Chapter 123
Chapter 123
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Translator: uly
Chapter: 123
Chapter Title: Back to the Beginning
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Inside the police station.
Lee Jae-hyun was sifting through information on An Do-hyun and Woo Kyung-hwan alongside Park Dae-hyung.
There weren't many leads.
Sure, clues related to this case were overflowing, but there was no reason to expect a ton of evidence from incidents that happened before this one.
Still, both men were plenty suspicious.
Of course they were.
These were guys who committed their crimes methodically.
Guys who didn't hesitate to commit additional crimes just to establish alibis.
It wouldn't be strange at all if they'd committed other offenses in the past.
‘Still... An Do-hyun seems the more likely suspect.’
When comparing the two, An Do-hyun was the one more likely to have pulled off a previous crime.
For starters, he was older.
Age might not seem crucial for committing crimes, but living longer generally meant more opportunities.
Statistically speaking, middle-aged An Do-hyun was a better bet than the still-young Woo Kyung-hwan.
That said, it didn't mean Woo Kyung-hwan was in the clear, so Lee Jae-hyun approached it carefully.
First up: checking their criminal records.
Woo Kyung-hwan had a deferred prosecution for assault on file.
Deferred prosecution—one of the lighter punishments—literally meant putting the indictment on hold.
It acknowledged the crime but took no further action.
Could've been because it was a first offense, or maybe the prosecutor at the time just didn't see the need to pursue it further...
Plenty of possibilities, but all in all, it wasn't weird for him to have an assault record.
An Do-hyun's file, though? That was odd.
"Clean as a whistle? Come on."
Park Dae-hyung frowned as he spoke.
Lee Jae-hyun nodded in agreement.
It would've made more sense if Woo Kyung-hwan had been clean.
The kid despised his mother's affair and killed because of it—no intent to murder random strangers.
A spotless record might've just meant he'd kept his nose clean enough to avoid one.
But An Do-hyun? No.
In the Gobong Mountain murder Woo Kyung-hwan committed, the victim died cleanly.
No excessive measures—just multiple bashes with a baseball bat, but those were post-mortem marks.
He'd aimed to kill quick and simple.
Heck, Lee Jae-hyun had seen the whole process firsthand through Serhen's ability.
The guy couldn't even properly meet his victims' eyes—just swung that bat clumsily.
He was used to handling baseball bats anyway, so he managed a clean kill despite it being his first murder.
But An Do-hyun was different.
He stared his victims right in the eyes, seemed to enjoy watching them suffer.
It felt less like he killed to end a life and more like he killed to savor the pain.
Thanks to that, Lee Jae-hyun had felt a strong wave of disgust watching through Serhen's visions.
And this An Do-hyun had zero record? Spotless?
"Either he's hidden it well, or he's been holding back until now and finally snapped all at once. Who knows."
Park Dae-hyung spoke again.
Lee Jae-hyun scratched his cheek and replied.
"Hidden it well, I'd bet."
Exploding all at once didn't fit—his demeanor was too calm, too practiced.
The attitude of someone who'd committed crimes big and small before.
If it'd been a pent-up burst, he wouldn't look so slick.
Park Dae-hyung let out a grunt of agreement.
The two kept digging through An Do-hyun and Woo Kyung-hwan's files a bit longer.
But nothing new turned up.
Finally, Lee Jae-hyun frowned.
‘I need to find a path forward.’
They couldn't waste time fumbling blindly.
Time to reset and pick a destination.
Where was the answer?
And just like before, he recalled that famous saying.
—When the answer isn't clear, go back to the beginning.
Yeah, time to return to square one.
He shot up from his seat.
"I'll be right back."
"Where to?"
"The substation."
Lee Jae-hyun answered Park Dae-hyung's question without missing a beat.
This case involved the Hanseong Police Substation from the start.
Lee Jae-hyun and Park Dae-hyung mostly stuck to the main station for on-site support, but the other four teams were assisting from the substation.
To go back to the beginning, he needed their help—hence the trip to Hanseong.
Park Dae-hyung dusted off his knees and stood.
"I'll come with."
"You got time?"
"What?"
"I'm just a sergeant—no one's gonna miss me. But you disappear, Inspector Park, and heads turn."
Lee Jae-hyun was a sergeant; Park Dae-hyung, an inspector.
Different ranks meant different responsibilities—his absence would be noticed quick.
Especially now, wrapping up after the arrests.
Rank mattered most not in the heat of the chase, but in planning or tying up loose ends.
But Park Dae-hyung just chuckled like it was ridiculous.
"What're you talking about? In this case, you're the bigger deal, not me. And cops make time to solve cases."
Lee Jae-hyun couldn't argue.
He was more central to this case than Park Dae-hyung.
And yeah, cops made time for breakthroughs.
He nodded silently and headed out.
* * *
Upon arriving at the Hanseong Police Substation, Lee Jae-hyun sought out Min Ji-hye right away.
She tossed a comment as he approached.
"Been a few days."
"Yeah. Things have been crazy—didn't even get a proper hello in."
"You need a chance to say hi first. Anyway, what's up?"
Min Ji-hye glanced between Lee Jae-hyun and the accompanying Park Dae-hyung.
Lee Jae-hyun cut straight to it.
"Digging deeper into An Do-hyun and Woo Kyung-hwan. Thinking they might've done something similar before."
"Hmm... Got it. How can I help?"
Min Ji-hye tilted her head, a bit puzzled by his suspicion of prior crimes.
But she saw him as a teammate.
She skipped her curiosity and asked her role.
No prying questions—just what she could do.
Grateful inwardly, Lee Jae-hyun spoke.
"You checked the BCI Outside records, Sergeant Min—so you'd know best. Anything stand out?"
He brought it up.
BCI Outside.
The community where An Do-hyun and Woo Kyung-hwan first connected.
Last time, they'd revisited the start of this case—Gobong Mountain.
But this wasn't wrapping there.
They were probing possible prior incidents.
So, not this case's origin, but their first meeting spot.
Was that the key?
Min Ji-hye nodded and cut in before he finished.
"Yeah, something caught my eye."
Park Dae-hyung stepped half a pace forward at her words.
Lee Jae-hyun's eyes sharpened on her.
Min Ji-hye eyed her monitor, clicked the mouse, and pulled up a new screen.
"Just in case, I sorted these separately. These are all of Woo Kyung-hwan's BCI Outside posts to date."
"Yes."
Lee Jae-hyun answered curtly and leaned toward her monitor.
She angled it for easier viewing by him and Park Dae-hyung.
The posts she showed were... ordinary, in a weird way.
[Ah, I swear my mom's cheating. Is she insane?
Makes me wanna kill the bitch. So gross.]
Short posts mostly, venting about his mom like that—cursing her, saying he wanted her dead.
Sure, mentioning murder seemed wild, but "I wanna kill them" was common online venting.
Hell, people said it face-to-face easy enough—what's one post?
Lee Jae-hyun and Park Dae-hyung slowly reviewed every post Woo Kyung-hwan had made.
"These are An Do-hyun's."
Min Ji-hye followed up with his posts.
[The world's gotten so filthy.
At this rate, it's a dumpster.
Some days I wanna kill these bastards just to cope—that's my routine.]
Lee Jae-hyun pored over An Do-hyun's posts too.
Park Dae-hyung scratched his cheek after viewing them all.
"So what's special? Both talk about wanting to kill."
"There's a subtle difference."
Min Ji-hye replied.
Lee Jae-hyun, still glued to the posts, frowned and spoke up.
"The nuance is off."
"Yeah, exactly."
Min Ji-hye nodded.
Park Dae-hyung looked puzzled.
Lee Jae-hyun elaborated.
"Woo Kyung-hwan says 'I wanna kill them.' An Do-hyun says 'Should I kill this one too?'"
"...Yeah, different vibes."
Words matter—a lot.
"I wanna kill" versus "Should I kill this one too?"—worlds apart.
That tipped the scales: An Do-hyun was more likely hiding crimes.
Might seem like a stretch to others.
But not to Lee Jae-hyun.
Serhen had confirmed unresolved Evil Karma.
He was certain.
‘Time to talk to An Do-hyun again.’
Eyes gleaming, he thought it.