Daddy, Daddy
Butterfly, butterfly
[Father]
Call. "Father!"
– Doosik-ah, Hansik’s friends are here for a visit, and these guys can do anything.
Father had been doing well,
– Cooking, cleaning, even driving was top-notch.
“Driving too?”
– Better than me.
Not even licensed?
Well, no big deal.
Even if I hadn’t told him to, he’d probably drive like a pro.
– Yesterday I took him to a construction site, haha, his sense was insane. An A-class hunter!
At this rate, proxy filial piety is a success.
“That’s great. Father, should I send more?”
I spoke like I was giving him pocket money,
– No, three of them are enough. The house is too small.
Hmm… I’ll have to look for a place to move too.
“By the way, Father, it’s not that… but could you please handle interior decorating a 40-foot container that’s eight pyeong in size?”
Father was over the moon.
– Of course! My son’s request, I’ll do it properly! But is Hansik okay?
Even if more children come, the oldest is still the best, huh?
“Of course, I’ll get it done.”
– Got it?
The kid can’t talk.
But Hansik happily answered the phone again. I strained to listen.
“He watched a TV program with his friends yesterday and the host explained some amazing food from a molecular cook or something like that.”
Hansik nodded enthusiastically, listening intently.
“That’s amazing…”
Hansik must be Han sik.
* * *
Kim Taesu who recovered Park Wonchang’s phone from Upo Swamp.
“The phone is completely destroyed, and the only thing left is this… INCU9283121… some serial number…”
Of course, searching the internet would turn up nothing.
After that, he headed to Changwon Police Station.
He had to meet Park Wonchang.
Of course it was hard for a Busan Hunterpol officer like Kim Taesu to meet someone arrested by Changwon Hunterpol, but the Republic of Korea’s connections open every door.
[Chief Lee Won-tae]
“Chief, are you really going to be this uncooperative? Even if he’s a real accomplice?”
– Hey, man, Changwon Police Station already transferred him to me. What do you want me to do?
“That’s what I’m saying! Ah, Chief, let me meet Park Wonchang! Am I going to kill him or something? I just want to talk. Or should I do a fake riot and beat everyone down, kidnap Park Wonchang, and run?”
The fact that it didn’t sound like a joke was the problem.
Kim Taesu was a human who had once been among the ten closest A-class hunters to the S-class, the elite of elites.
No matter how bad his attitude was, in combat ability he was the undisputed ace of Hunterpol.
– Hey you bastard! A cop in a badge can’t say anything!
“That’s exactly what I’m asking! Right now Park Wonchang is hospitalized, and the Changwon guys have completely blocked him. Crazy bastards. Are these cops getting paid just to protect criminals?”
Kim Taesu was shouting loud enough for them to hear, right in front of them. Of course the sharp glances from the Changwon police officers turned his way.
But he didn’t care about their stares in the slightest.
– Okay, man. Wait, I’m putting in the cooperation request right now…
“No need for a request! You already know Chief Lee Won-tae from Changwon played golf during working hours recently, right?”
– How do you know that…? Hmph, I’ll handle it myself. Don’t do anything stupid and wait while drinking coffee there!
“Yes, sir.”
[Call ended]
The effect was perfect.
Fifteen minutes later, Kim Taesu, legs trembling as he sat in the waiting room chair sipping coffee from a vending machine, was approached by a Changwon Hunterpol officer.
“Kim Taesu Detective, ten minutes only.”
“See? I told you. You’re going in anyway, so why block people and cause hassle?”
“Haa…”
“Nowadays people just don’t respect others’ time. Tsk.”
An unexpected old-man rant.
“If we had started off nicely from the beginning, how much better would it have been? Right? We’re all one family in this new world.”
The Changwon Hunterpol officer answered half-heartedly.
“Yes, yes, understood.”
“By the way, do you know when I’ll be transferred to be in charge of Changwon Hunterpol and eat at the same pot?”
The Changwon Hunterpol officer startled.
“Don’t say crazy things.”
“Hahaha.”
The door to the hospital room where Park Wonchang was hospitalized opened.
Park Wonchang lay on the bed, tightly bound.
“He just woke up. Ten minutes only.”
“Fifteen minutes.”
“Haa… and just in case you get violent or something, it’ll be troublesome. We haven’t even interrogated him yet.”
“Don’t worry.”
Creak. Slam.
Park Wonchang was completely wrapped in bandages all over his body.
Total body cast.
“Wonchang-ah, you scumbag Park Wonchang, you’re busy, so stop pretending to sleep.”
Growl.
Park Wonchang made snoring noises, but Kim Taesu wasn’t an idiot and wouldn’t have believed it.
No, even if he was actually sleeping, Kim Taesu would have woken him.
Like this.
“Ah!”
Kim Taesu slapped Park Wonchang’s nose with a backhand, and Park Wonchang was forced to open his eyes. The gaps in his missing teeth made him angry.
“Haa, shit! What the hell is this for me?! I said I was going to protect you! The delivery thief bastard who robbed me in PK!”
“Delivery thief?”
“I said I was protecting you! Call a lawyer!”
“You sound like a lawyer. Just spit it out. Where’s Bae Hyeongsin.”
“I don’t know! How many times do I have to say it?!”
“INCU9283121.”
Kim Taesu caught the exact moment Park Wonchang’s pupils dilated.
“You know? What is it?”
“W-what is that? INC what?”
Park Wonchang had chewed up the paper he wrote with blood before being arrested, so he had forgotten the serial number entirely.
“Wonchang-ah. Cooperate nicely. This is the last time I’ll ask. What does INCU9283121 mean?”
“I don’t know, I swear! What the hell!”
Kim Taesu said, taking off his sock.
“I made a huge mistake. I should have known earlier that you’re the kind of guy who can’t be reasoned with.”
“Smells like it, why the sock? Ugh.”
Kim Taesu glanced at the door and shoved the sock deep into Park Wonchang’s throat.
“Uuuuh! Eeek! Eeee!”
Park Wonchang struggled violently, but his body was completely immobilized, so it had no effect.
“Change your mind and tell me.”
“Uaaaaah!”
“Hyung is sorry, there’s no time. Let’s go check out the Room of Truth.”
When Kim Taesu’s lightning magic finger touched Park Wonchang’s forehead,
“Kheheuk… kheeee…”
Park Wonchang began convulsing all over his body.
A very fine current stimulated the nerves throughout his body.
Park Wonchang felt an unbearable itch as if tiny ants were biting every vein in his body.
Then, like being struck by lightning,
Unimaginable horrific pain.
It took Park Wonchang less than five seconds to start crying tears of despair.
“How is it? Did you remember something?”
Park Wonchang nodded desperately.
When Kim Taesu pulled the sock out of his mouth,
He retched and vomited,
“I don’t know, I swear…”
“You’re hopeless.”
Kim Taesu blocked the throat again with the sock and sent the current through once more.
Park Wonchang rolled his eyes back and convulsed violently.
This time it was much stronger and lasted much longer.
Way longer.
About a minute.
When Park Wonchang could no longer even scream, Kim Taesu pulled the sock out.
Park Wonchang suddenly looked ten years older.
Even after visiting hell for a minute, it wouldn’t have aged him this much.
“Huuuu… Please, please kill me… Please…”
“Bae Hyeongsin. Where is he?”
“I don’t know either…”
Just as Kim Taesu was about to stuff the sock back in, Park Wonchang hurriedly said,
“Bae Hyeongsin sent a message!”
“Words are working now.”
Just as expected.
Spam text. Exactly what Doosik had warned about.
Kim Taesu asked again.
“What does INCU9283121 mean?”
“Hik!”
“What now?”
But suddenly Park Wonchang focused on nothing in the air, filled with terror.
“W-what… I did something wrong! I did something wrong!!”
“Another prank?”
“Please, please spare me! Mercy! Compassion!”
It didn’t seem like a prank.
Park Wonchang was in full panic.
Why?
Did he accidentally hit the brain while injecting the current?
That would be troublesome.
“Hey, are you okay? Show me.”
“It’s a misunderstanding! It’s a misunderstanding! I didn’t betray you! Shit, shit! Oh God!”
“God? What are you looking at while saying nonsense…”
Nothing was in the air that Park Wonchang was staring at.
But.
Something only Park Wonchang could see was there.
.......
[『The Black Murder Saint』 is executing the betrayer.]
[『The Black Murder Saint』 is executing the betrayer.]
[『The Black Murder Saint』 is executing the betrayer.]
[『The Black Murder Saint』 is executing the betrayer.]
[『The Black Murder Saint』 is executing the betrayer.]
[『The Black Murder Saint』 is executing the betrayer.]
.......
The messages flooded Park Wonchang’s vision.
He violently shook his head and let out a terrified scream.
“Nooo, no, please spare me, shit! Heek!”
Then suddenly a dot appeared in the air.
What is this? There was no time to think.
“Kuuu…”
It began sucking up Park Wonchang’s life force, and moisture started leaving his body from the dot. The something that had started at the dot grew larger and larger.
When it reached the size of a marble, police officers who heard Park Wonchang’s scream rushed in through the door.
“What the hell is this?”
“What’s going on?!”
“I don’t know! That wasn’t me!”
Kim Taesu denied it.
Park Wonchang didn’t do it.
Of course he himself hadn’t done it either.
Then who?
Seeing the power of the Constellation, Kim Taesu instinctively backed away.
Even the great Kim Taesu was flustered.
“Detective Kim! What are you doing?! Stop it! Now!”
Crash.
The police tackled Kim Taesu, but even if they subdued him, the Dark Orb sucking up Park Wonchang’s life force would not disappear.
Kim Taesu hadn’t done it.
“I didn’t do it!”
“Stop! Kim Taesu!”
“Look at that dark energy! That’s…”
Yes.
“!!”
Bae Hyeongsin’s Dark Bolt.
Exactly the same as that.
“Bae Hyeongsin…”
Park Wonchang, drying up like an old tree.
The Dark Orb that had grown to baseball size and was devouring him trembled.
Thinking it was going to explode, Kim Taesu,
“Move!”
Used his skill.
‘Surge Impact.’
A powerful electric shock wave that pushed away nearby enemies and knocked them into temporary paralysis.
He cast it toward the police who had tackled him.
After confirming the officers had been pushed out of the room,
‘Electric Phase.’
Activated his ultimate skill.
For a short time, he synchronized his body with the electromagnetic field, temporarily turning every particle that made up his body into electric energy, rendering all attacks null and void.
As soon as he cast the skill that had elevated him to A-class,
Boom!
The Dark Orb exploded.
Just a baseball-sized Dark Orb.
It completely scorched an area of 2 to 3 meters in radius.
Park Wonchang disappeared without a trace,
and the hospital room turned bright red.
Screams erupted from the sudden explosion.
Patients in panic trying to evacuate, hospital staff.
When the detectives who had been pushed by Kim Taesu finally came to from paralysis and checked the room,
“… What… what the…”
Kim Taesu was gone.
* * *
[Oryukdo Gate]
– Kehelek!
“Whoa, startled!”
The ground suddenly trembled.
Clody had coughed.
“Where is Clody sick?”
“Yeah.”
– Khehekeke.
Phlegm was caught in Clody’s cough.
If the honeycomb hurts, it’s a problem…
Anyway, we had arrived at the destination.
[Hae-mu Shelter]
This was a lodging for exhausted hunters at Oryukdo.
Tiny cabins were arranged, and even now tired hunters were hammering away at building new ones.
“Two cabins, please.”
Hyondae and I were at the point where rest was needed after exhausting work.
“There’s only one cabin left right now.”
“Then that one.”
The payment was four inferior magic stones. Forty million won, but the hunter market price was expensive. Ten times the outside rate.
Hyperinflation in the hunter industry caused by insane capital turnover.
Money is earned, and that’s it.
All hunters think that way.
“Thank you, hyung. I’ll pay you back when I earn a lot later.”
“It’s fine. You’ll earn a lot when you get stronger too.”
“Yes!”
Thanks to Hyondae I got lice and ticks, so it’s just paying back a debt.
And it didn’t feel cheap at all.
The cabin was rough but had everything you need.
Bathroom, bed, TV.
I knew what a motel looked like.
“You go wash first, hyung.”
“What? That line?”
A chill ran down my spine.
“Ah, what are you thinking?”
“Hahaha.”
After washing up, Hyondae came out, head wrapped in foam, and took a towel and clothes while dozing off.
I opened a can of beer and turned on the TV.
A beautiful announcer appeared.
– Breaking news overseas. Yesterday, a natural disaster-grade hidden quest occurred at a twenty-year-old semi-permanent gate in Penang, Malaysia. Southeast Asian Union hunters were mobilized en masse…
“What? Why stop mid-sentence? A broadcasting company?”
– Urgent report.
“How did you know?”
I giggled and tied my robe.
[Changwon Central Hospital Terror]
“Wait, Changwon? Terror?”
A wave of unease washed over me.
Wasn’t Changwon the place Tess-hyung went?
– Around 5 p.m. today, an unidentified terrorist attack occurred at Changwon Central Hospital, resulting in one fatality.
The footage showed a perfect spherical hole in the third floor of the Changwon hospital building, with police, firefighters, and Hunterpol officers running around.
– The deceased is 45-year-old Park Wonchang, a B-class awakened.
“Puup.”
On the TV screen, the mugshot of tattooed Park Wonchang from the iridescent file made me spray beer out of my mouth.
Dead?
“Cough, cough.”
– … Confirmed to have been arrested by police for attempting to flee while on parole and died in the hospital from an unknown explosion. The investigation authorities have named Kim Taesu, a detective from Busan Hunterpol, as a prime suspect…
“W-what is this?!”
Right after Park Wonchang’s mugshot appeared was Tess-hyung, no one else!
How long had it been since we broke up?!
I jumped up and called Tess-hyung.
[Call not answered, going to voicemail…]
The broadcast switched to an interview with a police officer at the scene.
– (Changwon Police Sergeant Park Hyo-yeon): After Detective Kim Taesu met with Mr. Park Wonchang, an unknown explosion occurred, Mr. Park Wonchang died, and Detective Kim disappeared from the scene…
– (Mr. Kim, a patient at Changwon Hospital): My room was right next to it. Right before the explosion, I heard the police arguing loudly. Voices were raised…
– Detective Kim Taesu, also known as ‘Tess-hyung,’ is a well-known A-class lightning magic mage with extreme combat ability, so the investigation authorities urged that he not be confronted rashly even if seen. Anyone who witnesses him should report immediately…
“What the hell happened to Tess-hyung…”
Splish.
At that moment, the bathroom door opened.
Hyondae emerged with foam on his head, covering only the important parts with a towel.
“Butterfly! Butterfly flew out the window!”
Haa… Why is his state always like this all of a sudden?