110. One six-on
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National Intelligence Service, Naegok-dong, Seocho-gu.
A dark room about two square feet.
A table was placed in the center of the place surrounded by concrete walls on all sides, and a man in military uniform was sitting in front of the table.
It’s already been 3 hours.
When I first got the call from the National Intelligence Service, I thought it was okay, but when the waiting time exceeded two hours, the thoughts of the man in the military uniform became clear.
That was then.
The door to the room opened, and a large man entered the room.
The man in military uniform turned his head to check the man who had entered the room, and then slowly got up from his chair.
“Aww! Just sit down.”
Despite his words, the man in military uniform remained standing and alert, and a large man sat on the chair opposite him and said:
“Sit comfortably. Sorry for making you wait so long.”
A man in a military uniform sat down, and opened the file brought by the large man and continued speaking.
“Chief of the Convergence Intelligence Office of the Armed Forces Security Command and Chief of Staff for the 6th Operation Division, Colonel Kang Seong-tae, right?”
“Yes, that’s right.”
“My name is Kim Jeong-soo, Director of the Anti-aircraft Investigation Bureau. It’s very late, so I’ll ask you straight up. Did you send a special leave to Unit 523 two days ago?”
“yes… .”
“It was 9:15 that night. A dump truck hit a car in the alley in front of the building in Hapjeong-dong, Mapo-gu.”
“… .”
“There were no casualties because it was a parked car, but they said the driver’s seat was completely retracted. It’s like trying to hit the driver’s seat… .”
There was a moment of silence, and at the end of the silence, Manager Kim Jung-su opened his mouth again.
“Lieutenant Colonel Sung-Tae Kang.”
“yes.”
“Looking at the records… I used to work here 7 years ago.”
“Yes, I was promoted to major, and I was dispatched to the National Intelligence Service for two years and six months.”
“Since you were working at the Grand Engineering Department at that time, you are familiar with the slang term ‘customer’ we use. Yes?”
“Yeah, I know.”
“The car that crashed was our customer’s family car. To be precise, it was the car our customer’s mother drove. So we did an investigation, and the results of the investigation… .”
Manager Kim Jung-soo let out a short sigh and continued speaking slowly.
“It turns out that the intelligence command officers were directly or indirectly involved in this incident.”
“… !”
After seeing Lieutenant Colonel Kang’s surprised expression, Manager Kim opened his mouth again.
“Do you need any further explanation?”
Lieutenant Colonel Kang shook his head slowly and said.
“no. I understand the situation.”
At his answer, Manager Kim said with a slight smile.
“Then the conversation will go faster now. There is only one thing I want to know.”
“… ?”
“Who was targeting our customers at the Intelligence Command? . You just need to know this. Will you cooperate?”
Lieutenant Colonel Kang’s expression hardened at the question of Manager Kim, and in the end, Lieutenant Colonel Kang kept his mouth shut.
There was silence in such a dark room, and as the silence grew longer, Manager Jeongsu Kim opened his mouth.
“I think it will help you decide, so let me tell you one thing.”
“… ?”
“There is a customer that the information company was targeting. That customer number… … Number 17.”
“… !”
Lieutenant Colonel Sung-tae Kang’s face contorted in embarrassment, and he said as he pulled the chair closer to the table to correct his posture.
“Tongue, I will cooperate. Of course I should.”
Manager Kim Jung-su pressed the button next to the table and said.
“Colonel Kang, bring me the phone.”
Soon after, the door opened, and an employee came in and handed Colonel Kang a cell phone.
It was the cell phone that Lieutenant Colonel Kang left with other belongings at the entrance of the NIS building.
He opened the phone, pressed the call button with the number, and heard the other party’s voice with an incoming tone.
-Hello, senior! What are you doing?
“Major Jeong, I’ll tell you only the business, without saying goodbye.”
-yes! Say it!
“A few days ago, you asked for a leave for the soldiers of Unit 523.”
-haha–! Anyway, that’s why I wanted to contact you. It looks like he hasn’t been on vacation yet. So by the way… .
Lieutenant Colonel Kang cut off Major Jung’s horse and said:
“Is that an idea in your head? Or was it an order from above?”
-yes… ? Senior, what do you mean… .
When Major Jung blurted out the end of his speech, Lieutenant Colonel Kang opened his mouth with a short sigh.
“I know that your phone even shows the location of the caller’s base station. It would be better to check where I am now and answer carefully.”
* * *
next day.
Unit 523 Administrative Group.
Lieutenant Lee, who was reading the National Defense Daily, opened his mouth.
“her—-! Sergeant Park, I think the Intelligence Command had a huge accident?”
“Sago, what do you mean?”
Lieutenant Lee handed the National Defense Ilbo to Sgt. Park and said:
“Look at the greeting line at the bottom of this page.”
Sergeant Park, who checked the newspaper, stuck out his tongue and said:
“OMG… ! The commander, the intelligence chief, the deputy chief, the chief of staff, and so on, are dismissed one after another, what the hell is this?”
“I do not know. Seeing that even the commander went out, didn’t these bastards concoct some kind of coup d’etat? haha–!”
That was then.
With a knock, a man in a black suit entered the administrative group.
“hello. My name is Hee-Rak Lee from KJ Pharmaceuticals.”
At the same time as the word KJ Pharmaceutical, Lieutenant Lee and Sgt. Park stood up from their seats, and Sgt. Park approached him and held out his hand and opened his mouth.
“You came earlier than expected. My name is Junsik Park. Let’s go to the third floor first.”
* * *
Room 304 Communication Room.
I opened the door with a knock, and made eye contact with a man in a black suit.
For a moment, I flinched, not because I wasn’t the expected team leader Kim Jung-soo, but because of his eyes.
What… ?
He didn’t look at me, but I could feel an unknown alienation in his cool eyes.
He got up from his seat and walked up to me and held out his hand.
“hello. My name is Hee-Rak Lee, who is working in Division 5 of the Anti-Aircraft Investigation Bureau of the National Intelligence Service with Director Kim Jeong-soo.”
I said shaking hands with him.
“Hello, this is Chae Jeong-ho.”
We sat down, and Agent Hee-Rak Lee opened his mouth.
“It’s no different, I’m here to ask you a favor.”
“… .”
“The manager said, if the manager made a request directly, it would be difficult for Jung-ho to refuse, so he sent me. So please feel free to let me know.”
“By the way… What kind of request?”
“I would like to ask you to decipher the V19 random number table.”
It was expected.
So, after deciphering the four CW full texts, I was in the process of reducing the number of predictive word cases in my head.
I replied, Agent Hee-Rak Lee said with a bright expression.
“So, how long will it take to completely decipher the V19 random number table?”
Excluding numbers, alphabets, and Korean consonants and vowels, there are 413 random number pairs, of which 79 have been reliably deciphered, and 100 or so predicted words have been reduced to two.
In other words, it means that we do not know at all about 230 random number pairs yet.
“It is difficult to say precisely. If it’s not urgent, it’ll probably take a month or so.”
Agent Hee-Rak Lee nodded in response to my answer, and I continued speaking.
“ah… ! If you can check the full CW report before the third quarter of last year, maybe it could be done sooner than a month.”
“Then, first of all, would you be able to work for one month?”
“I… I think we should talk to our company commander first.”
At my words, Agent Hee-Rak Lee laughed out loud and said.
“ha ha ha—! You don’t have to worry about that. Then I will understand that you have agreed to the dispatched service.”
“I, by the way, where is the dispatch going?”
“You will work at the regional office of the National Intelligence Service located in Hapjeong-dong, Mapo-gu.”
In Hapjeong-dong, Mapo-gu, this is where my mother and Uncle Sang-soo live.
I said with a happy expression.
“Then, are you working outside the country?”
“Yes, that’s right. You can commute to and from work directly from your home during the dispatch period.”
Oh yeah—!
While calling for joy inside, Agent Hee-Rak Lee continued.
“And if the V19 random number table is successfully deciphered, 15 days of reward leave will be given after the dispatch is over.”
what!
After commuting to and from Seoul for a month, 15 days of reward leave comes after that!
Wait a minute! Facial expression management! Facial expression management!
I couldn’t hide the laughter that was seeping through, and Agent Hee-Rak Lee also said with a smile.
“If you have any further questions regarding dispatched work, please feel free to ask.”
“I… But isn’t there an NIS office in Gangseo-gu?”
“Of course it is. Do you want to work near Namseo-dong?”
“yes.”
“Then I will use the office in front of Namseo Elementary School as the dispatched place.”
Agent Hee-Rak Lee continued the conversation by taking notes in his notebook.
“Do you have any more questions?”
“There is not.”
He said, putting his notebook and pen in his suit pocket.
“If you don’t have any more questions, can I ask you one thing, Mr. Jung?”
The cool energy emanating from his eyes made me cringe once more.
“Yeah, that’s right. ask.”
He said with a smile that didn’t match his eyes.
“I know it well because I have been in the military, but when I was a private or a private, there are always people who bully me in the unit.”
I nodded, and he continued.
“So then… Are there any senior soldiers who bully Jung-ho among the seniors?”
At his question, Corporal Park Kwang-soo popped into his head.
Yesterday evening he called me out of the barracks and gave a speech about military life for a whopping 30 minutes, but later found out that he didn’t like giving Jin-goo a 15-day reward leave.
Are you going to blow it up right now?
While I was thinking like this, I made eye contact with Agent Hee-Rak Lee.
his eyes looking at me.
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Now I see.
A cool feeling emanated from his eyes.
It was a life that was likely to kill someone.
* * *
same time.
Office of the 5th Division of the Anti-aircraft Investigation Bureau of the National Intelligence Service, Naegok-dong, Seocho-gu.
“Chief manager, the enlistment date of customer number 3 has been set for May 15th. Where are you going to place your battalion?”
It was Cho Young-seok, secretary who recently changed his position from the Communications Department to the Grand Engineering Department.
At his question, Manager Kim Jung-su said with a slight smile.
“If Deputy Lee Hee-rak comes after a while, ask Deputy Lee and take care of it.”
“all right.”
Secretary Jo Young-seok returned to his seat, and Secretary Lim Jin-hyeok, who was sitting next to him, said to Secretary Jo Young-seok.
“Young-seok, let’s have a drink together in the break room.”
“all right.”
rest area.
Lim handed a drink can to Jo and said,
“How are you doing? Is it worth it?”
“Yes, it is fun.”
“Isn’t the atmosphere very different from the communication department? You say that the employees of the telecommunication department are respectful of each other?”
At his question, Seo Gibo Cho said with a smile.
“Yes, it is. But because I’m in the military, the atmosphere here is better.”
Lim nodded at the words of Jo Seo Gi-bo and said.
“I’m glad. And speaking of customer numbers… .”
“ah… ! How is that going to be prioritized? In the case of customer number 3, I thought I had to report it to the manager, but it seems that is not the case.”
“I should have informed you in advance, but if your customer number contains a 1 or a 7, it means VIP. VIP customers should report to the manager, no matter how trivial.”
Secretary Cho nodded, and Secretary Lim continued.
“Customers who do not enter 1 or 7 need to be confirmed by Assistant Manager Lee Hee-rak. So, customer #3 comes to me when he gets instructions from Mr. Lee in the afternoon. Then I’ll show you how to access the Military Manpower Administration’s computer network.”
“all right.”
“And there are customers who have a 1 or a 7 twice.”
“ah… ! Are those customers VVIPs?”
At Seo Gi-bo’s words, Lim smiled and said.
“VVIP? It’s like that, but I don’t call it that, all you need to know is this.”
“… ?”
“For customers 11, 17, 71, 77… If there is a threat to the customer’s safety… .”
Secretary Lim looked around the break room and spoke in a low voice.
“Even if we remove that threat, we won’t hold you accountable.”
“If you mean to remove… .”
Secretary Cho stopped talking and frowned, and Secretary Lim nodded.
There was a moment of silence, and at the end of the silence, Jo Young-seok Seo Gi-bo opened his mouth.
“then… That rumor was true.”
“What rumors?”
“Last week, there are rumors that Assistant Manager Hee-Rak Lee killed a person during Operation Janghowon in Icheon.”