Chapter 40
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The One Who Was a Watcher II
Shin Noah
4
At this time, I had ample reason to worry about the Saintess's safety.
First, as mentioned earlier, public order was quite poor.
"Another death...."
No Doha muttered during the regular meeting time. Quite some time had passed since he took office as the head of the National Highway Management Corps, but his characteristic gloomy eyes, seeming to hate everything in the world, remained unchanged.
"Again? That serial killer?"
"Yes, the Wheel Murderer. Apparently someone died in Cheongju this time. It just went up on SG Net. Take a look yourself...."
He wasn't the type to fiddle with his smartphone during a meeting, but it was a break time, and No Doha had personally suggested it, so there was no helping it.
I connected to SG Net, and sure enough, all hell had broken loose.
-Anonymous: December 24th, Cheongju.
The title of the post had no particular character. It was posted by an anonymous user, not a full member, with only the date and location written.
Not just the title, but the content was simple too. Without any flowery language, a single video was attached.
When I clicked the video, a man was tied up in some underground parking garage.
-Ugh, aaah....
The underground parking garage was already flooded up to ankle depth.
Pitch black filthy water.
A chair was placed in the middle of infinitely murky filth, and the man was bound tightly by all four limbs.
-I, I am 29-year-old Lee So-yeol living in Cheongju. I, I have killed six people so far. My first murder was a year ago.... There was a father and daughter in my neighborhood, and they looked like they had plenty of supplies. I didn't originally intend to kill them. But when I fought with the father, the daughter stabbed me in the back, so I had no choice to survive.
For some reason, the man recited his crimes in full.
The video didn't continue without pause. This footage must have been edited.
For instance, the lines the man just spoke were cut in the middle. There was a gap between 'I have killed four people so far' and 'My first murder was two years ago.'
The reason I could notice that difference was because a large nail that wasn't there before was now embedded in the back of the man's hand.
In other words, someone filming the video was torturing the man. However, the 'torture footage' and 'screaming footage' had been thoroughly deleted.
Thus, the man's confession appeared to continue smoothly, as if nothing had happened.
-I, I was angry. I did it because I was angry. But I just killed them. Without torturing them, or d-degrading them or anything like that....
A large nail was driven into his right hand.
-I'm sorry. I'm sorry.
The man's voice trembled a bit more thinly.
-Actually, I tortured each of them until they died in front of the father and daughter. The, the second murder was committed in Goeun. Goeun intersection. People coming up to Cheongju pass through there frequently. Not people traveling with the National Highway Management Corps, but alone. Or in groups of two or three.... I targeted those people.... These days travelers all carry their possessions in backpacks.... Fuck! It's the fault of those bastards who travel alone without fear!
Large nails were driven into both forearms.
Blood flowed from where the nails were embedded. But no matter how much blood dripped, the color of the filthy water flooding the parking garage didn't change at all. It remained pitch black.
-I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry.... I didn't want to live like this either. Isn't the world, the world at fault? I was 12 years old when the Gate exploded in Seoul. I was an elementary school student, you know.
-....
-Half my life, no, my entire life, all of it got shoved into a gutter. Fuck. You guys at least lived half your lives happily. Lived well. At least went to school. I didn't! I couldn't! It's your fault, shit!
-I didn't do anything wrong.... If I had been an Awakened too, I wouldn't have done this kind of shit. Dirty bastards. They didn't even work for it, just awakened their abilities, huh? Joined some guild and lived it up. People like me, ordinary people, are all worthless trash to them. So what....
A large nail was driven into his shoulder.
-Th, the third murder was.
-....
-The third murder was... some little shit broke into my house to steal. A, a grown adult works their bones off to earn money, and you try to steal it like it's nothing, isn't your brain rotten? I, I didn't particularly intend to kill. I just wanted them to starve. I planned to tie them up for three days then release them, but that kid, died on his own after just two days. Really. I was going to release him. Ah. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry! Please spare me! Please! Stop, no. Please spare...
Right at the next moment, something strange was embedded in the man's head.
It was a car wheel.
Since gasoline became a relic of ancient civilization, the cars scattered throughout the world had lost all meaning beyond being dolmens. But the person who filmed this video witnessed new potential in the wreckage of scrapped cars.
"He's dead."
"Yes. Died cleanly. Or... died filthily...?"
The trademark of the serial killings.
The culprit always drove a nail into the victim's skull after killing them. And then hung a car wheel on that nail.
Dubbed the 'Wheel Murderer.' Or simply 'Wheel.'
"Isn't that already the 16th?"
"Roughly around that. Actually, if we only count the videos, there are 16, but there are probably far more murders that weren't uploaded as videos. Last time we found a corpse with a wheel on its head, and that was someone who never appeared in a video...."
The individuality left by the murder naturally took 'anonymity' from 'anonymous.'
Simply put, on the community, they inevitably became named.
-[Baekhwa]High School 6th Year: It's so, so scary.... ㅠ_ㅠ)
-Anonymous: Kya, as expected of Wheel hyung-nim. Nice shot today too.
-[Yuldokuk]Sword Queen: Is this righteous conduct, or is it the self-justification of a treacherous and wicked demonic sect? This one finds it truly difficult to judge.
└Goryeojang: Wrong.
-Anonymous: Murder of a father and daughter in Chungju, and if it's from a year ago, I think I know what that is. The corpse was hacked up pretty brutally, so rumors spread inside Chungju.
-Anonymous: I support you. Kill more.
-dolLHoUse: Neutral.
-[Samcheon]Historian: Which guild manages Chungju? Without Wheel, that bastard wouldn't have been caught until the end. Can't even manage public order properly? The Awakened belonging to that guild should feel some shame.
Comments were being posted in real time on the board.
"I'm back.... Huh? What is it? Why's the atmosphere like this?"
Just then, Seo Gyu opened the door and entered the conference room.
The regular meeting consisted of a three-person system: No Doha, me, and the Saintess, but sometimes Seo Gyu participated too. While No Doha commanded the road network in the light, Seo Gyu managed the road network in the shadow.
"Seo Gyu. The Wheel Murderer posted again."
"Ah...."
Seo Gyu made a subtle expression. An emotion like apology, like shame, flickered in his eyes.
"Should I delete it?"
"No, looking at public opinion, deleting it arbitrarily might actually backfire. More importantly, is this anonymous user really that hard to track?"
"Yes, first of all, they're not a full member... I checked the access logs, and they only connect when posting, and don't access SG Net at all the rest of the time."
"Meaning he's not the type who commits crimes for high comment reactions."
"Right. He might not even look at the comments at all. Or he might have some very special stealth ability that my power can't detect."
"...That's possible too."
I nodded.
There truly were all sorts of abilities in the world.
"Are you talking about the serial killer?"
The Saintess had also entered following Seo Gyu. Both had left the conference room during the break and returned.
"Ah, yes."
"I also just saw the post uploaded on SG Net."
The Saintess sat down. As usual, she spoke expressionlessly.
"They posted on SG Net, so they're definitely an Awakened, but... no matter how much I keep using Cheonlian, for some reason the culprit doesn't appear in my sight."
Then it really is a stealth-type ability.
"Appearing and disappearing like a ghost."
After the meeting ended that day and I sent Seo Gyu out, the three of us held another countermeasure meeting.
The topic of the meeting was, of course, the Wheel Murderer.
"Since public authority has collapsed anyway, there's no way to stop private sanctions. There's no justification or reason. The problem is...."
"Whether there's any guarantee that this serial killer is truly a good person...."
No Doha continued.
"So far, they've only executed clearly evil people. But with the same ability, they could kill others secretly without anyone knowing. Perhaps they already have, and just didn't attach wheels to the corpses...."
"...."
"At the very least, we need to figure out what kind of person this is, from our position. Awakened-nim, is this the first time this type of serial killer has appeared...?"
"Yes. It's the first in my regression life. Since this is the first run that has progressed this stably up to year 16 anyway, it's not that surprising."
This run was lucky in many ways.
Usually by this point, beings called Outer Gods would interfere with our world and create absolute chaos. But for some reason, the 107th run was quiet.
A run close to a miracle.
Therefore, it was all the more precious.
"Then, Funeral Director Awakened, please at least find out detailed personal information about the culprit in this run.... That way we can at least make plans for how to respond in the future. Whether to recruit them, or eliminate them...."
"I was planning to do that anyway."
"Some guild leaders are suspecting that the Wheel Murderer might be an assassin we're raising. If we had an assassin like that, things would have been much easier, huuh...."
We were doing our best.
By year 16, the National Highway Management Corps had succeeded in connecting almost all major cities with first-class highways.
In each city, guild leaders held sway like feudal lords, but No Doha reigned as the king of lords. It was a natural outcome since he monopolized the distribution network connecting city to city.
Above all, Busan, currently the largest city on the Korean Peninsula, had fallen into the hands of Dang Seo-rin of the Three Thousand Worlds. As is well known, Dang Seo-rin was one of the people who contributed to the founding of the National Highway Management Corps and was extremely favorable toward us.
If necessary, she could even reign as the leader of the guild leaders herself. Her power was that strong. With her cooperation behind us, no one could ignore the National Highway Management Corps. Hmm. If I had to compare it to medieval times, it would be like the French royal court that secured Burgundy's loyalty.
Nevertheless, the limitations of the National Highway Management Corps were clear.
We couldn't take responsibility for public order across the entire Korean Peninsula. We couldn't take on administration. We couldn't manage the judiciary.
In the first place, we couldn't even govern the plane of the Korean Peninsula. At best, we only dominated the lines connecting city to city.
In the parts that the spider web couldn't wrap around, in the voids, monsters and strange beings always lurked.
Whenever they tore apart the spider web and tried to invade humanity's lines, I had to respond. The National Highway Management Corps's military power was formidable, but moving as quickly as me was inevitably difficult.
This was also a fundamental reason why my time was insufficient.
"No margin. No margin at all."
"...."
The meeting adjourned, and we returned to our respective quarters.
My heading out at this time was entirely a whim.
Since the Saintess ended her closed-door training and started going outside, my visits to Yongsan Dongbinggo-dong, originally the Saintess's hideout, had become infrequent.
No matter how little the Saintess herself cared, a man frequently entering and leaving a woman's home didn't look good externally. Until before, the Saintess had holed up in her house, so there was no helping it, but hadn't the circumstances changed now?
Communication was possible anytime via [Telepathy] anyway.
'But because of the Wheel Murderer, the Saintess must have a lot on her mind too.'
She was someone more fastidious about ethics than anyone.
The reason for being wary of private sanctions even in a situation where public authority had collapsed was simple. Where there was no system, a single deviation by one person could cause a major mistake.
The reason different people rendered judgments through first trial, second trial, and third trial wasn't unrelated to these circumstances. One couldn't expect a single human to be absolutely fair and eternally infallible.
The Saintess's head must be complicated with various worries too.
'I happened to get some precious fish too. If I give it as a gift, she'll be pleased.'
December 24th. Christmas Eve.
I put tropical fish in a plastic bag and headed to Dongbinggo-dong.
A silent sensation settled on my bangs. White snowflakes. Last night too, heavy snow had fallen, turning the old roads to snowy paths, and it seemed it was about to snow again.
"Hmm."
Worried it might be too cold for the tropical fish, I wrapped the plastic bag with my palm. I didn't forget to precisely generate aura to maintain the temperature.
At the corner leading to Dongbinggo-dong, footprints were imprinted in two layers. Probably all the Saintess's footprints.
"Saintess, are you there?"
Knock knock.
I knocked on the door, but there was no response.
'She should have come home right after the meeting ended?'
I tilted my head and turned the doorknob. The shoes the Saintess had worn during today's meeting were in the entrance. That meant she had at least stopped by home once.
"Saintess?"
Still silence.
"Hmm."
...I accepted the rudeness and entered the house. It was partly because I had some trauma from when the Saintess was attacked by Goyori in the past.
If the Saintess was fine, I could just apologize immediately. The Saintess was someone who knew how to accept apologies.
I stepped into the living room.
"...?"
And soon witnessed an unbelievable sight.
The fish tanks that had surrounded the Saintess's living room like castle walls.
The tanks that had always gleamed blue were completely empty.
"Huh?"
I inadvertently opened my mouth.
Raising fish was the Saintess's one and only hobby. Until the day the world ended, the Saintess would never give up her fish. That was a fact already proven in the 90th run, when I worked as a convenience store manager.
But there was nothing in the fish tanks.
No, looking carefully, there were two tanks that still had water. However, the water color was murky, as if the filters that purified the water quality hadn't been working for a long time.
In the water that had turned like filth, two or three tropical fish were dead, bellies up.
Coincidentally, the tropical fish that left corpses were all fish I had gifted in the past.
"Funeral Director?"
Just then, a voice came from behind me.
When I turned around, the Saintess was just coming in through the front door.
I looked at the Saintess while holding the plastic bag of tropical fish I had intended as a gift.
"What's going on?"
"...Ah. I apologize for entering without permission. An acquaintance gifted me tropical fish, and I thought it would be better to give them to you, Saintess, so I visited without contacting you beforehand. But... Are you no longer raising fish?"
The Saintess blinked.
"...Yes."
"Why? You liked them so much...."
"Most of the ones I was raising died, and maintaining the fish tanks became increasingly burdensome. I had been thinking I should clean up the remaining tanks someday, but I just kept thinking about it and haven't cleaned them yet."
I examined the Saintess's attire.
Double coat. An outfit that didn't look particularly easy to move in. It was also different from what she wore during the meeting.
It wasn't the fashion the Saintess usually preferred either.
"...I see. Did you go for a walk?"
"Yes. If I had known Funeral Director was coming, I would have at least prepared tea. You visited while I was briefly not watching."
In other words.
'I returned home once then went out, and in this outfit, there's nothing much I can do besides a simple walk' — an outfit strongly asserting this.
Outside, snow was falling. There was snow on the double coat too. But it was somewhat unnatural. Like, yes.
Traces that seemed as if one could brush off the double coat and get that kind of snow mark on the snow-covered ground.
"...."
"Funeral Director?"
I passed by the Saintess and looked at the snowy ground in front of the house.
The footprints that had been imprinted in only two layers until just before I entered had increased to 'four layers.' One was my footprint from coming here. Another was the footprint the Saintess would have made when returning.
I picked up the shoes the Saintess had just removed in the entrance and examined the soles.
The shape of the soles was different from the footprints imprinted on the snowy ground.
"Funeral Director? What are you doing?"
"Saintess."
―――That was a kind of intuition.
To call it reasoning, the evidence was scant. There was no physical evidence either. But a flash like a glimmer of light flickered in my head.
The fish dead with their bellies up. The empty tanks. The Saintess's figure occasionally looking blankly at the empty sky. Seo Gyu's apologetic eyes. The double coat. The footprints.
A possibility I had never even considered until now suddenly fit together like a puzzle and was thrown out of my mouth.
"By any chance, Saintess, are you the Wheel Murderer?"
Silence.
A moment like eternity flowed.
Just when I even had the illusion that the world had pressed a pause button.
"Funeral Director."
The Saintess's lips opened.
"You really do know me well."