How a Salaryman Became an Underworld Boss

”That much?”

I had borrowed ten million patacas from Wei Fei to play Texas Hold’em.

Less than an hour later, I paid her five million in interest, so her genuine surprise was perfectly understandable.

Of course, I wasn’t obligated to give her half of my winnings.

The only reason I was being so generous was because I’d never met anyone who didn’t like money.

”If it weren’t for you, I wouldn’t have been able to completely crush Vice President Liu Shen.”

”I understand, but that’s far too much interest.”

”Just take it while I’m offering.”

”...Thank you.”

Wei Fei’s voice carried sincere gratitude.

”It doesn’t feel very comfortable here. Shall we move to a café?”

”Or... we could go upstairs to my room and relax somewhere more comfortable.”

What exactly is going on inside her head?

”I’d love to, but we still haven’t found Director Go Yeongjun’s hideout.”

”Well, then I suppose it can’t be helped.”

With that curt reply, Wei Fei headed toward the café.

***

The Café.

After taking a sip of her tea, Wei Fei said thoughtfully,

”No matter how much I think about it, I still can’t understand how Vice President Liu Shen ended up getting hurt that badly.”

Liu Shen had been seriously injured because of my curse.

Unfortunately, there was no way I could tell her the truth.

”When Deputy Secretary Zhang Jinan visited our country, he once twisted his ankle and knocked out eight of his front teeth. That happened entirely because of his own carelessness.”

”So you’re saying Vice President Liu was injured because he let his guard down?”

”I can’t think of any other explanation.”

”Well... now that you mention it, you’re right.”

”Let’s change the subject for a moment. Are there many gambling scam syndicates operating in the casinos here?”

”Why are you asking?”

”A friend of mine came to Macau as a tourist, ran into one of those cheating rings, and lost an enormous amount of money.”

”There are certainly plenty of scammers, but almost all of them are members of the Triad.”

So other criminal groups had attached themselves to this place as well.

I decided to ask for her opinion.

”Wouldn’t it be possible to wipe them out?”

”We’d love to, but they operate in scattered cells. They’re difficult even to track down.”

”Are there... any scammers from our country? Or from North Korea?”

”A lot of our countrymen come to Macau, so I can’t rule that out.”

Bzz—

The phone in my hand vibrated.

Knowing exactly who was calling, I answered immediately.

”Go ahead, Team Leader Lee.”

”Managing Director, we’ve finally located Director Go’s hideout!”

”Excellent work. Where is it?”

”It’s been confirmed to be a luxury mansion about one kilometer from where we’re staying.”

”That’s surprisingly close.”

”It seems this entire area is filled with upscale residential estates.”

”I see. Leave someone behind to keep watching the house, then return. We’ll meet back at our base.”

Click.

The moment I hung up, Wei Fei immediately asked,

”Managing Director Cha, have you found Director Go’s hideout?”

”Yes.”

”Whew... what a relief.”

I immediately understood why she’d sighed with relief.

Unfortunately, I couldn’t fulfill her expectations just yet.

”I don’t have Qin Hao’s interrogation recordings with me right now. How about we meet tomorrow morning?”

”All right. At our hotel?”

I already had plans, so I couldn’t accept Wei Fei’s suggestion.

”I’ll text you the meeting location tomorrow morning.”

”You must have a good reason for that.”

”You’ll understand tomorrow. Please tell Vice Chairman Wei Chen that he absolutely has to be there.”

”I will. Since you’re busy, you’d better hurry.”

***

By the time I returned to our base, I realized something wasn’t right.

The casino where I’d humiliated Vice President Liu Shen was about thirty minutes away by car.

Director Go Yeongjun’s hideout, on the other hand, was only a kilometer from here.

Logically, Lee Hyeonsol, who had been tailing him, should have arrived well before I did.

Yet he was nowhere to be seen.

Taking the seat of honor, I looked at Kang Inhan in confusion.

”Any news from Team Leader Lee?”

”He only reported finding Director Go’s hideout. Did something happen?”

”When we spoke, I told him to return to base.”

”When was that?”

Realizing the situation might be serious, Kang Inhan’s voice grew tense.

”I’m not certain. Around forty-five or fifty minutes ago.”

”I see. Team Leader Jeong, send him a message.”

However, Jeong Gwangseok seemed to have a different opinion.

”Sir, we need to approach this very carefully.”

”Explain.”

”There’s a possibility Team Leader Lee was captured by Director Go’s men.”

”Hmm... that’s a reasonable concern.”

Ding!

Just as Kang Inhan nodded in agreement, the front door burst open, and a breathless Lee Hyeonsol rushed inside.

Everyone jumped up from the sofas.

Still struggling to catch his breath, he said,

”Cough... cough... Managing Director, my apologies for being late.”

”The important thing is that you’re safe. Team Leader Seo, get him some cold water.”

Seo Donghun immediately hurried to the refrigerator and grabbed a bottle of mineral water.

Lee Hyeonsol emptied it in a single gulp.

Setting the empty bottle down on the table with a loud thud, he finally spoke.

”Managing Director, I ended up running all the way here directly from Director Go’s house.”

”I see. But why did you get back after I did?”

”I stayed behind because I climbed over the wall to assess the security around his hideout.”

It seemed to me that Lee Hyeonsol had gone a little too far.

Reconnaissance around Go Yeongjun’s mansion could easily have been left to Saho.

I asked him directly what he thought.

”I was planning to do exactly that, but the security around Director Go’s house turned out to be unbelievably sloppy.”

”How bad are we talking?”

”There aren’t even surveillance cameras on the perimeter wall, and none of the bodyguards were standing watch.”

”Really?”

”I figured getting inside would be easy, so I used a blind spot to climb over the wall. The estate consists of a main house and an annex. Every single bodyguard had gathered inside the annex. They were all drinking themselves senseless, including the men who were supposed to be protecting Director Go.”

Kang Inhan, eager to clarify one point, interrupted.

”Team Leader Lee, how are you so certain all of the bodyguards were there?”

”Director Go hired twenty bodyguards in total. I counted every one of them drinking inside the annex. Exactly twenty.”

”They got drunk while on duty... What a complete mess. Were they armed?”

”They all had pistols.”

”I see. Did you get inside the main house?”

”The doors were locked, so I couldn’t.”

Kang Inhan continued questioning Lee Hyeonsol, who honestly shared everything he’d personally observed at Go Yeongjun’s estate.

Once every uncertainty had been cleared up, the Chief Secretary turned to me.

”Managing Director, what are your orders?”

”Let’s avoid making unnecessary noise and simply capture Director Go alive.”

”What about the bodyguards?”

Kang Inhan’s question clearly implied eliminating them.

I couldn’t agree.

”Director Go’s bodyguards are Chinese nationals. If we kill them, there’s a high probability we’ll create serious problems.”

”I understand your concern, but if we leave them alone, capturing Director Go will become extremely difficult.”

”You just said they’re dead drunk.”

”There’s a reason people say an old warhorse never stumbles.”

I pointed at Saho, who was sprawled comfortably across the floor.

”Saho can take care of a group of drunk guards by himself.”

”No matter how strong Saho is, taking on twenty men alone won’t be easy.”

Then something happened that nobody expected.

Saho suddenly jumped to his feet and began nodding vigorously, agreeing with Kang Inhan.

Fortunately, I was completely confident I could change his mind.

”I’m going to feed you all the beef you can eat.”

Saho shook his head.

Clearly, beef alone wasn’t enough.

So I played my trump card.

”When we get back home, I’ll set you up on a date.”

The very next instant, Saho clamped his teeth onto Lee Hyeonsol’s pant leg and began dragging him toward the door.

His entire body was screaming that he wanted to attack Go Yeongjun’s hideout immediately.

”No matter how eager you are, we can’t rush into battle just yet.”

”...Meow?”

”We still have to make an operational plan.”

The cat nodded furiously to show he understood.

I picked Saho up in my arms and continued,

”We’ll need at least three people to kidnap Director Go.”

”That many?”

I had to clear up Kang Inhan’s doubts.

”Director Go weighs well over a hundred kilograms. If one person carries him alone, they’ll throw out their back. Besides, someone has to carry his suitcase.”

”Ah... now I see what you’re getting at.”

Leaving Kang Inhan satisfied, I turned to Lee Hyeonsol.

”Team Leader Lee, you’ll be in charge of the operation to capture Director Go.”

”Understood, Managing Director.”

”Now listen carefully while I explain the plan. The moment we enter the estate, Saho will head straight for the main house.”

”Shouldn’t neutralizing the bodyguards be our first priority?”

”The entire point of this operation is not to touch the bodyguards at all. We’re taking only Director Go.”

I explained the operation in complete detail.

”...Once you’ve secured him, bring him back here to our base.”

”Not to the National Intelligence Service’s safe house?”

”Director Go has no direct connection to the National Intelligence Service. If we bring him there, the FBI agents monitoring us may interpret it the wrong way.”

”I understand, but if we bring him here instead, won’t transporting him back home become difficult?”

Lee Hyeonsol apparently assumed Go Yeongjun would be smuggled home aboard the submarine.

”I have no intention of putting Director Go on that submarine.”

”I’m afraid I don’t quite follow.”

”Deputy Director Jo Ilcheol and his people will be the ones traveling on it. During the journey, Director Go would inevitably run into them.”

”You mean he could spread rumors that Jo Ilcheol and his subordinates defected to our country?”

”That’s highly likely.”

”Then how exactly are you planning to bring Director Go home?”

”Our country has an extradition treaty with China.”

However, Lee Hyeonsol wasn’t nearly as confident as Cha Jiham.

Go Yeongjun had fled to China eight months earlier.

By now, he’d undoubtedly spent plenty of his stolen money building connections with powerful Chinese officials.

If he called in those favors, the extradition treaty might become nothing more than a worthless piece of paper.

Carefully, he asked what Cha Jiham thought about that possibility.

”We’ll deal with that problem after we’ve captured him.”

”Understood.”

”If there are no more questions about the operation, let’s begin.”

”Yes, Managing Director.”

After replying crisply, Lee Hyeonsol left together with Saho.

As soon as the door closed, Kang Inhan asked curiously,

”Managing Director, if you’re really going to arrange a date for Saho, won’t we have to find a female wild forest cat?”

”Director Om Giyeon promised he’d personally handle finding a suitable cat.”

”Ah...”

Kang Inhan simply nodded in understanding.