Episode 43: A Mysterious Case (4)
“⋯I’m sorry. I made a mistake for a moment⋯⋯.”
The heated atmosphere was somewhat calmed down by my quick apology in the fistfight that had occurred because of me.
Fortunately, the person involved, Jeong Da-bin, didn’t seem that offended, and just kept tilting her head and staring blankly at the hand that had touched mine without saying anything.
“What on earth made you think… And your voice sounds familiar. Do you happen to know me?”
Instead, he replaces Jeong Da-bin, who seems lost in thought.
Im Eun-ah criticized my impulsive behavior while looking at me with a suspicious look and asking me questions.
‘I never thought you’d remember my voice.’
Perhaps because of the strong impression I had last week as the ‘first cadet to be taken to the infirmary twice in a row in record time’, Im Eun-ah seemed to vaguely remember my voice.
Anyway, in order to avoid revealing my identity to Im Eun-ah, I deliberately lowered my voice and pretended to be someone else.
“Big… I think you’re mistaken.”
“I’m sure I’ve heard that voice somewhere⋯⋯.”
-Jiing-
As I was calmly lying and trying to cover up the situation to avoid suspicion, my smartwatch suddenly vibrated.
I twisted my wrist to check, and there was a private message in the chat app.
(Cat): Stop doing weird things.
(Monkey): Yes⋯, I’m sorry⋯.
The sender of the private message was Yeo Ji-hye, who was standing right behind me.
She must have been so annoyed by my impulsive behavior that she even sent me a private message to scold me.
Anyway, after sending a short and heartfelt reply to Yeo Ji-hye.
To avoid Im Eun-ah’s growing suspicion, I quickly changed the subject back to the original purpose.
“Ahem… Can I check the body first?”
“Hmm… Yes, of course. Follow me.”
“Then I will go back now.”
Im Eun-ah was still looking at me with suspicious eyes, but she didn’t seem to have forgotten what she had to do and took us to where Song Ye-jin’s body was.
By the way, the academy instructor who guided us here said goodbye and went back to his original duties.
So, only four people, me, Yeo Ji-hye, Im Eun-ah, and Jeong Da-bin, headed to the place where Song Ye-jin’s body was kept.
The place we arrived at after following Im Eun-ah felt a bit colder than the place we had been before, perhaps because it was where the corpse was being stored.
Of course, I didn’t really feel the cold thanks to the
Anyway, Song Ye-jin’s body was lying on a long iron table, and the first thing that caught my eye when I saw Song Ye-jin was her expression.
In reality, Song Ye-jin’s smiling expression felt strongly artificial.
It was a strange and eerie feeling, as if someone had forced the corners of my mouth to turn up.
And I wondered if I was the only one who felt that way. When I glanced at Yeo Ji-hye out of the corner of my eye, she was also looking at Song Ye-jin’s expression with a very serious look in her eyes.
At that moment, Im Eun-ah, who had been quietly observing our reactions, approached Song Ye-jin’s body and began to carefully point out different places and explain.
“As you can see, there are absolutely no signs of murder on Cadet Song Ye-jin’s body. We also did a drug reaction test, but nothing unusual came up. However, there are also some odd aspects to calling it a simple suicide.”
Then, Im Eun-ah explained that there was no sign of resistance in the strangulation state, just as Shin Yul had explained in Building Z earlier.
“That’s why I called in Guild Leader Jeong Da-bin and asked her to investigate. I thought that Cadet Song Ye-jin had been subjected to some kind of mind-controlling magic.”
Jeong Da-bin, who had been silently listening to Im Eun-ah’s additional explanation, took a step forward when she was mentioned and told us the information she had researched on her own.
“However, based on what I’ve investigated so far, this Song Ye-jin cadet was not under any mind-controlling magic. Of course, I can’t say for sure, and I plan on investigating more thoroughly, but I think… the possibility is significantly low.”
“May I ask what your basis for that judgment is?”
“Of course. Usually, due to the nature of mind manipulation magic or skills, the caster’s magical power remains in the mind of the caster for a long time after death, so it is easy to find traces. However, there was no magical power in the mind of Cadet Song Ye-jin.”
Hmm… Is this why the original story ultimately concluded that it was suicide?
There were certainly quite a few issues with calling it suicide, but since no clear evidence was found, it was difficult to confirm that it was murder.
“If we consider the extremely low probability, it could be a very high-level, mind-manipulating type of magic, but⋯⋯.”
In response to Jeong Da-bin’s vague answer, I suddenly asked her about a variable that came to mind.
“Then what about unique abilities? Can you detect the unique abilities of the mind manipulation series, guild master?”
The reason I asked this question was because of some of the unique mental abilities that appeared in the original.
A representative example is [Charm] by Eun-ho Cha, who appears as a villain in the novel.
Of course, considering Cha Eun-ho’s personality as depicted in the work, it’s unlikely that he would kill her in this way⋯⋯.
First of all, I planned to ask Jeong Da-bin as much as possible about anything I was curious about or had doubts about.
Meanwhile, in response to my sharp question, Jeong Da-bin began to look at me again with her purple eyes.
Sigh… My heart feels uneasy when I see Jung Da-bin staring at me with such languid eyes.
“Hmm… It’s ambiguous. I can’t say for sure that I can detect it. Each player’s unique ability is different. The original ability, conditions, method, and intensity are all different.”
Jeong Da-bin seemed to be trying to organize her thoughts a little, so she placed her fingertips on her chin, frowned, and remained silent for a moment.
Separately, I looked at Jung Da-bin, who was attractive even when she was frowning, and I thought of her setting.
‘This is just my guess, but… if you think about Jung Da-bin’s true identity, the probability that she won’t be able to detect her unique ability may be higher than you think…’
at that time.
Jeong Da-bin seemed to have finished thinking about it to some extent, so she opened her tightly shut red lips and spoke her thoughts.
“I can’t say for sure, but I think I can detect most of the unique abilities of the mind manipulation series. That’s because any ability of the mind manipulation series has a clear weakness in that magical power remains in the mind of the target.”
Although Jung Da-bin’s voice was a little lacking in confidence.
After much deliberation, she still seemed to think that neither mind manipulation magic, skills, nor unique abilities applied to Song Ye-jin.
‘I can’t say 100%, but if I’m that sure, I guess I can rule out mental abilities to some extent⋯⋯.’
“Well… if that’s the case, and if it’s not suicide by one’s own will or mental manipulation, are there any suspicious cases where this could happen?”
Perhaps thinking that this question was too general, Jeong Da-bin shrugged her shoulders and answered nonchalantly.
“Well, I don’t know. If I had to choose…, if there was a unique ability or skill that allowed you to perfectly control and manipulate only your body, not your mind, for a long period of time, then it might be possible.”
Then, Jeong Da-bin added her thoughts.
“But as far as I know, there is no magic that can perfectly control and manipulate a body for a long period of time, not just temporarily. That’s because magic is inherently efficient, so it doesn’t necessarily create such inefficient methods as magic. There is a convenient magic called mental manipulation.”
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As I was silently listening to her answer, I paused for a moment at one word she said.
“⋯What did you just say?”
“Huh? Magic is a technology that values efficiency⋯⋯.”
“No, other than that, did you say that you have complete control and ‘manipulation’ of the body in the front?”
“Yes… If there is a unique ability or skill that makes something like that possible, I thought this situation would make sense. Of course, if there is a unique ability user with such incredible abilities, the Association would already have information about that user.”
At that moment.
A scene from a conversation I had read in a novel flashed through my mind.
***
“Suyeon, just in case you were wondering, some of the enemies that are interfering with us may have the ability to forcibly ‘control’ human bodies.”
“Huh? Not mind control or something that stops you for a moment? Of all the villains we’ve met so far, there have been many with unique abilities, but haven’t there been any players with abilities like that?”
“I haven’t met him since I took you as my disciple, Suyeon. But once before. I ran into him by chance and lost him while chasing him.”
“If my sister missed it, she must be really skilled⋯⋯.”
“I didn’t get to see his skills in detail. He used something like a thread to manipulate the surrounding civilians in an attempt to shake off my pursuit. In the end, he even let the magical power in his body go wild and blew himself up.”
“Suicide? Then wouldn’t the person have died?”
“I felt like there was something like a thread attached to his body that had blown itself up. This is just my guess, but I think he probably hides his main body separately and moves by controlling another body.”
“But… if it’s as you said, then wouldn’t you be able to see that thread at a glance and notice it right away?”
“No, that’s not it. The thread is not only invisible, but if you don’t understand the nature of magic that I mentioned before, you probably wouldn’t be able to detect the thread. Because even then, no one else but me noticed the thread in question.”
“Really? That’s a bit serious. ⋯Hehe, then why don’t you take care of that guy yourself?”
-Sigh-
“I’ll try my best.”
***
In a conversation scene between Han Soo-yeon and her teacher, Cheon Yu-ha, it was clearly mentioned that Cheon Yu-ha has the ability to ‘control’ the human body.
Of course, since then, there has never been a single instance in which a player with such abilities has appeared in the work.
Anyway, the important thing was that Cheon Yu-ha said with the nuance that ‘no one but himself recognized that ability’.
If the person she mentioned is connected to this incident, then it could be an opportunity to catch someone who is later judged to be an enemy shrouded in mystery.
‘The problem is how to find and catch them… Should I tail Oh Se-hee, the victim of the next suicide case, all day long?’
Well, that didn’t seem like a good method either.
Because Cheon Yoo-ha said that no one noticed the villain’s abilities except himself.
So, it was difficult to guarantee that we would discover anything by tailing Oh Se-hee.
-Tiring-
[Skill
[When I, a ‘famous detective’, judged it, this female student committed suicide.]
Here we go again, you punk.
I, who had become accustomed to the
‘Are you some kind of famous detective? You’re always wrong⋯⋯.’
⋯Wait a minute, come to think of it.
For me, there was another ‘real detective’ besides that self-proclaimed famous detective.
Maybe⋯⋯.
I decided to put the idea that suddenly occurred to me into practice right away, so I turned my back slightly so that the three people there could not see me, and muttered a word to myself.
‘Inventory.’
-Tiring-
[Casa’s Perfume x1: A perfume favored by Casa, the greatest debaucher of the 17th century. Spraying the perfume slightly increases your charm. It may have a special effect on the opposite sex. Valid time: 3 hours. Number of uses: 9/10]
[Detective Watson’s Glasses: These are the glasses that Watson, the greatest detective of the 19th century, personally wore. When you wear the glasses, you can see things that were previously invisible. Be careful, as they are very old and may break if subjected to a strong impact.]
-Swoosh-
Immediately afterwards, without hesitation, I took out the ‘Detective Watson’s Glasses’ that were stored in my inventory.
Then, he quietly took off the monkey mask he was wearing, put on his glasses, and covered himself with the mask again.
Then he turned his head back to see something on Song Ye-jin’s body.
Then, something seemed different about Song Ye-jin’s body⋯⋯.
There wasn’t any.
‘Wasn’t it this⋯?’
My deduction that I would see something from Song Ye-jin through the glasses of the famous detective Watson seemed to have been completely wrong.
I turned my head back to take off my glasses, leaving behind the feeling of disappointment that things had gone back to square one.
But at that moment.
In an unexpected location, you may discover something different than before.
‘Why is this happening to us⋯⋯.’
The unexpected location was not Song Ye-jin’s body.
What looks different is the backs of me and Yeo Ji-hye.
Something like a long blue ‘thread’ was connected to Yeo Ji-hye and me, extending all the way to the entrance we came through earlier.
Immediately after that, I asked Jeong Da-bin a question in an excited tone, forgetting to lower my voice, as if I might be able to find a clue to the complicated and unsolvable case.
“Guild Leader, do you see anything like a thread connecting me and this friend?”
Then, Jeong Da-bin answered with an expression on her face as if she had no idea what I meant.
“⋯⋯What are you talking about out of the blue? Are you talking about the red thread of fate or something? There are a lot of interesting settings like this on Earth.”
It’s not a red thread, it’s a blue thread.
Anyway, what we can know for sure from this is that even Jeong Da-bin, a high-ranking magician who is extremely sensitive to magic, did not notice the existence of the thread hanging from my and Yeo Ji-hye’s backs.
“Oh, no. I have something urgent to do, so I’ll go first. Let’s go, senior.”
-Snap-
I quickly greeted Im Eun-ah and Jeong Da-bin, grabbed Yeo Ji-hye’s wrist, and ran after the thread in question.
-Tadadak-
‘Yeo Ji-hye is surprisingly following along obediently.’
Honestly, I thought Yeo Ji-hye would reject my touch because I’ve done so many strange things.
But surprisingly, Yeo Ji-hye obediently followed me out, holding my wrist.
‘First of all, that’s not important. Let’s just report first.’
After exiting the building, I continued to follow the thread at a quick pace, putting my right hand to my ear to report.
“⋯Leader! Maybe⋯, maybe we can find the culprit.”
[What!? Is that true?! Wind?]
“Yes… I’m going to check it out with Senior Cat and run to the suspicious location.”
[⋯What? The two of us can’t do it! For now, let’s all return and move together. This is an order from the leader.]
‘shit.’
In fact, Shin Yul’s judgment was correct.
Because if I moved too hastily, I might have run into another difficult situation.
This time, I decided to follow Shin Yul’s firm orders, so I stopped blindly following the thread and decided to turn back for the time being.
At the moment when he was about to let go of Yeo Ji-hye’s wrist that he had been holding onto and return to Building Z, Song Chang-bin’s hesitant voice came into his ear.
[Um… but Junior Wind. I briefly checked Junior Wind’s location. Did he know we were here?]
“Huh? What is that⋯⋯.”
[The building right in front of Baram Junior⋯, in that building, Hojin Senior, Jooyeon Junior, and I are in the security room.]
Even after Song Changbin’s explanation, I couldn’t understand what he was saying at first.
-Tuktuk-
At that moment, Yeo Ji-hye, who had been silently listening to the conversation, tapped my shoulder and then pointed to a floor above the building with her slender finger.
As I followed her finger and moved my gaze, I saw Song Changbin waving his hand through an open window on one floor of the building in front of me.
“Over here~ Over here!”
And I could tell.
The fact that the blue threads hanging from me and Yeo Ji-hye are connected to Song Chang-bin’s body.
