Chapter 20
‘Cheongsuri.’
A quiet countryside village, about fifteen minutes by car from Cheongyang town center. Nothing much here—just wide fields, a handful of scattered houses, and mostly elderly residents making a living from farming.
Ji-hwan looked around. “It’s quiet.” “These days, all country villages are like this,” I replied.
Young people had long since left for the cities, and the old folks were passing away one by one. There was no stopping it.
“Anyway, let’s get started.”
We began our search from the base of a mountain at the edge of the village. I worried that someone might find us suspicious… but there was hardly anyone around to even notice.
Especially near the mountain—only three houses stood in the whole area.
Two hours into our search, I found myself marveling at the raw, untouched beauty of this nameless hill. “Haa… haa… This is… pure wilderness. Feels like a tiger could be living here.”
With so few people around and no tourists to trample through, this mountain was truly wild.
Ji-hwan swung his jungle knife, cutting through the thick branches ahead. “I don’t know about tigers, but I think there might be wild boar.”
“…What? Wild boar?”
For a moment, I seriously considered going back to fetch an axe or something heavier.
“Ji-hwan… you can take down a wild boar with that jungle knife, right? You were in the UDT after all.”
“I was in the UDT, sure, but what do you think I am—some kind of world martial arts champion? You can’t take down a boar with this knife. A deer, maybe.”
‘Great…’
Just my luck—trying to hunt for treasure and ending up mauled to death by a wild boar before I could spend a single won I’d earned.
“Hey… maybe we should head back and at least grab an axe or something?”
Ji-hwan burst out laughing. “Pfft—hahaha! Relax, I’m joking. No boars. There might be deer, but no sign of boar tracks. You’re still the same scaredy-cat, Kang Chan.”
‘This guy…’
I gave him my best serious face and delivered a mock punishment. “Team Leader Pyo Ji-hwan, insulting the CEO—your next month’s salary is cut by fifty thousand won.”
“What? Hey, it was just a joke!”
Despite his big mouth, Ji-hwan was damn good at what he did. His ability to forge a path ahead of us was seriously impressive.
‘Figures—once UDT, always UDT.’
If I were alone, it would have taken me days to search this much ground. With him, we’d covered it all in a few hours.
The only problem was… the location described in the clue just wasn’t showing up.
Stretching, I scanned the area again. “I think we’ve pretty much covered every spot…”
That’s when Ji-hwan pointed toward a distant peak. “We haven’t checked that one yet.”
He was right—we hadn’t been there. “True, but…”
The problem was, that peak was inside private property, fenced off.
‘It does look like the tallest one around…’
The fence wasn’t exactly impenetrable, though. The only “security” was a friendly white dog wagging its tail.
Ji-hwan gestured toward the fence. “Want to just hop over?”
“Hmm…”
After a moment’s thought, I shook my head. “No. Even if we find something, it’s not worth the trouble later if we were trespassing.”
“Then what? Should we track down the landowner first?”
“Let’s head into the village for now.”
We went down toward a cluster of houses near the mountain. ‘There’s probably no real estate office here…’
That’s when I spotted it— [Cheongsu Church]
“That’s it,” I said, pointing.
“A church?” Ji-hwan asked.
“In a countryside village like this, the pastor is almost always someone who’s lived here for years and knows everyone. Usually well-connected.”
Luckily, even though it wasn’t Sunday, a middle-aged man was inside.
Opening the door, I greeted him politely. “Hello, are you the pastor here?”
He closed the Bible he’d been reading and stood. “Yes, I am. And you are?”
“I just wanted to ask you something.”
He ushered us to some chairs. “Please, have a seat. I’ll bring you some coffee.”
We thanked him, and once we had our drinks, I asked about the fenced-off land.
He thought for a moment. “Oh, inside the fence? I think that used to be an orchard. Is that the place?”
‘An orchard…? Oh, right—there were a lot of old trees in there.’
“Yes, that’s it.”
The pastor nodded. “Then the owner is… actually, you’re in luck. The village chief just arrived.”
The church door opened and in walked an elderly man wearing a Saemaeul Movement cap.
“Pastor, you here?”
After some small talk about fresh chicken he’d brought, the pastor said, “Chief, there are some visitors who’d like to speak with you.”
“Me?”
I bowed deeply. “Hello, sir. May I have a moment of your time?”
“Not selling!”
“Sir, this is a very generous offer.”
I had offered five hundred million won for his land—based on recent prices, a fair deal. But he refused, his expression firm.
“That’s our family’s ancestral burial ground! Why would I ever sell it?”
The pastor tried to calm him. “Still, sir, perhaps you could hear them out a little more—this is a good price.”
“Pastor, I said no! Even for you, I’m not selling the ancestral land!”
His tone softened slightly with the pastor, but his stance didn’t change.
‘Strange… why is the pastor so eager to help us?’
We hadn’t brought him any gift, yet he seemed to want the chief to sell.
Then came the clue. “Sir, but think about Yeong-sik—don’t you want to keep him out of trouble?”
At the mention of that name, the chief snapped. “Don’t talk about that bastard! He’s no longer my son!”
I didn’t know the details, but it was obvious—money troubles, and the son was involved.
‘Interesting…’
“It’s not happening. The land stays,” he said firmly.
The sun was setting, so I stood and bowed politely. “I understand, sir. We’ll be on our way.”
“Don’t bother coming back if you want the land!”
Outside, Ji-hwan frowned. “You sure we can just walk away?”
“It’s too late to keep talking now,” I said.
“Man… I don’t think that old guy’s ever going to sell.”
I smiled faintly. “Don’t worry. I think I just saw a way forward.”
The next morning, I wasn’t looking for information about the land. I was looking for information about the chief’s son—Yeong-sik.
Cheongsuri was so rural that everyone knew everything about everyone. Even how many spoons were in the neighbor’s kitchen.
While the chief was away, I dropped by the village hall with meat and makgeolli from the market. At first, the elders were wary, but the food broke the ice quickly.
Soon, the gossip flowed. “How do you know Yeong-sik? Old college friend?” “College? Pfft. More like the opposite.” “Right? How much debt has that brat racked up now?”
‘Debt…?’
I clapped my hands as if it had clicked. “Exactly! That’s why I’m here. He borrowed money from me and disappeared. I had no choice but to come find him.”
A woman sipping makgeolli shook her head. “You’re not getting your money back. He’s probably lost it all gambling.”
“Gambling…?”
A middle-aged man tried to shush her. “Hey! Don’t talk nonsense. As Cheongsuri residents, we should protect our youth chairman.”
She snorted. “Protect him? Who here hasn’t lent him money? I’m down ten million won myself!”
Now I had a clear picture— Ji-hwan leaned in and whispered, “Chan, sounds like this guy’s a gambling addict.”
I nodded silently. The chief’s son was deep in gambling debt, borrowing from everyone, and on the verge of legal trouble.
A smile tugged at my lips. ‘Gambling debt… that’s an easy angle.’
I slipped an envelope to the outspoken woman. “Ma’am, do you know where he usually gambles?”
She peeked inside the envelope, hesitating, then took it. “Well… this could get me in real trouble with the chief…”
“Please. I’m not here to collect money—just to talk to him.”
Leaning in close, she whispered, “There’s an old greenhouse along the road from Cheongyang to Yesan. He goes there all the time. They don’t even bother with raids these days—you’ll see him if you go.”
“Got it. Cheongyang to Yesan road…”
Perfect. About seventy percent of the puzzle was solved.
Now, it was just a matter of putting the last pieces together.
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