TFN C94

Chapter 94

Hyewon devoured the raw meat with frantic abandon.

It wasn’t disgusting, nor did it taste bloody.

Crunch—!

At the lukewarm taste of blood and a brief flash of pain, Hyewon raised her hand.

The large chunk of flesh she had been stuffing into her stomach moments ago had vanished without a trace, and instead, her fingers dripped with blood.

Gulp.

The irresistible smell of blood spread through the air.

“I want to eat… I want to eat… I have to eat…”

Hyewon bit into her arm.

There was no pain.

She chewed and ground her own flesh, swallowing mouthfuls of it whole.

“Hehe… What a waste of money.”

She had so much to eat on her own body—why had she let herself starve for so long…

She tore into her flesh again without hesitation.

…Eat more…

From the shadow, sharp finger bones emerged and crawled up Hyewon’s prostrate body.

Fingers, arms, skull, ribcage—

The skeleton moved as though alive.

Taking advantage of her blood-drunk delirium, the bones climbed onto her and fused themselves tightly against her body.

…More, more… you must eat more…

With clouded eyes, Hyewon opened her blood-soaked mouth once more.

Her fangs, now like the jaws of a beast, tore into her flesh until exposed bone gleamed through.

[You have arrived near your destination. Before exiting, please be sure not to leave any personal belongings behind.]

Listening to the unmanned taxi’s announcement, Wonhyo peered out at the unfamiliar alley.

Samyang-dong.

He had been told the mountains were closer than the station—and indeed they were.

Row upon row of one-room villas lined the mountain’s base, extending endlessly.

Inside one of those narrow alleys, the silent rotation of police car lights cast bright colors across the surroundings.

Several residents stood outside, arms crossed, looking uneasy.

When the taxi stopped, Wonhyo pulled his mask up and stepped out.

2:15 a.m.

Strangers’ wary gazes immediately focused on him.

He silently hoped Detective Choi from Dongdaemun Station had come out to greet him—but of course, that hadn’t happened.

As he approached the villa, a stationed officer stepped forward to block him.

“How may I help you?”

“Detectives Choi and Oh from Dongdaemun Station called me here.”

Wonhyo waited quietly under the officer’s assessing stare.

“Your name, please?”

“Yun Wonhyo.”

“One moment.”

The officer signaled to his partner to check, then leaned into the semi-basement unit.

“Detective Choi? Someone named Yun Wonhyo is here.”

Perhaps because the neighborhood was usually quiet at this hour, his attempt at speaking softly ended up echoing loudly.

Wonhyo exhaled sharply and pulled his mask higher.

Too high—his chin poked out—but as long as the wrinkles straightened, it wouldn’t fall off.

Footsteps rushed up from below. Wonhyo lifted his chin—

A familiar face appeared.

“Thank you for coming.”

Wonhyo nodded politely in response.

“Let’s go in.”

He returned the salutes of the officers—who didn’t even know who he was—and stepped inside.

A faint stench of blood mingled with a deeper foul odor drifted through the air.

Detective Choi seemed unwilling to speak before showing him the scene and simply guided him forward.

Halfway down the steps to the semi-basement, Wonhyo stopped.

『You have come into contact with powerful malevolent energy. (…Progress: 32.1%)』

Detective Choi glanced back in confusion.

“What’s wrong?”

“I should… prepare something before going inside.”

Wonhyo could not say I might turn into a beast at any moment, don’t be alarmed, so he grabbed the first excuse he could find.

“Prepare…?”

“Yes.”

He immediately turned and climbed back up the stairs.

Detective Choi called out after him in confusion, but the system alerts were relentless.

When Wonhyo exited the villa, the guarding officer looked at him as if watching someone flee the scene of a crime, but Wonhyo hurried as fast as he could.

“Is that guy okay…?”

Some bystander watching from afar sounded concerned as Wonhyo staggered.

Only when he reached an area where the system window stopped reacting did he finally release a trembling breath.

He braced his hands on his knees, staring at the ground as his breath came in ragged bursts. His vision swam.

The malevolent energy level that had been 15% before he left home had shot straight past 30%.

It felt like even as he ran away, several alerts had gone off.

He opened his status window to check the penalty values. Since he had put some distance between himself and the scene, the number had stopped just above 50%.

“…I’m screwed.”

With the vengeful spirit incident, at least he had made it inside and shaken the bell.

This time, he hadn’t even made it past the front door.

If he had known it would be like this, he shouldn’t have answered the call at all.

He shouldn’t have stayed awake using talismans.

What was he supposed to do now?

Should he call his uncle and explain?

Should he run?

His temples throbbed as his thoughts tangled.

“…Maybe I should just bail?”

“Go where, exactly?”

“Where else? Home, of cours— huh?”

Leaning against one of the piloti parking pillars, Wonhyo whipped his head up.

The silver frame of glasses reflected the streetlight.

As cold as the dawn air, Cheongmun surveyed him.

“Are you alright?”

“Huh? I— for now, yes. But what are you doing here?”

He hadn’t imagined meeting him here, and the questions tumbled out of him uncontrollably.

Cheongmun jerked his chin toward the villa.

Wonhyo followed the gesture—

The Special Affairs investigative Unit 1 team was unloading from a van in front of the building he had fled moments ago.

“We also have matters to verify on-site.”

“What’s going on?”

“Special Affairs Agency, Special Judicial Police Unit. Kim Geungsik.”

Administrator Kim introduced himself to the officers glaring at them upon arrival.

“That’s not what we’re asking.”

Kim rolled his shoulders lazily and pulled on latex gloves.

“Right, right. If you have questions, ask later. For now—anyone not required for forensic processing should step outside.”

“What? This place belongs to the Special Investigation—!”

Kim shot a razor-sharp glare.

“This incident hasn’t been assigned to your unit yet. Nine cases have been transferred to Special Investigations so far—this one hasn’t.”

“Hey—!”

“Hey or not—police, prosecutors, whatever—

Anyone not part of the forensic team needs to wait outside. Is that complicated?”

Clicking his tongue at the irritated detectives—non-Awakened, ordinary humans—Kim gestured to the team member behind him.

“March 19th, 02:27:19. Mana forensics begins.”

“You bastard—!”

“Move aside, officer. We’re here because of suspected use of a cursed item. If you interfere, you’ll be subject to penalties under the regulations.”

Even the physically weakest among their unit—Administrator Nam—could handle a few muscular detectives alone if needed.

As Nam pushed the detectives back with surprising ease, Kim signaled to Administrator Lee Kangsan to activate the mana resonance device.

They didn’t want trouble with the police—they were coworkers in some sense.

But this case was different.

Cheongmun had suggested a connection to the vengeful spirit case, and the one who confirmed it was Yun Wonhyo.

If the police had separately summoned him, the likelihood of a link was high.

They needed to gather everything—before evidence vanished.

Kim swept his gaze over the blood traces inside the room.

Whether Special Investigations liked it or not—

If this incident touched the criminal they were chasing, Unit 1 could not back down.

The others’ feet might only be warm—

Theirs were already in the fire.

Finding the culprit came before anyone’s pride.

This time, they would catch him.

Kim let out a humorless laugh, thinking of the month-long overtime hell caused by the vengeful-spirit case.

After that kind of backbreaking labor, they deserved results.

“Was there something?”

“There was.”

Wonhyo exhaled in relief once Cheongmun surrounded him with a cube barrier.

“The system reacted before I even reached the bottom of the stairs.”

Cheongmun’s eyes narrowed.

Wonhyo explained how he hadn’t even been able to step into the scene before fleeing, shoulders drooping.

Cheongmun turned toward the semi-basement unit where the victim had been found.

“Will you be able to see something if you go inside?”

Inside the translucent barrier surrounding him, Wonhyo wrinkled his nose.

The malevolent energy was blocked this time, but as the situation differed from the last incident, he couldn’t promise anything.

“I’ll try whatever I can, if I can get inside.”

But the results were not guaranteed—so he kept his voice cautious.

“Still, I won’t transform immediately because of the malevolent energy, so… I’ll have enough time to work.”

If he could simply shake his bell or fan a few times to confirm the scene, that would be ideal.

But if not, he needed time—and that problem, at least, was solved with Cheongmun’s help.

“But are we going in right now?”

“No.”

Cheongmun waved a hand.

“It’s best not to use any abilities inside while the mana resonance is running. We’ll go in after the first sweep is complete.”

“Ah…”

Just then, the villa erupted in commotion.

“What the hell?!”

Hearing the furious shouting rising from below, Wonhyo blinked.

He wondered what was happening—but then caught the slight curl at the corner of Cheongmun’s mouth as he adjusted his glasses.

“Looks like Administrator Kim has begun the analysis.”

He wondered how such chaos could result from simply beginning forensics—

But something told him he didn’t actually want to know.

He had deliberately walked far away from the villa to avoid the mess, and that had been the right decision.

Every officer climbing the stairs was grumbling furiously.

Technically, he was here because Detective Choi asked him—so he was still on their side.

But he decided not to think too deeply about that.