National Intelligence Service.
“What the hell is wrong with this report?”
Team Leader Park Dojin was flustered when he saw the report Assistant Manager Hwang Onyu had brought him.
The contents were far too shoddy.
It listed movements, but there was no substance.
What mattered was whom he had met and what they had talked about, but none of that was there.
He needed to know that much to tie anything together.
These days, you couldn’t just drag someone in and turn them into a spy out of nothing.
Evidence mattered now.
At the very least, if they were going to summon him for questioning, they needed some sort of plausible pretext,
and that was missing.
To be honest, it wasn’t as if they couldn’t investigate without it.
Another way would be to grab his best friend, Seo Daehun, shake him down, and then call in Gong Inbae as an accomplice.
Someone like Seo Daehun would spill plenty if they squeezed him.
They could just present the fact that the two of them had eaten and drunk together as evidence of collusion.
No problem there.
The problem was that Seo Daehun was too big a figure to summon over something like that.
If they called in Seo Daehun, they would probably get a flood of phone calls from old men in high places.
Pressure would come in too.
He didn’t want to go through that much trouble just to screw Gong Inbae over.
Park Dojin couldn’t afford to take any damage.
He just wanted to harass him moderately.
He wanted to make Gong Inbae suffer without much effort.
He wanted to insult him and humiliate him.
That would be enough.
He wanted to make things annoying and troublesome for Gong Inbae.
It would be even better if he got scared.
That was why he had ordered him marked.
In case something turned up.
They said if you stayed near ink, you got stained black.
Bastards who were close with gangsters always had something come out if you followed them just a little.
He could use that to tie him up, scare him a bit, and needle him under the pretext of an investigation.
And if they actually caught him at a crime scene, that would be best.
But the results were poor.
If Assistant Manager Hwang Onyu were incompetent, that would be one thing,
but he was one of the NIS’s aces, someone who was good at his job.
And yet he had lost Gong Inbae.
He was marking exactly one person, and he hadn’t even managed to do that properly.
“I’m sorry.”
“Assistant Manager Hwang. You’re not the kind of person who does this. Why did you handle it like this?”
“That’s what I’d like to know. Strangely enough, whenever I got close, I kept getting caught up in incidents and couldn’t gather information properly.”
“Incidents?”
“When I was following him, they’d divert traffic because of construction. Or if I stopped for a moment, a cargo truck would block the road in front of me. Things like that kept making me miss him by a beat.”
“Really?”
“Yes. And in the meantime, Gong Inbae would disappear.”
At Hwang Onyu’s words, Team Leader Park Dojin also sensed something was off.
Once could be coincidence, but if it repeated, it wasn’t coincidence.
There was something suspicious about calling it coincidence.
Park Dojin didn’t think this was a coincidence.
Was someone helping him from the side?
No. There wasn’t.
Park Dojin had investigated Gong Inbae for quite some time.
As far as he knew, there was no one in Korea who could help him.
If there was one person, it would be Seo Daehun.
And Seo Daehun had not been with him at the time.
“Something’s strange. Was there anyone else?”
“There was one Filipino beside him.”
Hmm…
After thinking for a moment, Park Dojin spoke to Hwang Onyu.
“Let’s dig into the guy who came in with this bastard.”
“We haven’t identified him yet.”
“We can find out from the entry records. He must have come in with Gong Inbae, right?”
“Ah. I’ll check.”
Hwang Onyu operated the computer, and Team Leader Park Dojin stood behind him.
“Huh?? Huh??”
Assistant Manager Hwang Onyu let out an awkward sound.
“What is it?”
“There’s no record of Gong Inbae leaving the country for the past three years.”
“What?”
Team Leader Park Dojin asked back in shock.
That was impossible.
He had gone to the Philippines himself and met him.
That had been a year ago.
He had met him in the Philippines, but there was no immigration record?
His passport had been in Korea? His body had been in the Philippines?
Was that possible?
After sorting through his thoughts for a moment, Team Leader Park Dojin smiled faintly.
He immediately understood the situation.
A forged passport.
That was all there was to it.
And he had entered the country using a forged passport?
There was definitely something shady going on.
Otherwise, there would be no reason for him to enter using a forged passport.
There was something they didn’t know.
And he was planning to do it together with the Daehun faction.
They had him good.
This was checkmate.
He couldn’t get out of this.
First, they had to identify the accomplice.
And they had to confirm Gong Inbae’s forged identity as well.
That was simple. They just had to run facial recognition software on the airport CCTV footage.
For the first time in a while, Team Leader Park Dojin felt energy coursing through his body.
Just thinking about dragging Gong Inbae in and wringing him out made his blood flow.
“These bastards are in for some suffering now.”
Team Leader Park Dojin spoke in a voice full of certainty, as though he had definitely caught him this time.
Park Dojin was delighted at the thought of tying Gong Inbae up.
At that moment, another thought occurred to him.
“You know the Shin Junggi case.”
“Shin Junggi, who fled to the Philippines?”
“Yeah. The person who gave orders to Shin Junggi and hid him could be Gong Inbae. I think that’s what happened. No matter how I look at it, that’s the only thing that makes sense.”
“No… that’s…”
It looked as though Park Dojin intended to pin the crime on Gong Inbae.
Assistant Manager Hwang Onyu was horrified.
“Secure him first. We can ask him once we have him. Slowly. Very slowly.”
Park Dojin wore a sinister expression.
******
“Boss. There are people digging into your background.”
“Me? Why me?”
Allen quietly reported to me.
But were there people who would dig into my background?
There shouldn’t be.
What would they even dig into?
All I do here is laze around and eat.
Why dig into the background of an unemployed guy?
I don’t know about the Philippines, but in Korea, I live without doing anything bad.
If anything, I’m going through all this nonsense to stop drugs,
and they’re digging into me?
Is it those Triad bastards?
“I don’t know that much. Judging by their behavior, they seem like a government agency, but I haven’t been able to determine exactly who they are. I’m sorry.”
“That’s nothing to apologize for. It’s fine. So what did you do?”
“I only took measures so they couldn’t come any closer once they got within a certain distance.”
“Well done.”
“Should I teach them a lesson so they can never come again?”
“No. Leave them be. That guy’s working hard too. Let him do his job.”
“Still… I think you should be careful.”
“Got it. Don’t worry. I’ll be careful.”
“Understood.”
Even so, Allen seemed uneasy about something and could not easily leave.
He must have been quite anxious.
But right now, we had no information.
There was nothing we could do.
Just then, Scott came in.
“Boss. They say the sample is coming into Pyeongtaek in five days.”
“Really? How did you find out?”
“Jason told me. You should’ve seen how much he bragged while giving me this information.”
“Keke. Jason has every right to. Where is it departing from?”
“Just a moment.”
Scott operated his tablet, then answered.
“It departs from Cambodia, gets unloaded in Guangdong, then loaded again, washed, moved to Yantai, and then comes into Pyeongtaek.”
Maybe because it was contraband, it seemed to stop at quite a few places for laundering.
“Then before it comes into Pyeongtaek, the last stop will be Yantai?”
“That’s right. It comes into Yantai tomorrow.”
“The timing is perfect. Tell them to prepare the private jet. Let’s go.”
“Yes.”
And so we headed for the airport.
.
.
.
“Team Leader, I think the information leaked.”
“What?”
“Gong Inbae is heading to the airport right now.”
“What did you say?”
Park Dojin was flustered.
He was going to the airport?
Was he running away?
Was he fleeing to the Philippines?
If he fled to the Philippines, they wouldn’t be able to catch him and give him grief.
They had to catch him before that.
After hesitating briefly, Park Dojin gave Hwang Onyu an order.
“Arrest him.”
“Yes?”
“I said arrest him.”
“We don’t have a warrant.”
“He’s a criminal caught in the act.”
“Caught in the act?”
“Caught in the act of using a forged passport.”
“Team Leader. This isn’t the airport, and we can’t stop a moving car and arrest him for using a forged passport.”
“Fuck. You said he’s going to the airport. If he gets into the Philippines, we can’t catch him. We have to catch him no matter what before he takes off.”
Park Dojin shouted.
Even as he gave the order, Park Dojin felt uneasy.
Was this right?
His first worry was whether this might become a problem.
Honestly, he knew it was a stretch.
Originally, Park Dojin had not been this kind of person.
He was not a good person, but he was not someone who forced things to this extent.
But he hated that bastard Gong Inbae too much.
The more he said he hated him, the more he hated him.
He just hated him.
He couldn’t let him slip away like this.
He had to catch him.
On top of that, they had found a proper charge.
He was clearly using a forged passport, and they were supposed to just let him go?
Absolutely not.
First, they had to arrest him, interrogate him, question him on additional crimes, and throw him in prison.
At the very least, he had to be fined.
There might be some issues with the process, but they could catch him first and handle it afterward.
“Catch him. Catch him no matter what.”
“Understood.”
Hwang Onyu answered in an uncertain voice.
But Hwang Onyu could not follow Gong Inbae.
While he was waiting at a light, someone rear-ended the car he was in.
Bang!!
A heavy impact struck Hwang Onyu.
The car rocked back and forth.
From the car behind, a young woman got out in a panic.
“Oh my gosh, I’m so sorry. This is my first time around here, so I was looking around and didn’t see you. I’m really sorry.”
Hwang Onyu was briefly shocked by the impact, but soon came back to his senses.
He checked Gong Inbae’s vehicle.
The car Gong Inbae was in was already passing through the intersection.
He had to follow quickly.
“It’s fine. Just go.”
Hwang Onyu tried to set off.
But the woman did not let him go.
“How can you just leave? There was an accident, so how can you not get out of the car and check? You have to check.”
Hwang Onyu reluctantly got out of the car, went around to the back, and checked how badly it was damaged.
The bumper was cracked, but it didn’t seem like there would be any issue driving.
“This much is fine. I have urgent business, so I’ll go first.”
“No. You can’t. You can’t just leave like this.”
The woman grabbed Hwang Onyu.
Hwang Onyu shook her off and said it was fine, but the woman was obstinate.
“No. I said I’m fine. I won’t take repair costs, and I won’t go to the hospital either. Just go. I’m a bit busy.”
“No. I’ve met plenty of people like you. You say you’re fine now, then later report it as a hit-and-run and try to make money off the settlement, don’t you?”
Hwang Onyu’s brows furrowed.
“What? Make money off the settlement?”
“Then why are you trying to just leave? We can call the police, file an accident report, and then go. So why are you trying to leave like this?”
The woman took another step closer.
“I told you. I have something urgent.”
“What could possibly be so urgent that you’re leaving after an accident? Tell me. Tell me.”
Hwang Onyu’s patience snapped.
“Why should I tell an ajumma like you something like that?”
“What? Ajumma? What about me looks like an ajumma?”
The woman rushed at Hwang Onyu as if she were truly furious.
The accident was now pushed to the back burner.
The ajumma argument heated up.
In the meantime, the vehicle Gong Inbae was in arrived safely at the airport.
Unable to continue pursuing Gong Inbae because of the woman, Hwang Onyu simply gave up and waited for the police to arrive.
Inwardly, he actually thought it had turned out well.
He had been worried that trying to arrest him without a warrant would only cause problems, so he felt fortunate that the accident had happened.
However, a thought brushed past him that this, too, might have been a setup made by someone else.
But he soon shook his head.
Gong Inbae was not someone capable of going this far.
A short while later, the police arrived, and the accident report was filed.
At that moment, the woman’s eyes flashed briefly.
The instant the police checked Hwang Onyu’s identification card.
The woman took it in as if it were nothing.
She memorized the man’s name and resident registration number in an instant.
After the accident was handled, on her way back,
the woman contacted someone as soon as she got in her car.
She sent Hwang Onyu’s name and resident registration number.
Only after pressing the send button did the woman clutch the back of her neck.
It seemed she would have to go to the hospital.
********
Yantai International Port.
The surroundings had all grown dark, but Yantai International Port was still as bright as day.
Floodlights illuminated the harbor, and countless vehicles and people were moving about.
The red lights on the container cranes kept blinking,
and the salty scent carried on the sea breeze was vivid.
Thousands of containers were stacked in the yard.
Their colors, numbers, and companies were all different, but there was a certain order to them.
It was both the strength and weakness of a large port.
It was too big and too busy.
It seemed like no one would notice if even a single container disappeared.
“Scott. Confirm location.”
I contacted Scott over the radio.
I had already entered the container yard, and Scott was handling backup from the perimeter.
“Confirmed. The goods are in Sector D.”
“Okay. Moving.”
Scott was monitoring my location and the security system of Yantai International Port on his laptop.
Through the laptop, he could check everything—CCTV, patrol routes, even radio transmissions.
I moved quietly toward Sector D.
The guards were moving along their designated routes, but they weren’t much of a threat.
I didn’t think they’d be able to find me.
The noise from the cranes helped conceal me as well.
I reached Sector D without much trouble.
“I’m here. Where are the goods?”
“Row 3, number 12.”
“Okay.”
Scott’s voice came through again.
“Container number SHMC 249019, number 7.”
“S… HMC… two-four-nine-zero-one-nine…”
I searched for the container, shining my flashlight around.
Among countless containers, I had to find SHMC 249019.
Row 3, number 12.
One, two, three… eleven, twelve.
Found it.
It was written on the upper right corner of the green container door.
SHMC 249019
The door was locked.
This much wasn’t a problem.
I took a pair of bolt cutters out of my inventory and snapped it off easily.
Before opening the door, I checked just in case there were any sensors.
Could there be an open-close detector? I slipped my hand in and checked.
There wasn’t.
Lucky for me, but ridiculously sloppy.
Damn incompetent bastards.
I steadied my breathing and carefully opened the container door.
Creeeak.
The noise startled me for a moment, but it was fine soon enough.
It was buried under the surrounding noise.
The container opened its mouth, and I stepped inside.
I immediately began looking for the D-Sand.
But…
But… it wasn’t there.
I couldn’t see the D-Sand.
The cargo I had imagined wasn’t there.
There were only items neatly packed on pallets.
Something was wrong.
…
Perhaps worried by my silence, Scott’s voice came over the radio.
“Is something wrong?”
“I don’t see the cargo.”
“Is the container number correct?”
“Yeah. I checked before coming in.”
“That shouldn’t be possible…”
“Wait. I’ll look again.”
I calmed myself and began searching for the D-Sand again.
Don’t get nervous.
Calmly… calmly…
As I steadied myself.
I looked around again.
Only then did I see it.
All the goods were stacked on pallets and wrapped in plastic film.
And inside, faintly visible, were the D-Sand packages.
Found it.
I’d misunderstood.
Since I always carried them around in sports bags, I must have assumed these bastards would bring them in bags too.
I’d only been looking for bags.
If you’re sending something as international freight, of course it has to be properly packaged.
Even though I knew that, I hadn’t thought of it.
I’d only thought of the way I packaged them.
In any case, I found them, so that was enough.
Now all I had to do was put them into my inventory and leave.
But there was a problem.
The packaging of the D-Sand was the issue.
That D-Sand was packed as one whole unit.
Five hundred thousand of them, all together.
There were two pallets, each loaded with five hundred thousand D-Sand.
It would have been great if they’d packaged them in batches of one hundred thousand for easy transport,
but these bastards lacked that kind of detail.
Inconsiderate bastards.
In any case, it was still a bewildering situation.
This was something I hadn’t expected.
I was at a loss.
A pallet loaded with five hundred thousand D-Sand was roughly the size of a washing machine.
Something this size wouldn’t fit in my inventory.
It was too big.
I couldn’t tear open the packaging and put them in one by one.
If I put them into the inventory individually, I could only fit a hundred.
Ten per slot.
Ten slots.
I also thought about taking out a bag and stuffing them in.
I always had bags in my inventory.
I wondered if I should tear off the wrap and transfer them into bags.
But that would take far too long.
Even if I worked until morning, I might not finish.
I had no idea what to do.
Honestly, I panicked.
It felt like my brain had stopped.
For a moment, I thought about giving up on everything and going back.
No one would blame me if I turned back here.
We could just receive the samples like we originally planned.
It would only be humiliating to me personally.
I hesitated.
Then Scott’s radio transmission came through.
“The guards are heading your way.”
…
I don’t know.
Let’s just try putting it in first.
It’s not like the inventory has a fixed size anyway.
If I’m lucky, it’ll go in.
I focused every bit of my attention.
I didn’t think it would actually fit.
Still, let’s try.
I placed my hand on the pallet packed with D-Sand and kept repeating it like a spell.
Go in… go in… go in… go in… go in…
But the pallet didn’t budge.
…Fuck.
Is it not working?
Do I have to go back like this?
“Guard twenty meters behind you. Hold for a moment.”
At Scott’s words, I stopped moving and even held my breath.
But I didn’t take my hand off the D-Sand.
“The guard is heading your way.”
“Do something.”
“Hold on.”
Scott answered in a nonchalant voice.
You’re dead when I get out of here.
Even in the middle of that, I desperately—
more and more desperately—shouted inwardly.
I deceived myself and hypnotized myself.
I could put it in.
Something this size could go into my inventory.
Go in… go in… go in… go in… go in…
At that moment.
Whoosh.
Along with the sensation of air being sucked away, the pallet in front of me disappeared.
The spot where the pallet had been was left completely empty.
Hah.
A sound escaped me in surprise without my realizing it.
I immediately placed my hand on the second pallet beside it.
There was no reason to hesitate.
The second pallet entered my inventory even more smoothly.
It worked.
I clenched my fist tightly.
Just then, I heard something from the opposite side.
I could hear radio chatter.
The guards were close enough for me to hear their radios.
Scott must have done something.
“The guards?”
“I triggered a sensor through the system. The control room radioed them to check it. They’re not there now. They turned back.”
“Good job.”
I praised Scott once.
I came back out of the container, closed the door properly, and lined up the seal as closely as I could.
I fitted another lock in place of the one I’d cut.
Then, as if nothing had happened, I leisurely walked out of the container yard.
While leaving the yard, I didn’t look back even once.
But my heart was pounding like crazy.
It wasn’t because I’d stolen the D-Sand.
That stuff was useless trash with nowhere to use it.
What astonished me was the fact that something the size of a washing machine had gone into my inventory.
Just imagining what else I could do with this made my heart pound wildly.