The First Mission: The Enemy of My Enemy (8)
Crown Hotel Busan Branch. The gangsters of Gangryonghoe and the yakuza from Katsuyama-gumi were deep in the throes of a party in the underground club and banquet halls. They reveled in drinking, dancing, and every other vice the night had to offer. Moving among them, the undercover agents carried out their roles flawlessly, quietly gathering intelligence.
“Damn, my ears are ringing… Everything sounds muffled as hell.”
“No kidding.”
Jaehyuk and Jeonghan had just stepped out of the club. They kept plugging their ears with their fingers only to pull them free again, or they pinched their noses and blew hard to pop their eardrums.
“I still don’t get why people like places like that. It’s just dancing and loud music.”
“There are all kinds of reasons. Some people really do just want to dance. Others come to hunt for a hookup. And then there are the ones chasing a high.”
“A high in a club… That brings back some shitty memories.”
“Burning Island?”
Seven years ago, Jeonghan had nearly lost his younger sister, Lee Suyeon, to thugs tied to the cartel operating out of Burning Island. Fortunately, Jaehyuk—having regained his memories of his previous life—had saved her. After learning from Jaehyuk exactly who had tried to kill his sister, Jeonghan joined forces with him and Jihun to raid the place, helping cripple its key figures.
“Forget the shitty memories. Suyeon’s fine now. That’s what matters.”
“I know, but…”
“Come on. The story had a happy ending, so stop dwelling on it. Let’s focus on the job in front of us.”
Just then, Jaehyuk’s phone vibrated. He answered immediately.
“Yes, Uncle.”
“What did you have for dinner?”
At Seungcheol’s question, Jaehyuk glanced at the nearby Gangryonghoe men and yakuza before answering in a low voice.
“I’m full, so I skipped it.”
The coded reply told Seungcheol that there were too many eyes and ears around for a real conversation.
“Then I’ll keep it short. The Naegok-dong team just eliminated Honda Hideki. Business is open.”
Seungcheol hung up without another word. Jaehyuk slipped the phone back into his pocket.
“Uncle?”
“Yeah. He says we’re starting.”
At that moment, Jaehyuk noticed several Gangryonghoe men sprinting somewhere in a hurry. Once they passed, he murmured to Jeonghan.
“This is where it really begins. Steel yourself.”
In one of the hotel’s suite rooms, Ha Seongjun and Haneda Shinichi were sharing drinks and conversation.
“The meeting’s not far off. We should get ready soon.”
“Of course. How are you feeling, Mr. Haneda?”
“Fine. Conducting business in this pleasantly buzzed state isn’t bad at all. If anything, my head feels sharper.”
As he spoke, Shinichi tapped his temple lightly with his right index finger. He then turned to the yakuza standing behind him and asked in Japanese, “(Still no word from Honda? Did they all pass out outside?)”
“(I already sent one of our guys to check on him.)”
Right then, the yakuza’s phone vibrated. After reading the incoming message, his face hardened instantly.
“(Um… Mr. Haneda.)”
Looking stunned, he leaned in and whispered the report. “(They say Mr. Honda has been killed.)”
“(What? Who did it?)”
“(Not sure yet… but the attacker was speaking Korean.)”
Seongjun asked in Japanese, “(Is something wrong?)”
“(……Well…)”
Shinichi found it hard to believe Gangryonghoe would do something so reckless, yet he couldn’t help but place them at the top of his suspect list. (Gangryonghoe isn’t stupid enough to pull something like this… but the only organizations in this city with the power to move against us are Gangryonghoe, Jawolbang, and the Komarov Bratva. The Korean language points to Gangryonghoe, but the other two have Korean speakers too. The Russians could have used Koryo-saram as proxies.)
A division leader in Katsuyama-gumi held significant status. The organization was currently the largest and most powerful yakuza syndicate in Japan. Killing one of their division leaders was a declaration that you had the strength to challenge Katsuyama-gumi itself. Only the three groups Shinichi had named possessed that kind of power.
(What kind of lunatic would do something like this?)
Suddenly, someone knocked on the door and called out in Korean, “Representative! Are you inside?!”
Seongjun’s subordinates exchanged glances. He gestured for them to open the door.
When the door swung open, one of the Gangryonghoe men bowed deeply to Seongjun. The moment he saw Shinichi’s grim expression, however, the man froze, visibly tense.
“What is it?”
“Well…”
The man kept glancing nervously at Shinichi, hesitating. Seongjun took a sip of whiskey, then glared at him.
“I asked you what it is.”
“……I’m told that Division Leader Honda Hideki has been killed.”
“What? Do you know who did it?”
Seongjun’s face twisted in shock as he pressed for details. Watching his reaction, Shinichi thought, (There’s a chance that’s acting. But if Gangryonghoe really killed Honda, what would they possibly gain from it?)
After hearing the news, Seongjun turned to Shinichi and spoke in Japanese. “(Mr. Haneda. About Mr. Honda…)”
“(I’m aware.)”
Even after learning one of his subordinates was dead, Shinichi simply drank in silence. Then he stood up.
“(……Let’s postpone the meeting. We’re leaving.)”
He gave orders to his men and walked out. The other yakuza followed close behind.
Honda Hideki is dead… Whose work was this?
Once Shinichi had left, Seongjun turned to the man who had delivered the report.
“Was there any clue about who did it?”
“We asked the bar owner and employees, but they didn’t have anything useful. They all said they were too scared and ran away, so they didn’t see anything clearly.”
Seongjun stared down at the whiskey in his glass for a long moment before standing.
“This looks like a deliberate attempt to drive a wedge between us. Someone killed Honda Hideki and is trying to pin it on us to sow discord between Gangryonghoe and Katsuyama-gumi.”
His subordinates stared at him with wide eyes.
“Who would do something like that?”
“Could it be the Taiwanese?”
Seongjun calmed the agitated men.
“We can’t say for certain yet. For now, I’ll speak with Haneda Shinichi myself and make sure there are no misunderstandings.”
“Yes, sir.”
As Seongjun left the room, one man’s face rose in his mind.
Ma Seungcheol… Is this one of your schemes, you filthy cop bastard?
Grinding his teeth at the thought of the police investigation planner, Seongjun strode down the hotel corridor. His phone soon vibrated with a new message. He read it.
[20261205.pdf]
[20261205_cctv.mp4]
Please understand that the remaining CCTVs were destroyed, leaving only one video file.
Seongjun remembered the request he had made to Jeong Seung-gyu a few days earlier regarding the attacks on Gangryonghoe’s lower organizations in Mokpo and Daegu. He opened the files.
The moment he saw their contents, his expression turned terrifyingly dark. He immediately sent a reply.
Seongjun bit his lip in silence for a moment, then typed another message.
Meanwhile, in the room where Katsuyama-gumi members had gathered—
“(What kind of insane bastard killed Hideki?!)”
Hashimoto Ryuhei roared in fury over the death of his friend and comrade, Honda Hideki.
“(If I knew that, I wouldn’t be sitting here.)”
Shinichi answered calmly, one leg crossed over the other as he sat on the sofa. Ryuhei growled back at him.
“(They said the killer spoke Korean, right? Then it has to be those Gangryonghoe bastards…)”
“(And what reason would they have for killing him?)”
Ryuhei fell silent. Shinichi glared at him and continued.
“(I don’t believe Gangryonghoe had any reason to kill Honda. Even if he had done something to deserve it, they would have told us about his behavior before taking action themselves.)”
“(I agree. Everything has a reason, as they say. If Gangryonghoe was responsible, they would have explained why and left his punishment to us.)”
Kuroba Itsuki. Haneda Shinichi’s Right-Hand Man
Shinichi rose from his seat and spoke to Ryuhei.
“(Hashimoto. I understand how you feel after losing a friend, but the kind of heated reaction you’re showing might be exactly what the enemy wants.)”
“(The enemy?)”
“(A third party that wants to see conflict between us and Gangryonghoe. Who do you think that would be?)”
Ryuhei remained quiet. Itsuki offered his own thoughts.
“(It would be Jawolbang or the Komarov Bratva.)”
“(Does it have to be someone from the underworld who wants to see us divided?)”
“(Then… the Korean police?)”
At Itsuki’s guess, Shinichi lit a cigarette and answered.
“(It could be someone acting from a much higher place. In any case, the point of what I’m saying is that you must not let your emotions dictate your actions.)”
He exhaled a plume of smoke, his eyes flashing with killing intent.
“(Stay calm and think rationally. That is the only path to avenging our fallen brothers.)”
At the temporary headquarters for the participants of the Big Brother Project, Kyung-won was giving a video conference report to the command staff about the operation they had carried out at dawn.
“By eliminating Honda Hideki, we appear to have created a small crack in the relationship between Gangryonghoe and Katsuyama-gumi.”
“But is that enough? There isn’t a sufficiently convincing reason for Gangryonghoe to have killed that yakuza, is there?”
Colonel Jin Seho’s point was immediately backed by Police Chief Ma Seungcheol.
“He’s right. Unlike ordinary thugs, Ha Seongjun and Haneda Shinichi are smart enough to use their heads. They may have already realized this is an attempt to drive a wedge between them.”
NIS Director Lee Yeonghwan asked the group, “Everyone. Why did we insert undercover agents in the first place?”
When Seungcheol and Seho fell silent, he continued.
“A small hole in a wall that is difficult to tear down will not bring the wall down immediately. But if someone keeps widening that hole or creates more of them? The wall will eventually collapse. The undercover agents are the ones who widen the holes or multiply them. This is only the beginning.”
“Director Lee is correct. Killing Honda Hideki was merely the start. We must use the undercover agents to keep expanding the scale of this division.”
Seho still looked unconvinced by Yeonghwan and Kyung-won’s words.
“But if the executives aren’t easily fooled, will the underlings be any different?”
“Are the underlings nothing but machines that follow orders? They are human beings with emotions. When a comrade is attacked and killed, do you really think none of them will respond emotionally?”
“So the plan is to use the undercover agents to exploit those emotional individuals and widen the rift even further.”
“Exactly. And there’s a saying for this.”
Yeonghwan gave a meaningful smile.
“A mixture of 99 percent lies and 1 percent truth is far more effective than a 100 percent lie.”
“But is it really okay to do this?”
“What is?”
Ma Dong-beom, one of information broker Jeong Seung-gyu’s subordinates, asked worriedly while drinking an energy drink as he stared at the monitor. Seung-gyu answered casually.
“Whether it was okay to hand that information over to the agency… We share the same goal of destroying Gangryonghoe. Ever heard of ‘Wu and Yue in the same boat’? Besides, I made them promise not to reveal that the information came from us, so don’t worry. I also have proof that Lee Yeonghwan has been supplying personnel to Cha Jinyong’s Yeonghoda.”
“If you released all of that right now…”
“Hey. Those cards have to be played as finishing blows once the enemy is weakened. Think about it. You only get to use your ultimate skill once, and you blow it while the boss monster is still at full health. If the boss doesn’t die, you’re the one who gets screwed. So you chip away sixty percent of its health first, then use the ultimate. It’s not time yet. Don’t be so hasty.”
“Ah… I’m sorry. I was being short-sighted.”
Seung-gyu continued reviewing the information he had gathered about the attacks on Gangryonghoe’s lower organizations in Mokpo and Daegu.
“Still, I thought only the company was involved… An unexpected figure showed up.”
“I was surprised too. I’m not sure why he appeared, but… do you think he simply forgot to destroy the CCTV?”
“Who knows. But since he destroyed every other camera, it probably was just an oversight. Either way, thanks to him, driving a wedge between Gangryonghoe and Katsuyama-gumi just became a lot easier.”
Back at the Crown Hotel Busan Branch, Seongjun sat alone in the suite, staring at the documents Seung-gyu had sent. He was visibly shaken by the unexpected information.
What the hell is this…? What is this?! Why was that bastard there?!!
The documents contained what appeared to be stills from CCTV footage. Several of the photos showed a man wearing a white wolf mask, armed with a pistol and a knife. Images captured him firing the gun and slashing with the blade as he cut down Gangryonghoe gangsters. In the video file Seung-gyu had sent, the masked figure was slaughtering the organization’s members with ruthless efficiency.
There’s no doubt about it. This is Hakuro, the White Wolf—Katsuyama Junichi’s right-hand man who supposedly went into hiding a few months ago. But why would he suddenly attack our lower organizations in Korea…? For what reason??
The longer Seongjun stared at the photos, the more confused he became by the shocking revelation. With clear evidence that Hakuro—a high-ranking member of Katsuyama-gumi—had attacked Gangryonghoe’s subordinate organizations, Seongjun became convinced that Katsuyama-gumi was involved in the incidents. Slowly, a seed of distrust toward Katsuyama-gumi began to take root deep in his heart.