episode_0142

Side Story – Man of Blades 1

“Blade Man serial murder case… . Who gave you this nickname? Since you keep giving them plausible-looking nicknames like this, aren’t the criminals bragging as if they are something?”

“Since I didn’t put it there, why don’t you go to the higher-ups and ask them questions, senior?”

Zeke and Mariela of the Special Crime Investigation Team of the Imperial Central Bureau of Investigation were looking at a report on a serial killer who has recently been on the rise, commonly known as the ‘Blade Man’.

“You want to argue with your superiors? I would rather teach criminal law to Ker. When he praises Ace and all, he acts like he’ll give him everything, including his liver and gallbladder, but in reality, all he gets in return is working overtime and cleaning up poop.”

“Senior, a little… . So what are you going to do if someone hears it?”

“What will they do if they hear this? If it weren’t for me, performance would have been halved. No, what’s the point of cutting it in half? There’s not even a quarter left?”

Zeke threw the report away with a dissatisfied expression and then lay down on the sofa with a languid gait.

“My eyes are blurred, so I can’t read letters well. Mariela, please summarize for me.”

“For some reason, my eyes only seem to get blurry when I read the report. Is it because of my mood?”

“It’s my mood.”

Mariela sighed at the sight of Zeke burying his face in the cheap leather, and began quickly skimming through the report.

“Blade Man, identity unknown. Level 2 criminal. He was nicknamed the “blade man” because he killed people by cutting their bodies with his bare hands. What is special is that even if there are witnesses, they are not killed and the bodies are left as is. What the victims have in common is that they are all retired knights.”

“Retired knights are just dying at the hands of a serial killer, so what they do is throw a report at us and catch us? The country is doing really well.”

“Since it is an issue that depends on the country’s prestige, they are probably trying to handle it in secret.”

“Wow, Wisin feeds me.”

Tap, tap, tap. Zeke, who had been thinking while rolling his feet on the sofa, jumped up.

“Perhaps the war is over. Aren’t you a killer hired by the government to deal with useless people eating up your pension? Most of the knights who have retired now are former soldiers who were randomly conscripted during the war, so they must be more anxious. Isn’t that plausible?”

“…Maybe you should have become a novelist instead of an investigator.”

Mariela looks at Zeke with pitiful eyes. She threw the materials on the side of the table to Zeke.

“What is this?”

“This is a list of people who are likely to become the criminal’s next target. I made it in advance because I thought it would be left to me anyway.”

“K~. I heard that I had a good junior.”

“I think I had the wrong senior.”

“A. Is there a senior like me?”

Mariela had a lot to say, but she didn’t bother to say it. Because all the emotions were already being expressed on her face.

“Ha… . Senior than him. You originally passed these cases on to me, saying you weren’t interested, but why did you say you would handle them yourself this time?”

“I have a friend who is interested in this guy called the Blade Man. I have no choice if I want to get some points.”

“Could it be ‘that woman’?”

“That’s right. That psycho bitch.”

Even though he didn’t say his name, Mariela knew who the psycho Zeke was talking about was. There weren’t many women that Zeke, who treated even the most murderers as petty criminals, called a psycho.

“You are having a hard time too. I can’t believe I like strange women like that.”

“It’s not like that. I’m just using it for my own plans.”

“I’m really curious what that plan is.”

“You’ll find out later. Because you are also included in that plan.”

“……I think I’m quite far from your taste… ?”

“I don’t know what you’re thinking, but it’s not like that anyway.”

A small smile appeared on Mariela’s lips. Although she was complaining here and there, Mariela still respected Zeke.

Although he may seem like he’s just living his life carelessly, saying it’s a hassle, he has more than a truck as many as the number of violent criminals he’s caught. No matter what, as much as he worked hard to ensure the safety of citizens, Mariela had no doubt that Zeke’s plan was also for the peace and well-being of the empire.

“Well, my senior can’t even write a report properly without me. I have no choice but to be with you. As long as it’s not illegal.”

“Is it true? You don’t mind saying that? Don’t regret it.”

“…What on earth is your plan?”

Anxiety began to sprout in Mariela’s heart.

*

*

Since being trapped in this damn game, I have experienced death countless times. Although I’ve already gotten used to it, I still see flashes of light right before I die.

The kitchen knife stuck in the wall, just a short distance away from my cheek, instantly aroused the fear of death in me, and the flash that was playing was cut off, tantalizingly like a trailer.

[Heroine profile]

Name: Kuen

Height: 162cm / Difficulty: C

Progress: 58% / Likeability Level: 3

The person who created this delightful experience is Kuen, a crazy idiot who enjoys killing itself. You’ll be the educational bitch who made me intuit what my body’s organs look like.

“Annyeong–Jikeu—. Nice to meet you—.”

“A person who is happy to meet you suddenly throws a kitchen knife? You almost got lost.”

“But- when I was playing,- he came to me and said something that made me irritated-?”

Kuen smiles brightly with a bloody face. Although I felt disgusted because of the fishy blood, Kuen was still beautiful.

‘That’s the fucking thing about this game.’

The heroines are shockingly pretty. There are most of the heroines that we haven’t met yet, but since this is a pre-released game, the other heroines will also be outstandingly beautiful.

‘Isn’t it better? Because it’s pretty, I’m at least motivated to attack it.’

It must have looked ugly. The strategy was to just urinate and beg to be sent home.

“So uh–. What’s going on—?”

“What happened? I’ve been investigating the killer you wanted to kill. I don’t know his exact identity yet, but his nickname is the Blade Man.”

“A strange star—.”

“Better than the scissors butcher.”

“Eeh–. I don’t like that nickname—.”

“Then don’t use scissors.”

“That’s not possible—.”

One of Kuen’s bad hobbies is using strange-looking scissors the size of his own height as a weapon. Some people claim that it is a good weapon because it can fight in a variety of ways, but it is probably good because it can kill in a variety of ways.

You can stab it with the blade, cut it into pieces by opening its mouth, and even cut it with one blade. Not only that, if you hold it in reverse, it becomes an excellent blunt weapon, and if you hold it between both handles, you can even strangle it.

It is truly the MacGyver knife of the murder world. It makes you wonder why other people don’t use scissors.

“I’ll stop with the gossip here, it’s highly likely that this case will be conducted in secret. So, since you won’t be officially wanted, you shouldn’t attack him just because you met him on the street.”

“Yes—.”

It was just a coincidence that Kuen found out about the officially unknown Blade Man.

One day, Kuen, who was on his way to deal with wanted criminals as usual, witnessed the crime scene of the Blade Man, and after confirming that he was not on the wanted list, he asked me to investigate.

I wonder if the sight of him cutting down people and swords with his bare hands was very attractive. Kuen, who was drooling and desperately wanting to kill her, resembled my nephew who had seen the three-stage combined Mecha Tyranno toy.

‘You really see people as toys. Oh, no. By Kuen’s standards, he wasn’t a person, was he?’

People don’t kill people, so people who kill people aren’t people or anything.

“Then I will begin the investigation in earnest, so please wait patiently. If the investigation bureau comes and makes a fuss, I think there will be no juice then.”

“But that’s because—Zeek didn’t keep his promise—.”

“Who in the world comes in and picks up someone for breaking a meal promise?”

“Geo, not a person–?”

“Be quiet.”

Kuen pouted his lips with a dissatisfied expression. But I didn’t really care. Even if you get upset like that, it will quickly go away if you play with toys.

Well, I’m not sure if the toy is alive now.

*

*

“Gam senior. Where is the evidence related to the Blade Man?”

“To D-134. Rather, it is not a feeling, but a feeling. What on earth do I have to do to get a feel for it?”

“It’s hard to pronounce.”

The Investigation Bureau’s evidence storage room is always complicated. This is where everything from items stolen by criminals to traces left at the scene are gathered.

Senior Gam is the person in charge of the evidence storage room, and although he appears to be a rigid principled person on the outside, he is flexible enough to secretly steal evidence to satisfy his own desires.

“Let’s see D, D, D… . Oh, there it is. They say it’s complicated no matter when you come here.”

“It has to be this complicated so you don’t even know where you’re going to break a hole.”

“That’s right.”

While heading to Sector D, a strange-looking sword caught my eye.

“……”

“Why are you looking at me like that? Oh, that sword?”

The sword that Senior Gam brought was a long sword that you would only see in the Middle Ages.

“It looks unique, right? I thought it was a theater prop because it was set up by a strange gangster, but it was sharp and quite sturdy.”

Thump thump. Senior Gam’s fingers hit the side of the blade and made a sound.

“…Senior Gam. Give me that sword.”

“What? No.”

“Please do me a favor.”

“Even if you ask, you can’t do it. Rather, you weren’t interested in things like this.”

As Senior Gam said, I am a person who is far from helpless in this world. I was interested in things like guns because they could have stopping power above a certain level, but I never even paid attention to things like swords.

If this sword had just been unique, I wouldn’t have been interested at all.

“This is different.”

But this sword is different. The notification window that I can see right now was clearly attached to the side of this sword.

[Heroine profile]

name: ???

height: ??? / Difficulty: C

Progress: 0% / Like level: 0

Even when I met a naked wolf beast, when I met the female boss of a large mafia organization, and even when I met a psychopathic serial killer.

Although it wasn’t normal, I was still able to understand that she was a heroine.

At least he’s human.

But what is this?

knife? A sword?

‘How can a sword be a heroine..?’

I feel like I’m losing my mind. Even when I was attacking Ker, who couldn’t understand the language at all, I didn’t feel like there was such a lack of answers.

You have to attack inanimate objects.

Anyway, I don’t know what it is, but I have to secure this sword first. If I leave it here, Mr. Gam might sell it.

“Sseup… . I can’t… .”

Seeing him worry so much, it’s clear. Damn, I was thinking of selling this or giving it to someone.

“Gam senior. Do you know how many times I’ve covered up for seniors so far?”

“Hmm… . A lot… . There were so many… ..”

“Then wouldn’t it be in accordance with commercial ethics to give at least a sword?”

“No, that’s true… . There was someone I originally wanted to give this to.”

“Who? Could it be that he is from the Knights?”

“Uh, huh? Is it him? I have no idea who you are?”

“……”

There is no need to read facial expressions. Because in an awkward tone, he was openly shouting that it was the correct answer.

The person in the knight order is a female knight whom senior Gam has a crush on. I don’t know its name because I’m not interested, but I remember it being quite popular because it looked quite pretty.

” Senior Gam, no, his sentence was commuted.”

“There’s something strange about a reduced sentence.”

“Write. It doesn’t matter. Rather, did you really intend to give me something like this as a gift?”

“Well, that’s because he’s a knight. Of course, if you give him a sword, he won’t like it… How?”

“Ha, really. commutation. I can’t date because my brother is like this.”

Gam Gam’s face looks shocked. Did he really not know? Regretful.

“Only men like it when they get something like this.”

“Well, then what gift should I give..?”

“Of course, you should give him something he likes as a gift. I’ll tell you something special for you. Write it down.”

Gamhyeong, who was urgently searching through his belongings, took out a notepad and writing utensil and was ready to write down.

“Hoppers Bakery at 188 Greton Street. Buy a limited edition premium strawberry shortcake there and give it as a gift. I’ll like it a lot more than a sword or something.”

“If it’s limited, isn’t it hard to get?”

“So it’s more valuable.”

“Oh… . As expected.”

It sounds the same.

Actually, I don’t know if that female knight likes sweets. Although most women like sweet things, that doesn’t mean you can generalize.

However, giving sweet desserts to someone who does not like sweets is not a big problem. Dessert can be handled as much as you like by just handing it out to people around you.

Since it is a limited edition that is difficult to obtain from a reputable bakery, the satisfaction level of your colleagues will increase, and they will naturally want to say thank you to Gamhyeong. All you have to do is use this as an excuse to start talking and build friendships.

‘Of course, giving random gifts without context is a problem, but that’s none of my business.’

The reason Gamhyeong can’t date in the first place is not because he has no sense.

When I saw Gamhyeong’s distorted, happy face, I shook my head in silence.