Chapter 72

Chapter 72 – Huge Reward #1

The man loved dolls . To be precise, he wasn’t interested in humans .

Or rather, he was disillusioned . No matter how beautiful a person was, it was impossible for them to be perfect . If he looked closely, then there were always flaws somewhere on the human body .

In fact, the man wasn’t like that in the beginning . He was someone who loved a woman . She was L, a national actress . He only saw her on TV, but the man thought of her as the ideal woman .

However, the man’s love cooled down as there was a massive scandal that stirred the nation .

[Actress L’s sex video leaked . National Actress has fallen?]

The man grew desperate, and he couldn’t eat anything for a while . It had been two weeks since he was pushed into this corner .

Suddenly, the world’s interest in L disappeared, but the man couldn’t give up .

Then he came to a realization . If something went wrong, then he could replace it with something else . The man loved dolls, and his specialty was in repairing them .

@

The Christmas party at the orphanage was finally settling down . Everyone was playing happily, eating Tae-hyuk’s food, and watching Christmas specials on TV . Tae-hyuk laughed as he watched the way that the children were swarming to play with Santa Kang-suk .

“He is totally popular . ”

He was so popular that little girls were standing in a line to marry him .

Tae-hyuk sat in a corner and drank his canned coffee with a tired face . He poured the can in his mouth and tasted a sweet liquid .

“Kyah~”

Tae-hyuk drank coffee with the atmosphere of a worker after a long night shift .

“Can I sit down next to you for a while?”

It was a young woman who seemed to be in her late 20s . She was a nun who cared for the children at St . Mary’s Orphanage .

“I am a guest here . Rather, I should be the one asking for permission . ”

“No . Everyone who comes here is the owner . Hello, I am Viviana .

“Sister Viviana, I am Seo Tae-hyuk . ”

She didn’t seem to be a foreigner, so it seemed like Viviana was a baptismal name . Viviana sat down next to Tae-hyuk and said,

“Praise Jesus . Thank you very much for coming today . ”

“I just came to play with those two people . Kang-suk hyung said that he has already been sponsoring him for many years . ”

Viviana laughed . It was a modest face without any makeup, but he felt strangely calm when she talked .

“I managed to operate this orphanage with the help of many people, and Cho Kang-suk is one of them . ”

It was the first time that he had a conversation with a woman of this style . Tae-hyuk, who became uneasy, spoke gruffly,

“I don’t think you came here just to chat . What can I do for you?”

“Yes, in fact, I wanted to ask you something . ”

“Well, if I can answer it then I will . ”

At that moment, Viviana’s face came close to him . An oddly sweet fragrance was evident .

“Hum hum . I think your face is too close . ”

“Ah, I’m sorry . The other children shouldn’t hear this . ”

“Then it can’t be helped . ”

Viviana spoke in a low voice as if it was a forbidden story .

“Do you perhaps know a girl called Kim Soo-bin?”

Tae-hyuk narrowed his eyes .

“Why are you asking me that?”

“Oh, there isn’t any strange meaning . I just asked because you seem to be a similar age . ”

“Then I guess Soo-bin is a high school student . ”

“Yes . A freshman . Ah, could you please wait a moment? A picture…”

Viviana rummaged through her pockets and found a piece of paper . Tae-hyuk coughed as he received the photo and opened it . A girl with a cheerful atmosphere was seen with Viviana . They looked like sisters, and were holding the V sign towards the camera . At first glance, Kim Soo-bin was a girl with a short haircut like a man .

“Do you know? Soo-bin is very pretty . If you see her then you would definitely remember . ”

Viviana seemed to really care about the children here .

“I’m sorry, but this is the first time I’ve seen her . I’m sorry I’m not helpful . ”

Viviana’s eyes widened and she waved her hands .

“Ah, no . I’m sorry . You must been confused since I asked such a sudden thing . ”

Tae-hyuk wanted to know why she was asking such a question .

This was an orphanage . No matter how well the nuns took care of the children, they couldn’t feel parental love and a sense of belonging . There were those who wanted to leave here as quickly as possible .

In particular, the age of a high school student was the limit of staying in an orphanage . So Soo-bin must have left here earlier than planned .

“She must have run away from home . ”

A shadow crossed Vivian’s face,

“Yes… Without saying a word to me…”

Suddenly, Viviana grabbed Tae-hyuk’s hand and spoke what was in her heart .

“If you see Soo-bin, then can your tell her that Sister Mom is waiting for her?”

She looked a little young to be called Mom, but he understood what she meant . Viviana thought of the children here as her children .

It was at that moment .

“Sister Viviana . You don’t have to ask it from someone like that . Soo-bin unni graduated from here . ”

Viviana was filled with embarrassment .

“H-Hye-mi!”

Hye-mi was a girl who seemed to be a middle school student . She stared at Tae-hyuk like she wanted to eat him .

“I don’t like him . Are we beggars? Should I say thank you for buying chicken?”

She shook her head as if it was unacceptable . Viviana stopped Hye-mi and said,

“I-I’m really sorry . This child is called Song Hye-mi . She was close to Soo-bin so her nerves are sharp from Soo-bin’s disappearance . At any rate, I am very thankful for today . If you see Soobin then please tell her that Mother is waiting . ”

Tae-hyuk scratched the back of his head . It seemed that the orphanage had complicated circumstances .

“Can I hear more about this story?”

A hard-faced Santa Kang-suk was standing there .

@

After leaving Ha-ran in charge of the children, Viviana, Tae-hyuk, Cho Kang-suk and Hye-mi gathered in the reception room . Before starting the story, Viviana spoke firmly with Hye-mi .

“Hye-mi . You should just listen . Don’t say anything to the detective . Do you understand?”

“Bah . Sister Mom doesn’t have to worry . Am I a child?”

Kang-suk removed the beard on his chin and said,

“Sister Viviana . Soo-bin is gone, what happened?”

Viviana’s voice trembled as she spoke . Because she was so desperate, she told the story to Detective Kang-suk .

“It has been around a month since the day that Soo-bin went to school and didn’t come back . ”

Kang-suk had already been doing volunteer work here for a few years and he knew most of the children . He had known Soo-bin since she was a child,

“Why didn’t you tell me this sooner?”

Kang-suk asked angrily .

“T-That… I contacted Gangdong Police Station but you weren’t there, so she was reported as missing . ”

“Ah… It was around that time . ”

Kang-suk sighed and leaned back in the chair . A month ago, he had been unbelievably busy due to the Hippo case . There was no way to get in contact with Kang-suk when the police station was called . He gave his phone number exactly for situations like this . Were they sorry about contacting a busy person?

“The next time this sort of thing happens, please contact me straight away . It is absolutely no trouble . Hah… I heard that there were a lot of disappearances happening these days, but I didn’t know it would happen around me . ”

Tae-hyuk, who was listening to the side, interrupted the two people .

“If it was last month, was it after Actress Ryu Myung-hwa disappeared?”

Kang-suk looked at Tae-hyuk with an expression of great interest .

“How do you know so well? That’s right . Since then, the number of missing people have increased . ”

“Aigoo…”

Tae-hyuk groaned .

He never dreamed that he would be involved in this incident .

Ryu Myung-hwa was one of the top three actresses . She disappeared in the wake of a private video leaking . There was speculation that she was staying quiet until the case was settled . However, her agency then reported her missing .

From then on, the frequency of missing girls increased dramatically . It was the Werther Effect, so to speak . It was similar to the phenomenon where a spike in suicides occurred after a celebrity committed suicide . It was a word derived from the sorrowful protagonist of Goethe’s novel, The Sorrows of Young Werther, that was published in 1744 .

He committed suicide after a tragic love . It was so popular that Napoleon also carried the book with him . All over Europe, suicides started to spread as they imitated Werther . The total number of deaths was over 2,000 people .

At present, the development in the media meant that it wasn’t hard to find the Werther effect .

Tae-hyuk bit his lip .

‘If I remember correctly, this isn’t just a simple missing persons case . Maybe…’

He had a bad feeling . For the first time, Tae-hyuk hoped that his thoughts were wrong .

Ddrrrung!

Someone’s phone ringing interrupted Tae-hyuk’s thoughts .

“Ah, I’m sorry . It is my phone . At such a late time…”

Kang-suk pulled out his phone and confirmed who it was from . He picked up the call and walked to a corner .

“Yes, this is Cho Kang-suk . ”

– ……

“M-Mutilation… What is this…?!”

– ……

He couldn’t be sure of the conversation due to the distance . However, Tae-hyuk didn’t miss the words spoken by Kang-suk .

Mutilation murder . Tae-hyuk bit his lip .

‘Damn… It actually is that case . ’

His bad feelings were always right . Cho Kang-suk approached them and said .

“I’m sorry but it seems like I have to go to work . I’m sorry . ”

“Ah, it’s nothing . ”

“I will come back tomorrow for more details . Tae-hyuk, Sister-nim, and Hye-min, I will be going now . ”

Tae-hyuk spoke to the leaving Kang-suk in a quiet voice .

“Hyung . Have you discovered a clue regarding the missing people?”

“…Ah . I’ll tell you if there are more details . ”

Tae-hyuk didn’t miss Kang-suk’s shaking . The phone call was clear: A mutilated murder victim was found . There was no harm in checking the identity against the missing people files at the police station . Of course, the probability that the body was Soo-bin wasn’t high . However, it wasn’t necessary to talk about the mutilation murder and make people uneasy .

This was why Kang-suk went to check without saying anything .

Tae-hyuk was immersed in his thoughts as Kang-suk left . This was a prelude to the brutal killings of a madman called Doll Play, but that was the extent of Tae-hyuk’s knowledge on the matter .

Seo Tae-hyuk had memories of the future . Until now, it had been easy to catch criminals using those memories . However, this mutilation murder case was different .

‘In the end, the killer of this case wasn’t caught . ’

It ended with many victims . Tae-hyuk only knew a rough outline of what was reported in the news . The victims were only remembered with the initials A, B, and so on as they appeared in the news .

‘There was an orphan among the identified victims…’

Tae-hyuk felt like puking .

This was the first time . The events so far had been easily solved using his memories of the future . However, this time was different . He knew nothing, and he couldn’t do anything . A sense of hopelessness filled Tae-hyuk’s body .

Then an amazing thing happened . Tae-hyuk gazed at what was written on the Demon Revealing Mirror .

[New mission: Find Doll Play . ]

[The following rewards can be obtained by clearing the mission . ]

-10 blacklist points

-20 stat points

‘Wait . What? I can get all this by finding Doll Play?’

It was literally a huge reward!

Blacklist points was one of the upgrade conditions . He got one point every time he secured one member . In half a year, he had only collected 10 points . In addition, stat points? He could use it to raise his stats as he wished . If he got all that…

‘I can clearly meet the conditions to upgrade my rank! I can be a Noble!’

Tae-hyuk remembered something that he had forgotten for a bit .

He had two weapons . But he had forgotten about one for a while .

‘Yes, I have the crime skills!’

So far, he had only caught criminals that had already been arrested . However, what about catching a criminal that hadn’t been caught?

It was perfect for Tae-hyuk’s purpose of changing his fate . If this was possible, he would be able to change their fates .

Tae-hyuk’s eyes started to blaze with passion .

The God of Crime started to move in order to catch the strongest enemy that he had encountered so far .