Free Web NovelThe woman whose face and body were covered in injuries went to the police station to ❖ Nоvеl𝚒ght ❖ (Exclusive on Nоvеl𝚒ght) file a report. But the response she got back was the worst possible one.
-Ha, I’m so fucking pissed.
-Where’s the gun? Give me the gun.
-Are they insane???? The secondary victimization is fucking disgusting, you bastards.
-TT_TT Seohae, let’s beat up those old men too. This can’t stand.
The suffocating scene that looked like a cliché continued. Aetami let out a sigh.
“A report? What report? Ah, shit....”
“Should we handle it roughly?”
“Yeah. Just roughly, roughly. Things are good right now, so don’t ruin the mood.”
The year was 2002. It was a time when the entire country was more patriotic and fervent than ever. The people were intoxicated with the joy of victory, and even the tiniest blemish on a winning match would have ruined the atmosphere.
The evidence the woman had submitted was left abandoned in storage exactly as it was.
After the flashback ended, the present returned once more. Lee Seohae read the repeating pattern in the string of connected cases. Among the pieces of evidence laid out on the table, one in particular caught her eye.
“A cellphone....”
One of the evidence items, a cellphone, had been shattered into pieces.
Lee Seohae extended a pale, slender hand and lifted the zip bag. With a slow twist of her wrist, the bag turned sideways.
Her gaze, sweeping over every inch of the broken phone, carried a relentless persistence.
“They say the bastard stomped on it after beating the victim unconscious. Fucking lunatic.”
Lee Seohae nodded. Her eyes moved rapidly. She checked the evidence once more, as if reconstructing something in her head.
Her hands held nothing.
No notebook, no tablet, not even a single sheet of paper.
As if everything already existed inside her mind. As if anything she had once seen or heard had already been memorized, making every other tool unnecessary.
After a moment of thought, Lee Seohae delivered a short conclusion.
“The culprit is someone who likes soccer.”
“What? Soccer?”
“The 13th, 18th, 25th. Then the 11th and 19th of the following month. Every crime took place on the days Korea had soccer matches. It started from the qualifiers.”
At Lee Seohae’s words, Gam Seonghwan’s eyes changed. Something instinctive seemed to click into place.
“Fuck, this fucking piece of shit.... Then if we win on the 19th and make it to the quarterfinals, he’ll be preparing for that day too?”
“If my deduction is correct, yes. And the crime scene will most likely be here. It may not be the World Cup right now, so people don’t gather to cheer together everywhere anymore... but this place is different.”
What Lee Seohae pointed at was a chicken shop. On the map spread across the desk, the previous crime scenes had all been marked.
She checked the zones that were not too far apart from one another.
Every single one was near a chicken shop.
“Isn’t it said that chicken places are busiest on the day of a Korea–Japan match?”
“Yeah. That means crowds gather.... Normally, crimes like this happen on roads people rarely pass through.”
“Because the people inside the chicken shops watching the match will remain indoors for at least the full forty-five minutes until one half ends.”
Having memorized the entire map, Lee Seohae marked a red X over a deserted alley near the predicted crime zone, then capped the pen and said,
“Next week. On the upcoming match day, it would be best to strengthen patrols nearby. Especially in isolated alleys close to chicken shops.”
* * *
Lee Seohae dug through the case records.
“2006, 2010....”
Files piled high on the left side of her otherwise immaculate desk.
Her eyes moved busily as she checked every World Cup year. The calm gaze shifting endlessly from side to side looked like someone who had reached complete mastery over something.
Though countless files moved from left to right, Lee Seohae picked up only one.
“2002.”
The identical pattern appeared in only one case.
“Ah, Mapo Station 31, 310-1. Beginning patrol on Sector 2 B-2 line. Maintain heightened vigilance. If you spot any suspicious males in their forties to fifties, stop them immediately.”
Gam Seonghwan listened to the radio chatter. They were strengthening patrols in the zones Lee Seohae had marked.
-310-1, currently entering the alley near Daheung-dong 14. Streetlight malfunction on B-2 line. No visual security. Control center, request activation of CCTV 12 behind Gyeongan Middle School.
“Sebior. Are you sure this is the place?”
“We should be hoping it isn’t.”
The current time was 9 p.m.
The match was about to begin.
“Hoo....”
The woman took a deep breath in front of the police station.
-Hello. This is Investigator Lee Seohae from the National Forensic Service. I’m contacting you because you previously filed a report in 2002.
“Yes...?”
-I’d like to hear the circumstances again. Incidents believed to be committed by the same individual have been reported.
After ending the call and agonizing over it for a long time, the woman came back to the station.
Reliving that memory was painful and exhausting, but one phrase from Lee Seohae had moved her.
An incident believed to be the same offender.
The culprit, still uncaught, would be creating more victims.
“You said you never saw the culprit’s face. But you estimated his age to be in his twenties or thirties?”
Looking over the old statement file, Lee Seohae asked.
“Ah... yes. I didn’t see his face, but... I know two things....”
“What are they?”
Her breathing looked strained, but the woman forced herself to finish the testimony.
“When he covered my mouth, instinctively... I grabbed the back of his hand. I was overpowered quickly, but... the back of his hand was very... soft and smooth. Too much so for someone middle-aged.”
Lee Seohae seemed to think for a moment before asking the next question.
“And the other?”
A dim alley came into view.
A woman walking alone at night.
And then...
Step.
Step.
Step.
Step.
A second set of footsteps following at the exact same pace.
-Currently on the north trail A-7 line of Mapo Park. High risk due to intoxicated pedestrians. Nearby patrol cars, converge within a 500-meter radius.
Gam Seonghwan listened to the continuing radio updates.
“There was... a smell of alcohol.”
Lee Seohae’s expression shifted subtly as she heard the woman’s statement.
-Fuck, no way. What if he gets a reduced sentence because they catch him as a drunk?
-I think so too. Ah... this feels so fucking awful.
-I’m losing it, why is the editing so nerve-wracking TT__TT
“Kyaaak!”
A scream rang out from somewhere. Without even thinking, Gam Seonghwan flung open the car door from his stakeout position and sprinted.
“Aaagh!”
With practiced skill, Gam Seonghwan subdued the assailant. He violently twisted back the arm of the man who had seemed to be threatening the woman.
“A-ah, what the hell?”
“Police.”
Looking at the woman who had screamed moments earlier, he demanded an explanation.
“I said no... but he kept asking for my number... he even grabbed my arm. I got startled, so....”
Right then, the radio inside Gam Seonghwan’s leather jacket crackled. freēwēbnovel.com
Chzzzt, chzzzt.
-Sector 3 C1, incident occurred.
-The number you are calling is unavailable....
Lee Seohae tried calling Gam Seonghwan. But for some reason, he didn’t answer. After trying a couple more times, she began typing a message.
Input: Today’s face-to-face questioning is complete. I’ll be revising the suspect’s estimated age. At the time, the investigation focused on university students drinking around the nearby college district.
Gam Seonghwan restrained the man with one hand effortlessly while grabbing the radio with the other.
“Situation report.”
-Sector 3 C1, the assailant fled. The victim never saw his face. Attempted assault only.
“Secure CCTV footage. I’m moving to Sector 3 C1 immediately.”
Input: If my deduction is correct, the culprit was in his teens. Even back then, selling alcohol to minors was legally prohibited, but in places like beer halls with a “family gathering” atmosphere, adults probably overlooked a few drinks given to teenagers.
Ding-.
The chime of the chicken shop door opening sounded strangely sinister.
Everyone inside was watching the soccer match.
A man walked toward one of the tables.
“Hey brat! Hurry over here!”
“The kid’s here?”
“Come on, have a drink, have a drink.”
The men in their sixties greeting him already had flushed faces from drinking. The camera slowly tilted upward.
Input: The fact that no identical crimes occurred after the 2002 case suggests the culprit left Korea. If we request middle and high school student records near the crime scenes and narrow it down to those who went abroad for language study or overseas education after the 2002 World Cup, we should be able to identify him.
“We saw him when he was this tiny, right?”
“What do you mean tiny? Even back then he was tall for a middle schooler! He could really hold his liquor too. How about now? Can you still drink?”
And what appeared on the screen was—
“Yes. Fairly well. That was really fun back then, drinking what my uncles gave me and watching the World Cup.”
The face of the pastor’s son.
A church volunteer youth.
“When I was studying abroad, I was so busy I didn’t even have time to care about the World Cup. Hahaha.”
Sweat had gathered on the back of his neck.
As if he had been running in a hurry just moments ago.
-????????? wow holy shit
-They twisted it like THIS? Actual chills;;;;
-I literally screamed out loud TT__TT
-Why did I never even think of juvenile sex crimes... I’m watching this with my jaw open
The moment the culprit was revealed, the live thread exploded.
Comments were pouring in by the dozens every second, to the point the thread itself seemed to be hitting its limit.
[♨Kick-him soccer kick-him soccer recruiting people to literally kick this fucking bastard♨ Unfair Trade Ep.5 Live Thread][9999]
The comments shot past 9999 with ease.
“These five....”
Gam Seonghwan and Lee Seohae narrowed it down to five suspects.
They couldn’t arrest him in the act anymore, so they had to wait for procedure.
“What are you planning to do?”
“For now, I’ll tail them one by one. Faster and easier to use my body than sit around waiting.”
Gam Seonghwan didn’t wait.
By habit, he patted his chest to make sure his handcuffs were there before preparing to head out. He gave orders over the radio.
“Starting today, we’re putting all suspects under strict surveillance.”
Lee Seohae followed after him.
“I’ll take the person on the very last page.”
“You, Investigator Lee? There’s no need for forensics to go into the field.”
“I have a personal question I’d like answered. I want to resolve it efficiently.”
Including Gam Seonghwan, the investigation team split into four groups.
Patrols around the zones Lee Seohae had marked were intensified even further.
“The method is becoming increasingly cruel. At this rate....”
“I understand what you mean. It’s no longer just sexual gratification. He’s deriving pleasure from destroying the victim, so after assault comes murder.”
Gam Seonghwan, face grim, tailed one of the suspects.
Their footsteps overlapped in the dark alley. fɾēewebnσveℓ.com
Step.
Step.
Step.
Step.
The screen switched to Lee Seohae.
But she wasn’t following someone.
She was the one being followed.
A sinister background track began to play.
The streetlight in the alley flickered twice, then went out with a faint pop.
The laughter from the beer hall in the distance slowly faded, and before long the alley where the two walked had become unnaturally silent.
-Ah fuck, this is terrifying
-This is that nosebleed scene from the preview TT__TT
-It absolutely can’t be Seohae, holy shit I can’t watch stuff like this
-Please please please Gam Seonghwan get there
IP 85.152 unconsciously clasped their sweaty hands together.
Moisture pressed between the lines of their palms, but there was no time to care.
Thump, thump, thump, thump....
A familiar cliché.
The woman who never even realized she was prey eventually gets attacked.
Maybe because they had seen that kind of thing far too often, the anxiety pressed down so hard it felt like it would consume their whole body.
The suspect Gam Seonghwan had been tailing simply went home.
A disappointingly safe person.
At that moment, a call came in.
-Sebior! We got the CCTV and black box results from the area near last week’s crime scene! We restored the parked car’s black box footage in high resolution across the street!
“Yeah.”
-We couldn’t capture the actual crime itself, but we did get the footage of the person following the victim right before it. So! The man Investigator Lee Seohae is tailing is currently our prime suspect!
Gam Seonghwan’s expression twisted.
Right now, Lee Seohae was alone with the most dangerous man.
“Ah....”
IP 85.152 rolled their lips inward as they stared at the screen.
Gam Seonghwan immediately tried to contact Lee Seohae.
But she didn’t answer.
Input: Investigator Lee, if you see this, contact me immediately. That man is the culprit.
But even after sending the message, no reply came back.
Lee Seohae noticed the assailant following her from behind and broke into a run, while the man leisurely stalked after his prey.
“Fuck....”
But what he found was an empty alley where Lee Seohae had vanished.
Then, in that instant—
Ring-ring-ring.
A cellphone ringtone sounded near a parked truck.
“Ah.... So where are you hiding....”
The man’s voice, laced with amusement, brushed unpleasantly against the eardrum.
[Unfair Trade Minor Gallery]
[Fuck please no]
[I’m losing it TT_TT Seohae TT_TT]
[She’s supposed to be a genius, why are the writer and director so fucking lazy? Why do they always suddenly turn the female character into a helpless crying girl at moments like this]
[Thought we were finally getting something huge]
[I can’t watch this TT_TT]
[Was that Gam Seonghwan calling? TT_TT please tell me she had it on silent]
[So tired of this cliché;;]
At the seemingly inevitable turn of events, posts flooded in at a manic pace.
IP 85.152 furrowed their brow as well.
“Now if this goes as expected....”
Lee Seohae, who was hiding, would be discovered by the man.
It felt like their heart was being painfully squeezed by dread.
And then—
