EPISODE 52. Finding the truth
[It’s been a while, Talented Han Yi-gyeol.]
I smiled awkwardly at the soft voice coming over the phone.
“Yes. How have you been? Master Kwon Ji-hoon.”
It was a call from Kwon Ji-hoon, who had received my number from Kwon Jeong-han. Kwon Ji-hoon, who sent a photo of a man tied to a chair three hours ago, also handed over an additional video right before the call.
[I’m always doing well. Talented Han Yi-gyeol looks busy in many ways.]
“Haha… it just happened like that.”
[I hope the video is helpful.]
“Of course. We are very grateful for your cooperation.”
[Our Jeong-han is being taken care of by you, so I wanted to help this much. If you have any questions after watching the video, please feel free to contact me.]
“I will do so.”
As soon as the call with Kwon Ji-hoon was over, the front door opened in good time and Ha Tae-heon entered. It was a face that I saw again after five days.
“Ha Tae-heon-ssi, welcome.”
Piik!
When I hurriedly put my cell phone in and ran to Ha Tae-heon, Fox that was on my shoulder flew back to Min Ah-rin.
“There’s nothing happening on your way here, right?”
“Yeah.”
I felt sorry for bringing Ha Tae-heon back to Requiem. Ha Tae-heon, who nodded his head with a hint of displeasure at my question, looked at his shackles with a complicated expression.
It had already been a week since I returned to Korea. And I still couldn’t take a step out of the room because of the shackles Cheon Sa-yeon had put on me. So, it was because of me that Ha Tae-heon came to Requiem to watch the video together.
“Is everyone here?”
Not long after Ha Tae-heon arrived, Cheon Sa-yeon came into the room with people behind him.
“Oh, Deputy Master Ha Tae-heon. I see you again.”
“Yes.”
“Han Yi-gyeol.”
As soon as Park Geon-ho arrived, he said hello to Ha Tae-heon, and Kim Woo-jin’s clone ran to me and hugged me. Then Fox, who had been quietly held by Min Ah-rin, made a high-pitched cry and chased after him.
Piiik! Piik!
“Ugh…”
As Fox, standing on my shoulder, screamed at Kim Woo-jin’s clone, the clone hugged me even more strongly. Ah, I’m tired.
“Kim Woo-jin, can you please…”
“Woo-jin-ssi. Where did you put the sweets you bought yesterday?”
“It’s in the cabinet next to the refrigerator.”
“I said that I would send the video separately, but you come all the way here. You lack common sense, Deputy Master Ha Tae-heon.”
“Well. I don’t think it’s something I’m going to hear from Master Cheon Sa-yeon.”
“Secretary Woo Seo-hyuk, would you like some coffee?”
“I’m okay, thank you.”
Piik! Piik!
“……”
Crazy, it was no joke at all. Even if there were a lot of people gathered, wasn’t this too much. Woo Seo-hyuk, who had refused Kwon Jeong-han’s coffee, found me withering between Fox and the clone, and opened his mouth first.
“Now that everyone is here, I’m going to start playing the video.”
“Agh, good!”
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At that, Min Ah-rin, who took out the cookie bag, smiled broadly and returned to the living room. Kim Woo-jin also snatched the neck of his clone in my arms and took it off.
‘I’m really glad to have Woo Seo-hyuk here…’
After confirming that everyone had gathered in the living room, Woo Seo-hyuk skillfully connected the laptop to the TV. Meanwhile, Kwon Jeong-han handed out cups of coffee here and there.
“Ah, thanks.”
I thought it was coffee because he gave it to me, but what was in the glass was orange juice. Why am I the only one who has juice?
“Oh my, the video is 2 hours long?”
“For now, I will play at the original speed.”
When he pressed the play button, a man with his upper body and both legs tied to a sturdy chair appeared in the centre of the screen. Looking around, it looked like an old abandoned building was used.
[Uu, uh…]
The man, whose eyes were covered with a black cloth, wriggled his tied body, sweating profusely. Kwon Ji-hoon’s voice came from outside the screen.
[How much time has passed?]
[It is estimated that about an hour has passed since he drank alcohol.]
An unfamiliar voice answered. He seemed to be a member of the Four Seasons Guild.
[What is his condition?]
[He’s getting more aggressive.]
[Ugh, don’t… don’t come close!]
It was then. The tied man suddenly trembled as if in a seizure and screamed. He kept repeating the same thing over and over, even though his eyes were covered and couldn’t see anything.
[Da, damn it! Don’t come… don’t come!]
[Hmm.]
[I, I have to, I have to kill… I have to kill you… No way, Hu-ugh, gasp!]
At the unusual behaviour, I frowned and remembered the information about the man Kwon Ji-hoon sent along with the video.
His name, Kim Young-ho (김영호). A 37-year-old, C-rank talented person. Although he was a C-rank, it was said that there were many places where he was needed because of his ability to move plants and make flowers.
‘Is that why they took him to such an abandoned building?’
The man was an ordinary head of the family with a three-year-old daughter, who had been married for five years.
It was said that around 4 p.m., a guild member of the Four Seasons, who was on patrol at the time, barely stopped him as he dragged an elderly couple out for a walk from the apartment complex in a drunken state.
[Save me! Please… save me! Save me please!]
I touched my lips without taking my eyes off the video. My mind was a complicated mess.
[Uuh… kkuuuk… kkuaak! Aah!]
[What, what’s wrong with him?]
[Let me check him.]
[I don’t use my ability, what is it?]
[Aaaah! My, my head… my head is going to break! Shit, save me… hurt! It hurts!]
The man began to complain of pain when the video had passed exactly 30 minutes.
The man’s struggle caused the chair to twist and squeak. While listening to the screams quietly, I noticed that Min Ah-rin’s complexion was gradually getting worse and asked Woo Seo-hyuk.
“Please speed up the playback.”
“Yes.”
In the fast-paced video, the man twisted and screamed more and more violently, and at the end cried out for death.
[Ugh, uh… I want to die… sorry, honey. Ha-yoon-ah. I no longer…]
The man complained of pain for over an hour, and from about 30 minutes before the video ended, he continued to pour out words suggesting suicide. Mumbling with his whole body drooping, he eventually lost consciousness and passed out.
The video ended with the appearance of the man’s head dropping. I blinked my eyes slowly in an atmosphere of lingering silence and opened my mouth with a sigh.
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“They put drugs in his drink.”
I was expecting it to some extent, but after watching the video, I was convinced. The dangers of drugs were already well known.
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Park Geon-ho, who watched the video with interest, also added a word with a surprised expression.
“It’s rare to find a drug that excludes arousal or pleasure, but it’s surprising.”
It certainly wasn’t the usual form of the drug.
First hallucinations, then unbearable pain, and finally depression. Even if he barely survive the hallucinations, he would find medicine again for the pain condition. Even if it wasn’t, such drugs could be misused in many places.
Kwon Jeong-han said after checking the message on his cell phone.
“He woke up the man in the video and asked where he drank, but he said he couldn’t remember anything. I think the talented person with mental ability was involved.”
“Um…”
He couldn’t remember the most important part. There was a high probability that he had been attacked by mental ability. I turned to Ha Tae-heon.
“Ha Tae-heon-ssi, when we just arrived in China.”
I remembered the moment when I had just gotten out of the Chinese gate using the coordinate converter that Luzel had made, the disgusting smell that struck my nose.
“He explained that there was a drug made by combining common drugs and hallucinogenic body fluids extracted from monsters, remember?”
“Right.”
“It seems that a lot of modified drugs are made in China. Can you check which types are available?”
“I’ll find out.”
“Don’t stop on the Seoul side and keep looking. Of course, it’s good to find it in Busan, but in the end, Seoul also has to look for a solution…”
As I was talking, I felt the gaze and looked to the side. Then, Cheon Sa-yeon, who was looking at me with a strange smile, caught my eye.
“What is it?”
“What?”
“Why are you looking at me like that?”
When I asked the question with concern, Cheon Sa-yeon shrugged his shoulders.
“You are very good at taking care of other people’s guild members.”
“…I said I want to help.”
“I’m just saying.”
Then why were you picking a fight?
“If you are dissatisfied, can you please solve this? I will search for it without your help.”
Cheon Sa-yeon smiled brightly at Park Geon-ho, Kim Woo-jin, and Woo Seo-hyuk as I answered back while raising my shackled legs to respond.
“Let’s all try harder as our Talented Han Yi-gyeol said.”
“……”
This punk…
After turning off the video and disconnecting the TV from the laptop, Woo Seo-hyuk opened his mouth.
“If it’s not a normal drug, but a mixture of monster body fluids, you could make a drug to neutralize or detoxify.”
“Really?”
When I asked about the unexpectedly good information, Min Ah-rin nodded her head.
“That’s right. Of course, if you want to make a neutralizer or an antidote, you’ll have to get some narcotic alcohol.”
“Can a producer expert make it?”
“Umm, I don’t know. I think it will be difficult to make one because we have to figure out the ingredients used in drugs.”
Did it mean we need a drug manufacturing expert? Then there was someone who came to mind.
“But I’m glad there is a way to solve it.”
It was difficult to see that the number of crimes and the number of victims who actually drank that alcohol were the same.
At worst, there could be several people who were already addicted. Therefore, we needed to get that alcohol as quickly as possible and make a neutralizer or antidote.
“As soon as there is new information, I will pass it on to you.”
Ha Tae-heon, who took time to visit even in the midst of his busy schedule, got up as soon as I finished talking, putting on the suit jacket he had taken off and got up from his seat.
“Yes. Be careful on your way back, Ha Tae-heon-ssi.”
I handed Fox in my arms to Min Ah-rin for a while and followed Ha Tae-heon to the front door to greet him. He answered, raising his hand and touching the corner of my eye once.
“I’ll contact you again.”
When I returned to the living room after confirming that Ha Tae-heon was leaving, Park Geon-ho, who had just opened a cookie bag and was eating, asked me.
“I’ve felt it since last time, but you seem very close with Deputy Master Ha Tae-heon, Han Yi-gyeol.”
“…well, a little.”
Piii, hugging the flying Fox, I answered slowly.
To be honest, we weren’t really close, but it was ambigous to even call it that way since we were in an awkward situation.
“Isn’t there a big difference between how you treat us?”
“That’s right. You didn’t even get up to the front door to greet us… Yi-gyeol-hyung, you’re so mean.”
Kwon Jeong-han, who had been quiet at Park Geon-ho’s words, sighed deeply as if he was disappointed.
“No, you come every day anyway…”
I looked around in confusion, but everyone kept their mouths shut and only looked at me. What kind of atmosphere was this?
“Why, why do you look at me that way…?”
Sweeping the nape of my neck in embarrassment as I looked around, Cheon Sa-yeon, who was sitting cross-legged on the sofa opposite me, tilted his head slightly.
“Han Yi-gyeol, I’m talking about the drug-related conversations you had with Deputy Master Ha Tae-heon.”
“Yes?”
“I heard that there was a person who helped you go to China and it seems to be Deputy Master Ha Tae-heon, right?”
“……?”
What were you asking again? Didn’t everyone already know?
“That’s right.”
“Hm. Just him?”
Luke accompanied us halfway through, but I couldn’t say his name here… After thinking for a while, I answered simply.
“Yes, well…”
Kim Woo-jin, who was quietly standing next to me, suddenly darkened.
“I heard Ha Tae-heon also came back from China after a long time. How long have you been together?”
I felt strange at the constant question. I didn’t know if it was anyone else, but Cheon Sa-yeon was so quick-witted, so I was a little worried.
“Is that why? You seem very close.”
“…what do you want to say?”
“Did anything happen while you were together?”
Just as I was about to answer, “Of course not,” I suddenly remembered Ha Tae-heon kissing my eyes in the hotel.
‘Come to think of it…’
That was what happened at the hotel. It wasn’t even that he was drunk. The confession was so shocking that I forgot it.
“…of course.”
After I barely suppressed my confusion and answered after a while, a mysterious light appeared in everyone’s eyes who looked at me.
“……”
I couldn’t stand it any longer. Let’s run away.
I turned my head away from those gazes and hurriedly walked to the bedroom.