The Special Promotion Ghost
A completely drunk homeless man stared at the old monk with half-lidded eyes.
"Reeeally... so if I just do that... it'll work?"
The homeless man slurred the words, his tongue loose with liquor, and the old monk nodded slowly.
"If you offer a sincere prayer by the water where a stepping-stone bridge has been laid, misfortune will flow away. It means the karma you have gathered will be washed clean."
"Heh... then this fucked-up life of mine... can start over? Like back when I used to live with my family, eating warm dinner together... I want to go back to that... I really, really do..."
Tears welled dimly in the homeless man's eyes.
"If your heart is true, anything is possible."
"Dammit! Then let's go! If all I have to do is bow and everything goes back to the way it was, why the hell wouldn't I?"
The homeless man lurched to his feet, barely able to hold himself upright. He managed only a few steps before staggering and grabbing onto a utility pole.
"Han Chul! A man like me isn't gonna break here! Just you watch—blegh."
Clinging to the pole and retching, he tottered off into a dark alley. The old monk, who had been watching from behind with narrowed eyes, gathered his belongings and followed a few paces back with soundless steps. In the dark, the hem of his monk's robe swayed quietly. A hand slipped into his waist and, with contained breath, untied the belt that had been wrapped there.
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"I want to live again... please... just once more... give me one chance... honey... Eun-yeong... Jae-wook... I miss you... sob..."
As the river drew near, the stench of water and rot rose thick in the air. The streetlamps along the path were already off, and not a single human shadow was in sight. When the homeless man reached the riverbank, he could no longer hold himself together and collapsed onto the ground. Covering his face with both hands, he burst into tears.
"Hrk... I was wrong. It was all my fault. My own carelessness and indulgence led my employees to death. I'm the one who deserves to die..."
His body rocked forward as if it might topple face-first into the earth.
Then he felt it—a quiet presence approaching from behind. It was so stealthy it seemed no more than a passing breeze. Before he knew it, the old monk was standing at his back. The belt in his wrinkled hands drew taut.
And in the next instant.
"Ghk!"
The belt looped around the homeless man's neck. Eyes bulging wide, he flailed wildly, reaching back for whatever was behind him. It was the instinctive movement of something trying to live. But those empty struggles merely clawed at the air.
"Kek-kek-kek!"
Desperate to survive, the homeless man kicked at the ground and thrashed. But his body, soaked through with alcohol, couldn't produce real strength. By contrast, the old monk's expression remained almost serenely calm. Like a man offering up a prayer, he whispered in a low voice.
"The body is but a bridge that passes on karmic ties. Lay down your pain, and cross into the next life."
The homeless man's eyes swelled as if they might burst. His struggles slowed at once, and the tips of his fingers trembled feebly. Just as his blurred vision began to close, a streak of light suddenly slashed across the night.
Thud!
With a heavy impact, the old monk's body was flung sideways. The belt slackened for that brief instant, and the homeless man pitched forward onto the ground.
"Hk! Cough-cough! Kekh-kekh!"
The moment the monk rolled across the ground and tried to rise, Song Tan was already gripping his wrist. In a flash, Song Tan twisted the wrist violently, snapped it out of alignment, and cuffed him as he spoke.
"You are under arrest for attempted murder. You have the right to explain yourself, the right to remain silent, the right to counsel, and the right to request a review of the legality of your arrest later."
Having finished the rights warning, Song Tan lifted his head, and Lee Joo-seok, after checking the victim's condition, shouted loudly.
"We're fine here! What about you?!"
"Suspect secured."
With a broad grin, Lee Joo-seok bellowed at the top of his lungs.
"Fuck! Call the team leader right now!"
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The breaking news didn't even wait until dawn was over.
Headlines with nearly identical wording began stacking up on portal sites one after another.
It was still early morning, but the area in front of Annam Police Station was already packed with reporters.
Inside the station as well, the capture of the serial killer was the only thing anyone could talk about.
"So Violent Crimes Team 1 was the one that cuffed the serial killer?"
"I heard Joo-ttol and the rookie arrested him on the scene. In the middle of the crime, too?"
"I heard it too. They said if they'd been a little later, someone would've been carrying a corpse bag."
"Those two are seriously incredible. I mean, they've been solving every case they touch, and now they've even caught a serial killer nobody had identified yet? Does that even make sense?"
"At this point, the Northern Gyeonggi Violent Crimes Unit is basically the dog that lost the bone and ended up chasing its own tail. I heard they've poured nearly half a year into this case alone."
"Well, they don't exactly have a leg to stand on. They couldn't even identify the suspect."
From the smoking room to the restroom, everyone was talking about the case.
The two men who had shaken up Annam Police Station so badly were now summoned to the chief inspector's office and seated there.
"You little bastards!"
The chief inspector couldn't hold back and pulled the two of them into a tight embrace.
"Good work! Really good work! You actually arrested a serial killer in the act! You pulled off something completely insane!"
Han Byung-woo, smiling as warmly as a parent hearing praise for his children, added his own support.
"What did I tell you? These two are different. Didn't I say they'd cause a huge accident someday?"
"I didn't think they'd cause one this big! Hahaha! That stuck-up division chief from the violent crimes unit was practically groveling around me just now."
So pleased he could hardly contain himself, the chief inspector kept laughing in that booming, old-man way of his and thumping their shoulders. Honey practically dripped from his eyes.
"Since you filmed the whole thing with a body cam, they won't be able to make excuses."
"Right. We've got proof and witnesses. No room to wriggle."
"We'll be giving a media briefing soon, so Team Leader Han, organize the materials and hand them over to the violent crimes unit."
Han Byung-woo frowned. "Why hand it over to them? We caught him."
"Still, the violent crimes unit was in charge of the overall investigation. They begged and pleaded to be allowed to finish it themselves."
"Hah. If they couldn't catch the criminal because they were useless, they should be ashamed and sit down quietly. Why the hell are they trying to stick their noses in now?"
"Hey, we're all on the same side here. It's better to make peace than to fight over it. Anyway, everybody knows who actually slapped the cuffs on the bastard."
Han Byung-woo nodded reluctantly. "Tch. Understood."
After that, custody of the serial killer was transferred to the Northern Gyeonggi Provincial Police Agency, and the media kept up relentless coverage of the case.
About four days passed like that.
"Wow, this has to be pissing them off like crazy."
"Seriously... what are they gonna do?"
Employees at Annam Police Station began whispering about Song Tan and Lee Joo-seok every time they passed.
"What?"
Lee Joo-seok frowned and looked at Song Tan.
Song Tan just shrugged, as if he didn't know what was going on either.
The two of them walked into the Violent Crimes Team 1 office.
Unlike usual, there wasn't a single sound of typing.
Everyone was staring at the TV mounted on the wall.
"What kind of bullshit is this? What the hell did they even do?"
Someone clicked the remote like they were throwing it and shut the screen off.
"Shameless bastards. Anyone would think they were the ones who put the cuffs on him. They just sat on their asses at their desks..."
Only then did the detectives of Team 1 notice the two men.
"When did you guys get here?"
"Just now. But why does the room feel like this?"
"You two haven't heard, have you?"
"Heard what?"
The detectives, glancing around to read the room, opened their mouths carefully.
"That guy... Kim Chun-gon. The one you caught."
Kim Chun-gon was the real name of the fake monk who had committed the serial murders.
"Apparently the violent crimes unit swallowed up all the credit for catching that bastard. There's a rumor going around that the two of you will only get a commendation, while the special promotion will go to violent crimes..."
"What the hell are you talking about? We were the ones who cuffed him."
"The rumor's already spreading all over the place internally."
At that point, Lee Joo-seok could no longer dismiss it as nonsense. His face hardened.
"Where's the team leader right now?"
"I think he said he was going to the chief inspector's office earlier."
"You. Song Tan. Come on."
With a face frozen hard as stone, Lee Joo-seok stormed out of the office. Song Tan silently followed after him.
Watching the two of them go, the other detectives in Team 1 wore expressions full of pity.
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Bang—
Lee Joo-seok burst straight into the chief inspector's office.
Inside, the chief inspector and Team Leader Han Byung-woo were sitting together.
Their faces were heavier than they'd ever been.
"Is it true?"
At the question, asked without any subject, Han Byung-woo let out a deep sigh.
"Calm down and sit first."
"So it's not true? That makes no damn sense. All those bastards ever did was tell us to do this and do that—why the hell are they taking our achievement?"
Han Byung-woo kept his mouth shut tight.
Lee Joo-seok turned to the chief inspector.
"Chief! You promised, didn't you? That the one who cuffed him would get the special promotion. You said that was a special order from the commissioner. So why are you suddenly talking differently?"
Neither the team leader nor the chief inspector could say a word at Lee Joo-seok's furious outburst.
They had no excuse. Not one.
The chief inspector lowered his head, his face twisted with misery.
"I'm sorry."
"No, that's not what we're asking to hear right now!"
"Yesterday I went with the station chief to meet the commissioner... and whatever they discussed with the Northern Gyeonggi commissioner, the conclusion had already been decided."
"What conclusion? We caught the criminal. What other conclusion do they need?"
Unable to stand it any longer, the chief inspector snapped back.
"Do you think I just sat there and took it? It was our boys who cuffed the suspect at the scene! I shoved the report in their faces and raised hell like you wouldn't believe! But the higher-ups had already sorted it out that way—what the hell was I supposed to do then?"
The sight of the chief inspector's face, as if he'd aged ten years overnight, left Lee Joo-seok unable to keep lashing out.
"It's all my fault. Fuck, of all the useless superiors to end up with—one who can't even protect a single achievement for his own men... and now you boys get screwed for it. Haa."
The chief inspector bowed until the top of his head showed.
"I'm really sorry. I have no face to show you."
"Same here."
When even the team leader bowed his head, Lee Joo-seok had nothing left to say.
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Faint light leaked out beneath the grease-stained exhaust fan. Through that thin opening, the sharp smell of soybean paste stew drifted out in little curls.
Song Tan and Lee Joo-seok sat wordlessly in a corner.
Without asking, the old woman who ran the place set down two bottles of soju and a glass of water.
Lee Joo-seok twisted off the cap and poured himself a full glass, then drained it in one go.
"Khh. Today's seriously the most fucked-up I've felt in a long time."
He wiped his mouth and lifted his head. Just then, the TV news was reporting on the Northern Gyeonggi violent crimes chief's briefing about the case.
"What a load of bullshit. If it weren't for us, that homeless man would be dead. They probably still wouldn't have figured out who the criminal was."
Lee Joo-seok let the words spill out like a grumble.
"Disgusting. Disgusting as hell. Giving credit to the detective who actually put the cuffs on him is an unwritten rule that's been around forever, and they're breaking it? Amazing, really. Our filthy superiors."
Without any side dishes, Lee Joo-seok kept gulping down soju, and Song Tan quietly placed a piece of tofu in front of him.
Lee Joo-seok glanced at him sideways.
"You're not even angry?"
"I am angry."
"Then why are you sitting there like that? At least curse them out once so it feels good."
"What changes if I curse them? It'll only hurt my throat."
"Somehow you sound more like a monk than that serial killer bastard did. Hah... yeah, you're right. Swearing at them only makes my insides ache."
With a faint sigh, Lee Joo-seok shut his mouth.
He felt as though he'd shown the ugly underbelly of police work to a junior who had only just begun his career.
Then Song Tan asked an abrupt question.
"By the way, senior. Once a warrant is issued, how long can the investigation continue?"
"Why are you suddenly asking that?"
"Just because. I was curious."
Taking it as a sign that Song Tan wanted to change the subject, Lee Joo-seok answered readily.
"Ten days by default. If the court approves, you can extend it by another ten."
"So that means the investigation can go on for up to twenty days?"
"Well... yeah, I guess so."
Thinking about something, Song Tan looked over at the calendar hanging on the wall.
There was a photo of a naked woman printed on it.
"Then I don't think you need to worry too much."
"About what?"
"You'll get a call within the next two weeks."
"What the hell are you talking about now? A call from where?"
"From the Northern Gyeonggi violent crimes unit."
A meaningful smile curved at the corner of Song Tan's mouth.
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