Chapter 129
Chapter 129
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 129
Chapter Title: The Dead Drop
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"Huh?"
Clunk.
"Bro? What are you doing?"
Korea University Law Department Student Council Room.
Yoon Chan-rim, who had come to the student council room early in the morning for some work, jumped in surprise and greeted Kang Hyun.
Kang Hyun had come to the law department student council room for the first time in a while and was rummaging through cabinets and bookshelves alike.
Yoon Chan-rim rubbed his eyes as if he'd seen a ghost, having never seen Kang Hyun frantically searching for something like this.
"Bro?"
"Oh, you're here? I came looking for something."
"You could've called."
"It's six in the morning. I figured you wouldn't be here."
"What's up?"
"Yeah, something came up. I'll tell you later."
"...?"
"Let's see...."
Kang Hyun had suddenly remembered the documents Dan Cho-grok, the student council president from last year, had compiled during the defamation comment scandal and rushed straight to the law department student council room.
The list.
A data compilation that included admin accounts and even a roster of IDs.
That was exactly what he was after.
It had flashed into Kang Hyun's mind while he was deep in thought about the documents Park Min-seong had mentioned. But it wasn't easy to find.
"Whew. Looks like you pulled an all-nighter. Let me help."
Yoon Chan-rim tossed his bag on the floor and crouched down next to Kang Hyun, but Kang Hyun waved him off.
"Nah, I'm good. Really."
"What is it? I'm not busy."
Kang Hyun hesitated at the earnest look in his eyes before opening his mouth.
It seemed he'd need to give a brief rundown of the situation to get any help finding the documents.
"...Well, there's this case going on...."
Once Kang Hyun had explained the gist of it, Yoon Chan-rim wore a strange expression—half intrigued, half serious—and started rummaging through the shelves with him.
"Bro, you've got all sorts of drama around you."
"...Guess it's 'cause I'm a busybody."
"Nah, it's 'cause you can't look away. Wouldn't it be easier to just ask Senior Dan Cho-grok directly?"
"Can't bother her while she's studying for the judicial exam."
"Oh."
That was right. Just this year, Dan Cho-grok had gone off the grid to prep for the judicial exam. They exchanged occasional check-ins, but it wasn't easy to contact her for something like this.
Clunk, rustle.
Left with no choice, Kang Hyun had to rely on his memory to track down the documents. As he searched the bookshelf on the opposite side from Yoon Chan-rim, he continued.
"There was a compilation among the lists: records of 'blocked' IDs from the school bulletin board usage logs, and IP addresses that kept getting deleted and recreated."
"Yeah, even if we find that data, it won't be easy to make sense of it. Plus, it's personal info, so it doesn't align with proper usage and couldn't be used as evidence anyway."
"I just need some circumstantial stuff. This case is in a tricky spot."
He had first tried tracing through the telecom company, but with a record of prior failure, pinning down the suspect was always going to be an uphill battle.
The only leads were that they were a Korea University student and used the ID 'Kim Hana yang.'
In truth, without a warrant, it would be hard to identify them anytime soon.
And the bigger issue was that even with these leads, the chances of a court issuing a warrant were slim.
That's why the case had been left hanging, ultimately falling into the hands of someone like An Kwang-hyun.
In the end, this was the method Kang Hyun had chosen.
'I need even the smallest clue.'
Even though Park Min-seong had stepped up to personally direct the investigation, the police probe would be half-hearted at best.
If the case cracked, it'd make them look bad. If they failed to find a lead, they'd eat flak for incompetence.
For cops already on the defensive in a no-win scenario, opting for the latter over the former made more sense.
It was then.
Click.
"Huh... is this it?"
Kang Hyun's eyes lit up, only to dim with mild disappointment moments later.
"Ah. This is the used goods market usage log. Not quite what I'm after. Still, it's similar...."
"But 'Kim Hana yang' is listed here?"
"...What?"
He froze.
Kang Hyun took the folder from Yoon Chan-rim and stared at the printout in bewilderment.
"Can I take a look?"
"Sure. It's just bulletin board history data."
"Ah! Kim Hana yang."
There it was, plain as day: the ID 'Kim Hana yang' in use. It was a post selling ordinary items, and Kang Hyun's expression turned inscrutable.
Then, finally, a murmur escaped him.
"...She uses the used goods market?"
Kang Hyun plunged into confusion, while Yoon Chan-rim's face took on a meaningful cast.
"Right here, 'Kim Hana yang.' And it's an admin ID, even."
"...Ah."
The darkest place is under the lamp.
How had the police failed to spot that 'Kim Hana yang,' the used goods board admin ID, despite all their searching?
From Kang Hyun's perspective, he could only assume the suspect was a pro drug dealer. The cops hadn't ID'd so much as a single personal detail despite ages of investigation.
But the reason the authorities had struggled so much was simple.
The perp wasn't some seasoned drug pusher or career criminal.
They were an amateur student. No—more likely just an ordinary person with no prior record, which might've gotten them overlooked in the investigation.
Flutter! Clunk!
"Thanks! Catch you later!"
"Bro, Bro! Wait!"
Kang Hyun gave him a quick nod and bolted outside.
Right now, the priority was checking the university's internal bulletin boards.
This could unravel the clue in an instant.
Kang Hyun immediately headed toward the central student council building. There, before classes, he ran into Lee Myung-hwan, who had stopped by for some work.
"Huh? Kang Hyun? What brings you here this early?"
"You guys manage any of our bulletin boards?"
"The admin infrastructure team under Student Affairs?"
"No, we handle the student used goods board separately, right?"
"Oh. Student board management? That's on Yoo Seul-gi, the new junior who just joined."
"Yoo Seul-gi?"
The image of that underclassman he'd bumped into while she was cleaning the student council room flashed in Kang Hyun's mind.
His head spun. What if—what if she was involved?
No, not involved. What if she herself was the Dietamine dealer?
His heart pounded. The unease was profoundly unpleasant, but everything pointed to this one possibility, leaving him no choice.
He had to meet her right away.
"Myung-hwan, where's this Yoo Seul-gi?"
"Seul-gi? Uh... not sure...."
He pondered briefly before shrugging it off casually.
"She's got chronic health issues, misses a lot of classes, doesn't show up much. But she works hard on student council stuff...."
"Where's her place?"
"Not totally sure. Somewhere around... uh...."
Kang Hyun stared at Lee Myung-hwan as he suddenly hesitated, his face turning grim.
"You know that shantytown near school? The Nokrim-dong area."
That was none other than.
The direction of Kang Hyun's own neighborhood. A slum, in a word.
'Ah.'
A sigh welled up inside him. Kang Hyun had a rough idea where to find her if he wanted to see her now.
He had to decide. Call the cops? Tip off Prosecutor Park Min-seong first?
But Kang Hyun opted to head there straightaway. After all, his only evidence was a scrap of paper and his hunch.
"Thanks. I'm off."
"Huh? Don't you have class at ten?"
"Later."
"La... later?"
Slam.
The door shut, leaving Lee Myung-hwan to mutter in confusion.
"Later...? Is the sun rising in the west?"
Shantytown.
A nicer word for shantytown—slum shack village and poorhouse.
Morning in the shantytown was dead silent, like plunging into an abyss. Everyone had dragged themselves to grueling jobs or holed up quietly like mice.
A haphazardly developed hillside neighborhood, jumbled peaks rising in chaos. The quiet dawn between morning and night, not a bird chirping.
Past one hill, through a scrubby thicket of uneven bushes, another hill emerged.
A secluded spot where no one seemed to pass.
At this hour, in the quiet back alley of the hill: an old abandoned hardware factory.
Hardly worthy of the name "factory," it was little more than a tiny shed, but word had spread through the neighborhood that some shady figure frequented it.
Rumors of bodies buried, drugs traded.
But ordinary folk avoided the place entirely, not even glancing its way. Even shantytown residents had their limits.
They had no spare energy for such things.
Into this very spot came a visitor—moving so stealthily she barely made a sound.
None other than Yoo Seul-gi.
Aside from a slightly short skirt, she was dressed like any ordinary college student, but she'd pulled her cap low and hooded up to hide her face.
Yoo Seul-gi glanced around before heading familiarly to a corner of the abandoned hardware factory.
There hung a battered, dangling mailbox on the verge of falling apart—that was her target.
Clunk.
Yoo Seul-gi deftly unlatched the locked mailbox.
Inside was a bag stuffed with handfuls of something.
"Haa...."
She let out a sweet sigh and scanned her surroundings again. Then she tucked the goods into her bosom and stood casually.
All that was left was to slip away.
"Dietamine. An appetite suppressant classified as a psychotropic drug with high addiction potential. Abuse or misuse can lead to severe physical and mental dependence."
"Eep!"
A voice echoed from somewhere, and she let out a small yelp, eyes widening as she whipped around.
"Wh-who's there?"
"Under Article 3 of the Narcotics Control Act, such acts are prohibited. Paragraph 6, Subparagraph A: extracting components that are raw materials for psychotropic drugs, exporting or importing them, buying or selling, brokering, or ingesting them."
"...W-wait a sec!"
Her face darkened, as if the inevitable had arrived. But a thread of hope lingered, and she shouted.
Yet the voice pressed on, showing no interest in negotiation.
"Most drug dealers use their own product. You're one of them. Kim Hana yang."
"...."
Clunk, step step.
Rusty stairs that looked ready to crumble.
Descending them was none other than Kang Hyun.
Pity crossed his face, but he held firm.
"The so-called 'dead drop' method. Common in drug deals."
"N-no, it's not."
"The buyer sends money ahead, and the seller stashes the drugs somewhere hard for civilians to find before leaving. The buyer then picks it up per the seller's instructions."
"...Sunbae."
"You must think you're in deep shit now, huh? Me showing up must piss you off royally."
"...!"
As Kang Hyun spoke, Yoo Seul-gi's eyes doubled in size.
A chill unease flickered through his mind. That shock didn't seem solely from his appearance.
And the thought that hit him.
'No way, a trap?'
Thwack!
"Urk!"
Something blunt crashed into the back of his head.
His vision blurred as his body crumpled involuntarily.
Yoo Seul-gi's trembling form was the last thing he saw before darkness closed in.