chapter 1
1.
“f*ck!”
He spat out curse words and kicked the iron bar in front of him.
But from there, there is only a hollow sound.
It doesn’t break, nor does it get scratched.
My kicked feet hurt.
Unable to even vent my anger properly, I walked away from the bars and crouched in the corner.
The chill of the cold floor penetrated his entire body.
“Life like a dog…”
I was in jail now.
Why were you brought here?
I do not know either.
All I could guess was that I was being framed for murder.
“At least give me a proper explanation, you f*cking cops.”
I was annoyed as I remembered what the police had said a moment ago.
This morning.
The cops arrested me and started interrogating me.
They thought I was the culprit of the murder.
That alone was nonsense, but there was something else absurd about it.
Yes, let’s say I became a murder suspect because I gave in ten thousand times.
But they…
“Why are you f*cking with me when you don’t even know who died!”
No one knew who the victim of the murder was.
In other words, there were no victims, but they were concluding that I had committed murder.
I had no idea what the hell I was going to do.
Have you ever been punished?
Yes, it deserves it. It wasn’t that I lived a good life.
But not in this way.
what the hell is this about
“… Kang Jin-woo?”
Then someone called my name from beyond the lockup door.
Looking at his face, I frowned.
He was another cop.
Anxiety came out of his mouth automatically.
“Kang Jin-woo will freeze to death! What else are you?”
Age at least mid 50’s.
He was much older than the guys who were interrogating me.
Are you a senior?
I quickly checked his clothes.
I don’t know the ranks of the police, but there were a lot of them.
four pentagons.
what about four? is it high?
While you’re shaking your head like that.
“My name is Chief Lee Chung-seok.”
He said hello first.
In my ears, I heard only two letters, the preface, rather than the name.
“Ah, chief.”
After hearing the class, I got up from my seat.
If he was the chief of police, that meant he was the highest-ranking police officer in this building.
The irritation subsided naturally, and I regained my sanity.
“Chief. Please listen to me. As I said earlier, I didn’t do anything.”
“I know. sorry. It seems there was some misunderstanding on our part. Hey, come on, open this.”
At the words of the chief, another police officer sprinted to the door of the detention center.
Then, the door slid open.
A person called the chief came and apologized, and the door to the detention center opened.
What that meant was clear.
It was also a shovel by the police.
“under···! I knew that.”
I got out of the lockup as if I was running away, and immediately glared at the chief.
“No, Chief. Did you just say it was a misunderstanding?”
“I’m really sorry.”
“This is not the end of being sorry. I had a job interview today. How hard I tried to pass it! What are you going to do with this?”
To be honest, it was a lie.
Today’s interview is for an affiliate of a conglomerate.
With my specs, even if I had an interview, there was a high possibility that I would have failed.
It was a miracle that I got through the document review, so there was little disappointment.
However, I spoke strongly with a feeling of regret, and the chief sighed deeply.
“First, let’s go to my office and talk.”
I was directed to the chief’s office.
Expensive wooden furniture, desks, and black nameplates above them.
It was a luxurious room on a different level from the prison where I was confined.
I sat across from the chief on the sofa in the middle.
“So what are you going to do?”
I looked at the chief.
They dragged me to the chief’s office, who had been falsely accused a while ago.
I didn’t know anything else, but it meant that there was something missing.
Are you trying to compensate?
However, being interrogated as a suspect happened during the police investigation.
I know there is no special way to receive compensation.
Then the chief sighed again with a troubled face.
“That’s it… I’d like to discuss the issue of compensation.”
Are you going to reward me?
really?
“However, you should discuss this with someone else, not me.”
“Anyone else?”
“yes. However, his appearance is not common… I ask for your understanding.”
“yes?”
“Commander, please come in.”
While I was tilting my head, the door to the chief’s office opened.
And what appeared behind the door was a certain kid.
It is also a Westerner with blond hair, white skin, and green eyes who looks like a doll.
He looked a little over 10 years old.
A child in a suit who is so out of place in this bleak police station.
He was carrying a bag behind him.
So I asked.
“Are you my daughter?”
“no. This is the police officer I was talking about.”
I was speechless at the absurd answer and looked at the chief and the girl alternately.
Are you kidding me?
As I was about to say something, the girl opened her mouth.
“I will explain the rest. Chief, please leave.”
“All right. Good job then.”
At the girl’s command, the chief bowed politely and left.
It was an absurd sight.
And the girl came and sat down in front of me.
“hello. My name is Sophia from the Special Crime Investigation Headquarters of the National Police Agency.”
The girl who introduced herself as Sophia reached out to me.
A small, dainty palm befitting his appearance was asking for a handshake.
But I didn’t even think about holding hands.
What the hell are you doing with a kid like this?
“You look confused. sorry. A lot of people misunderstand me because of how I look.”
“Are you wrong?”
“Have you ever heard of Highlander Syndrome? Simply put, it is a disorder in which growth stops before reaching adulthood.”
Sophia said, withdrawing her outstretched hand.
Every word, every action, I couldn’t believe that it was a child.
So I was naturally interested in what Sofia had said about Highlander Syndrome.
Have you ever had such a disease?
Still not clearing up my doubts, I took out my phone that I had just returned.
and search.
“It really is.”
It was an obstacle that existed in reality.
And indeed, it is a disease in which growth stops in childhood or adolescence.
Then this girl… No, this woman is really a cop?
In addition, I searched for Sophia’s rank that the chief said.
constable.
From a cursory glance, it seemed that he was higher than the chief of police.
“Are you a real cop…?”
“That’s right. Here is my business card.”
I took the business card and took a closer look.
There was nothing particularly suspicious about it.
The chief, business cards, and most of all, Sophia’s attitude was very mature.
I also heard the name of a disease that sounds like it.
Even if you don’t fully believe it, you have to admit it once.
“Excuse me.”
“no. It’s not like it happened once or twice.”
Sophia waved her hand and said.
Even so, smiling naturally was at least the feeling of dealing with a salesperson in her 40s.
“Let’s get right to the point. Kang Jin-woo, do you have any idea why you were arrested by the police?”
“Not at all.”
Sophia continued as if she knew that.
“Actually, it is because of this. Do you remember what this is?”
Sophia put a wallet on the table.
A leather wallet without any features.
But looking into it, I soon knew what it was.
“Ah, this. Did you pick it up at the park a while ago?”
Was it last week
It was a wallet I had picked up on the way back from an interview at another company.
I remember opening it to see if there was a strange card and some money.
And… I wanted to oops.
In fact, I put my wallet in the mailbox.
I heard that if you do that somewhere, it will find the owner on its own.
But the problem was that I took out the money that was in it and put it in.
Was it 30,000 won?
A cold sweat ran down my back.
“That…why is that?”
“You may not know it, but this is a special wallet.”
“Is it special?”
Could it be that it was the wallet of a very high-ranking person?
But does that guy walk around with only 30,000 won in his wallet?
I glanced at Sophia.
But I couldn’t figure out what those exotic eyes were thinking.
So I decided to hit the player.
“I didn’t know. I picked it up and immediately put it in the mailbox. I didn’t even open it. Then I thought it was rude to the owner.”
“That’s right. Did anything strange happen when you picked up your wallet?”
“No, not at all.”
“All right. So now let me tell you what makes this wallet special.”
Saying that, Sofia pointed at my phone.
“Take a picture with your cell phone. Then you will know the uniqueness of the wallet.”
“picture?”
I wanted to hear something, but it was a strange sound.
Still, I followed Sophia’s words and turned on the screen of my phone.
As soon as I switched to the camera, I understood what Sofia meant.
“uh?”
There was obviously a wallet on the table.
However, the wallet was not visible on the phone screen.
The table is just empty.
“No, how is this… can I touch this?”
Sophia nodded.
It’s like you want to check it out.
So I reached for my wallet on the table.
The tactile feel of old leather that can be clearly touched.
However, no matter how much I lifted and released the wallet and shook it, it was still not captured on the screen.
“what’s this. is it magic? ah! What special material is it?”
“no. It’s just that this wallet isn’t real.”
“yes?”
“We usually say ‘ma’.”
“mind···?”
My brow crumpled once more at the incomprehensible sound.
Perhaps noticing that, Sophia continued.
“So, for example, something like this.”
Sophia took something out of the bag she had put beside her.
It was a small ring box.
A yellow paper was attached to it, but it seemed to be a talisman.
And Sophia removed the amulet right in front of me and opened the box.
That was the moment.
[Ah ah ah ah ah ah-]
“Crazy, f*ck!”
A terrible scream hit my ears, and I covered my ears in surprise and backed away.
But it wasn’t just the sound that appeared.
Black smoke leaking out of the box took shape.
Eventually, it changed into a human face and screamed.
However, all of those incidents disappeared like a lie when Sophia closed the box again.
“You’re not that surprised.”
“Are you very surprised?”
“Is that so? In any case, it seems certain that you can see this.”
Sophia looked at me and smiled lightly.
I felt like I was caught in a trap for some reason.
“You mean that ghost-like thing?”
“you’re right. Ghosts are also a type of demon. And the ability to see foreheads is not a very common talent.”
Saying that, Sophia took out a clear file this time from her bag.
And Sophia held it out to me.
What you see inside the clear file…
“So, by any chance, would you like to work with us?”
It was nothing but an employment contract.
Are you going to give me a job?
I had already failed dozens of interviews, so instead of answering, I looked at the employment contract Sophia had given me.
A contract that is endlessly written over several pages, saying A and E.
In particular, after examining only the important salary part, I came to a conclusion.
“I don’t like it.”