“Daughter—!”
The biggest twist character from .
The squad leader who had crushed upper-level pressure in one blow with the power of coins—now a sudden millionaire—called out warmly to soone in Daechi-dong.
“Ah, I’m dead tired. Seriously.”
“Right? You’re tired, right?”
The doting father picked up his daughter in a flashy imported car.
Exhausted, she threw her heavy bag into the back seat.
“Seriously, how are all the kids here so good at studying?”
“Who’s making my daughter feel small like that?”
“There’s this kid whose mom is a celebrity and dad is a prosecutor. She gets perfect scores every ti. Not a single mistake.”
The squad leader looked at his daughter with concern and spoke loudly.
“Hey! Even if my daughter gets zero instead of a hundred, that’s fine! If studying is too hard, just tell . I’ll have you quit everything right away.”
“I’m fine.”
She sighed and fell asleep in the passenger seat.
He felt sorry for his daughter, who studied until dawn every day.
* * *
“Sweetie? You’re late.”
The woman who had appeared as a panelist with Director Sa had also co to pick soone up in Daechi-dong.
“You had a test today, right? Another perfect score?”
“....”
Her daughter nodded silently.
The woman smiled brightly, not even looking at her daughter’s face as she focused on driving.
“Right. Just keep doing that. It’s a little hard right now, isn’t it? But once you get into university, your life will be completely smooth.”
Contrary to her words, the roads of Daechi-dong were completely jamd.
Honking horns blared loudly.
Academy vans and parents’ cars were tangled together, unable to move forward.
When they got ho, the woman entered first and turned on a tir on her phone.
“Shower and co out in ten minutes.”
Even at ho, the daughter couldn’t rest.
She had to morize English words while eating and listen to online lectures.
The clock struck twelve.
Behind the girl, the woman sitting in a chair nodded off.
“....”
The girl’s hand, which had been studying blankly, suddenly stopped.
Her hollow eyes were so clouded, it was unclear where they were even looking.
“....”
Slowly, she stood up.
* * *
“Yeah, I’m heading back to the station now.”
-Why are you so late?
“What do you an late, you bastard. Sunhee grabbed by the hair. Said I only showed my face after a month. You think you know what married life is like?”
At that mont, the squad leader had stopped by ho for the first ti in a while and was now heading back.
-Sotis I think you really lack responsibility. How can you act like none of this is your business?
“Alright, alright. I’ll handle it when I get there. I’m trying, okay?”
-Trying? It’s always the sa. Just words, words! I’m sick of it.
The conversation sounded like that of a long-married couple.
As the squad leader, who had been bickering with Detective Kwak, drove—
soone suddenly ran in front of his car.
“Wha—!”
Screeeech—!
The tires scraped loudly against the road.
-Hyung? What happened? Did you get into an accident?
Detective Kwak’s voice ca through the speaker.
The squad leader, who had slamd his forehead against the steering wheel, lifted his head in shock.
Thud.
“Holy shit!”
A girl was standing in front of the windshield.
He hurriedly got out of the car.
“Are you okay? Are you hurt?”
The girl didn’t answer.
She just stared blankly and started walking forward again.
“No, ❀ Nоvеlігht ❀ (Don’t copy, read here) wait. At least let’s go to the hospital—”
He gently grabbed her wrist.
Her body swayed weakly.
“...?”
She was barefoot.
The squad leader felt sothing was seriously wrong.
* * *
At the hospital, the girl fell into a deep sleep.
The one who ca as her guardian was a man in his forties.
Holding his phone, he busily typed as if sending ssages sowhere.
“Yes. I’ll contact you later with the details.”
Then he spoke carelessly to the squad leader.
His face looked irritated, as if he had just woken up.
The squad leader asked sharply,
“What is your relationship to the patient?”
“Do I really have to answer that? Shouldn’t you be apologizing first for causing a traffic accident?”
“I’m with Mapo Police Station. From this point on, you will answer my questions properly.”
As he showed his badge, the squad leader’s expression turned cold.
The man frowned and sighed.
“There are signs of child abuse.”
“What? What do you an child abuse?”
“Are you really her guardian? What is your relationship?”
“Ah, shit....”
The man hesitated, unable to answer.
At that mont, soone else approached.
It was the elite Detective Yun Hyeonjo.
Thanks to the woman who had spoken to Influencer 1 in the restroom, the team had finally found a lead.
They knew the na of the drug.
Even at dawn, dressed impeccably in a suit, Detective Yoon spoke calmly.
“You’ve been giving her Concerta for a long ti, haven’t you? Without an ADHD diagnosis. That way her concentration improves and her grades stay high.”
“....”
“Once it beca restricted without a diagnosis, you switched thods.”
His deduction was so precise, it was as if he had witnessed everything himself.
“Rotichelli.”
The na of the drug, which should have remained hidden beneath the surface, was dragged out into the open.
“Am I wrong?”
Behind his glasses, his sharp eyes pierced through the dark truth.
“You’re not the guardian. More like a proxy sent by parents who can’t afford to have their identities revealed....”
His voice turned cold.
“Tell them to make the right decision if they don’t want this to blow up. Either cooperate with the investigation, or keep pretending and get completely ruined.”
Inside the hospital room, the girl continued to sleep peacefully.
As if it had been a long ti since she slept like this.
The cold dawn light wrapped around her face through the window.
* * *
At that sa ti, in Mae Sot, Thailand.
Director Sa sat in a dim bar with a drug organization.
Despite being surrounded by mbers, there wasn’t a trace of fear in his eyes.
“It’s better to keep transactions clean.”
“Of course. As much as you want.”
“You’re sure distribution will continue properly even after you leave Korea? I’ve already prepared everything. It’ll be a problem if things go wrong.”
Director Sa was preparing a new drug to follow Rotichelli.
This one was stronger.
More addictive.
He had little attachnt to life in Korea.
Once he received his trophy at the upcoming Pure White dical Society event, he planned to leave the country.
Once the drug was released, what would happen next was obvious.
“Korea is the world’s strongest beauty market, and the obsession with education is unmatched.”
A drug that helps with dieting—and improves grades.
There would be no shortage of addicts.
The new drug he distributed would start in Gangnam, spread through Seoul, and eventually consu all of Korea.
A new substance refined from Yuba—a cheap stimulant known as a caffeine-based drug.
A drug that would make you feel like you were flying.
Its na—
“Good. We’ll manufacture Butterfly and ship it over.”
Butterfly.
* * *
“What? You fed that shit to a kid?”
Detective Kwak frowned at Detective Yoon’s explanation.
His already rough, criminal-like face hardened further.
And yet—
“Hurry up! Hurry up, hurry up!”
Wearing a pink cat apron, a sanitary mask, and a white headscarf—
“It’s setting! It’s setting!”
He was making candy disguised as diet pills.
“...What the hell are you even doing right now.”
The situation was serious.
Very serious.
“Hey! You too—put on an apron, you bastard. Lazy as hell.”
They had even brought in a comrcial two-door stainless steel refrigerator.
The shared kitchen sparkled.
“What the... it’s blinding....”
Detective Yoon squinted.
The youngest detective spoke seriously,
“Don’t you know that cleanliness is the number one rule in food business?”
“...Why are you... And what’s that weird sound I’ve been hearing?”
Detective Yoon followed the source.
A laptop sat on the table.
On the screen—
INTUBE
[Want to lose weight just by sleeping? Diet frequency] 2:45:11
Views: 1,887,222
“Like how fruit becos sweeter when you play classical music. These candies, in a way, also match consur needs through the frying-pan effect—!”
“...It’s the placebo effect.”
Candy piled up.
The trap was ready.
* * *
Influencer 1’s group prepared the pills in their bags.
They would sell the candy in teams of three, alongside detectives.
“Wow, this is actually kind of thrilling.”
“Are we all getting Brave Citizen Awards later?”
“Kyaa—!”
While they squealed, the detectives checked their handcuffs.
“Radios?”
“All good.”
“Your ankle from last ti?”
“Fully healed.”
Everything was ready.
Han Yeoreum brushed her hair back and said,
“Let’s go, girls!”
“Hey. Why are you the one saying that?”
“I’ve always wanted to say it....”
With bold determination, they set out.
But—
“You are under arrest for illegal drug transactions.”
“Police. You have the right to remain silent—”
“Anything you say can be used against you—”
Almost everyone they caught—
knew nothing.
“I’m sorry... sob....”
“I was just going to take it a few more tis and quit... The hospital kept saying my BMI wasn’t that high, but I wanted to lose more weight....”
“I don’t know anything. I just saw it online....”
No matter how many transactions they made, they couldn’t reach the organization.
Just as everyone sighed—
“...Another one’s coming.”
Influencer 1’s face appeared on the screen.
Soft laughter spread through the theater.
A familiar taste.
A familiar progression.
A predictable next step.
“I’ve got a good feeling. This ti, we’ll definitely catch them.”
But when the detectives saw the chat—
they sighed.
“The userna is ‘lonnyam.’”
“It’s over. Totally over.”
“You don’t catch them on the first try. Even with luck, not like this.”
The audience laughed even louder.
Because everyone knew—
except them.
The real dealer was finally coming.
From the mont Han Yeoreum appeared on screen, the audience had already skipped the frustrating phase in their minds.
“Um... are you lonnyam from Tgram?”
In a dark alley, Influencer 1 spoke to the shadow approaching her.
“Yes. That’s .”
“...I thought you were a woman.”
She sensed sothing was off.
So did the detectives waiting in the car.
Tension spread instantly.
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