Disappearance (Employee Kang Rita - Unconscious Twin-Tail Bunny Girl♥ Doll Dress-Up Play♥) (1)
Why did she hate that man so much?
Kang Rita wondered. She reflected on it. Why did just seeing his face make her seethe with irritation, filling her with the urge to crush and torment him somehow? Was it simply because he was a weak human? Or was it loyal concern that he might harm the company?
No, Kang Rita already knew the answer. Han Igyeol's hypnosis skills were actually exceptional. And he wasn't the type to bring harm to the company.
Not long ago, Kang Rita had taken on a C-rank target named stewardess Choi Sua. The client-requested subject was progressing smoothly through conditioning and was now on the verge of shipment. Thanks to the faster-than-expected training pace, Rita had been recognized for her results and finally promoted to full-time employee—a position she'd longed for.
She felt immense satisfaction and pride at escaping the lowly intern status shared with nobodies like Han Igyeol.
...No, that's not it.
Truthfully, she wasn't satisfied. Not at all.
And for good reason: the conditioning for Choi Sua that she'd originally handled had been a mess. She knew it. The dramatic improvement in Choi Sua's evaluation had come only after the intern Han Igyeol got his hands on her.
The flaws she couldn't fix, the parts she couldn't touch, the defects and issues she hadn't even noticed— that one intern had corrected them all. In a single night, no less!
He was outstanding. Too outstanding. He was a monster. No ordinary intern by any stretch.
And yet, she knew he wasn't a threat to the company. His skills were beyond question, and she'd once overheard about his unique trait of reducing karma. He was a valuable asset to the company. Not an enemy. Not like those escapees she'd seen time and again.
Still, she hated that man. Why?
Because his skills surpass mine?
Because he's a man?
Because I don't like his looks?
Because he never acts serious?
Each one seemed plausible. Plausible, but somehow not quite right.
The real reason she hated him was probably something more fundamental—
.
.
.
"......"
Kang Rita lifted her heavy eyelids and opened her eyes. She came to. It seemed she'd been asleep for quite a while.
Where... is this?
With a creaky sensation, as if loosening up her sluggish brain, she pieced together the situation.
This was a dark, rundown room. No windows, so probably somewhere underground. Her throat was parched. But she couldn't go get water. Her limbs were bound, rendering movement impossible.
She was in her underwear, strapped to a chair. Her arms and legs were tightly secured with tape and rope. Though she couldn't see them, there were likely talismans suppressing yokai power attached as well. She felt powerless because of it.
Memories surfaced bit by bit. What had happened. Where this was. Her current situation.
As she recalled, footsteps suddenly echoed.
Creeeak—
The room's door opened, and a red-haired woman entered. Small-statured, but radiating an intimidating presence.
"Oh my, the sleepy princess is finally awake?"
"......"
"I was thinking of chopping you up and dumping you in the Han River if you didn't wake up today. Lucky you?"
It was a lie. This woman couldn't harm her. She was under hypnosis preventing her from drawing blood or injuring anyone from Healing Soul.
Kang Rita tried to speak, but her cracked throat wouldn't produce a proper voice.
The woman clicked her tongue, grabbed a water pitcher from the nearby shelf, and shoved it into Rita's mouth, forcing water down her throat.
Once her throat was sufficiently wetted, her voice finally worked properly.
"Won't you untie me already, ex-Deputy Red? Wasting more time like this is pointless, isn't it?"
"Still as bold as on day one, huh, junior Rita? Even in this situation."
Red Deputy continued.
"You think you're totally safe, and it pisses me off. Chopping you up was a bluff, but leaving you here to starve to death? That's possible. You can cut off your consciousness for interrogation, but can you maintain it through starvation? Last time it only took three days to wake up."
Rita didn't bother responding. As she'd said, while the technique to induce unconsciousness existed, whether it held under extreme starvation was unknown.
"Feeling like listening now? Then let's have a proper chat. You've been snoozing for three days, after all."
"...My body's stiff. What did you do to me while I was out?"
"Nothing much. Just cuddling while sleeping—felt great. You know my tastes, right?"
"......Pervert..."
Even called a pervert, ex-Deputy Red looked pleased. Lust glinted in her eyes as she gazed at Kang Rita. If Rita saw everything that had happened during those three days of sleep, she wouldn't be nearly this composed.
Kang Rita had been brought here three days ago. She'd been betrayed by the fixer she'd hired. Betrayed, or rather, the fixer had been under this Red Deputy's hypnosis control.
Caught off-guard, she'd been clocked on the back of the head, knocked out, and woke up in this warehouse...
"Even so, forcing unconsciousness before interrogation? What made you think it was safe to do that? Got some guts."
Red Deputy was one of Healing Soul's illegal quitters, currently on the run from company pursuit. She was a talker, which let Rita glean some info without giving any away.
Red had pinpointed Rita's location thanks to a police mole she'd planted. They'd tracked her via CCTV, even uncovering the fixer she'd hired.
There are a few suspicious points, but...
That was enough intel.
"Well, I can't just starve you to death right away. Rest up with some food first. Interrogation comes after."
Red Deputy smiled.
"And don't cut off your consciousness again. You don't want to wake up surrounded by filthy men while naked, do you?"
* * *
Detective Kwon Jihyun was in high spirits today, a rare occurrence. Her days were filled with endless police station drudgery. Even when heading out, it was always surveillance or tailing. Her furrowed brow never relaxed.
No wrinkles yet, right?
She even worried a bit, pressing between her eyebrows.
Anyway, today was different. It was the day she met her little sister.
"Sis, long time no see!"
"Dahye, it's really been forever."
So thrilled to see her cute sister after so long, Jihyun forgot they were in public and hugged her tight.
.
.
.
Detective Kwon Jihyun had a much younger sister. And this adorable sibling moonlighted as an exorcist, a grueling side gig.
As mentioned before, Jihyun's family were shamans. They'd received divine possession from ancestors several generations back and maintained it through the bloodline.
Divine possession didn't come with special markers. Just unusually strong spiritual power in the family.
Sounds great, but it wasn't. The price was accumulating karma over time.
Jihyun had no way to sense or measure this karma. To dispel it, a family member had to take on the role—like her mother the shaman. Or any work helping others with these powers.
In Jihyun's generation, someone had to do it. That fell to Dahye.
Jihyun had wanted to shoulder it, but sadly, she had zero talent for it. So her sister endured harsh training from childhood, becoming a full-fledged exorcist helping many by middle school.
Jihyun becoming a detective was partly to set an example for her sister.
"Don't worry about it, sis. I love doing this. And it pays great, so this is my preference. Even if you offered, I'd insist on switching back."
"Really...?"
The sisters chatted amiably at the café. As always, Jihyun apologized profusely, and Dahye pushed back. They also touched on the recent 'kidnapping incident.'
Hearing the culprit was a half-yokai handling hypnosis made Jihyun tense up.
"What about that guy...?"
"He got away. Why?"
"......I might visit your school sometime."
It might be nothing. But a hypnosis-using yokai? Could connect to her targets.
Kwon Jihyun sighed. Thinking about work even in front of her long-lost sister.
Lately, the peach-haired woman she'd been chasing—her promising lead—had vanished again. She'd trusted a colleague to watch her, but they slipped up. Reviewing data later, Jihyun found tampered footage. Internal job, no doubt.
She hated thinking it, but the police had moles...
That mess has me overthinking... even now.
No. Sister time first.
She knew her own ascetic life from work, and Dahye's from exorcisms. No playtime. Sis earned well, but as the senior adult, Jihyun planned to splurge—fancy spots, yummy food. Even that viral tteokbokki place...
"Wow, pretty ladies. Mind if I take this seat for a sec?"
"......"
"Won't take long. Just a moment."
Someone approached their table, pulled out a chair, and sat without asking. Furious at the date interruption, Jihyun scowled, unleashing her detective intimidation. But the man remained lazily relaxed.
...?
He looks familiar somehow.
A faint impression lingered. But it didn't last.
"Long time no see, Detective. Didn't know you were one back then. ...Well then, excuse me."
Saying that, he tapped a spoon against the cup's rim—ting!
The clear chime of metal on glass rang through the café.
With that sound, no more noise reached Jihyun's ears.
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