episode_0292

It started with a single photo.

“… Who did you say you were? Please tell me your real name.”

“Why don’t you just call me ‘mouse’?”

An office in Euncheon-gu.

A three-story building with a sign that reads ‘Do Jong-ha Detective Agency’ stands there, drenched in rainwater falling from the sky.

Dalgrakㅡ.

A woman who sets the mood by putting her feet up on the desk and holding a fancy pipe tobacco ‘model’ in her mouth, A-class hunter Do Jong-ha.

She, who had the nickname [Detective], glared at the client who had come unexpectedly with suspicious eyes.

She is quite a sophisticated woman.

His neatly dressed black suit and immaculate posture are impressive.

Is she a young lady who has learned manners?

Or maybe he is an agent who has learned professional skills.

A thin rat tail extending from the back sways from side to side.

On its tail, which is longer than its height, a silver-gray ‘inverted cross ring’ is attached near the base, and on its head, round, flat mouse ears perk up as if anxious.

A woman who introduced herself as a ‘mouse’.

She leans back comfortably on the guest sofa and looks at Do Jong-ha.

‘The name can’t really be ‘Mouse’… It’s suspicious.’

A class A hunter whose name and affiliation are unknown.

A human who specializes in hunting people, not monsters.

“Wow. My pelvis is swollen. It looks like Eunha.”

“What did you say?”

widely…

Do Jong-ha put down his pipe after glancing at the thigh of the ‘mouse’ sitting cross-legged on the sofa.

Of all the people I’ve met so far, he’s the one who catches my eye the most after the soft-fisted Eunha.

A person who, even when seen from afar, makes you think, ‘Wow, that person has a nice body.’

By the way, Eunha is the type of person who automatically makes you think, ‘Wow, that’s wild.’

Do Jong-ha, who was thinking of Eun-ha in her detective coat, tapped his flushed cheek.

Anyway, for now, the ‘client’ in front of me comes first.

“Then I’ll call you ‘mouse’. I’m used to it because there are quite a few shy people among my clients.”

“… … The way detective speaks. Is it quite funny?”

“Why are you asking why there’s a mouse there?”

Swish…

Look at each other.

An unknown intimacy rises up my throat.

Sumda… Sumda…

Nya… Nya…

A moment of silence.

Soon, the two women took out their cell phones and exchanged numbers without saying a word.

After shaking hands, we sat across from each other on the sofa.

… … .

A detective’s day is a busy one.

An office run by Do Jong-ha alone.

Because she had the [Secret Room Reminiscence] skill, which allowed her to reenact the past in a closed space,

Most of the requests that came into her office were to find the ‘culprit’ in a murder or theft case.

Do Jong-ha’s work of reading the space’s past to figure out the criminal’s appearance is almost certain.

That’s why all kinds of requests are still coming in through text messages and emails.

Doo doo doo doo doo dooㅡㅡㅡ♪

Yeah, like this.

Do Jong-ha, who had asked for understanding from ‘Mouse’, received a phone call.

“Yes, this is Detective Do Jong-haim.”

– He stole my heart. I still don’t know what he likes.

“Be happy.”

Beep.

I hung up the phone.

They come sometimes. Prank calls.

How deep must love be for something to be like that?

I think that might be a grudge.

Anyway, most of the requests are completed by going to the site and clicking ‘Skill’ once.

Since she only had one body, she is still receiving a lot of requests.

“Are you very busy?”

“I will definitely accept and process any requests that can be completed in one day. Today, I stopped by [Cheongryong Department Store] where the magic stone of the ‘Flying Mecha Gorani’ was stolen, and then [Goryongsan Crack Field].”

And then, all of a sudden, the story of Mt. Goryong came up.

Places we explored with Galaxy this weekend.

Chararak…

The ‘mouse’ touched his wrist.

She looks out the window at the rain, neatly arranging the pins hidden inside her suit sleeve.

Swish…

The sound of pouring rain is loud.

No matter what happens in the office, no noise will leak outside.

“… … Why are you going to Mt. Goryong?”

“This time, it was a request to find the nest of the ‘black bug monster’ that turned [Goryongsan Crack Field] upside down. Didn’t it disappear like it did in [Cheorwon Crack Field] this time too?”

“I see.”

“Hehehe… Ah! And did you hear? They say weeds are growing on Goryongsan Mountain, which used to be a dead land. This is the first time that the environment of [Crack Field] has changed, so everyone is going crazy.”

How much did we chat like that?

After a while, Do Jong-ha, who had served warm oolong tea to the ‘mouse’, got to the main point.

Her appearance, wearing a thick trench coat over a thin white tank top, is reminiscent of a famous detective in a novel.

“So, what brings our strange-speaking ‘mouse’ client here?”

“… … .”

A moment of thought.

But in the end, the ‘mouse’ who had once again touched the sleeve of his suit,

He took an old photograph out of his suit pocket and placed it on the table.

… … .

( “The wise man wants you to tell this to the ‘Detective’.”)

This is a group photo from an orphanage.

Children gathered together and laughing.

Behind them are nuns with warm impressions and young people who have come out to do volunteer work.

The old, faded photograph had traces of someone having framed it and kept it carefully.

Was it a precious memory?

Or is it a memory that must not be forgotten?

I don’t know.

“Can you investigate the orphanage in this photo as much as you can?”

“… … .”

Do Jong-ha, who had been friendly until just now.

He stares at the ‘mouse’ with an expression that suddenly turns cold.

Orphanage and investigation.

A word that has no connection whatsoever if dropped.

But the moment you stick close to her, all sorts of negative thoughts start to arise and bite the back of your neck.

“Hanbit Orphanage…”

I repeated the name of the orphanage in the photo.

My intuition came to me.

It smells.

A trash can that someone buried in the ground.

Something that is dangerous if touched alone.

‘Mystery! Exploration! Investigation! Clue! Pot!’

That’s why I’m a detective!

The detective’s chronic curiosity pops up.

“… … Any other conditions?”

“Can you do it alone?”

I guess it’s something that others shouldn’t know!

Do Jong-ha suppressed the corners of his lips that were twitching.

I want to go.

I want to investigate.

Like a famous detective, I investigate the people around me, and like a famous detective, I combine clues to solve the mystery.

I want to catch the dark forces that interfere with me like a famous detective and peel off their faces.

But we have to be careful.

You never know what might be hiding there.

Rattling.

Just then, the office door opened, creating a noise.

A wide open door.

But no one comes in.

Do Jong-ha gets up from his seat and heads towards the only entrance to the detective agency.

“… … ?”

There is no one.

I stuck my head out and looked outside the office.

The stairs I looked down at were as dark as night, and there was no sign of people.

Was it the wind?

‘It’s not even lunchtime yet, but it’s really dark. The stairs light seems to be broken.’

Click-.

I closed the office door and returned to the sofa opposite ‘Mouse’.

“Phew… Excuse me.”

“… … .”

The ‘mouse’ on the other side.

She nodded with a slightly nervous expression.

She raised her thin rat tail high into the sky.

I thought we were looking at each other all along, but the ‘mouse’s’ pupils were slightly raised,

I was looking up at Do Jong-ha’s head.

Why?

“… … Why are you like that?”

“… No, it’s nothing, so don’t worry about it.”

The ‘mouse’ quickly averted his gaze and answered coldly.

Thump. Thump.

My heart is pounding.

He put his hand on his chest and started to jump like a patient suffering from a relapsed trauma.

Thump. Thump.

A mouse avoiding eye contact.

The sound of a strong beating heart.

My body feels heavy, as if someone is standing on my shoulders.

Intuition as a detective.

Put the clues together.

‘… Mr. Mouse… do you like me?’

There is also a strange way of speaking that feels friendly,

Even when the story about Mt. Goryong came up earlier, I rolled up my sleeves as if I was embarrassed.

A moment of thought.

Do Jong-ha shook his head.

There is a galaxy in your mind.

“Haha… Mr. ‘Mouse’ is a funny guy…… It’s gotten a little warmer, so I’ll open the window and come…”

“Why don’t you just stop?”

Stop!

Do Jong-ha tried to get up from the sofa because his face was hot.

But immediately after, he stops moving at the words of the ‘mouse’ that ran like lightning.

A class A hunter whose name and affiliation are unknown.

The ‘mouse’ was looking up at Do Jong-ha’s head with trepidation, its raised tail quivering like a rattlesnake.

Cold sweat dripped down the ‘mouse’s’ face.

“Why are you like that? It’s okay. Even if I open the window, I’m worried that our conversation will leak out…”

“Just sit there until the conversation is over, okay?”

“… … .”

“Can’t you just look at me?”

What should I do? Let’s see if it’s real!

Do you like me?!

A ticklish feeling.

He straightened his expression.

Pretending not to know. He just nodded with a detective-like poker face.

‘Just look at me… There’s nothing outside the window.’

At best, it’s just raindrops hitting the window,

It would just be your own reflection in the window, like a mirror.

Falak-.

Do Jong-ha, with his mind set on something, picked up a photo of the orphanage.

The woman sitting next to her also looks down at the photo curiously.

A photo of smiling children.

The children sit one by one on two rows of chairs, crossing their arms in front of their chests and smiling identically.

Everyone is gathered together in a friendly manner, with the orphanage as the backdrop.

Or, like nailing a mischievous child to a chair and forcibly holding it in place,

With a sitting posture and a smile that is not disturbed at all,

The more you look at the photo, the more bizarre it becomes.

Why is that?

As if coffee had been spilled,

Only the face of ‘one child’ in the photo was blurred like paint and could not be seen.

“… … .”

A strange sense of discomfort.

An intuition that rings an alarm bell telling me to run away from here.

It’s weird.

I was worried about the follow-up.

Should I take this request?

“… … Time to think for a moment…”

“Oh, come to think of it, Eunha is also from the ‘Hanbit Orphanage’, right?”

“More details. I’ll listen on the way.”

Today’s request.

Orphanage investigation.

Detective Do Jong-ha jumped up from the sofa and quickly prepared to leave.

Pack your necessities and valuables and place a sign at the entrance to the office that says [Closed for Request, Business Closed].

Swish.

Today, lunch time is particularly heavy.

The first meeting between the mouse and the detective was surprisingly friendly.

“Yeah… I thought I’d be rejected, but luckily… Still, since I’m moving an A-class hunter, let’s adjust the commission fee first… What the heck. Why would a detective take out money?”

“Request or request.”

“… … Angtal?”

Flutter!

Do Jong-ha, the hem of his thick trench coat fluttering.

[Detective] Euncheon-gu, who was afraid that someone else might steal the request, took out his wallet and handed over the ‘request fee’.

I left the office with today’s client, ‘Mouse’.

… … .

ㅡㅡㅡㅡㅡㅡㅡㅡㅡㅡ

‘Protected Object… F-rank Hunter with [Self-Recovery] skill.’

‘From Hanbit Orphanage. Family relationships unknown.’

​

‘Protected by the Hunter Association after the Hanbit Orphanage fire.’

‘I was accepted into [Euncheon Academy] by recommendation of the Hunter Association, but dropped out.’

ㅡㅡㅡㅡㅡㅡㅡㅡㅡㅡ

“I never thought Mr. ‘Mouse’ would be a member of the association. Why did you entrust me with this request? As expected, I…”

“What did that scary person ask you to do?”

1pm.

An old-fashioned foreign car, which looks like something a medieval detective would drive, enters a rural village deep in the mountains.

It was easy to pinpoint the location of the orphanage.

Because we already confirmed it when we investigated the galaxy in [Rare Hunter Protection – Killing].

Vroom…

A foreign car driving on a dirt road stopped in an empty lot,

Detective Do Jong-ha got out of the driver’s seat, buttoned up his trench coat, and looked around the dense mountain valley.

A place 1-2 hours away from Euncheon-gu, not even marked on the map.

At the end of the narrow mountain path, there was a small village, an empty lot, and several wind turbines.

It’s amazing that a village still remains in the mountains like this.

She frowned as she took out her magnifying glass, and the ‘mouse’ who got out of the passenger seat let out a cold breath.

“Oh my… Why did you buy it and suffer so much…”

Swish…

Pouring rain.

A ‘mouse’ fiddles with the sleeves of its suit and opens an umbrella by moving its long tail.

“… … .”

I looked at the empty lot where the servants were.

There’s enough space for one or two cars.

There must have been a fire in the past, because not a single blade of grass grew on the dirt floor.

“… … .”

And, the front view of Do Jong-ha standing on the empty lot,

The remains of a burnt-out orphanage,

Even after several years, it still looks neglected and soaks in the pouring rain.

“… Did you say there was a fire at the orphanage?”

“4 years ago, a fire caused by a gas leak…it’s in the association’s archives, right?”

” Hehe. It seems like the association really values Eunha. They even did this kind of background check. ”

Two A-class hunters.

What we do is investigate orphanages.

I think they say that nothing is as good as seeing it in person.

Do Jong-ha, who had been glancing at the ‘mouse’, expressed his feelings while glaring at the remains of the burned down orphanage.

“Isn’t that strange?”

“What’s weird?”

“This town wasn’t on the navigation or the map.”

“… … .”

“We just looked at the information written by the association and marked the coordinates. Even if you search for ‘Hanbit Orphanage’ on the Internet, it was a completely different orphanage.”

Swish…

The sound of rain.

The sound of a cool breeze.

Quiet footsteps.

It just seems to fit.

Well then, before we start searching through the ruins before our eyes…

“We will begin the investigation.”

Do Jong-ha turned around with a grin and walked towards a small rural village.

What is it that makes you run around so excitedly?

The ‘mouse’, who was looking up at Do Jong-ha’s head with a complicated expression, also followed the detective, telling him not to leave him alone.

Swish…

Rainy sky.

The orphanage that collapsed in the fire is black.

Like rainwater flowing through an empty lot,

It was an afternoon around lunchtime when the story began.

… … .

… … .

A tiny town that isn’t even on the map.

The inquiry was simple.

Because the only people living here are old people who do field work.

Do Jong-ha went from house to house asking for information about the ‘Hanbit Orphanage’.

ㅡㅡㅡㅡㅡㅡㅡㅡ

“Orphanage?…… Oh, that’s the place Eun-ssi used to work? It collapsed a few years ago, right?”

First house.

An old man watching TV.

ㅡㅡㅡㅡㅡㅡㅡㅡㅡ

“The kids were just running around and playing…… They were so pretty, I even bought them snacks…”

“Then the orphanage collapsed, and after the suit-wearing punks came, only old people were left.”

“I wonder where everyone is eating well.”

Second home.

Grandma watching TV.

ㅡㅡㅡㅡㅡㅡㅡㅡㅡ

“There were probably about 20 of them? Some changed, some stayed the same.”

“I thought they were starving because it was an orphanage, so I took a lot of things like braised short ribs that they made… Luckily, they gave me a lot to eat.”

“If you ask people what they eat every day, nine out of ten will say they eat meat.”

Third house.

Grandfather lying still in the living room.

ㅡㅡㅡㅡㅡㅡㅡㅡㅡ

“Orphanage? The nuns there were really kind. I don’t know how many times I received help before the fire.”

“Kekeke, the association people are really polite.”

“These are apples that I grew myself. They were just picked today, so eat some on your way.”

Fifth house.

Grandpa handing over fresh apples.

ㅡㅡㅡㅡㅡㅡㅡㅡㅡ

“… … … That nun. She died well.”

The sixth house.

An old woman sitting on the floor and peeling apples.

ㅡㅡㅡㅡㅡㅡㅡㅡㅡ

… … .

and,

After about an hour of investigation,

Do Jong-ha and the ‘mouse’ returned to the original empty lot.

The sky is gloomy with rain falling.

“… … .”

“So did you get anything?”

‘The Mouse’ asked.

Detective Do Jong-ha, deep in thought, smoothes the collar of his thick trench coat.

Swish…

A moment.

How much did you worry about it?

Do Jong-ha, who was walking around the empty lot, lowered his voice quietly,

A glimpse of a quiet rural village.

A view towards the village.

It is not a gaze that looks at the scenery,

It was almost like a look of caution as if a knife might fly from somewhere.

“… … Have you heard the saying, “Don’t pick apples on a rainy day?” ”

“?”

“When did we ever say we belong to an association?”

Bam.

Throw away the apple you received from the village elder in the empty lot.

This town is strange.

There is something.

“There are two suspicious people. We have to hurry.”

“What are you talking about… I asked you to do this, so I’ll help you, but what do you want me to do now?”

The weather is rainy.

Before our eyes, an orphanage collapsed in a fire.

“From now on, we will look at the orphanage’s past.”

Woohoo…

Created mana.

A-class hunter and detective Do Jong-ha.

She approached the orphanage, which was now nothing but rubble, holding a photo of the orphanage in her hand.

… … .

… … .

Doorooooㅡㅡㅡ. Beep.

“Yes. I’m here. From the association right now…… Yes. This is Detective Do Jong-ha…… Yes… Yes…… Understood.”

Beep.

End the call.