“Why are you here…”
“You seem confused.”
Hearing his voice for the second time, I was certain.
Did he orchestrate everything…?
“It’s nothing much… I just wanted to offer you a canned coffee.”
As he placed the canned coffee on the table, I instinctively knew he was up to something.
“I’ll take it after the verification is complete.”
Of course, I wouldn’t take it even after the safety verification.
They’d either extract his information or dispose of him when he became useless.
“Then I’ll consider my goodwill accepted.”
Pushing the canned coffee away from the table, I felt an inexplicable aversion, causing me to instinctively distance myself.
First, I had to extract as much information as possible from him before Detective Lim returned.
“Your name is Kong Yu… and I assume, though I should ask, your gender is male?”
“That’s right~”
As he responded, I wrote down his name and gender in my notes.
“Tell me your age.”
“I’m 26 years old~”
Younger than I expected.
To be involved in a large-scale criminal organization at such a young age…
Did he have a troubled family life?
It might be a bit sensitive, but… well, he’s a criminal.
“Do you have a family?”
“…No~”
He paused briefly before answering.
Did he have a particularly bad family life?
Or was he simply flustered by the question, causing the pause?
…
“Do you have any hobbies or interests?”
“Fishing and board games~”
After that, he continued to answer the questions as if it were natural.
In my seven years of experience, I had never seen an interrogation go so smoothly.
“What is your current emotional state?”
“I’m feeling good~”
The fact that he had been answering so curtly since earlier made me feel inexplicably unpleasant.
“Why do you feel good?”
“Because I showed you goodwill~”
Of course, there are cases where people feel happy when they show moral behavior to others…
I thought he would give a more sociopathic response, but it seemed I was barking up the wrong tree.
Just then.
[“Detective, one minute left!”]
There were still many questions I hadn’t asked, but I decided to interrogate him further when Detective Lim returned.
“Well… I’ll be going now. I’ll ask the rest when I get back.”
“Yes, please return safely, Detective!”
The last time I met him, I felt a sense of comfort.
But facing him in the interrogation room, I only felt a vague sense of unease.
Why did I even ask for his name…?
[Click-]
Still, more than ten minutes had passed, so Detective Lim should be back by now.
If he took an hour to eat, that would be a troll move.
I had a philosophy.
To distinguish between public and private matters, and to treat people according to their assigned rank, no matter how much I respected them.
Although I respected Detective Lim… as a ‘detective’ in charge of the same investigation, I had to treat him as a colleague.
And no matter how special that person was, I had to clearly distinguish between public and private matters.
Well… even if I thought this way, he wouldn’t listen.
I had returned to my seat, but Detective Lim still hadn’t returned.
Since his absence could cause a delay, I decided to call him.
When he didn’t answer, I instinctively knew something was wrong.
In his YouTube vlog, he said something like this:
That he would answer calls related to investigations no matter where or when.
In fact, he told a story about ‘3 AM’ and it became the highlight of the video.
There was no way someone like that wouldn’t answer the phone.
[Click-]
“Oh, Young!”
I ran out into the street without a plan, but I couldn’t tell where he had gone.
First, I had to check all the popular restaurants nearby.
Had he already been kidnapped…?
Looking at the time, even if he had been kidnapped a little while ago, there was still time.
No, it wasn’t kidnapping… it was possible they were trying to make him like Duk-young.
I tried to think of the popular restaurants nearby, but I couldn’t remember any properly.
I turned on the map, but there were so many restaurants nearby that I was confused about which ones were popular.
Should I check the places with high ratings…?
“Ah…”
Then I remembered a jokbal (pigs’ feet) restaurant that Duk-young had told me about before.
I quickly searched for jokbal and found two restaurants near the neighborhood.
Rating 4.6… this was definitely it.
[Thud! Thud!]
…
I could arrive in about four minutes if I ran.
I arrived in front of the restaurant and looked around, but there were so many people that I couldn’t tell who was who.
First, I had to check the people around me…
“Huh…?”
Someone brushed past me in the dark alleyway between the stores.
I looked at the place for a moment and saw someone wearing a mask similar to Kong Yoo’s.
[Thud! Thud!]
Had they already taken action…?
“Hey! You… stop right there!”
As he ran away through the alleyways, I started chasing him with all my might.
I held the gun in my hand, but it was dark around me, so I couldn’t shoot unless I got really close.
He skillfully jumped over obstacles as if he were familiar with the area, and I started to lose speed.
Even his basic running speed was similar to before.
As the gap widened as we moved, I felt a vague sense of unease.
It was dangerous to let someone with this level of skill loose in the world.
[Click-]
…If it was now, there was still a chance.
I stopped for a moment and aimed the gun, thankfully he was in the sights.
I checked the surroundings, but there was no one there.
And.
[Bang-!]
A deafening gunshot rang out, and I couldn’t see for a moment.
…Did I hit him?
[Thud! Thud!]
As my hearing recovered to some extent, I ran towards the end of the alley…
But there was no one there.
…
[Shuffle… Shuffle…]
“You can’t come in here right now…!”
[Thud-]
“Start the interrogation immediately.”
After returning to the police station, I instinctively knew that Kong Yu was up to something.
Did he have a device attached inside his clothes?
First, I had to interrogate him right away.
“Um… that’s a bit sudden…”
“You have 10 minutes. Start right now.”
[Click-]
I opened the door and entered, Kong Yoo was still sitting calmly.
The canned coffee and some documents were still on the table.
I gave Kong Yu a look, but he made a sulky face as if he didn’t know anything, which now made me angry.
But it was a detective’s duty to remain calm even in this situation.
Suppressing the rising anger, I barely sat down in the chair, and Kong Yu was the first to speak.
“You’re quite contradictory.”
“…”
Hearing his words, I instinctively knew he had done something.
I had to find out somehow in this interrogation.
“Name Kim Kong Yu, gender male, age 26. You know why you’re here, right?”
“…”
Unlike the last interrogation, he didn’t respond this time.
What on earth is his intention…?
“Hundreds of missing persons and kidnappings have occurred recently. According to the investigation, they are being kidnapped into a large building and forced to play a ‘game’. Is that true?”
“…”
I continued to ask questions, but he remained silent.
“What was that black mask doing on the street just now?”
“…”
As he continued to remain silent, anger began to rise little by little.
It felt like a kettle about to explode.
But… I had to stay calm somehow.
“If you continue to remain silent, it may be disadvantageous in future trials. Tell me the necessary information.”
“…”
Now he even started biting his nails and shaking his legs, making it even harder to bear.
It felt like only I was heavy, and the surrounding air was light.
If I couldn’t find out the location of the game, I wouldn’t be able to get Deuk-young and Detective Lim back.
And I, as well as my family, could be in danger.
It was no longer a light matter of simply handling a case.
“This is an opportunity. At least you can get a reduced sentence in future trials.”
“Tell me the information. Where is the game?”
I was so excited that I naturally started speaking informally.
But it didn’t matter.
Then he smiled briefly and began to open his mouth little by little.
“An opportunity~? I’ve never missed an opportunity in my life~”
“I’ve already seized the best opportunity, so…”
[Click-!]
There was no more time.
As I pointed the gun at his head, he quickly raised both arms.
“Kidnapping, extortion, confinement, assault… all your information has already been revealed.”
“Just tell me this. Where is the building?”
“…You seem confused.”
I could see his pupils shaking, but strangely, it didn’t seem like it was because he was afraid of the gun.
“…”
He glanced behind him, so I looked at the place and saw a CCTV camera attached to the ceiling.
And the CCTV was… looking at me.
I realized that they had already taken over the police station.
“…What do you want?”
As he tried to take something out of his pocket, I pointed the gun closer to his head.
“Whoa, whoa. It’s nothing dangerous.”
With his remaining hand, he took something out of his pocket and placed it on the table.
When he removed his hand… I saw three 100-won coins.
Come to think of it, he said he liked board games…
The fact that he was proposing a coin toss even in this situation was insane.
I had seen my fair share of crazy people in my seven years as a detective… but this guy was something else.
“The probability of flipping three coins and getting all tails is 1/8. The probability of you getting information and returning is also 1/8.”
So, if all three of these coins come up heads, I get the information and go back…
What about the rest?
“…What do you want?”
“I want to prove something.”
Prove something… what on earth…?
“Isn’t there a saying, ‘You reap what you sow’?”
“You gave me a canned coffee and two coins, and I gave you a canned coffee and three coins.”
…He was crazy.
“If luck and misfortune actually coexist, then I will win this game.”
“But I ‘respect’ you, Detective.”
As he handed me the three coins and continued to speak, I instinctively knew the air had become heavy.
“I believe you will have enough time to do it.”