AGENT 14

The Guchon serial murder case. If you were a Korean person and didn’t know about it, you could be called a spy. But why were they suddenly asking about that?

“The first victim of that case is the middleman in charge of E8 in Korea.”

Yes… Before Yongnae’s concise answer could even finish, his ears could not help but doubt the words the Glasses followed up with.

The worst serial murder case currently occurring. The first victim was the man’s organization member and the Korean drug middleman?

‘Our informant says… I heard the middleman disappeared with the raw materials that absolutely must go in, so there’s a problem with manufacturing.’

Ah…! Yongnae recalled what he had heard from Detective Moon earlier. That a problem had arisen in manufacturing because the middleman disappeared with the raw materials. At that time, Yongnae had thought it was just a matter of a bad guy doing bad things to another bad guy, thinking lightly that the middleman had embezzled the raw materials and was manufacturing drugs while attached to another organization.

But to think that the middleman was actually the first victim of the Guchon serial murder case.

‘The fact that only the first victim is an unidentified person whose fingerprints do not match even when checked, so they might be a minor or a foreigner.’

That profiler professor was right. The first victim was a foreigner.

This was a case of a bad guy… being done in by an even worse guy.

“But the problem is, we don’t know who that son of a bitch is.”

If they had known, wouldn’t they have actually caught that guy, put him inside the wall of this house alive, and poured cement?

“However, we must catch that guy before the police do.”

Catching that guy before the police? Wouldn’t that be quite dangerous? Ah, maybe this side is more dangerous. But why? Do they want to catch that guy simply for the revenge of an organization member?

“Only the middleman knows where the raw materials weighing over 300 kg are, but we know that he hid them by designating several locations and rotating them to avoid the eyes of the police.”

As expected, there was another intention. If it was raw materials weighing over 300 kg, it was not a volume the organization would easily give up just because the middleman died. He didn’t know much about drugs, but based on what he had seen through crime programs, after manufacturing from 300 kg, the amount would be at least 15 kg.

That amount did not end with just several tens of billions of won. That was why the organization was trying to chase this murderer now. But what were they going to do by chasing the murderer? The middleman was already dead.

“He surely would have had that route encrypted. Whether it’s on his phone, a USB, or by some other method.”

Ah… It means something might have been left behind. If so, it was understandable why they were chasing the murderer. This serial murderer dismembered the bodies and abandoned them in suitcases. Only the bodies.

“There is a high probability that the guy still has the victims’ belongings.”

That was why they had to catch that murderer faster than the police. To find the belongings containing the middleman’s encrypted route, which the murderer might still have.

But what did they want him to check here?

“That guy only commits murders within his own space. There has been no movement. At least until now.”

“…”

“However, it is said that among the 29 administrative districts of Guchon City, the police have narrowed down the places where they estimate the guy to be to 12. Because the police have a lot of personnel, the probability that we can catch the guy faster than them is quite low.”

“…”

“So we have to use some kind of trick…”

“…”

“I heard that the researcher’s sense of smell is very excellent.”

So what Glasses was saying now was that they had to catch the murderer faster than the police by using a shortcut, and that shortcut was him. To be precise, his sense of smell.

“…”

Yongnae was speechless with absurdity. How big is a single neighborhood, and they want a person who is a complete stranger, no, a person to go around sniffing to find a terrifying serial murderer?

“The smell of blood is very thick and lasts a long time. So as the guy’s base gets closer, someone like you, Researcher, will surely be able to notice it. To be honest, we also thought it was nonsense when we first heard about it…”

“…”

“Anyway, if the researcher helps find the guy and we succeed, we will give you 300 million won from our side. Even if you fail to find him, we will pay 50 million.”

300 million won for finding a person using a sense of smell? Are they aware that they are making an outrageous proposal right now? What kind of people in the world would make such a proposal just based on what they heard without verification?

In fact, he had to suspect first whether their intention was to use him with the thought of nothing to lose, and then, if he was lucky enough to find him, instead of 300 million, they would just get rid of him.

But why did those words about having heard it bother him so much?

Having heard it means that the man told the organization that his sense of smell was good. In that process, he also accurately conveyed his affiliation, the ‘Jeollabuk-do Provincial Office.’

That means the man remembered every single thing he had said in detail.

“…”

Why did that make a person unable to think of anything? Why did that make him feel good? Yongnae glanced toward the room door again.

Was the man not going to appear?

“…I only just smelled the disinfectant.”

Was saying it smelled like disinfectant that great of a thing? That smell was mixed with alcohol, so if a few more minutes had passed, it would have completely evaporated and he wouldn’t have been able to guess it; he was just lucky with the timing.

“…——,——.”

“——,——,——?”

“——,——.”

As soon as Yongnae’s words ended, Glasses said something to the bald snakeskin man in Cantonese, and the bald man also nodded and answered as if agreeing.

Did pretending to be humble by adding the word ‘only’ gain their trust? He had no idea what words were being exchanged, so Yongnae just looked back and forth between the two.

However, the man’s position seemed to be quite high within this organization. Seeing that the organization made such a big proposal to him just because the man relayed that one sentence he heard.

To be honest, the probability of being able to find the murderer was very low. The fact that the police narrowed down the neighborhood by estimation was literally just an estimation, and the possibility that the murderer resided in a completely different neighborhood rather than those twelve neighborhoods could not be ruled out.

Also, there were too many variables, such as the possibility that the culprit moved their base or left Guchon upon knowing the police were narrowing the investigation net.

An increase in variables meant a greater probability of not being able to find him.

If so, they would definitely lose at least 50 million won, and yet making such an outrageous proposal—was the man perhaps an action leader of the organization like one would see in a movie? Judging by how he subdued the burly Detective Park from behind or lightly lifted the heavy collection equipment, the man seemed to be at least the right-hand man of the organization boss.

“…Well, anyway. Will you help us?”

As expected, it seems he really gained their trust. As soon as the two finished their conversation, Glasses asked Yongnae again if he would accept this proposal.

“It’s fine even if you refuse.”

“…”

300 million won. The house in Jeonju where Yongnae’s family lives is 1.28 million square feet and costs 180 million won. His parents were still paying off the loan for that house. 300 million won was an amount that could pay off all that debt, and the remaining money would more than suffice to help with the house he would live in when he got married in the future.

A proposal where he could definitely receive 50 million even if he couldn’t find the murderer. There was no reason for Yongnae to refuse. But the problem was… it was about realistic matters after finding the murderer.

What would he do about the research institute while he was out looking, and what would he say to his parents? To Dawon? What if he was caught by the police while moving with them? Would he be caught and thrown in, with them asking if he was in league with them from the start?

And even though it was about chasing a murderer, he had lived his whole life straight and without straying; could he make this choice just because of money?

No, in the first place, this worry,

“…”

Is it really because of money?