Chapter 605
Going down the stairs, he mercilessly beat down the guards rushing toward him. Unlike the clean, polished action he had shown until now, every punch carried his personal fury.
"You gambling bastards dare block my way?"
Strictly speaking, they were less gamblers than hardworking employees.
But Detective Yoon's hatred of gambling had reached its peak. Watching such a composed and rational man completely fall apart delighted the audience.
"Where the hell do you think you're going, you bastard?!"
Detective Kwak immediately chased after Chen Wei. People sitting at the slot machines were shoved aside by his arm.
Those playing roulette and poker screamed.
A faint smile appeared on Chen Wei's face as he ran.
Chen Wei was the owner of this hotel.
No one knew the escape routes better than he did. He leaped onto a gondola carrying passengers.
It was a picture-perfect landing.
"Aaaah!"
The passengers let out piercing screams.
Detective Yoon, who was faster than Detective Kwak, caught up immediately.
The booming noise and violent shaking terrified the tourists. The gondola was a tiny boat that could hold at most three people. One wrong move and they would all crash into each other.
"Hello."
Chen Wei greeted them as casually as if nothing were happening.
Then he snatched the oar from the gondolier's hands.
Detective Yoon clenched his fists, preparing to fight, but contrary to his expectations, Chen Wei planted the oar upright against the bow.
"...?"
The moment confusion crossed his face—
The boat lurched violently.
"W-Whoa...!"
Before they realized it, the current had carried the gondola beneath a tunnel. Chen Wei deliberately wedged the boat against the tunnel entrance. The powerful current rocked it violently once more.
Without hesitation, Chen Wei jumped onto another gondola passing beside him in the opposite direction.
The blocked gondola threw the entire waterway into chaos. Boats slammed into one another, sending passengers splashing into the canal. On such narrow vessels, it was dangerously easy for people to end up in the water.
Chen Wei looked like someone playing a game to see who could dump the most people into the canal.
Classic luxury boutiques resembling stone mansions.
Elegant street lamps.
Gracefully curved railings.
Blue waterways winding between them to the rhythm of cheerful music.
Of course, the true masterpiece of the scenery was the profile of Chen Wei himself—the owner of this beautiful casino.
As the chase intensified, so did the audience's heartbeat.
"Ah, damn it!"
Detective Yoon continued pursuing him.
The sheer extravagance of the sequence screamed that an enormous amount of money had been poured into it.
The camera work was something every action director would envy.
Chen Wei snatched a tourist's drink can and threw it beneath Detective Kwak's feet as he approached from the opposite side, making him slip.
After repeatedly shaking the detectives off as if mocking them, Chen Wei finally ran out of places to escape and threw a punch at Detective Yoon.
The choreography was breathtakingly clean.
The strike was lightning-fast and precise.
Detective Yoon barely dodged it by a hair.
He was a veteran detective himself. Already prepared for a dirty brawl, he thrust his arm forward to drive a punch into Chen Wei's solar plexus.
Above the shimmering blue water, the fight between the two men unfolded like a painting.
The narrow, unstable gondola made landing a solid hit extremely difficult.
They had to maintain their balance while focusing entirely on the opponent standing only inches away.
Detective Kwak, soaked from falling into the water, was already sprinting along the opposite walkway.
The gondola carrying the two fighters would reach his position in moments.
Once that happened...
It would become two against one.
Bang!
Chen Wei pulled a pistol from inside his jacket and fired once into the ceiling.
"Aaaah!"
"Ahhh!"
Screams erupted from every direction.
Chen Wei immediately pointed the gun at Detective Yoon.
Detective Yoon, who had instinctively reached for his own pistol with trained reflexes, froze.
Bang!
Another gunshot rang out.
This time, it hit the floor of the gondola.
Using the distraction, Chen Wei grabbed the railing and swung himself off the boat.
Detective Yoon finally drew his pistol, disengaged the safety in one swift motion, and fired after him.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
Unfortunately...
Not a single bullet hit.
Meanwhile, water began pouring through the hole in the gondola's floor.
Detective Yoon's shoes were quickly soaked.
"Ah..."
The first attempt to capture Chen Wei...
Had ended in glorious failure.
* * *
"Mmph! Mmph! Mmph...!"
The white sack wriggled a couple of times.
Then—
Pop.
A head emerged.
"Mmmmmmph!!! Mmph!!!"
It was Influ 1, his mouth still gagged.
Despite having been kidnapped and tied up, the audience could only laugh.
Sometimes something was so absurd that laughter was the only possible reaction.
Left completely alone, Influ 1 looked so utterly harmless that everyone could laugh without the slightest worry.
His appearance felt like Director Gong's declaration that the tension, anxiety, and unpleasant atmosphere were all over.
The mood that had carried the first half of the film had come to an end.
From here on...
It was time to show the kind of fun only could deliver.
* * *
"Where the hell did that son of a bitch go?"
"How dare a gambler try to run?"
Detectives Kwak and Yoon left the hotel to search for Chen Wei.
Right then, Detective Yoon's phone rang.
"Hello?... Yeah."
—It's about Macau. You know those recent missing-person reports involving people who supposedly went overseas for work? We think they're connected to the casinos!
"What?"
—We discovered it while investigating the people who used those illegal websites...
Detective Yoon stood overlooking Macau's dazzling night skyline while talking on the phone.
Purple lights shining from a building across the street settled over his cold cheek.
Bzz...
Bzz...
Bzz...
Detective Kwak's phone rang as well.
—This is bad! Really bad! We ran the composite sketch through our database, and this case is much bigger than we thought!
"What is it?"
—He doesn't own just one casino.
"..."
—The Royal Velasco, Golden Dragon Palace, Emperor Jade, The Prism Macau, Velvet Lounge & Casino...
The casino directly in front of them.
The one across the street.
The one whose sign glowed in the distance.
—If it's a major casino in Macau...
It belongs to him.
This entire district...
Belonged to Chen Wei.
"Aaaah! I'm alive! I made it!"
Just then—
A familiar voice came from behind them.
"You came to rescue me, right? Ah, what perfect timing!"
It was Influ 1, his hair completely disheveled.
"...?"
"..."
The two detectives stared at him in utter disbelief.
Influ 1 grinned brightly.
"Where have you been?"
"I got kidnapped!"
"...Where?"
Could he somehow be connected to the people who had been lured overseas by fake job offers?
Detective Yoon's expression instantly turned serious.
"In the hotel's laundry room!"
To be more precise, Chen Wei hadn't really kidnapped Influ 1.
He had simply stuffed him somewhere because he was annoying.
But Influ 1 looked deadly serious.
"We don't have time to stand around! First tell me when you're raiding the casinos. There's usually a reward system for this kind of thing, right? You haven't started yet, have you?"
Absolutely convinced the investigation hadn't even begun yet, Influ 1's eyes sparkled.
A gambler's brain eventually melted until it could only focus on whatever was directly in front of it.
He couldn't comprehend the danger or the seriousness anymore.
All he could think about was the money sitting on the junket room tables.
"Wait... if they locked me up before the investigation even started... then that means... Hah. I get it."
The situation was already critical, yet Influ 1 remained completely oblivious.
He casually brushed back his messy hair.
"So that's where the possessiveness started. Yeah. Just as I thought. He's exactly the obsessive type."
The camera slowly pulled away.
Capturing Macau's glittering night skyline.
* * *
During the second half of the film, after losing Chen Wei during the Macau chase and the confrontation at the ferry terminal, the story shifted back to Korea.
It was nothing short of spectacular.
The villain.
The lavish spectacle.
Everything.
As the finale continued changing locations, the audience's hearts never had a chance to settle.
The dizzying camera work was grounded by powerful performances, making every new scene something to anticipate rather than something exhausting.
Above all...
It avoided the trap that so many franchises fell into.
It never suddenly became overly serious.
Regardless of genre, countless franchises suffered from what was commonly called...
"The Curse of Three."
The phenomenon where the third installment underperformed.
Expectations skyrocketed thanks to the previous successes, yet the creators still had to invent an entirely new story while satisfying everything established by the first two films.
The burden on both director and writer multiplied.
Forced twists.
Needless escalation.
A finale inevitably judged inferior to the previous installments.
Villains burdened with excessive backstories.
Original settings destroyed.
Comedy suddenly replaced by heavy drama and preachy life lessons.
But was different.
"Want to make a bet?"
As if mocking the very existence of the Curse of Three...
It reached an even greater peak.
Having won twice already, Chen Wei was utterly convinced he would {N•o•v•e•l•i•g•h•t} escape again.
His confidence bordered on arrogance.
The young boss who held all of Macau in the palm of his hand.
"Sure. I'll bet everything on you ending up behind bars."
"Hahaha... What are you talking about..."
Chen Wei couldn't understand what Detective Kwak had said.
But he laughed anyway.
He was a man who had wagered his own life over and over.
That was how he had conquered Macau's casinos one by one.
Was there any greater gambler than him?
His mind no longer functioned normally.
Always craving something more dangerous.
More exciting.
More thrilling.
Chen Wei couldn't stop.
He felt compelled to extend his reach all the way to Korea.
But gambling...
Was ultimately a game of probability.
"So even if prison food doesn't suit your taste, don't be picky."
—No.
It's about deceiving people.
Detective Yoon had already blocked Chen Wei's escape route.
Detective Kwak solved things the same way he always did.
With his fists.
In the end...
This gamble ended in total defeat.
"Ah..."
Handcuffs clicked around Chen Wei's bloodied wrists.
Click.
The sound was strangely cheerful.
Almost identical to casino chips being poured across a gaming table.
"That was fun."
Chen Wei answered with a lazy grin.
As he drew a deep breath, he closed his eyes, replaying the entire game in his mind.
Police sirens echoed from the distance.
Music signaled that the case was finally over.
It was completely different from the sticky melody that had embodied gambling addiction.
This one felt refreshing.
Liberating.
* * *
"The massive illegal gambling cartel orchestrated by the kingpin who controlled Macau's casino industry has finally been dismantled through a joint operation by the Republic of Korea Police. Hundreds of billions of won connected to overseas servers and illegal gambling websites have been frozen..."
Inside a subway during the morning commute.
Passengers wearing earphones quietly looked at their phones.
Chen Wei's face filled every screen.
"The victims who were deceived by overseas employment scams have all returned safely. The Ministry of Justice has designated the next three months as a special voluntary reporting period for youth gambling. Anyone who reports themselves and completes the government-designated addiction treatment program..."
Among the subway passengers sat the father of the Ladder Game Boy.
His eyes were no longer empty.
He was reading a message someone had sent him.
[He's going to work part-time every weekend. We're cutting his cram schools down to just one. He needs to learn how frightening money really is.]
[(photo.jpg)]
[Let's stay strong until we straighten him out.]
The attached photo showed the boy working a weekend shift at a Korean barbecue restaurant.
"Table here!"
"Coming!"
Besides the Ladder Game Boy, several of his classmates—including the school bullies—were wiping grills and serving customers.
He wasn't going to repay his debt by winning money anymore.
He was going to earn it.
Sweating heavily as he replaced charcoal, the boy received a single ten-thousand-won bill.
"You're such a good kid. Working so hard at your age."
"Uh..."
"It's because you're doing such a good job. Go ahead and take it."
Not long ago, ten thousand won had seemed like nothing to him.
Now...
The Ladder Game Boy bowed deeply.
"Thank you!"
The television in the corner of the restaurant switched back to the news.
"The government announced today that every member of the joint investigation team responsible for dismantling the international Macau gambling cartel and rescuing countless young people will receive unprecedented national honors. The lead investigators will each receive a one-rank special promotion without examination, while the entire task force has been awarded the Presidential Commendation along with special incentive bonuses. Given the unprecedented scale of the operation, experts are calling it one of the largest commendation ceremonies in the history of the Republic of Korea Police."
The detectives stood in full dress uniform.
One by one, the Commissioner of the National Police Agency fastened new rank insignia onto their shoulders.
The camera lingered on each immaculate uniform.
Golden Mugunghwa rank insignia.
Something that could neither be won through a bet...
Nor bought with money.
"You are the true heroes of major crime investigations in the Republic of Korea."
The President smiled proudly as they expressed gratitude.
"The government has also granted the entire team an exceptional ten-day special paid leave. Furthermore, each member will receive priority assignment privileges for whichever department they wish to join in the future."
The officers raised their hands in a crisp salute.
Every movement was perfectly synchronized.
The next scene shifted to the airport.
The detectives rolled their suitcases along with light, energetic steps.
They were leaving on their special reward vacation.
"See you after the vacation!"
"Ramen's on me when we're back!"
"Have a great trip! I'm off!"
The airport bustled with life.
Beyond the massive glass windows stretched a brilliant blue sky.
Detective Yoon and Detective Kwak met each other's eyes for just a moment before walking past one another in opposite directions.
The corners of their mouths lifted ever so slightly.
They disappeared into the crowd at the airport.
Into the very society they had protected.
The screen slowly faded to black.
The movie was over.
"Mommy! Mommy!"
"Stop running around!"
The lively chatter started softly before gradually growing louder.
Apparently...
It wasn't really over yet.
The dark screen slowly brightened.
The scene changed once again.
It was the post-credit scene.
Someone's house during a holiday gathering.
"Kid, I've known you since you were this little."
"Stop making your aunt worry already~~~ Seriously."
It was...
Influ 1.