episode_0036

It was when the next morning dawned.

There was someone other than Jin-woo and Sarah who noticed that the gunman had lost his wallet.

If someone said it, it was the man himself who lost his wallet.

“… … .”

An underground parking lot in an abandoned building located in Seungcheon-gu.

The gunman was using that place as a hideout.

The masked man remained silent and looked into his coat pocket. But no matter how hard I searched, I couldn’t find my wallet. The pocket was torn just enough for items to fall out. It was obvious where I dropped my wallet.

‘Is it a shaman’s house?’

Last night, a gunman attacked a shaman’s house with a flag hanging in order to secure food. It was a very luxurious and large house to be considered a simple shaman’s house. I thought there would be a lot of food, so I attacked.

The assailant was able to rob the shaman’s house and take food.

However, things went wrong when he encountered young students inside the house.

The gunman recalled the curly-haired boy he had encountered inside the house last night.

‘What on earth is that curly haired guy I saw yesterday doing?’

It was a curly-haired boy holding a sword curved like a scimitar.

The gunman tried to kill the boy with a sashimi knife, but was unable to do so. A boy of that age would have been terrified the moment the stabbing started. However, rather than being afraid of the assailant’s stabbing, the boy calmly started stabbing him in the same manner.

‘Does it make sense that I can’t kill even a child?’

The gunman thought as he took off his mask and ate the bread he stole last night. We fought for quite some time last night, but we were no match for the curly-haired boy. Rather, it was even discovered that the mask was a weakness. It felt like I was dreaming. Judging by the taste I could feel on my tongue, it wasn’t a dream.

━━Munch, munch.

The gunman was a gangster in his youth. I once served as an action leader leading juniors in an organization called Wolseongpa. When I was young and could fly and crawl, I often achieved victory over those who interfered with the organization’s business.

The gunman is older now. However, his skill in handling a knife did not rust. His physical ability also received strength from the divine spirit, becoming incomparably stronger than when he was young. It was impossible for an ordinary person to deal with a criminal.

‘I didn’t know that my wallet would be ripped off by these kids.’

However, the curly-haired boy was able to deal with the gunman. The silver-haired girl who appeared from nowhere also had considerable power. It was clear that they had special powers. As a monster, I couldn’t figure out what the source of the power was.

‘What do we do?’

The gunman pondered as he touched his empty pocket. I lost my wallet, but I didn’t really need to get it back. The plan was to just steal the money and make a new ID card that was forged anyway. When I was working at Wolseongpa, I knew a businessman who professionally forged ID cards.

“Hmm… .”

Should I go get my wallet back?

Or should I give up cleanly?

There were two options, but there was no reason to ponder for long. The gunman was rational. There was no need to take the risk and return to the shaman’s house.

It was because there was a rational reason for the gunman to openly kill people.

It was because of the spirit that the strange man was serving. The spirit in the form of a serpent gave strength to the monster and demanded that he make a sacrifice. The sacrifices were the fingers of people killed by the assailant himself. In addition, there was a condition that traces of the murder must be exposed to others.

‘It’s a troubling condition.’

A condition in which traces of murder must be exposed.

The serpent spirit would not accept sacrifices unless they left specific traces.

If there were no such conditions, the gunman’s crime would have been secret. There was no comical chopping up of bodies or going on a rampage at the campsite. He must have planned the crime without knowing who killed him.

“Teoju.”

The gunman looked at the mask and asked the spirit.

The snake spirit was always by the strange man’s side.

“How many more sacrifices are needed?”

The serpent spirit answered.

The voice of the spirit could only be heard by the strange man.

The answer came back that two sacrifices were needed.

“Two people. Do you really only need to kill two people?”

The gunman was happy to hear the answer.

It was good news. The serpent spirit said that if he brought two more fingers together, he would have offered all the necessary sacrifices. After all the sacrifices had been made, there was no need to kill any more. The gunman was able to start a new life.

“Hihi.”

It was when the monster was laughing.

The serpent spirit said.

The gunman had no choice but to stop laughing after hearing this. It was clear that only two more offerings were needed.

However, the sacrifice required by the serpent spirit was specifically determined.

“… The kids I saw yesterday? Curly hair and silver hair? Are you asking me to sacrifice those children?”

The snake spirit answered yes.

The gunman asked the spirit.

“Are you sure you need those kids? I don’t think there’s any need to take risks. If you had to offer another sacrifice, I would offer more.”

The serpent spirit answered.

The answer was that the boy and girl I saw yesterday must be sacrificed. It was said that their souls have different value from ordinary people. In particular, he said that if he obtains the boy’s soul, even a snake will be able to become a dragon and ascend to heaven.

The serpent spirit’s voice oozed greedy greed.

“… I see.”

The gunman nodded. The serpent spirit demanded the lives of the boy and girl. In that case, the gunman simply complied with the request.

“I will make a sacrifice right away tonight.”

The gunman decided to attack the shaman’s house tonight. As I filled my stomach with the stolen food, my tired body regained vitality. It was different from last night when I was starving. This time I was able to give it my all.

“Today will be the last time I live as Kwak Jin-cheol.”

The name of the assailant was Kwak Jin-cheol.

The monster was full of dreams. It was a dream of escaping abroad and starting a new business after offering all the sacrifices.

The gunman had quit being a gangster and started a business. I remembered accumulating great wealth when I did business with the serpent spirit. However, while doing business, the power of the serpent spirit ran out and he suffered a miserable fall.

Sacrifices were offered to fill the power of the spirits.

If all the sacrifices were made, the magical power of the serpent spirit would be restored.

If he were to start a business again, this time the stranger could become a rich man.

*

“Is the murderer’s name Kwak Jin-cheol?”

“Born in 1981.”

I checked the gunman’s ID.

The name ‘Kwak Jin-cheol’ was clearly written on the ID card.

Sarah and I turned on Hyehwadang’s computer and searched for Kwak Jin-cheol. Kwak Jin-cheol’s photo and name on his ID card were used as clues. It took about an hour for us to find out Kwak Jin-cheol’s identity through the Internet.

“There is the same photo on this site. It’s Kwak Jin-cheol.”

“You were the hotel owner?”

Surprisingly, the killer was a famous businessman whose name was left on the Internet.

Kwak Jin-cheol was the owner of a hotel in Myeong-dong. Although he was a man with no education or wealth, every business he tried was a huge success and he ended up owning a hotel. There was even an article posted on the Internet in which a reporter interviewed Kwak Jin-cheol.

“Meet CEO Kwak Jin-cheol, who became the owner of a hotel penniless.”

We looked at the content of the interview. Kwak Jin-cheol said that he had wandered in his youth, but he came to his senses and worked hard to become the owner of a hotel.

“Does this make sense? They say even poor people can become hotel owners if they work hard?”

“It would be possible if it were Kwak Jin-cheol. You are directly serving the serpent spirit. Because the serpent spirit brings eternal life, wealth, and blessings. It wouldn’t be surprising if Kwak Jin-cheol lived a rich life.”

The content of the interview was not everything.

Kwak Jin-cheol’s success was thanks to the power of the snake spirit. Certainly, if you were serving a serpent spirit that was at the level of a god, success was guaranteed.

However, Kwak Jin-cheol’s success did not continue.

After looking further on the Internet, I was able to find an article saying that the hotel run by Kwak Jin-cheol went bankrupt. CEO Kwak Jin-cheol collapsed. Even if I tried my hand at business anymore, there was no success. A successful businessman named Kwak Jin-cheol was buried quietly at some point.

“But now it’s ruined.”

“It’s worth it.”

Sarah told me the reason why she failed.

“Guryeong’s magical power has decreased. I guess my magical power has diminished because I overused my power to bring good luck. I don’t think Kwak Jin-cheol had any skills as a businessman. It was all a success thanks to the blessings I received from the serpent spirit.”

“Was it red? .”

“There are quite a few people like that. These are people who succeed because they receive strength from a ghost, but then crash after their strength runs out.”

I imagined Kwak Jin-cheol’s life. You start off penniless, become the owner of a hotel, and then go bankrupt overnight. It was truly a roller coaster life. Kwak Jin-cheol was offering a sacrifice to fill the magical power of the snake spirit.

We succeeded in revealing the identity of the gunman.

Sarah said something unexpected to me.

“Kwak Jin-cheol will probably return to Hyehwadang.”

“Why? Looking for your wallet?”

“The wallet is not the problem. I learned something when I was fighting the serpent spirit. The serpent spirit was very excited when he saw us.”

The serpent spirit was excited to see us? When I thought back to the fight, I had that feeling. The snake’s movements felt too violent to be considered a snake secretly hunting its target.

“I thought carefully about why I was excited. Perhaps the serpent spirit wants us as a sacrifice? I think so. Because it’s an exciting girl and a guy with a lot of energy.”

“So the gunman is coming for us again?”

“Yes.”

Are you saying we are being targeted as sacrifices by a gunman?

It was a creepy thing to say, but it didn’t necessarily sound bad. I was quite disappointed that I had missed the monster earlier. If the gunman came directly to us, this time we could finally solve the mystery.

“Jinwoo, let’s prepare just in case.”

“I guess so.”

“I will prepare a snake-catching spell. Even if it’s a serpent spirit, it can be tied up.”

Sarah went to prepare the spell.

I also prepared to deal with the assailant.

New equipment was needed. The martial arts knife alone was not enough to completely subdue the assailant. I thought it would be good to have an additional weapon that can subdue people while holding a military sword.

‘What should I use?’

I went to Hyehwadang’s warehouse. Hyehwadang’s warehouse contained self-defense items that Sarah and I had purchased. Things like a baseball bat and a three-pointed baton caught my eye. While looking through the self-defense items on the shelf, something suddenly caught my eye.

It was a tonfa.

A foldable product with a handle made of stainless steel.

For me, the tonfa was an item of memory.

My father, who was a detective, had been using tonfa since his days at the police academy. Even after I was born, my father always brought a tonfa with him when he went out to work as a detective. It was a weapon that my father mainly used to subdue criminals.

Until now, I had never used a tonfa.

There is no point in swinging a tonfa at a ghost or a tiger. Until now, it was better to lighten one’s body by carrying a military sword.

The right opportunity has come. The monster we were dealing with was a criminal made of flesh and blood. It was an appropriate opponent to test the Tonfa’s performance.

━━Whirik

I grabbed the tonfa and unfolded it.

At that moment, the tonfa’s iron bar naturally blocked the outside of my arm. With this, I was able to block the sashimi knife. For some reason, the moment I grabbed the tonfa, I felt confident.

This time it was different.