Chapter 13

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Translator: True Detective

Chapter: 12

Chapter Title: Missing Persons Case Resolved

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"Please... stop..."

Finally begging for mercy after getting beaten half to death.

The Melody Recorder's entire body—everything except its head—had been crushed and compressed into a warped LP record.

I shoved it fully into the compressor and pulled the lever one last time.

Its favorability had finally plummeted to minus 120%, leaving the Melody Recorder compressed into something unrecognizable.

All that remained was a single monstrous LP record.

A fitting end for the monster that had kidnapped countless children and turned them into records.

Crack!

I smashed the LP in half to prevent any resurrection, then punched the hydraulic press to smithereens so no one with malicious intent could ever pull this insane stunt again.

No matter who came here harboring evil, they'd never kidnap people and turn them into LPs again.

A quest completion alert popped up, along with a small sum of cash and a tiny cassette tape as drops.

The money looked to be about 300,000 won, and the cassette wasn't ordinary—it was an item from the game.

I remembered it restored nearly full mental strength over the course of a day when used after a monster drained it to the brink. It had a cooldown but could be reused indefinitely, making it near-OP and super rare—didn't drop often. Guess the increased drop rate is paying off here.

"Darling, I safely moved the girl to the elevator."

"Good work. Thanks to you, it was a lot easier. Now help me carry these out."

"Yes! Sounds good!"

The White-Faced Bride and I—who had safely carried Han Ye-rim to the elevator—gathered the resentment-filled records scattered on the floor and neatly packed them into boxes.

Leaving them here would only let the grudge fester without them finding peace.

So we had to take all the children's lingering spirits trapped here back up with us.

"Think that's all of them?"

"I checked every deep corner. This should be everything, Darling..."

We ended up with eight boxes of LPs.

After scouring the factory inside and out, no more turned up.

"Mind grabbing that hand truck over there?"

"That one? One sec!"

I loaded the boxes onto the hand truck abandoned in the corner of the factory.

Now we were done with this damp, creepy hellhole.

"Thanks to you, we wrapped up quick. Great job. Let's head out."

"Yes, you worked hard too, Darling."

The White-Faced Bride, beaming from my praise, pulled the hand truck with me toward the elevator.

The Elevator Girl, who'd been holding the door open for nearly two hours, welcomed us back.

"You're back safe..."

"Thanks for waiting."

"N-No big deal..."

The Elevator Girl shyly bowed her head and smiled at my thanks.

I asked the White-Faced Bride to hoist Han Ye-rim, who was sprawled on the elevator floor, onto her back.

With her laid out like that, the elevator was too cramped to fit the hand truck properly.

"That's everything. Let's head up."

"Okay... Third floor it is..."

The Elevator Girl confirmed we were all aboard and hit the button for the third floor, where the office was.

Our bodies floated upward as we left the hidden world behind and returned to reality.

"Huh...?"

"Looks like these guys are ascending too..."

As the elevator rose, the LPs in the boxes began dissolving into wisps of light, one by one.

Since the children's spirits had taken LP form, they were naturally finding peace upon returning to the real world.

The sight of countless souls fading into light was quite mystical.

First level up since dropping into this world.

No experience multiplier mode, apparently—levels come slower than expected.

Then again, 10x stats are plenty strong already.

I'll allocate stats and pick a skill once everything's wrapped up.

-Ding-dong

-Third floor. Third floor.

The elevator soon reached the third floor. The White-Faced Bride, I, and the seemingly sleeping Han Ye-rim stepped out.

"See you next time..."

"Yeah, until next time. Thanks for today."

"Sure... Take care..."

The Elevator Girl couldn't come with us.

Her domain was down there. We couldn't just let the gatekeeper who kept kids from drifting into the hidden world step out on a whim.

"Hmph... She's too cute. I don't like her."

"Don't be so jealous. She helped us out."

"Fine. Hmph..."

The White-Faced Bride grumbled about not liking the Elevator Girl but didn't pick a fight outright.

I knew that was her holding back a lot, given her jealousy.

"Now that we've found Ye-rim, time to call Mr. Han Kang-rok."

I needed to contact the Anomaly Management Department too. And let Ms. Kim Se-eun know.

"Mmm..."

"Oh? Awake?"

Just then, Han Ye-rim opened her eyes.

"Where... Ah, aaah! Aaaaah!!!"

She spotted the White-Faced Bride's face and passed out again.

"Ah."

"Why... whatever did I..."

Obviously 'cause you're terrifying.

The White-Faced Bride only looked adjusted to me.

Recalling the World of Doom Gallery reactions to her photo, others saw her as the game's hideous monster.

To me, she was just a stunning woman in mourning clothes with a killer figure. But to others, she was a nightmare monster.

Same with the Elevator Girl. Cute kid to me, but a horror ghost to everyone else.

"Could you return to the ring for now?"

"Got it, Darling... Hng..."

The White-Faced Bride, crushed that Han Ye-rim fainted at her face, slunk back into the ring with a dejected look.

Can't be helped. Monsters are monsters. They can't fully mingle with humans—except with me.

Han Ye-rim was breaking out in cold sweats, like she was having a nightmare.

A closer look showed her condition was pretty rough.

Makes sense after days kidnapped by a monster.

I popped the Recording of Reverse Root Washing Sutra into the office's old cassette player and hit play.

A stream of mumbled dialect poured from the player, and Han Ye-rim's expression soon normalized.

That took care of mental stabilization and recovery.

"Ah, hello? Yes, Mr. Han Kang-rok. Fixer Lee Do-hyun here. We've found your daughter. Oh, you're coming right away? Understood."

No sooner had I hung up than Mr. Han Kang-rok burst into the Fixer Office ten minutes later, hair a mess, practically flying.

"Hah... hah... Wh-Where's Ye-rim?"

"Right here, sleeping. She'll wake soon."

"Ah... aaaah... Ye-rim!"

Mr. Han Kang-rok rushed over and hugged his sleeping daughter.

Apparently, no mother in the picture, so he'd been negligent.

Too busy with work, he'd neglected family—he sobbed apologies to her for a good while.

"It's not your fault, sir. The world's just gone mad."

"Thank you... How can I ever repay you..."

"No need. It's all paid work. ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠Your thanks can go toward the fee."

"Got it. Truly, I won't skimp."

"No, just pay what's listed here."

"P-Pardon? You're taking only this much...?"

I'd billed 300,000 won total for monster scouting and hidden world dispatch. He was shocked it was so little.

I could've gouged him for millions.

But why bother? Squeezing a single dad raising a kid alone didn't sit right.

Money's ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠best taken from those who have it. Forcing it from the broke brings bad karma.

Plus, I'd already pocketed 300,000 quest reward tax-free, and the Anomaly Management Department would pay example gold.

"Our office just opened officially, and you were our first client. So, service discount."

"Ah... My word..."

The man kept wiping his teary eyes and bowing repeatedly.

"Oh, and when Ye-rim wakes, get her a full checkup just in case. Probably fine, but you never know."

"Yes, will do. Definitely."

"Good, good. Head home and rest, Mr. Kang-rok."

He'd barely slept for days over her disappearance—dark circles down to his jaw.

Any more strain and he'd collapse, so I sent father and daughter home.

We'll cross paths again someday, maybe. Or better if we don't.

Needing a Fixer means life's hit a major snag.

For normal folks, better I stay out of sight.

"Whew, one case down."

I followed up with the Anomaly Management Department and Ye-rim's friend Se-eun.

Couldn't ID the other missing kids, but the Department said they'd handle cleanup.

They'll sort identities.

Se-eun thanked me profusely for returning her friend. Everything squared away.

"So, you won't say where you found the girl?"

"It's awkward. You wouldn't believe me anyway."

The cops showed up late, demanding an incident report and grilling me on Ye-rim's location.

Can't say "hidden world" or explain monsters easily. After wrangling with the two detectives awhile, their phones rang.

"Pardon? ...Understood. Case closed."

"Sorry for the hassle, Mr. Lee."

Anomaly Management Department pulled strings.

Government agency ought to have that pull.

Why you network with them.

"All done..."

Finally, some rest.

I'd been grinding hard these past days.

Still, 1.2 million example gold from the Department means I can slack awhile, right?

-Knock knock.

"...Yeah. Come in."

Case wrapped, about to nap—someone knocks.

"Namu Amida Butsu, observe Kwanseum Bosal. Long time no see, Fixer. No word, so I came in person."

The visitor was a bald-headed monk.