Chapter 227

“Thank you for your hard work.”

A man wearing a shabby suit held out his hand.

His skin was dry and his eyes were sunken. Apparently, the investigator hadn’t been exaggerating when he said the man hadn’t been home in a week.

“You’re the one who worked hard, Prosecutor. Me? Not really.”

I shook hands with the prosecutor in charge and looked around.

The spacious room had a soft bed, a sofa, and even a state-of-the-art wall-mounted TV.

When I was first summoned by the prosecutors’ office, I had imagined a cold, dark interrogation room. Instead, they had led me to a hotel suite.

“I didn’t expect to be treated this well.”

“The higher-ups are very interested in this case. But would you mind if I sat down for a moment?”

“Oh, sure.”

“Thank you.”

The prosecutor replied in a tired voice, then collapsed onto the sofa.

“There was some debate, to be honest. We had our own arguments over whether Mr. Jin Taekyung’s actions constituted self-defense or excessive force.”

That was the part that had been bothering me, too.

It had been a killing in a situation where I could have subdued him. Killing Won Myunghoon had gone beyond the limits allowed by self-defense.

Of course, even if I went back a week, I would make the same choice.

“So I assume the issue was resolved favorably?”

“Of course. Do you think I would have come alone if it hadn’t been? I would’ve brought Hunters from the Ministry of Justice.”

The prosecutor spoke jokingly, but his eyes passed over the morning newspaper lying on the table.

He saw the Black Wyvern’s corpse, which took up nearly the entire front page, and clicked his tongue.

“Though, even if I had brought them, they probably wouldn’t have been much help.”

“I’m a law-abiding citizen. The kind who could live without laws.”

“There was a movie called Law Abiding Citizen. Its protagonist killed a prosecutor and even a judge.”

“……”

What was this? Was he asking me to hit him?

The prosecutor gave a quiet laugh at my expression and stood up.

“I should be going. I have an incredible backlog of work.”

“I’m glad I could lend a hand.”

“You didn’t just lend a hand. You created the work for us. Once we started digging, things kept coming out like a sweet-potato vine.”

I had suspected that Won Myunghoon had plenty of skeletons in his closet.

But once the investigation properly began, his past was so ugly that I found myself wondering what kind of man he was.

Among the countless crimes he had committed were several cases similar to what had happened a week ago.

The incident eight years ago was the same.

Won Myunghoon had been a monster created by the media.

When his brief burst of popularity began to fade and the spotlight went out, he tried to create scandals himself to draw the public’s attention.

But in the process, the star Hunter who had enjoyed the greatest popularity at the time died. Amid the Association’s suspicions and the public’s uneasy gaze, Won Myunghoon quietly faded from memory.

“He covered up everything thoroughly. With money, with power, and sometimes by making people disappear in what looked like Gate accidents.”

There had also been countless lobbying efforts to minimize the case.

In the end, the political and business figures connected to him had to appear before the cameras in wheelchairs and masks.

Along with their favorite line:

I will cooperate fully with the investigation.

Whether the investigation would be conducted properly, and whether they would cooperate with it in good faith, remained to be seen. But one thing was certain.

The prosecutor spoke with conviction.

“At least half of them are going down.”

The wildfire had already spread beyond anyone’s control. Putting it out would take more than pulling up a weed or two.

Won Myunghoon’s death had only been the beginning.

“I hope that’s what happens.”

“It has to. It will.”

He offered what sounded like a farewell and reached for the doorknob. Then he paused and turned around.

“I was so distracted that I forgot to say this.”

“……?”

His formerly straight back bent deeply.

“Thank you. All of this is thanks to you, Mr. Jin Taekyung.”

I’m a simple man. I killed the raid monster because I had a grudge to repay, and I killed Won Myunghoon because he was my enemy.

But the world called me a hero who had prevented a major catastrophe and brought justice.

It was a little burdensome, but…

Well, it wasn’t so bad.

I smiled and nodded. A faint smile crossed the prosecutor’s exhausted face.

I went underground with the investigator I had grown familiar with over the past week.

“You don’t need to worry. We took extensive security measures.”

Just as he had said, there wasn’t a single reporter—or even a camera—in the underground parking lot.

Instead, some familiar faces were waiting for me.

“Son!”

“Oppa!”

Two people rushed at me with cries that sounded like screams, and I hugged them both.

No, let me correct that. I hugged Mom and pushed Hayeon away with my palm.

“Son! Are you all right? You’re not hurt anywhere?”

“I’m fine. Just a few scratches.”

Mom ran her hands over my entire body with an expression that made it look as though she had lost ten years of her life. Then she sucked in a breath.

“S-Scratches? Where? You’re hurt?”

“No, I misspoke.”

“You said you got scratched!”

“I said I wanted some of your saengchae muchim.¹ I just got the words mixed up.”

“Taekyung, you’re lying again, aren’t you? You fought a terrifying monster like that. How could you not have a single injury?”

“It was big, but it was a gentle kid.”

“Son, are you going to keep playing with words? Mom is serious right now, so take your clothes off.”

“……How am I supposed to do that here? This is crazy.”

I had the reflexes to dodge bullets, but somehow I couldn’t evade Mom’s hands.

Had she learned some kind of grappling technique?

As I struggled helplessly, my household-register mate with the other set of chromosomes asked with a shocked expression,

“……Why did I get pushed away?”

“You have to ask?”

“I’m asking because I don’t know.”

“If you don’t know, you deserve a hit.”

Flick!

“Ow! Mom! Oppa hit me!”

“Can’t you two sit still?”

Hayeon clutched her forehead with a wounded expression while Mom shouted at us.

In the middle of the chaos, I noticed someone watching us with a smile.

“Don’t just stand there smiling. Please stop them.”

“Isn’t this proof that your family is close? I’m actually jealous.”

His legs were long and straight, like a model’s. He looked as though he had just stepped out of a magazine shoot as he gripped my shoulder firmly.

“You’ve been through a lot, Mr. Jin Taekyung.”

“You too, Team Leader Choi.”

But where was everyone else?

Team Leader Choi noticed me looking around and spoke.

“They all wanted to come, but I stopped them. There are too many eyes watching.”

“Oh.”

“Reporters are camped out everywhere. I’ll take you home first. We can talk on the way.”

An underground parking lot wasn’t exactly the best place to catch up. Especially not with a prosecutor’s investigator watching us.

We got into a high-end sedan with heavily tinted windows. With a pleasant vibration, the car began making its way through the forest of skyscrapers.

“A lot happened while you were being questioned, though I assume you know most of it.”

“I watched it all on TV. I turned off my phone because I was getting so many calls.”

Terrestrial television, cable, radio.

These days, wherever I turned, I heard my name and Won Myunghoon’s.

Politics, the economy, the Hunter industry—it felt as though all of Korea was in an uproar.

I’ve heard it so much I’m sick of it.

Even the national anthem got tiring once it reached the second verse.

Team Leader Choi glanced at my expression and smiled.

“There’s one important thing I should tell you.”

“It’s not about dinner, is it?”

“No. It’s related to what happened.”

“Team Leader, please. I’m begging you.”

“It’s about processing the Named Monster’s remains.”

“Please tell me. I’m begging you.”

“……”

I raised myself from the passenger seat and looked at Team Leader Choi with sparkling eyes.

Mom and Hayeon, sitting in the back seat, perked up their ears as well.

“Remains? Is that really so important?”

“Mom, what are you, someone from the Korean Empire? Of course it’s incredibly important!”

“Oh, come on. Mom knows that much. I just don’t have a feel for how important it is…”

Even though plenty of products made from monster byproducts had reached the market, they were still luxuries reserved for the wealthy.

To Mom, who had spent her entire life tightening her belt, they might as well have belonged to another world.

Team Leader Choi explained in a gentle voice to Mom, who let her sentence trail off.

“It depends on the monster. But in the case of the Named Monster Mr. Jin Taekyung killed, its value is astronomical.”

“R-Really? I only saw it in photographs, but it did look terrifying.”

“As you saw, it was an extremely powerful monster. That’s why its value was estimated at 300 billion won.”

“Oh, I see.”

A brief silence followed Mom’s answer.

There wasn’t even the sound of breathing. In the complete silence, I blinked without a word, then barely managed to speak.

“How much?”

“300 billion won.”

Team Leader Choi added another sentence in the same calm tone.

“Oh, that’s the starting price for the auction.”

“T-The starting price?”

“Yes. The processing was completed three days ago, and Christie’s has already…”

“Wait. Who’s Christie?”

Hayeon looked at me with an expression of disbelief.

“What do you mean, who’s Christie? You don’t know Christie’s?”

What an idiot. And he’s my brother.

That was exactly what Hayeon’s expression said.

I racked my brain to preserve my authority as her older brother, but the only thing that came to mind when I heard the name Christie was a blonde beauty.

“A-American billionaire’s daughter?”

“……”

“Or someone from Hong Kong? European royalty? A Hollywood actress…”

Team Leader Choi came to my rescue as I broke into a cold sweat.

“It’s a famous auction house. Along with Sotheby’s, it competes for the top position in the industry.”

“Oh.”

I thought I had heard of it. Or maybe I hadn’t.

I had spent my childhood doing nothing but exercising, and my adulthood working like an ox. How was I supposed to know about things like that?

Team Leader Choi, who was knowledgeable about this sort of thing, continued smoothly.

“Christie’s approached us first. They offered to charge a much lower auction commission than Sotheby’s if we entrusted the sale to them.”

“S-So?”

“Christie’s appraisers assessed the value of the remains. At present, the starting price is 300 billion won. Since this requires your consent, we’ve put off the final decision.”

Was this really happening in the real world?

I sat there dazed with my mouth hanging open, then smacked Hayeon on the forehead as she poked her head between the driver’s and passenger’s seats.

Smack!

“Ow!”

“It’s real.”

“Why did you hit me?”

“Because I’m precious.”

Only after hearing her scream did it finally sink in.

Before long, I would become a wealthy man with an enormous fortune.

“S-Son, what does this mean? Three hundred billion won?”

“Calm down. It’s not all mine.”

I didn’t know how high the final bid would go, but the Hunter industry had clear rules for dividing the proceeds. Raids were team efforts, after all.

Even if I had killed it entirely by myself, the same principle would apply.

But Team Leader Choi’s next words were astonishing.

“It’s your share, Mr. Jin Taekyung. Every last won.”

“……Pardon?”

“The others all agreed. So I hope you won’t say anything more about this matter.”

“They all agreed?”

They could each have received anywhere from several billion won at the low end to tens of billions at the high end.

For an ordinary person, it was an irresistible temptation and an obvious right to claim.

As I stared at him in shock, Team Leader Choi smoothly turned the steering wheel and replied,

“I’m not shameless enough to accept money for merely watching. The others and I have at least that much conscience and conviction.”

“You didn’t have to go that far…”

“It wasn’t something that required any consideration. You’ve shown us enough consideration already, so think about what you want to do with the money.”

At Team Leader Choi’s firm words, I became mute as though I had swallowed honey and closed my mouth.

300 billion won. Christie’s auction.

The words swirling through my head made it hard to think. Mom and Hayeon, who had been frozen like statues for some time, were probably in an even worse state.

This is surreal.

I rubbed my stiff face with my palm.

An unimaginable fortune would soon be rolling into my hands. What should I do with it?

One fantasy led to another. A private jet, a luxury yacht, bundles of cash stacked like mountains, and a leopard wearing a collar…

Before long, all those fantasies faded like fog.

Only then could I clearly think about what I should do with the money and look at the world around me.

“Team Leader Choi.”

“Yes?”

“May I ask you for a favor?”

The corner of Team Leader Choi’s mouth lifted slightly.

“Anything.”