Chapter 41
Chapter 41
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Translator: uly
Chapter: 41
Chapter Title: The Devil's Whisper
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With at least several hundred million won in cash piled up right in front of him, it was impressive that his eyes weren't spinning.
Especially when the devil herself was whispering temptations right next to him.
Lee Jae-hyun reached out and picked up a bundle of 50,000-won bills.
It shouldn't have been that heavy, yet somehow it felt a little weighty.
"That's 5 million won for just that one bundle. Even if I don't have a great sense of money in this world... isn't that more than your monthly salary, Contractor?"
More than his monthly salary?
Was she kidding?
Lee Jae-hyun's current pay was just a little over 1.6 million won a month.
So 5 million won was nearly three times that.
Lee Jae-hyun let out a hollow laugh.
This single bundle was three times his monthly salary.
He couldn't help but chuckle wryly.
He clicked his tongue once and tossed the money back into the safe.
To be honest... he needed money.
A lot of it.
It wasn't just for buying what he wanted or eating what he craved.
Lee Jae-hyun needed money for himself and the people around him.
He had never spent money on his family before.
He wanted to earn a ton and give them plenty.
Beyond just wanting to give, he needed it to protect them.
He still clearly remembered how his previous life had ended.
No one in the world could forget their own death.
Well, actually, everyone else forgot his death.
He was the only one who remembered, but that intense memory wasn't something he could just forget.
In his past life, he had died while digging into the Hyeonmin Group.
More precisely, while exposing the crimes of the group heir's wastrel son.
What he learned in the process was that the chaebol cartels were far more solid and powerful than ordinary people imagined.
‘To smash the chaebol cartels...’
He needed money.
Money wouldn't solve everything, but to go up against a chaebol...
You needed at least some of it.
And honestly, to take on a chaebol like the Hyeonmin Group, even the cash in this safe wouldn't be enough.
Ten times this amount might let him mix it up a bit, but this much was like throwing an egg at a rock.
So, knowing full well that this amount wouldn't cut it... he didn't need it.
"No one would even notice if you snuck away just one or two bundles from that pile."
Serhen whispered into Lee Jae-hyun's ear once more.
No matter her childlike appearance, Serhen was still a devil.
Lee Jae-hyun shrugged lightly with a chuckle at the devil's temptation.
‘No one would know, but you would.’
Right, just like she said, no one else would find out.
But it wouldn't truly be ‘no one.’
He would know, and Serhen would know.
Sure, let's say he could overlook himself knowing.
But what about Serhen?
"Isn't it fine if I know?"
Serhen gave a sly smile, her face saying she couldn't believe he distrusted her.
Lee Jae-hyun snorted at her expression.
It wasn't that he distrusted Serhen.
She wasn't the type to go blabbing somewhere if he took the money.
But what about all the guys he'd caught so far?
They must have thought no one would find out when they committed their crimes.
And that would have piled up their evil karma.
‘Who knows. It's not like untraceable cash, and taking it would be theft plus destroying evidence, right?’
If it were truly money with no known origin.
Say, cash hidden in a garlic field—maybe he would have swallowed it whole.
But the money right in front of Lee Jae-hyun wasn't that.
It had a clear source.
It was money borrowed by Kim A-young and others in her situation, scraped together bit by bit with their blood and sweat, and stashed in this safe.
So taking it would obviously be theft.
And since it was evidence of their exploitation of others...
Wouldn't that naturally pile up evil karma for them?
Serhen, who fed on the evil karma of capturing villains.
Was she really just purely recommending a good path for him?
No, absolutely not.
Not that she was trying to harm him... but that temptation was clearly for her own benefit.
Whether it was just for her amusement or something more direct.
At Lee Jae-hyun's words, Serhen tsked.
"You really won't fall for it easily, huh. Fine. Hurry up and deal with those guys so I can eat."
Serhen poked her head up and looked at the sprawled-out thugs on the floor.
Lee Jae-hyun nodded.
‘I called for backup, so they'll come clean this up soon.’
She had said there was a state where they could be eaten and one where they couldn't.
When their fate of evil karma was sealed, right?
Usually, that happened when they were locked in a holding cell with irrefutable evidence.
The key was solid evidence plus the perps fully caught.
There would be evidence of illegal loan sharking scattered around this office, and proving Gu Hyun-seok beat the kid wouldn't be hard to find.
Backup would arrive soon, and Serhen could eat then.
Lee Jae-hyun rummaged through the safe some more with those thoughts.
In a drawer inside the safe was a stack of documents.
He pulled them out...
‘A ledger.’
Lee Jae-hyun flipped through it.
Most were small loans of 5 to 10 million won.
Occasionally 20 or 30 million, but that was only about one in ten.
Anyway, it was solid evidence of illegal loan sharking.
Lee Jae-hyun pocketed it.
‘The Hyeonmin Group must have ledgers too.’
There were guys under the Hyeonmin Group's orders who tried to kill him.
Not a legitimate group arm, but an illegal outfit suited for back alleys.
There had to be ledgers tracking the money flowing to them.
Finding those would land an uppercut on the Hyeonmin Group.
Lee Jae-hyun rose from his seat, his eyes sinking darkly.
And the moment he stood, he saw Park Dae-hyung with a strange expression.
* * *
From right after the incident broke.
Park Dae-hyung couldn't help but pay attention to Lee Jae-hyun.
Before he even said anything, the guy had grabbed handcuffs and car keys—like they'd worked together for years.
It was the same when they moved out together after.
At the scene, he calmly assessed without touching anything unnecessary to avoid contamination.
Even in situations where a regular patrol officer would have trampled evidence multiple times, Lee Jae-hyun preserved everything potential.
He spotted the CCTV traces first.
Park Dae-hyung had quickly called around to check CCTV too.
But meanwhile, Lee Jae-hyun had secured the convenience store footage, photographed all the evidentiary bits, and sent them over.
There were plenty of patrol officers who just checked alone and came running back bragging about big finds, but Lee Jae-hyun was different.
Efficient, doing exactly what needed doing.
And it was ingrained in him like habit.
‘Finding this office was the same.’
He'd only had a rough location, planning to leave pinpointing to Team Leader Oh Cheol-jin and Kim Jun-ho.
Scouting around was just in case luck struck or he spotted someone suspicious.
But Lee Jae-hyun picked up a random business card—something you see anywhere—and called the number.
Come to think of it, last time with Oh Min-seok from his detective days, something similar happened.
He'd gone to Myeong Jin-han's pet shop, called 112, and smashed the glass door.
Then brazenly reported a burglary.
He hadn't gotten more details since no time to chat with Team Leader Oh Min-seok after.
But he clearly remembered solving it with one call.
This time too.
One call to nail the office location.
And so casually, like he'd used loan sharks a bunch of times.
‘...Has he really used them before?’
His family didn't seem well-off.
Maybe he actually had.
Lee Jae-hyun's actions were that practiced; the thought came naturally.
Once inside the office?
It hit him immediately: this guy was born to be a detective.
How does he so smoothly ID the suspect, flash his badge, and gauge the reaction?
He hadn't taught him that; where'd he learn to act like a veteran detective?
It was baffling.
Then he snapped two of Gu Hyun-seok's ribs in seconds and took down four thugs.
He took a few hits, but no serious injuries while subduing them all.
His techniques and lack of restraint were risky...
But the guy clearly had detective talent.
With those thoughts, Park Dae-hyung finished calling for backup and returned to the room.
And he saw.
Lee Jae-hyun peering into the safe.
The sight immediately flashed him back to Lee Jae-hyun smoothly talking with the loan shark.
‘He really needs money, huh.’
Park Dae-hyung scratched his cheek, watching him stare blankly into the safe.
Didn't seem like he was grabbing cash or anything; just oddly fixated.
As Park Dae-hyung approached, Lee Jae-hyun reached into the safe and stood.
A stack of documents in hand.
His gaze on them was as sharp as when facing Myeong Jin-han.
‘What kind of look...’
Not that he needed money—maybe some money-related trouble.
Or he needed a ton of it.
Park Dae-hyung thought to himself.