Seo Jung-woo spoke.

“There’s a murder case showing up as breaking news on TV. And the victim is a minor. The guy who stabbed her is a gangster. You didn’t catch the beginning of the news, did you? It said he tried to kidnap her, but when she didn’t cooperate, he tried to stab her to death.”

One of them protested.

“N-No, it was the girl who first…”

“You got proof? Did you record it?”

“Th-That’s…”

“When the news of the death hits in the morning, how do you think public opinion will react? Judges are human too. Okay, question. Do you think all three of you will get the death penalty? Or not?”

The three men rolled their eyes anxiously.

Seo Jung-woo added another word.

“You think the Manager Do gang will be able to cover for you? They can’t. Those bastards are barely holding on to their own lives right now.”

One of them, who had been darting his eyes around, suddenly pointed at the team leader of Chae Hongsa.

“That bastard’s the one who stabbed her! I was just standing lookout from behind!”

The startled team leader shouted.

“You bastard! You wanna die?!”

“It wasn’t me! And you’re the one who said to bury that poor girl! That bastard over there is truly a scumbag!”

The team leader tried to stand up, even with handcuffs on.

“No! You bastards! If you do this, we’re all screwed…”

Seo Jung-woo placed a hand on the leader’s shoulder.

“You, shut it for now.”

The team leader couldn’t even speak properly because of the pain that felt like his shoulder was being crushed.

“Ugh, aaah! M-My shoulder, h-hand, please…”

“I said shut up. I’m still listening.”

The team leader closed his mouth, overwhelmed by Seo Jung-woo’s strength and presence.

The two underlings had originally feared the team leader. But that fearsome leader couldn’t even resist one gesture from Seo Jung-woo and begged to be let go.

That weak display influenced the other guy standing next to him.

The other guy quickly cut in and confessed as well.

“I saw it too. I told them not to do it, but that bastard dragged the kid in the room along and said to bury them both in the mountains…”

The team leader wanted to get angry. But his voice wouldn’t come out properly.

“Ugh, ugh…”

Seo Jung-woo spoke to the other two.

“We need to verify you’re not lying, so you’re each going to a separate hospital room. Tell them everything — why you went looking for Nam Soo-jung, what you did there, what Manager Do gang’s objective was. The one who says less will be considered useless, so do your best to explain.”

Baek Sung-min and Jo Min-seok each took one of them to a different room. The support officers from the police moved with them.

Team Leader Kwon Byeong-cheol placed a chair in front of the team leader and sat down.

“Now let’s hear your side. Those bastards are already talking. You’ve got something to say too, right? You can’t just take the whole fall yourself, can you?”

Seo Jung-woo removed his hand from the team leader’s shoulder.

The team leader cried out.

“P-Please spare me! I really just did what I was ordered to do from above! If I didn’t, I’d be the one dead!”

“Yeah, yeah. So speak. Quickly.”

The three members of Chae Hongsa spilled everything they knew — why Wind Planning wanted to cast Nam Soo-jung, how the Manager Do gang intended to use her, and why they tried to kidnap her younger brother.

After they had collected all the necessary testimony, Baek Sung-min let out a deep sigh in the hospital lounge.

Seo Jung-woo handed Baek Sung-min a coffee from the vending machine.

“Why do you look so drained?”

“Jung-woo. What am I supposed to do now?”

“What do you mean?”

“I lied to Reporter Kim and said the girl’s life was in critical danger.”

Nam Soo-jung had some injuries on her abdomen, but she was otherwise in perfect health.

“But the news ended up getting way more attention than expected? Was my word really that heavy?”

“Thanks to you, we got the confessions. Without that, those bastards would’ve held out to the end.”

“Yeah, we got the confessions. So now I just get cursed out by Reporter Kim?”

Seo Jung-woo couldn’t take on that job himself. If he spoke directly to the reporter, the news would blow up even more, making it difficult to dismiss as a simple misreport.

“If you give the reporter more info for their article, they won’t curse you. They’ll worship you.”

“Huh?”

“Just pick out a few pieces from the confessions. Something big — like how they planned to bury them in the mountains, or that slave contract exists. Stuff that’s heavy.”

“What? Hey. That’s investigation material…”

“It’s fine as long as we don’t get caught. If you and I, and the reporter, keep our mouths shut, who’s going to know?”

Baek Sung-min chuckled.

“Yeah? That’s true, huh? Then I’ll slip it over. With that much, Reporter Kim won’t be able to say anything to me. But Jung-woo. Why are you going this far for this case? We could’ve investigated slowly.”

Because Nam Soo-jung almost died.

“I’m going to wipe them out.”

When it comes to monsters, you don’t leave a single one behind. If even one escapes, someone’s bound to get hurt later.

Baek Sung-min shivered.

“Man, sometimes I think it’s such a relief you’re on our side. Seriously. If you were the enemy, how could anyone sleep at night?”

Seo Jung-woo went to see the Nam siblings at dawn. They were admitted in a two-person room. Not a six-person room — because Seo Jung-woo had paid for their hospital stay.

In front of the room stood Detective Kim Jeong-ho from the other team, keeping watch.

“Oh. You’re here, Jung-woo?”

“Thanks. For helping out.”

“I owed you too, remember? You saved my ass before. A night like this is nothing. Just say the word anytime.”

“How’s Soo-jung?”

“Sleeping.”

Seo Jung-woo quietly opened the door and went inside. The moonlight streaming through the window fell across Nam Soo-jung’s face.

Earlier, she had cried so sorrowfully, but now she was sleeping with an incredibly peaceful expression.

‘That’s a relief.’

The cable TV news soon issued a correction report.

- We’ve received word that the victim’s life is not in danger. What a relief.

If they’d stopped there, they would’ve had to apologize for the earlier misreport. But instead, the anchor steered the viewers’ attention to another story.

- However, it has been revealed that the perpetrators attempted to murder and dispose of the siblings. Attempting to kill such young children — it’s truly a horrifying act. Furthermore, using a slave contract…

By morning, even public TV had picked up the story.

- It’s been revealed that Wind Planning’s CEO, Choi Sun-Myung, was deeply involved in the case…

If Nam Soo-jung had died from this incident, the police would have taken major heat. But fortunately, they rescued her before she was seriously hurt. That’s how the public understood it.

The police acted proactively to avoid criticism. Detectives moved out at dawn and arrested Manager Do gang members as if sweeping them up.

That morning, at the detective division, Baek Sung-min said to Seo Jung-woo:

“Hey. Reporter Kim said thank you. Said she was able to publish a lot of good news thanks to you. No one cared about the brief misinformation in the beginning.”

“See? I told you she’d end up thanking you instead.”

“So we decided to have dinner together. I need to find a nice place with a good vibe.”

“Huh? Reporter Kim was a woman?”

“Yeah. She’s pretty. Hehehe.”

“I hope it goes well.”

“Also, I didn’t mention anything about you. I just said I was sharing information as an apology.”

“I had no choice. If I get involved, it’ll only make things harder to clean up.”

“Hey. But about the Manager Do gang. Things have gotten a bit tricky. They got the underlings, but missed the boss and the high-ranking ones.”

“How did that happen?”

Baek Sung-min frowned.

“Word leaked that they were going to arrest them. They were all hiding in one place. We barely got the location and stormed the place, but when we got there, they had already fled.”

“After seeing the news yesterday about the three guys being arrested?”

“No. They seemed to be relaxed, then bolted right before the raid.”

Baek Sung-min lowered his voice.

“If you ask me, someone on that team took money from the Manager Do gang.”

“If the boss gets caught, it’s over for that guy too. So he gave them a heads-up.”

“I don’t have proof, but I’m certain. Man… cops taking gangster money… I don’t take bribes at least.”

Seo Jung-woo thought to himself.

‘Then the ones who escaped must’ve regrouped somewhere else. Somewhere out of sight.’

“That’s great.”

Baek Sung-min looked startled.

“Huh? Great? That I don’t take bribes? Hey, you’re not thinking of taking me down if I mess up, are you…?”

“Why would I arrest you? It’s not like you killed someone.”

“Right?”

Seo Jung-woo didn’t know where the escaped officers were either.

‘Should I catch the cop who sold out the raid info and ask him? No, he probably doesn’t know either. Then should I check the other side? Maybe raiding Wind Planning might turn up something?’

While thinking it over, an idea came to him.

‘Ah. There was that.’

Wind Planning was officially disbanding.

CEO Choi Sun-Myung had been arrested on charges of attempting to kidnap Oh Dong-cheol and Na Hee-seon, and now he was being investigated as a suspect in a serial murder case. And the flood of news starting last night revealed that he and the Manager Do gang had been involved together in those acts.

Now, the only way for the celebrities contracted with Wind Planning to survive was to get out of there fast. Staying would only ruin their image along with the agency.

So, the singers and actors held a joint press conference to declare contract termination. Although the investigation was still ongoing, making the termination not immediate, it was obvious how it would end.

That afternoon, Seo Jung-woo visited the hospital to check on Nam Soo-jung.

Seo Jung-woo opened the hospital room door.

Nam Soo-jung was busily eating snacks that her friend Jeong Hyun-su had brought. She greeted him warmly when she saw him.

“Ah! It’s the police officer!”

Seo Jung-woo looked at the pile of empty snack bags beside her and the half-finished one in her hand, asking incredulously:

“Are you sure it’s okay for you to eat like that?”

She laughed and waved her hand.

“Eh, it’s fine. The doctor said it’s just surface-level injuries and everything else is okay. I got stitches, but this will heal quickly. I’m super lucky, right?”

She had actually been incredibly unlucky. She was stabbed in a vital spot and nearly died. Seo Jung-woo had revived her using a red potion.

Seo Jung-woo gave a small laugh.

“That’s a relief.”

“So I’m planning to get discharged quickly. This room’s expensive, you know.”

This was a two-person room. Since her younger brother was sick, Seo Jung-woo had allowed him to stay here with her.

“I’ve paid the hospital bill until tomorrow, so take one more day to rest.”

Elementary schooler Nam Soo-ho bowed deeply to Seo Jung-woo.

“Thank you, police officer.”

“Yeah, sure.”

“I want to be a police officer when I grow up too.”

“Do something else. There are better options.”

Nam Soo-jung told Seo Jung-woo:

“Mister, cancel the hospital payment quickly and get the refund.”

“I said get some proper rest.”

“I have to get out quickly and start earning money.”

Her friend Jeong Hyun-su tried to calm her down.

“Hey, don’t worry about the medical bills. It’s not that much! Detective Seo covered everything. He’s a famous detective, he probably has lots of money.”

“No, not my hospital fees. We need even more money.”

Jeong Hyun-su knew why she wanted to start earning money. So he said loudly:

“Don’t worry about that either. I’ll join a game tournament and win the prize money. Just trust me.”

Seo Jung-woo asked:

“Hyun-su, when do you even go to school?”

“Is school really the issue right now?”

“Yeah. It is for you.”

“I-I need to join the game tournament, you know?”

“Didn’t you just get a trainee offer, not become a pro?”

Jeong Hyun-su quickly explained:

“There’s an amateur-friendly tournament coming up soon. I’m aiming for that one. If I win the prize money there, it’ll be fine.”

“You think you can win? Just because it’s amateur-friendly doesn’t mean pros won’t join.”

“I’m going to give it my all, you know? Effort never betrays, right?”

“Effort… That guy betrays quite a lot, actually.”

“Huh?”

“Also, are you the only one putting in effort? Don’t you think the others in that tournament are working hard too? The pros probably work even harder than you.”

“Come on, Detective Seo. Why are you being so negative?”

“Because just wishing won’t get you anything.”

Jeong Hyun-su scratched his head.

“I know that. And honestly, I’m not expecting to win. I figure HellBuddha is going to take the win anyway.”

“Huh? What?”

“HellBuddha’s going to be in the tournament. It’s open to amateurs too, so he’ll probably show up.”

Seo Jung-woo was slightly flustered. HellBuddha was his in-game nickname.

‘Wait. Why is my nickname coming up here?’

Nam Soo-jung asked:

“Who’s HellBuddha?”

“A gamer who showed up recently. He’s dominating both the AOS game and the island survival game—those are the most popular ones right now. At first, people thought he was hacking because he was so good. But no, turns out it’s just pure skill. He’s amazing. He even takes down pros like it’s nothing.”

“I don’t know much about games, but if he’s beating pros, he must be really good.”

Seo Jung-woo’s tactical and situational awareness came from surviving countless real-life combat scenarios. His reflexes and hand movements were far faster than average. In games with finely implemented gun mechanics, his marksmanship gave him a serious edge.

Seo Jung-woo was flustered.

‘Wait… were there pros among the ones I beat?’