Chapter 71
Flap, flap
[Sigh... no matter how much I clean up, the trash never seems to end.]
In the dark of night, where not even the moonlight shines, a figure in black robes stands atop a high-rise building, the fabric fluttering in the wind. The only visible feature in this shadow-wrapped form is a pair of blue glowing eyes.
Those eyes, shining coldly like a ruler surveying the world below, beheld the glittering night view.
In truth, calling him a ruler was not far from the truth. He was the calamity of the Outerica dimension, the Immortal King himself.
[The crime rate in areas I've swept through does decrease, but as the scope of my coverage expands, the workload only increases.]
Having become the Immortal King, he had extensively revised his long-favored "Contagious Necromancy Ultimate Edition_Revised_2nd_FINAL(3)_TheRealLast" using his infinite magical power and skills such as "Path of Sorcery" and "Magic Domination."
Thus, the "Contagious Necromancy Complete Edition" was born. It became more secretive, more accurate, and capable of detecting a wider range. As a result, his sphere of activity continued to grow beyond the entirety of Seoul, dealing with an overwhelming number of criminals.
[The evil festering in this world is truly lamentable. How deep must the venom in their hearts be for things to have come to this?]
How could the chaos be solely their fault? They, too, are victims scarred by this world.
So...
[Yes, I will take upon myself all of your anger towards this world. To ensure that you no longer vent your evil outward... within my embrace, you shall find eternal peace. Hehehe]
Someone needed to break the cycle of misery. And Hans, embodying all that is corrupt, was perhaps the most suitable for the task.
Then, a new signal was detected. A psychokinetic robbery-homicide, unfortunately, it seemed there were already several victims.
[Oh no... It's been done.]
It was inevitable that he would have to intervene.
Hans's figure began to blur, enveloped by the darkness. Before completely vanishing, something like the shadow of hundreds writhed beneath his feet, as if to vigorously welcome a new arrival... quite violently.
***
"How about it? Can you make sense of it?"
"Umm... I've got a rough idea. It repeats trauma under certain conditions, mixing a curse with malicious intent to make it impossible to bypass."
The man in a baseball cap, pressing a hand to the head of someone lying on a hospital bed, replied.
"I already knew that. But what about the cure? Can you do it?"
"Ah, that? Absolutely not. The system is different, and it's beyond my level. If I mess with it, I might end up getting cursed myself."
The man in the suit, who had asked the question, frowned and gave him a sidelong glance, clearly unsatisfied with the answer.
"So what can you do? Didn't you find out anything else?"
"One thing's for sure. Whoever cast this curse is an unbelievable monster. I'd rather choose a dignified suicide than fight this person."
"That bad?"
Park Han-cheol, the team leader of the Supernatural Crime Investigation Department of the Ability Management Bureau, rubbed his head roughly and sighed.
Considering his situation, the man in the cap pondered a bit more before speaking. He was currently consulting on black magic for the investigation, after all.
"The level of black magic is high. Judging by its complex and solid structure, it seems to have been systematically learned over a long time in some dimension."
And it wasn't just a superficial understanding; it was clear that he had fully grasped and acquired the secrets of it.
"And the density of the dark magic is unspeakably high. It's not just a matter of quantity; the quality itself is different. I really want to ask how he managed to accumulate such pure energy."
Normally, impurities accumulate as one builds up energy, but the dark magic used here was surprisingly pure.
It was the first time even he realized that dark magic, inherently a negative energy, could be refined to such an extent.
"Lastly... I'm not sure if it's a characteristic of their system or a secret knowledge, but the way they use curses doesn't seem human."
"What do you mean by that?"
The man in the cap looked over the person lying on the bed again, as if piercing through to their innermost thoughts with his sharp gaze.
"Using a curse is like a double-edged sword; you have to be extremely careful. If you're not, it can backfire on you."
"I've heard that often enough."
"But this person doesn't take any precautions against that. Their method is faster and stronger, purely focusing on efficiency. Yet, it fits together too naturally."
There was no excess in the curse to protect oneself.
If there were even a loophole, a cure or something might be attempted, but this was untouchable.
"Do they have a curse immunity skill or something?"
"It's possible... But this feels beyond that? Like something's subtly off? Maybe it's the lack of humanity...?"
"Ha! Humanity in a curse can go freeze to death. That guy must have lost his mind a long time ago."
"Hey, it's just a feeling. And not all users of dark magic are insane, okay? I mean, I'm pretty sane for what it's worth."
Park Han-cheol looked at the man in the cap, Ahn Seong-jin, then sighed again.
Of course, he was usually well-behaved, but he had a history of causing an incident during an episode and getting arrested.
He had managed to block the mental contamination from dark magic with a special skill, but it wasn't perfect.
Right after he returned, he had lost control upon witnessing thugs wreak havoc in his struggling parents' store.
Fortunately, it didn't lead to murder, and considering various factors, he was now helping out with the Ability Management Bureau's work.
'Even though he's a high-ranking black magician. In fact, he could have run away but chose to get caught thinking of his parents, so he's pretty well-behaved.'
He had been quite helpful so far, so there was nothing more to say to him.
"This curse was cast by Hahoe mask, right? They say after killing criminals, he takes their bodies too?"
"Yeah, sometimes leaving behind only blood saturated with dark magic, other times not leaving any trace and taking the bodies away."
"Wow... Necromancy used by such a high-level black magician? That's really scary. Even the soul becomes enslaved."
"Really?"
"It's not the end even if you die in front of a necromancer. They'll recycle your body and soul until it wears out. There's a reason I said suicide might be better."
Of course, someone like Ahn Seong-jin might think it's weaker because it's not his specialty.
The bodies might have been taken for practice.
But hoping for luck against such a formidable opponent was foolish.
"In fact, this guy has been here for a while. He was victimized when Hahoe mask was active and hasn't been discharged yet."
Park Han-cheol indicated the man lying on the bed.
Since the man was also a criminal, they had sedated him to make the investigation easier.
"But Hahoe mask had been quiet for a while and has started acting again. So, there are new victims who came in today, and their treatment is about done. I'd like you to take a look."
"How much could have changed in such a short time?"
"Maybe you can glean something more from those who were attacked more recently?"
"Hmm... Then let's take a look."
Since his point wasn't wrong, Ahn Seong-jin readily agreed.
They then entered the ICU, coming face to face with a mummy wrapped in bandages.
"Uh... What did this person do to end up like this?"
"Let's see... arson. Seems it ended up like this because there were no casualties. Lately, Hahoe mask has been capturing serious criminals, mostly resulting in summary executions."
It was a natural consequence of his expanding range of activity and becoming busier.
Ahn Seong-jin nodded and moved to the bedside of the sleeping patient, placing a hand on his head and closing his eyes.
After a moment...
"Ah!"
Suddenly opening his eyes wide, he quickly withdrew his hand and stepped back several paces.
"Ah..."
"What? Did you find something different?"
"Ahaha... So, Team Leader! What do you plan to do after catching Hahoe mask?"
Instead of answering, Ahn Seong-jin chuckled and diverted the conversation. Park Han-cheol frowned for a moment but straightforwardly answered the question.
"More than catching, identifying him comes first. After that, we'll go through verification and then possibly persuade him. He seems to have abilities and appears to follow his own set of morals."
"Like me?"
"Well... Yeah? But why are you suddenly acting like this? Did you discover something?"
Frustrated, Park Han-cheol scowled and pressed for an answer, prompting Ahn Seong-jin to smile softly, his gaze seemingly fixed on a distant point.
"I think I have to take back what I said earlier."
"Oh? You found something!"
He nodded proudly and slowly began to speak.
"It seems I... might have to die right now. But since I've been quite helpful to the country, I should receive a pension for my service, right? Wonder how much I've saved..."
Suddenly babbling, Ahn Seong-jin's demeanor allowed Park Han-cheol to finally read his expression accurately.
His pupils dilated, his eyes unfocused, gazing blankly into space, and his lips trembling as he forced a smile, his face covered in cold sweat.
"...Are you okay?"
Ahn Seong-jin, with a dazed expression, recalled the recent incident.
The moment he closely examined the curse to gather information.
He had, 'met eyes' with 'that entity.'
[Ho? What are you doing?]
He had thought it was a simple malicious intent he had seen in previous curses, but... it was different.
A form as if condensed from the darkest abyss, with a pair of eyes shining blue, was staring directly at him.
Those eyes, as if piercing through his soul, made Ahn Seong-jin's mind go blank momentarily.
When he came to, he was hurriedly disconnecting the link, in a sort of panic...
Even then, the pair of eyes just quietly watched him.
Until the moment he left, without looking away for even a second.
"Hey! What's wrong with you! Snap out of it!"
"Ahaha... I'm okay. But I think I should call my mom for a moment, okay? Just to let her know I was on a secret mission, and it would be great if you could process me as killed in action."
The difference between the curse he first examined and this one.
It wasn't just stronger or more developed.
The very density of the being was different.
Just a glimpse into its fragment was enough to shake his soul.
Being a high-ranking black magician himself allowed him to understand this to some extent.
He looked down at his hands.
Watching them tremble uncontrollably, he clenched his fists and reaffirmed his resolve.
'I've already been noticed. Having been directly observed in my soul, he can find my location anytime he wants, if he so wishes.'
Depending on Hahoe mask's whim, his surroundings could become dangerous at any moment.
If that person were to come looking for him while he was at home...
"No! It would be better to die now! And if it's now, my soul might not be captured and I could possibly attain enlightenment immediately..."
Slap!
"Hey! Ahn Seong-jin! Are you not going to snap out of it?"
With a burning pain on his cheek, his consciousness snapped back to the moment. Only then did his surroundings start to come into focus.
"Hey! I have a rough idea of what's going on, but calm down first!"
After slapping Ahn Seong-jin's cheek and seeing his gaze return, Park Han-cheol sighed in relief.
"First thing you need to know. So far, Hahoe mask has only been punishing criminals, and he does so based on his own set of standards, differentiating based on the severity of their crimes."
For intentional murderers and serious offenders, he executed them immediately; for others, like the criminals beside them now, he delivered sentences based on his judgment.
"And he has known from the start that we've been after him. Despite that, he hasn't laid a hand on us until now."
There was a clear line for Hahoe mask, judging only criminals.
"Got it? You're not in your right mind right now. Calm down and think about it clearly."
"Ah..."
Hearing his words, Ahn Seong-jin took a deep breath and organized his thoughts.
Right, he realized he hadn't discovered any significant information. Not Hahoe mask's identity, location, or even his abilities, aside from knowing they were 'remarkable.'
It was just a chance encounter through a malicious intent.
Eventually, he was able to see his situation objectively. He had only briefly encountered a fragment of the existence through the curse, and it had thrown him into panic and fear.
"Ahaha... I see..."
"Are you calm now?"
"Yes... Um, Team Leader?"
"Yeah! What's up? You got something to say?"
"I... I need to take a break for a bit..."
Thud!
The moment his tension released, Ahn Seong-jin collapsed on the spot as if he had fainted.
"Huh? Hey! Suddenly? Here?"
Park Han-cheol's voice seemed to come from afar, but Ahn Seong-jin no longer had the energy to ponder various matters.
***
[Hmm... So this kind of thing happens too.]
Surrounded by darkness on all sides, Hans quietly observed one direction. At the end of where his blue glowing gaze was directed... lay a hospital, precisely located.
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