The Man Under the Bed
Hing... I'd been appointed as a special advisor to the Special Task Force, but I hadn't done a single thing worthy of the title yet. Handing over Miro's letter of recommendation out of the blue without any prior work felt a bit awkward and conspicuous.
"Maybe I should resolve a couple of Muksi Saengmyeongche incidents..."
That way, passing along the recommendation afterward would make more sense. When I mentioned this to Baesena, she replied, "Yeah, got it! We're always headache-deep in containment entities anyway! If Yuri handles some, it'd make things a lot easier for us!"
The next day, I received an email from the Special Task Force with a list of containment entities. Hmm...
"Seon-ah, I've got a question."
"Yeah? What is it? Spill!"
"When I eliminate a containment entity, someone from the Task Force will witness it, right...?"
Skimming the list, there were quite a few Muksi Saengmyeongche that seemed easy to handle. But there was one major caveat: I'd have to use the power of the Cute Girl Mod to resolve them. Cute Girl Punch, Bond Effects, and the girls' powers—none of that could be shown to Task Force staff.
If it were the Foundation, I might've risked a little exposure. They want to research and analyze Muksi Saengmyeongche, so even if I revealed the mod's power, they wouldn't turn outright hostile.
...Though treating me like a Muksi Saengmyeongche and locking me in containment was still a risk.
Compared to that, the Task Force had zero give. The moment I showed my power, they'd classify me as a Muksi Saengmyeongche and try to kill me. That could spark a war between our detective agency and the Task Force.
"So, could Yuri eliminate them without using her powers?"
"That'd mean solving their gimmicks..."
The easy-gimmick ones were already handled by the Task Force. Which meant the list they'd emailed me was full of the tough ones.
...I didn't want to bother solving things the hard way when the mod's power could make them trivial.
So, I changed course. We'd leave the containment entities alone for now.
"Seon-ah, could you show me the cases the Task Force is currently pursuing?"
That's what I asked Baesena. A few days later, today, I arrived at the scene by car.
"Welcome, Yuri!"
Screech—the car pulled to a stop, and Baesena, who'd been waiting, opened the door for me. Her cheerful greeting left me flustered.
And understandably so. I'd just been talking to Baesena at the office moments ago. Yet here at the scene, another Baesena greeted me.
With an awkward feeling, I stepped out of the passenger seat.
"Welcome, Advisor. Thank you for coming all this way."
Besides Baesena, Task Force agents were there to greet us. Not a familiar face among them. The ones like Team Leader Kang Hyun-seok I'd met before were with the "Field Response Unit," while these were the "Field Investigation Unit."
I gave a light greeting and introduced my team.
"I'm Mayuri, director of the Ririri Detective Agency. This is my secretary, Yerisa, and this is our chief solver, Jo Sua."
I introduced Lisa and Sua. I hadn't brought Nao or Ari this time.
Lisa handled things pretty well last time, huh.
In the previous incident, Lisa had dealt with Foundation staff on her own. I'd been super anxious, but she'd managed better than expected.
Since we were at it, maybe it was time for the Ririri Detective Agency to move beyond the one-woman Mayuri show. Introduce Lisa and Sua to the industry folks now, and eventually, they'd handle Muksi Saengmyeongche on their own without me. That'd be ideal.
With that in mind, we'd kept the team small today—just the three of us to check the scene.
Oh, and I'd promoted Sua to chief solver as a bonus.
"There have been four murders in the past month. We initially thought they were human-perpetrated, but that doesn't seem to be the case, so we've called you in."
One investigator explained as they guided me.
"What do you think, Advisor?"
"Well, from the data I received, I figured it was a Muksi Saengmyeongche... but I'm not certain yet."
"Today's victim is one person, but their pet dog died too."
And so we arrived at the scene. A 800-square-foot apartment. In the bedroom, a woman lay butchered on the bed. In the bathroom, a dog was dead.
"Ugh."
I winced. A beheaded dog. Simple in words, but somehow more unsettling than a human corpse.
"Are you okay, Mayuri—er, Director?"
Lisa asked, sounding a bit worried. I'd told her to use "Director" in front of others, but it wasn't sticking yet.
I nodded vaguely.
"Just creeps me out a little. I'm fine."
Maybe from seeing too many bodies. This level barely fazed me anymore.
"We haven't figured out the entry method yet. Doesn't seem like the front door. There are some traces by the window, so we're assuming entry through there."
"What floor is this?"
"23rd."
The previous three murders were the same, the investigator explained. Apartments have CCTV in elevators and hallways—nothing there. Victims mostly died on their beds. No confirmed escape route post-mortem. Even assuming window entry, the method made no sense.
"That's why we judged it a Muksi Saengmyeongche."
Police had handled it until recently, when it got transferred to the Task Force. I nodded.
Honestly, the kill method rang a bell.
"Sua, could you check the bed?"
"Yep. Watson the detective assistant obeys the detective. Watson the detective assistant investigates the bed as ordered."
Sua nodded. I wondered how the investigators would react to her unique speech, but...
"She's pretty stoic, huh."
That's all they said. Right, Sua's ability lets only me hear her voice. To others, she just seemed quiet.
She's actually super chatty... Anyway, Sua started investigating. White-gloved hands scanning the bed. Careful not to disturb the scene, so it looked a bit cursory, but...
Sua was a monster too. Even a light check yielded tons of info.
"Detective, there's a bent mark on the underside of the bed. Feels like something pushed up from below. The culprit was probably hiding under the bed, yep."
As I thought.
A friend visiting woke me up in the middle of the night to buy ice cream. I said no, but they dragged me to the convenience store and said,
"There was a man with a knife under the bed!"
Seems there's an imaginary friend only the kid can see. That friend hides in the closet and demands food or money.
Stopped at a gas station for an oil leak, and the attendant said,
"Card payment's not working. Could you come inside? Seems like a card issue."
Followed them to the office, and they said,
"...There's someone hiding in your backseat right now."
The woman who owned the dog heard rustling under the bed at night and drowsily reached down. The dog under the bed gently licked her hand, so she fell back asleep reassured.
The next day, she found the dog's body in the living room. Next to it, writing in blood:
"...The man-under-the-bed urban legend."
I muttered softly. Man in the closet, man in the backseat, etc. Variations galore beyond beds, but all stalker-murderer tales of hiding in blind spots.
Famous as the newbie-slicer...
The monster game protag comes home from work, and bam—jump scare instant death. No clear precursors, only in random events, so newbies struggled.
But I wasn't a newbie. Not rotten-oldbie level, but manageable for me.
Easy to resolve if you catch it.
If you catch it.
"The man-under-the-bed legend... It matches what you've described perfectly. But Advisor, how do we track this Muksi Saengmyeongche?"
"Hmm..."
That was the issue. Elusive bastard, plus a pleasure killer. No predicting the next spot.
Maybe Sua, with 'Mary-san' powers, could track it?
"Watson the detective assistant doesn't know what the perp looks like. No escape traces either, so it'll be tough, yep."
"I see..."
If we had a photo, Sua could chase to the ends of the earth. But without identifying the target, even her 'Mary-san' power was stymied.
No choice then.
"Excuse me."
"Yes, Advisor? What is it?"
"This bed. Could you have it moved to our office?"
"Pardon...?"
The Task Force investigator blinked.
A few hours later, the bed was in an empty room at our office.
If chasing was hard, lure it in.
"Detective, Detective."
"What, Sua?"
"Unlike your guess, Detective, the perp might show up somewhere other than this bed, yep."
What was she getting at?
"Tonight, the perp might appear under your bed, Detective."
"...And?"
"Watson the detective assistant—"
"I'm sleeping alone tonight, Sua."
"Hing..."
Sua deflated like an abandoned puppy. Don't make that face. Makes my heart go weak.