World of Vampire Detective [28]

"Arghhhhhh!"

Crash!

A 15,000 won orchid toppled to the floor.

Kim Chun-seok, his face red with fury, stomped on the orchid and then proceeded to hurl anything within reach at the walls or onto the floor.

The TV shattered, and computer parts scattered. The office was rapidly becoming a wreck.

In one corner of the office, Kim's aide, Jang Tae-jeon, stood silently, watching the chaos unfold.

Kim Chun-seok's fits of rage, where he destroyed property, happened about four or five times a year. Nothing unusual there. But today, the destruction is far from over, and the damage has already exceeded 200,000 won.

'For an old man who doesn't work out, he's got quite the strength.'

Tae-jeon stood there, waiting patiently for Kim's anger to subside.

After about five minutes, the office was left with nothing intact except the sofa. The desk and bookshelves had been smashed by a golf club, and the coffee table in front of the sofa had a broken leg.

"…Aide Jang. That damn bastard who stole my money… Red Maniac, wasn't it? Where is he now?"

"The police and the Black Cross are searching for him."

"Searching? Damn it! I heard the same thing early this morning! Incompetent fools! Mobilize the Baekjeon Gang!"

The Baekjeon Gang was Kim Chun-seok's go-to group of political thugs. Whenever he needed illegal work done, he turned to them. But now, that was impossible.

"More than half of the Baekjeon Gang were killed last night. Even Han Kang-joon is dead, making it hard to command them. Besides, the police are watching the Baekjeon Gang closely."

Han Kang-joon, a vampire progenitor contracted by Kim Chun-seok, was tasked with guarding the vault but was killed by Jeok-gwang.

"Fuck! Ignore the police! You, as their boss, can take direct control, can't you?!"

"That was years ago. Now, I'm your aide, Congressman. If I step in, it will only complicate matters, as you well know."

No matter how powerful Kim Chun-seok was, he couldn't openly engage in illegal activities with the police watching.

"Arghhhh!"

Kim Chun-seok screamed and kicked a table lying in the corner.

Bzzz!

Jang Tae-jeon's smartphone vibrated. He took it out of his pocket, and his expression quickly turned grim and pale as he read the message.

[Congressman! We need to flee immediately!]

[What? What are you talking about all of a sudden?!]

[A video of you receiving sexual services has been leaked in Gwanghwamun!]

[Assistant Jang, are you joking right now?]

[See for yourself!]

Jang Tae-jeon showed his smartphone. A famous video site was live-streaming a scene from Gwanghwamun.

It was Saturday evening. Over 30,000 people had gathered in Gwanghwamun to protest the resignation of Congressman Kim Pil-joong. The protestors' anti-Japanese sentiment had brought them together.

At the centre of the protest, a large screen was set up. On that screen, a video of Kim Chun-seok receiving sexual services from female idols was playing. There was no mosaic. Kim Chun-seok's and the idols' faces were fully visible.

"This, this is…"

[Stop. All of you lie on the bed. It's only once, so each of you must be tasted.]

...

[I've been under a lot of stress lately, but rejuvenating with your bodies gives me strength.]

Kim Chun-seok's voice echoed through Gwanghwamun.

Kim Chun-seok, feeling dizzy from the unbelievable reality, slumped onto the sofa.

"Tae-jeon, is this a dream?"

Kim Chun-seok's political career was over. His immense power was gone.

"It's real, Congressman. We need to escape."

"Y-Yes! We need to flee quickly!"

As Kim Chun-seok stood up, the door burst open, and armed police stormed in.

In an instant, the police subdued them and slapped handcuffs on them.

"You crazy bastards! Do you know who I am?! I'm Kim Chun-seok! Let me go! Do you want to die?! Where are you from?!"

Despite Kim Chun-seok's yelling, the police silently went about their duties.

Step! Step!

Someone walked in slowly.

"Long time, no see. Regrettable to meet again like this, Congressman Kim Chun-seok… No, just Kim Chun-seok."

Jang Tae-jeon sighed. It was an agent from the National Intelligence Service who had a grudge against Kim Chun-seok.

"You little punk! Do you know who I am?!"

"Who are you? A heinous criminal. Do you still think you're in power?"

The agent chuckled and walked up to Kim Chun-seok, locking eyes with him.

"Look, Mr. Kim Chun-seok. A single Red Clown just turned this country upside down. Not even the president can stop this. In fact, the president is in danger. To survive, the president has to purge everyone associated with you. You're destined to rot in prison for the rest of your life."

"Y-You…! Tae-jeon! Kill these bastards!"

Kim Chun-seok shouted, his face flushed red. But Jang Tae-jeon closed his eyes.

"Chun-seok, it's over."

Over 30,000 people had already seen the sex video in Gwanghwamun. There was no way to cover it up.

***

"Sigh…."

Moon Ji-hyuk sighed.

Red Maniac Task Force.

A department of experts was assembled to capture Red Maniac. But in reality, no proper investigation was happening.

There was an invisible wall between the detectives and the people dispatched from the Black Cross. To be precise, the Black Cross was keeping its distance. They never intended to work together from the start.

'I thought I could catch Red Maniac if I joined the task force.'

This was worse than it was when he was in the detective department. The other detectives didn't seem to have any intention of catching Red Maniac. They were taking it easy, almost enjoying a vacation.

'…Because Red Maniac seems like a criminal from another world.'

Recently, there was an uproar.

A video of Congressman Kim Chun-seok receiving sexual services from celebrities has been leaked. The original video was widely available on international sites, and the public's anger had exploded. Tens of thousands of people gathered in Gwanghwamun on Sunday to protest.

The government, the police, and the public were all focused on Kim Chun-seok. Red Maniac was pushed to the background.

'But people aren't stupid.'

People had already speculated that Red Maniac was behind the Gwanghwamun screen hacking. They guessed that if it wasn't Red Maniac himself, one of his allies was a brilliant hacker.

The basis for this was the traffic light hacking incident. When Red Maniac was escaping, the traffic lights went haywire, preventing the police from pursuing him. It wasn't just luck that multiple traffic lights malfunctioned simultaneously; hacking was the logical explanation.

'Red Maniac stole Kim Chun-seok's slush funds, right? He's still active. The attack on Noel Fitness Club was targeting vampire hunters, and this time it was Kim Chun-seok's slush funds.'

Fortunately, the Black Cross shared information related to Red Maniac. They cooperated, at least on the surface.

'Is he targeting money for funding? No, he didn't have to specifically steal from Jang Sung-min's cash or Kim Chun-seok's slush funds.'

With Red Maniac's abilities, he could simply rob a bank. Yet he chose to take dirty money.

'…Maybe he has a sense of justice.'

For now, that seemed like the only plausible explanation.

In fact, there were already people on the internet praising Red Maniac as a dark hero.

'He will keep operating. His stage might move from Seoul to other regions. We need to anticipate what kind of incidents he might cause.'

If he had a sense of justice, criminal organizations were likely targets.

'And Red Maniac is hostile to vampire hunters.'

The Black Cross and criminal organizations.

Moon Ji-hyuk couldn't do anything about the Black Cross. Trying to mess with them might reveal his own secret of being a vampire.

"Criminal organization… Was Tuseongpa the strongest organization in Seoul right now?"

Moon Ji-hyuk got up from his seat. He figured that the most likely targets for Red Maniac would be the vampire hunters and the Tuseong faction.

"I have a hunch about the Tuseong faction. Team Leader Oh Jung-jin told me not to act on hunches alone, but… in this situation, there's no other choice."

He decided to gather information by investigating the Tuseong faction.

***

[Breaking News]

[Enraged Citizens! Mass gathering at Gwanghwamun!]

[Kim Chun-seok's sex bribery scandal involves more than just female idols. The agency's CEO remains silent!]

[Kim Chun-seok's son was beaten by a university student while exiting a car.]

[Kim Chun-seok was sent to the prosecutor! Still exercising the right to remain silent!]

[Kim Chun-seok's Aide, Jang Tae-jun: "Many People Are Involved."]

[The Haneul Party is losing public support. Will it collapse?]

[Was the video hack on the Gwanghwamun screen done by Red Clown?]

[Corporate Chairman Flees at Night, Captured by Police.]

[Written orders were issued by lawmakers. Prosecutors vow to root out corruption thoroughly.]

[Evidence of Kim Chun-seok Pressuring Media Found…]

I chuckled while scrolling through the flood of articles.

"They're pissed. Really pissed."

The comments were filled with nothing but curses directed at Kim Chun-seok. The evidence was undeniable, so there was no holding back.

"Netizens are digging up the female celebrities who provided sex bribes to Kim Chun-seok, and the prosecutors seem serious this time."

South Korea would be noisy until Kim Chun-seok's trial ended.

"Heh! Should I check out Yeong-hye-jeong?"

300 billion won in cash.

That was the amount in Kim Chun-seok's safe. The artwork inside was handled by Kang Wook-sung. Though he took a 40% fee, I understood. Selling stolen art is no easy task.

"Still, 120 billion won is left. Hahaha."

Adding the cash, it totalled 150 billion won. I had become rich.

"If I spend about 10 billion won at Yeong-hye-jeong, what could I do? I can't think of anything creative."

***

"First, let's deal with the gold bars."

Back in reality, I muttered while looking at the gold bars piled up in front of me.

The front of each gold bar had engravings indicating a purity of 999.9% and some English letters. From what I could gather, they were issued by a U.S. bank. A quick online check confirmed it was a real bank in the U.S.

"Should I just sell them at a gold exchange? Let's see… 65 million won each? Gold prices have risen again."

I had 214 gold bars. For now, I plan to sell 14, move houses, get a driver's license, and buy a car.

"A car would be convenient."

Even if I sold a large number of gold bars, the gold exchange wouldn't be suspicious of me.

I was a hunter.

Flashing my hunter ID could get me out of most situations.

"Oh, this place looks nice… Wait, isn't this the same place?"

While browsing for a decent place online, I found a luxury place near Gukcheon University.

What surprised me was that Han Ha-rin, my first love, lived in that place.

Of course, I found out this information by chance. I overheard her chatting with a friend in the department and learned she lived in that office.

I didn't know the exact address, just that she lived in that building.

"It's close to the university, which is great. The price is 800 million won for a lease. I'll need to sell 20 gold bars."

It had a private parking lot, convenient transportation, and plenty of nearby restaurants.

I'm definitely not moving there because of Han Ha-rin.

"I wonder which floor she's on. It'd be great if she was next door."