The Ultimate Inspector, Kang Ji-hyeok - Chapter 100
Only Noblemtl
Something hot wraps around my body.
‘I can’t die here again.’
What kind of son of a bitch is that?
The guy who tried to kill me.
“Get up, Kang Ji-hyeok. You can’t just let me go like this. There’s still a mountain of things you want me to do!”
Is it Sehee?
I heard her voice.
‘Yes, Sehee. Not now. I still have my revenge to take.’
Flash.
When I opened my eyes, the real Sehee was right in front of me.
It’s easier to just call her Uni now.
Inside the hospital room, there were several flower pots with wishes for a speedy recovery.
One of them caught my eye.
‘Lee Han-soo? Why did you send me a flower pot? How dare you play a prank on me, you son of a bitch?’
The green leaves were clean, so it seemed like it had just arrived in the morning.
“Sehee?”
“Wake up, are you awake?”
Sehee rang the bell quickly and the doctor and nurses came in.
The doctor said with a surprised look on his face as he checked my vital signs.
“Are you alive?”
“Is that weird?”
“sorry.”
“I guess it was strange to see you like that.”
“No, but your neck… how is your neck?”
I touched my neck with my hand without realizing it.
The area where the guy had stuck the straw in was taped up.
“It hurts a little when I touch it.”
“What about thighs?”
“Why do you keep asking? You can check it yourself.”
“I see. I kept asking because the patient checked it himself.”
At least the doctors I knew weren’t like this.
No, it might have been an amazing resilience for them.
〈Kang Ji-hyeok. You’re up now. Was this the moment when the incredible resilience you were given shined?〉
“Shut up. Why are you acting so smart now?”
“Yes? I’m sorry, patient.”
“Don’t worry about it. I’m just talking to myself.”
“It bothers me. That monologue, you know.”
The doctor took off the bandage on my thigh with a surprised look on his face.
He said it with a still surprised look on his face.
“It healed well. Fortunately, the artery… No. Actually, the artery was cut, but when they pulled out the knife and were going to operate, it was neatly reattached.”
The doctor was talking nonsense.
Well, what could be his fault?
Would it be a problem for me to have such incredible resilience?
“So the artery has healed well and the stitches have healed well?”
“Yes. That’s it. Hehe.”
“The hole in my neck healed surprisingly well, so there were no major problems.”
“That’s true. Seeing you speak so well, it seems like you don’t have any worries… Most of the time, that’s….”
“Is it originally like that, with wind and water leaking in?”
“No. It’s rare for someone to come to the hospital with a straw stuck in their throat······.”
“I guess so.”
The doctor fiddled with the ringer with a troubled face.
“Now that the patient’s wound has healed, please change to a recovery ringer.”
At those words, I looked at Ringer.
Suddenly, I thought of Um Ja-hyeon from a while ago.
“Is this ringer safe?”
“You’ll be safe soon. You’ll be a bit dizzy because you’re on some strong medication.”
I said with a frown.
“That’s true. The ringer was the biggest problem.”
“It is now. When he was brought in here last night, the problem was a hole in his neck and a wound on his thigh.”
The doctor took out a chart, scribbled something down, and spoke to me.
My insight was triggered.
I thought I knew what he was writing.
‘This is an ability I didn’t have before… I feel like something has changed.’
I told the doctor exactly what I felt.
“So are you writing that I can be discharged tomorrow?”
“Uh… How did you know? I just wrote it down on the chart….”
“At the end, you wrote, ‘Is it a miracle?’”
“···yes.”
“I have good eyesight······.”
The doctor had a nervous look on his face.
Even though he was a doctor, I decided to understand since this was his first time dealing with a patient like me.
“I will be discharged tomorrow, so please prepare.”
“Yes, I will, Prosecutor Kang Ji-hyeok.”
“Do you know me?”
“Is there a doctor in Korea who doesn’t know Prosecutor Kang Ji-hyeok?”
“There must be one. Somewhere.”
Sneak.
He looked at Sehee.
Well, these days, there probably isn’t a doctor who doesn’t know about Uni······.
You don’t want to spread unnecessary rumors, right?
“He is a friend from the neighborhood.”
“Oh, I see. I thought I saw the Western District Attorney’s daughter in the article······.”
“That’s true too.”
“You became friends after that incident? Wow, that’s cool. The prosecutor and the actress who cleared your name······.”
“How many patients are there here?”
“Including hospitalized patients, there are 800 people. It’s a pretty big hospital.”
“Then, Gangnam Heo Hospital?”
“That’s right. This is Heo Hospital, the best hospital in Gangnam.”
Suddenly, I thought I’d seen this doctor somewhere.
My memory kicked in.
– Patient Kang Ji-hyeok. Is this a hotel? Can you just get admitted whenever you want?
‘The doctor I met when I was with Hajin and my ribs were injured when the bomb exploded while I was going in alone! That’s him.’
Fate was never simple.
I learned that relationships that continue from the future will inevitably pass by in the past.
‘Even if we just brush against each other, it’s fate? I don’t think this is something that just came out of nowhere.’
For a moment, I got goosebumps at the insight that perhaps this was the system that ran through this world.
What was happening to me now felt like the future and the past were coming together in the present.
Does your insight feel sharper?
‘Nothing is ever just right. Everything in the world is connected!’
Since I had some things to worry about on my own, I decided to send the doctor.
“This isn’t a hotel, and it doesn’t seem like a hospital where you can be hanging out in the lobby like this.”
“Foot.”
At those words, the nurse covered her mouth and burst into laughter.
‘Suddenly? Here comes laughter.’
Only then did the doctor stand up.
He said, holding out his hand.
“My name is Kim Tae-hyung. I am a fan of Prosecutor Kang Ji-hyeok. Please continue to help us realize a just society.”
He glanced at Se-hee and then added.
“I’m also a fan of Yuni’s. I’m looking forward to the drama that will be airing soon.”
“Thank you, teacher. Is Jihyuk okay?”
“Actually, it shouldn’t be okay. But I think it’s okay… No, it’s okay. It’s okay enough to be discharged tomorrow.”
“Thank you. It’s all thanks to you, teacher.”
“I don’t have that much reputation… ah.”
The nurse gently pinched the doctor’s arm and pulled.
“I think you’ll have to wait for the next patient, Doctor Kim Tae-hyung.”
“I see. Let’s go quickly!”
So the doctor and nurse went out.
I shook my head, pretending to touch it.
“Ji-hyuk, are you okay?”
“I feel a little dizzy. I think I need to rest······.”
“Are you telling me to go out too?”
“Yes. Thank you for staying up all night. You must have been taking care of me from last night until now.”
Sehee knows that if she stays up all night, her makeup will come off a little.
This is especially true for the forehead area.
“How did you know?”
“How could you not know that? Your makeup is already on. Your forehead.”
“That’s strange. How do you know that? We’ve never even stayed up all night together before.”
I see
I’ve never had anything like that in this life.
“I just know. I looked into it a bit while investigating you during that incident.”
“Is that even necessary for the investigation?”
“I need them all.”
“That’s strange. My dad doesn’t know about that······.”
“Prosecutor Lee Cheol-jung is originally blunt. But, Se-hee.”
“Why? Jihyuk.”
Sehee smiled with her pretty eyes sparkling.
It was so beautiful that I was speechless for a moment.
No, I did it because I was so happy.
Again, I felt like crying without realizing it.
I quickly lay down and covered my face with the blanket and said.
“Me, I’m a prosecutor.”
“I know. He’s a totally awesome inspector.”
“My original job was to put criminals in prison and let the innocent go free.”
Sehee didn’t answer.
Gulp.
Again, those damn tears rolled down my cheeks.
“So, I didn’t clear your name because I was thinking of you specifically, I just proved that you were innocent. Thanks to that, we caught the real culprit······.”
“So, you’re telling me not to be thankful?”
“No. Se-hee. So. I’m telling you to go back now.”
“Do you really have to say that?”
“I want to rest now, but I’m tired of sitting there and chattering like a parrot.”
Sorry, Sehee.
Get out of here now.
Go as far as you can from me and make this life so wonderfully successful.
I don’t know what will happen if you stay by my side now.
“Okay. Take a rest.”
Sehee got up from his seat.
He spoke to me as he packed his clothes.
“Kang Ji-hyeok. I’ve been watching you since you were little. I know something has changed since that night.”
Heart pounding.
My heart was pounding.
Like a child who has been caught in a secret.
That’s right······.
“I don’t know what happened. From back then, it wasn’t the Kang Ji-hyeok I knew. But I still like that Ji-hyeok. That’s my feeling. Even though you’re a prosecutor, don’t tell me what to do. Then I’ll go.”
Sehee said that and left the hospital room.
“Where should we go?”
“There’s a script reading today. Let’s go.”
“Yes, sir. But are you okay, sir?”
“It’s not okay. I think something happened to his head. He kicked me out.”
“I see you have a really bad headache.”
“That’s what I mean.”
“Someday, you will accept my heart, Uni. After all, Prosecutor Kang is a man too.”
“It’s worrying because it’s getting better and better.”
“Hmm. That’s true. I think you’re getting cooler.”
Sehee and her road manager Kim Sehan walked away into the hallway while talking like that.
‘I didn’t even hear those words… My senses have definitely become stronger.’
“Hey, Guide. My senses… no, all my abilities seem to have sharpened quite a bit. Did you do something?”
〈Let’s say it’s like a level-up. While you were handling the Um Ja-hyeon case, her cousin, who was supposed to die in the future, didn’t die.〉
“Cousin?”
The memory in my head was triggered.
“Surely not, the cousin who was murdered two years later? The case where he started a computer company at KAIST, but Um Ja-hyeon murdered him and took the company’s shares?”
I had seen the cousin’s case in a TV special broadcast that dealt with the murder of Um Ja-hyun in the future I lived in.
〈Yes. The system for transferring abilities has improved since my cousin joined our AI system.〉
“So my abilities have leveled up and become even sharper?”
〈Yes. In 1961, while Lorenzo was simulating the weather on a computer, he discovered that small differences in the initial conditions were greatly amplified and produced completely different results. He used the term “butterfly effect” when he published the results of his research. I think it was that butterfly effect.〉
“Thank you for the detailed explanation. I think my knowledge has improved by about 10 points.”
I lay in bed, constantly trying to figure out who had attacked me and come up with hypotheses about them.
But no matter how hard I tried to find the subtle differences, I couldn’t.
“That’s right. A recorder.”
I found my belongings.
Fortunately, I found a ballpoint pen recorder in a drawer in my hospital room.
Beep.
I pressed it and it worked.
I listened to it over and over again.
His speech.
A subtle tremor in the voice.
Even the dialects are strangely mixed.
I listened and listened all night long.
“There’s some Chungcheong dialect mixed in.”
The only conclusion I came to overnight was this.
The day of discharge.
Hajin, who saved me in this life, came to get me.
“Prosecutor Kang. I’m glad you’re safe. No, but you were clearly badly injured······.”
I said with a frown.
It’s as if he’s enduring the pain.
“Ugh. I’m still sick, but fortunately I can walk, so I’m going to work. This time, I’m going to work at the heavy water treatment plant.”
“Yes? You mean the Central Investigation Department? The core of the prosecution, which was the Special Investigation Department until last year?”
“Okay. Okay.”
He paused for a moment, his expression looking pained.
A more plausible performance was needed.
“I have to go to work in two days, and I don’t want to be in the hospital. I have to show my strength. Especially if I’m a prosecutor in the Central Investigation Department.”
“Yes, Prosecutor Kang Ji-hyeok is that kind of person.”
Bam.
I touched the flower pot that Lee Han-soo sent with my foot.
“This flower pot. Can I ask you to investigate it?”
“Is it official?”
“No. I’m just asking you an informal favor, Chief of the Cyber Investigation Unit?”
“I’m a member of the cyber investigation unit, so I don’t feel like investigating based on what the prosecutors say. I’ll investigate unofficially.”
“Please also report it informally.”
“Of course, Inspector.”
* * *
After handing the flower pot over to Hajin, he went straight to work at the Central District Prosecutors’ Office.
Thud thud.
Standing in front of the Seoul Central District Prosecutors’ Office.
“We’ve come this far. Should we use the power of the Central Investigation Department, the core of the prosecution, for an absurdly personal revenge?”