Chapter 023 – Underworld Database
The place Uncle Franken brought me to was the same place as before.
Madam Jang’s private room.
“Why did you kidnap me?”
I asked her directly.
“Hohoho. Detective Kang, you really know how to joke. But aren’t you eating a little too well for someone who was supposedly kidnapped?”
Just as Madam Jang said, I was eating very well.
After running away from home to escape the reporters, I had not been able to eat a proper meal, so I was starving.
Madam Jang clearly said that the alcohol and food this time were completely free, with no strings attached.
She said it was her way of thanking me for saving the Do-Re-Mi girls last time.
I had even recorded her saying that on my phone.
I had checked it so thoroughly that even a stone bridge would have collapsed from all the tapping, so now I could eat and drink without any worries.
“You don’t have that Royal Sal… whatever it was this time?”
If I was going to eat for free, I might as well go all the way and enjoy something expensive.
“Ah! Did you want that?”
Madam Jang used the intercom and ordered someone to bring a bottle of Royal SalXte, thirty-eight years old or something like that.
A short while later, the door opened and two beautiful women entered carrying alcohol and side dishes.
“Oh my, Detective Kang, hello. Do you remember me?”
One of the women sat down on my left.
“Detective Kang, then what about me?”
The other woman sat down on my right.
The moment I was suddenly surrounded by beautiful women, my mind and rationality simultaneously submitted vacation requests.
It looked like they planned to travel somewhere very far away.
“I’m Nahyun. You saved me before.”
“I’m Gaeun. You really don’t remember me? That’s so mean…”
Even my memory submitted a vacation request.
I immediately rejected it.
You can’t go on vacation too!
“Ahaha… I’ve always been really bad at recognizing faces…”
I had no idea whether that expression was appropriate for this situation, but I said it anyway.
“Detective Kang, you’re pretty popular. At this point, even the Jade Emperor would probably be jealous of you.”
It seemed Madam Jang had given me a chance to escape from this awkward situation.
“Come on, Madam. The Jade Emperor is a noble being who rules the Heavenly Realm. Would someone like that even have women around him?”
“Detective Kang probably doesn’t know. That author is quite the womanizer.”
“Madam, then do you know him?”
Huh? Wait. What did Madam Jang just say?
It was strange.
Madam Jang had spoken about the Jade Emperor as if she personally knew him.
“Hm? Did I say something? I don’t remember saying anything.”
That single sentence brought the conversation to an end.
Still, an uncomfortable feeling remained in the corner of my heart.
No way…
Just in case, I activated the Ghost Eye.
Information about Madam Jang appeared before my eyes.
[Type of Soul: Not applicable, as the target is not deceased]
[Evil Spirit Type: Not applicable]
[Evil Spirit Grade: Not applicable]
[Hybrid Status: Not applicable]
[Past Life Karma: None]
Everything looked ordinary.
However—
Can someone really have absolutely no karma from their previous life?
That thought crossed my mind.
This time, I activated the Ghost Eye on Nahyun.
[Type of Soul: Not applicable, as the target is not deceased]
[Evil Spirit Type: Not applicable]
[Evil Spirit Grade: Not applicable]
[Hybrid Status: Not applicable]
[Past Life Karma: A young girl who lost her parents early and raised her younger siblings alone]
I checked Gaeun as well.
Just like the others, she had past-life karma.
Something felt strange.
The fact that Madam Jang had absolutely no past-life karma bothered me.
At that moment, Madam Jang’s phone rang.
She answered.
“Really? He’s here? Then bring him here.”
“Looks like you have a guest. Then I’ll be going.”
Thinking this was my chance, I immediately stood up.
“Detective Kang stays. You two, go outside for a while.”
“Yes, Boss.”
The two women stood up without complaining and left the room.
I had already started walking toward the exit, but I awkwardly stopped and slowly returned to my seat.
“Shouldn’t I… leave too? You have a guest. I’ll probably just get in the way.”
“Detective Kang is needed for this conversation, so stay.”
At this point, I had no choice.
A short while later, a middle-aged man entered the room.
“Welcome, Teacher Han.”
Madam Jang offered him a seat.
The man quietly sat beside me.
He had a calm and intelligent appearance.
“This is Detective Kang Hyunwoo from the Violent Crimes Division of Jungbu Police Station, the man I told you about.”
“Ah… hello. My name is Han Mandeok. I work at a support center called the Land of Zion.”
The man held out his hand.
“I see. Nice to meet you. I’m Kang Hyunwoo. Would you like a drink first?”
“No, thank you. I don’t drink alcohol.”
This man seemed even more diligent and serious than Jeonghoo.
“Detective Kang, this man is a doctor who provides free medical care to poor people. He came because he has something he wants to discuss with you today.”
“If it’s a criminal matter, wouldn’t it be better to report it to the police station…?”
My weak resistance ended instantly when Madam Jang glared at me.
Teacher Han gave a bitter smile.
“Just as you said, Detective, I already reported it to the police. Unfortunately, it didn’t accomplish much…”
His voice trailed off.
“What exactly happened?”
Teacher Han began explaining.
Life was difficult for the people living in the slums.
Most of them survived from one day to the next on whatever money they could earn.
Even if they became sick, many endured the pain instead of going to a hospital because they could not afford treatment.
Teacher Han had opened a free clinic in the slums to help such people.
He had been able to continue doing so because a generous benefactor had provided him with a large amount of financial support.
“That person must be really generous.”
I could not understand the idea of simply giving away a huge amount of money without asking for anything in return.
Still, whoever did it sounded like a genuinely good person.
Teacher Han hesitated for a moment.
“Actually… that person is Madam Jang, who is sitting right here.”
“What?! Cough! Cough!”
The alcohol I had been drinking went down the wrong pipe.
I stared at Madam Jang again.
My expression was probably similar to someone looking at one of the Seven Wonders of the World.
Ignoring my gaze, Madam Jang silently raised her glass and took another sip.
“Anyway, the problem is…”
Recently, people had begun disappearing from the slums.
All of them were people with no known family or relatives.
According to what Teacher Han had discovered, around fifteen people had disappeared.
And all of them were women.
“That many people have gone missing?”
I could not understand it.
Even if they were socially vulnerable people with no family members, it made no sense that so many people could disappear without the police realizing what was happening.
“One of the recently missing women was found.”
“That’s fortunate.”
Teacher Han’s expression darkened.
“She was found dead. And her entire body was covered in surgical scars.”
“……”
I cursed my careless mouth.
“The cause of death was cardiac arrest. According to the investigation, the surgical wounds on her body were not severe enough to cause enough shock to stop her heart. In other words, they don’t consider it murder. I’m also a doctor, so medically speaking, I agree with that conclusion.”
Teacher Han’s face continued to grow darker.
“But something feels wrong. I can’t get rid of the feeling that more people are going to die.”
I leaned back slightly.
“So you want me to personally investigate this?”
I shook my head.
“This isn’t even within my jurisdiction, and investigating a case that another department is already handling would be difficult.”
Besides, my face had been plastered all over the country because of Eyes.
Trying to secretly investigate something in my current situation sounded nearly impossible.
Madam Jang placed her glass down.
“That’s why I called you here. Don’t investigate openly. Do it secretly.”
It felt like she had entered the boxing ring to land the finishing blow.
“I understand the situation, but I’m currently being chased by reporters. You might have heard about that. Hahaha…”
Even I thought my laughter sounded horribly unnatural.
