The Black Figure

7:45 p.m.

The moment I arrived at the express bus terminal, I headed for the Hongdae Entrance area.

“That bastard Choi Jae-woo had to insist on meeting at his hideout in Hongdae, of all places.”

Vrrrr. Vrrrr.

As soon as I opened my smartphone, Choi Jae-woo’s KakaoTalk messages started coming in one after another.

—When are you getting here? You know the late one has to buy the drinks, right?

“Is this guy even human? He knows I can’t drink, and he’s still making me buy the shots.”

Tap-tap-tap.

—Get lost.

The instant the little “1” in the chat room disappeared, I shut my phone off.

Then a line of text rose in the air before me.

I hadn’t expected it to appear this early.

But why was this a sub mission?

More than that, I had to stop this case in order to enter the main mission that would hand over evidence.

No matter how I looked at it, this had to be a linked mission.

That shopping complex is huge.

I let out a sigh, because I still had no idea how I was supposed to stop it.

Still, one thing was clear.

Given the location, this was almost certainly a man-made disaster.

...I’ll ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠have to prepare as much as I can.

*   *   *

“Achoo!”

Whenever I went to pay respects at the gravesite, I always came down with a vicious cold afterward.

This time was no different.

“Still, I guess all that exercise has helped.”

I was in much better shape than last year, when the cold stubbornly refused to go away even though I’d been hooked up to an IV drip nonstop.

At this rate, I’d just need to take medicine for about two weeks and I’d be fine.

I drank some warm barley tea and paid for the things I’d put in my basket.

“This might be tight on time. I need to get it by courier before tonight.”

While I waited for the courier, I walked around the shopping complex, scanning for anyone with an exclamation point over their head.

Nothing yet. Then maybe I should try using psychometry in the area with the most foot traffic.

First I went to the G section of Goter Mall.

I pulled out a trash bag tucked into a spot that looked suspicious enough to be a possible terror device, then used psychometry on a ballpoint pen lying on the floor.

“Hup!”

Once I focused, the image started to form quickly, probably because it was only an E-rank ability.

Rustle.

—Sign here.

A woman in her ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠early twenties frowned. Then, without the slightest hesitation, she flipped through six sheets of paper.

—Director, this is an unfair contract.

—What’s unfair about it?

—Seven years is the standard. But ten?

Snap.

I’d inadvertently stumbled upon an unfair contract scene.

“That has nothing to do with this case, so forget it. Let’s go to Section H.”

With E-rank, the past I could see stretched to ten seconds, and I could use the ability up to twice a day.

“All right. Where should I try next?”

I pulled out another piece of trash tucked into a corner by the fountain and used psychometry again.

It was just an ordinary scene of someone reading the newspaper.

After using psychometry twice, I cleared away all the dangerous items—trash, really—scattered around the complex.

Tomorrow, I’ll need to use it on something that looks more likely to be used in a crime.

On the way back to the office, I got a call from the courier.

—Sorry, but where exactly am I supposed to go? I honestly can’t find it.

“...Do you know Yejine Flower Shop in the Goter Mall? The office is right across from it.”

—You should’ve said Yejine from the start. I’ll be there in five minutes!

November 11.

Saturday, 6:00 a.m.

After finishing today’s push-ups, I opened the status window.

My stamina had risen to B-.

“Let’s keep going like this.”

I closed the window and stared at the map of Goter Mall I’d pinned to one side.

I marked with X the places where public-security police and guards were stationed, places that could respond immediately, and places equipped with fire extinguishers and other emergency measures.

Then I marked with O the spots that felt uncertain based on the psychometry images I’d seen over the past few days.

I still couldn’t identify the crime or the criminal from the psychometry, but each image had shown a black figure, and that was unsettling enough to mark.

From one end of the shopping complex to the other, huh. If it’s that spread out, I’d better hope I can narrow it down to the mission date.

November 17.

The mission day.

“Achoo!”

My condition had improved before the incident, which was a relief, but the cold still wouldn’t let go.

“What time is it?”

Until the time specified by the mission,

there were four hours left.

Time kept closing in, but I still couldn’t predict where the incident would happen.

They say that before something happens, there’s always a sign.

Animals react before an earthquake, for instance.

In criminal terms, it was like a perpetrator coming to the scene of the crime first to check how they’d carry it out.

“I can sort of guess what kind of incident it is, but I have no clue where or who. What the hell is that black figure?”

I’d searched the shopping complex over and over, but I still hadn’t found anyone suspicious, which only made it more frustrating.

I even went to the merchants’ association on the off chance that the person planning the crime might show up somewhere I wasn’t.

I suggested that, since things had been so chaotic lately, they should ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠temporarily add more security personnel, but they said that wasn’t realistic.

“No helping it. Even if you try to prevent an incident in advance, all you can do is keep your nerves sharpened and wait.”

I turned off my smartphone and hurried back to the office.

“The weather really turned cold fast, considering yesterday was the college entrance exam.”

Brrr. So cold.

Ordinarily, I would’ve switched out of the luxury suit my mother had bought me and into a winter suit, but today I absolutely had to wear this one.

“Please, let this end without a hitch.”

I checked to make sure the item tucked inside my coat was still there, then took out the office key.

“Young lawyer!”

The moment I opened the door, the owner of Yejine Flower Shop came looking for me.

“Did you get back all right from the gravesite?”

“Yes. The flowers were beautiful.”

“Well, of course they were. You get what you pay for.”

“That just means the person who picked them has excellent aesthetic taste.”

“You’re awfully slick with words, aren’t you? Anyway, why have you had so many deliveries this past week?”

I’d been ordering all sorts of things to stop the incident, which was why.

But there was no need to tell her that.

“Just some A4 paper and a coffee pot.”

“You only bought a coffee pot now? Goodness, then you didn’t buy any interior decor?”

“I did.”

Fire extinguishers are essential interior decor, after all.

The shop owner clapped her hands.

“Good! It was so bleak in there, with nothing at all in the office.”

“Haha, I still need a lot more things.”

“Buy them one by one. That’s how you make money. If you need anything, go around Goter and pick it up. And if you tell people Yejine sent you when you buy it, they’ll give you a big discount. Especially don’t forget to get a vase.”

From the way she spoke about putting even less-than-pretty flowers in a vase to make the whole place feel different, it sounded like she planned to give me flowers from time to time.

A table and chairs.

Besides the computer I needed for drafting documents, I couldn’t think of much else the office required.

Still, I appreciated her kindness.

“It’s the day after the college entrance exam, so there probably aren’t many people visiting the shopping complex, right?”

“No, not really. I didn’t even see many people getting off the subway.”

“Ugh, some lunatic had to post another murder threat online.”

“Tell me about it.”

Starting a week earlier, murder threats had been springing up all over online communities.

A few days ago, there had even been a random mass stabbing with multiple victims, so I could be certain the incident in the mission was a murder threat.

“If he’s going to go crazy, he should at least do it politely. That’s why the flower shop next door to you, Blooming, didn’t open either.”

“I see.”

Including Blooming Flower Shop, there were plenty of shops that had closed their doors.

Some stores had even posted signs saying they were closed, even though the owner was inside.

They were probably planning to open after the threat time passed.

“The best way to avoid ugly trouble is to steer clear of it, Ma’am Yeji, so please be careful too.”

“I should, but I’ve got a group reservation coming in today, so I can’t exactly close up. Sigh.”

“Haha, well, it must be tough for you, since you’re so professional.”

“I am pretty professional, aren’t I? But tell me this—if someone makes a murder threat, can they actually be punished?”

When I saw the owner’s wrinkles deepened by worry and anxiety, I thought of my mother.

If my mother were still alive, she’d be around the same age as the owner now, so I answered almost instinctively.

“We’d have to examine it from multiple angles.”

“Multiple angles?”

“You start with the bastard’s age and environment, then check whether he planned to commit murder and whether he prepared any tools for it.”

“A-and if he makes a plan and prepares everything?”

“If someone dies, it’s murder. If no one dies, it could still be attempted murder or preparation for murder. But in most cases, it’ll probably come down to threats or obstruction of public duty.”

Maybe even a fine for a minor offense.

“Goodness, that’s complicated. Anyway, the important thing is that nobody dies. Right—if they die, that’s the end of it.”

The owner shivered violently, as if chilled to the bone.

Then she looked at me and swallowed hard.

“Young man, the threat time is almost here, so lock the door and stay inside until then. ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠Understand?!”

“Yes. Please go on in.”

The owner went back to the flower shop across the way.

I was truly sorry, but I had to keep my door open.

If anyone asked, I’d say it was because I needed to clear out the stench of tobacco that somehow clung to the place despite my stuffy nose, along with the office’s usual paper-and-dust smell.

I propped the door open with a fire extinguisher, then dragged the chair from the consultation table and set it outside the office.

Last night, I’d searched the area for loose objects again and tried psychometry on them, but I hadn’t found any criminal activity.

Someone had definitely passed through here at least once, though.

“Since I’ve got time, I should walk around the complex once. If I’m lucky, maybe I’ll see those exclamation points like last time.”

But...

“This time, I’ll focus on the spots I marked with O.”

“......”

Anxiously, I wandered Goter for three hours, but I still couldn’t find anyone suspicious.

This is bad. The last place left is in front of the office.

I’d been watching the hallway for several minutes, but hardly anyone passed through.

Maybe it wasn’t around the office after all.

It’ll be 1 o’clock soon. Maybe I should check somewhere else. Right—let’s go toward the Line 9 ticket gates.

That area had more foot traffic.

My rational mind told me to head toward Line 9, but my instincts were screaming at me.

“Hmm. What now?”

Then I heard a noisy voice cutting through the stillness.

Without thinking, I turned my head.

“Here?”

“Yeah.”

“No way. There’s a flower shop in an underground shopping center?”

“First time here?”

“Of course. Why would I come to a place crowded with people?”

A group was walking toward Yejine Flower Shop.

They were probably the reserved customers the owner had mentioned.

“I’m telling you, this place is really good. The flower heads are big and pretty.”

“And the next thing you’re going to say is that it’s better than a department store, right?”

“Hahaha. Madame Moon, how many times are you going to say the same thing?”

Behind the cheerful group of customers, a young man in a neat suit was clutching a rather awkward-looking box of Bacchus energy drinks in both hands as he attached himself to them.

“......!”

And I.

Ignoring the key that dropped to the pavement, sprinted forward at once.