Chapter 4
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: penny
Chapter: 4
Chapter Title: Controlled Violence
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Special Division Underground Level 3.
A chill rushed in as the steel door slid open. Seo Jin-hyeok walked down the familiar corridor. Concrete walls and stark white indoor lighting. Even footsteps echoed in the silence. Ordinary people didn't even know this place existed.
Han So-young was waiting in front of the briefing room door.
"Everyone here?"
"Yes. And..."
Han So-young trailed off. Her expression was strange.
"What is it?"
"Dr. Kwon is here."
Seo Jin-hyeok stopped in his tracks.
Kwon Tae-ho.
The veteran scholar who had led anomaly research since the Special Division's founding. Seventy-two this year. Long retired, but called in as a consultant for special cases. His presence meant this incident was that unusual.
"...Let's go in."
The briefing room was dark. Only the light from the screen illuminated the space.
Six people sat around the table. Three tracking team members, one intelligence analyst, and at the head, a white-haired old man.
Dr. Kwon Tae-ho.
Stooped back and wrinkled face, but his eyes were sharp. He carried a weight that overwhelmed the younger agents.
"Good to see you, sir."
Seo Jin-hyeok greeted him.
"Mm. I've reviewed the files."
Kwon Tae-ho's voice was low and gravelly, like old wood creaking in the wind.
"Let's begin."
Seo Jin-hyeok pressed the remote. An image appeared on the screen.
"Last night, 7:23 PM. Alley in Yeoksam-dong, Gangnam-gu. All four victims dead."
Crime scene photos flashed by. Bloodstains, bodies, the gruesome scene hardening some agents' faces.
"Causes of death vary. Decapitation, dismemberment, compression, and..."
Seo Jin-hyeok advanced the slide. A photo of a body missing everything below the waist.
"Separation. Not torn or cut. The upper and lower halves were 'separated' as if they'd never been one piece to begin with."
Intelligence analyst Kim Ji-eun raised her hand. A woman in her early thirties, known for her cool analytical skills.
"What about the cut surface analysis?"
"That's the problem."
Seo Jin-hyeok pulled up a magnified photo. The cross-section of a decapitated neck.
"No tool could produce a cut like this. Clean as if vaporized at the molecular level. Not laser, water jet, or plasma. Physically impossible."
"An anomaly's doing, then."
"Yes. And a high grade at that."
Kwon Tae-ho nodded slowly. His hands steepled on the table.
"Witness statements?"
Han So-young answered.
"One reporter. Middle-aged man. He was passing nearby, heard screams, entered the alley, and saw it."
The screen changed. A photo of a middle-aged man in a hospital bed.
"He's hospitalized now from mental shock. Summary of his statement..."
Han So-young read from her tablet.
"'There was something transparent. Like the air was warping. It tore people, burst them, folded them. A young man was standing there. Just standing, watching. His eyes... his eyes were terrifying.'"
"Young man?"
One of the tracking team members asked. Park Do-hyun. A sturdy man in his mid-thirties, ex-special forces.
"Yes. Per the witness, a man in his mid-twenties was there. The victims picked a fight with him, and right after, the anomaly appeared."
Seo Jin-hyeok switched screens.
"CCTV analysis results."
A black-and-white video appeared. Gangnam Station intersection, ordinary afternoon crowds.
"3:12 PM. In front of Exit 11, Gangnam Station."
The video zoomed. A man walking. Wrinkled dress shirt, loose tie. Typical office worker attire. His face... blurry.
"Not a quality issue."
Seo Jin-hyeok said.
"Everyone else is clear, but he's hazy. Like fogged over. Analyzed CCTV from multiple angles. Same result."
"Possible anomaly interference."
Kim Ji-eun said.
"That's our assumption. Whether the anomaly interfered to protect its host, or the man himself is affected..."
"Path tracking?"
"Done."
Han So-young displayed a map. Red dots marked streets around Gangnam Station.
"3:12 PM, appears at Gangnam Station intersection. 3:47 PM, enters pork belly restaurant in Yeoksam-dong. 6:23 PM, leaves the restaurant. 7:18 PM, enters incident alley. 7:24 PM, leaves alley. After that..."
Han So-young trailed off.
"He vanished."
"Vanished?"
"Yes. Checked all CCTV within a 2 km radius. No sign on any camera. Like he evaporated."
Silence fell over the briefing room.
Kwon Tae-ho spoke slowly.
"...Intriguing."
The scholar's eyes gleamed. Curiosity mixed with caution.
"Show more data."
Seo Jin-hyeok nodded and switched. Internal CCTV from the pork belly restaurant.
"Restaurant owner's statement and CCTV."
In the video, the man grilled meat. Face still blurry. But movements visible. Flipping meat, wrapping in lettuce, eating, picking up chopsticks. Natural motions.
"Owner said he was a 'perfectly ordinary customer.' Ate quietly, paid quietly, left quietly."
"How'd he pay?"
Park Do-hyun asked.
"Cash."
Kwon Tae-ho stared at the screen, lost in thought. Then he spoke.
"I have a question for you all."
The scholar looked around at the agents.
"What's the strangest thing about this case?"
Park Do-hyun answered first.
"The anomaly's destructive power. To kill humans that instantly, in such varied ways? At least B-grade."
Kim Ji-eun followed.
"CCTV interference. Anomalies directly messing with footage is rare. Physical destruction plus info disruption at once..."
"Traits of a high-grade anomaly."
Kwon Tae-ho nodded.
"But that's not the strangest part."
The scholar pointed at the screen. Crime scene photo.
"The real oddity is the 'intent'."
"Intent?"
Han So-young asked.
Kwon Tae-ho pointed to the photo of the folding knife.
"The victims had knives. Typical street thugs. They picked the fight, probably tried to rob him or something."
He pointed to the blurry young man's photo.
"So this man unleashed the anomaly. Killed all four. But..."
Kwon Tae-ho turned.
"He let the witness who ran go."
The briefing room went quiet.
"Think about it. Controlling a B-grade or higher anomaly. Killing a witness would've been nothing. But he didn't. Why?"
Seo Jin-hyeok answered.
"No need. Killed only those who started trouble, left the bystander alone. Meaning..."
"Exactly."
Kwon Tae-ho nodded.
"This isn't frenzy or indiscriminate attack. It's thoroughly 'controlled' violence."
"Couldn't the anomaly have judged on its own?"
Han So-young asked.
"If it has intelligence, it could assess the situation..."
"That's the issue."
Kwon Tae-ho tapped the floor lightly with his cane.
"The more intelligent the anomaly, the less it obeys human commands. They have pride. Vampires, Imemangryang—high-grades see humans as food or toys, not masters."
The scholar's eyes deepened.
"But this is different. That anomaly moved on human intent. Killed only who it was meant to, spared who it was meant to. Like..."
Silence fell.
"Like a loyal hunting dog."
Kwon Tae-ho returned to his seat.
"In sixty years of Special Division history, no such case. Humans eaten by anomalies, fused with them, possessed by them... sure. But a human 'controlling' an anomaly? A high-grade one?"
The scholar shook his head.
"No record."
Seo Jin-hyeok asked.
"How should we respond?"
Kwon Tae-ho pondered briefly.
"Not enough intel. Who the man is, what the anomaly is, their relation. We know nothing."
He looked back at the screen. The blurry man's photo.
"Grading's tough too. Destructive power says B-grade or higher, but factoring in 'human control'..."
Kwon Tae-ho narrowed his eyes.
"Might need to classify as A-grade."
"A-grade?"
Murmurs rippled through the agents.
A-grade. Capable of disaster-level damage. Three in Korea's history. Dozens of agents died each time.
Kwon Tae-ho raised a hand to quiet them.
"Not confirmed yet. But prepare."
Seo Jin-hyeok nodded.
"Requesting tracking team formation approval."
"Approved."
Kwon Tae-ho said.
"No contact, though. Report sightings only. Intel first."
"Understood."
Seo Jin-hyeok looked at his team.
"Park Do-hyun, Kim Ji-eun, Han So-young. You three with me. Rest on rear support. Questions?"
Park Do-hyun raised his hand.
"Tracking range?"
"Start with Gangnam area. He spent over two hours at that pork belly place—means he might have a spot nearby."
Kim Ji-eun asked.
"CCTV interference makes tracking hard. How?"
Seo Jin-hyeok glanced at Han So-young.
"With So-young's ability."
Han So-young nodded.
Some Special Division agents had 'abilities'. Powers gained from anomaly contact or exposure. One of Han So-young's let her sense traces left where anomalies passed.
"I'll start around Gangnam Station. A grade like that would've left strong afterimages."
"Good."
Seo Jin-hyeok stood.
"We move tonight. Prep yourselves."
The agents rose and left the briefing room.
Only Kwon Tae-ho remained. The scholar muttered at the screen.
"A human wielding an anomaly..."
The blurry man's photo lingered on the screen.
"What the hell are you?"
Ian sat by the convenience store window.
A cup ramen sat on the plastic table. Steam rose gently. Beside it, two triangle kimbaps and a can of cola.
Ian picked up chopsticks and slurped noodles.
Slurp.
Hot broth slid down his throat. Salty, spicy flavor. That instant MSG umami.
'Missed this too.'
No hot food in the Backrooms. Everything cold or lukewarm. Couldn't make fire—smoke drew anomalies.
So for tens of thousands of years, only cold stuff. Rotten fruit, anomaly flesh, occasional mushroom-like finds. All cold, slimy, revolting.
But now.
Hot ramen warming his gut.
Ian chewed slowly, swallowed slowly. No rush. Savoring the taste, the warmth.
Through the glass, the street. Nighttime Seoul. Neon signs glowing, people passing, cars driving by.
Ian watched the scene as he ate.
'Peaceful.'
He meant it.
In the Backrooms, tension never eased. Sleeping, eating, walking. Always alert, always ready. Or die.
But here, different.
No attacks while eating ramen. No anomalies lunging from outside. Just peaceful meal.
How precious this normalcy was—he, twenty-five-year-old Ian from tens of thousands of years ago, never knew.
Now he did.
'Still...'
Ian sipped the broth, thinking.
'Did I go overboard last night?'
Killing four thugs. No guilt. They started it, pulled knives. Reaped what they sowed.
Problem was the 'method'.
Too brutal. Too flashy. Such deaths rare here. People would make noise, police move.
'Gotta be careful from now on.'
Ian glanced at his shadow. Under the fluorescent lights, a faint shadow pooled. Something writhed inside.
"Hold back for a while."
No reply. Instead, the shadow rippled once.
"This isn't the Backrooms. Can't act reckless here."
The shadow sank, subdued.
Ian smirked.
'It's adapting in its own way.'
The thing in the shadow. 'Null'. Longest companion from the Backrooms. Transparent body, space-warping ability, and... childlike personality.
First one Ian tamed.
Fought long, won, made submit. Since then, loyal subordinate. Or less 'subordinate', more 'pet'.
"Want some ramen?"
Ian teased.
The shadow surged eagerly.
"Kidding."
The shadow wilted again.
Ian laughed, finishing the broth.
A patrol car passed outside. Lots of police around. Probably ramped up after last night.
He tossed trash and left the store.
Night air cool. Streetlights lit the way. Hands in pockets, Ian walked slowly.
Wanting to feel this street, this night, this world.
A few blocks in, he felt eyes on his back.
Ian didn't stop.
But his senses sharpened.