Descent of the Demon Master

ugh, and you would learn to differentiate such things.
And this job was pretty f*cked up.

Over three hundred souls would lose their lives to murder each year in South Korea.
Gu Yeong-Don alone had to have met almost two hundred murderers after joining the force.

Among them, some were accidental killers who would shudder and tremble from the shock and fear of their actions.
Alternatively, some killers were the types who couldn ’t understand the severity of their actions and would get angry at the cops instead.

The ones who always gave Cha In-Cheol the biggest creeps were the killers who showed no reaction—no agitation whatsoever.
They perfectly understood what they had done and knew that they had committed a serious crime.
Those people chilled him to the bones.

Were they psychopaths? No.
This wasn ’t as simple as a psychological illness.
It wasn ’t as if they couldn ’t empathize with their victims or they were suffering from various mental issues.
However, they still saw the act of murder as the same as, say, slaughtering a chicken for dinner.
These people were born to be murderers, or their emotional growth had been stunted somewhere, somehow.

’

At first, Cha In-Cheol wasn ’t aware of such things.
However, the years of experience slowly taught him the truth.
Now, he knew that such types of ’humans ’ walked among the rest of society.
People who were either born evil or acquired their evil streak without one iota of remorse while committing murder…
Such people did exist in this world.

’And…
normally, it ’s that kind of a guy, isn ’t it? ’

Cha In-Cheol got that gut feeling when he looked into Kang Jin-Ho ’s withdrawn eyes filled to the brim with gloominess and barely-contained rage.
He knew this young man was not someone ordinary.

“The brave citizen award? Good academic records? Hah.”

None of those mattered.
No murderer would walk around with the words ’I ’m a Killer ’ plastered on their forehead, after all.
Many of the serial killers captured over the years turned out to be perfectly ordinary-looking young men next door or an elite of society living a pretty good life.

Letting such things as one ’s background or history cloud one ’s judgment would be a failure as an investigator.

“I ’m not getting a good vibe off him,” said Cha In-Cheol.

“Come on, Lieutenant.
You know I ’d normally at least pretend to listen to you when you get this serious, but you ’re wrong this time.
That young man really does have a solid alibi.
He was in the cafe until closing time.”

“Couldn ’t he have cooked up a fake alibi?”

Gu Yeong-Don groaned.
“Definitely not.
The cafe ’s located in an affluent suburb, so the street it ’s on has five CCTV cameras.
If a murderer is capable of tempering with all five of them, then we better give up catching the guy, sir.
We might as well applaud the dude for his incredible ability instead.”

“…Is that so?”

Was he wrong? Cha In-Cheol ’s head began to tilt to the side.
His gut feeling said Kang Jin-Ho had done something bad in the past.
However, that young man ’s alibi was just too watertight.

’Then, let ’s be objective about this. ’

Even if Kang Jin-Ho was that kind of a human being, was there a guarantee that he was guilty of this particular crime? In this world, there were plenty of unexpected things happening everywhere.
It shouldn ’t be too weird to learn that a murderer on a stroll happened to come across a murder scene and called the police.
Such a thing might make the international news, though.

Cha In-Cheol narrowed his eyes and continued to observe Kang Jin-Ho.
Whether that young man knew what the police detective was thinking about or not, he kept his head low and simply smoked away in silence.

’Why…
Why am I so anxious here, though? ’ Cha In-Cheol grimaced and sucked in a deep breath.

Anyone could see that Kang Jin-Ho was quietly trying to comfort himself.
But to Cha In-Cheol ’s eyes, that young man ’s figure resembled a powder keg about to explode.
Not just any ordinary powder keg either, but one massive enough to burn the world down if it went off.

***

Kang Yu-Hwan rushed over to the police station as soon as he heard the news and also became a person of interest.
Specifically, he was questioned as another witness who knew some parts of the victim ’s whereabouts and activities prior to her death.

“Yes, she was in my father ’s cafe taking several photographs of me,” said Kang Jin-Ho to the investigator.

“Did you happen to hear about where she was headed off to next?”

“No, all I heard was that she was busy with work.
It sounded like she had another appointment to get to.”

“I see.”

Kang Jin-Ho cooperated with the investigation and replied to every question with a calm, unflustered attitude.
Kang Yu-Hwan would occasionally look at his son with worry.
What if his son was suffering from the trauma of what happened?

However, Kang Jin-Ho ’s current appearance, at least after he had entered the police station, didn ’t differ all that much from during the day when he was working in the cafe.
He replied honestly to the questions and even calmly explained the circumstances leading to his discovery of the crime scene.

’

’Even though he must be shocked… ’

Kang Yu-Hwan could only look on at his son with pity and worry.
Kang Jin-Ho didn’t express his emotions outwardly, but he was still a surprisingly caring person.
There was no way he would feel calm inside after something this tragic happened to an acquaintance.

“Thank you for your cooperation, sir.
You can go home now.
However, we might have follow-up questions later, so we ’d like to ask you for your continued cooperation, sir.”

“Understood, officer.” Kang Jin-Ho nodded and got up from the chair.

Kang Yu-Hwan waiting for the interview to end gently grasped his son ’s shoulder.
“Are you alright, son?”

“Yes, Father.” Kang Jin-Ho quietly nodded.
“Don ’t worry about me.”

Kang Yu-Hwan sighed deeply while patting his son ’s shoulder.
“…Let ’s go home.”

“Alright.”

The father and son duo slowly headed to Kang Yu-Hwan ’s car parked in front of the police station.
Kang Yu-Hwan quietly muttered in frustration.
“A murderer on the loose…
Just how can such a thing even…
That bastard deserves a divine punishment!”

Kang Yu-Hwan seemed to be shocked by the event as well, as his voice was trembling noticeably.

Kang Jin-Ho glanced at his father.
“He ’ll soon be caught.”

“Yes, that killer must be caught! He did that unmentionable thing to that nice lady, so he must be apprehended and pay for his crimes!”

“Yes, Father.”

“…Our meeting was brief, but we still formed a connection, didn ’t we? And this saddens me greatly, son.” Kang Yu-Hwan sighed deeply before patting his son ’s back.
“I ’m sure the detectives will investigate this matter thoroughly.
As for us…
We should just go home.”

“Yes, Father.”

The two men got into the parked car.

Vroom…

The car issued a quiet little exhaust noise as it slowly glided toward the Kang family home.
Kang Jin-Ho in the front passenger seat was silent; his gaze was fixed outside the window.
They had no choice but to pass the crime scene again while on their way home, though.

Kang Jin-Ho quietly observed the somewhat disorderly crime scene blocked off by the police tapes.
As if…
he wanted to engrave that scene in his brain.

“Once I get paid for the next commission, I ’m gonna thank you properly!”

Her voice still rang vividly in his ears.
Kang Jin-Ho quietly closed his eyes.
His hands resting on his lap were imperceptibly trembling away.