Chapter 10 – Prologue (11)
The special investigation team, including me, was able to use an entire floor of the association headquarters.
Offices, meeting rooms, arsenal, as well as fitness facilities are all on one floor.
The extravagantly spacious and luxuriously detailed headquarters is not just for us.
To make it easier to cut the tail when the need arises, a separate layer was removed.
However, it is also nice to have a spacious and comfortable office.
Arriving at the office with Lee Seo-woo, I briefly introduced the members who had arrived earlier.
There were only about 10 people in the office where the desks were sparsely placed.
Even half of them were Servants belonging to my escort, Esquire Kim Jeong-tae.
‘I tried not to use the company’s personnel as much as possible, but I can’t help it.’
In fact, the only ones I picked were Lee Seo-woo, a former sergeant, and Seo Ji-yu, an embezzler.
It was only like this that I couldn’t help but use Servants.
At least we need to secure enough people for the team to roll.
“Come on, everyone, gather around. We’re almost there.”
Is that all?
Lee Seo-woo seemed to think so, but he didn’t try to express it.
I calmly introduced my Esquire, Kim Jeong-tae.
He was 190 cm tall and his physique was no joke, so he looked intimidating.
“This is our deputy team leader, Kim Jeong-tae. I’m a former presidential bodyguard. After being pushed out by the hunters, I worked as a mercenary for a while.”
“Take good care of me.”
“Jung-tae is also in charge of security for our team, so he must follow the instructions.
Kim Jeong-tae lightly bowed his head and greeted everyone.
I decided to skip the introduction of the Servants lined up behind him.
This side only selected applicants from among the Servants, but the application rate was 100% anyway, so it didn’t mean much.
Isn’t this what corporate life is all about?
“This is the teammates who have been with Jungtae for a long time. Find out their names gradually.”
“Wait, why am I here? You’re the husband of that Jeriel Frost, aren’t you?”
Seo Ji-yu, an embezzler who was conscripted like Lee Seo-woo, asked slightly dissatisfied.
Then, the atmosphere of the escort team, including Kim Jeong-tae, became a little bloody.
I gave them a glare and started introducing Seo Ji-yu.
She was a much prettier woman than she looked in pictures.
“This is Seo Ji-yu. A former financial official and current embezzler. Do not lend money to this woman.”
“What? You really…”
“Seo Ji-yu was forcibly conscripted without his consent. If he is kicked out of here because he is an ex-convict, he will go to prison.
Seo Ji-yu couldn’t stand the treatment that he wanted to be a little too harsh, so he got angry.
“Wait a minute! I’m on probation, but going to prison…”
“Don’t be stupid. In Korea, refusing to be drafted is a crime in itself. Women don’t know this well.”
“…”
“That doesn’t mean you should work for free.”
I took out the card I had prepared in advance and tossed it to Seo Ji-yu.
Seo Ji-yu’s eyes widened at the texture and weight, which were slightly different from those of ordinary cards.
“This…”
“You are in charge of intelligence. Your role is to approach the target and the people around you by any means and methods to obtain information. The Duchess, solve it with that. Clothes, jewelry, cars, shops… If necessary, you can buy anything.”
“Gee, are you serious?”
Seo Ji-yu seemed to doubt my words, but…
Now, next to me was Yeriel Frost.
In Korea, Yeriel is known as a living goddess.
No matter how interested hunters are, it’s a name you can’t help but hear.
Seo Ji-yu, who smelled the strong smell of money, became noticeably more docile.
Next, I introduced Lee Seo-woo.
He seemed slightly intimidated by the flashy specs of the people in front of him.
“Lee Seo-woo here was unfairly kicked out of the police a while ago. At the age of 25, he is quite an elite on the slope. Are you the youngest by any chance?”
“I don’t know. I was the youngest at my place of work…”
“That’s right. He’s the youngest.”
Lee Seo-woo’s career has never been easy, but…
In fact, he was just shy.
Seo Ji-yu, who was staring at me, interjected in an appropriate manner.
“I saw it on the news, and the team leader was a 25-year-old prosecutor? Is that the youngest?”
“No. The prosecutor’s side has already had a legend since the 60’s… The youngest on record is 21 years old.”
“Wow.”
“Anyway, Mr. Lee Seo-woo is also a very capable person, okay?”
When I finished like that, Lee Seo-woo asked in a timid voice.
“Chief. What role am I?”
“You? You don’t have a role in particular?”
“Yes?”
“Oh, don’t worry too much. There will be plenty of work anyway.”
I patted Lee Seo-woo on the shoulder and said.
There are too few team members anyway, so everyone has to run.
Moreover, being selected for this team means that he is a huge elite.
“You are the ones I picked after searching through all the data of 1.5 million regular Korean civil servants for several days. You can be proud of it.”
“Ah, yes…”
“Oops. Lastly, this Alice is an inspector of the Special Investigation Unit.”
“What?”
Alice, who had been quiet until now, was started by my introduction.
“Was I a member of your team too?”
“Uh, you’re sold. According to the Association Act, the Special Investigation Unit must have one inspector and hunter support person.”
“…”
Alice glanced at the wide-smiling Yeriel and reluctantly nodded her head.
In fact, her role is by no means an easy one.
If an active hunter hangs out with the special investigation team, it’s perfect for being ostracized by colleagues.
In addition, since you have to support the investigation team in case of emergency, a high level of combat power is essential.
Fortunately, Alice was the kind of person who thought it was okay to have connections with her other than Yeri.
She has fighting power, needless to say.
As I was about to finish my greeting, Yeriel interrupted.
“This is Jeriel Frost, the wife of team leader Jehyun Lee. Please take good care of my husband.”
“Well, we really appreciate it.”
“…”
As Lee Seo-woo was being greeted, Esquire Kim Jeong-tae’s waist bent at a right angle.
It was a rather bizarre and pressured sight to see a 190 cm tall man bowing.
Thanks to that, other people belatedly bowed their heads and said hello.
I clapped once and cleared the place.
Damn!
“Okay. Let’s say hello like this.”
“Ah, is the team leader skipping?”
“You’ve seen my career on the news anyway.”
I lightly accepted Seo Ji-yu’s porridge and moved on to the main topic.
“Our team’s auspicious first investigation was directly designated by the association.”
Of course, we do not have the right to refuse.
This is because the president of the association did a lot to launch a special investigation team this time.
In terms of society, this was an act that was tantamount to the President declaring the Gyeyeom Law at will.
Therefore, it was necessary to quickly deal with one case to calm the hunters’ dissatisfaction.
“The serial disappearance of female hunters! It’s pretty good.”
“It’s a series of disappearance cases…”
“Has there ever been such an incident?”
“It hasn’t been reported properly yet. Hunter guilds really hate news like this. So far, there are a total of 4 missing people. There are some gaps in rank, but all of them are active female hunters.”
The reason why the association had to designate this case was obvious.
It means to prove that we can be of help to the Hunters.
I also think it’s a pretty good choice.
If this case is solved, Hunters will not be able to unconditionally oppose the launch of the special investigation team.
Strictly speaking, this is not a hunter crime, but it is correct to say that it is a crime against hunters…
It’s not an ordinary crime at the point where the hunters couldn’t solve it on their own anyway.
Nominally an outsider, Yeriel is missing a step here.
I moved to the meeting room and handed out related materials.
Of course, I didn’t forget to convey the caution to the team members.
“Since we are not affiliated with the police, we can only intervene against hunters belonging to the association. Keep that in mind anytime, anywhere.”
“Is it okay to do anything against the Hunters belonging to the Association?”
Kim Jung-tae asked a rather radical but good question.
I readily nodded.
“Yes. Entrapment investigation, wiretapping, search and seizure without warrant… Anything is possible.”
“That, like that…”
Lee Seo-woo, who was an active-duty police officer just an hour ago, trembled at my words.
In fact, legally, this is really nonsense bullshit.
It is even possible to turn a normal hunter into a criminal if you use the authority of the special investigation unit.
However, if you are going to investigate the hunters, this kind of authority is essential.
I calmly explained it to Lee Seo-woo and other team members.
“Not just hunter crime, but all crime investigations start with the presumption of guilt. Oh, the police specialize in post-processing, so the concept is a bit different?”
“…”
Lee Seo-woo didn’t even get angry at the words that looked down on the police.
He had already lost all love and pride for the police force.
“They use their hunter abilities to commit crimes, so if you don’t use this transcendent authority, you will never be able to catch them. Seowoo knows that, right?”
“…That’s right.”
As happened to Lee Seo-woo, if a hunter with the ability to invisibility steals CCTV data, or if a hunter with the ability to electromagnetic fields erases it, no evidence remains.
We actually have to fight the shadows.
The hunters have plenty of money, so they calmly commit the purchase of witnesses.
I continued my explanation in front of Lee Seo-woo, who reluctantly agreed.
It was the Hunter criminology theory that I had established myself.
“Since it makes no sense for civilians to kidnap Hunters, there is a very high probability that Hunters are behind the series of disappearances. Investigate the missing people’s information first, especially focusing on drugs, alcohol, sex, and gambling. Do it.”
“Drugs, alcohol, sex, gambling?”
“Okay.”
Drugs, alcohol, sex, and gambling.
4 elements that ruin a person’s life!
In the old days, it was called cinnabar hunting, but in modern times, drugs were added.
As has been said, violent crimes are inseparable from these four elements.
And Hunter crime is particularly prone to this.
This is because most hunters make enough money that they don’t have to worry about food, clothing, and shelter unless they are completely at the bottom.
In other words. Usually, hunter crimes are not related to the hardships of life.
This was the conclusion I came to by intensively researching related materials.
“The four victims did not usually enjoy drinking much. So, alcohol was excluded for now.”
“Is there any possibility that money is the purpose? They say there is no such thing as a ransom demand yet.”
“It’s very unlikely. If a hunter decides to commit a crime for money, there are many easier things than kidnapping the same hunter.”
“Aha…”
“Of course, except for cases where the ransom is unusually high, like me.”
I smiled at the memory of the last kidnapping attempt.
The team members in the conference room also smiled bitterly and began looking at the victims’ data.
