Chapter 31
Chapter 31
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 31
Chapter Title: Serial Murder (2)
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《Serial Murder》- (2)
01.
"Perolrn...?"
The utterly unexpected name made me furrow my brow. At the same time, an image of that clown with his eerie grin flashed through my mind.
The Sad Clown, Perolrn.
He was the boss monster guarding October's stage, 'Circus of Fate,' boasting exceptional assassination and ambush skills thanks to his transparency passive called 'Clown's Prank.'
Perolrn's invisibility was colorless and odorless, and even the raindrops and snowflakes clinging to him turned transparent, making it nearly impossible to track him with the naked eye.
One moment you'd be flustered by his sudden disappearance, and the next, a death notification screen would pop up right in front of you. He was a stage boss where you couldn't afford to let your guard down for even a second.
But if you asked whether he was actually that hard to beat? Not really. In fact, among the twelve stage bosses, Perolrn was always ranked as the weakest and easiest.
As long as your raid party included at least one Scientist or Beast class, you could immediately see through his invisibility.
Without any standout AoE skills, Perolrn was little more than an assassin with overwhelmingly high stats once his transparency was nullified.
The top-ranked guild 'Nighthead' had even cleared him with just five executives. That gave Perolrn the infamous record of being taken down by a mere five players.
Sure, he could probably deliver peak efficiency in a one-on-one fight, but unfortunately, no player tackled boss raids solo. For Perolrn, it was just a sad reality.
...The stage boss mocked online as the 'weakest stage boss,' 'lame clown,' 'trash clown,' and turned into memes everywhere was none other than the Sad Clown, Perolrn.
"Perolrn has appeared...?"
And yet Kim Arin was saying not only had that Perolrn shown up, but he was committing serial murders to boot.
As if it wasn't bad enough that another stage boss had appeared in Seoul of all places, he was carrying out chain killings right inside the safe zone.
"You sure about this?"
I shot Arin a look that said I found it hard to believe on multiple levels, and she bowed her head, slowly shaking it.
"W-Well, it's not completely confirmed..."
Under my skeptical gaze, Arin mumbled in a feeble voice. Her eyes, filled with worry, scanned the ground.
"I just heard from a contact that 'even Thief tracking skills couldn't detect it, no footage on CCTV at all, and the victims had scythe-like wounds, so they're speculating it might be Perolrn for now'..."
"..."
"B-But since a stage boss was mentioned, I wanted to tell you first, Selverion. I rushed here as soon as I heard."
"I see..."
Hearing her out, I fell into thought myself.
Indeed, a being capable of perfect invisibility that evaded Thief tracking skills, left no trace on CCTV, and wielded a scythe as a weapon—there was only one such entity in Sio-pan: Perolrn.
The Assassin class, the only one with access to invisibility, was inevitably caught by Thief tracking due to class matchup, and their proficiency with a scythe would be low too. So dismissing it as mere mimicry felt off.
However, assuming the culprit was Perolrn brought up its own issues.
'Perolrn in Seoul...? Is that even probable?'
Seoul already had me, Selverion, as a stage boss. On this vast Earth, what were the odds of two stage bosses spawning in the same country, same city?
Probability-wise, it was some infinitesimal decimal-point chance. Was that even possible?
But nothing was ever 100% impossible, so ruling out Perolrn outright would be premature.
'Why, though...?'
So, if the killer really was Perolrn, why was he turning his blade on people?
Nevacal from Hawaii, Perolrn in Gwangjin-gu—why were they all hostile toward humans?
Were they not like me, a human turned stage boss? Were they truly 100% pure monsters straight from the rifts?
Maybe they harbored massive grudges against specific people and were exacting revenge the moment they gained power.
But I couldn't tell on my own whether they were in the same boat as me or genuine stage bosses.
There was a slim chance they were being eroded by the stage boss's original personality.
That would explain Nevacal's brutality and Perolrn's sneaky murder methods.
If true personality erosion was a thing, then I, transformed into Selverion...
"Let's go."
"Huh? Go where?"
"Gwangjin-gu. Right now."
Snapping out of my brief reverie, I told Kim Arin we should head straight to Gwangjin-gu, where the serial killings were happening.
No matter Perolrn's situation, I needed to communicate with another stage boss.
Flying to Hawaii for Nevacal would be less efficient than tracking down Perolrn practically next door.
I'd definitely find out from him whether other stage bosses were originally human and if something like personality erosion existed.
"Prepare the pirate ship."
I said to Kim Arin, my red eyes gleaming.
02.
"Gruesome..."
In Seoul's Gwangjin-gu, Kim Han-seul—a player from the Gwangjin-gu safe zone—muttered as she surveyed the horrific murder scene before her. A brutally mutilated corpse hung from a streetlamp right in front of her eyes.
"Total psychopath."
Park Yun-jae, a skilled Thief standing beside Han-seul, shook his head. He sighed as he scanned the blood-soaked site that hardly looked like a simple murder.
"Scythe-like wounds on the face and chest, and hanging the body from a streetlamp like it's on display. Same guy."
"..."
He told Han-seul that the perpetrator of this killing matched the previous three cases. Han-seul asked Yun-jae with a grim expression.
"Anything to go on?"
"Nada. Zero. No fingerprints, no footprints, no scent. Nothing."
She'd asked if there were any clues to identify the culprit, but his response only gave her a throbbing headache.
Yun-jae chewed his lip in frustration, scanning the scene once more.
"I'm a Thief over level 2000, so I can track most guys no problem, but this one's got zero traces. Detection skills don't ping on anything."
"Is that even possible...?"
"Of course not. And no CCTV footage either. Even I'm stumped."
Yun-jae closed his eyes with a sigh. As he'd said, all four murders left no evidence whatsoever.
The last CCTV footage of victims showed them suddenly shooting into the air, flailing a few times, blood bursting, then death.
No sign of the perp anywhere, no matter the method.
"Can't even call in forensics..."
With monsters swarming everywhere, summoning a forensics team wasn't feasible. Besides, if Yun-jae—who outclassed them—found nothing, they wouldn't either.
"Haa..."
Han-seul, a tanky Druid, let the hem of her pristine white dress flutter as she stepped closer to the corpse.
Up close, the vivid gashes on the body stood out sharply. The face was unrecognizably pulped, and three deep slashes marred the chest, as if someone had tried to carve out the heart.
Only the long remaining hair and tattered pink hoodie hinted that the victim was some energetic female student.
"Perolrn after all, huh..."
Han-seul murmured after quietly examining the wounds. She hated to admit it, but no one else fit all the criteria but October's stage boss, the Sad Clown Perolrn.
"I think it's Perolrn too. No one else could pull off clean kills like this and get away."
"Damn it..."
Yun-jae glanced over, confirming her suspicion, and Han-seul squeezed her eyes shut. The thought of a stage boss prowling their tiny apartment complex was nightmare fuel.
"Why the hell is a stage boss pulling serial killings like some creep? We'll need to check if the victims have anything in common, but first—we need backup. Fast."
"Backup?"
Han-seul tilted her head at Yun-jae's mention of support. Perolrn was tricky, but not unbeatable.
Just counter his invisibility, and the local players could take him down.
But Yun-jae gravely shook his head.
Indescribable fear etched his face.
"Han-seul..."
"Yeah?"
"Our safe zone has no Scientists or Beasts..."
"Oh."
Han-seul's expression hardened at his words.
"That's why we need backup..."
"..."
"The strongest available. As soon as possible."