222

Korea was suffering from an unexpected 'serial murder case'.

"We've received a report!"

"Again? Doesn't this guy ever sleep? Or eat?!"

Day and night, headless corpses were being discovered everywhere. Report calls were constantly flooding the Association. Because of this, the staff were having hectic days.

"Why is this guy working so hard?!"

It was truly chaotic. A world where a serial killer roamed freely day and night, committing murder as a hobby. But surprisingly, there was no public unrest. Rather, welcoming responses and an atmosphere of cheering for the murderer were the majority.

– Kya! Another one down today!

– Tsk tsk, the news is slow. He's already made three hits today.

– (Related article link) 'Vigilante Update'

– Kya! He really made three hits!

– Busy, busy! Like everyone in modern society!

– He's working hard. I respect him.

It couldn't be helped. The corpses that were being discovered were all vicious villains or criminals who deserved to die. There were no exceptions. Even if a corpse wasn't on the villain list, once an investigation was launched, their heinous criminal acts were always revealed. The fact that unregistered villains were committing crimes in the shadows was being revealed day by day. It was only natural that the popularity of the serial killer, who tracked down those guys and mercilessly beheaded them before disappearing, was skyrocketing.

People called him 'Vigilante.'

Testimonies from citizens who narrowly escaped death thanks to the Vigilante also followed.

– (Breaking news) 'Thank you to the person who saved me.'

– (Interview video) 'He is my lifesaver.'

– (Personal opinion) 'I hope he never gets caught.'

– (News) Vigilante! South Korea is now a villain-free zone!

– Haha, to think a vigilante we only see in movies appeared in our country.

– The police and Association Hunters must be frustrated, but it's good that those who deserved to die are gone.

– Vigilante-nim, we support you.

– 222'nd dead. We support you.

– Please be a righteous killer again today.

Thanks to this, only the police and the Hunter Association were frustrated.

"They're saying such frustrating things!"

"What's the point of having laws if this is how it's going to be?"

"It's the end of the world. A serial killer is treated like a superstar."

South Korea was a country strictly governed by law. This act of ignoring the law and punishing criminals directly was clearly illegal. Crimes had varying degrees of severity, but the Vigilante was resolving all of them with murder. For now, the targets of his crimes were limited to villains, but no one could guarantee that the Vigilante's blade wouldn't suddenly turn towards innocent citizens.

"But… like this comment says, he's only killing those who deserve to die so far."

"Hey! Are those words that should be coming out of our mouths?"

"So, sorry."

"Tsk." The seniors were scolding the newbie who had misspoken and was now cowering.

"Why doesn't anyone know what this guy looks like, even though he's so openly rampant?!"

"They couldn't see because it was dark? Does that make sense? They're obviously hiding his identity because he helped them!"

"One thing's for sure, he has a stealth skill. It doesn't make sense that there's no CCTV footage of him despite his rampage."

Sip.

Chief Director Lee Se-hwan, who was leisurely watching the busy staff from behind, took a sip of his instant coffee and leaned against the window. Then he turned his gaze to look outside, where darkness had fallen.

"…"

The world was going crazy, but the instant coffee was still sweet. After the Cataclysm every day was a battlefield for the Association staff due to the urgent incidents that kept flooding in. As he ran around busily, he got promoted, his seniority increased, and he even became the Chief Director.

'Life is unpredictable.'

Life was strangely rolling along. It seemed like just yesterday when he took the police exam, became a rookie detective, and followed his scary senior around, arresting criminals.

'…I've been thinking about those days a lot lately.'

Criminals suddenly being found dead? He didn't understand why they were making such a fuss about something so trivial.

'It was common in my day.'

In the past, many guys came to surrender, begging to be arrested, because they were afraid of being killed if they didn't.

'…Heh. Those were truly romantic days.' He recalled the glory days when they achieved the highest arrest rate in the country.

Sip

Of course, if he said these things out loud, he would be called an old geezer. Chief Director Lee Se-hwan, who was sipping his coffee with a chuckle, was now staring blankly at the glass door entrance out of habit. As if waiting for someone. His gaze deepened. This place, which was once the Jungbu Police Station, was incorporated into the Hunter Association when Woo Jinchul became the President. But only the signboard changed. As he blankly stared at this place, which remained the same inside, faded memories he had forgotten while busy resurfaced.

'…Where are you and what are you doing, brother?'

It had been over five years since Detective Sung Jinwoo, his respected senior, and legend of the violent crimes unit, suddenly disappeared. Looking back, all the moments he spent with him were the most brilliant and shining times of his detective career. He missed those days terribly.

'I'm sure you're doing well wherever you are, but could you please come back soon?'

Yes. Lee Se-hwan wasn't really worried. He was always a mysterious person. That's why no one was too worried when he suddenly disappeared. They firmly believed that he had gone off to solve some case on his own, as always. They had no doubt that he would suddenly appear one day with a carefree expression, bringing a string of criminals with him. But even after more than five years, he still hadn't returned…

Creak.

"…Huh?"

For a moment, Chief Director Lee Se-hwan doubted his eyes. The door suddenly opened, and a familiar face walked in. Dragging a string of thugs who looked obviously shady!

"B-Brother? No, no…!"

He suddenly came to his senses, swallowed his words and looked at the person again, rubbing his eyes. He was too young to be Sung Jinwoo! But that face…! He looked so much like him that he could be mistaken for his son, huh?

"Huh? Uh… uh?"

"Hello. My name is Sung Suho. I have something to report…"

"It really is you!"

The Association staff couldn't help but be surprised as Chief Director Lee Se-hwan suddenly rushed towards Suho. And…

Hug.

"Uhaha! You're Suho!"

"Uh? Yes?" Now it was Suho's turn to be surprised.

Lee Se-hwan was a colleague who had worked with Sung Jinwoo for a long time. He knew his son's name. He had even seen pictures of him when he was young. Of course, this was the first time he had seen him all grown up. He couldn't help but burst into tears as soon as he saw Suho's face. It was because he saw a lot of his father in his appearance.

"Oh, I'm sorry. I'm being emotional. Ahem. You're Sung Jinwoo's son, right?"

"You know my father?"

"Of course, I do. I was your dad's subordinate, kid! Uhahaha!"

Chief Director Lee Se-hwan let go of Suho and introduced himself with a hearty laugh.

"I see. Hello. I'm Sung Suho."

Suho had unexpectedly met his father's subordinate. But when he thought about it, it wasn't strange. Until two years ago, this was the police station near the house where his father had worked for a long time, and those who awakened among the police officers at that time were transferred to the Hunter Association. It was only natural that there would be a few people left who knew his father. Although it was a bit awkward, Suho first handed over the guys he had caught to the Association staff.

"I caught them on my way here. They seem to be villains, but I guess he didn't kill them because they were small frys."

"Hmm?"

The Association staff tilted their heads at the words with a strange implication. And they noticed that the villains who were dragged in by Suho were terrified. After checking their faces one by one, they were indeed small-time wanted criminals, just as Suho said.

'But why are these guys so scared?'

Judging from their expressions, they looked like victims who barely survived a brutal murder scene, not villains.

"Oh, and if you go to this address, you'll find a few bodies. A report should have already been filed, so if you check…"

"Could it be the Vigilante?!"

Suho smiled bitterly and shook his head at the burdensome gazes that were almost frantically focused on him.

"I don't know about that."

He drew a line, not wanting to get involved in something troublesome.

'Kira, this guy, how much has he been up to in the past few days?'

When he sent him out to hunt villains with Harmakan, the body disposal was handled cleanly, so it didn't become such a big issue. But now that he had been left alone, Kira had become quite a celebrity.

'I'll deal with him later.'

But it was also hard to scold him for his wrongdoing. Because it seemed like he only killed those who truly deserved to die, probably because he was afraid of being rebuked by Suho later. These small-time criminals left at the scene were proof of that.

'Wait.' He suddenly had a bad feeling.

'Don't tell me he is now in India?'

Kira was indeed currently in India. There, he would be hiding in Rio Singh's shadow and following him, as originally ordered. Rio Singh had decided to stay in India for the time being to sort things out. And he had sent other shadow soldiers along with Liu Zhigang, who returned to China. Like this, whenever he had the chance, he had to spread shadow soldiers all over the world so that he could immediately teleport with Shadow Exchange whenever traces of Itarim were found, like this time. But looking at the situation, it didn't seem likely that Kira would stay put in India.

'Well, I will handle it somehow.'

He didn't intend to stop him as long as he didn't cross the line. It was a common saying in the Hunter industry that for every villain eliminated, 100 innocent lives could be saved. Of course, he heard this from Kira but...

"Anyway."

Putting Kira aside, Suho brought up the real reason he came here. Fortunately, the person who was said to be his father's subordinate seemed to be in a high position. Suho glanced at the name tag hanging on Chief Director Lee Se-hwan's neck and formally introduced himself.

"Chief Director Lee Se-hwan, let me introduce myself again. I am Sung Suho, the representative of Woojin Guild. I came here for a different matter."

Pause.

"…What?"

Chief Director Lee Se-hwan, who had been happy to see Suho's face and how much he resembled his father, stiffened at Suho's words.

"You're the representative of Woojin Guild?"

Ah, that changed things. A strange light appeared in Chief Director Lee Se-hwan's eyes as he looked at Suho anew. He had been so caught up in his joy that he realized it belatedly. Come to think of it, this guy's name was 'Sung Suho.'

'He really… takes after his father.'

A chuckle escaped his lips.