The Ultimate Inspector, Kang Ji-hyeok - Chapter 107



Only Noblemtl

2009.

The influenza virus began to spread worldwide in April.

It was influenza A/H1N1, similar to the ‘Spanish flu’, which broke out in 1918 and was called the worst pandemic in human history, infecting 500 million people over three years and killing 50 million people with an average mortality rate of 5.8%.

This is the new flu, also known as ‘swine flu’.

That year, that is, in fact, starting in May 2009, there were three confirmed cases, but the newspapers reported that it was no more dangerous than a cold.

The South Korean government responded with an unbelievable speed and exemplary initial response, keeping the mortality rate at 0.01% from May to August.

But in the end, the director of the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention visited a multinational pharmaceutical company to beg for vaccines as he was unable to obtain Tamiflu and vaccines.

It exploded uncontrollably from September, infecting 800,000 people and killing 270 by August 2010.

That was a good thing.

In my time, a more terrifying epidemic swept the world for three years······.

Thanks to that, I completely forgot about it.

The fact that this massive new flu outbreak is coming soon.

‘Our cute ten-year-old neighbor, Youngsoon, also got infected with the new flu at this time, but the treatment, Tamiflu, was in short supply, so it didn’t arrive at our house until after she died.’

I remembered Young-sun’s mom and dad, who were sad that the neighborhood was leaving that day.

They left for their hometown the following year.

They were known for running a laundry shop in the neighborhood and being honest.

That huge new flu incident happened about 100 days later.

After the new flu, a new culture took root in South Korea.

That was the ‘hand sanitizer’ that Dream Castle was producing.

It was something I had no interest in, to the point where I wondered if it even existed in Korea, but it started selling like hotcakes from the moment news about the new flu first came out.

From neighborhood bathrooms to PC cafes, these hand sanitizers are now available everywhere around the world.

It was literally something you couldn’t live without.

Back in the day I died, it was possible to buy things online even if you didn’t have them, but that wasn’t the case back then.

Hand sanitizer is running out in every store in town.

Hand sanitizers and Tamiflu, a treatment that seems to have no end in sight, have become scarce due to the ‘new flu’.

‘So Dream Castle already knew about this new flu that was only starting to explode in Mexico after three months?’

widely.

I muttered, hitting my palm with my fist.

“No. If they had known, hand sanitizers, vaccines, and treatments would have been available earlier in my previous life.”

I closed my eyes.

I started to put the puzzle pieces in my head together one by one.

My memory and insight began to function at full capacity.

How much time has passed?

I opened my eyes slowly.

A strange hypothesis took hold in my head.

‘Someone in that cartel is directing them. Is there anyone like me who has returned and survived, knowing about the new flu?’

Knock knock.

I confirm my last hypothesis by tapping my desk with my fingers.

‘It wasn’t there before, but it suddenly appeared? It’s not absolutely impossible. It’s possible. I’m the perfect proof of that.’

Then everything makes sense.

Wiggle.

My eyebrows furrowed without me knowing.

‘No way? This isn’t happening because my past got distorted as I regressed, right?’

I couldn’t reason any further.

No matter how excellent one’s memory and insight were, finding out more was ‘impossible’.

bang!

I slammed my fist on the table.

“F*ck. I don’t know about that. For now, let’s think about it after taking care of Jo Jae-jun, who tried to kill me.”

A dark examination room with no one present.

When I came to my senses, I suddenly felt lonely.

Naturally, I thought of my old partner.

‘I wonder how Hajin is doing?’

Suddenly I missed him.

The clock on the wall said 11 o’clock at night.

At this time, Hajin would be rewatching professional baseball highlights.

Because the guy is the type of guy who can’t use his legs when it comes to baseball.

‘My favorite team, Hanwha, won······.’

Sigh.

I looked at my phone and thought.

‘Should we have a glass of soju at a street food stall? Or should we have a beer in front of the convenience store that Hajin and I often go to?’

I had to see Hajin today.

Only then could the case be solved.

I’m really sorry to him, but······.

Even Hajin had to be used for my current revenge.

* * *

Convenience store along the Han River near Konkuk University.

Teeing.

The cheerful sound of opening a beer can.

“Inspector. Are you feeling okay?”

“It’s all better.”

“You’re a lizard.”

“Thanks to you, I guess I didn’t get stabbed too deeply. It’s because you showed up.”

“You came out to see me for no reason and got into trouble······.”

“Is that so?”

“That’s right, Inspector.”

It’s cold outside, but cold beer tastes so good.

The fact that Hajin was in front of me was what made it so.

I just liked it.

“It’s cold. Why do you insist on meeting in a place like this? If you’re the inspector, wouldn’t you go to a bar in Gangnam with a night view?”

“I’m sorry. It’s cold out here, so I suggested we have a cold beer.”

“Hey, inspector. You’re quite the sly one.”

It was the Hajin I knew.

It was the same Hajin who would sneakily play pranks whenever he got the chance.

“That kid is so playful?”

“I only hit people I like. Do you know that, Inspector?”

“I know. I know everything.”

Hajin’s eyes widened.

Is it because I know it well?

“How do you know?”

“The water department knows everything, Inma. It also knows that when you eat squid, you start by eating the legs.”

I took off the squid legs and handed them over.

With a look of disbelief on his face, he chewed on his leg as usual.

“That’s strange. How do you know everything?”

“I told you, I know everything.”

“I see you’re investigating the police. I didn’t see it that way······. All prosecutors are the same.”

“I know that all prosecutors are like dogs to detectives. But Hajin.”

“Yes, sir.”

“Let’s not live like that.”

“Well, somehow I like you, Inspector. I’ll be honest with you. I’m serious about this.”

Hajin had an older brother.

When I was in the 5th grade of elementary school, my family went to Haeundae to play, and my tube got torn after tripping on a rock.

His older brother was born weak and could not withstand the sea water, and eventually died from drowning.

So after becoming a detective, Hajin studied drowning more deeply.

“Detective Kang. I mean drowning. It’s not necessarily the water that fills your lungs.”

“Are you a drowning expert?”

“Yes. I am an expert. If you don’t know, ask me.”

Thanks to that, Hajin was able to throw Jahyun Eom into the deep sea called ‘death penalty’.

“Hajin. Think of me as your older brother. Let’s be like that.”

“What are you… A prosecutor is a prosecutor.”

“Then can I call you inspector hyung?”

“I’ll call you Inspector Hyung. What does ‘Inspector Hyung’ mean? It doesn’t even roll off the tongue.”

Huruk.

I asked Hajin, who was drinking the remaining beer and opening another can.

“Manager Kim Ha-jin.”

“yes?”

“Can I ask you something, formally and informally? It’s not about drowning······.”

“Yes, sir. Please do.”

Unlike usual, I couldn’t open my mouth quickly.

This was because the weight of the questions I was about to ask was quite heavy.

“That day, the day I got hurt.”

“Yes, sir.”

“I told you I would investigate those guys separately. I would let you know if anything came out······.”

Huruk.

Hajin suddenly emptied the beer can in one gulp without answering.

I jumped up, went into the convenience store, and came out with some soju.

“Have some soju. This isn’t something we should talk about while drinking beer.”

Slurp.

Hajin poured two glasses full of soju into a small glass and offered me one.

“Were you curious about that?”

“I was really curious.”

“But why do you ask now?”

“I need to know for sure now.”

“Is that incident related to Yoon Tae-soo?”

“No. But thanks to Yoon Tae-soo, I found out that there was a connection to the other side.”

“Anyway, the inspector knows everything. He knows everything.”

Hajin downed the soju in one gulp and pushed the glass towards me.

“Please pour me a glass. Then I can talk.”

Hajin said he investigated two criminals.

“The guy who stabbed you with a knife and a straw didn’t leave any evidence behind.”

“Well, those guys were professionals.”

“Even the guy throwing the flower pot from above is a pro.”

“It sounds like they’re both professionals, so it’s not like they couldn’t find evidence.”

“You know that flower pot that hit your shoulder?”

“I remember. I got stabbed in the thigh by that flower pot. If not, even if he was a pro, he could have done it······.”

“The flowerpot that hit your shoulder was a cactus.”

Swish.

Hajin took out a few photos from his bosom.

“I brought some evidence just in case you contacted me today. Of course, it’s unofficial.”

“Let’s just look at it from this spot.”

The photo showed the scene of the incident, littered with broken flower pots.

“If you zoom in on the picture of the cactus.”

The sharp thorn tips of a cactus.

There was a pool of red blood there.

“The guy got his finger pricked by a cactus thorn that was hastily thrown. The cactus has already been sent to the National Forensic Service for analysis. Analysis number is K-5763080.”

“So, you’ve secured one important piece of DNA.”

Hajin said with a regretful face.

“The police haven’t found anyone whose DNA matches the criminal’s.”

“It is possible to identify the criminal after catching him, but it is not possible to find the criminal preemptively using DNA?”

“Yes.”

Swish.

Hajin handed me a USB.

“It was a shame there was no CCTV in the alley, but I found a hidden camera on the side of the criminal’s escape route.”

“What if you want to escape? The rooftop, right?”

“Yes. Since there are a lot of bar girls and aspiring celebrities living in Gangnam villas, there are a lot of guys called balbaris who hide on the rooftop and attack women who come to smoke.”

Yeah, that was around the time when there were a lot of cowardly sexual harassers who called themselves ‘what the heck’.

He is a sneaky sexual predator who hides in the dark and targets pretty women, touches their body parts, or harasses them before quickly running away.

“So it seems that some of the villa owners in the neighborhood have installed hidden cameras on their rooftops.”

“Did this bloody bastard who threw the cactus from above get caught?”

“Yes. I only collected the hidden camera footage. And… I even collected footage from the cameras on the parked cars so I could track his movements.”

A question arose.

What did Hajin find out from the data he collected that he didn’t tell me?

“While tracking them, you caught them meeting someone you couldn’t reveal.”

Hajin looked surprised at my words, but soon smiled.

He said it in a dejected tone.

“I thought you knew everything, sir. Detectives and prosecutors are definitely different.”

“Detectives conduct thorough investigations, and prosecutors reach conclusions based on the investigation.”

“You speak as if you were a former detective.”

“I dreamed of becoming a detective.”

“Well, until he was a senior in high school, he was more suited to be a detective. He probably would have been a good detective. I was a bit surprised when he suddenly became a prosecutor.”

“Is that so?”

Slurp.

I poured the last of the soju into the glass in front of us.

“If I stay with the prosecutors like this for too long, I will be misunderstood. They will call me a traitor within the police force······.”

“While following the video, did you happen to catch a trace of a traitor?”

Hajin downed the last glass of soju in one gulp and then lit a cigarette with his lighter.

“Go and check it yourself. I don’t want to be a dirty traitor.”

I also emptied the glass I was holding.

He said, waving the USB.

“Thank you. For putting it out there without hiding it.”

“I tried to hide it. The one who made me reveal it was the prosecutor.”

Hajin, who went to the ashtray next to him, also lit the photo.

Hurrr.

The photo turned to ash with a red flame.

“Unofficial evidence will be destroyed.”

“Let’s have another drink. Once we’re done with this.”

“Buy at a nice bar in Gangnam. I want to drink at a place like that.”

Cigarette smoke dispersed into the Han River.

Hajin quietly disappeared into the darkness.

* * *

“The guy who stabbed me that day asked the guy on the rooftop to meet him at Jamsil Baseball Stadium.”

A distance away from the scene of the incident.

Footage taken from a car parked in front of Jamsil Baseball Stadium shows a meeting between police officer Cho Jae-jin and a man wearing a black mask.

“You’re lost, Jo Jae-jin. Did you get a picture of you giving the envelope with money?”