Jo Ki-hyeok, director at Wind Planning, recalled a recent event.

“When I heard the rumor that Lemon Flower was making contact with ES Entertainment and went to stop them. That time when the boss assigned three thugs to me—when I fought with a bodyguard that ES Entertainment sent in the underground parking lot...”

Wind Planning’s president, Choi Sun-Myung, snapped.

“You got beat and ran away without even putting up a proper fight! You never do anything right!”

“He was really strong. But maybe... maybe that guy wasn’t a bodyguard after all...”

Only then did Choi Sun-Myung realize what he was implying.

“Huh? Are you saying that guy was Seo Jung-woo?”

“He’s the detective known for being a great fighter, right? 4cats were there too, and Seo Jung-woo is Seo Sora’s real older brother.”

“You dumb bastard! You don’t even know who beat you up!”

Choi Sun-Myung, growing anxious, licked his dry lips.

“Shit. I’ve got a bad feeling about this. If that guy really was Seo Jung-woo, then this is a big problem. Did you do anything else that day?”

“I was the one who got beat up. What more could I have done?”

“Is that something to brag about, you idiot?! Did you leave any clues behind? Those girls know who you are!”

“Of course Lemon Flower knows me, and I’ve run into Lee Seon-hwa a few times. But I doubt they know the guys you sent with me. They ran away without even fighting.”

“If they were identified too, we’d basically have a knife at our throats, and you’re telling me this so casually?!”

“Even Seo Jung-woo wouldn’t know about those guys.”

Choi Sun-Myung wanted to believe Jo Ki-hyeok. He swallowed hard.

“You think Seo Jung-woo could find out we were behind this scandal?”

Jo Ki-hyeok rolled his eyes.

“He’s a monster of a detective who catches serial killers and terrorists, but would he know anything about the entertainment industry? It’s a whole different field. A completely different one.”

“Right? Way too different, huh? So he won’t find out?”

“Unless you know how this world works, there’s no way you could figure out it was us. And this scandal? It’s just one of those quick, flashy ones that disappear fast. Thanks to Lee Seon-hwa clearing things up naturally, it blew over quickly. You think he’s going to investigate it like it’s a murder case? He’s probably got plenty of other cases to worry about.”

Choi Sun-Myung loosened his stifling necktie and let out a sigh of relief.

“Phew. Yeah, it’s not even his jurisdiction anyway. And detectives are supposed to be really busy, right? That’s a relief.”

That day, Seo Jung-woo left work at 6 PM as usual.

Later that night, AKX Pictures’ president Kim Seong-jun came to meet Seo Jung-woo. They met at a small private café near Seo Jung-woo’s house.

“Sorry for the late hour.”

“It’s fine.”

Lee Joo-yeon brought them each a drink and then quickly stepped outside.

Watching her, Kim Seong-jun asked,

“Did she leave on purpose to give us privacy?”

“I’m a regular. She probably trusts me enough to leave the shop for a bit.”

Outside the shop, Lee Joo-yeon pumped both fists in front of her chest and beamed.

“Ahhh! That detective oppa keeps using my café as a secret meeting spot. It’s thrilling!”

Kim Seong-jun confirmed with a question.

“I saw the article. You revealed that you’re siblings with Seo Sora because of the 4cats scandal, didn’t you?”

“I don’t like people messing with those close to me.”

Kim Seong-jun thought to himself,

‘I wonder if Yoon Mi and I count as close to him. Probably not yet.’

“Have you found out who’s behind this?”

“I’m about to start looking.”

Kim Seong-jun smiled internally.

‘Looks like my information will be useful.’

“As you probably know, 4cats’ song is being used in a commercial we produced. It’s scheduled to start airing tomorrow. If the scandal had kept spreading, we would’ve had to remake the ad. That would’ve meant big losses for us, including our credibility.”

Kim Seong-jun believed Seo Jung-woo would resolve the 4cats scandal quickly. He had confidently told the advertiser the ad could air as-is, and he had been right. He’d even received a call from the advertiser moments ago, full of praise and apology.

“So we quietly did some investigating on our end to see who was behind this.”

He placed a USB stick on the table.

“With your skills, I’m sure you’d have figured it out soon enough, but I wanted to save you some effort.”

Seo Jung-woo gave a faint smile.

“I’ll make good use of it.”

This was the kind of intel he needed. Just because he crossed into the other world didn’t mean information would magically fall into his lap.

That’s why he appreciated this gift.

Kim Seong-jun explained the contents of the USB.

“We found the reporter who first released the article. But there are quite a few people who could have hired him to write a fake piece. He’s known for spreading false news to make money—essentially a contract journalist.”

“Someone deliberately picked that kind of guy to avoid being traced.”

“That’s likely. We looked into who could’ve benefited from this scandal...”

Kim Seong-jun made a slightly uncomfortable face.

“There were more than we expected.”

“ES Entertainment has that many enemies?”

“No, it’s because of Dimension.”

Seo Jung-woo frowned slightly. He *was* Dimension.

“Dimension doesn’t have enemies, right?”

“Since no one knows who they really are, of course not. But...”

Kim Seong-jun explained.

“Turns out there are quite a few companies that think they can get close to Dimension if ES Entertainment falls. Of course, not many would go so far as to fabricate such a vicious scandal and spread fake news. This industry is full of scammers and schemers, but there are also many who know where to draw the line. So we narrowed it down to companies that would benefit from ES Entertainment’s collapse and are ruthless enough to pull something like this.”

He raised three fingers.

“We came up with three companies.”

“You’ve narrowed it down a lot. Who are they?”

“Yuseong Entertainment, Redwing Entertainment, and Wind Planning.”

One name stood out to Seo Jung-woo.

“Wind Planning. That’s where Lemon Flower is, right?”

“As expected, you know them. Wind Planning’s president, Choi Sun-Myung, isn’t the worst guy in the business, but he’s the kind of guy who’d definitely pull something like this to take down ES Entertainment. There’s even a rumor that Lemon Flower plans to switch over to ES Entertainment once her contract ends.”

“That’s not a rumor. It’s true. I guess that news reached Choi Sun-Myung.”

“But there’s no solid evidence. Just circumstantial hints. The other two companies could easily do something like this too, and the real culprit could be someone else entirely.”

Seo Jung-woo put the USB stick in his pocket.

“I’ll look into it.”

Not from here, though.

‘I’ll have to go to the other world and investigate Choi Sun-Myung.’

Seo Jung-woo crossed over to the parallel dimension the next day to find Park Cheol-woo. To get to the Jeokseong Gate in northern Gyeonggi, he had to take a bus.

Several of the passengers on the bus kept looking around anxiously. Some couldn’t take their hands off their guns.

In this world, everyone—regardless of nationality—carries a gun. There are even many countries that have completely fallen into anarchy.

Still, South Korea maintains at least a minimal legal system.

Korean robbers don’t attack buses. If bus passengers fire back from behind steel plates, robbers don’t stand a chance. Even if they manage to succeed in an ambush, the price to pay afterward is too high. All public transport buses are government property. If an important means of transportation like a bus is attacked, the government retaliates aggressively.

Despite that, some passengers were still uneasy.

Soldiers who fight monsters suffer not only from physical injuries sustained in battle, but also various other issues. Post-traumatic stress disorder is common. Physical wounds can be seen and treated, but mental injuries are hard to heal.

Watching them, Seo Jung-woo spoke inwardly.

‘I hope they at least get some good sleep at night.’

As soon as Seo Jung-woo met Park Cheol-woo, he asked,

“Do you know someone named Choi Sun-Myung?”

The company name might be different. That’s why he only asked for the name.

Park Cheol-woo frowned.

“Choi Sun-Myung? What about that bastard?”

“I’m just curious what kind of guy he is.”

“He’s not someone you benefit from getting involved with...”

“You know I’m not the kind of guy who gets beat up for no reason, right?”

Park Cheol-woo relaxed his expression.

“That’s true. To put it simply, Choi Sun-Myung is trash.”

“As if we don’t already have a million types of trash in our world. What kind is he?”

“For starters, he steals other people’s songs or exploits composers and singers to make money.”

“People don’t usually just let that happen.”

If someone repeatedly did that alone, they could get shot and killed any day.

“Does he have strong armed force or something?”

“The only combat power Choi Sun-Myung personally runs is one small team. But behind him is the White Shark Guild.”

“Hmm?”

Seo Jung-woo frowned.

In that other world, he had wiped out the Knife Gang. That Knife Gang had changed their name to White Shark Guild in this world.

Park Cheol-woo asked,

“Why? Something bad happened between you and the White Shark Guild?”

“Yeah, a bit. I’m keeping an eye on how they move.”

“If they’re smart, they wouldn’t mess with you. No, wait. If they don’t know what kind of person you are, then maybe they would.”

“Things haven’t gone that far yet. But has Choi Sun-Myung been doing this stuff for a long time? Like, since the 20th century?”

“The 20th century? Yeah. Back then he worked for a small but successful company and pretended to be a decent guy. Then, after the world changed, he revealed his true nature.”

Many people revealed their true nature after the gates opened and monsters invaded.

“In what way?”

“The president of that company got shot and killed.”

“Was it Choi Sun-Myung’s doing?”

“He didn’t pull the trigger himself. He had an alibi. But there’s a rumor the White Shark Guild killed him. After that, Choi Sun-Myung took over the company. If it had ended there, maybe that would’ve been the end of it, but ever since then, the White Shark Guild has been backing Choi Sun-Myung. He brought in money from somewhere and grew the company, and there’s a rumor the money came from the White Shark Guild. So, it’s obvious.”

“Contract killing and money laundering.”

Seo Jung-woo thought of the Choi Sun-Myung in the other world.

‘That guy’s also a president.’

He hadn’t checked yet when the guy had become a president.

‘The Kalchi bastards kidnapped and killed people.’

That’s why Seo Jung-woo wiped out the Knife Gang. He even detonated incendiary bombs in their building and burned everything down without leaving a trace.

Seo Jung-woo said,

“The White Shark Guild used to be a gang called the Knife Gang in the 20th century. That means Choi Sun-Myung and the Knife Gang probably knew each other back then.”

“That’s possible.”

“What’s the name of Choi Sun-Myung’s company?”

“Wind Planning. It used to be Baram Records, but Choi Sun-Myung took it over and changed the name.”

It’s clearly the same company. That raises an important question.

‘Is the president of Baram Records in the other world still alive?’

“Give me more information about Choi Sun-Myung. Don’t make any calls or anything. The White Shark Guild guys are pretty sensitive. If you start calling around, they’ll notice immediately.”

Park Cheol-woo tapped his gun.

“Do you need help with the White Shark stuff?”

“If I need backup, I’ll drag you along whether you like it or not, so for now just tell me what you know.”

“Then I’ll tell you all the rumors I’ve heard. I can’t say they’re all true, though. You know how rumors are.”

“I’ll verify them myself, so it’s fine.”

“A lot of people have died after getting involved with Choi Sun-Myung. I’ll start with the story of the manager from a rival company of Wind Planning who got shot and killed. Of course, the killer was never caught. There was just a rumor it was the White Shark Guild.”

The next day, Seo Jung-woo returned to the world without monsters.

He searched for information on Baram Records. Many singers are under contract with Wind Planning. There are also a few actors. On the internet, fans of those singers and actors had compiled a history of Wind Planning.

“He died.”

The president of Baram Records died a bit later than the one in the other world. But the reason for death wasn’t included in that fan-compiled material.

Seo Jung-woo searched the police database for that detail.

‘Just as I thought. It was a murder case. And the killer was never caught.’

The case was similar to the one in the other world. The only difference was that instead of getting shot, the victim had been stabbed to death by a robber’s knife.

‘It was probably staged as a robbery.’

While he was at it, he also investigated others who had died after getting involved with Choi Sun-Myung in the other world.

It was easy to check people whose names appeared on the internet. For those who didn’t show up in searches, he used the police database. Most of them were still alive, but some were already dead.

‘Two people.’

He found two more people who had died.

‘Also murder cases.’

The perpetrators hadn’t been caught in those two cases either.

‘Serial murders. Though it hasn’t yet been recognized as such.’

The ones who committed the murders were dead, but the one who ordered them was still alive.

Seo Jung-woo knows who the killer is.