TOIGC 90

For a brief second, absolute silence fell over the room.

The detective who had been laughing at Hyo-dae after smacking him with the spoon, the one who delivered the blow with a nonchalant shrug, and even Hyo-dae himself—who had just blurted out a cheer for communism—all sat frozen in stunned quiet.

Just for a fleeting moment.

“W-Wait, this is… I mean…”

With zero clue as to why those words had just tumbled out of his mouth, Hyo-dae scrambled to salvage the situation as fast as humanly possible. But luck wasn’t on his side.

“The little bastard really was a commie!”

The detective who had been nursing a bowl of radish soup leaped to his feet so violently that his earthenware bowl crashed onto the floor and shattered. Completely unfazed, he charged straight at Hyo-dae like an enraged bull, unleashing a heavy, devastating backhand slap.

The sheer, unmatched force of the blow made sparks dance across Hyo-dae’s vision.

“Hey, you go brief the section chief. I’m going to properly break this little punk in.”

Without missing a beat, one of the detectives bolted out into the hallway and hurried up the basement stairs.

“Thought you had it easy until now, huh? From here on out, you’re about to experience a whole different dimension of pain.”

As the detective’s warning faded, a mournful shriek erupted from one of the interrogation cells down the hall.

<Man, That’s a deserves. hits justice kind of poetic really spot. that the traitor>

Stroking Johnson’s head, Deok-bae watched Hyo-dae suffer under the full-blast setting of the electric fan.

Much like what had happened to Fernandez, Johnson possessed the ability to exert a mild psychic influence over a designated target. Because Deok-bae was capable of steering Johnson’s focus, he had used the entity to nudge Hyo-dae into voicing words he would likely think about under duress.

Naturally, it wasn’t possible to force someone into genuinely praising communism out of thin air. But planting a momentary impulse to blurt out frustrated, reckless words? That was entirely doable for a short window. Of course, once the words left the victim’s mouth, they would normally try to backtrack and spin the situation—except when the environment made backtracking utterly impossible.

Deok-bae had deliberately trapped Hyo-dae in a web from which there was zero escape.

Thinking back to a man from long ago who had betrayed his own son for practicing Catholicism, Deok-bae let out a wry smile before soaring back toward Yoongi’s location.

“That kid was actually a pro-North communist?”

Inside the Yaikai Department Store president’s office, Geun-tae wore an expression of utter disbelief. Superintendent Seo nodded back with an equally troubled look on his face.

“That’s right. At first, I figured my boys were just getting over-zealous, but he came right out and shouted ‘Long live communism!’ If it were just a standard trap, that’s one thing, but if he actually spoke those words of his own accord, the whole game changes.”

Geun-tae’s mind started spinning furiously.

After all, framing Hyo-dae as a fake communist had been Yoongi’s direct order. With the fake communist suddenly turning into a very real liability, Geun-tae had no idea what kind of judgment call was expected of him.

“Superintendent Seo, what’s happening to Hyo-dae right now?”

“My men are interrogating him thoroughly to figure out how deep his ties go. Anti-communism is the foundational bedrock of the Republic, after all.”

“Right you are. Red sympathizers deserve to be crushed without mercy.”

Playing along to keep Seo on his side, Geun-tae scrambled to figure out what Yoongi’s true stance would be.

“Say, Superintendent Seo, would it be possible for me to have a brief word with Hyo-dae?”

“You want to see him?”

“Yes. If we play this right, it could turn into a massive windfall for you, too. Let me make you a promise. ‘This’ is great, but ‘this’ is even better, right?”

Geun-tae pointed an index finger toward the sky with his left hand, while looping his thumb and index finger into the shape of a coin with his right. Left hand: promotion. Right hand: cash.

The promotion had already been set in motion after securing a favorable nod during dinner with the Commissioner General. But human greed for money knew no bounds. Having already witnessed Geun-tae’s formidable connections firsthand when the Commissioner called him in, Seo audibly swallowed a lump in his throat. A sly smile crept across his face.

“When would you like to drop by?”

“Today’s too packed, so let’s aim for around lunchtime tomorrow.”

“I’ll have my men escort you personally.”

“Oh, and just as a precaution—make sure he’s still coherent enough to speak. There’s no point in going down there for a chat if the guy’s completely out of it, is there?”

“Ah! I’ll head back down immediately and give my boys strict instructions.”

“Good. Come back here at 11:00 AM tomorrow.”

“Understood.”

The moment Superintendent Seo stepped out of the office, Geun-tae grabbed his coat and hurried straight to Yoongi’s estate.

“You two stay outside. Don’t let a single soul near the basement stairs.”

At Seo’s command, the subordinate detectives barked a loud acknowledgment and marched upstairs. A moment later, the heavy clack of a deadbolt echoed through the corridor, and Seo meticulously scanned the lower level to ensure no stray personnel lingered in the shadows.

“President Ryu, the basement is completely clear.”

“Are you certain there are no hidden wiretaps or recording devices lying around?”

“Yes, sir. I checked under all the desks just in case—not a single recorder in sight.”

Having heard the outline of the plan from Geun-tae that morning, Seo had committed fully to the partnership and was cooperating with total enthusiasm. Consequently, the only people left in the basement were Geun-tae and Seo in the hallway, alongside Hyo-dae locked away in one of the interrogation cells.

“Alright, let’s head in.”

Stepping into the gloomy cell, Geun-tae felt a brief pang of pity upon seeing Hyo-dae’s battered state, but it quickly hardened into cold indifference.

Though Geun-tae had initially viewed the situation as a simple corporate information leak, every conversation with Yoongi had opened his eyes to the true, gravity-defying weight of betrayal. That realization had burned away any lingering affection he had for Hyo-dae—especially considering the kid had been actively plotting to suck him dry while smiling in his face.

“Listen up, Choi Hyo-dae.”

Geun-tae had dropped the title of “Associate” for good.

“Ugh…”

Cringing through the crusting scabs covering his body, Hyo-dae managed to lift his chin and gaze upward. Bound tightly to a wooden chair, only his head had any freedom of movement. Spotting Geun-tae like a drowning man catching sight of a lifeline, he cried out with desperate urgency.

“P-P-President Ryu! Please… please spare my life! I’m begging you… I’m not a commie! I swear I’m not a red…”

“Why on earth would I do that?”

Cutting him off with a look of utter disbelief, Geun-tae continued flatly:

“I’m not soft-hearted enough to bail out a traitor.”

“Sir… please… I was wrong, I’ll do anything…”

“If saying ‘I was wrong’ could erase a crime, who the hell would bother following the law? Besides, you didn’t just mess up a minor rule—you stepped right over the absolute cardinal sin of anti-communism in South Korea. Saying ‘oops’ doesn’t cut it.”

Listening from the doorway, Superintendent Seo felt any lingering shred of suspicion vanish completely. While Geun-tae had briefly entertained doubts the day before when his subordinates questioned if Hyo-dae was a real sympathizer, hearing his cold dismissal now—coupled with Geun-tae’s lofty connections—convinced Seo that there was zero chance of foul play.

“Sir… please… If I die, what happens to my wife and mother…?”

“And whose fault is that? If you hadn’t gotten greedy and just stuck to doing your job under my wing, you could’ve lived comfortably for the rest of your life. You dragged yourself into this mess out of sheer greed, and now you’re hiding behind your family? People sure love playing the victim.”

“Sob, sob, sob…”

Watching Hyo-dae break down in tears, Geun-tae crouched down slightly to match his eye level and threw out a quiet, dangling thread.

“Want to live?”

A lifeline tossed straight into a flood of despair. Hyo-dae grabbed it without a second thought.

“Yes, yes…! Please, save my life! I’ll do anything you ask!”

“Anything at all?”

“Yes! If you can just get me out of here, I’ll do whatever it takes! Please… please save me!”

Looking down at the desperate wretch, Geun-tae offered a dark, chilling smile.

“Fine. Then become a real communist.”

Over at the large Yaikai branch office in Jamsil where Kim Ki-duk was stationed, nearly twenty men stood in four neat rows, hanging on every word spoken by the man standing at the front of the room.

“Acquire that land by any means necessary. Use whatever methods it takes. Results are all that matter to us. Understand? Don’t worry about bribery, threats, or coercion—just get it done. Sure, we’re technically backed by Seth, but we aren’t hired hands who operate with Seth’s corporate leash. Got it?”

[[[[[[Yes, sir!!!!!!]]]]]]

With a unified roar echoing through the room, the men dispersed to their respective desks, leaving only Kim Ki-duk and the speaker standing at the front.

“Director Im, if this operation goes smoothly, how much of a cut are we looking at?”

The man addressed as Director Im was Im Si-chan. Though technically belonging to a private security firm contracted to supply muscle for Seth, he operated essentially as a direct operative handling Seth’s dirtiest tasks.

Standing around 180 centimeters tall—quite a towering stature for the era—he possessed a sturdy, athletic build. Strangely mismatched with his muscular frame were pale skin and a military-style crew cut. Despite being in his fories, Im Si-chan possessed the intimidating presence and ruthless temperament required to keep hotheads like Kim Ki-duk firmly in line.

“Look here, Manager Kim. Have we been working together for a day or two? Just say ‘yes’ and execute whatever orders come down from above. Stop overthinking things.”

Fishing for a bonus and coming up empty-handed, Kim Ki-duk offered an awkward, bitter smile.

“Understood. By the way, Director… about Choi Hyo-dae, our inside guy who feeds us intel.”

“What about him?”

“I don’t have all the details yet, but rumors are floating around that he got fired.”

“What? What are you talking about?”

“Out of all our planted channels inside Yaikai, he was basically the only high-level asset we had. I can’t verify it 100%, but one of our logistics contacts mentioned he heard Choi got the axe.”

“Was he fired or not? Get your facts straight. Didn’t I teach you that moving on half-baked info will get you killed?”

“Well…”

“Verify it properly and report back. Understand? We need that guy to keep this operation stable. If their upper management suddenly changes their tune and shifts focus away from Jamsil, we’ll be left holding an empty bag.”

“Got it.”

“That aside—did you finally manage to get your hands on photos of Yaikai’s core executives? Knowing what they look like would make our jobs a lot easier.”

“I actually tasked Choi Hyo-dae with that, but I haven’t been able to reach him since yesterday.”

“Did you check his house?”

“His wife’s allegedly out of town, so I’ve been waiting to hear back.”

Hearing the reply, Im Si-chan clicked his tongue, a wave of frustration washing over him internally.

Naturally, he couldn’t voice those complaints out loud. As Im Si-chan’s irritation mounted, Kim Ki-duk tossed out another question.

“Just out of curiosity… what’ll you do if Choi really did get fired?”

“What do you mean, ‘what’ll we do’?”

“Well, doesn’t he believe Seth’s going to hire him directly if his cover gets blown? Is that actually going to happen?”

Im Si-chan let out a mocking scoff.

“Are you seriously asking that?”

Kim Ki-duk chuckled right along with him.

“As if! I was just wondering how you planned to handle him.”

“We toss him aside like trash, obviously. We aren’t an official Seth HR department; how are we supposed to place him in a corporate job? Anyone dumb enough to believe that fairy tale deserves what they get.”

“Fair enough. You aren’t planning to find a use for him on our end, right?”

“Hell no. Why would anyone employ a rat? You can never trust a bastard who turns on his own organization for no good reason.”

“As expected of our Director. Clean breaks make working under you a breeze.”

“Spare me the bootlicking and get out there to secure that land. The sooner you pull ahead in performance metrics, the easier it’ll be for me to grease your wheels.”

“Got it! Alright, time to go shake some trees~”

Humming a tune, Kim Ki-duk pushed himself up from his chair and swung the office door open.

And right through that open doorway, he found himself face-to-face with a squad of glaring, rough-looking police officers.