The Night Raid
Chapter 2. What Happened in the Middle of the Night
A few days later, Monday. Jaehyuk and Jeonghan were reading manhwa in the library during lunch break.
"By the way, where are you planning to go for college? With your grades, you could probably get into most places."
"College? Hmm…"
Jaehyuk closed the book he had been reading and began to ponder what he should do now that he had regressed to his third year of high school. College is important, but first I need to gather evidence again that the Gangryonghoe bastards killed my uncle. And…
With that thought, Jaehyuk looked at Jeonghan and suddenly asked, as if something had just occurred to him.
"Oh, Jeonghan, what’s today’s date?"
"Today? The 11th. Why?"
The 11th… Three days left.
Lee Suyeon, Jeonghan’s younger sister, had been murdered on March 14th in the previous timeline. The most urgent matter right now is Suyeon. Honestly, the scale of the incident involving my uncle is too big to resolve immediately, and I’m still too young as I am now.
"Hey. Hey. Why are you spacing out all of a sudden? You okay?"
Jeonghan waved his hand in front of Jaehyuk’s face, and only then did Jaehyuk snap out of his thoughts.
"Huh? Oh, I’m fine."
After saying that, Jaehyuk gave Jeonghan an awkward smile as the other boy looked at him with concern. He silently vowed not to let the tragedies from his past life—Suyeon’s death, Taeseok’s death, and everything else—repeat themselves.
That afternoon, after school, Jaehyuk walked down the street wearing a navy tracksuit. Taking on Choi Kyungsoo and the Gangryonghoe with my current strength is obviously impossible.
He was right. The Gangryonghoe was the largest and most powerful criminal organization in South Korea, and Choi Kyungsoo, their second-in-command, held considerable influence. The syndicate maintained close ties with overseas groups such as the Russian Red Mafia, the Japanese Yakuza, and the Chinese Triads. They were also deeply connected to corrupt officials in the police, prosecution, and political circles. Their members were highly skilled in combat as well—strong enough that even the Jaehyuk of the past couldn’t guarantee victory against them.
Especially Ju Taeyeol. He’s the one I need to be most wary of among the Gangryonghoe members.
In truth, it had been Taeyeol who exposed Jaehyuk’s identity as an undercover police officer to the Gangryonghoe. While fleeing, Jaehyuk and his friend Jeonghan had confronted Taeyeol, but both were ultimately killed. If not for Taeyeol, the chances of his cover being blown would have been far lower.
Collecting evidence against the Gangryonghoe is good, but I also need to sharpen my fighting skills in preparation for direct confrontations.
A short while later, Jaehyuk arrived at a gym. The place he had come to was Cheolshin Gym, an MMA dojo. He intended to register and learn martial arts properly. Though he had trained in combat in his previous life, the knowledge he possessed wasn’t nearly enough to face Choi Kyungsoo and his men.
"Excuse me, is anyone here?"
The door chimed as it opened. Inside, a man in his late thirties wearing a black sleeveless shirt and shorts, open-finger gloves on his hands, was pounding away at a sandbag. When he heard the bell, he turned toward the entrance and walked over to greet Jaehyuk.
"What can I do for you?"
Yu Seonwoo. Owner of Cheolshin Gym.
This was the gym run by Yu Seonwoo, a former mixed martial arts fighter. Jaehyuk planned to learn professional fighting from him. He bowed politely and stated his purpose.
"Hello. I’d like to sign up for classes."
"Ah, this way, please."
Seonwoo led Jaehyuk into the manager’s office. The room was filled with trophies and medals Seonwoo had won during his fighting career. He removed his gloves, placed them on the desk, sat down, and asked,
"Is this your first time doing martial arts?"
"No. I did kickboxing for about two years in middle school. I also trained a bit in judo and hapkido."
Jaehyuk wasn’t a complete beginner thanks to his middle school kickboxing experience. He had also picked up some hapkido and judo before becoming a police officer in his previous life.
Seonwoo nodded.
"Two years of kickboxing, huh… Have you seen the tuition information?"
"Yes. It’s 160,000 won per month, right?"
Jaehyuk handed over an envelope containing cash. Seonwoo accepted it and asked,
"What’s your name?"
"Park Jaehyuk."
Seonwoo slid a form across the desk.
"Please write down your phone number and address here. Oh, and check the time slot you’d like to attend at the bottom."
Jaehyuk filled out his contact information and selected his preferred training time. Once finished, he handed the form back. Seonwoo glanced over the details and said,
"Then please come in tomorrow starting at 7:30 p.m., as you’ve indicated."
"Understood. I’ll see you tomorrow."
With that, Jaehyuk left the gym.
That night, at an abandoned factory in Daegu.
Three trucks pulled up nearby. Two deliverymen stepped out of one of the vehicles and walked toward the factory entrance. They stopped just outside and called inside.
"Minsu!! Chicken delivery’s here!!"
But there was no response from within.
What the hell? The password today was supposed to be “chicken and pizza.” Did these idiots get the message wrong?
The men driving the trucks were members of the Gangryonghoe, South Korea’s most powerful criminal syndicate. They were currently transporting methamphetamine—commonly known as Philopon. They had stopped in Daegu to switch delivery personnel at a transit point.
While one deliveryman waited for an answer, another asked,
"What’s going on? Why aren’t they coming out?"
"No idea. Maybe they’re slacking off inside…"
The first man sighed in irritation.
"Haah… These bastards are hopeless. Guys who’ve been in this business for years pulling this kind of crap? We’re gonna have to crack down on discipline once the delivery’s done."
Just then, a man wearing a cap emerged slowly from the factory entrance. He bowed deeply to the two deliverymen.
"Sorry for the delay, hyung-nims. Everyone was asleep…"
"Hey. We told you to sleep at 10 a.m., didn’t we? What the hell are you guys doing with your heads screwed on backward…"
"I’m sorry. I’ll wake the seniors and have them move the goods right away."
"Fine. And after the transport is finished…?!!"
In that instant, the man from the entrance pulled a silenced CZ75 Pre-B pistol from his jacket pocket.
"Huh—shit…?"
He fired two rounds into the complaining deliveryman’s chest and one into his head. With a few muffled thwips, the man dropped dead instantly. The second deliveryman, startled, tried to draw a sashimi knife but was shot dead before he could even scream.
"What the—?! What’s happening?!"
When the two deliverymen fell, more Gangryonghoe members poured out of the trucks, armed with hatchets and sashimi knives. Several other syndicate thugs who had been waiting in the cargo beds joined them.
"Hey!! Who the hell are you?!"
"You got a death wish?!"
The man didn’t even blink. He opened fire on the approaching gangsters. A series of suppressed gunshots tore through the quiet night air, followed by screams of pain and confusion.
"Kill that bastard!!"
The gangsters charged with their weapons raised, but the shooter calmly stepped back. Moments later, over a dozen more men emerged from the factory entrance, wielding knives, machetes, and hatchets. They butchered the Gangryonghoe members with fluid, predatory movements. One by one, the syndicate thugs lost their will to fight and tried to retreat—only to be gunned down by the pistol-wielding man.
"You fucking… bastards… Even after this… you think you’ll get away…?!"
One dying gangster tried to threaten his attackers even as blood poured from his wounds. One of the assailants brought a hatchet down on his head, silencing him for good, then muttered in a North Korean accent,
"These South Korean bastards never learn…"
Another man turned to the one holding the pistol and asked in the same dialect,
"Seong-nim. Can we take all this ice for ourselves?"
"Ice" was North Korean slang for methamphetamine. The pistol-wielding man holstered his weapon and replied,
"Didn’t those bastards say they’d pay more than the original price? We just gotta deliver it. If they don’t keep their word… we can just wipe them all out, can’t we?"
Jo Haeseong. Executive of the Joseonjok gang Jungnamipa.
"Understood, Seong-nim."
Haeseong and the Jungnamipa members gathered the corpses inside the factory, doused them with gasoline, and set them ablaze. Then they drove off in the trucks loaded with Philopon, heading toward their mysterious buyer.