Chapter 121
After Baek Dojun returned to his office,
Park Chaeshin, Maxi, and I headed to District 26, where the murder had taken place.
We conducted a brief investigation at the scene, and as expected, we found nothing particularly noteworthy.
To be precise, the evidence was so obvious that there was nothing worth examining closely.
“It was an impulsive killing.”
“Yes. The traces are rash. To the point that it almost feels like a trick.”
“Could it be soone with anger managent issues? We will have to narrow down suspects with related disorders.”
The scene could only be described as the work of an amateur.
There was only one clue we could not uncover here.
The identity of the Phantom Thief.
I glanced at Park Chaeshin’s tablet and spoke.
“The victim also had quite a criminal record. All misdeanors, but not exactly the most respectable type.”
Park Chaeshin nodded in agreent.
“If rumors start spreading that soone is going around eliminating criminals, that will beco quite troubleso. That is the Phantom Thief’s identity, after all. Delivering justice outside the bounds of the law.”
Maxi’s expression remained cold.
“If a cri has been committed, it is only natural to pay the corresponding price. We simply eliminate him before any foolish rumors spread.”
Eliminate…
In that context, most people would say apprehend.
As expected, he seed to loathe cri to the core, just as his setting dictated.
No wonder he would not even exchange words with Monica Bayliss.
More importantly, if this case had truly been an impulsive act, the Phantom Thief would undoubtedly appear in the outskirts again.
The flood of recent eyewitness accounts served as proof.
The Phantom Thief—Lee Eunho—was searching for soone in the outskirts.
I could guess who those targets were.
He was likely seeking those involved in the incident thirteen years ago to use the Ring of Illusions.
All I could do was let out a bitter smile.
He had no idea that the mastermind stood right beside him, and he was busy chasing after shadows.
“Well then.”
After recording information for a while, Park Chaeshin slipped his tablet back into his bag.
“I think we should conclude the investigation here for now. It does not look like any further clues will turn up. More importantly, I doubt this cri will end with just one incident.”
Maxi and I nodded at the sa ti.
“So we simply wait for your contact, as discussed in the lounge?”
“Yes. Ah, I will send information regularly. The judgnt will be yours, Investigator. We will have to conduct this autonomously anyway, will we not? Thanks to a certain investigator whose face is more famous than necessary, moving together would attract unnecessary attention.”
Park Chaeshin cast a sideways glance.
He was openly teasing .
When I first t him, I thought he might be a serious man because of his decadent aura. Now he felt more like an older neighborhood brother.
Well, in any case.
We agreed to reconvene later and parted ways.
Maxi, whose face was not widely known, pulled a book of general knowledge from his bag and disappeared into the crowd beyond the alley.
Park Chaeshin casually offered to buy a drink with the cash gift envelope he had received earlier, but I politely declined.
Drinking before dinner?
Besides, that man was the type who never stopped talking.
A classic case—fond of alcohol, talkative, and warm-hearted.
Of course, if Kim Seyeon were present, I might have been persuaded to join.
She was exceptionally skilled at scolding Park Chaeshin.
Unbothered by my refusal, he left the alley with light steps.
Whether I joined him or not, drinking itself was what pleased him.
“He really is impossible to figure out.”
I left the alley last.
Making my way toward the 4th Scholastic District, stepping across rooftops and building terraces, I was nearing the inner district when—
BANG!
A gunshot rang out from one of the buildings.
“…?”
The exact location was a bank occupying the first floor.
Civilians nearby were already fleeing in a panic.
I stopped running and calmly observed the situation.
“An ard robbery… Even in the outskirts, robbing a bank in broad daylight?”
Through the glass, I could see only one individual.
A masked man holding an automatic pistol.
I brushed my fingers against the hilt of the sword strapped to my lower back.
“What should I do?”
Should I intervene?
As I hesitated, the wail of a siren cut across the road.
Dispel had arrived.
For a branch in the outskirts, their response was remarkably swift.
They quickly surrounded the building and switched on a vehicle amplifier.
—If you surrender peacefully, you will not be hard! Co out while we are still being polite!
Judging by their numbers alone, they should have been able to subdue him quickly.
Incidents like this were hardly rare in the outskirts.
I was about to turn away without regret.
But at that mont, another gunshot rang out.
A police officer’s scream followed.
“Gaaah!”
A bullet fired through a gap in the window had struck one of Dispel’s officers.
“D-Damn it! You think I am going to die like this?”
The criminal forced the hostages to stand against the glass wall and grabbed an elderly man, pressing the muzzle against his temple.
“The mont you move, I will blow a hole in this old man’s head!”
—W-Wait! Calm down! Let us resolve this through dialogue!
“Dialogue? You think I do not know what you are planning?”
—If you release the hostages safely, we will cooperate with anything! A vehicle, an escape route, money!
While an investigator drew the criminal’s attention, several officers began approaching from other entrances.
It was a fairly organized maneuver, but the criminal quickly noticed and shouted.
“I told you not to try anything funny!”
BANG!
Another gunshot echoed.
Screams erupted from inside the bank.
“…Did he really kill soone?”
The hostages blocked the view behind the glass.
The elderly hostage he was holding still appeared unhard, but Dispel was now unable to attempt any further “tricks.”
“Can I really leave this to Dispel?”
It was a lone perpetrator. Surely experienced investigators could handle it.
—There is no deception in negotiation! We will et every demand! If anyone is injured, please allow us to provide treatnt!
Perhaps my expectations had been too high.
My hand moved to the sword hilt.
Just as I was about to leap down—
A sudden commotion broke out inside the bank.
“…?”
It seed that one of the hostages—an awakened individual—had bravely rushed the criminal.
Seizing the opportunity, the other hostages burst through the doors and fled outside, and the Dispel personnel rushed in.
Unless sothing unexpected occurred, the situation would soon be under control.
I withdrew my hand from the hilt.
I had been worrying for nothing.
I should simply return to Hero Prep and get dinner.
Just as I lightly prepared to leap to the next building—
“What is this?”
A sinister current of mana flowed from the bank.
An ominous presence.
Instinctively, I activated my Demonic Eye.
As expected, the criminal’s form had grotesquely transford.
His swollen arms looked as though each could carry a grown man, and his thighs were as massive as boulders.
“Is that an orc, or a human?”
In an instant, he overwheld the Dispel personnel and shattered the glass wall as he burst outside.
“Eek!”
“H-Help!”
“Everyone, run!”
Chaos swept through the street.
“What are you all doing? Evacuate the civilians!”
“Call for imdiate support from the inner district branch!”
Dispel attempted to respond belatedly, but it was useless.
The criminal’s abnormal attacks had already shattered their formation.
“What a ss.”
Only then did I draw my sword.
Leaping over the rooftop railing, I rushed toward the criminal the mont my feet touched the ground.
My Demonic Eye recognized him.
A user of a forced awakening potion.
That grotesque form was a side effect of ingesting the potion ahead of its prescribed cycle.
In exchange for staking his life, he gained imnse strength for a short period.
The problem was that he would eventually die in a mana explosion.
He had to be dealt with before his body swelled any further.
There was no room for compromise.
“Move aside!”
I pushed through the crowd and leapt.
My goal was to cut him down with a sword strike.
With the Platium ring on my finger, I did not need to worry about the color of my mana.
Moreover, since I was not using a dark attribute, I could afford several more sword strikes, though the damage would be reduced.
Soon I reached a considerable height.
Hovering above his head, after confirming there were no civilians nearby, I executed the sword strike with practiced precision.
SHIIING—!
The blade descended at a right angle with a sharp tearing sound through the air.
Faster than a hail of bullets, the strike cleaved into his shoulder and split his body apart.
“GRAAAAGH!”
With a piercing death agony, he died on the spot.
Killing a suspect posed no issue.
Investigators of the Special Affairs Division possessed the authority of summary execution.
I landed on the bloodstained ground.
Perhaps because everything had happened so quickly, the onlookers stared at in stunned silence.
Fortunately, there appeared to be no fatalities.
Many injuries, but no deaths.
Cleanup would be Dispel’s responsibility.
More importantly, I focused on sothing else.
This incident reeked of the Avid Reader’s intent.
“And quite strongly at that.”
According to the original storyline, forced awakening potions were still supposed to circulate in secrecy.
Yet here was a forced awakened individual committing a cri so close to the inner district?
This could not be dismissed as coincidence.
Who could have sent him?
What developnt was the Avid Reader trying to orchestrate by using an ard robber?
Leaving that aside, was this not the typical opening of a third-rate novel?
The kind where the protagonist happens to defeat a villain in passing and earns a na for himself.
And if one were to add a final touch, among those rescued by the protagonist there would inevitably be a beauty—
“Thank you, young man.”
Before I could complete my train of thought, an elderly woman clasped my hands with both of hers.
She had been the hostage.
I offered an awkward smile.
“Ah, I rely did what I should—”
Before I could finish, voices erupted around .
“That is right! If not for you, we would have all been in grave danger!”
“Wait! Is he not an investigator from the Special Affairs Division?”
“What? No wonder he is so handso—he is exactly my type!”
“Mom! I want to beco a Special Affairs Division investigator when I grow up!”
“Please tell the Special Affairs Division Chief that we live safely because of them!”
The sudden wave of praise crashed over .
With agility at twenty, I caught every one of the hundreds of voices.
What expression was I supposed to wear in a mont like this?
How had Lee Eunho’s expression been described in the original work?
Many thoughts passed through my mind, yet none lingered.
I needed to discern the Avid Reader’s intentions as soon as possible…
But the only sensation I could clearly perceive was the warmth enveloping my hands.
“If it were not for you, young man, sothing terrible would have happened. Thank you, truly.”
“…”
Well, perhaps it did not matter.
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