Chapter 84
Chapter 84
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 84
Chapter Title: Discovery in the Storm
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"Searching starts with speed. While we're debating procedures, the missing person might be on the verge of death. Do you not want to find them or something?"
"No, that's not—! Isn't that over the top? You're not even a prosecutor."
"Prosecutor? You bow your head to prosecutors and shout at everyone else?"
"...."
"Enough."
The substation chief's single word silenced the noisy scene.
Heo Yong-jin—his gaze had already changed. It seemed he'd already decided whom to side with.
Substation Chief Heo Yong-jin spoke.
"We're switching to a full missing person search immediately."
His low voice rang out firmly, and the police officers shut their mouths and stepped back.
He looked at Kang Hyun as if acknowledging the police's own mistakes and accepting his reprimand.
"Now's the time to solve the case and find the missing person. May I have your name, sir?"
"I'm Kang Hyun."
"Kang Hyun?"
"I've heard that name somewhere."
"What group are you with?"
Amid the murmuring police, Heo Yong-jin asked cautiously.
"You seem experienced."
"...I've been through quite a few similar situations."
Kang Hyun hesitated slightly over how to respond, but Heo Yong-jin appeared satisfied with the answer.
"Good. I won't pry into what you do, Mr. Kang Hyun. But I would appreciate your cooperation in the investigation."
"Yes, go ahead."
"Could you share your thoughts on this?"
"Pardon?"
Kang Hyun reflexively asked again.
He'd said he wasn't a prosecutor, yet they were asking for his opinion? It was a baffling situation.
What was he thinking, asking this?
Reading Kang Hyun's hesitation, Heo Yong-jin continued.
"You've been at the pension since morning, involved in the incident, and you've interacted with the owner extensively. Your input is definitely worth considering. Plus, from what I see, if there's anyone here with real investigative chops..."
He trailed off, torn between pride and the current crisis.
"Please."
The substation officers fell silent at Heo Yong-jin's words.
The room held rookies alongside veterans with over twenty years on the force. Yet among them, Substation Chief Heo Yong-jin had chosen Kang Hyun.
He had swiftly identified the person who could sort out this chaos and turn the tide.
In Heo Yong-jin's eyes, Kang Hyun was the right man for the job.
Of course, it implied a shortfall in their own capabilities, but it also showed his resolve to endure anything if it meant resolving the case quickly and patching the holes.
"Alright."
Kang Hyun nodded in kind and began rattling off his thoughts rapidly.
This was the real start.
"Do you have a map by any chance?"
Someone fetched a simple map of the Sokcho beach road area, and Kang Hyun pointed.
"They drove off, but haven't been spotted since. So the car might have been abandoned. You'd have searched nearby beach shoulders or blind spots from view. But if you didn't find it, in my view..."
Kang Hyun turned his eyes westward.
"There's an agro-industrial complex along the road down to Yangyang. They probably ditched it there. Didn't you put less emphasis on searching that side?"
"We figured it had gone into the sea or was on the beach."
"Yes. There's a mountain behind that agro-industrial complex. If the car had been on the coastal road or the missing person headed that way, you would've found them or at least the vehicle by now."
"...You're right. That means..."
"They went into the mountains."
The agro-industrial complex was small, with narrow roads weaving through old villages stacked together in a maze of tight paths.
Plus, the 200-meter hill didn't seem to have a clear trail or much foot traffic.
Heo Yong-jin nodded.
"By the seaside, yet into the mountains... On this slope."
"Yes."
"Request search team support from Sokcho situation room. Start from our current position on Haeroem Road and head toward Cheongmun Mountain."
"Got it."
"We'll start with a tight search radius and expand by agreement if nothing turns up. Move out!"
Walkie-talkie chatter erupted among the police as they sprang into action. They were finally launching a proper search.
But a voice echoed in Kang Hyun's mind.
'This isn't enough.'
The search was already delayed, time was short. This might end in failure.
The odds of the case closing on a grim note—like the body being found—were rising.
'Hoo.'
As Kang Hyun closed his eyes in thought—
Flash.
Suddenly, lightning-like 'data' streaked through his mind. Instinctively, he knew these were 'tools' that had proven invaluable in solving past cases.
Kang Hyun recalled a police organizational chart he'd glimpsed somewhere.
Substation personnel
Sokcho Police Station 112 Strike Team
Yeongnang Substation
Yangyang Substation
Hyeonbuk Police Box
Seo-myeon, Hyeonnam...
Yes.
With the search lagging, what was needed was manpower. They required more search personnel right now.
"Chief."
"Yes."
"Gangwon Provincial Police Agency's Duty Police 4th Company is in Gangneung. They can pass through Yangyang and reach Cheongmun Mountain in 30 minutes. You should request support."
"Support?"
"It's jurisdictional, but they're close enough to respond quickly upon request. Over 80 immediately deployable officers. Enough to cover a small peak like this."
"...!"
Heo Yong-jin's mind cleared in a flash.
Who the hell was this guy, knowing exact police troop numbers?
Doubts swirled in Heo Yong-jin's head, but that was it. With time of the essence, there was no room for hesitation.
"...I'll make the request."
Wee-oo-wee-oo.
Police sirens blared loudly, and the sluggish officers finally mobilized.
Kang Hyun could finally roll his shoulders in response.
"Come with us for now."
The police car door opened, Heo Yong-jin gesturing for him to ride along.
Kang Hyun agreed.
Having committed to finding the missing person, locating them was his top priority.
Dawn, as the search began.
Rain suddenly poured down.
The belated downpour wasn't content to merely cool the summer—it blanketed the dense-wooded mountain in a storm.
Whoosh—
Two police company buses arrived, but the search stalled.
Even powerful searchlights couldn't pierce the torrent; visibility shrank to half normal.
Yet with direction set and resolve firm, the police showed no sign of faltering.
Starting from roadside peripheries, they combed every narrow, hazardous inch.
Around 3 a.m., a spark of good news ignited their efforts.
"...They found the vehicle."
"Ah!"
"Finally!"
"Direction was spot on. Tucked neatly parked in an alley off the shoulder on the road from the pension into the agro-industrial complex."
"Any security CCTV?"
"...Not sure if the missing person researched it or pure coincidence, but perfect blind spot."
Kang Hyun gazed up at the rain-lashed mountain with a bitter expression.
Reading it, Heo Yong-jin said cautiously.
"Hope we're not too late."
Mudslides began, forcing officers to grab search probes.
With every passing minute, survival odds plummeted.
"I'll take a quick loop around."
"Be careful."
Frustrated, Kang Hyun donned rain gear and left the police vehicle staging area, circling the mountain's outer edge.
Slowly pacing, the dense trees on the modest peak only tightened his chest.
'High chance they're in the mountains. But no sign despite time passing.'
Thanks to Kang Hyun's suggestion, manpower was ample. They were scouring methodically and swiftly. Yet no body.
Hiking trails cleared, but no presumed items, footprints, or traces nearby.
'Then... not in the mountains?'
A grim thought flashed; Kang Hyun quickened his pace.
Past the trail entrance, abandoned farm tools and junked cars littered the area—remnants of old factories.
But then—
"...?"
Something odd.
A faint sound had brushed past from somewhere.
Seemed like imagination, but distinct.
Like a small animal's cry, or a human groan.
'What?'
Kang Hyun's gut screamed not to ignore it.
An uncanny sense beyond the five senses.
Or maybe just instinct.
'Here?'
It was behind a crumbling shed.
Kang Hyun moved fast, as if intuiting.
A sound that could've been overlooked or mistaken for rain.
As doubt lingered—
It came again, clear.
Kang Hyun hurriedly circled the mountain toward the shed's rear.
The cliffside had scattered trees, no path, but a slim chance.
'Went up the mountain... but fell down?'
Thump-thump.
His steps accelerated.
Breathing ragged. Heart pounding like it might burst.
Something was there, definitely!
Whoosh—
He reached the shed's back.
Wedged tight against the mountain, the gap was narrow.
He wedged his foot in, pushed inside. A tight space emerged—easy to miss without looking.
But Kang Hyun pressed on.
Until space appeared.
Pushing aside branches and dirt.
There.
The moment he saw that space—
'Heuk!'
A person lay there.
Kang Hyun looked up; a precarious path clung to the cliff above. Looked like a fall from there.
With wet hands, he fumbled inside his raincoat for his phone, yanked it out. Tried calling fast, but rain-slicked screen resisted.
"Hey! Are you okay?!"
*Cough*,
His shout elicited a faint cough from the shadowed figure. Circumstances pointed to this being the one they'd sought.
Simple slip, or suicide attempt?
Clear at a glance.
Half-smashed soju bottle nearby, pesticide canister spilled beside.
"Pesticide?!"
Low-toxicity might be survivable, but still critical.