The Calculating Killer (3)
“Why is that bastard acting like that?”
He looked a little different from the Kim Hyunsung I knew.
Hyunsung almost never showed what he was feeling. The only time he’d really let it slip was when he first discovered Jung Hayan, and even then it had lasted no longer than a fleeting instant.
What?
For a moment I wondered if he had somehow noticed what had happened to Park Hye-young, but the person Kim Hyunsung was looking at wasn’t me, nor Jung Hayan.
He was definitely looking at Jung Jinho.
This was a first, too.
He wasn’t channeling mana or anything, but the hostility in his eyes was unmistakable.
A wary expression. A guarded gaze. His hands and feet seemed to tremble a little, and above all, his face had gone unnaturally still.
He knows him.
Kim Hyunsung definitely knew Jung Jinho.
Of course, I had no way of knowing how. If I had to make the simplest possible guess, it was far more likely they’d been entangled in some ugly business in a future I knew nothing about.
Kim Hyunsung didn’t have the ability to see other people’s status windows like I did.
He wasn’t wary of Jung Jinho because he could somehow read the man’s nature and see that he was a calculating killer, the same way I could. No—he felt disgust and hostility toward Jung Jinho as a person.
Even after some time passed, Hyunsung continued to study him carefully.
It would’ve been awkward enough for Jung Jinho to be standing there with his hand out for a handshake, but he was simply smiling brightly as he looked at Hyunsung.
If I hadn’t known what kind of person he was, I might have mistaken him for a decent, friendly guy.
Seeing Hyunsung look a little dazed, I tapped his arm and spoke.
“Hyunsung.”
“Ah… I’m sorry. My name is Kim Hyunsung.”
The moment their hands briefly met, the sight caught my eye.
For some reason, Jung Jinho’s tightly clenched fist kept standing out to me.
Killers… a killer, huh.
Jung Jinho’s nature: a calculating killer.
The subtle standoff that had existed until Hyunsung arrived.
Hyunsung’s reaction upon seeing Jung Jinho.
There were all kinds of ways to interpret it.
These were the conclusions you might draw if you assumed Jung Jinho was a psychopathic murderer.
The first possibility was that Jung Jinho had killed Kim Hyunsung, or people close to him.
The second was that Hyunsung had merely heard rumors or stories about him, without ever meeting him directly.
The first possibility was relatively low. If someone had tried to kill me—or murdered my friends—and Hyunsung was still capable of looking that self-controlled, I’d call him a saint, not a pushover.
By my standards, he was still close to a saint even now, but that had nothing to do with this.
Maybe he was also aware of our eyes—mine, Park Deokgu’s, Jung Hayan’s, and everyone else inside. If that was the case, then he was probably mentally shredding Jung Jinho to pieces dozens of times over.
I would’ve done the same.
“Allow me to introduce myself once more. I’m Jung Jinho. I’ve heard a lot about you from Seokwoo. I heard you were managing this shelter….”
“I just happened to come across some survivors.”
“I also heard you’ve been working hard to continue rescue efforts.”
“Ah. Yes….”
“You really do seem to be remarkable. I’ve heard from Seokwoo over and over that you’re a strong man, but… you’re even stronger than I expected. May I ask what your stats are?”
That useless Yoo Seokwoo hadn’t left out a single word.
“I’m afraid I can’t really tell you.”
“Ah! Of course, if it’s uncomfortable, you don’t have to say anything. We came from the Start Point a fair distance away from here. We couldn’t find any survivors there, so while wandering around by chance, we found Seokwoo.”
“I see.”
“Yes. As I was telling Ki-young earlier, I never imagined there would be so many survivors here.”
Kim Hyunsung’s expression didn’t change.
No wariness, no hostility. Just his usual face.
I’d thought he’d gotten used to hiding his emotions after suffering through this sort of bullshit once already, but he was more composed than I’d expected.
I didn’t know why someone like him bothered to take care of the people around him like some gullible doormat, but surely some past I didn’t know about was dragging on him.
I take back my earlier thought that the first possibility was relatively unlikely.
Kim Hyunsung was more practiced at controlling his emotions than I’d given him credit for. Even so, I personally wanted to give more weight to the second conclusion.
Rumors or stories about Jung Jinho.
Jung Jinho’s potential was absurdly high—so high it felt like it could punch through the ceiling.
To put it in game terms, he’d basically already laid the groundwork here for becoming a top ranker later on.
Even Mind’s Eye judged him to have a high probability of growth.
And if I took his temperament into account, then he was probably the kind of man who would become a notorious murderer or criminal someday.
He would’ve caused a real stir in the world.
My second conclusion was that Kim Hyunsung, who would one day become a big name himself, had either heard of or seen Jung Jinho—someone who was also bound to become famous for all the wrong reasons in the future.
Of course, there was also the possibility that their positions were reversed, but given their natures, that seemed very unlikely.
It was hard to imagine Kim Hyunsung with a face that enjoyed killing people.
“If it’s not too much trouble, would it be all right if we stayed here as well?”
“…….”
“We also brought food with us. I think it should be enough for everyone to share for a few days. Of course, if Hyunsung and the others don’t want that….”
After a brief pause, Kim Hyunsung nodded.
“Not at all. Survivors are always welcome. I’ll help guide you.”
“Ah. Thank you.”
I thought it was an unexpected choice.
“Deokgu, why don’t you and Ms. Ji-hye guide these people….”
“Hyung. Is that really all right? Just now, we….”
“It’s fine, Deokgu. If anything happens, call me right away.”
“Urgh. If Hyung says so, then… Everyone, follow me. It’s not exactly a comfortable place to live, but it’s better than wandering around outside.”
Kim Hyunsung’s choice was unexpected, but it was also reasonable.
Even he knew that if someone was an enemy, you should keep them closer.
And personally, I welcomed that.
If Jung Jinho had just been a crazed psychopath, it would’ve been better not to let him in here, but after Hyunsung appeared, the way he’d lowered his tail made me think he was the calculating type.
Maybe even a little sly.
The sense of foreboding I’d felt earlier, that subtle atmosphere, was already gone from him.
He’d decided there was no chance of winning against Kim Hyunsung and taken a step back. Though I suppose it was also possible that he’d never intended to attack me or Park Deokgu in the first place, the unease I’d felt before Hyunsung arrived had been real.
Thank you.
Even so, I was deeply grateful to him.
My mouth curled upward on its own, and a smile spread across my face.
If he was the calculating type, then I could make use of him somehow.
I can use this. I can definitely use this situation.
It was a little abrupt, sure, but it wasn’t bad. No—maybe I was the luckiest person on earth.
The thought that I might have died a moment ago had already vanished from my head.
Thanks a lot, you bastard Jung Jinho.
Depending on how you looked at it, his appearance here was an enormous stroke of luck for me.
When I turned my head slightly, Kim Hyunsung came into view.
His expression looked a bit blank.
“Let’s go in together, Hyunsung.”
“I’ll go in a little later. Please go ahead first.”
He looked like he had a great deal on his mind.
So did I.
But I had to keep this conversation going a little longer.
It would be more effective that way.
“Did you know him?”
“Ah.”
“You looked like you recognized him, so I thought I’d ask.”
He seemed to consider it for a moment, then nodded and continued.
“I suppose you could say I know him a little. That man probably doesn’t know me, though. We only crossed paths once, very briefly, a long time ago….”
“Ah, so you had that kind of connection.”
“It’s hardly a connection. We literally just passed by each other. As for Jung Jinho….”
“Of course, I won’t say anything.”
The most important thing in counseling is keeping secrets.
With an expression that pretended to be utterly unconcerned, I opened my mouth again.
First, the formalities.
My words seemed to remind him that he’d overstepped, because he hurriedly responded. His wandering mind seemed to have returned to him at last.
“I thought you’d be all right, but you really did make it back. As expected, you’re incredible.”
“No. I was just lucky. It was a bit difficult, but… I managed to take a long detour and come back safely. Come to think of it, Ki-young, that’s a relief too. You didn’t have any trouble getting back here, did you?”
“Actually, I have something to tell you about that.”
“Yes?”
“Ms. Hye-young is dead.”
If I was going to get hit anyway, better to take the blow first.
Besides, with my head already about to split open over the Jung Jinho problem, this was the most rational moment to bring it up.
His face showed a bit of shock, but perhaps he was used to death; he slowly nodded.
Fortunately, he didn’t seem to suspect me.
As I’d guessed from his earlier question about whether anything had gone wrong, Kim Hyunsung hadn’t seen Park Hye-young’s body.
“I see. How…?”
“Magic.”
“Pardon?”
“It was magic of unknown origin.”
“Magic?”
“Yes.”
“I’m sure of it. I can’t judge the exact nature of it yet since my level is still too low, but it was definitely magic. I don’t know whether any residual mana remains….”
“Ah….”
“While Deokgu and I were taking a different route, we realized that Hayan and Hye-young had been separated from us. I was in the middle of chanting a spell myself, so I couldn’t precisely figure out what was happening around us. At the time, just maintaining the spell I’d cast was all I could manage….”
“I see.”
“When I finally went back to look, I found Ms. Hye-young dying with her limbs severed. I also thought I could feel some sort of magical interference nearby… I was able to find Hayan somehow, but… it seemed like she didn’t know the full story either.”
“You mean her limbs were severed?”
“Yes. Her arms and legs had been cut off. I think it was probably some kind of dungeon trap….”
There is no trap.
And the man who knew that chewed over my words once again.
“A trap….”
“Yes. I wanted to bring Ms. Hye-young’s body back with me, but things were so chaotic that I couldn’t… I figured it would be better to burn her than let the monsters eat her. So….”
He would understand what I meant.
I had burned Park Hye-young’s body.
“Ah. I see. That must have been hard for you.”
It was better to be as sincere as possible.
The situation was different from yesterday.
Because a much more proper suspect had finally shown up, instead of our sweet, innocent, and hopelessly naive Jung Hayan.
Once again, I muttered to myself.
Thanks, magic swordsman Jung Jinho.
The culprit had already been decided.
Psychopathic murderer Jung Jinho. That bastard was the culprit.