Chapter 82

Chapter 82 – Phantom Opens His Eyes #4

20 people gathered in a large operating room, with more than half of them being Chinese . They were dark doctors belonging to the triad . They knew that a bomb was installed in T Medical Center so their expressions weren’t so good .

“Bomb… Is it really installed here?”

“I heard an explosion before . ”

“Crazy!” (Chinese)

Various Chinese voices were heard in the room . In the meantime, the security guards, who were mostly Koreans, talked among each other .

“If we shoot them then will that guy spare our lives?”

“Let’s just watch the situation . Still, surely he won’t kill fellow Koreans . ”

The faces of the security guards were relaxed . It seemed like they thought the culprit couldn’t kill fellow Koreans .

Beep!

A large monitor in the centre of the operating room turned on and a man wearing an opera mask appeared on the screen .

“T-That person…”

“He is the culprit that installed the bomb here!”

“That bastard…!”

Phantom bowed towards the people gathered in the operating room .

-Hello . First of all, I will tell you two things . In 120 minutes, all the bombs installed in this building will explode .

“W-What?!”

“L-Listen! Aren’t we both Koreans? Spare us, please!”

Several guards grabbed the surveillance camera and started begging . However, Phantom’s expression didn’t change .

–I’d like to ask what made you so anxious . You don’t have to worry, as I don’t want to kill anyone .

Sighs of relief were heard .

–Kukukuk . I’m sorry but I am a liar .

“T-Then you will kill all of us…!”

–Think about it slowly . I gathered all of you in order to play a game . The rules are very simple . In the meantime, you people have done this .

The screen switched to something hanging in the ledger room .

–You should be familiar with this image . These are the prices for each body part on the black market .

One heart is 130 million won .

A kidney is 300 million .

An eye is 170 million…

Everyone who works here will see this list every day .

“W-What game are we playing with it?”

–Yang Wei said that he would pay money if I spared his life . Does everybody agree with this?

“O-Of course! I will pay however much you want, just please spare me…”

If they paid then they could live . The people started begging Phantom again to spare their lives .

–I want a sum of three billion .

“Ah…”

The guards slumped down at such a huge amount, but light filled the eyes of the doctors . They could pay three billion won . Rather, they felt that was cheap compared to the value of their lives . So far, they had cut apart hundreds of people and earned tens of billions of won in profit in a year . If they thought about it, that was very affordable .

-Of course, I won’t receive it as money .

“Huh? T-Then what?”

-You should be very familiar with them .

“D-Don’t tell me… Our body parts?”

–You noticed pretty quickly . The rule is very simple and the time limit is two hours . In the meantime, use the things in this room to produce three billion won worth of products . Of course, it doesn’t matter who it belongs to . For reference, they should be able to be implanted in others .

“I-It will be hard to make three billion won with the current international market value!”

One doctor shrieked,

–I will give 10 million won for one arm or leg . Oh, don’t you guys hate anesthesia? So I specifically removed all anesthesia from the room . Of course, the other tools are all intact so there won’t be any problems with the surgery . Then, I hope you manage it .

Phantom turned off the monitor and there was an uproar in the operating room .

“Three billion won is ridiculous!”

“Ha, ha, ha… A joke? Why are you looking…”

“Jump on that bastard! If we kill one person then 500 million won will come out . Then only three people need to die!”

They spread out and started trying to kill each other . However, there were those who tried to resist .

“D-Don’t kill! If we die then surgery is impossible!”

“I can take it out roughly!”

“Aaaaack!”

Obviously, Phantom had stated that it should be able to be transplanted . However, they couldn’t think of such things as madness filled their heads .

They had to kill others in order to live . Yang Wei muttered to himself as he shot the head of a security guard trying to kill him .

“He obviously gave a choice to everyone . But eventually this will happen . Phantom… Really scary . ”

And the throat of Yang Wei was sliced with a doctor’s scalpel .

@

Tae-hyuk recovered the bomb installed in the boiler room and muttered,

“I would be crazy to use one more bomb . ”

In fact, he almost died using one to escape the guards underground . Therefore he never intended to use this bomb .

“Now, let’s see . There are two more left . ”

One bomb was recovered safely . The last one had such tremendous destructive power that he didn’t even bring it in the first place .

“In the end, there was one more condition for Doll Play . ”

Three billion won worth of organs and body parts . At least half of them had to give up their lives . However, if they didn’t do anything and waited then everyone could live .

It was a hidden condition using the criminal’s dilemma .

Tae-hyuk called himself a liar . He only said one lie, which was that a bomb would go off two hours later .

“If there was a good person among them then they might have noticed the trick . ”

Tae-hyuk muttered quietly,

“Then I’ll pray for you . I hope you survive . ”

Tae-hyuk placed the bomb in his bag and quietly left . A scream seemed to be heard from somewhere .

@

“Son of a bitch… What type of human would do this?”

Kim Soo-bin safely escaped from hell and was able to receive treatment at the hospital . However, her arm had been cut off a week ago so it couldn’t be helped .

After a few days, she was able to talk about the incident with Detective Cho Kang-suk .

“Detective Cho Kang-suk, thank you for coming to see me . That is all I know . ”

“Y-Yes… I’m sorry that I had to ask you this . ”

“It’s okay . I know that it is a detective’s job . ”

Kang-suk’s heart was burning .

He knew the hard life that the child on this bed had lived . Moreover, her life would be even harder in the future . But there was nothing that Kang-suk could do . All he could do was introduce a social worker whom he knew well .

Even so, he had to keep asking questions and reminding her of what happened . It was the first time that he hated his job as a detective .

“By the way, he was called Phantom? He rescued you?”

“Yes . Do you know the Phantom of the Opera? It’s a musical that I went to see when I was at the orphanage . He wore the same mask as the protagonist . ”

“God of Crime…”

“I’m sorry but I don’t know his face . ”

“It’s okay . I’m not disappointed . Well, that is it for today . ”

Kang-suk got up from his seat and Soo-bin desperately tried to stop him . However, she only had one arm so she fell back on the bed .

“Can’t you stay a bit more? I hate being alone . ”

“…Brat . ”

Kang-suk patted Soo-bin’s head .

“Yes? The food here is delicious . Eat lunch before leaving . ”

“Isn’t it better for Hye-mi to eat the food?”

“H-Hye-mi?”

“Yes . She said she would die if she couldn’t come visit now . I am going to pick up Hye-mi . ”

“Ah…”

Soo-bin looked at Kang-suk with a touched expression . He was different from other detectives, and felt more like a dad than a detective .

Ddrrrung!

It was a call from Kim Do-shik . Kang-suk left the room and spoke quietly so that Soo-bin couldn’t hear .

“Ah, Inspector . I’ve finished listening to the victim . I will write up the report later in the afternoon . ”

–Detective Cho . Is there a TV near you right now? Turn to ABS Station and watch . Crazy fucker . That bastard appeared .

“Huh?”

–The crazy bastard who is a criminal .

“P-Phantom appeared on TV?”

–Yes . Don’t just ask questions, watch the TV!

A few days ago, Phantom announced the hippo case that they had been concealed from the public . Since then, the prosecutors had been searching for Phantom . But a TV appearance? Furthermore, it was ABS Station that spread the truth of the hippo case . They had said that Phantom threatened them with a bomb and it couldn’t be helped . The clean-up from that situation still wasn’t over .

“D-Did you say Phantom?”

Kim Soo-bin asked in a trembling voice . Cho Kang-suk had shouted so loudly that it entered Kim Soo-bin’s ears .

“It seems like it . ”

“The TV remote control… Ah, here it is! I’ll play it right away . ”

A man wearing a Pandora mask appeared on TV .

“Pfff! What? That mask makes no sense . ”

“……”

Phantom made exaggerated gestures like it was a play .

–People .

This is the whole story of the incident at T Medical Centre . They kidnapped weak children and took their lives . Therefore, I judged them . I’m sure you are all angry after hearing the horrible truth . Some people will think they died well . But don’t forget . You are also an accomplice . 100 children went missing, but was there even one person who cared about their disappearance? The missing reports were ignored . Rather, there were more people who were excited about their deaths because they could survive .

This is the reality . Not one person tried to save the children, so I moved . I did it – I, Phantom . A criminal who judges other criminals!

@

The video quickly spread throughout the country . The appearance of a horrible crime scene without a mosaic produced many controversies . The Phantom’s appearance in front of the public became the top story in the media for a while .

Shin Se-ho, the only journalist who Phantom contacted, received love calls from numerous media . In the end, he had a contract with ABS Station and decided to honor it until the end .

The newly appointed police commissioner gave an order to everyone .

“Get that crazy criminal right now! It doesn’t matter how much manpower has to be committed! God of Crime? Phantom? He might think of himself as a hero, but he is just a self-conscious child!”

Eventually, the whole country was calling for Phantom . No one knew the identity of the man wearing the opera mask . The universities started practicing Phantom of the Opera, and more than 100,000 copies of the Phantom mask were sold in a day . Psychologists appeared on TV and talked about masks and personas . There were people who claimed that Phantom knocked on their doors .

Phantom, the God of Crime, became the new trend .

What was Phantom doing now? That was the only thing the country was interested in .

But Tae-hyuk was actually making tteokbokki in the kitchen . Ha-ran invited Kim Soo-bin to their house to celebrate her discharge .

“The food she wanted to eat was tteokbokki…”

Cho Kang-suk had announced with a serious face . Seo Ha-ran also invited Song Hye-mi .

Tae-hyuk laughed,

“…By the way . Why haven’t I received the reward yet? Is the Demon Revealing Mirror broken?”

He had roughly solved the case but there was no news about the rewards .

Ding dong!

Brr!

There were two sounds at the same time .

“Tae-hyuk! Did you wait long? I was a bit late due to buying a cake!”

Seo Ha-ran was carrying a cake box on the porch . She was followed by Song Hye-mi and Kim Soo-bin .

“Hello?”

“Excuse me!”

“Hyung has come! Eh? Tae-hyuk . Why are you looking like that? Don’t you want to see Hyung?”

Tae-hyuk was acting like this due to the message that suddenly rose on the Demon Revealing Mirror .

[The Doll Play mission has been accomplished . ]

-10 blacklist points have been acquired .

-20 stat points have been acquired .

[All conditions are fulfilled and you can upgrade to ‘Noble’,]

– If you become a Noble, you can gain a wider variety of crime skills .

-Some skills will evolve to a higher tier if the conditions are met .

[Do you want to upgrade to a Noble status?]

– Y/N

Tae-hyuk quietly reached out his hand .