Chapter 32
Chapter 32
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Translator : M.N 1391
Chapter: 32
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But as one builds experience and gains a reputation for being competent, clients you’d rather reject on a psychological level sometimes come knocking.
As Kang Ban-uk recalled an unpleasant case from the past, he realized that his beliefs had silently been replaced by professional ethics. He couldn’t even remember why he had first decided to become a legal professional. No, he did remember, but he could no longer believe that it had ever been his true conviction. All that remained was the faded memory of the overwhelming joy he’d felt when he passed the bar exam and earned his attorney’s license.
If he were to give a name to something so distant it felt foreign, would it be justice?
The thought that he had once possessed something so lofty was, to his current self, unbelievable.
What had he sacrificed for that belief? And was the conviction he held now worth such sacrifice?
Caught in that confusion, he thought of the young man named Lee Kyung-wan. The simplicity with which Kyung-wan lived, never harboring even a trace of doubt about his own actions, was something Attorney Kang Ban-uk envied.
= = = = =
04, I’m Also Someone Who Eats the Nation’s Rice Like You, Prosecutor
The Kyung-wan Syndrome.
It reached its peak when a special feature article titled “Who Is Lee Kyung-wan?” was published.
A young man from a poor family, bullied, once threatened by his suicidal father, yet he saved a girl who was nearly raped, saved a detective who almost got killed by a suspect, and after being threatened by gangsters, fought them and ended up imprisoned in a high-security facility for dangerous criminals.
That was the public’s impression of Kyung-wan. Several people had been injured or disabled by his hands, but not a single one of them was innocent, so most people didn’t criticize Kyung-wan’s heavy-handedness. Instead, a larger portion blamed politicians, saying the law was too lenient.
Some focused on his bold behavior and the madman-like stunt of flicking a booger into the victim’s mother’s mouth in court, turning it into a cult-like meme.
But someone else paid attention to another of Kyung-wan’s abilities.
“Prosecutor Kim. Are you seriously going through with this?”
“At this point, we don’t have any other option.”
Young prosecutor Kim O-min answered his senior’s concerned question with a troubled expression.
He fully understood what his senior was worried about. Seeking help from a criminal so famous he had practically become a syndrome… If the media found out, things would blow up for sure.
“Wouldn’t it be better to use a polygraph instead?”
“We already tried. Total waste of time.”
“You think that guy, that Lee Kyung-wan or whatever, is more accurate than a polygraph?”
“If the reporter’s interview was true, trying once wouldn’t hurt.”
“I don’t know about this… Even if this blows up, you’re the one who’ll take the fall, not me.”
That was the end of the senior’s concern. Since the junior insisted, he would have to handle the consequences himself.
Prosecutor Kim bowed politely and headed toward ○○ Prison, the place where the very famous inmate named Lee Kyung-wan was held.
“I’m Prosecutor Kim O-min.”
“Yes, hello.”
Kim O-min carefully observed Kyung-wan, who greeted him. He looked like an ordinary, good-looking young man.
He already regretted coming. That reporter, Choi Chung-gon or whatever, must have written nonsense.
Even so, he asked, grasping at straws. He didn’t want the effort and cost of coming here to be for nothing.
“You supposedly have an ability to detect lies?”
“Something like that.”
“Something like that?”
Kyung-wan elaborated as Prosecutor Kim slightly frowned.
“Calling it an ability makes it sound like a superpower. It’s more accurate to say I use physical responses to determine whether a person is saying something that aligns with what they believe, or goes against what they believe. It’s a technique.”
“So it doesn’t actually detect truth, then.”
“There are a hundred truths for a hundred people.”
At that calm reply, Prosecutor Kim revised his initial impression. The young man before him wasn’t ordinary. At least, not inside his head.
For Prosecutor Kim, who had researched Kyung-wan beforehand, it was strange. Was this intellectual level normal for someone with his background?
The doubt faded when he accepted that Kyung-wan was simply someone with unusual talent.
Within his disappointment from the first impression, a small hope began to grow.
“Then may I test it?”
“Give me your wrist.”
Prosecutor Kim offered his wrist.
“Are you a prosecutor?”
“Yes.”
“Are you a woman?”
“No.”
Several obvious, simple, and ridiculous exchanges continued, and then Kyung-wan asked:
“You came because you need my help, right?”
“Yes.”
“That’s true. You’ve got a superior you dislike, right?”
“Yes.”
“That’s also true. By any chance, is that superior bald?”
“Yes.”
“Too bad, I guess he’s not bald. Is it a man?”
“Yes.”
“Is he handsome?”
“No.”
“So he is handsome. Do you have a girlfriend?”
“No.”
“You do, but you’re pretending not to. You met her before you became a prosecutor, right?”
“Yeah.”
“So you met her after you became a prosecutor. Was it on a blind date?”
“Yes.”
“I see. And before that, you didn’t have a girlfriend?”
“I didn’t.”
“You did. Campus couple?”
“... Enough. Let’s stop.”
Prosecutor Kim pulled his hand away. There was nothing more to test. It was accurate and fast. It felt like someone was reading his inner thoughts, almost eerie.
“How was it?”
“Feels like Twenty Questions.”
“The process is the same.”
Yes/No, two answers narrowing down to one truth, that was exactly the Twenty Questions game. Kyung-wan simply added physical lie detection to it.
In his distant previous life, the technique was known as the “Twenty Questions of Truth,” infamous for ruining countless liars.
“Seems usable.”
“So what do you want my help with?”
“You’ll help?”
Without even asking what he would get in return?
Kyung-wan nodded readily.
“Well, I’ve got nothing to do in the cell anyway. At first I liked doing nothing, but it eventually got boring.”
Prosecutor Kim smirked bitterly. Prison was supposed to be a place for rehabilitation, yet he spoke like that… Something felt fundamentally wrong.
But he had no authority over prison operations or sentencing; he was here for one purpose.
“I belong to the Criminal Proceeds Recovery Division.”
He briefly explained that a criminal who committed a massive 100-billion-won financial fraud had been caught, but refused to reveal where he hid the illicit assets.
Kyung-wan spoke.
“That’s a messed-up bastard. Sure, I’ll help.”
“Hm…”
“What?”
“You accepted too easily…”
“If you feel bad, buy me four chickens.”
“You could eat that much?”
“Just bring one every time you need me.”
Feeling as if Kyung-wan thought him an idiot, Prosecutor Kim replied defensively:
“I doubt I’ll need to visit four times.”
“It’s financial fraud. Complicated stuff. You think it’ll be solved in a day?”
That was reasonable, so Kim nodded.
A few days later, a middle-aged man in prison garb sat at a table across from Kyung-wan.
“Prosecutor Kim. What is this nonsense?”
“It’s part of the investigation to recover your criminal proceeds.”
The man looked at Kyung-wan and scoffed.
“You’re letting a prisoner help with an investigation? You think he’s connected to me or something?”
“You’ll see soon enough. Let’s begin.”
At the prosecutor’s signal, Kyung-wan nodded and grabbed the man’s wrist.
The man tried to pull away, but Kyung-wan’s grip was unbelievably strong, like a vise. It was impossible to believe such strength came from his lean frame.
Kyung-wan calmed him.
“It’s okay. Relax. I won’t hurt you.”
What kind of bullshit is that?! the man thought, but kept his mouth shut. He assumed this was some psychological trick meant to fluster him into accidentally revealing clues about the location of the hidden assets.
But the truth surpassed his imagination.
Prosecutor Kim began the interrogation by reading the man’s profile aloud.
“Name: Wang Dae-han. Age: 42. Male. Correct?”
“Yes.”
“You organized a private equity fund called Creative Capital and used it to commit a classic Ponzi scheme worth over 100 billion won, for which you were convicted. Correct?”
“Well, that, ”
“Anyway, you were convicted, correct?”
“Yes. But there were misunderstandings, and I plan to appeal.”
Prosecutor Kim looked at Kyung-wan. Kyung-wan spoke.
“The claim about misunderstandings is a lie, but the part about appealing is true.”
“What is this nonsense, ”
“Next question.”
Prosecutor Kim cut him off and continued.
“One of the methods you used to hide your assets, was it bearer bonds?”
“I hid nothing. Some investments simply failed.”
“That’s a lie.”
At Kyung-wan’s interjection, Wang Dae-han glared at him. But Kyung-wan ignored him and spoke to the prosecutor.
“The part about not hiding anything is a lie. The part about investment failure is a lie too.”
“And the bearer bonds?”
“He didn’t answer that, so we don’t know. Ask differently.”
“Hm…”
While Prosecutor Kim pondered how to rephrase the question, Kyung-wan spoke first.
“How about this? Ask whether the bearer bonds are stored in a bank, or buried somewhere like a garlic field.”
Oh! That was clever. They already assumed he used bearer bonds to hide part of the proceeds. And criminals rarely put all their eggs in one basket. Bearer bonds were a classic method.
“Mr. Wang. Are the bearer bonds stored in a bank?”
“No, I told you, I didn’t do anything like that.”
“Oh! That’s true.”
At Kyung-wan’s comment, the prosecutor’s eyes sparkled.
“Then are they stored somewhere other than a bank?”
“I said there’s no such thing!”
“That’s a lie.”
“Then where are they stored?”
“Prosecutor.”
Kyung-wan cut in. Kim looked at him questioningly.
Kyung-wan continued with a slightly frustrated expression.
“You can’t ask like that.”
“Then how?”
“I’ll show you.”
When Kim nodded, granting permission, Kyung-wan turned to Wang Dae-han.
“Are the bearer bonds in Gyeongnam Province?”
“What are you talking about?”
“Then are they in Gyeongbuk Province?”
“Prosecutor Kim? You think this kind of irrational interrogation is legal?”
“Are they in the southern region at all?”
“Prosecutor Kim!”
“Please answer the questions properly.”