The Confession of Devils
“C-can you really see them?”
Baek Seohong had lost all semblance of his former cognitive faculties. The fact that he could see demons—or rather, that he was being told he could—was a tacit admission of the atrocities committed at the Manse Welfare Center. Yet, Baek was in no position to be picky. He didn't even notice the prison guard’s brow furrowing at this indirect confession.
“Of course I can see them! There are so many vengeful spirits here, I can practically feel the weight of the things you two have done!”
Han Nara’s voice was sharp and piercing, the very image of a powerful shaman. This time, Go Yuseung clung to her desperately. “Then you must know a way to solve this, right? Please, I beg of you... I’m living, but it doesn’t feel like living at all...”
While JSD was a villain, the reason Baek Seohong and Go Yuseung were even bigger pieces of trash was their motive. JSD never ordered his KCIA agents to torture people just for "fun." They were both scum, but JSD didn't play with human lives for the sake of pure, sadistic pleasure. Baek and Go, however, had tortured countless people for their own amusement. They would laugh while listening to the victims’ desperate pleas for mercy, using those screams as an accompaniment to their drinking.
Now that they were the ones suffering, they were whining and begging to be saved. Han Nara wanted to curse them out, but as a professional actor, she didn't let a flicker of her true feelings show on her face.
“Aigoo! How dare you speak of a solution so lightly? Don’t you know that talking about a resolution without showing any sincerity only makes the demons angrier?!”
At Han Nara’s sharp rebuke, Baek Seohong looked like he was about to burst into tears. “I-I’m sorry. But we truly have nothing. No money, no connections. But we want to live. Please, I beg you, save us!”
“Hmph! You lowly wretches, talking about money in front of me? Do you take me for some fraud who only moves for cash?!”
The prison guard was genuinely impressed by Han Nara’s outburst. ‘I guess she really is a powerful shaman.’ The guard had brought her in believing she was the real deal. If the guard was being fooled, there was no way Baek and Go, with their backs against the wall, wouldn't be.
“I-I’m sorry. We were just desperate and didn't know who you were. Please... please, have pity on us and help us...”
Han Nara felt like vomiting at Go Yuseung’s pathetic, wailing voice. But to fulfill her mission, she desperately kept her mask on.
“Ahem! To appease these vengeful spirits, I must know exactly what happened to them. So, write down every single thing you did on this paper!”
“T-that is...” Baek Seohong stammered. It was a confession in name, but if they wrote it down and handed it over, it would effectively become hard evidence. No matter how much his cognitive abilities had deteriorated, he couldn't easily agree to touch his own Achilles' heel. But Han Nara was already deep into her role as a powerful shaman, so she offered a perfect countermeasure.
“Then it can’t be helped. You’ll just have to suffer like this for the rest of your lives! Since you refuse my help, I shall take my leave!”
Seeing Han Nara turn her back without a moment's hesitation, Baek and Go panicked.
“Shaman-nim! Shaman-nim!”
“Aack! Shaman-nim!”
But Han Nara did not look back.
"They will definitely be conflicted. When they are, turn around and walk out immediately. They’ll call out to you desperately, begging you to stay, but you must not look back. Even if you did, they’d only say the same thing: 'Isn't there another way?' So, if that happens, you must just walk away."
Yoon-gi had predicted their behavior with pinpoint accuracy, and Han Nara couldn't help but be amazed. ‘A supporting actor exclusive to MEV Studio...’ That was the reward Han Nara had been promised for this performance. She clenched her fist and walked out of the detention center.
Early May. Amidst the noisy atmosphere of the presidential election, Baek Seohong and Go Yuseung finally knelt.
“P-prison guard... please, call that shaman back just one more time...”
At Baek’s earnest plea, the guard feigned great annoyance before calling Han Nara again. Han Nara, pretending to be incredibly bothered, visited the detention center once more.
“Shaman-nim, we will confess everything. Please, help us...”
“Hmph, do you have any idea how many people are waiting to see me? I’m only making time for you because I pity you for being haunted by so many vengeful spirits. You must confess everything in detail today.”
“Y-yes, we understand.”
With their wrists and ankles bound, Baek and Go were taken to a counseling room inside the detention center with Han Nara.
“Now, write it all down!”
At her command, they began to write down everything they had done at the Manse Welfare Center. About an hour later, Han Nara looked at the papers they had written and frowned.
“You wretched things!” Han Nara jumped to her feet.
“W-why, what is wrong?” Baek Seohong asked, lifting his bound arms as if to grab her.
“How dare you lie to me! Where is the story about Kim Baekchan? Do you not realize that his vengeful spirit is currently gnawing at your shoulder?!”
Baek Seohong suddenly recalled the name Kim Baekchan. ‘Ah...!’ He was the one who had escaped the Manse Welfare Center and reported them to the police. But because the local police station was in collusion with the center, Kim Baekchan had been sent directly back. Then came the torture. In the process, Kim Baekchan had died, and Baek Seohong had earned 5 million won. Because dead people were profitable.
“Y-you know about that too?”
“The spirit clinging to you is wailing, begging me to resolve his grudge! Do you not even know that?!”
If Baek and Go hadn't been suffering from nightmares and had retained their full cognitive faculties, they might have doubted Han Nara. They might have wondered if she was a plant for the police rather than a shaman. But they no longer had the capacity to think that far, leaving them no choice but to believe her.
“Write down not just the sins you committed, but everyone involved in those sins! Only then can I truly resolve their grudges!”
Han Nara began to shake a bundle of bells commonly used by shamans. The tinkle-tinkle sound filled the room, creating a dreamlike atmosphere that was more than enough to intoxicate them. Without a shred of doubt, they began to write down everything.
And finally, they wrote down every single connection they had in the prosecution and police lines, along with the full details of their crimes.
“T-this is everything...”
There were surely parts they couldn't remember, but from Han Nara’s perspective, this was more than enough.
“I will let you off with this much, considering your sincerity! Wait one day. I will use this to appease the spirits!”
“T-thank you!” “Thank you!” Baek and Go bowed their heads repeatedly, weeping. After they were returned to their solitary cells, Han Nara let out a long breath.
“You’ve worked hard.” The guard smiled broadly. The guards currently in the counseling room were those influenced by N. One of them even pulled a recorder from under the table and handed it to Han Nara.
“Thank you.” Han Nara smiled and took the recorder. After copying the confession, she left the copies at the detention center and placed the originals into a waterproof envelope and her briefcase.
“What will happen to those guys now?” the guard asked.
Han Nara laughed out loud. “I’m not actually a shaman, you know?”
Baek Seohong and Go Yuseung would never find relief from their suffering.
“My god...” N let out a deep sigh after reading the confession. Yoon-gi, having received the originals from Han Nara, had made copies before handing them to N, keeping the originals in a secret safe. But even the copies were enough to leave N stunned.
“Are you shocked?”
N nodded. “I heard about it before, but seeing the detailed records... I’m speechless. I heard they sold corpses to hospitals, but seeing it written down like this... Ugh...”
N grimaced and set the papers down. Hearing someone say, "They say something like this happened at the Manse Welfare Center," was completely different from seeing a record written in the perpetrator's own hand. N sighed repeatedly, his stomach churning.
“Did you really have no idea?”
At Yoon-gi’s question, N nodded immediately. “Even if I am one of the leaders of the military coup, it’s impossible to know everything... Do you think JD, who kept me as a mere figurehead, would have shown me such dirty secrets?”
“That’s certainly true. I’m just glad that it’s you, not JD, working with me.”
“I am a bad man, but at least I am still a ‘human.’” N finished with a deep sigh.
“I apologize if I offended you. I didn't mean to doubt you; I just wanted to grasp the situation. KCIA agents are currently raiding the offices of the related prosecutors and police officers.”
“The counterattack won't be easy, will it? For the Busan prosecution and police, this is a lethal bullet. This isn't something that will end with just a few people losing their jobs.”
Yoon-gi nodded. “I know that, of course. It’s unlikely all the KCIA agents will succeed in their missions. But they will certainly be able to bring back the evidence.”
“But that will be illegal evidence, won't it?”
“We’ll just make it legal evidence. It’s for the sake of the people, isn't it?”
N was convinced by Yoon-gi’s words. Strictly speaking, evidence seized by the KCIA raiding offices couldn't be used in court. In principle, only evidence collected through legal means was admissible. However, during the military regime, illegal evidence had been used freely. There were even cases where they fabricated evidence, sentenced someone to death in ten months, and carried out the execution 18 hours later. In such a climate, would the public be angry that illegal evidence was used for a trial that served them? Yoon-gi judged that he could use the very methods P, JD, and the power brokers had used to trample the law during the military era against them.
“Well, I suppose that method exists too.”
As N accepted this, Yoon-gi continued with a mischievous smile. “Once the KCIA brings back the evidence, you can use it to attack JD.”
N was startled. “Wait, if I do that, all the officials in Busan will attack me! It won't just be the officials; everyone connected to them will rise up. Isn't that a reckless move with less than a month left until the election?”
But Yoon-gi replied without a hint of burden. “Don't worry. If anything, the election landscape is about to get very interesting.”