Chapter 38

Chapter 38 – Aid #2

Tae-hyuk first needed to check the crime scene to know his opponent .

‘The cop… cop…’

Kang-suk’s address book contained almost 800 people . Despite his appearance, Kang-suk was a meticulous person . Therefore, his contacts were organized by category .

“A total of 19 people . ”

It was more than he thought . First, he had to find out who was protecting the entrance to the bathroom .

‘I would be nice if he had a badge with a name on it . Do I need to check them all?’

Tae-hyuk called the cops in Kang-suk’s contacts .

Dururu-

-Who is it?

“Is this Hae-un’s phone?”

-No .

“Ah… I’m really sorry . ”

Tae-hyuk repeated the same thing 10 times before he found the right cop . As the phone signal rang, the phone of the cop in front of him started ringing .

‘He is Kim Jong-wook!’

Tae-hyuk imitated Cho Kang-suk’s voice using Voice Modulation .

“Kim Jong-wook? It’s me, Detective Cho Kang-suk . ”

–Eh! Detective Cho Kang-suk! What is going on?

Tae-hyuk inwardly cheered .

‘Indeed, a cop should know the police officers in charge of this case . ’

“I think I left my phone behind while investigating the crime scene, can you take a look at the counter?”

-Yes, I understand . I will do so straight away!

Kim Jong-wook followed Cho Kang-suk’s instructions and disappeared in the direction of the bathroom .

He was holding a flashlight . It looked good from a distance .

‘Then, let’s go!’

Tae-hyuk avoided the cops’ eyes as much as possible as he stealthily crept up to the crime scene .

‘By the way, their salaries… What about their pensions?’

He moved on to thinking about happy things for Ha-ran’s future . The bathroom where the murder took place had crime scene tape all around the entrance .

Tae-hyuk laughed .

He was wearing a leather jacket and skinny jeans, with an iron pipe in one hand . He had the perfect appearance of a criminal .

Once the ‘Violence’ skill was activated, his physical abilities increased according to his physical stats . He couldn’t help but wonder what would happen .

“Uh, I don’t want to be arrested as the criminal right now . ”

Despite having little to no knowledge of criminal profiling, Seo Tae-hyuk knew one fact .

It was something frequently covered in crime novels and movies: a criminal always goes back to the scene of the crime! This was why the police were stationed at where the second murder took place . Therefore, he had to hide if he didn’t want any unusual misunderstandings to take place .

Tae-hyuk looked at the iron pipe that he was holding .

“Well, hopefully I won’t have to use this . ”

The body was found was in the women’s bathroom . There was a strange atmosphere, due to it being a place where a person had died . The evidence collected by the police left a dust trail .

However, according to the blacklist, there was definitely one thing remaining .

The bathroom was empty of water . Instead, the shape of a person crouching down was drawn with a white spray .

Tae-hyuk felt goosebumps as he saw it . Three weeks ago, someone had died in the exact same position as the picture .

Tae-hyuk took out a notebook from his pocket and used the Forgery skill to draw the crime scene as a reference . At that moment, a strange illusion emerged in front of Tae-hyuk’s eyes .

“Ugh… W-what? Aaaaack!”

There was a naked woman with her arms tied behind her back, her body was trapped in a bathtub full of water . Her neck was tied up, and she couldn’t move her head . Still, she was able to breathe due to the long tube in her mouth . And the tube…

“Heok… Keok!”

Tae-hyuk started breathing roughly . He couldn’t even understand what he had just seen . He had just used the Forgery skill, so why did that image appear?

Tae-hyuk pulled out the Demon Revealing Mirror .

[The Forgery skill has found an intense image . ]

[The work has been completed through automatic mode . ]

Tae-hyuk looked at his notebook, as if he was enchanted by something .

There was a picture of a dying woman that had been created by the Forgery skill in less than a minute . The picture was drawn with a pen, and yet it seemed so real .

“Uck…!”

At that moment, Tae-hyuk bent over as he felt some nausea . Fortunately, he hadn’t eaten dinner yet . He just felt a little sick .

Tae-hyuk knew extrasensory perceptions were similar to this .

“It was psychometry…”

The ability to see images from objects and places . The Forgery skill was similar to that .

However, he couldn’t rejoice . The image of the person dying was intensely burnt into Tae-hyuk’s brain . It seemed like the scene would emerge every time he closed his eyes, like a curse .

Tae-hyuk bit his lip .

He had come here to confirm if the killer was truly the ‘hippo . ’ It wasn’t to see a woman dying .

This had happened almost one month ago, he wouldn’t be found right now .

‘… First of all, let’s finish up here . ’

Tae-hyuk shook his head to forget the scene he just saw . He entered the bathroom . If the killer was truly the hippo, then it had to be here .

Tae-hyuk leaned down towards the floor . He started to carefully search it . Sometimes there was a white powder visible in the water . It was creepy, but he licked it .

“This…”

It was salt .

No matter how good the police were, it wasn’t easy to find it mixed in with the water .

“The murder tool is salt water…”

Tae-hyuk was reminded of that person .

“… The hippo . ”

Originally, he was a serial killer who would start his activities in three months . He was one of the worst five criminals in Tae-hyuk’s blacklist . He had awakened earlier than scheduled .

Tae-hyuk then had a sudden realization: he was currently the only one in the country who knew the Hippo’s identity .

@

Cho Kang-suk looked at his watch with an anxious expression . 15 minutes had passed since the promised meeting time .

“This is why punctuality is a problem in Korea!”

He pulled out his phone and checked the message that had arrived 30 minutes ago .

–Sunbae . I am leaving now . I’ll be there in 10 minutes .

“That was more than 10 minutes ago . ”

Kang-suk finished his lukewarm coffee and went to the counter to get a refill . Thanks to his younger brother, he realized that this cafe was a very good place for meeting people . He had been using it often since then .

Kang-suk took out the envelop that Tae-hyuk gave him as a gift . It was a planetarium admission ticket that was available for one month . On the back was the phone number of a French restaurant with a good atmosphere . It meant to eat here after seeing the stars .

Kang-suk couldn’t help laughing after seeing it .

“Who wouldn’t want to go? If only I didn’t have to catch this criminal . ”

Kang-suk said and put the tickets back in his pocket .

Who knows? Maybe the serial killer would suddenly be arrested and he could go out with Ha-ran .

“There is time left . If I send a message to Ha-ran… But what if I am an annoyance? Ohh…

Kang-suk grabbed his head as his body trembled .

The other guests at the cafe started looking at him .

–Ah, doesn’t he look like a gangster?

–Looking at his phone and then trembling… Don’t tell me?’

-Shhh! Be quiet! He will hear!

Kang-suk laughed . Today, he had come to meet a guest . Therefore, he was wearing a suit that didn’t fit him well . He had a large muscular body and was over 180cm tall . He had dark sunglasses . At first glance, it was natural for others to misinterpret his strength .

Then the man sitting near Kang-suk spoke .

“Excuse me, excuse me… Cho Kang-suk hyung-nim?”

Cho Kang-suk looked at the person .

The man was wearing casual attire and had glasses .

“Who?”

“Oh, sorry for introducing myself so late . I am Shin Se-ho, a PD at ABS Station . ”

Shin Se-ho pulled out a business card from his wallet .

“You are a new PD . ”

“Haha . You don’t need to emphasize it . I’m familiar with you . Detective Cho is very famous among my colleagues . The detective who caught Yoo Cheol-ho . This meeting was due to chance . Then can I hear the story about that time?”

Cho Kang-suk clicked his tongue . What chance? He knew the PD had been following him for a few days . Shin Se-ho seated himself in front of Cho Kang-suk .

Kang-suk knew why the PD was following him .

He smelt the hippo case .

“I’m sorry, but today I came to meet a junior, not to work . If you want an interview then please fill out the official forms . ”

“Aish, don’t be like that . Anyway, I’m here as a customer . So I will just drink hot chocolate from the sidelines . ”

Kang-suk noticed the microphone in Shin Se-ho’s pocket .

He suddenly felt fatigued . It was hard to fight crime . Now he had to pay attention to the media as well .

Kang-suk whipped his hand like he was killing a mosquito .

He would receive media persecution if he tried to kick the reporter out of here . He needed to be careful .

“Well, do whatever you want . ”

“Haha . Yes . I understand . ”

Then the door opened and someone entered the cafe . The person was a little taller than Kang-suk, with an intellectual air about him . He was wearing a Rolex watch and an Armani suit . A BMW key was hanging from his fingers .

Cho Kang-suk clicked his tongue . He was wearing at least 20 million won, and had their air of a rich person .

“Joo Hyun-ho! Over here!”

“Uh, Sunbae . Aren’t I a little bit late? I’m sorry . ”

“What is a little bit? I refilled my coffee five times while waiting . ”

“Aish . I was only a few minutes late . There was nowhere to park . ”

Joo Hyun-ho smiled and sat down in front of Kang-suk .

Joo Hyun-ho had the appearance of a celebrity in a high class suit so the eyes of the females sitting nearby started to light up .

They wanted to talk to him but stopped themselves when they saw Kang-suk sitting opposite him .

Joo Hyun-ho was a junior from Kang-suk’s university days . He majored in criminal psychology and worked in the criminal behaviour analysis team .

The so-called profiler . In this field, he was one of the three most influential profilers in the country .

Kang-suk muttered in a small voice .

“There is a reporter next to me, so speak softly . I know that you are busy with a lot of cases right now . There is a crime scene that I want you to look at . ”

“You know that I don’t handle straight murders . ”

He would only take the cases that attracted his interest .

Kang-suk hit him on the head .

“Hey . This is a mystery that we have no clue about . Be serious . Just listen to me . I didn’t want to call you . But he is a completely crazy guy . ”

Hyun-ho’s eyes shone .

He was a man who became a profiler because he liked things like this .