NOVEL NEXT Chapter 79
As I approached the entrance of the exhibition hall, police officers who had arrived earlier greeted me.
“Are you the person we spoke to on the phone, the one in charge of the event?”
“Yes, I’m Jihojin from Enson GT, responsible for this event.”
After finishing my sentence, I handed a business card to a man who seemed to be the officer in charge.
Upon inspecting the card, the man nodded and looked at me.
“I’m Officer Kim Deok-hoon, patrol team leader at the Bangui 1 Police Station under the Songpa Police Department. Since this is a serious matter, we’ll inspect the scene immediately.”
“Please do your best.”
“Thank you. Let’s get started, then.”
After nodding to me in acknowledgment, Deok-hoon began issuing instructions to the police officers who appeared to be his teammates.
“Officer Kim, go set up a police line at the venue’s entrance. Officer Choi, let’s go inside and check if there are any people still remaining.”
“Understood.”
After issuing the orders, Deok-hoon turned back to me, seemingly remembering something.
“The 119 Fire Department and the police special task force will arrive shortly. We plan to begin the bomb search once they get here, so your patience will be appreciated.”
“How long will the search take?”
Deok-hoon thought for a moment before answering my question.
“Likely, it will be finished within no more than two hours.”
“Two hours… I understand.”
“Thank you.”
With that, Deok-hoon nodded again before heading inside with Officer Choi.
Two hours…
Of course, that timeline assumes there’s no bomb, but even so, I figured it was a satisfactory estimate.
Watching the police lines being set up around the venue, I decided to head over to Yumi first.
****
One hour since the Reverse Arcadia Spring Festival was paused.
Jae-hyun was leisurely observing the scene, taking it all in as the festival had been halted.
It wasn’t every day one could witness the sight of police lines—ones from real-life news—and police SWAT officers armed with live ammunition weapons.
In addition, the grim-faced firefighters coordinating with the police SWAT team made for a rare and impressive spectacle.
Jae-hyun was taking this opportunity to mentally store various visual elements—although he would have liked to take photos, discretion was clearly the better part of valor. If he were caught, it could lead to unnecessary trouble.
Moving around the area, Jae-hyun reached a side path that provided a full view of the venue when he spotted a suspicious man.
He appeared to be around 160cm tall, dressed casually in jeans and a grey hoodie. Despite his somewhat youthful appearance, the figure was clearly a male.
And with the hoodie partially concealing his face, Jae-hyun estimated him to be in his late teens.
However, what truly made Jae-hyun suspicious wasn’t the young man’s appearance but his actions.
It was odd enough to see someone recording the SWAT and firefighters, but the man’s apparent delight while doing so raised even more alarms.
Before Jae-hyun could approach him and ask what he was doing, the man noticed him and quickly fled.
‘What the hell was that?’
Jae-hyun stood there, momentarily dumbfounded, until his mind brought the figure back into focus a little later.
****
After three hours of search and investigation, the results confirmed there were no bombs installed.
Though the search lasted an hour longer than initially estimated by Deok-hoon, the relief of knowing there was no threat was immense.
As the task force wrapped up and left, I distributed coffee and a bagel to each one of them in appreciation.
With the all-clear, the festival resumed.
Thanks to an intense security effort and some enthusiastic user participation, the two-day event ended in high spirits despite the earlier interruption.
Of course, my job now was just beginning—with the first task being drafting a stern notification of no-lenience legal action.
[Username: Anonymous]
[Title: Shared Notice on Response to Terror Threat ㄷㄷㄷㄷ]
[Official Site Notice Capture]
Hello, Commanders.
We sincerely thank the 10,000+ commanders who, despite the emergency, followed our instructions promptly and evacuated calmly, ensuring the smooth resolution of the situation.
Due to your cooperation, we managed to safely resolve the situation, allowing us to create wonderful memories during the remaining time of the festival.
Thank you once again for your understanding.
…
Anyone responsible for today’s incident will face rigorous legal action without exceptions.
Thank you.
The overwhelmingly supportive reactions from users bolstered my next move—the filing of a formal complaint against the perpetrator behind the terror threat.
I knew, from my previous life, how crucial it was not to let the matter slip unnoticed.
The company’s Legal Team joined me at the police station to submit the official complaint, along with video evidence from nearby CCTVs. A few days later, a tip came in.
This tipster turned out to be none other than Jae-hyun, who had an interesting story to tell.
The information he provided was surprising—completely opposite to what I had anticipated.
“So, you’re saying there was a youth laughing while filming the scene, and you suspect him as the culprit?”
[Yes, that’s right. Though it was hard to tell his exact age from his hooded appearance…]
“That’s compelling enough. Should we need more information, would you be okay with us reaching out again?”
[Ah, yes! Of course, feel free to contact me anytime.]
Jae-hyun’s account left me with a bitter smile.
A teenager causing such a disruption…
The suspect likely underestimated the severity of the crime due to its fraudulent nature.
I was determined to give this teenager a real-life lesson.
A month went by after I relayed Jae-hyun’s account to the detective. As the situation was grave enough to feature on prime-time news, the investigation moved swiftly, and we received the suspect’s identity soon after.
Just when I had contemplated the possibility of not identifying the suspect, a call from the responsible detective caught me off guard.
“Hello, Director Jihojin. I’m Detective Park Jae-hyun from the Songpa Police Department, handling this case. Am I catching you at a good time?”
“Yes, I’m available. Is there some news?”
“We’ve successfully identified the suspect responsible for the false terror threat.”
“Really? That sounds… incredible.”
The calm voice of the detective caught me off-guard. I hadn’t expected them to find the suspect so easily.
“Yes. If the suspect had been more diligent about anonymity, identification could have been tough, but fortune was on our side.”
“He used a VPN, but the Blue Bird account he created for the threat was linked to a domestic portal account, which we were able to trace.”
“I see.”
Listening to the detective, the pieces fit. The suspect’s attempt at anonymity proved amateurish and thus failed, providing a useful lead.
“We’ve sent an inquiry to the portal site for full identification and plan to summon the suspect shortly.”
“Thank you for your efforts.”
“No problem. We’ll keep you updated.”
After hanging up, a call came in from the legal team’s lawyer.
“The legal guardians of the underage suspect wish to negotiate a settlement. What do you think?”
“In your opinion, lawyer, is a meeting advisable?”
“In my view, a meeting is worth a try to better understand the legal guardians’ stance and set our response strategy.”
“Then, let’s proceed.”
“Understood, I’ll schedule accordingly.”
Thus, the meeting with the suspect’s legal guardians took place.
Accompanied by the Legal Team, I heard their opening statement:
“Our child did nothing wrong.”
Despite the unexpected statement, it confirmed the seriousness of my role in this matter.