#58
Yoon Woo-bin was quite exhausted. Since taking charge of this attack incident, he had worked all night every day. This was even more so because it wasn’t simply due to the attack incident alone. Since the connection with the artificial dungeon incident had been revealed, he had to be even more on edge.
Knock knock-
Today, just like the past few days, he was sitting in front of his computer with a tired face and furrowed brow when he heard a knocking sound. Woo-bin got up without hesitation and opened the door. The people who would come were already decided anyway. It would definitely be Do-hyeok and Ha-seong.
“You came……”
But Woo-bin, who opened the door, experienced a moment of speechlessness. Of course, Do-hyeok and Ha-seong were outside the door as expected. However, the reason he couldn’t speak wasn’t because of that.
“Uh……”
The words “Why are you holding hands?” rose to his throat, but he was so flustered that the words came out and then stopped. Cha Do-hyeok was holding Ha-seong’s hand with a very calm face, and Ha-seong showed a slightly awkward smile.
What’s this? Woo-bin even felt like he had become a mother-in-law welcoming her son and daughter-in-law.
“What are you doing? Move aside so we can go in.”
“Ah, yeah.”
When Woo-bin slightly cleared the way, Do-hyeok went straight inside. His gaze was still focused on that mysterious contact scene.
“Hey, it’s fine now so let go.”
Only after the door closed and they safely entered the office could Ha-seong escape from Do-hyeok’s grip. Come to think of it, they hadn’t encountered many Hunter Management Bureau employees on the way, so he wondered if there was really a need to hold hands.
“There were reporters camped out at the back entrance too.”
Ha-seong showed off the bracelet on his wrist. Then Woo-bin made a low sound as if he understood. He didn’t know what kind of item it was, but it seemed like they did that to erase their presence. Knowing there was a reason for the strange sight, Woo-bin finally relaxed his expression.
“Let’s go inside.”
Like last time, the three people entered the inner conference room. Ha-seong and Do-hyeok sat down first, and Woo-bin made coffee.
“I’m fine.”
“Yeah. I’m not making yours. Ha-seong-ssi, would you like some? There’s only instant though.”
“Yes. Then please.”
The sweet coffee aroma quickly filled the conference room. Woo-bin placed the cup of coffee in front of Ha-seong. And he showed tremendous consideration by turning it to the right so the handle would be easy to grab, but Ha-seong awkwardly picked up the cup with his left hand. Not missing that sight and keenly noticing it, he tilted his head.
“Ha-seong-ssi, weren’t you originally right-handed? Did I see wrong?”
But if he were left-handed, it would have been unusual enough to remember. But Ha-seong smiled a bit bitterly.
“It’s related to what we’re going to talk about today, so it would be good to discuss it right away.”
Ha-seong slowly explained what had happened on item street a few days ago. Everything from how he chased someone presumed to be the perpetrator who shot a hunter, to being attacked by someone else.
“No…… such a thing happened?”
Woo-bin’s expression rapidly crumpled. He just opened his mouth for a moment as if he couldn’t believe what Ha-seong had told him. Ha-seong had been at that scene. Come to think of it, that day Do-hyeok had suddenly come to item street and asked if he had seen Do Ha-seong.
“Why didn’t you tell me such important information?”
Even when they last talked on the phone, he now realized that the talk about dropping by and saying he’d come when he saw fit was all because Ha-seong was injured. But Cha Do-hyeok hadn’t said a word about that content. This is why the people around him have to be frustrated.
“It was hectic. Hyung collapsed.”
Ha-seong widened his eyes again as if surprised. Somehow the words “hectic” and Cha Do-hyeok didn’t really go together. It seemed like he was trying to use him to avoid Woo-bin’s reproach.
“Hah…… I understand the content for now. But Ha-seong-ssi, is it okay for you to be moving around like this right now?”
“Yes. My body is fine. The wound hasn’t healed yet so it’s a bit difficult to use my arm, but.”
Still, he had been shot twice and was up and moving in just one day, so he wondered if he might be overexerting himself because of this matter, but fortunately that didn’t seem to be the case. By the way, he could see why Do-hyeok had marked him as an informant.
That day, when someone was attacked, even the veteran hunters who were there were in confusion, but only Ha-seong moved with reason. He identified a likely location for the perpetrator, chased him, and even subdued him. It definitely seemed certain that Do Ha-seong wasn’t just an ordinary person.
“Then according to what Ha-seong-ssi said, there might be another accomplice besides the perpetrator in these two murder cases, that is, the guy’s partner.”
“Yes, there was someone else who shot me from behind that day. It must definitely be his partner.”
Ha-seong, who hadn’t thought there might be a partner and let his guard down, lost that fight.
“Yoon Woo-bin, how are things with the artificial gates recently?”
Then Woo-bin shook his head.
“There’s no recently updated information. Precisely since the hunter murder incident occurred, gates affected by artificial influence haven’t appeared.”
This made it impossible not to lean more toward the idea that the perpetrators of the two incidents were really the same.
“If it’s the same perpetrator, why did he stop messing with dungeons and suddenly change his target to hunters?”
Woo-bin made a quite serious face. That was the first question that arose regarding this newly emerged incident. Why would someone who had been freely opening dungeons and arbitrarily manipulating their grades suddenly kill two hunters? It would be easy if they knew the motive or goal, but even that was unclear due to the pattern being different from usual.
“There’s one possibility we can hypothesize now.”
Then Do-hyeok quietly opened his mouth. He turned his head and stared out the window.
“Maybe he wants this incident to become widely known. To inform not just hunters but ordinary people that artificial gates are bursting again, to make the world noisy.”
Certainly Do-hyeok’s words made sense. If that was the purpose, it would also explain why the second incident was carried out in a public place.
“He saw that the first murder case didn’t become a topic and caused the second incident?”
At Ha-seong’s words, Do-hyeok nodded.
“If the perpetrator really aimed for that like you said, Do-hyeok, then it’s a success for now.”
Woo-bin flipped through his phone and showed them a screen. The screen showed familiar community posts that Ha-seong had also seen earlier.
“Not just news but social media is all talking about that too. Honestly, even if reporters and news can be controlled to some extent in the name of the Hunter Management Bureau, places like this are impossible to control.”
While doing so, Woo-bin clicked on posts one by one and looked with somewhat tired eyes at all the talk about the attack incident. Then his eyes changed a bit as he took the phone and scrolled down.
“……Hey, Do-hyeok.”
“What.”
“You’re lucky. You have many fans and even such passionate fans.”
What are you talking about? When Do-hyeok said indifferently, Woo-bin grinned and showed him the phone screen. And Ha-seong’s complexion instantly hardened when he saw the comments on that screen.
“Look look. One person keeps taking your side and refuting the comments cursing you.”
Yoon Woo-bin was exposing and informing Cha Do-hyeok about actions committed in a moment of excitement. Ha-seong cleared his throat for no reason and turned his gaze away.
“Even if you’re rude, it seems like people who like you will like you.”
It wasn’t particularly because he liked Cha Do-hyeok. He just took his side because he wasn’t someone who deserved to be cursed that much. Surely he hadn’t noticed that he was the one who did it. Ha-seong sneakily glanced at Do-hyeok.
“……”
Do-hyeok was just silently staring at the screen Woo-bin had shown him.
“Well, shouldn’t we plan the next steps first?”
Woo-bin hurriedly turned off his phone with an “oops” expression.
“First, I’ll try to narrow down people who could be identified as perpetrators based on the clues Ha-seong-ssi gave. Since it’s certain they went in and out of item street that day, I’m planning to examine nearby CCTV closely. Of course, I’m also planning to expand the canvassing investigation to see if there were any witnesses for the first incident too.”
During the first incident, it was such a remote alley that it was a CCTV blind spot. So it was quite difficult to find clues, but fortunately this incident occurred on a main street. There wouldn’t be anywhere CCTV couldn’t reach.
“You said he was definitely wearing a large, thick cloak?”
“Yes. And though I’m not certain, his physique seemed closer to male than female.”
Ha-seong had been on top of the cloaked perpetrator before being shot by his partner’s gun. Recalling that memory in detail, if he had to say, it was a male physique.
“Ah, the gun he used was a regular gun. I think the model was MK-1190.”
Explaining to Woo-bin made that day’s incident come back even more clearly. Ha-seong remembered even the type of gun in detail.
“Ha-seong-ssi knows quite a variety of things.”
Since entering the Great Hunter Era, demand for guns and swords that were once used as main weapons had dropped dramatically. They weren’t used much, and if there were those who particularly needed them, it would be police or soldiers, about that much. But Ha-seong knew quite well about types of pistols.
In the past world, hunters were a kind of soldier. All awakened individuals had to be dragged to the Hunter Association like being drafted and receive some kind of training. It was similar to soldiers receiving basic training. Knowledge about guns was one of the things learned then.
“Yes. Well. I used to be somewhat interested in such things in the past so I looked them up.”
“Anyway, thank you. Even that much is tremendous evidence.”
“For now, I won’t have hyung do any activities until his wounds are completely healed. If there are any special circumstances, just relay them to me.”
“Got it. Of course that’s what should happen. Ah, and tell your guild members to be careful for the time being too. There’s no guarantee these murders are over yet.”
That was true as Woo-bin said. If the guy’s purpose was really to rampage flashily, he could cause more incidents anytime. Moreover, since they knew from the two incidents that the perpetrator’s target was hunters, there was even more need to be careful.
“Then let’s stop here for today. I also have a meeting this afternoon so I need to prepare. Cha Do-hyeok, you also need to return to the guild, right?”
Do-hyeok nodded and got up from his seat. Ha-seong also followed him out of the conference room. They exchanged greetings with Woo-bin saying they’d be going now, and when opening the door, Cha Do-hyeok held out his hand from the side.
What, what am I supposed to do? When he looked with such eyes, Do-hyeok pointed to the window outside where reporters would still be camped out.
“Hah……”
Ha-seong sighed and grabbed his hand as if resigned. Watching the two people leave the office holding hands amicably again, Woo-bin still seemed unadapted and made a face.
“Was there someone Cha Do-hyeok followed so well……”
In the quiet room after the two left, only Woo-bin’s questioning voice could be heard.
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
