Chapter 85 – Genius and Genius #1
The newly acquired Disguise skill had one fatal drawback. Tae-hyuk muttered as he stared at Kim Bum-soo's face in the mirror.
“This just changes the face?"
It would be okay if he disguised as a man of a similar height while wearing thick clothes, but it would be creepy if he had a woman's face with the body of a man below the shoulders. It was obviously a great ability, but some things still couldn't be helped.
“That means that if I disguise as a Hollywood actor, I still won't have the muscular body."
At first, he could only change his voice using Voice Modulation. Then it evolved into changing his face with Disguise. Then at the end, would he be able to change his body?
"Cough… Won't that be a transformation rather than a disguise? It would be a big hit like X-ray Vision."
Upgrading his rank gave him the opportunity to strengthen his skills. He had already started to wonder how his other skills would change. But he had to first investigate the skill he gained this time.
"First of all, I need to find out how long Disguise lasts."
In the case of Voice Modulation, it was okay to keep his mouth shut if his voice suddenly returned to normal. However, that wasn't the case with his face. If he made a mistake, then he would be arrested immediately.
Tae-hyuk, who had Kim Bum-soo's face, looked at himself in the mirror and made several facial expressions. Kim Bum-soo was an actor who could change between dozens of expressions freely.
Tae-hyuk spoke his famous line,
“How dare you destroy the 500 year history of the Goryeo Dynasty!"
He could act out a drama by speaking in a different voice.
'Acting is possible.'
He did a few more lines before looking at the time. After 30 minutes, he returned to his original face.
'This is the limit right now? I have to be careful.'
It seemed he would have to carry a timer to tell him the time limit for Disguise. Next, he changed his face to people he met such as Yoo Cheol-ho, Park Sung-kwang, and Choi Sung-yeol. Then he tried some nice faces.
“I-I can't tell Big Mama and Moonlight Flower about this."
The proficiency test was sufficient.
Tae-hyuk had shattered T Medical Center around a week ago. Obviously, it was one of the business sites managed by the Chinese mafia, 'the Triads.' Furthermore, he appeared on TV under the name Phantom. The video had spread around various streaming sites and received hundreds of thousands of views.
'It is highly likely that the Triads is prepared for war.'
Tae-hyuk lived in prison and was exposed to information that the public didn't know about. One of them was the Mafia War that occurred around two years later.
The Triads, who secretly infiltrated Korea, was enjoying enormous profits. The Russian mob and Japanese Yakuza then mobilized their forces to fight them. Thus, the criminals of three countries waged a war in South Korea.
Tae-hyuk had smashed one of the businesses of the Triad, which could be considered as the starting point of the war.
He didn't know what effect it would have, even with Tae-hyuk's future knowledge. The so-called butterfly effect, a scientific theory stating that a butterfly flapping its wings in Brazil might generate a tornado in Texas. In addition, Tae-hyuk's actions weren't at the level of a butterfly flapping its wings, but a devastating tornado. Then the result might be even more destructive.
“Either way, I need to pay close attention to the movements of the Triads."
Once all the tests were finished, Tae-hyuk wore his leather jacket and left the house. First of all, he needed to keep his promise with An Eun-young.
Joo Hyun-ho met with a professor of criminology at his alma mater, S University.
The female professor laughed as she looked at her best pupil.
“Then I would like to ask you to do the freshmen orientation."
S University would hold an orientation for their freshmen in the middle of February. The schedule included inviting graduates to give a lecture on their related occupation. The person who would shine this year was Joo Hyun-ho, the genius investigator who solved many cases.
“I have plenty of time."
"But aren't the police in an uproar due to Phantom?"
Joo Hyun-ho shook his head.
“It is the first time I've seen such a disruptive criminal. Countless people took off their clothes because of him."
“Then isn't Investigator Joo Hyun-ho also in danger?"
"It isn't too bad if I can play and eat at home."
“As expected of a building owner… I suppose I can get you a job as a security guard here if you retire."
"Haha…"
“Then do you have a schedule after this?”
“Ah, I am going to visit my school club for the first time in a while."
The young professor nodded. She wanted to have a meal with her pupil, whom she hadn't seen in a long time, but Hyun-ho didn't realize this fact. He understood the psychology of criminals but had no understanding of women. If possible, she wanted to teach him for a few more years.
“Then go after having a drink. If you wait then my assistant will bring it."
"Yes, I understand."
While waiting, Joo Hyun-ho used his smartphone to look up the T Medical Center case. As for the related terms, more than half of it was about the criminal wearing the opera mask, Phantom. Despite the fact that the article was just published, there were hundreds of comments already.
–Amazing. Then they kidnapped orphans and sold their organs?ㄷ ㄷ ㄷ
–It is good that the scum died.
–Yes. Even if they were arrested by the police, they would just be sent home.
–I've watched Phantom's video 20 times already.
–By the way, didn't his voice strangely sound like Kim Bum-soo?ㅇ ㅈ?
–In the end, isn't he just a murderer? I don't understand why people are regarding him as a hero.
–He didn't kill them himself so how is he a murderer? Besides, he caught the criminals that the police couldn't. Isn't that great?
The debate about Phantom was constantly ongoing.
Joo Hyun-ho sighed.
It was such a perfect defeat that he couldn't even feel resentful. He conducted an investigation to catch the culprit who decorated a tree with dead bodies. However, what he thought was a bizarre mutilation murder was actually organ trafficking.
He had been able to solve Ryu Myung-hwa's disappearance, but that was only due to Cho Kang-suk's senses. In the end, Joo Hyun-ho had done nothing in this case.
“Hu… I should return the title of genius investigator"
At that time, the assistant knocked and entered with cups of coffee. After drinking it, Joo Hyun-ho stood up and said,
"Thank you. Then I will be going now."
"Ah… Thank you for today, Investigator Joo Hyun-ho."
"No, thank you for agreeing."
Joo Hyun-ho decided to take a walk around the campus to sort out his complicated head.
"Phantom…"
An unidentified criminal who suddenly appeared. Although the media only knew about the trafficking case, he had been active for a while before. His first appearance was when he caught the Hippo for the police.
It was also clear that Phantom was the one who saved Jung Yuri. Joo Hyun-ho had met with Jung Yuri and asked what happened, but she only replied that she couldn't remember.
"There is obviously something."
The Phantom had bombs containing immense destruction. He was a criminal that absolutely had to be arrested, but his whereabouts were unknown. In the end, it was a situation where only the bottom tier employees suffered.
"Ohh… Damn!"
Joo Hyun-ho, whose head was hurting, kicked a stone on the ground. As he glanced up, he saw a man and woman who seemed to be high school students. The man was in plain clothes but the woman was wearing a uniform. Maybe it was a field trip to the university.
"T-Tae-hyuk. There is an art exhibition. Robots will also be displayed there."
“Great. Let's go see it together."
"I-Is that so? Yes, let's go."
The male high school student was looking around with a nonchalant expression, but the female high school student couldn't keep her eyes away from the man's face.
Joo Hyun-ho laughed at the sight. Why couldn't the male student notice when it was just so obvious?
At this point, Joo Hyun-ho and the high school students passed by each other. Then the girl lost her balance and stumbled. Joo Hyun-ho reflexively reached out and caught her shoulder. It was the same with the male student. Joo Hyun-ho and the male student's hands touched for a brief moment. The girl bowed with a sorry expression,
"Ah… I'm sorry. I think it was due to a stone."
“Haha, it's nothing."
It seemed like she wasn't paying to her feet while looking at the man's face.
“Class President. Are you hurt anywhere?"
"Uhh. I'm fine."
Joo Hyun-ho looked at the male student, who was wearing a leather jacket. It was an appearance that didn't look neat.
At that time, the man said something,
"You seem to have dropped this."
“Ah, when did that fall?"
“I think it fell when we bumped into you just now. Then we will be going."
Joo Hyun-ho scratched his head.
He thought it had been placed securely in his Burberry coat.
“It would be bad if I lost this. Thanks for picking it up. Are you touring the campus?"
The female student replied,
"Yes. I will be attending next year."
“It is January yet you already passed? Isn't that great?"
"Hehehe…"
“In fact, I am a graduate of this school. If you don't mind, would you like me to guide you around?"
"Is it okay?"
Joo Hyun-ho looked at her and said,
“I heard by chance. Did you want to go to the art exhibition? I know the curator there. If you go with me then you’ll be able to see a little more. “
At that moment, the male student's eyes flashed.
“We can see it in detail?”
"Yes. It is impossible to touch but you can look at it directly. Think of it as the price for a police investigator not noticing that his police badge dropped. Ah right. I am Joo Hyun-ho."
"An Eun-young."
"I am Seo Tae-hyuk."
The three people who met by chance introduced themselves to each other, but their meeting wasn't a coincidence.
The young boss of Huaqing, one of the 12 branches of the Triads, listened to the report from his subordinates.
“Then in the end, the whole place didn't blow up?"
“Yes, Boss."
It was the title for the leader of the organization.
"The culprit is this bastard."
Li Zheng watched the video of Phantom on his laptop and muttered. He had lost a business that earned him billions of dollars every year because of some stupid bastard. Li Zheng was furious.
The leader of his subordinates asked him,
"What would you like to do?"
“He killed seven of our people. It can only be repaid with blood."
"I understand."
“I will give you a month. Present the Phantom's head to me. And this time, bring Big Brother."
Li Zheng glared at his subordinates as he spoke,
"B-Big Brother?"
"Yes."
“B-But he…!"
His subordinate's voice shook with fear. Big Brother was the best killer in Huaqing. However, he was cruel and violent so he wasn't easily handled. It showed how angry Boss was due to this incident.
“We have to catch Phantom even if we burn Korea in the process. That is my, no. Huaqing's will!"
“As Boss commands!"
His subordinate bowed to Li Zheng before gathering the other members.