Episode 2
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2. A Child’s Sin
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A hillside cordoned off with bright yellow police tape. Police officers were searching the surrounding area.
The body had been found discarded in a drainage ditch halfway up the hill that morning. The name was Jeong Doyeong. Age 36. The cause of death was multiple stab wounds from a sharp weapon.
Since it was the day after his night patrol, Seong Jae-hak hadn't gone into work. As soon as he saw the news at home, he called Seong-min.
"Hey, did you see the news?"
"No. What is it?"
"I'll send it to you on KakaoTalk. Check it out. Quickly."
There were a few tapping sounds as he poked at his phone, and then Seong-min’s grumbling voice turned serious in an instant.
"Hey. Is this, by any chance..."
"I couldn't really find out much beyond the basic autopsy because it was rained on so heavily all night..."
In the short news clip, a coroner was shown peeling off latex gloves while giving an interview.
"However, given the physical durability and such, it was certain that he was an Awakened... so we checked the Awakened registry to identify him."
"The victim, Mr. Jeong, was a hunter who primarily operated overseas and was known to be retired. This has been NBC reporter..."
And that was it.
"What do we do?"
"What do you mean, what do we do?"
"Should we report it? That we met him yesterday?"
"I already wrote it in the patrol log and submitted it. Yesterday."
"Already?"
Seong-min added hurriedly.
"Ah, don't worry. I didn't write that we hit him with the car... I just said his behavior was suspicious, so I checked his ID. I also said I was the one driving."
"You put down that you were driving? Why?"
"Well... if there’s any trouble later and we get a pay cut, it’s better for me to take it than you. I can just scrimp and save if my pay is cut, but I thought it would be difficult for you."
"..."
"Touching, right? Damn, isn't it awesome? So from now on, you’d better treat me with some respect. When your mother gets better later, buy Sujin some expensive baby clothes, okay? You know what I mean?"
Seong-min was the type who couldn't handle embarrassment well.
"Yeah. I’ll earn a lot of money, get promoted quickly, and pay you back. Baby clothes? Hey, when Sujin grows up, I’ll buy her a luxury bag. Seriously."
"Hey, how old will we be by the time Sujin is old enough to carry a bag? That’s a bit too late for a repayment, isn't it?"
While they were joking around to cover up their awkwardness, the doorbell suddenly rang on the other side of the phone. It seemed someone had come to Seong-min’s house.
"What the, I’m not expecting anyone..."
Seong-min said, "Hold on a second," and his voice grew distant.
Jae-hak turned his gaze back to the news list. The discovery of the corpse wasn't receiving much attention. In a sense, it was expected.
In an era where casualties caused by monsters had become a daily occurrence, murder cases no longer held as much sensational value as they once did.
Jae-hak briefly scanned the top-ranked articles. A dating scandal involving a top female idol. Poor performance from the American pharmaceutical company Atlas Biomedical. A controversy over a newly released movie disparaging the hunter profession...
And.
He thought he heard a short scream.
"Hello? Hello?"
"Ah, um. Hello?"
"What is it? Why did you suddenly drop your voice? Who was it?"
"Ah, sorry. A telemarketer."
"Is that so? But by any chance, did you hear a sound just now?"
"A sound? What sound?"
Did he mishear it? Jae-hak rubbed his eyes and thought. Or maybe someone upstairs or downstairs was watching a movie.
"Anyway, yeah. Thanks."
"But now that I think about it, what did you do with that?"
"That?"
"That thing. The one you got from Jeong Doyeong. What did we do with that?"
The ebony box? If he meant that, Jae-hak still had it. He had briefly considered putting it in the police station’s lost-and-found, but he felt it would be safer in many ways to keep it himself.
"I have it. I still don't know what to do with it."
"Really? No, I just suddenly thought of it. Alright. See you tomorrow."
"...Yeah, okay. Hang up."
What was that? Jae-hak felt a strange sense of incongruity as he tucked his phone into his pocket. He couldn't explain it in words, but it felt unnatural somehow.
I don't know. Jae-hak scratched his head and picked up the ebony box Jeong Doyeong had left behind. It shone almost wickedly in the light, making it seem even more extraordinary.
Jae-hak brushed his hand over the box a few times. The surface was chillingly smooth. Suddenly, his gaze landed on the brass latch of the box.
"..."
*Click.* Jae-hak unlatched the box with his fingertips. Then, after a moment of hesitation, he opened it.
"This is...?"
Resting on a red velvet cushion was a large green jewel.
It was about the size of a child’s fist. Judging by the rugged surface, it seemed to be an uncut gemstone, and its surface was covered in a thick, unknown liquid.
But what was most bizarre was... the strange light swirling in the very center of the jewel.
"Ah...?"
Jae-hak picked it up as if possessed. *Thump, thump, thump, thump.* His heart began to race. The jewel’s light flickered. It was etched somewhere behind his retinas. The light danced seductively. He couldn't take his eyes off it. He couldn't look away.
"Ugh..."
Suddenly, a wave of nausea surged up. Without even a moment to think, Jae-hak collapsed to the floor and vomited. *Splatter.* The foul smell stung his nose. At the same time, a pain as if his entire nervous system were melting washed over him. His vision distorted, and his limbs twisted uncontrollably. Now, instead of vomit, clots of blood were falling from his mouth.
"Ugh... ah..."
Jae-hak couldn't even scream anymore; he just collapsed and thrashed about. Saliva dripped from his mouth, and his vision began to flicker.
His consciousness cut out, then returned...
And soon, it cut out completely.
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* * *
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In his dream, Jae-hak was swimming through deep darkness. It was a strange sensation of sinking endlessly while simultaneously floating infinitely.
In that darkness, Jeong Doyeong appeared without a sound. His face was crushed, and one eye was bulging out, hanging near his mouth in a horrific state.
Jae-hak opened his mouth to scream. But no sound came out. Instinctively, Jae-hak drew his service pistol. He pulled the trigger without even knowing what he was doing.
*Pop, pop, pop, pop,* the pistol spewed out soap bubbles.
Jae-hak stared down at the pistol in despair. Jeong Doyeong approached him slowly, as if swimming toward him. Dried blood was caked between his yellowing, rotting teeth. *Ah, ah, ah, ah.* Jeong Doyeong was laughing. Or was he crying? He couldn't tell. A bolt of pure white lightning struck.
And then, thunder roared.
*BOOM!*
"AAAAAAH!"
Jae-hak woke up screaming. His heart was pounding as if it would burst... and his entire body was drenched in cold sweat.
"…?"
The pain that had been tearing his body apart was gone. What was it? What happened? But the moment he tried to sit up, his vision suddenly spun upside down. Jae-hak collapsed back onto the floor.
And then, a maddening hunger, the likes of which he had never felt in his life, washed over him.
"Hah..."
It was closer to an epiphany. He had to eat something immediately. If he didn't eat, he would die.
Jae-hak crawled on all fours to the refrigerator and opened the door, practically hanging off it. He reached out and rummaged through it, causing the refrigerator shelves to collapse with a crash.
"Ugh..."
Jae-hak twisted open a plastic container, tore off a chunk of hard, cold rice with his hands, and shoved it into his mouth. When his throat began to choke up, he gulped down a raw egg. Next were the kimchi and braised beef he had kept in side-dish containers.
He couldn't taste anything. The type of food didn't matter. Jae-hak just desperately shoved food into his stomach, over and over again.
After devouring two containers of cold rice and a dozen or so eggs, strength began to return to his limbs. Once he was able to stand on his own two feet, Jae-hak immediately opened the pantry.
Potato chips, instant ramen, canned tuna, Spam...
Only after he had completely emptied the several weeks' worth of food he had stocked up, along with two bottles of water, did Jae-hak collapse back onto the floor.
"Hah..."
Something was happening to his body. As Jae-hak looked down at his trembling hands, the green jewel that had fallen nearby caught his eye.
Jae-hak crawled over and carefully picked up the jewel. The appearance of the jewel seemed no different than before.
However, the strange light that had been wriggling in the center of the jewel seemed to have faded slightly.
What on earth is this...?
*Vrrr, vrrr, vrrr, vrrr.*
Jae-hak was startled by the sudden vibration and scanned his surroundings. Realizing it was just a simple cell phone vibration, he let out a sigh of relief.
"Ah, ah, yes, Sergeant."
"Hey, Seong Jae-hak, where are you? Aren't you coming to work?"
"...Work?"
Only then did Jae-hak check the clock at the top of his phone. The clock read 10:00.
10:00? 10:00 AM? Even if he had called Seong-min as late as possible, it had been around 2:00 PM...
'Have I been passed out for nearly twenty hours...?'
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* * *
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"Hey, the light changed."
Jae-hak snapped to his senses and pressed the accelerator. *Clunk,* the old police car lurched forward.
"What's wrong with you? Is something going on?"
Seong-min said. Jae-hak rubbed his stiff eyes. Ever since he had fainted after seeing the jewel's light, his body had felt strange. His eyes kept losing focus momentarily, and his limbs felt like they had more strength than necessary.
As if... his body was adapting to a new sensory system.
"Well, yesterday..."
But Jae-hak stopped there and closed his mouth again. He hadn't yet decided if it was wise to tell anyone else about the jewel.
'...Am I just overthinking it?'
And somewhere, he felt a bit uneasy. Jae-hak glanced at Seong-min again.
The person sitting next to him was definitely Seong-min. He looked like Seong-min, spoke like Seong-min, and acted like Seong-min.
Yet, Jae-hak didn't feel like he was Seong-min at all.
'Am I going crazy?'
Was this the mental illness he had only heard about? Jae-hak pressed his temple firmly with one hand. Perhaps it had nothing to do with the jewel at all. They had said his mother’s illness had a genetic underlying factor.
Which meant it was possible that Jae-hak also had some kind of defective gene that was different from others...
'...Damn it.'
Jae-hak thought he should go to the hospital after work and tried to shake off his distracting thoughts.
However, as he turned the steering wheel to make a right turn, something caught his eye.
It was Seong-min’s arm. Specifically, his wrist, exposed beneath the sleeve of his uniform.
On Seong-min’s wrist... the rosary bracelet he always wore was missing.
Jae-hak stared straight ahead, his face as expressionless as he could manage. Was he overreacting? Perhaps. No, that had to be it. It was just a bracelet; surely it was possible to forget to wear it for a day.
‘But…’
But for the past year, Seong-min hadn’t gone a single day without wearing that bracelet.
‘…Alright.’
Jae-hak took his left hand off the steering wheel. He propped his chin on his hand, feigning a look of utter indifference, and spoke as if tossing out a casual remark.
“My mom was asking if you wanted her to send some kimchi again.”
“Kimchi?”
Seong-min asked in return. *Please, please,* Jae-hak prayed inwardly. *Please. Tell me that’s nonsense.*
And Seong-min replied as if it were nothing.
“No. Tell her I appreciate the thought, but I’m fine. My in-laws sent some over, and the fridge is already packed.”
“…Is that so?”
‘…Damn it. Damn it all…’
A cold bead of sweat trickled down his back. He didn’t know who this was or why they were here, but one thing was certain.
This person was not Seong-min.
‘Is it a disguise? Or surgery? Why on earth…’
His service pistol. The first thing that crossed Jae-hak’s mind was the gun holstered at his waist. But Jae-hak was right-handed… and therefore, his pistol was holstered on his right side.
Could he reach for his gun without being noticed by the man wearing Seong-min’s face?
“Ha…”
Just then, Seong-min let out a slow sigh. He turned his head to look at Jae-hak and offered a vague smile.
“This is why. This is why you shouldn’t jump into the field without proper prior investigation.”
“What…?”
“I gave the wrong answer just now, didn’t I?”
The man wearing Seong-min’s face grinned.
In that instant, Jae-hak didn’t even register how fast the man had moved. Naturally, he didn’t realize that if that strike had landed, his consciousness would have been snuffed out in a single blow.
But before the fist could make contact, Jae-hak reflexively yanked the steering wheel with all his might.
And that split-second decision saved his life.
*CRASH!*
The police car swerved violently, skidding off the road and slamming into a streetlamp. His body was tossed wildly between the airbag and the seatbelt. The rear of the car, unable to overcome the momentum, lifted into the air before crashing back down with a heavy, metallic thud.
Then, silence followed.
Acrid smoke. The sound of crunching glass.
Jae-hak gritted his teeth against the pain that felt like his entire body had been beaten, and forced his eyes open. He unbuckled his seatbelt and kicked the crumpled car door until it swung open.
He barely managed to scramble out of the smoking vehicle.
“Ugh…”
A groan came from the man behind him. He was alive. Jae-hak began to run, pushing past the people who were starting to gather, not even knowing why or what he was running from.
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*Clatter.*
The passenger door was pried open, and the man wearing Seong-min’s face stepped out of the wrecked car. A bit of blood smeared from his hand as he rubbed his temple.
He looked up to see Seong Jae-hak fleeing in a panic in the distance.
Should he chase him?
*Murmur, murmur.*
“….”
However, the man glanced at the gathered citizens. He was currently wearing the face of a police officer. Even if he could somehow handle the aftermath… drawing unnecessary attention was problematic.
*Beep.*
The man pressed the communicator in his ear while using one hand to reassure the onlookers.
“I lost him.”
—What about the ‘Crown’?
“Judging by the way he’s running, he definitely has it.”
The man clicked his tongue.
“Are you sure he’s not an Awakened? His movements weren’t ordinary. Above all, he didn’t hesitate at all.”
—There’s no record of him being Awakened… Ah, there is a report that he did gymnastics before being hired as a police officer.
“No wonder.”
Ah, the man asked as if something had just occurred to him.
“What was that about his mom earlier? Look it up now.”
—…His personnel file says his mother has been hospitalized for half a year with an incurable disease…
“My, my. So he was a guy with a tragic backstory.”
—There’s a hospital nearby.
At those words, the man smiled with amusement. Good, very good.
“If the child commits a crime… the parents should pay for it. Don’t you think?”
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