A More Special Death

"The official record just says they 'brutally murdered' their victims. But if you look at the actual investigation files, these things are demons. Not human. Not even close."

The fingertips of Lee Seo-hyun trembled, ever so slightly.

She steadied her breath and went on.

"Monsters like that walked free after barely twenty years, simply because they were minors. And the moment they got out, what did they do? Filed a marriage registration, then tried to adopt a child. Once they'd had their fun, they'd have disowned the kid or killed it. You can see it plain as day."

Furious, seething rage.

Tae-jun studied her in silence.

She's drunk on it.

She had immersed herself in realizing her own brand of justice through him. Not that it mattered. Evil could be smelled from a mile away, after all. As long as no innocent died by his hand, he would play along with her rhythm as long as she liked.

And it's true that I'm receiving her help.

His mind made up, Tae-jun gave a short reply.

"We'll do it with those two."

Twenty years ago, two demons had butchered a mother and her little daughter in their own home. In a way, they were trash cut from the same cloth as Tae-jun's ultimate targets—garbage that deserved nothing but annihilation.

His new prey had been chosen.

"⋯⋯."

That settled the business between them. A fleeting silence hung in the air.

"⋯⋯Is my father-in-law doing well?"

Rarely was it Tae-jun who broke the silence—but this time it was. He had apparently noticed how irritantly he'd been reacting.

"You're awfully quick to ask."

Lee Seo-hyun let out a soft laugh.

"He's doing okay, all things considered. As for you, hyungbu, he just thinks it was a dream. Oh, and—our dad says he's sorry, even though ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠he believes it was a dream. His son-in-law finally came back after all these years, and all he could tell him was to stop tormenting his second daughter. He said it must be hardest on you, Ki Tae-jun, saying it like that⋯⋯."

"⋯⋯."

"⋯⋯I'll just tell him you're doing well. That should do it, right?"

A belated regret on her part—but too late to take back. All she could do was smooth it over somehow.

"W-well, there is a good side to it too."

"⋯⋯."

"Until recently, my father kept suffering in his dreams—kept seeing the bastards who did that to our So-hee. His liver's failing, but that stubborn mind of his just wouldn't quit, and he ground through more than a decade of it on pills⋯⋯. But ever since you visited, hyungbu, he says the dreams stopped."

"⋯⋯."

"He's off his medication now, sleeping without sleeping pills. He's doing fine, isn't he? More than fine."

"So it seems."

Another awkward silence circled the room. Finally, unable to bear it any longer, she murmured her goodbye as she fled toward the door of the officetel.

"Um⋯⋯ anyway. Looking forward to more good news this time too."

"Would you look at those view counts. At this rate we're actually hitting a hundred thousand subscribers, aren't we?"

A two-room officetel in Bucheon. Kang Hyun-ho snickered as he shoved his phone screen toward Lee Ji-young's face.

It was the video they'd uploaded a few days earlier—A Sincere Apology to the Bereaved Family. On screen, the two of them were on their knees, drenched in tears and snot, begging for forgiveness.

Of course, it was all shameless, revolting acting.

"The comments are on fire, huh?"

"So what? Those bastards wouldn't dare look us in the eye in real life anyway. What actually matters is⋯⋯."

"⋯⋯This. ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠Right here. Can't you see the money rolling in?"

Kang Hyun-ho, thirty-five years old now, took a long drag on his cigarette and grinned, flush with triumph. Twenty years ago or today, the creature was closer to beast than man—closer still to a rabid dog.

"Adoption, all that bullshit—it was a waste of time anyway."

"Exactly. The world's changed so much in twenty years, hasn't it?"

"If I'd known this, I never would've gone to prison. What a colossal waste of time."

"Well, if you'd only killed the kid, it would've been fifteen years."

"Hey, honestly—how was I supposed to resist an opportunity like that?"

"⋯⋯You absolute psycho."

"You're not exactly normal yourself, living with me."

Kang Hyun-ho stubbed his cigarette out carelessly on the desk. Then, eyes glued to his phone, he muttered on.

"Hmmm. We should strike while the iron's hot—do something more. Got anything bigger?"

"What are you planning now⋯⋯."

Lee Ji-young answered with an irritated voice, but Kang Hyun-ho's eyes were already flashing with a fresh idea.

"⋯⋯Let's start a livestream. Right now."

"What? Now? Why all of a sudden?"

"I've got a feeling. You have that black dress, right?"

"I do, but⋯⋯."

"Go put it on. We're doing a national apology broadcast."

"What kind of ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠lunatic nonsense is that?"

"Just trust me. This bait is going to hook them so hard, I'm telling you."

"Ha⋯⋯ you really are insane⋯⋯."

Cursing him all the while, Lee Ji-young still nodded reluctantly. This madman was as impossible to stop now as he'd been twenty years ago.

"This is the one you want me to wear?"

"Yeah. Grab my suit too."

And so, a man and a woman stood in black suit and black mourning dress, exactly as Kang Hyun-ho willed it. They started the livestream on a smartphone.

The title read: [Emergency Live: A National Apology Broadcast — We Are Truly Sorry.]

"⋯⋯."

First, they waited with their hands folded reverently. One hundred viewers. Five hundred. Eleven hundred. Twenty-seven hundred⋯⋯ They waited until the numbers piled up.

Then, the moment the count crossed five thousand—

"Hello, everyone. We are Kang Hyun-ho and Lee Ji-young, two people who deeply regret the mistakes of a reckless, foolish youth twenty years ago, and who have resolved to be reborn as new people."

"⋯⋯I am Lee Ji-young."

Pitiful expressions. Weak, faltering voices. Lee Ji-young, who had been complaining not ten minutes earlier, now hung her head low and sniffled convincingly.

"First⋯⋯ we would like to once again offer our sincerest apologies to the bereaved family, who still suffer because of us to this day."

"We're sorry. We are truly, truly sorry."

The moment the two of them began their performance of penance, the chat of the livestream—now swelling past twenty thousand viewers—erupted in an instant.

Curses and condemnation made up most of it, but messages of support and donations were mixed in here and there.

"The reason we're making this public apology, and renewing our vow of atonement, is—well—it's the baby growing in my wife's belly. Now that I'm about to become a father⋯⋯ the mistakes of my foolish youth shame me more than ever, and I've grown terrified the child might find out someday. And so—shamelessly, I know—we've found the courage to ask the people of this nation for just one more chance."

"Sob⋯⋯! Please, give us a chance. I will live earnestly as a mother to this child⋯⋯."

Just as their repulsive performance reached its crescendo, a substantial donation flashed across the chat.

"Ohhh—! Our big brother ThePastIsThePast! Thank you as always for taking care of us! We truly will live out our days in atonement!"

"Our ThePastIsThePast oppa! Thank you so, so much!"

For a while after that, the couple's acting only grew more polished, more ripe. They pledged more apologies to the bereaved family, promised charity work, vowed to donate their YouTube revenue⋯⋯

The viewer count was on the verge of breaking one hundred thousand. Just as Kang Hyun-ho's emergency broadcast was about to become the resounding success he'd envisioned—

"⋯⋯?"

Something strange happened.

The room, blazing bright under the broadcast lights, was swallowed—in a blink, in a truly imperceptible blink—by darkness.

And just as the chat of the hundred-thousand-strong stream began to boil over—

Crack!

With the sound of the broadcasting smartphone shattering, the livestream cut out. But the darkness that had devoured the entire area showed no intention of lifting.

"To the two of you—"

A voice drifted out from within that darkness.

"—I will grant a somewhat more special death."

A voice that sent chills down the spine at the mere sound of it.

Tae-jun revealed himself before the pair.

"Y-you—what the hell are you? Who the fuck are you⋯⋯—gahk!"

Tae-jun seized Kang Hyun-ho by the nape of his neck in an instant. Then, with a fingertip, he carved something into the man's forehead.

"KaaaAAAAAAGH⋯⋯!"

The agony of splitting flesh. At the end of that scream, a demonic sigil was complete—a brand that would force its bearer to live as a slave for all eternity, even after falling into Hell itself. A Slave Brand.

"You won't find rest even in death."

Swik!

Kang Hyun-ho's head was sheared off, clean as a whistle. The man, unable even to scream, crumbled into ash.

"S-s-s-save me! I'm pregnant—there's a baby inside me! Please, please, spare me⋯⋯!"

Though the darkness blinded her eyes, Lee Ji-young grasped the situation from the sounds alone. She pressed her forehead to the floor and begged, and begged, and begged.

"I only did what I was told! That bastard Kang Hyun-ho told me to, so I did! Back then, and now too—if I didn't, he'd have killed me as well⋯⋯!"

"Excuses won't save you. And—"

Tae-jun's hand closed around the nape of Lee Ji-young's neck. His glowing crimson eyes swept over her belly.

"—you have no child. That claim is a lie."

"No! No, I am—!"

Ssssshhhhk!

"KYAAAAAAAAAAH—!"

White-hot fingertips seared the brand into Lee Ji-young's forehead. Now not only Kang Hyun-ho, but Lee Ji-young as well would never know peace, even in death.

"Let go of me, you son of a biiiiitch—!"

Puk!

Her struggle ended there. His hand had pierced cleanly through her heart.

"Y-you⋯⋯ bas⋯⋯tard⋯⋯."

And so the two beasts, whose punishments had never matched the sins they'd committed, simply—

Pssssssssss⋯⋯

—dissolved into powder.

Thud!

All that remained at the scene was black powder. And two soul stones.

One Mid-tier and one Mid-High-tier, I'd say.

The soul stone left by Lee Ji-young was Mid-tier; the one from Kang Hyun-ho, Mid-High-tier. Fitting, for creatures whose erasure from existence was long overdue.

Crunch!

There was no reason to delay. Tae-jun devoured both soul stones on the spot, and the concentrated malice of the Mid-High-tier stone etched itself deep into his body and soul.

At last, his rank as a demon had climbed another step. That meant a meteoric rise in his physical capabilities—and, moreover—

I can now unlock a worthwhile authority.

There existed ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠one Lower-Middle authority that would prove useful in the days to come. Precisely the one he had intended to unlock the moment he became a Lower-Middle Demon—