STG 16

Chapter 16

“Ah, and I thought things had been quiet for a while.”

Normally, this alleyway should have been deserted.

Yet, police lines were strung across the entrance, and swarms of police officers bustled about. Or perhaps it was because yet another victim of the infamous serial killer shaking South Korea to its core—commonly referred to as the ‘Skin Collector’—had just been discovered.

A detective crossing the police line and walking into the alley clicked his tongue and muttered.

The corpse found this time strongly resembled the victims of the Skin Collector.

However—

“Did some other bastard do this?”

From the very entrance of the cordoned-off alley, traces of blood were scattered about.

Going further in, even the state of the corpse itself.

Taking all of that in, the detective could not shake the suspicion that this newly discovered body might be the work of a copycat—some crazy bastard imitating the Skin Collector.

Understandably so, because there were distinct differences between this corpse and the previous ones.

The body lay sprawled in a pool of fresh crimson blood.

The sight of a body completely stripped of its skin from head to toe was repulsive enough to make even veteran detectives instinctively look away.

Certainly, the condition was identical to the victims who had died at the hands of the original Skin Collector.

Yet, the biggest difference was carved into the bones, flesh, and muscles of the corpse’s arms and legs—it looked as though they had been subjected to immense, crushing pressure.

The Skin Collector did not leave bodies behind in this manner.

That was why the detective was convinced this was a copycat crime.

Anyway.

“So, did you find out anything?” “Just one thing?” “One?” “Yes. We only managed to figure out that the culprit’s grip strength is beyond human imagination.”

Grip strength?

Did he just say grip strength?

The detective, who had been staring down at the corpse, turned back to his junior with wide, astonished eyes.

“You mean, the marks on the victim’s arms and legs are…” “This lunatic crushed them with his bare hands.” “That…?”

…Is that even possible?

No matter how strong someone’s grip was, a human being couldn’t possibly crush human bones to this extent.

If such a thing were possible, the culprit shouldn’t be considered human—they’d have to be a chimpanzee or a gorilla.

Seriously…

“This is driving me crazy.”

Dealing with the Skin Collector alone was already a headache big enough to kill him, but now this copycat bastard possessed grip strength that surpassed human limits?

There was no end to this madness.

Still, what could he do?

He was a detective.

A detective’s profession was to hunt down criminals who broke the law.

Even if the opponent was a copycat with monstrous grip strength.

Even if the opponent was a psychopath who derived joy from peeling off the skin of others, it was his duty to catch them all.

Therefore, the detective gave his orders:

“First, secure every single CCTV in this vicinity.” “Understood.”

Having said that to his junior, the detective’s eyes drifted back to the corpse, which had been covered once again with a cloth.

“Hmph. Judging by the signal, it’s definitely somewhere around here.”

A neighborhood of multi-family villas located in a quite secluded corner of Guro-gu.

Imari wandered through the densely packed buildings, scanning her surroundings.

When she confirmed that the anomaly she needed to retrieve this time was one that stole other people’s skins to make them its own, Imari had made a single proposal to the Foundation:

She would use a consumable item called the ‘Stigma of the Prey’ on the Level 4 agents assigned to her.

The Stigma of the Prey, one of the items generated through anomalies, lasted for seven days.

It was an item that allowed the person who applied the stigma to roughly pinpoint the location of the target marked by it.

If one of the Level 4 agents happened to be targeted by 【The Snatching Skin】, she argued, they could pinpoint its location using the Stigma of the Prey.

The Foundation had deemed Imari’s proposal and reasoning valid.

Consequently, the three Level 4 agents assigned to support Imari this time had indeed been branded with the Stigma of the Prey.

In other words, there had been a valid reason behind Imari’s order three days ago commanding all the Level 4 agents to “become the bait.”

And so, how long had she wandered?

By the time the sun hanging in the sky slowly began to dip, Imari still hadn’t managed to unearth the hidden 【The Snatching Skin】, and dark irritation was already evident in her eyes.

“Where on earth is it?”

Despite moving to the exact coordinates indicated by the Stigma of the Prey, she kept walking in circles around the same spot, prompting Imari to let out a curse fueled by surging annoyance.

Should I have asked for a slightly higher-grade item instead?

Yet, Imari knew very well.

Approval would never be granted for an item of a higher tier than the Stigma of the Prey given her current status as an ‘External Operations Researcher.’

Wasn’t that precisely why she had chosen the absolute best option among the available items?

At that moment, the two Level 4 agents who had split off returned from around the corner of the alley.

“Did you find it?” “I apologize.” “We couldn’t find anything.” “Ha—.”

A deep sigh escaped Imari’s lips.

Having failed to capture even a trace of it for days, her irritation flared up anew.

Should I just keep going? There’s no other method…

Perhaps if she waited nearby this time and moved the exact second 【The Snatching Skin】 took the bait, there might be some degree of a chance.

However, that method was far too inefficient.

It had taken nearly three days just for 【The Snatching Skin】 to bite the initial bait she had prepared.

And even that could be considered a stroke of a certain kind of luck.

If she deployed the bait in the exact same way again, the probability that the damned anomaly would bite it was exceptionally low.

“Can’t be helped. Scatter and search again.” “Understood.”

At Imari’s command, the two Level 4 agents moved out once more.

The two Level 4 agents vanished beyond the corner of the alley.

Imari watched their retreating backs for a brief moment before turning her gaze toward Han Seong-jun.

“Don’t you feel anything?” “Hard to say.”

At Imari’s question, Han Seong-jun replied.

Did he feel anything?

Of course he did.

It was simply that it wasn’t the kind of thing Imari wanted him to feel.

More importantly—

Is she surprisingly dull?

Or had the scope of her thoughts narrowed because of the events transpiring lately?

Han Seong-jun simply looked at Imari in silence.

Even at this very moment, Imari was unable to conceal her surging irritation, spitting out curses one after another.

At this rate, there would be no progress whatsoever.

So—

“Shall I help you?”

At the voice coming from behind her, Imari snapped her head around with a violent jerk!

“What? No, how? Wait, no, more importantly, you can help? Then why have you just been standing around doing nothing until now?”

Even as Imari lashed out with a sharp, cutting voice, Han Seong-jun showed no outward change in expression. No emotion flickered across his face.

He simply spoke:

“Because you didn’t ask for my help.”

With a calm, flat voice, he stated just that.

At Han Seong-jun’s words, Imari wore an expression that clearly said, What kind of bullshit is that?

If he could help, why didn’t he just help in the first place?

What kind of mentality was it to remain completely idle just because she hadn’t explicitly asked for help first?

Just as Imari’s expression was gradually turning ferocious at that excuse of an excuse—

“You seem to be mistaken about something, but I am not your subordinate. Nor am I one of those disposable Level 4 agents the Foundation attached to you.”

Ah…

Han Seong-jun’s voice rang out chillingly.

Simultaneously, Imari flinched and shuddered at the gloomy, ash-gray eyes she met.

For a moment, she had completely forgotten—driven by the irritation boiling up from the fact that she still hadn’t retrieved 【The Snatching Skin】, which she had thought was already within her grasp.

Ash-gray hair and gloomy ash-gray eyes.

Dressed in a black suit, wearing black shoes, holding a classic, elegant book in one hand. Han Seong-jun.

The fact that he was, in reality, the anomaly 【The Story-Devouring Grimoire】.

“Furthermore, the help I offer is not free. There must be something of equivalent value in return. Isn’t that what ‘cooperation’ fundamentally means?”

I’ll help you, so pay the matching price.

As Han Seong-jun stated that quite bluntly, Imari’s expression stiffened into stone.

Han Seong-jun—no, 【The Story-Devouring Grimoire】—only had one price he could collect.

That price was memories. The stories and memories written inside the book bearing the title ‘Imari.’

Then, what kind of help would he provide, and how many memories would he take as payment?

She had no way of knowing.

Imari couldn’t even tell whether the content and quantity of memories taken as the price for his help would be fair.

Noticing Imari’s rising anxiety, Han Seong-jun opened his mouth.

“You don’t need to worry too much. I won’t take a price greater than the help I provide.”

Watching Han Seong-jun speak with a heavy, sunken gaze—

Hoo—.

Imari exhaled a deep breath.

Drip—. Drip—.

Dew gathered on the ceiling fell in heavy droplets.

Imari scowled at the sound of water droplets falling from the ceiling echoing from all directions.

Darkness so dense she couldn’t see an inch ahead. The sound of water echoing everywhere. A stench strong enough to make her want to rip her own nose off. Foul sewage rising up to her ankles, and so on.

Accompanied by the two Level 4 agents, the place Imari currently found herself in was a sewer.

A location reached via a manhole.

When she had first heard the words ‘manhole and sewer’ from Han Seong-jun, Imari had cursed herself for failing to consider such a possibility.

It was a fact she would have realized with just a little bit of thought.

It didn’t require any exceptional insight or deductive reasoning.

However, Imari had already accepted Han Seong-jun’s help and paid the price for it.

Even though Imari had no idea what she had paid Han Seong-jun as that price.

Therefore—

It’s too late to regret it now.

There was nothing quite as utterly useless as belated regret.

So, for now, let’s focus on retrieving 【The Snatching Skin】 even a second faster and getting the hell out of this wretched sewer.

With that thought in mind, Imari looked down at her smartphone.

She could see that she was gradually getting closer to 【The Snatching Skin】 glowing on the screen.

The distance to the target was at most a little over 100 meters.

Considering the complex, intertwined geography of the sewer system, it wouldn’t be unreasonable to consider the actual distance greater than that, but even so, she would surely be able to locate 【The Snatching Skin】 this time.

So—

“What are you doing? Why aren’t you running?”

Imari said coldly, glaring at the two Level 4 agents.

Realizing what Imari’s words implied, the two Level 4 agents broke into a sprint.

The Level 4 agents bolted straight into the pitch-black darkness where they couldn’t even see an inch ahead.

Not a single shred of fear could be found in them.

Averting her gaze from the Level 4 agents as they vanished into the darkness in an instant, Imari looked back down at her smartphone.

The signal was moving.

【The Snatching Skin】 was navigating the complex sewer system, drawing closer step by step.

100 meters became 50 meters. 50 meters became 20 meters again.

As the distance to the anomaly shrank like that, Imari could feel a sticky, concentrated joy welling up from within the darkness.

A new skin has come looking for me of its own accord.

The sticky, yet eerie delight of 【The Snatching Skin】 bursting forth at that reality.

At the exact same time—

BOOM—!

A thunderous explosion tore through the darkness.

Clatter, crash—!

A single crimson mass burst through the darkness and tumbled across the floor right beneath Imari’s feet.

Glancing down casually, Imari was able to identify what the crimson mass was.

It was one of the two Level 4 agents who had moved out under her orders.

The reason it looked entirely crimson was simple.

Its skin had been stripped away by 【The Snatching Skin】, leaving its flesh, muscles, nerves, and blood vessels completely exposed to the outside.

The moment Imari frowned at the repulsive state of the returned Level 4 agent and shifted her gaze back up—

Boom!

Once again, a massive explosion erupted.

Clatter, crash—.

The last remaining Level 4 agent tumbled across the sewer floor in the exact same horrifying state as the one before.

With this, all the Level 4 agents provided by the Foundation had lost their lives.

Along with that, 【The Snatching Skin】 revealed its appearance from within the darkness.

Five legs, each entirely mismatched in length, thickness, and skin color. Three left arms and two right arms attached to a grotesquely swollen upper body. Four heads jumbled together from an elderly man and a young adult. Even skin that looked as though entirely different types of skin had been forcibly stitched together like a patchwork quilt.

【The Snatching Skin】, possessing a truly horrific appearance.

At the sight, Imari muttered before she even realized it.

Seriously—

“I was a goddamn idiot for trusting those bastard rats at the Foundation.”