Chapter 34
Chapter 34
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Translator : M.N 1391
Chapter: 34
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“Picking a fight with the prosecution by killing a prosecutor over a mere 40 billion won? No. What makes sense is that someone high up who’s tied to that 40-billion-won thing is inside the prosecution. But would the prosecution really need that much money? It’s not like they need political funds. Ah! Is someone resigning soon to enter politics? Ah, no, that’s not it. Someone who already entered politics is the one who needs it?”
“Six-nine-eight-eight!”
The voice of the correctional officer holding onto Kyung-wan grew desperate. Where am I? Who am I? Why am I listening to something this dangerous?
To the correctional officer who had turned pale as a sheet, Kyung-wan said:
“Officer, block your ears. If they killed a prosecutor, do you think they can’t kill a correctional officer?”
“B-but!”
“Then do you want to be unconscious for a bit?”
“Uh, uh… that’s…”
The correctional officer was torn between avoiding involvement in something this dangerous and maintaining his professional duty to manage inmates.
And Kyung-wan’s sudden move wiped away his dilemma cleanly.
“Gahk!”
The correctional officer, struck suddenly in the carotid with a chop, lost consciousness and collapsed instantly. Before anyone realized it, Kyung-wan’s hands had already slipped out of the handcuffs.
Kyung-wan quickly propped a chair under the doorknob to block the door so other officers couldn’t enter and turned toward Hwang Seok-chil.
That was the moment Hwang Seok-chil lunged at Kyung-wan. Sensing something seriously wrong, he determined that he needed to fight Kyung-wan right now.
It was an excellent decision, but his complete ignorance of the difference in combat experience between himself and Kyung-wan was the fatal mistake.
“Eeek! Aaargh!”
A brief struggle. Hwang Seok-chil tried to grab hold of Kyung-wan’s body and throw him down into a mount position, but after a few taps, thud, thud, on various parts of his body, he lost his balance and found himself instead giving up the mount position to Kyung-wan.
He expected punches and covered his face with his arms, but Kyung-wan grabbed his wrist and went straight into an armbar.
Hwang Seok-chil screamed at the swift and precise technique.
“Aaagh!”
“Don’t make a fuss. I didn’t put strength in yet. But depending on how you answer from here, this could get very painful.”
“Y-you’re making a huge mistake!”
“Worry about yourself first.”
“Aaargh!”
“Arms come in pairs. Legs too.”
“Kh…!”
As Kyung-wan lightly applied pressure that made his arm feel like it was about to snap, Hwang Seok-chil panicked. He had never imagined something like this would happen here.
Kyung-wan asked:
“Who is it?”
“W-what!”
“The bastard who ordered Prosecutor Kim to be killed.”
Prosecutor Kim. He hadn’t known him long, so he didn’t know everything about him, but he wasn’t someone who could live without law. It was impossible to say whether he was a bad person or a good person. But he wasn’t someone who had committed some major wrong or was some disgusting human being. He simply did his job.
One thing was certain: he wasn’t someone who deserved to die like this.
Kyung-wan decided to honor the loyalty forged through fried chicken.
“I don’t know! Kh…!”
“If you’re not careful, your arm’s going to be ruined. I learned this stuff informally, so when I apply the technique, I crush the nerves along with it. The person who needed 40 billion. Who is it?”
“M-M, Aaargh!”
“Think carefully before you answer.”
“Yang Seung-tae! Representative Yang Seung-tae!”
Pressed by the pain radiating from his arm, Hwang Seok-chil blurted out the name in his head.
Since it wasn’t a lie, Kyung-wan released his arm. But he didn’t set him free nicely, he restrained him with the loosened handcuffs. Hwang Seok-chil ended up handcuffed with his own arm hooked behind his neck. The handcuffs pressed firmly against his nape, uncomfortable and fully restricting his ability to resist.
Then the door burst open and correctional officers entered. In their hands were tasers and batons.
Kyung-wan, who had been searching the pockets of the unconscious officer, quickly grabbed Hwang Seok-chil by the neck and faced off against them.
“Six-nine-eight-eight! Surrender!”
“I’d like to, but now there’s something I need to do. Whoa there! Move carelessly and the prosecutor’s eyeball might become the keyhole.”
Somehow having pulled a key, maybe a house key, maybe a car key, out of the unconscious officer’s pocket, Kyung-wan pressed the blunt end against Hwang Seok-chil’s eyelid, stopping the officers in their tracks.
“Six-nine-eight-eight. This won’t end well for you.”
“I’ll be dead either way if I stay still. I need to resolve this somehow. Ask that unconscious officer for the details. Now please step out of the room.”
“That’s impossible.”
“That so?”
Bzzzt!
“Gyaaaah!!”
A large scream burst out of Hwang Seok-chil’s mouth. Blood spurted from his ear. As Kyung-wan pulled his ear, the earlobe tore slightly.
Blood from the lightly torn ear ran down his jaw and stained Prosecutor Hwang’s white dress shirt.
Kyung-wan spoke.
“What if the prosecutor’s ear comes off?”
The correctional officers, who had never experienced anything like this, panicked and slowly backed up. A hostage situation?! And the hostage was a prosecutor?!
Before they could do anything near the entrance, Kyung-wan moved swiftly, dragging the bleeding prosecutor as the officers kept their distance.
With his back to the wall, Kyung-wan asked:
“Prosecutor Hwang, which way did you come from? This way? No, that way.”
With Hwang’s bodily reactions, Kyung-wan confirmed the direction of the exit and moved quickly, watching the officers carefully. When the prosecutor didn’t cooperate, he whispered into his ear:
“Your ear. Should I tear it off right now? If I tear it off now, you might have to wear a fake ear forever.”
Feeling that he really might do it, Hwang didn’t resist and let himself be dragged.
Since the visitation room was located near the outer edge of the prison for visitor convenience, there weren’t many obstacles in the way.
A single barred gate in the middle. But that wasn’t a problem. Using the key he had taken from the unconscious officer’s pocket just in case, Kyung-wan opened it.
One of the correctional officers surrounding him burst out in anger. He had expected Kyung-wan to be stuck at the gate, giving them an opening to subdue him.
“Hey! How did you open that!”
“Any keyhole can be opened with a stick you can shove in. It’s the age of smart door locks, how are you still using physical keys?”
Fuming, Kyung-wan dragged the prosecutor toward the parking lot. Before exiting, he said:
“If you follow any further, I’ll tear his ear off.”
“Hey! Stop it, you bastard! Even if you escape, you’ll be caught right away!”
“I’m not escaping. I’m just going out for a bit to run an errand. Once I’m done, I’ll come back on my own two feet, so don’t worry.”
As the officers fumed at his nonsense and tried to follow, he spoke again.
“I’m not joking.”
Crunch!
“Gyaaaah!”
The scream that burst from Prosecutor Hwang’s mouth stopped the officers again. Kyung-wan had bent the prosecutor’s pinky.
“Officers. Think carefully. A broken finger can be treated, but a torn ear might rot and be impossible to reattach.”
The correctional officers hesitated. Kyung-wan wasn’t someone to be taken lightly, and his words didn’t sound like jokes. Wasn’t this the same guy who had cut off a con artist’s tongue and flushed it down the toilet?
But this time it wasn’t a con artist’s tongue, it was a prosecutor’s ear. That meant real trouble.
Professional duty? Responsibility?
Anyone who had experienced the overwhelming power of prosecutors, monopoly over indictment, unchecked authority, knew better than to mess with them. The smart choice was never creating a situation where you become enemies with the prosecution.
While the officers scrambled in confusion, Kyung-wan quickly found Hwang’s car, shoved him into the passenger seat, then climbed into the driver’s seat himself.
Moving the body of a fully grown man wasn’t easy, but gripping the slightly torn, bleeding ear tightly made the prosecutor move obediently. With his neck held and the handcuffs hooked around his nape, resisting was nearly impossible.
“What the hell do you want?!”
As Kyung-wan started the engine and stepped on the gas, Prosecutor Hwang shouted.
Kyung-wan buckled his seatbelt and answered:
“For now, please sit quietly. You’re not wearing your seatbelt. If you interfere with the driving and we get into an accident, you might be the only one who dies.”
“I’ll sit still! Just tell me why! Why are you doing this?! You think this helps you?!”
Hwang shouted, feeling like he was losing his mind.
At that, Kyung-wan laughed.
“Pfft! Heh heh heh!”
What actions are helpful in life? No, before that, how is one supposed to live?
The more he lived, the less Kyung-wan could find an answer.
“Prosecutor Hwang. You have your life. I have mine. Don’t try to understand. Just accept it.”
Then he tapped the navigation panel.
[Destination: National Assembly Building, Yeouido. Searching route.]
“You crazy bastard!”
Hwang Seok-chil’s face drained of color.
Kyung-wan joyfully shouted:
“At this point, let’s go to the National Assembly!”
“You psycho bastard!”
“Oh! Please don’t interfere with my driving. We’re over 100 km now.”
“Fuck!”
Seeing Kyung-wan floor the accelerator and drive recklessly while humming happily, Prosecutor Hwang could only let out curses.
And he seriously wondered about Kyung-wan’s mental health.
“You sons of bitches! Let’s go! Let’s go! Floor it, let’s go! Let’s go! Thrill is always on our siiiide! Let’s go! Go! Go!”
Leaving honking cars behind as he weaved through lanes, Kyung-wan’s singing made it impossible to believe he was sane.
[Speed enforcement zone ahead.]
Vrooooom!
At the navigation alert, Kyung-wan pressed the accelerator even harder. Then he smiled at the prosecutor.
“Oh dear~! Our Prosecutor Hwang is going to rack up a lot of fines?”
“Look at the goddamn road!”
At over 150 km/h, Kyung-wan briefly not looking forward made Hwang scream.
“Are you scared?”
“At least fasten your goddamn seatbelt, you crazy bastard!”
Half out of his mind, Prosecutor Hwang’s mouth was far from dignified.
When Kyung-wan didn’t answer and kept driving, Hwang opened his mouth again in frustration.
“But are you really going to the National Assembly?”
“Yes.”
“Why?!”
“Oh my ear! Lower your voice. Before I smash us into a tree.”
At this speed? If they hit a tree, he wanted that bastard driving to die for sure, but he, without a seatbelt, would definitely die first.
“Why? Why are you going there?”
Lowering his voice under threat, Hwang’s voice trembled with outrage and bewilderment.
Kyung-wan answered:
“They dared to kill a prosecutor of the Republic of Korea.”
“That has nothing to do with you!”
A prisoner! Hwang’s tone rose again. But Kyung-wan smirked.
“If it has nothing to do with me, then what were you asking me about?”
“... There’s no proof Representative Yang Seung-tae ordered it!”
“That can be found out. He’s tied to the 40-billion-won paper company.”