<Episode 64>
A few days later, at a quiet café on the outskirts of Seoul.
I spotted a man sitting in a corner seat, glaring at a cold Americano. His rough skin, hollow eyes, and exhausted appearance made him look utterly worn down.
“Nice to meet you. You’re Jung Haneul, right? I’m Oh Junhyuk.”
After exchanging brief greetings, he immediately got to the point.
“My younger sister died in the Incheon Gate incident. But the wounds on her body weren’t caused by monsters. Sharp blade wounds and burns… they were clearly inflicted by a human.”
His trembling hand gripped the teacup tightly.
It seemed the anger from that day had resurfaced.
“Do you have any idea who the culprit might be, Mr. Oh Junhyuk?”
“Some people suspect Hunter Lee Hyunwoo because he’s an S-rank. But I don’t think so.”
His eyes gleamed with certainty.
“Park Jaemin. I’m convinced it was him. And I have evidence.”
He pulled a small ziplock bag from inside his jacket.
Inside was a single piercing engraved with a distinctive pattern.
“My sister was clutching this in her hand. It’s a hunter-exclusive item she could never have owned. I traced the commission request for this item back to its source… and Park Jaemin’s name came up.”
It was concrete physical evidence.
The proof was far more direct than I had expected, and my eyes widened.
“If you have something like this, isn’t it enough to accuse him? Why haven’t you revealed it until now…?”
But Oh Junhyuk shook his head weakly.
“No. A single piercing can’t serve as direct proof of murder. He could simply claim he gave it away as a gift, or that someone else found it after he lost it. That would be enough.”
Given that Park Jae-min undoubtedly had a capable legal team, it was a realistic concern.
After a moment of thought, I pulled out my tablet from my bag.
“Then what about this? It’s CCTV footage I obtained. The quality isn’t great, but…”
I played the video I had copied… well, stolen… from the Management Bureau archives.
The moment the suspicious man in a cap appeared on the blurry screen, something gleamed from his ear.
“Could this man really be Hunter Park Jaemin?”
“Yes. I’m more than ninety percent certain.”
Oh Junhyuk paused the video and zoomed in.
His eyes widened in surprise.
“To the naked eye, the piercing he’s wearing appears to be the same item I possess. We’d need professional equipment to verify it for certain, though.”
“Professional equipment?”
He looked away from the screen and toward me.
“I’m actually a television producer. I’ve been demoted to a meaningless position because I kept investigating this case, but I still have access to the station’s editing room. I can handle the detailed analysis.”
A TV producer?
So that was why he said he could help bring the case into public view.
My eyes lit up with hope.
But before I could say anything, Oh Junhyuk gave a bitter smile and shook his head.
“Though I confidently said I’d help publicize this, actually broadcasting it will be difficult. Deputy Director Park Seongcheol has the media completely under his control. I’d probably be fired before the teaser even airs.”
Lowering his voice, he whispered:
“But if we had more direct evidence, it might be possible. Evidence so definitive that the culprit couldn’t deny it, no matter what.”
More direct evidence.
I tapped the table thoughtfully.
If only I could make Park Jaemin confess with his own mouth…
“Hm… then how about this?”
A dangerous plan formed in my mind, and I grinned.
As Oh Junhyuk listened, his face repeatedly turned pale, then green.
Eventually, he gave a heavy nod.
“Very well. Let’s go as far as we can… and see this through.”
***
A few days later.
I deliberately made a lot of noise.
I openly contacted reporters here and there, spreading word that I had discovered something suspicious while investigating the Incheon Gate incident.
As expected, a reporter took the bait.
He offered to write an article himself and proposed a secret meeting.
‘The meeting place is an abandoned building scheduled for demolition? Isn’t that suspiciously obvious?’
Still, I had no intention of backing down.
Pretending to know nothing, I headed to the creepy abandoned building at the appointed time.
‘There really isn’t anyone here. Wow, how terrifying.’
The crumbling structure was completely devoid of life.
Carefully, I climbed the stairs to the fourth floor.
“…Mr. Reporter? Are you here?”
I sensed movement in the darkness.
But the person who emerged wasn’t the reporter I had contacted.
“It’s even nicer seeing you here, Hunter Haneul.”
That familiar, spine-chilling voice.
Park Jaemin.
Pulling a cap low over his face as if trying to conceal his identity, he approached with his signature twisted smile.
“P-Park Jaemin…? How are you here?”
“Haha, you’re surprisingly naïve. Do you really think there’s a single reporter in this industry who hasn’t taken my money?”
He stretched out a hand toward me.
“Now then. Hand over that incredible evidence of yours. Unless you’d prefer getting hurt.”
Pretending to be frightened, I staggered backward before pulling out a USB drive containing the CCTV footage and tossing it to him.
Park Jaemin caught it and connected it to his Hunter Watch.
After reviewing it, he nodded.
“Hm. This could definitely be dangerous. I was younger back then, after all. I wasn’t as thorough.”
Crunch.
Crack.
Without hesitation, he threw the USB onto the floor and crushed it beneath his foot.
The sturdy metal and plastic were reduced to scrap instantly.
Unable to hold back, I glared at him.
“Park Jaemin! You killed people and don’t feel any guilt? Those people were someone’s family! They were precious lives!”
“Hah. Precious lives?”
Park Jaemin sneered and stepped closer.
“Why are weak, incompetent insects so precious?”
“What…?”
“In case you forgot, I’m an A-rank Hunter. Do you know how many Gates I’ve closed? As if stepping on a few bugs who never even awakened could be considered a crime.”
Not a trace of respect for life existed in his eyes.
Only arrogance and madness.
Grabbing my chin, he smiled with his eyes.
“Hm. No matter how I look at it, it’d be a waste to kill you. How about working with me instead? I’ll treat you well.”
Rather than answering, I spat in his face.
The smile slowly disappeared.
“Well now… I was letting you off because you’re cute, but you really don’t know your limits.”
He wiped his face with the back of his hand and flicked his fingers.
Several large men emerged silently from the darkness.
“No matter what evidence you have, once you’re dead, it’s over. Take care of it cleanly. Leave no traces.”
As if his business was concluded, Park Jaemin casually turned around and walked away.
I pulled a gun from my inventory, but my hands trembled uncontrollably.
“Don’t come any closer! Stay back!”
“Heh heh. What’s with the toy gun? Do you think that thing can stop us?”
The men laughed mockingly as they tightened the encirclement.
I slowly retreated.
Whoosh
A cold wind brushed my back.
Beyond the reinforced concrete frame was a dizzying drop into empty air.
Men trying to capture me stood in front.
A cliff behind.
But my choice had already been made.
‘Alright. On three, jump. One… two…’
There was nowhere left to retreat.
One of the men sensed something was wrong and shouted:
“Grab her now!”
Three.
The moment he reached out, I threw myself into the void without hesitation.
The men’s panicked shouts faded into the distance.
The terrifying sensation of gravity pulling my body downward.
I squeezed my eyes shut.
Thud!
Instead of the impact I expected, something solid and warm caught me.
A familiar scent.
And relief.
“Hold on tightly.”
It was Hunter Lee Hyunwoo.
With one arm supporting my legs and the other wrapped around my waist, he kicked off the side of the building and launched himself upward.
Whoosh—!
The scenery of the surrounding buildings blurred past at roller-coaster speed.
Only after putting considerable distance between us and the abandoned building did he land on a safe rooftop and set me down.
“…Ha.”
Lee Hyunwoo’s expression was stiff.
He looked angry.
Or worried.
Perhaps both.
“That was far too reckless. If I had been even one second late…”
“Come on. I jumped because I trusted our S-rank Hunter. I knew you’d never be late.”
When I replied with an intentionally bright smile, he sighed helplessly.
“But it worked, right?”
I looked toward the rooftop of a nearby building.
There, Oh Junhyuk stood holding a high-powered telephoto camera and giving us a thumbs-up.
Then I pulled a tiny voice recorder from my pocket and waved it.
“Why are weak, incompetent insects so important?”
“No matter what evidence you have, once you’re dead, it’s over.”
Park Jaemin’s voice had been recorded clearly.
And in the footage shot by Producer Oh, there would undoubtedly be video of him destroying evidence and ordering a murder.
Of course, the evidence that had been on the USB had already been backed up beforehand, so there was no problem there.
Listening to the recording, Lee Hyunwoo nodded.
“Do you intend to broadcast this evidence now?”
“I was planning to.”
I smiled mischievously as I met his puzzled gaze.
“But I changed my mind.”
“…?”
Looking straight into Lee Hyunwoo’s eyes, I grinned.
“I’m sure you’ll like it too, Hunter. Just wait and see.”
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