episode_0058

I was crouching in the corner of a small room where there was no light.

The dog collar that was forced around his neck was uncomfortable, so there was nothing he could do other than occasionally scratch his neck.

“Hey, are you sleeping?”

At that time, someone opened the door and came in. I was startled by the sudden appearance.

His unstable gaze wanders around the floor, unable to look directly at the woman.

The woman approached me and grabbed the leash connected to the dog collar.

“ugh….”

As soon as the leash is grabbed, my body begins to tremble reflexively.

“Heek…, Hike….”

I try my best to avoid being dragged out of the room.

“Ha.”

The woman sighs softly when she feels resistance from the leash she is pulling on.

“Hey.”

Then he walked towards me and suddenly punched me in the face.

“Not showing up?”

“….”

The sharp pain I felt in my cheek maximized my fear. My body, which had been frightened beyond its limit, became frozen like ice and resistance was no longer possible.

I was helplessly dragged out of the room into the large auditorium and stood under the occasionally flickering lights.

My body, exposed under the light of the electric light, suddenly had more wounds than before.

And there is another thing visible under the light.

A 4-cylinder liter-class sports bike that doesn’t look very out of place in an indoor auditorium.

No matter where I looked, I felt nothing but ominousness.

Sure enough, the woman who dragged me tied the leash she was holding to the back of the bike and got on top of it.

Then, of course, the bike started. Vibration is transmitted through the leash. Cold sweat forms.

“Uh….”

Before I could even react, the sports bike took off. Go around the large auditorium in a big circle.

“Aggeuk…!”

No matter how much you have awakened horsepower, it is difficult to keep up with the speed of a 4-cylinder liter-class sports bike if it is a D class.

Additionally, my body was weakened from the abuse that continued for several days.

“Wow…! omg…! Ahhh…!

I can’t even run that far and end up rolling around on the floor. And then it started to drag.

How long had I been dragged around the auditorium like that?

At some point, the deafening sound of the bike engine suddenly stopped.

I hurriedly looked around to see what was going on, and saw that a new woman had entered the auditorium.

From what I had seen over the past few days, it was a woman who was assumed to be the leader of this group.

“I would have told you not to kill the child.”

“I really want to die like this.”

“But if you’re having fun, just get out of the way, sister.”

The leader woman took off the leash tied to the sports bike and approached me. Then he bent down, grabbed my hair that was lying on the floor, and forced me to make eye contact.

“I will manage this from now on. I feel like I could really die if I keep leaving it to the sisters.”

The woman who got off the bike tilted her head at the leader woman’s remarks.

“Isn’t he brought here to punish you anyway? Do I really need to worry about life or death?”

At that question, the head woman smiled crookedly.

“I think it will be a better means of intimidation than I thought.”

***

Although it was a holiday, Natalia did nothing and just lay in bed dazed.

I had been just chasing the dust flying in the air for hours, when suddenly my cell phone, which I had left by my bedside, started beeping.

“Who the fuck are you again?”

Natalia was originally the type of person who didn’t answer the phone on holidays. But this time, even though I was annoyed, I forced myself to reach for my phone.

Because I didn’t know when information about Han Soo-hyun would arrive.

Even so, I didn’t expect much and checked the sender.

‘…It’s the National Police Agency.’

My heart started pounding just as the police headquarters number appeared on the screen.

Still, nothing was certain yet, so I answered the phone with low expectations.

“Why.”

[Natalia?]

“Yes, why.”

[A letter and a photo have arrived.]

At that one word heard over the phone, my heartbeat, which had barely subsided, sped up again.

“…You must have called because it has something to do with me, right?”

[Yes. Can you come now?]

“Of course.”

After saying that, Natalia hung up the phone. And after roughly getting ready to go out, I very quickly headed to the police headquarters.

“Ah, are you here?”

When Natalia burst through the door of the investigation department, as always, the receptionist jumped up to greet her.

“There’s no need for it, what’s going on?”

“That’s it. I think it would be better to see it in person.”

“Give it to me somewhere.”

“Wait a minute. Where did you leave it…”

The hospitality investigator ran to his boss, got some things, and then came back.

“Now, let’s see.”

“Umm.”

Natalia’s expression quickly hardened as she accepted the letter and photo presented by the investigator.

In the photo, a man was tied up naked. There were wounds all over the body that could not be hidden even in the dark lighting, and the eyes were lifeless and dull.

Natalia could immediately recognize the man in the photo.

It was Han Soo-hyun.

Anger at Han Soo-hyun’s current state and joy at seeing Han Soo-hyun in a photo for the first time in a few days are mixed, and a mysterious emotion flows out in a cloudy manner.

“….”

Natalia looked at the letters carefully, suppressing the strength she felt as she unconsciously held the photos and letters in her hands.

What was written in the letter was as follows:

[Within 168 hours of receiving this letter, make a public apology to everyone you have harmed and commit suicide. Otherwise, I will kill the kid in the photo.]

Seeing Natalia’s expression harden, the investigator asks her carefully.

“Hey…, you’re not really going to do what you said in the letter, are you?”

Natalia burst out laughing in response to the rookie investigator’s dumbfounded question.

“Am I crazy? There is no guarantee that you will keep your promise if you do what is asked in the letter.”

“Woman, is that right?”

When the investigator chimed in, Natalia smiled crookedly. It’s definitely a smile, but it’s a strange smile filled with hatred that makes me feel nothing but anger.

“Okay. There is only one thing that has changed with this letter. There is a time limit to playing tag.”

While saying that, Natalia looked around.

“Until now, there has been no significant action on the other side, so there may have been no progress, but now the investigation will become easier in some way, right?”

The investigators all nodded to Natalia’s question.

After seeing the reactions, Natalia turned around as if she had nothing more to do.

“Good. Then, I’ll just leave, so please contact me first when the location is determined.”

“I understand. Take a look.”

So she left the police headquarters with the investigator seeing her off.

Natalia thought to herself as she left the police headquarters.

‘Should I hire a private crime report agency? No, let’s quit.’

The police are mostly made up of low-level magical awakeners.

So, although it was an organization that was not very trustworthy in terms of force, it was different when it came to investigation.

The National Police Agency is, after all, a national institution. It has more manpower, a wider information network, and more support than any other private investigation agency.

‘So hiring another private agency is just a waste of money.’

If the police can’t find it, it means that private crime agencies can’t find it either.

After thinking about it up to that point, Natalia felt frustrated, but decided to hold on and wait for the investigation to progress.

***

“Huh…, Hmm…”

I roll my anxious eyes back and forth. After being trapped in a dark and dirty place for several days, I couldn’t get used to suddenly being brought out to a bright and clean place.

After showering for the first time in a few days with my wrists handcuffed, I was nervously playing with my wet hair when the head woman reappeared.

The woman was holding cookies and hot tea in both hands.

She placed a paper cup on the table in front of me and poured me some tea.

“Drink.”

“….”

But I couldn’t stand and pick up the cup because of the ongoing abuse that had already occurred before. Instead, he couldn’t even make eye contact with the woman and just stared at her.

“Tsk….”

When her favor was ignored, the woman clicked her tongue as if she was displeased. The sound of clicking one’s tongue made my heart pound.

The woman comes closer to me. I flinch and raise my arms in a clumsy defensive stance.

But what she did to me wasn’t beating.

The woman tilted the teapot and sprayed hot tea on my head.

“Ah…! Ah…! Hot…, hot…! Ah…!”

Thanks to the body’s increased durability thanks to magical power, he did not suffer any burns. Still, hot was hot.

She emptied half of the kettle towards me, who was writhing in pain, and ordered me once again.

“Drink.”

“Yes…, Yes…, Sorry…, Sorry…, I’ll drink…, Hee….”

I pick up the paper cup with trembling hands. And I drank the tea in a hurry.

“Ugh….”

Meanwhile, the warm tea seeped into my stomach, which had been weakened by abuse and fasting, and I felt relieved.