Crime Investigation Division was now focused on Song Hyun-seong as well.
Anyway, the prosecutors here must all know that I prepared with Song Hyun-seong and hit them.
“I need to get some fresh air.” Let’s meet after work.
“Okay.”
As I turned my back on Songhyeonseong and headed towards the door, I glanced sideways at the sudden intense gaze.
And then I made eye contact with a man.
Deputy Chief Prosecutor Jo Won-hyung.
Im Seong-jin’s right-hand man, destined to become the next chief prosecutor.
No, the person who was supposed to rise.
That guy has eaten quite a lot too.
Jo Won-hyung glared at me with eyes as fiery as Lim Sung-jin’s.
Buzz buzz.
At that moment, the phone vibrated.
The unique vibration that goes off when a text message arrives.
I went outside the Economic Crime Investigation Department office, stood in front of the window, and checked my messages.
-Sender: 29
-photo
This time, a photo.
What on earth does that number 29 mean?
If there’s a headline written in large letters and small text underneath, it must be an internet news article.
Before I could even think more about it, my hand was already zooming in on the photo.
– Prosecutor Jo Won-hyung, who was a key figure in prosecutor corruption cases including bribery, found dead in a motel!
-Recently, Jo Won-hyung, the deputy chief prosecutor who was a key figure in the so-called “Im Seong-jin Line Corruption” case, which has been heating up public opinion, was found dead in a motel. The prosecution announced that, since Deputy Chief Prosecutor Jo Won-hyung did not respond to the final summons, they tracked his whereabouts and found him dead from carbon monoxide poisoning in a motel in Ilsan. In the letter he left behind, it was revealed that he could not bear the pressure from the prosecution and the public, and decided to leave his remaining life behind. Additionally, the will contained a brief summary of the corruption case, stating that he would take full responsibility and leave, expressing deep remorse and apologizing to the public and his family. Judging from this, it is concluded that Deputy Chief Prosecutor Jo Won-hyung committed suicide taking responsibility for this incident. However, the suicide note reveals serious grievances about the pressure investigation from the Inspection Division and questions about targeted investigations, leading to growing opinions that fact-checking these claims is also necessary.
-Political District No. 1, Reporter Cheol Hyeong-woo
You crazy!
Are you saying that Deputy Chief Jo Won-hyung is going to commit suicide?
The image of you glaring at me with venom just a moment ago is still vivid in my mind, and now you’re talking about suicide.
Based on the contents of the article, it really seems like Jo Won-hyung is taking full responsibility and leaving.
That shouldn’t happen.
In the typical pattern of such investigations, if someone takes responsibility and ends their life, it would only be a matter of time before the case is closed.
Was this Im Seong-jin’s escape route?
The scenario where the painting I painstakingly created sacrifices my loyal right arm as food and survives alone.
Whether Jo Won-hyung chose death out of loyalty or succumbed to threats and had no choice but to commit suicide is unknown, but what is certain is that Im Seong-jin severed his own limbs to survive.
Im Seong-jin would never have been unaware of Jo Won-hyung’s death.
The situation shouldn’t proceed like this.
If it ends like this, not only will they not be able to hold Im Seong-jin’s life in their hands, but they will also completely wipe out all the corruption he has committed so far.
If you got caught without knowing, that’s one thing, but if you knew the incident was going to happen and still went through with it, that’s just stupid.
I will never become that kind of idiot.
Unfortunately, the upload time of the article is not shown in the photo, so we cannot know the exact date, but judging by the fact that it has gone as far as the final attendance demand, it is unlikely to happen within the next few days.
There’s still time.
We need to find a way in the meantime.
A way to persuade Jo Won-hyung and take control of Lim Sung-jin.
Please provide the text you would like to have translated.
“When will the data analysis be ready?”
“What kind?”
“The documents in the bag that Lim Seong-jin was secretly trying to take out at the end.”
“Ah, that analysis is done.”
Song Hyun-seong handed me a file folder that was on the desk.
A ledger detailing the acceptance of bribes.
It was also a file containing more than 90% of the bribes received by the Economic Crime Investigation Unit.
The author is probably Im Seong-jin.
I meticulously recorded where, when, for what purpose, and how much I was paid.
“Crazy bastards.” “Even just eating it is scary, and they wrote it all down.”
Usually, those who give bribes prioritize making the recipients swallow the money without leaving a trace, even if they keep a record. It’s truly impressive.
“How much did you eat to forget all that? That’s why I wrote it down.”
At this point, it’s not something written from memory.
Every time I received it, I must have recorded it accurately.
As soon as I opened the first page of the file folder organized by Song Hyun-seong, I got a clear sense of it.
“These bastards were trying to pin everything on Shin Yong-ho.”
The documents in the bag were divided into two types.
One is the actual content of the bribery.
The other one is the phone communication records of three prosecutors, including Shin Yong-ho, who were demoted to regional offices.
At first glance, it looks sharp.
The circumstances of trying to match the location and time of the bribery with the records of the mobile phone communication history and the movement records of the broadcasting station.
If the ledger using this had been completed, the bribery charges would have been borne not by the Economic Crime Investigation Division but by all three prosecutors.
They had tried to put into action a plan that they could only imagine in their heads but couldn’t actually execute.
If the warrant had been issued just one day later, things would have gone according to their plan.
The more you investigate, the more they amaze you.
“The unfortunate thing is that the actual bribery details are just a copy of a file that was once typed on a computer.” If there were an actual ledger, we could tell, but since it’s a printout, we can’t even analyze the handwriting.
I don’t even expect that.
He’s not an ordinary guy, and there’s no way Im Seong-jin would leave such traces.
The Economic Crime Investigation Department took the bribe, but there is no evidence that Lim Sung-jin took it.
Using that as an excuse, Im Seong-jin will somehow manage to get out of it.
Initially, this was also what Deputy Chief Prosecutor Kim Seok-won was concerned about, and it is a fact that I have fully grasped as well.
However, it was enough to prove that the media play attempting to pin bribery on the demoted prosecutors, including Shin Yong-ho, was false.
This alone would be enough to narrow Im Seong-jin’s position.
“First, I’ll contact Yong-ho and the other prosecutors.” Even if Yong-ho isn’t worried, the other two must be worried about getting caught up in this mess, right?
Song Hyun-seong took out his phone while talking, but I grabbed his wrist and shook my head.
“No.”
“Why?” Those people must be really stressed out. Wouldn’t it be better if you told them in advance?
“A rat will bite a cat when it’s cornered.”
He frowned as if he didn’t understand.
“Jung Won-ho, Han Hee-joo.” These two, do you think they’ll testify once they’re sure they can live?
“Ah!”
Only then did Song Hyun-seong show signs of understanding.
The two prosecutors, once they know their lives are safe, will not side with either party just to maintain the title of prosecutor, even in the provinces.
If they foolishly go against Lim Sung-jin and he doesn’t fall, they might not only be demoted but also lose their title as prosecutors.
However, if time passes like this, they will think that Lim Sung-jin is trying to pin the blame on them, and they will cling to us for survival.
If that happens, it becomes possible to receive two additional testimonies that can frame Im Seong-jin as a criminal.
Im Seong-jin’s decision to start the publicity first ended up backfiring.
Song Hyun-seong placed his hand on my shoulder in admiration.
“This bastard, his brain is really something else.”
“Of course, man.” Who do you think I am?
You’re the one who will become the king of this world, right?