Chapter 166: Pulling the Tail
"Who are you?" A man in his late 30s, wondering how the door had been opened on his day off, was stunned. He saw four men and a woman entering his home with their shoes on. "Don't you recognize me?"
The young man's sudden question caught him off guard, and he began to bristle. Anyone would be outraged by a young man who could enter someone else's home with dirty shoes on. He spoke so carelessly.
Just as the man was about to explode, the young man spoke first. "You wrote an article about me without even knowing who I am?" The word "article" flashed through the man's mind for a moment. But the first thing that came to mind was an encouraging call from his boss.
The boss had said that the article he'd published today had gone viral. He'd be giving him a bonus. "Ji... ji... Jin..."
"Yes. Jin Seo-woon. That's my name."
"This is trespassing! Get out! Get out! If you have something to say, talk to our company through a lawyer..."
– Pah! – Whoosh!
The moment blue sparks and flames erupted above Ki-chan and Juriell's hands, the man's words were cut off. It was as if he were lying.
"I wrote the article, so you know everything. Me and the people here have immunity. How can we talk? Otherwise..." Seo-woon trailed off. His gaze shifted from Juriell's fireball to Ki-chan's lightning.
"Talk! Let's talk! Sit here."
The man's reasoning was quick, contrary to his appearance. Seo-woon and his friends were surprised by this quick reasoning. It contrasted starkly with the man's heavy build and stern face.
They sat down in the chair he indicated. "Journalists must make good money. It must not be easy to find an apartment this size in Seoul." Seeing the spacious living room, which appeared to be at least 40 pyeong, and the large sofa that could comfortably accommodate four people, the man replied with a nervous smile.
"I'm very interested in financial management..."
Not everyone interested in financial management can afford an apartment this large in Seoul. "Let's say so. Let's get to the point."
At Seo-woon's words, the man licked his dry lips and swallowed. Seo-woon looked at the man. When Seo-woon still didn't say anything after a long while, the man began to sweat nervously.
"Umm..." He opened his mouth but didn't know what to say. A moment later, Ki-chan carried the coffin out of his subspace. He placed it in the middle of the man's living room.
"The size... seems just right." When Ki-chan said, comparing the man's body to the coffin's dimensions, the man's face began to pale. "I'm sorry. This wasn't the article I wanted to write."
"I just... Yes! Someone told me to publish the article once..."
"Who?" Only then did interest flash across Seo-woon's face. When he opened his mouth, the man quickly turned his head. "It was a personal contact, and I don't know the details..."
"...But! I have a video that shows his contact information, voice, and face!" Seeing Seo-woon frown, the man hurriedly went to his room. He brought his laptop.
"Here you go..." He hurriedly opened the laptop and showed him a few files. Among them was a video file showing the CCTV footage from the cafe. "I had prepared it in advance because the identity of the informant is important due to the nature of my work."
Ki-chan nodded as he looked at the man who was speaking proudly. "Is it a journalist's job to reveal the identity of an informant? Is it a journalist's job to publish an article without checking its content?" The man started making excuses in response to Ki-chan's words.
"Well, people's attention is focused on the Player and Cloyd these days, so... We decided to publish the article first because we received a relevant tip. I'm sorry." "You couldn't have just written the article after receiving a tip."
"I don't quite understand what you mean..." Ki-chan smiled at the man's words. "Your recent spending habits have changed quite a bit. You've moved all the furniture in your house, even your furniture. You go out drinking at fancy places every other day."
"How did you know that?!"
"You think I wouldn't have noticed if you only used cash? I found all your receipts." The man's pupils dilated at Ki-chan's words. "I received a small amount of compensation..."
"You must have received at least a few hundred million won. I suppose a few hundred million won is a small amount for a high-earning journalist." The man bowed his head in response to Ki-chan's words. He said nothing.
"Is that all you know about this guy?" The man nodded at Seo-woon's question. Seo-woon took the man's laptop and got up. Everyone followed him out.
When they reached the door, Ki-chan turned around. He said one last thing to the man. "From now on, you should think carefully before writing your articles." The man nodded quickly at Ki-chan's words, who had even packed a briefcase.
When the front door closed, the man sat down on the floor. He sighed. When the group boarded the elevator and arrived at the first floor, a familiar figure was waiting for them.
"How did you know?" Seo-woon asked. Jeong Su-hwa, dressed in casual clothes instead of his usual suit, answered. "Following an article isn't difficult. I knew you'd come here."
"You didn't have to come all the way here."
"In case of an emergency, we might need to collect the body. After all, he's a South Korean citizen..." Seo-woon nodded at Jung Soo-hwa, who looked at him with a worried expression. "Don't turn a normal person into a murderer. You're not someone who would kill people over something like that."
He breathed a sigh of relief at her words. Even if this incident hadn't happened, public opinion was already very tense. If something had gone wrong, there would have been protests calling for Jin Seo-woon's deportation.
– The journalist who wrote the first article about Jin Seo-woon was killed. The moment that headline surfaced, there would be no way to control the situation. Thinking he had overcome the crisis, he opened his mouth with a more relaxed expression.
"What are your plans from now on?"
"Now that we have a lead, we have to follow it. We don't know if we'll find the root or uncover the entire plant." With that, Seo-woon walked past him. "Just in case, it's better not to interfere."
Jeong Soo-hwa nodded as she watched Seo-woon draw the line and walk away. Even though they were closer than before, the fact that Seo-woon still saw her as just a government official left a slightly bitter taste in her heart.
Seo-woon got in the car. He asked Ki-chan, who was busy typing something on his laptop. "Can you find him?"
"It's not easy to find someone just by looking at his face. I could check a few databases, but we don't have the infrastructure for that. It would take a long time to extract the data."
"Ask Bai-lun for help. He has all the information you need." Seo-woon then pulled out his cell phone. "I need help..." He explained the situation and sent Bai-lun the new lead he'd gotten.
He called back shortly after. "Hello. I sent you the relevant information. More specifically, he's a former member of the Korean Ministry of National Security."
"Ah, then it must be Japan."
"I think so too. I knew that the men who followed Kim Chi-sang to Japan were gradually returning to Korea. They were engaging in various activities, but I didn't expect them to reveal themselves like this."
"Can we find Kim Chi-sang's whereabouts in Japan?"
– That's beyond our capabilities... We're trying, but we haven't been able to track him since he entered Japan.
"We'll have to find him ourselves. Anyway, thanks. I'll repay you someday."
– I take your word for it. I hope this matter gets resolved soon.
After hanging up, Ki-chan, who had checked the information Bai-lun had sent, told Juriell. "In Gyeonggi-do xxx xx. His last location was found at a motel there." Juriell quickly typed in the address and turned the car around.
"Is he still there?" Ki-chan nodded at Seo-woon's question. "Most likely. We've verified all his movements over the last few months, and he's using this place as a base. But how many agents do the Chinese have in another country to be able to place that many?"
"How do I know?" The four of them soon reached the agent. They caught the one who paid for the article. It wasn't hard to outsmart him, sneaking into his longtime motel without suspicion.
"Do you know me?"
"Who are you...?"
Seo-woon's smile widened at the man's ignorance. It made no sense that he wouldn't recognize the face of a man who was once a Department of Homeland Security agent and a member of the Kimchi Guild.
"Well, a professionally trained agent doesn't speak easily. I guess we'll have to do it the hard way." When he finished, Seo-woon took off his outer garment. He pulled a metal chair from his subspace, sat the man down, and tied him up.
"What are you doing? I'm just a stockbroker..." As he spoke, Ki-chan pushed a laptop with information on it in front of him. "Mr. Park Mu-sung. We know everything, so let's not waste our energy."
The man's expression changed instantly. His lips curled. "You won't learn anything from me." Seo-woon took out a small steel needle. He held it in front of the man. "
Think carefully before you answer. This is a technique I learned from the most ruthless person I've ever met. Once it's implanted in a person's body, there's no way to remove it. Until death."
Hearing Seo-woon's words, the man involuntarily swallowed. Seeing him, Seo-woon continued. "I only want to know one thing. Kim Chi-sang's location. Or the location of anyone who knows his whereabouts. That's all."
"...And... the method I'm going to use to get you to talk is called 'ten needles to the stomach.'" When Seo-woon finished explaining the ten needles to the stomach technique he'd heard from Nam Sagwang, the man's pupils twitched violently. "I repeat. These steel needles are made from my own essence energy. Once it enters the human body, there's no way to remove it until death."
A moment later, Seo-woon tried to insert the first needle into the man's solar plexus. But the man hurriedly opened his mouth. "Ciba! Ciba Gen... in Mobara." Hearing the man's words, Seo-woon smiled and withdrew the needle.
"You're smart. Then can you tell me the details?" Seo-woon learned from the man about Kim Chi-sang and his guild. Not only that, he also learned a great deal about the situation in Japan. When he started talking, he seemed to let go of everything. He told Seo-woon everything, even things he hadn't been asked.
"...That's everything I know." Seo-woon patted the man's shoulder and pulled out his phone. "Are you nearby?"
"Yes."
"Come and get him. It's better to hand him over to someone who knows him than to handle him myself." Shortly after he hung up, Jung Soo-hwa and a few other men burst into the small motel room. "Park Mu-sung?" The man, recognizing Jung Soo-hwa from her words, turned his face somberly.
"We found him easily with China's help. You can leave the rest to us, right?" Seo-woon nodded at his question. "He'll have no further contact with the outside world."
As they were leaving the motel, Seo-woon called Karina. "I need to take an unofficial trip to Japan."
***
"Mr. Kim!" A man burst into the guild hall's private sauna room. He called out to Kim Chi-sang, who was sweating profusely. "What's going on?" Kim Chi-sang closed his eyes as his meditation was interrupted. He frowned angrily.
"There's a big problem. Team Leader Park, who's working in Korea, has been caught."
"Caught? By whom?"
"Check this out." The CCTV footage from the motel where Park Mu-sung was staying clearly showed Jung Soo-hwa and her accomplices tying Park Mu-sung up. They were taking him away.
"Damn it. When was this?"
"An hour ago."
"An hour ago... Team Leader Park doesn't speak easily, but those guys are probably very angry. Keeping him safe will be difficult. Gather all the team leaders immediately." The man who had come to report to him nodded and hurried out.
They used fake videos to stir up trouble and narrow down his position from the media. Then they incited public opinion and exposed his family's personal information. They subjected him to mental torture for months before planning to strike at the perfect moment. They would finish him off without anyone knowing.
A separate team was already busily strategizing. They planned to set traps and ambushes near Wonju, where he frequently trained. "That's not bad either. Come here, Jin Seo-woon. I'll prepare a dungeon for you to rot in for the rest of your life."
With his abilities sealed and absorbed, his power would be absolute. The day he wouldn't have to waste his energy in a power struggle with the Japanese government, who only intended to use him and get rid of him when it suited them, he thought.
Kim Chi-sang curled his lips into a smile , thinking that the day wasn't far when he wouldn't have to waste his energy in a power struggle with the Japanese government, who only intended to use him and get rid of him when it suited them.