Mikoto's Parting Lie
Mikoto was skilled at lying. But it wasn't easy for her. Avoiding detection wasn't difficult—considering her acting career as a voice actress—but lying to someone who trusted her was something utterly foreign to Mikoto. Her life had never required hiding anything from others. It was simple: work endlessly hard, and if she fell short, admit it. There was no room for deception.
Still, the wounds accumulated in her heart, one by one. Yet even they weren't enough to make her abandon everything when she was just one step away from reclaiming her life. After leaving for Japan, she met Nemu, condemned her for her crimes, and extracted a promise that she would turn herself in. Then she met the identity-laundering agency as planned. Tomorrow, Nemu would vanish, and she could resume her voice acting career under a new identity.
That was the plan. But the world wasn't that kind to her. Nemu turned herself in at the police station—and walked out the very next day to return to work.
////
Nemu's whereabouts were somewhat predictable, but tracking down the identity-laundering group on the spot wasn't something an outsider like me could manage. My next stop was the police station—not just to find Mikoto, but to figure out how Nemu had slipped away so easily.
She'd vaguely replied, "That's not for me to decide—why not check at the station?" She'd turned herself in properly and confessed every detail of what she'd done, or so she claimed.
When I arrived, a high-ranking officer with a weary face greeted me.
"Welcome! What brings you here?"
I felt a pang of guilt for adding to this exhausted cop's workload.
"Thank you. Um, has a woman named Nemu come by here by any chance?"
"Ah, that..."
The officer's expression darkened.
"I'm sorry! If she was someone dear to you, we should've let you know right away..."
"No, that's not it. What I'm wondering is why you just let her go."
"Ah... oh!"
The cop bowed her head deeply. I patted her shoulder reassuringly and pressed for an explanation.
"Well, it could be seen as sexual violence or prostitution, but... it's so ambiguous when it comes to whether her will was truly violated and forced into sex."
"Even so, is it okay to just release someone who turned herself in?"
"If the victim files a formal complaint, we can gather evidence and let the prosecutors handle it. But when someone just comes in saying 'arrest me'..."
The officer seemed to weigh her words carefully to avoid upsetting me, then gave up with a defeated sigh.
"It's just... no stats boost, not important, no manpower, so we glossed over it. If the man had demanded punishment from the start, we'd have handled it immediately..."
"Stats? That's the only reason...?"
My voice turned harsh without me realizing it. The idea that this cop saw the case purely as a performance metric soured my mood instantly.
"I'm sorry. If you'd said so upfront, we'd have processed it properly—we have our own workload..."
"No, I just can't wrap my head around not handling a case because of stats. So it wouldn't have been touched if I hadn't asked?"
The cop kept her head bowed, suppressing her rising anger. For a moment, I wondered if I'd gone too far, but I still couldn't understand her side.
"Yes! Stats! Not important!"
Unable to hold back any longer, she exploded to her feet.
"Voice actresses have to get deflowered? Right here at this station, there'd be a line of volunteers! Almost everyone agreed, and no one was raped against their will!"
"Still, at minimum, you should investigate and demote her or something..."
"It's not important! Does getting poked with a dildo kill someone? Bullets do! The cops here just carted off corpses yesterday from gang fights with those assholes!"
I could only stand there silently as she vented her rage.
"We can't even catch all the nightly gang shootouts from thugs forming crews. Investigate? If that's a crime, how many victims do we have to interview one by one to confirm?"
Come to think of it, everyone's faces had looked grim since I arrived.
"If we chase down every boss and our girls can't even catch a breath, ruining their condition, tomorrow we might be hauling bodies from this very station! What do you know about...?"
I couldn't meet her anguished gaze. All I could do was apologize.
"I'm sorry. I didn't... know the situation here."
After sobbing for a while, she pulled herself together, bowing in embarrassment.
"N-no, forgive my rudeness! I'll do my utmost to punish Nemu, even if I have to pull people off other tasks!"
"No, don't. You seem exhausted already... forget it."
Punishing Nemu was probably impossible. My priority was Mikoto. Once she'd calmed, I got to the point.
"I'm trying to find an identity launderer. Would that be... hard to track?"
"E-even if we're guilty of slacking, asking the police outright for identity laundering contacts is a bit..."
"No, I'm looking for a person. Probably attempting it right now."
"We can't track people directly, but we can share info! Hold on... any leads?"
I handed her Mikoto's phone. She issued orders to her subordinates, then discreetly wiped her tears with her sleeve.
"Is it always this hectic and tough?"
"S-sorry about earlier... It's busy normally, but now especially... Well, you're a man, so I can tell you. It's hunting season."
"Hunting season?"
"I figured you knew... Aren't you here for that? Most Korean men visiting Japan this season are."
"What's that?"
"Y-you know, men who come to hunt? If they fought criminals and rebels year-round, locals would drop like flies, right?"
It felt like watching a raw, provocative social exposé film—my stomach starting to churn uncomfortably.
"They come in groups, spend big, so they're key tourists. Not many, but each team is precious."
It felt worse than wartime. At least then, they knew their actions were crimes—just excused as "war crimes." Countless died like flies, but there was awareness that people were killing people. This was straight-up hunting. The prey weren't innocents, but it was hard to accept.
"So we provide suitable info. Groups that are usually nasty or too big for us to handle without heavy losses? We sell their details during this period. Hunters save time, we control them somewhat—win-win."
No wonder an outsider like me got internal info so easily. Demands from privileged men were routine here.
"We herd them to spots for civilian-free fights, cater to sensitive hunters' egos—super busy. Casualties happen too..."
I sighed heavily in frustration, waiting. The sugar-laden instant coffee tasted off, like it was past its prime. Even this cheap stick coffee was too pricey for cops to sip casually on duty.
"Chief! We've traced the numbers on Mikoto's phone, but nothing on identity laundering!"
"No launderers? Check for fakes posing as them!"
"Got it!"
A few minutes later, we pinpointed who Mikoto had contacted.
"But these guys aren't launderers like you said, Chief."
Reaching her again would take some real effort.
/////
Mikoto's plan crumbled in an instant. She'd braced for Nemu refusing to turn herself in and digging in her heels, but never imagined self-surrender leading to... nothing.
Her phone—given by him—was flooded with missed call alerts. Per plan, she should've ditched the traceable device and started laundering. But...
"Still not too late..."
No suspicion she'd betrayed him. His texts brimmed with worry: contact him ASAP, sweet nothings.
She could lie—say she lost her phone, act like nothing happened, return. He'd welcome her back in a heartbeat. She had a home to go to, his mercy to lean on again.
"...No. I don't want that."
Returning now meant no more voice acting. Not practical issues—psychological ones. After such bliss with someone so good, she'd lack the will to chase her dream.
In the end, she called him. Otherwise, that sweet fool might fly to Japan and scour every corner.
Rehearsing fake self-loathing, fake insults in her head, she dialed Seongha's number with trembling fingers—carefully, so very carefully.
She had to do this. That foolishly kind master wouldn't hate her otherwise. Better he despised her—for both their sakes.
"Hello?"
His warm voice stirred an urge to run back right then.
"It's me, Mikoto."
But she knew she'd lied too much, been too selfish to return.
"You're disgusting, so I'll make it quick."
With that, she burned her last sanctuary. Never again could she cling to his mercy and love to survive.