Shin Haesu immediately checked the time. There were three hours left. It hadn’t even been ten minutes since the video was uploaded, but the view count was rising at a terrifying speed.

With a bitter expression, Haesu picked up the radio.

“First… we need to find the bastard before midnight.”

-Yeah, that’s true, but…

Both Haesu and the team leader knew it. That it was impossible to find the guy within three hours in their current state. Even so, they had to do it.

“And we’ve found the body of the last victim, Kim Hae-eun.”

-A body… Alright. Let’s focus on finding the bastard first.

“Yes.”

Haesu ended the call and slowly looked around, not knowing what kind of clue might be hidden in the area. Just then, his phone rang again. It was Jeong Yeong-su.

-Did you see it?

“I just did.”

-This guy’s a real attention seeker. You got the video taken down, right?

“It’ll be taken down soon.”

-He’ll definitely make another account. Or maybe he already has one ready. If you dig into his proxy IPs, there are hundreds. Assuming he uploads from the same place again, if two accounts have overlapping IPs, that’s his location.

“You’re saying we can find him?”

-If the place he uploaded the video from and the live broadcast location are the same.

“So we won’t know until the live starts?”

-…We still have to try and find him as best we can.

“Yeah.”

If they only learned the location when the livestream began, it would be too late. They had to find him before that.

Since the time was already announced, there was no case more urgent than this.

The Violent Crimes Special Investigation Unit, with support from detectives at Gangjin Station and patrol units, began combing through all locations in Jijeong-dong related to the missing person Lee Seo-eun.

“Kim Hae-eun was found in the basement of the study room she used to go to. Based on that, there’s a high chance Lee Seo-eun was also kidnapped at a place she frequently visited.”

Based on Haesu’s words, they focused their search around Lee Seo-eun’s usual areas.

The video had already been taken down with the help of the site, but trending YouTubers, acting like journalists, pounced on the story, uploading analysis videos about the authenticity of the original footage.

It was as if people were ‘looking forward to’ what would happen at midnight.

The Violent Crimes Special Investigation Unit collected and analyzed CCTV footage along the route Lee Seo-eun took from her home to her workplace.

Haesu, with his excellent eyesight, analyzed the footage at 8x speed.

Tap

When Haesu hit the spacebar, the paused screen showed a man brushing past Lee Seo-eun a few hours ago.

“Thick-rimmed glasses, chubby face, lips are…”

He was wearing a mask, so the lips weren’t visible, but the appearance was very similar to the photo Jeong Yeong-su had sent.

“Check if this guy passed by camera 7, 7:30 PM.”

“Yes, sir!”

At Haesu’s words, the rookie quickly opened the footage from camera 7 to check.

“At 26th Street, he turned in the direction of the station from the convenience store.”

“Then, camera 11?”

“Yes, checking now!”

Together, Haesu and the rookie tracked the man’s movements. Either the man wasn’t conscious of the CCTV, or it was just not that hard to follow him. His final destination was the subway.

“Hmm…”

He didn’t come back out. Even when they checked the subway CCTV, he was seen getting on but never getting off.

‘Maybe this isn’t the guy…’

The facial features were just somewhat similar. He might not be the one. Possibilities must always remain open, but time was running out, and they had to focus.

It was assumed that after brushing past the man, Lee Seo-eun returned home.

Unfortunately, her neighborhood was a CCTV blind spot, so nothing could be confirmed.

Several parked cars were nearby, but their black boxes turned off when the engine was off, so they weren’t helpful.

She might not have gone out at all, or she might’ve used another route.

There were just too many possibilities, and they weren’t narrowing down. Meanwhile, time kept slipping away. Haesu grabbed his head in frustration.

“This is driving me insane.”

The team leader looked up at Haesu’s reaction.

“You too? Same here. You’re something else though. Can you really see anything at 8x speed?”

“It’s because we’re in a hurry. I’m just scanning.”

“Fair enough. Damn it. Now we’ve got less than two hours left. We need to narrow this down fast and search intensively. Everyone, check for 30 minutes and try to pinpoint a location.”

“Yes, sir!”

Just then, Oh Gaeng hung up a call and raised his hand.

“I got in touch with a friend! Add coin karaoke rooms to Lee Seo-eun’s activity range!”

She lived a pretty simple life. Work, home, work, home, and occasionally coin karaoke on her own. Apparently, she met friends only about once a year.

“Alright. This is the Violent Crimes Special Investigation Unit. Add coin karaoke rooms to the missing person search list.”

Patrol cars and detectives scoured the coin karaoke rooms and the area around her home.

“Let’s head out too.”

“Yes, sir!”

“Me too. Please take care of the base.”

“Catch that bastard no matter what.”

Haesu, the rookie, and Oh Gaeng left the Violent Crimes Special Investigation Unit HQ to join the search. The team leader stayed behind to handle command.

Oh Gaeng took another detective from the Major Crimes Unit to a different location. Haesu and the rookie went to Lee Seo-eun’s home first.

It was a quaintly decorated studio. Her personality seemed to come through in the space.

“She smokes, apparently. Doesn’t really match the vibe of the room.”

The rookie pointed at a cigarette case.

“Yeah, it does seem like that.”

“But looks like she didn’t smoke indoors. There’s no smell at all.”

“She probably smoked outside. Phew… let’s go.”

“Yes, sir.”

They hoped for something, anything, but found no clues at all.

Now, not even an hour remained. Haesu grew increasingly anxious. He hoped his precognition—the future vision seen from the victim’s perspective—would show up, but it didn’t. He entertained the false hope that maybe she wouldn’t die in an hour, which is why he wasn’t seeing anything, but the odds were slim.

-No sign at camera line 24.

-Nothing at camera 11 either.

-Line 201 is a bust…

-203 also empty…

The officers’ voices grew weaker. They had searched, but turned up nothing, and time was running out.

Hope was fading from their minds.

Haesu, too, was searching with the rookie, then suddenly stood still in the middle of the road, looking around.

Something was missing. The uneasiness wouldn’t go away. The bastard didn’t move the victim. Though there was only one confirmed case, with no time left, they had to gamble on the most likely scenario.

She wasn’t outside. Not in the house, not at the coin karaoke room, and there was no footage of her leaving the house.

Time was nearly up. It was frustrating.

“Sir, what should we do?”

“Her house. That’s still the most likely…”

Then, the team leader’s voice came through the radio.

-It’s up. He went live. That bastard.

Haesu quickly opened YouTube on his phone. As Jeong Yeong-su predicted, the suspect had uploaded the livestream using a different account, and somehow, people had already started swarming to the channel.

The surroundings were pitch black, and only a small LED light lit the space.

A woman, presumed to be Lee Seo-eun, was tied to a chair with her eyes covered. Her body slumped as if she were unconscious.

“Hello. This is the Executioner.”

“My account was blocked, so I’m starting a live broadcast with a new one. This woman is a young and pretty office worker named Lee Seo-eun. But in reality, she’s utterly vile and filthy. First, let me show you some of the comments this b*tch recently posted.”

The suspect, who introduced himself as the Executioner, was wearing the same crying-face mask as before. He brought up the comments that Lee Seo-eun had written on the screen.

The number of live viewers was increasing rapidly. Notifications of new logins were rising so fast they couldn't even be read.

┗ Wow, no way, those comments were written by that b*tch?
┗ I’m a regular on that messed up forum too, but I’d never go that far.
┗ She deserves to die.
┗ This is insane…

People, upon seeing the comments he displayed, judged her as someone who deserved death—without even verifying the authenticity.

Haesu frowned at the sight.

Buzz—

It was Jeong Yeong-su’s call. Haesu quickly pressed the call button.

–I found her! Within 50 meters of Kkotnim One-Room! I think she’s inside it. I’ll send the coordinates!

"Got it."

Kkotnim One-Room was Lee Seo-eun’s residence. It was also the last place Haesu had considered. He had thought it was already thoroughly searched, but there could still be places left unchecked.

Haesu immediately picked up the radio.

"Suspect’s location identified. Within 50 meters of Kkotnim One-Room."

–Okay, uniformed patrol units to the perimeter, detectives and the Violent Crimes Special Investigation Unit, search Kkotnim One-Room top to bottom!

"Let’s go too."

"Yes, senior!"

The junior ran to the driver’s seat, and Haesu was heading to the passenger side. Suddenly, he staggered and had to brace himself on the hood. His vision went black.

Smack—!

His cheek burned as if it had been scorched by fire.

When he opened his eyes, everything around him was dark. A small LED light was lit in front of him.

“Ah, finally awake. Just how drugged were you?”

“Uhh… ugh…”

“Still not fully conscious, huh? Doesn’t even realize she’s about to die. Everyone, give a round of applause. Lee Seo-eun has finally woken up.”

He raised a knife and showed it to the camera, then approached Lee Seo-eun.

“Normally, I do other things first before killing them, but since this is a special live broadcast, I’ll switch up the order. Watch closely. This goes right into this woman’s white neck.”

Shhk, shuck—

A freezing cold sensation stabbed deep into her throat.

Without any hesitation, the man drove the knife deep into her neck and pulled it out again.

Gush gush gush—

Blood gushed from her neck like a waterfall. Holding his phone camera, he continued narrating.

“It’s real, right? Anyone who said it was fake, a show, come out now. Still think it’s CGI?”

┗ Yeah yeah, CGI, not funny.
┗ You really think it’s real?
┗ Look at this attention-seeker trembling. I’ll give him credit for the drama though.
┗ This is f*cking disgusting…

“Tsk, morons. Talking like they know anything. Anyway, this blood will keep coming for a while. People have more blood than you think. Six liters? Something like that. A sh*t ton. Now I’m gonna cut off the filthy hands that did those things and peel her face. If you’re squeamish… watch anyway. You might as well see it now—it’s funnier than you think. Okay, time to end this.”

Just as he spoke, Lee Seo-eun shuddered and then went limp.

"Hah… haah!"

"Are you alright?!!"

Haesu gasped for breath. The junior, startled, jumped out of the driver’s seat. Haesu shoved him aside and yelled,

“Get in! To Kkotnim One-Room!!”

"Huh? Y-yes! Yes!!"

Now he understood. He hadn’t been possessed because he was unconscious. There was no clock, but it felt like she died almost the moment he regained consciousness.

In other words, only a few minutes remained. The suspect had kept his promise—to kill her at 12. Now there were just three minutes left.

On the way there, Haesu clenched his teeth and forced his brain into overdrive.

The surroundings were dark, cold, and noisy. There was a musty smell too…

Haesu hastily grabbed the radio.

"Where is the boiler room in Kkotnim One-Room?"

–This is Soondul. We haven’t checked that yet.
–This is Oh Gaeng. I just arrived—nothing in the basement. I’ll check the rooftop!
–Everyone else, check the other units too! Request cooperation from residents!

Since it wasn’t far, the car reached Kkotnim One-Room quickly. As soon as Haesu stepped out, a radio message came through.

–Damn it, the rooftop door won’t open! Even breaking the doorknob doesn’t help—it’s stuck. Something’s off!

Oh Gaeng was strong, stronger than he looked. If he couldn’t open it, it wasn’t going to open easily.

–Guys, only one minute left! This psycho’s really going to do it!

–Aaarrgh!!

Haesu turned his head toward the building next to it. It was a little taller than Kkotnim One-Room. He sprinted in that direction while yelling into the radio,

“Stall him no matter what! Fire your gun if you have to!!”

–F*ck it!

Oh Gaeng raised his gun and fired into the air.

In the dark room, the masked man held a knife and removed Lee Seo-eun’s blindfold.

┗ Oh damn
┗ She’s pretty
┗ Don’t kill her, what a waste
┗ Have some fun with her first
┗ She looks tired. Let’s undress her first

The masked man chuckled dryly and slapped Lee Seo-eun’s cheek without hesitation.

Smack smack smack!

“Wake up. Wake up. Wake up!”

His ruthless slaps finally made Lee Seo-eun open her swollen eyes.

“Ah, finally awake. Just how drugged were you?”

“Uhh… ugh…”

“Still can’t come to your senses, huh? Doesn’t even know she’s about to die…”

Bang bang bang!!

Suddenly, the masked man flinched and dropped the knife at the sound from outside.

“What the f*ck, was that a gun?!”

┗ What’s outside? Gunshots?
┗ No f*cking way, this was all real?
┗ Maybe the cops found him?
┗ He must be scared sh*tless now lol
┗ Why am I rooting for him? Don’t get caught
┗ Hurry up and execute her
┗ If you get caught, I’ll write a petition for leniency.

┗ Kill her quick before they get you

“Tch. You think I’d panic and kill early because of cops? That’s what amateurs do. I follow through as promised. What’s there to be scared of?”

Click—

He picked up the knife again.

“…Though, it’s already time anyway. Watch carefully. The knife goes into this white neck.”

Just as he was about to stab Lee Seo-eun’s neck—

Bang!!

A thunderous noise echoed. The masked man flinched again and looked around. Then—

Crash—!

The black wall tore open and a massive hand burst through, grabbing his neck.

The broadcast had been taking place inside a square tent draped with blackout curtains in the boiler room on the rooftop.

“Guh… gghrk!”

Haesu grabbed his neck and lifted him into the air. When the man tried to move the hand holding the knife, Haesu caught it and twisted.

Crack!

“Gaaaahhhk!”

Haesu slammed him against the wall. Meanwhile, the fallen phone still filmed Lee Seo-eun.

┗ What the… the cops came?
┗ Looks like it. That cop’s built like a beast
┗ Look at that timing… f*cking scripted
┗ Ugh… what a waste.