Free Web NovelThey had prepared on their side as well. No matter what anyone said, 〈Unfair Trade〉 was the most anticipated second-half release of the year.
“Our card not working....”
“This is a bit of a shock....”
Across entertainment news, it was all 〈Audio On Air〉 with Shin Seojin and Han Yeoreum dominating the top rankings. One of the 〈EmBubu〉 team members shouted after looking at something.
“But our ratings are still higher!”
At present, 〈EmBubu〉 was firmly squatting in the #1 ratings spot, leading by a full 3%.
Even in variety, 3% was an enormous gap, yet Gam Dajeong did not smile. Instead, she slowly shook her head.
“I’ve been in this industry a long time, and you still don’t get it. I’m disappointed.”
Her quiet voice even sounded eerie somehow.
“This side... isn’t fighting with ratings alone....”
Now that Intube had entered the mainstream, there was one thing broadcast people had overlooked.
“In this world, there’s something called a reverse climb.”
This was, in essence, an issue of accessibility.
* * *
“The boss is here?”
“Yep.”
During the start-of-semester season, bars around the university district were as noisy as year-end parties. The owner, who had come in late, first checked the POS terminal. But something looked strange.
“That’s weird....”
The bar owner tilted his head while checking sales.
“What is?”
The part-timer washing dishes in the kitchen asked. The owner kept staring at the screen as he muttered.
“Did something happen today?”
“Well, the semester started?”
“Not that.”
“Uh... it’s Friday?”
“Not that either.”
At the owner’s question, the part-timer thought hard, trying to remember something unusual. But nothing came to mind.
“Nothing?”
“Then what’s with this? Almost every table ordered Fresh Leaf Soju. Isn’t this logged wrong?”
Fresh Leaf Soju, usually one of the minor brands, had unusually high sales today. To exaggerate only slightly, it was almost on par with the current market leaders.
“Oh, right. At opening, someone from Haebo Brewery came by and said we needed to replace the poster, so I said okay.”
“Poster? What poster?”
“The Fresh Leaf Soju one! Over there.”
At the part-timer’s words, the owner turned his head. Sure enough, among the liquor posters on the wall, one looked especially new and glossy.
Instead of the previous model, whose name was already starting to fade from memory, now there was someone whose name anyone could instantly say the moment they saw her face.
“It’s Han Yeoreum.”
The owner looked once at Han Yeoreum’s poster, then once at the customers still continuing their drinking session.
“That’s weird.”
That was the conclusion he came to.
A soju model had always been a position only the top stars of the era could hold. It was practically called a badge of stardom.
First Dew sat on the eternal throne, and Just Like Now still held its place firmly.
Every other soju outside those sold about the same. Even if they tried star marketing, the rival companies were already using top celebrities too, so it rarely produced any meaningful results.
“Well, anyway... I should increase the Fresh Leaf Soju orders!”
But why was it?
The bar owner suddenly felt he needed to raise the order volume for Fresh Leaf Soju.
“Boss—! One more bottle over here!”
Right on cue, someone in the distance waved a Fresh Leaf Soju bottle.
The drinking in the university district was far from over.
“Yep! One more bottle of Fresh Leaf Soju!”
The owner shouted as he opened the fridge door. Inside, on the very bottom shelf, Han Yeoreum was smiling brightly from the Fresh Leaf Soju label.
* * *
Episode 3 of 〈Unfair Trade〉 began.
After investigating the civil servant’s financial records and social media, Lee Seohae reached a short conclusion.
“I suspect it is Main Character Syndrome.”
“Main Character... Syndrome?”
“It is also called protagonist syndrome.”
Click.
Lee Seohae clicked the mouse and enlarged one of the photos from the civil servant’s social media.
It was an account with an unusually large number of selfies.
“It refers to the phenomenon of feeling that you are the center of the world, a state in which one believes every event revolves around oneself. Its characteristics are narcissism, emotional overinvestment, and narrative framing.”
Most of the photos were of himself doing volunteer work, almost like an exhibition.
I am this good of a person.
The intention to announce that message to the world was painfully obvious.
“He has strong egocentrism and narcissistic tendencies. For example, there are people who engage in obviously dangerous behavior, aren’t there? Investing huge sums in stock options without studying at all, jumping from high places, pitching a tent in a valley during monsoon season....”
Lee Seohae continued in a flat tone.
“The protagonist does not die and is guaranteed to succeed. You may understand it in the same context. People with this syndrome tend to react especially sensitively to rejection and failure from others. They judge it as a situation that should be impossible. Naturally, their resistance becomes violent.”
“So what does that have to do with this?”
Gam Seonghwan could not grasp the connection between the civil servant’s financial records and protagonist syndrome.
With one hand half-wrapped in the sleeve of her knit sweater, Lee Seohae typed on the keyboard.
Tap, tap.
There was no wasted movement in the way she struck the machine. Standing behind her, Gam Seonghwan leaned toward her side.
“I examined the suspect’s financial records. There was one instance where a fairly large amount of money left his account. The recipient was a relative. And that relative bought land around that same time. I suspect it was purchased rashly based on the suspect’s recommendation.... Since the suspect was a civil servant, they likely believed the information was accurate.”
“Why land all of a sudden?”
“It was an area rumored to be released from greenbelt restrictions. But in the end, they simply paid an inflated price for an empty wasteland and lost money. To prevent the relationship with the relative from collapsing, I believe he offered financial compensation. Roughly 35% of the trapped land cost was repaid by the suspect. The ownership remains with the relative.”
The monitor was cluttered with articles related to the greenbelt release rumor.
But Gam Seonghwan still did not understand.
“The money the victim delivered to the relative as compensation was large enough to require breaking a savings account. Around that time, a welfare policy changed once. If my prediction is correct, the suspect’s first murder will coincide with the timing of that compensation payment.”
A victim with no prior connection, protagonist syndrome, a civil servant who recommended land to his cousin.
The connection was far too opaque.
But Lee Seohae found the common denominator anyway.
“I expect all the victims were people receiving social welfare funds.”
She grabbed the mouse again.
Click.
A post from the civil servant’s social media appeared on the screen.
[These days everyone’s taking those expensive personal pictorials or whatever~ lol Compared to them mine came out sooo bad;; ㅡ.ㅡ Still, I’m satisfied! My messy self after sweating... more valuable than anything lol]
Click.
[Not a profile photo~ lol but a shot taken while volunteering..]
Click.
[Stop teasing me about being bad at selfies lol At this rate I’ll get upset and pay big money to photograph my ugly face.. LOOL just kidding just kidding]
“And if I may make one more prediction... I believe the victims all share the intersection of having taken profile photos at a once-trendy photo studio in the past.”
Gam Seonghwan’s brow twisted viciously.
The whole picture became clear.
He remembered the framed photograph that had bumped against his shoulder in the victim’s house.
“If you dig through the suspect’s social media, he continuously writes things like ‘good people receive blessings.’ It appears deeply connected to protagonist syndrome. In this man’s worldview, the protagonist is generally a good person, and because he too is good, he must be the protagonist, and therefore he should one day receive compensation. That premise was always there. But what returned to him was his relative’s uncontrollable resentment and massive losses. Situations that, in his mind, should never happen to a protagonist repeated themselves.” freewebnoveℓ.com
Lee Seohae continued her explanation.
The genius criminal profiler with an IQ of 160 spoke with precise diction, almost like a machine. Her pitch and speed never changed.
“So the suspect became enraged. Because he was still the protagonist, everyone except himself was categorized as evil, and he devoted himself to punishing them.”
What the suspect carried was not a personal grudge.
It was rage against society.
It was just that the blade pointed exclusively toward socially marginalized women.
“Right. I get it. No matter how hard I work, money never piles up. Even the rightful compensation that should’ve gone to a good person like me disappeared, and on top of that the taxes from my paycheck keep pouring out.... What a pathetic little grudge.”
Gam Seonghwan braced both hands on his hips. He lowered his head and drew in a breath, as if trying to organize his emotions.
The deep breath made his anger unmistakable.
“It is only a prediction, but most of the victims’ corpses will likely have been damaged to the point where only DNA can be found. Even in the trash house, he clearly aimed for severe decomposition and destruction of evidence.”
“Right. Which is why even though he could’ve disposed of everything at the burial site in one go, he deliberately went elsewhere to bury the bodies.”
“Yes. The only thing likely remaining is the last victim’s head. The problem is.”
Yet Lee Seohae showed not even a trace of pride at narrowing the suspect list.
Because there was still one enormous obstacle left.
“Until the warrant is issued, seizure and search are impossible. Therefore digging up the land with an excavator like the other day is illegal.”
Gam Seonghwan fell silent for a moment.
“Given the current situation, the lack of physical evidence means the warrant process will take at least three days. If it is rejected and we have to reapply, it may take over five.”
At Lee Seohae’s words, Gam Seonghwan picked up the clothes he had taken off.
As ~Nоvеl𝕚ght~ he shrugged on his rough leather jacket, he spoke.
“Can Investigator Lee run her mouth?”
Now that they had a lead, the investigation would move quickly.
However—
-“??? holy shit”
-“This is so frustrating TT_TT knew this would happen”
-“Can’t they just beat the bastard down by force ffs TT__TT”
There was interference from above.
“Excuse me—.”
“What.”
“Didn’t headquarters notify you? This case has been assigned to our side. Hand over all the materials you’ve gathered so far. Please cooperate.”
“...Are you kidding me right now?”
The old man from the trash house was in a coma.
It was the perfect state for funneling public rage in one direction.
If he were the real culprit.
Everything could be swept away just like this.
“You’re really doing this? How does this make any sense?”
Despite Gam Seonghwan’s protest, things moved fast.
It became impossible to issue an emergency arrest warrant for the civil servant.
But the hidden card—
“That thing you asked me before, about whether I could run my mouth.”
Lee Seohae was still there.
“As you saw, that happens to be my profession.”
-“AH THIS IS IT!!!”
-“holy shit holy shit holy shit Seohae TT_TT”
-“Makes sense lol since it turned into an all-out war over welfare policy LOLOL Seohae was dispatched because of the welfare bill anyway this side still has its power”
-“Let’s fucking go”
“Go in and approach Investigator Lee like this.”
Gam Seonghwan began laying out the board.
* * *
-One week has passed since the Trash House murder case occurred. The elderly man still presumed to be the suspect remains in a coma. Based on the dismemberment marks found on the bodies at the scene, police are continuing the investigation with the old man as the prime suspect.
It was lunchtime, and the homestyle diner was packed wall to wall with people. On the TV hanging along one side of the wall, the news was in full swing.
The civil servant’s back could be seen as he lightly tilted his head toward the TV. One of his feet tapped to an internal rhythm.
It was the back of someone carrying a faint, private joy.
-However, in some circles, concerns are being raised that this may be a hasty conclusion when the precise DNA analysis results have not yet fully come out. Police have stated that “as of now, there are no additional points of suspicion,” drawing a line against the possibility of expanding the investigation....
As soon as his ordered meal arrived, the civil servant picked up his spoon.
Just as he was about to start eating—
“Wow....”
The customer seated beside him muttered while looking at their phone, then suddenly spoke to him.
“Did you see the news that just broke?”
“That?”
“The TV? No, the real thing that just dropped.”
Before the civil servant could even respond, the customer staring at the phone let out a sigh.
“The victims from that case. Their identities came out, and apparently they were all welfare recipients.”
“Ah....”
The civil servant carefully managed his expression and nodded.
“That’s unfortunate.”
“What do you mean, unfortunate?”
“It’s such a waste. Their futures were so bright....”
“A welfare recipient?”
The civil servant smiled with what looked like sincere regret.
After all, everything would now be pinned on the comatose old man from the trash house, and the police would close the investigation.
He still had to remain a good person.
It was not difficult to hide his true thoughts and say the sort of things worthy of admiration.
“You never know the future. They could have gotten married, had children, found employment. All of that could’ve happened, but instead they died at the hands of a madman. Isn’t that tragic? Their whole lives were still ahead of them, miles and miles ahead.”
“What do you mean marriage? They didn’t even have money.”
The protagonist of this world.
An ordinary citizen, yet someone positioned on the absolute side of good.
“When people reach the right age, they all get married even without money. The people around me are the same.”
At the civil servant’s gentle words, the customer gave a vague nod.
“Excuse me, sir!”
Then they called out to two men eating across from them.
“M-me?”
“Yes, you, sir. And that other gentleman too.”
The customer called over the two men, who had been sitting face to face discussing stocks while focused on their meals, and asked:
“I’m not really sure, so I wanted to ask... generally speaking, if someone’s a welfare recipient, how old are they?”
“Well, I mean, ages vary a lot...? Probably?”
“Yeah, right.”
The customer asked again.
“Then what age is most common? On average.”
“Well, there are a lot of elderly people. Older folks who can’t find jobs.”
“Usually what, around their sixties?”
“Yeah. Around that sounds right.”
The customer slowly turned their head sideways.
They looked at the civil servant, who had frozen stiff with a spoon in hand over the steaming stew in front of him.
He had gone perfectly still, unable even to blink.
“Then why did Kim Yonggeun assume they were of marriageable age? The victims’ ages were never disclosed.”
“....”
The customer pulled an ID card from inside their coat.
The camera angle rose, briefly catching the slender neck above a black turtleneck.
Then what appeared on screen was the face of an expressionless woman.
“I’m from the National Forensic Service. We would appreciate your cooperation with the investigation.”
As Lee Seohae held up the ID, tense background music swelled beneath the scene.
This was lunchtime.
A homestyle diner near the workplace, crowded with people.
“If you refuse, we will proceed to question the colleagues around you regarding Mr. Kim Yonggeun’s irregularities. We ask for your smooth cooperation.”
Someone who feared rumors spreading faster than anything.
Someone who always wanted to remain the righteous protagonist in society.
The perfect situation had now been created—
one where the blindsided Kim Yonggeun could be taken in even without an emergency arrest warrant.
