Outrageous Oddities Beyond Common Sense.
And this oddity brings forth countless households.
There’s a possibility that the artifact used inflicted scars similar to those received from a whip strike, perhaps killed by a summon creature with tentacle-like appendages, or it could be a curse lurking in a rope or a cluster of hair as a divine object. It’s conceivable that a person, not just any warrior but one trained to the extreme, wielded a whip to bring about death, or even that an alchemist utilized a golem armed with a whip-like weapon to slay a warrior…
Countless possibilities.
Indeed, countless possibilities.
It’s the kind of situation that necessitates deploying police forces in full swing… countless possibilities, indeed.
The police could only sigh at this horrific incident.
Because it was clearly a workload far beyond just the death of warriors due to mere scuffles.
But have you ever heard this saying?
Misfortune doesn’t travel alone.
Misfortune always travels in packs, crashing down like waves, seeking to sweep away the heart of a person with overwhelming pain.
And right now, it was no different.
“…A corpse has been discovered!”
“What?”
Misfortune called upon a friend.
Or perhaps two misfortunes were one misfortune in reality.
It just happened to be easily found, the other half of misfortune.
“A corpse found in the lower ecological wetland!”
Again.
Another corpse has been discovered.
This time, the corpse was found in the lower ecological wetland, a place known for being somewhat remote.
“Lower ecological wetland, huh?”
The lower ecological wetland was a beautiful spot where one could enjoy flowers in full bloom during certain seasons. However, it was also a place where warriors came to fight when disputes arose due to its sparse human presence and its natural state.
It had become a daily occurrence for the wetland to be ruined by warriors drinking and brawling, and despite warnings, they remained oblivious, further causing headaches.
Thus, the Chungju city council decided to create a spacious clearing suitable for fighting, as the warriors’ constant destruction of the beautiful site became relentless.
Thanks to this, the lower ecological wetland was spared from the destruction of cherry trees and the damage to the diligently planted pink muhly and cosmos, resulting only in a rough clearing that was made lumpy.
In this way, peace finally returned to the lower ecological wetland.
No equipment was broken, flowers and trees remained intact, and all that needed to be done periodically was to fill holes in the existing clearing… from the perspective of Chungju city, while it wasn’t the best option, it was certainly an alternative.
At least until now.
Right.
Until just now, before a corpse was discovered in that clearing… everything was good.
“Judging from the items worn, presumed to be a warrior.”
“What? Presumed? What kind of nonsense is that? Just compare the faces! If not that, take fingerprints. Didn’t you bring the equipment?”
“…Well… the condition of the corpse is a bit concerning.”
The corpse found in the lower ecological wetland was horrendous.
Of course, all corpses are dreadful, but this corpse, found in the lower ecological wetland, was horrifically special among the already gruesome ones.
First of all, it had a large hole gaping in the chest.
This wasn’t a bullet wound, nor was it caused by a blade entering and exiting.
A massive hole, large enough to swallow a fist of an adult male, gaped in the corpse’s chest.
And there should be something in that gaping hole… but there’s nothing.
Something that should reside within the chest.
Something directly linked to a person’s life.
The heart.
The heart was missing.
And that wasn’t all.
“And, the skin appears mummified. It looks as if all life has been drained from it, flaky and shrunken. The face is twisted in pain, rendering it impossible to discern what it looked like in life… And the tips of the fingers are swollen, making it impossible to take fingerprints with the equipment currently available. This seems like a job for an expert.”
“…Is this really a corpse? Well, it certainly is a corpse… What I mean is, it’s not something that’s been dug up and placed here, is it?”
“That doesn’t seem to be the case… This mummy still has eyeballs and a tongue. When I lightly pressed the belly, I could feel the organs, suggesting they’re intact. Moreover, since flies are gathering, it seems to be a recent death.”
“What about maggots?”
“There are none. At least none are visible externally.”
“…If it had died a long time ago, there should be no organs, eyeballs, or tongue left… Since flies are gathering, it suggests the death was recent, and since there are no maggots and no signs of consumption, it seems it didn’t even happen a day ago… Damn it.”
One corpse was already hard enough to deal with, and now there’s another.
And they don’t even know whose corpse it is.
I could go insane.
But what can I do?
A corpse has been discovered, and an investigation must be done.
And not just any slapdash one.
To uphold the dignity of authority and maintain public safety in Chungju… and to assuage the fears of the citizens, we must unearth the depth of this incident and catch the perpetrator.
And what does that mean?
It means we have to throw people at it.
“Use every means available and catch the perpetrator quickly!”
Chungju’s police began moving frantically.
Just like they had done for the previously discovered corpse, they called upon every connection to grasp even the slightest thread of evidence and focused every nerve they had.
But the perpetrator was cunning.
Sly and evil.
“Ha, this is something. Do you see this? Whatever method was used, rotten blood was injected into the fingertips. This isn’t just rotten blood; it feels like it has some toxic substances mixed in… It looks like it might be intended to accelerate decay… I’m not sure on the details. It seems detailed inspection is necessary.”
“Fingerprint collection? Well, it doesn’t seem impossible, but… it probably won’t work with standard methods. Do you see this blood? It’s highly heat-sensitive. Even with a slight application of heat, it goes into a frenzy trying to dissolve the protein… If they had tried to use the usual high-temperature method for fingerprint collection, their hands would’ve melted completely.”
“Even saying other methods isn’t necessarily a sure thing. Using powder would be difficult too; whatever the trick was, it’s causing the fingers to nearly melt away… Just brushing over it seems like it would squish the skin. Yes, it’s almost like mixing melted ice cream.”
“Even trying to use ninhydrin solutions or cyanoacrylate… well, see? The bubbling? I don’t know what this toxic substance is, but it’s reacting really sensitively.”
“Moreover, wow. I don’t know if it’s due to the toxic substance or the energy the corpse was wielding… but using magic for collection is difficult, and even enhancing vitality temporarily for collection is tough due to the toxic substance. It’s incredibly meticulous, really meticulous. I don’t think it’s impossible to take prints, but it would indeed take some time. If they were trying to stall for time, they’ve succeeded perfectly.”
“Honestly, the more you look at it, the more impressive it is. This isn’t something an ordinary person could pull off… Did the agents fight each other? Or was it a killer conducting an assassination?”
They made it so the corpse was discovered out in the open.
But they made it impossible to identify who it was.
It felt like a direct insult to the police.
To prevent them from collecting fingerprints with an unknown chemical!
And it didn’t stop there.
“And you see, I had my suspicions about this corpse being an agent. Ahem. I hope this doesn’t surprise anyone.”
“Now, see this part of the collarbone? The outline is quite pronounced, almost as if makeup had been applied to the collarbone? Now, watch closely. If I gently slice this area of the collarbone with a scalpel… like this, a layer of skin peels away.”
“Do you know what this is?”
“Yes. A layer of skin has been removed, and below it is more skin, right? This is special makeup.”
“However, it may sound strange, but it looks like this isn’t something this corpse was originally wearing; it seems to have been applied by the perpetrator. How do I know this? Well, just watch as I slowly peel away this special makeup.”
“Do you see? Skin is present up to the neck, but above that, it’s completely peeled away? The subcutaneous fat and muscles are clearly visible. And look at the color. It looks freshly peeled. Do you understand what this means?”
“Yes. This person didn’t have their facial skin peeled off to wear special makeup. The perpetrator skinned their face before applying special makeup. And this isn’t even a proper face but more of a mummy-like appearance.”
The corpse had no face.
No, let me correct that.
The corpse had a face, but it had been skinned.
“What in the world could compel someone to do such a thing? It’s truly psychotic, don’t you think?”
