#65
Do-hyeok’s eyebrows twitched slightly at the mention of a new clue. Could it be that Baek Han-bit had seen those notes that were left at each crime scene? Of course, she wouldn’t know what those phrases meant or that they were one of the clues from the incident 10 years ago, but still, she shouldn’t know about them.
Once clues leaked to the outside, they would easily spread among people. And if someone who remembered the past very clearly happened to discover the connection between this ‘hunter murder case’ and the incident from 10 years ago, great chaos would ensue.
“A new clue?”
“Yeah.”
“What is it?”
When Do-hyeok showed interest, Baek Han-bit, who had been triumphant, glared at him with a look that said ‘look at this guy.’
“What’s this? Since when do you take interest in anything?”
Cha Do-hyeok was surprisingly uninterested in his surroundings. Since he had absolutely no interest in others, naturally he didn’t even glance at things happening around him. Well, he might not know about his own guild’s affairs, but Nameless Guild hadn’t suffered any damage from this hunter murder case. It was a bit unexpected that he would show interest when it wasn’t even related to him.
“What’s the new clue?”
But Do-hyeok urged for Han-bit’s answer as if he had no intention of responding to that.
“Call me noona and I’ll tell you.”
“Shit, forget it.”
Of course, Do-hyeok shook his head. Anyway, if it was a clue that would go to Yoon Woo-bin, it would obviously come to him too. As long as he was the one cooperating with him, finding out what this new evidence Baek Han-bit discovered was just a matter of time.
“Ah, fine. I’ll tell you, okay? Don’t sulk.”
Then Baek Han-bit rummaged in her pocket and pulled out her phone. The phone was so flashy that seeing the dazzling phone case made Do-hyeok’s face automatically furrow.
“Where was it… Ah!”
Baek Han-bit touched the screen a few times and then showed the screen to Do-hyeok. It looked like CCTV footage. But looking at the angle carefully, it seemed more like dashcam footage from a vehicle rather than CCTV mounted above.
The background of the video was a dark alley. Whether the streetlight was broken or not, the light flickered creating a chaotic video that continued for a while.
A person appeared in the quiet alley where no one was around. A tall man was walking down the street unsteadily. And behind him, a black shadow silently appeared and followed the man.
Do-hyeok could now understand what this video was. It was footage showing the victim during the first incident. Soon the man collapsed and the perpetrator, wearing a cloak similar to sackcloth, raised a knife high and struck down with one blow.
It was quite detailed footage and the quality wasn’t bad either. The only streetlight in the alley was in poor condition so the guy’s face wasn’t clearly visible, but anyway the video contained the entire situation of the first incident.
When the two people who had been busily moving in the video eventually became one person, Do-hyeok examined the face of Baek Han-bit who was showing him the screen.
As expected, her expression had become quite dark. Since it was the situation involving a Myeongwol guild member, she would have been the first to see this video.
“How’s that? This is quite a useful clue, isn’t it?”
“…How did you get it?”
Then Baek Han-bit smiled weakly. According to her, after the first incident occurred, the atmosphere inside Myeongwol was truly like a house of mourning. Myeongwol was famous for valuing loyalty and cooperation, and since their motto was to help each other in activities, the guild members who gathered in such a guild all cherished their colleagues more than anyone else.
Even if they weren’t personally close due to the large number of guild members, all Myeongwol people thought of each other as preciously as family. Before the Great Hunter Era arrived, all the early guilds in South Korea had disappeared without a trace. It was natural that guilds based on old and outdated customs couldn’t survive in the changed and developed hunter society.
According to that logic, Myeongwol should also have been on a downward trend, but that wasn’t the case at all. Before Nameless and Heukcheon were created, Myeongwol was the undisputed number one guild. All of this was commonly accepted as being thanks to the strong camaraderie among guild members.
“Everyone was going crazy saying they’d catch that perpetrator and it was complete chaos. But as you know, this case is under the jurisdiction of the Management Bureau. No matter how much the victim was our guild member, we as a private organization can’t carelessly interfere.”
Baek Han-bit said she somehow rationally calmed down the guild members who were causing a commotion, suppressing her emotions. This was the Management Bureau’s responsibility, so let’s trust them and wait. The guild members seemed to have their spirits broken by the guild leader’s words, but that wasn’t the case.
“One day, one guy suddenly brought this video. He said he couldn’t stand still because he was so furious. So he searched around the crime scene for days and happened to find out there was a car that had been parked there for about 30 minutes that day, and somehow tracked down the car owner.”
“…That guy’s amazing too.”
“He’s older than you.”
Baek Han-bit made a sullen expression at Do-hyeok’s informal speech.
“But well, even with evidence like this, all we can do is hand it over to the Management Bureau.”
Baek Han-bit shrugged her shoulders. As a guild leader, she had to somehow calm down the guild members who were rampaging without looking back, but the person who was probably most furious inside was likely her.
“Baek Han-bit.”
“What.”
“If you catch that bastard, what would you do?”
“Uh…”
As if it was an unexpected question, Baek Han-bit drew out her words and fell into thought. When asked what she would do if she met the bastard who brutally murdered a precious guild member and also harmed another hunter, she pondered for a moment.
“What would I do? If it were up to my feelings, I’d definitely…!”
Han-bit couldn’t bring herself to spit out the rest and swallowed it. Then she immediately made a deflating sound and relaxed her body.
“I’d hand him over to the Management Bureau to pay for his crimes.”
It was a normal and proper answer. Do-hyeok just nodded without saying anything. Then Han-bit, as if her playful side kicked in, laughed and tapped his arm.
“What about you? If you met someone who hurt someone precious to you, what would you do?”
“Well.”
At the same time as Do-hyeok’s answer, his phone rang. He answered that he understood Shin-woo’s message asking him to return to the guild and stuck his hand in his pocket.
“I’d kill them. With my own hands.”
“…”
Faced with his coldly chilled gaze, Han-bit froze on the spot. She had asked jokingly, but what came back was a chilliness full of sincerity. Only after Do-hyeok said he was leaving and his figure disappeared did Han-bit release the breath she had been holding.
She hadn’t even been conscious of the fact that she was holding her breath.
* * *
Ha-seong’s daily life these days was like this. It was the life of a rich unemployed person with exactly the ‘rich’ part removed. Yes, he was just an unemployed person squatting at Cha Do-hyeok’s house. The wound on this bastard’s arm lasted quite a long time. Still, thanks to the ointment Ha-jun gave him, it was healing quickly. It seemed like he just needed to endure a few more days.
Even though he was playing around like this, Cha Do-hyeok said he wouldn’t cut his salary, but still, doing nothing but eating, lying down, and playing made him feel a bit restless.
“Want some fruit?”
Even now, feeling bored, he was about to peel and eat an apple from the refrigerator. Dal-pyeong came out of that corner room and patted his back. This was the first time meeting Dal-pyeong today. From what he heard, he had been absorbed in making the measuring device from dawn until morning.
“Yes. Would you like some?”
“Yes. Give me some.”
Dal-pyeong hobbled out to the living room where Ha-seong was and plopped down on the sofa. Like that, the two unemployed people squatting in Do-hyeok’s house naturally shared the peeled apple.
“You must be bored, let’s at least turn on the television.”
Dal-pyeong took a bite of apple and picked up the remote control. Then sound flowed from the TV that was as huge as a movie theater screen. Since it was an ambiguous morning time, there weren’t many channels with particularly interesting programs.
Then Dal-pyeong’s hand stopped at a documentary channel set in rural areas. Dal-pyeong talked about his aspirations, saying he would also go to a rural village later to farm and live.
Rural areas, huh. Thinking that it would be nice to go down and live in such a place if he became a rich unemployed person, Ha-seong stared at the program name that appeared at the top of the screen. It was just a common documentary that closely followed ordinary citizens living in rural areas. The protagonist of the current story was a man who appeared to be in his late 50s.
Following the man working in the field, the PD asked if he had been farming from the beginning. Then the man shook his head and said it hadn’t been long since he settled into farming, that he had quit his previous job and wandered through various things before finally returning to farming.
Ha-seong chewed on his apple while continuing to stare at the screen. Zooming in on the man farming, the PD’s voice was heard once more asking what kind of work he did before returning to farming. Then the man fell deep into thought and smiled slightly.
The middle-aged man playfully responded, asking why they were prying into personal information like that. After exchanging a few more jokes with the PD in a friendly manner, the screen naturally transitioned to another scene.
“That gentleman was a soldier.”
Then Dal-pyeong said while crunching on his apple. Ha-seong, who was sitting on the floor, looked up at Dal-pyeong with a puzzled expression.
“A soldier?”
“That’s right.”
Looking at the content just now, he hadn’t particularly thought to be curious about what the man’s past job was. The scene where he asked why inquire about someone’s past was just considered a small bit of fun that documentary programs pursue. But Dal-pyeong was speaking quite confidently.
“How do you know that, grandfather?”
“Didn’t you see that gentleman’s necklace? That’s a necklace soldiers wear. And it’s one worn by special forces members. Well, young people these days wouldn’t know. Only people who would know about that know it.”
A necklace? Ha-seong hadn’t even seen such a thing. He wondered just how good this grandfather’s observation skills were, then became a bit puzzled.
“But does this country have a general military system established besides hunters and guilds?”
Then Dal-pyeong thoughtfully stroked his chin.
“There was. It completely disappeared as we entered the Great Hunter Era.”
I see, Ha-seong nodded as usual, thinking he still didn’t know much about ‘this South Korea.’
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
