Slaughtered by Her Daughter's Boyfriend (Part 2)
Are they thugs?
Having just finished my meal, any sudden or heavy exertion was bound to upset my stomach. If possible, I wanted to avoid an altercation.
【No. Glancing at the identification inside their coats, they are civil servants—police officers. Judging by their attire and bearing, they appear to be detectives.】
Things are taking a strange turn.
【The fact that Seo Dongho's scent clings so heavily to these detectives must mean...】
Yeah. It means they were close enough to call each other brothers. But there's no way they could mobilize this quickly.
【It does not appear they are moving with a specific target in mind.】
The burner phone I had used to contact Seo Dongho had already been discarded on my way here. Besides, it was something I'd lifted off a delinquent smoking in an alleyway, so there was no reason to lose sleep over it.
Come to think of it...
A small picture frame had been hanging on one side of the diner. It was a photograph of a uniformed officer standing side by side with a middle-aged woman who looked to be the restaurant's owner.
I hadn't bothered to ask about it while eating; after all, today's meal was the first time I had ever exchanged words with her.
Could he be the owner's son?
【It seems the police have merely come to eat, bringing along a newly assigned rookie,】 Changgwi reported. 【The detectives are saying this set-meal diner is their regular spot. They mentioned that a former junior colleague was the son of this shop's proprietress.】
"Phew..."
I exhaled a quiet breath of relief. Even so, a single question nagged at the back of my mind.
Was the food simply being delicious truly the only reason they frequented a diner run by the parents of a former colleague? These detectives heading this way were far from ordinary cops. They reeked of Seo Dongho.
It's worth keeping an eye on them. Changgwi.
【Yes, Big Brother.】
Latch onto whichever bastard among them smells most strongly of Seo Dongho.
【Understood, Big Brother.】
The shadow beneath my feet lengthened across the pavement. Its outer edge unfurled slender tentacles like a sea anemone nestled among coral reefs, primed to cling to anything that brushed past.
While we prepared, my eyes locked with the group of detectives emerging from the alley.
They paid me little mind, giving only a casual nod as they brushed past. I returned the nod and began to turn my head away.
"Excuse me."
A voice called out from behind—one of the detectives in the group. Slowly, I looked back.
The man who had addressed me wore a slick, distinctly roguish demeanor across his face and posture.
"Yes?" I responded naturally.
"Is that takeout spicy pork?"
"Pardon?"
"No, it's just that the boss lady always said she never packs takeout for the spicy pork."
"Ah..."
While I feigned a clumsy, disarming hesitation, a sliver of shadow slid seamlessly onto his heel. Using this flashy detective as a stepping stone, it would soon migrate to whoever carried the thickest stench of Seo Dongho.
"I couldn't finish it all, so I asked her to wrap up my leftovers."
"Ah! She lets you do that? Didn't know that was an option. Haha, thanks!"
With that utterly mundane exchange concluded, we went our separate ways.
Upon returning to my lodgings, I picked up our conversation with Eun Sunhui where we had left off.
"Ms. Eun Sunhui, what will it be? Option one or option two? You don't have to follow the choices I laid out earlier to the letter. I'll execute him however you desire. Those were merely examples. Do you want him dead instantly, or should I subject him to prolonged agony before he dies?"
"Option one? All right, good. I'll do it right away, but before that piece of trash dies, is there anything you want to say to him?"
"Like telling him you'll stab him to death yourself when you cross paths in the afterlife."
Every spirit in the broadcast hung on my words.
"Yeah. As long as you can manage to meet, sure. But most can't actually go through with it."
I explained in a measured tone.
"Your grudge might feel all-consuming right now, but once you realize the perpetrator is dead too, a strange sort of post-clarity sets in. Besides, no matter how many times you murder someone in the underworld, all you can inflict is the physical agony of bodily harm; you can't impart any other kind of pain—like the hollow devastation their living family would suffer."
"Well, there are people like that. But they're a tiny minority, which is why I pointed it out. Now then, Ms. Eun Sunhui. Before I carry out the execution, is there any message you wish to leave?"
I locked my gaze onto the chat stream. Other comments scrolled past in rapid succession, but nothing came from HackedByDaughtersBoyfriend.
"Then I'll just carry it out as is."
I filled a ceramic bowl with tap water. Watching the ripples settle, I offered a silent prayer.
In the ancient Middle East, a certain man instructed people to fill stone jars with water and transmuted it into wine. Turning ordinary tap water into consecrated water of purification was not fundamentally different.
Finishing the prayer, I hovered my hand over the bowl—filled to roughly eighty percent—and sliced my fingertip with the edge of a blade. A sharp sting flared. The parted skin flushed deep crimson, and a bead of blood quickly welled up.
Drip.
A single droplet struck the purified water. As it fell, a crimson halo bloomed and drifted lazily across the surface.
"Let my blood become a hand that blots out the heavens, twisting Jeong Huidan's torso until he sheds tears of atonement."
The moment the spoken incantation was invoked, the surface of the water rippled in violent resonance.
"Hands of Daeryeok Geosan, hunt Jeong Huidan and twist him apart."
The moment I uttered those low words, the studio apartment's floor stained pitch-black. The darkness pooling along the floorboards surged straight up the walls, swallowing the entire room all the way to the ceiling.
【Well now, to think Seungchan Geosa would summon me in person.】
Daeryeok Geosan. Changgwi is already heading to the location, so coordinate with him and package the target nicely.
【I wonder what tribute our esteemed Geosa intends to grant me this time. I am filled with great anticipation.】
A human sacrifice is out of the question. A grudge crystal should suffice, shouldn't it?
【Tsk. Surely Geosa knows how sweet the blood of the living tastes.】
If you don't care for it, I can simply call upon another entity. Don't delude yourself into thinking I have no alternatives, Daeryeok Geosan.
【Khmm! I merely spoke out of joy at visiting the mortal realm after so long, so pray do not take offense, Geosa!】
Instead, I'll prepare a Pure Grudge Crystal for you.
【Ha! As expected, Geosa truly knows how to command us lowly spirits!】
A thunderous laugh shook the air before vanishing without a trace.
"Phew..."
A wave of dizziness spun the room around me. I sank heavily onto the edge of the bed.
Calling upon an entity residing on the Other Shore always drained a tremendous amount of energy.
"Ms. Eun Sunhui."
"Do you have any final words you want to leave for your husband?"
"Once you ascend, you won't even be able to appear in his dreams."
Eun Sunhui shared the message she wished to leave for her husband. I nodded slowly.
"Right. Once people cross over into the underworld, even Asians turn surprisingly Hollywood about these things."
A soft chuckle slipped past my lips.
"Also, is there some secret code between you two so he'll actually listen to me? Some private secret known only to the two of you. If I just show up out of the blue claiming I'm here to pass along a message from Eun Sunhui, he'll write me off as a lunatic."
Eun Sunhui's voice trailed off into an embarrassed hesitation. What kind of secret could there possibly be between a long-married couple? I was already starting to regret asking.
"A safe word?"
Micheon Prison.
By far the largest privately operated correctional facility in the country—a veritable cradle of criminals.
"3427. Step out."
With lights-out approaching, a guard called out Inmate 3427.
3427 was Jeong Huidan—the murderer who had savagely butchered a mother and her daughter.
"..."
Following the guard's order, Jeong Huidan stepped out of his cell. He stood silently in the corridor with his lips firmly sealed, holding his hands forward in wait. The guard clamped handcuffs onto his wrists and spun him around.
"We're heading to the shower room."
"...?"
Jeong Huidan's brow furrowed.
Why the hell go to the shower room when we could just meet in the VIP attorney visitation suite?
He licked his lips, a sly grin creeping across his mouth.
A moment later, upon arriving at the entrance of the shower facility, the guard unfastened the cuffs.
"I'll be back in twenty minutes. Handle your business."
"..."
Jeong Huidan nodded slightly and walked inside. The lights were out, so he paused to let his vision adjust to the dark before advancing.
The faint moonlight seeping through the high exterior windows was not bright, but it was enough to discern the room's interior.
"Ah... Fuck, finally get to relieve some pressure. Being shoved in with all those petty lowlifes was driving me up the wall."
Jeong Huidan stripped off his prison uniform.
"I asked for a tall chick with D-cups, so she'd better be good. Cost me a whole damn coin just to call one in... Ugh, shit. Once the appellate court hands down a suspended sentence, I'm holing up at home and ordering call girls around the clock. Living like this is driving me out of my fucking mind."
He turned on the shower. As the hot water cascaded down his body, a pleasant languor washed over his muscles.
"Whew... Haven't had any in a while, so if I go too crazy right away, I might slip a disc."
Jeong Huidan chuckled to himself.
A cavernous, booming voice reverberated mercilessly through the tiled room. The sound bounced off the wet walls with such force that it created the terrifying illusion of multiple voices speaking in unison.
"W-Who's there?! Gasp!"
The instant the demand tore from his throat, his arms were wrenched violently above his head by an invisible force. His stretched limbs locked rigid in midair, completely immobilized by an intangible foreign power.
His brief panic was swiftly overtaken by sheer, vicious indignation, and Jeong Huidan shrieked hysterically at the top of his lungs:
"Do you have any idea who the fuck I am?! My uncle is the leader of the ruling party, you motherfucker-r-r-r!"
Snap—!
Crrr-uuuunnnch!
In tandem with his scream, Jeong Huidan's body was wrung out like a soaking wet towel twisted between colossal hands.
"Ugh..."
Evidently, that single, crushing twist had not killed him outright; a feeble groan leaked from between his teeth.
Craaaack!
Once more, his arms and legs rotated in opposite directions. This time, death claimed him entirely; not even the faintest whimper escaped his mangled throat.
Jeong Huidan remained suspended in midair, like a rag whose every last drop of moisture had been wrung dry—his broken frame bowed slightly at both ends like a dried-out banana.
There were now two Jeong Huidans in that shower room: the hollowed husk floating in the empty air, and the grotesque pool of blood, gore, and ruptured viscera saturating the tiled floor—the only evidence that he had ever walked this earth.
And then—
"Kyaaaaah!"
Flipping on the shower room light as she walked in, a woman clad in provocative escort attire let out a bloodcurdling scream, announcing Jeong Huidan's gruesome demise to the world.