Seo Jung-woo finished his call with Seo Sora and thought to himself.

“I read somewhere that just one song doesn’t make much money.”

He had seen that online. In any case, he never intended to stop at just one song.

“If it were just for me and Sora, the revenue from a single song wouldn’t be bad.”

But that wasn’t his goal.

There were some things from that world that were better than those in this one.

Weapons designed for fighting monsters and medical treatments for injuries sustained in battle—those were undeniably superior in the other world.

However, bringing them here and selling them was impossible.

If he tried selling guns, he’d be arrested immediately for illegal arms dealing.

The reason the other world's medical treatments were so effective was that they contained special components derived from specific monsters. Even if he managed to bring them here, mass distribution would be difficult, and there would be no way to explain where those special components came from.

Instead, he wanted to take everyday necessities, food ingredients, and medicines for disease treatment from this world to that one.

But acquiring medicine here required a doctor’s prescription. Even if he found a doctor willing to cooperate and forge prescriptions, prescribing large quantities would undoubtedly raise suspicion.

‘I could buy a pharmaceutical company, secretly produce the medicine, and take it over. Or dismantle the production facilities and move them to the other side.’

Buying a pharmaceutical company would require an enormous amount of money. His detective salary wouldn’t cut it, and even hitting it big with a few songs wouldn’t be enough.

Still, he wanted to try. And for that, he needed a lot of money.

‘I need to get more songs from Cheol-woo Ahjussi.’

Suddenly, Detective Baek Sung-min, who was sitting across from him, put down his phone and jumped to his feet.

“Murder case! Let’s go!”

For now, adapting to this world came first.

Seo Jung-woo also stood up from his seat.

When they arrived at the scene, their colleague, Detective Jo Min-seok, had already gotten there first.

Baek Sung-min asked,

“What’s the situation?”

Jo Min-seok, speaking in a tone more rigid than usual, replied,

“A neighbor reported it. They heard loud fighting and a woman screaming. The local precinct officers responded, broke the door open, and found the floor covered in blood.”

“Where’s the body?”

“It hasn’t been found.”

“Huh? But you said it was a murder case?”

“There was some confusion in the initial report. But from what I’ve seen, the chances of it being a murder case are extremely high. Look over there.”

On the floor was a long bloodstain.

“Ah, damn. That’s the mark left from dragging an unconscious person who was stabbed.”

“Yes. We also found the weapon used in the crime. That knife over there.”

A single dagger lay where Jo Min-seok pointed.

“Whoa. That knife is pretty fancy.”

“Looks like a collector’s item.”

Baek Sung-min examined the knife with only his eyes and commented,

“A uniquely designed knife like this should make it easy to track down the owner. Leaving the weapon behind suggests it might have been an impulsive murder. If there are fingerprints on the knife, this will be even easier.”

“There’s no need to wait for fingerprint results. We’ve already arrested the owner of the knife as a suspect.”

“Huh? Already? Now that’s what I’m talking about!”

He turned to Seo Jung-woo and smirked.

“See? When we put our minds to it, we catch criminals fast.”

“Ah, yes.”

“So, who’s the suspect?”

Jo Min-seok answered,

“The missing victim’s boyfriend.”

“Is this a domestic violence case? No… more like a crime of passion.”

“But the suspect insists he’s not the culprit.”

Baek Sung-min snorted.

“Have you ever seen one of these guys admit to it? They only confess when the evidence is shoved in their faces. Any other proof?”

“The blood-stained knife belongs to him, he has no alibi, and, most crucially, we found bloodstains on his clothes.”

“And he’s the victim’s boyfriend? Definitely a crime of passion. My gut tells me he’s the murderer. Where is he now?”

The suspect had been arrested by the officers who arrived earlier and taken to the nearest precinct.

Baek Sung-min, Jo Min-seok, and Seo Jung-woo left the crime scene in the hands of the forensics team and headed to the precinct.

Upon arrival, Baek Sung-min greeted the officers on duty.

“Good work.”

The suspect, Kim Seong-jun, was sitting in the corner with handcuffs on.

As Baek Sung-min walked toward him, he remarked,

“Denying it, huh? Even with all this evidence? Guy’s got no grip on reality.”

A man in his 30s wearing a suit stepped in front of him.

“Speak with me first.”

“And who are you?”

The man handed over a business card.

“I’m Lee Cheon-sang.”

Baek Sung-min frowned as he read the card.

“A lawyer? Wait, how did you get here so fast?”

“I’m the legal advisor for AKX Pictures.”

“I don’t know where that is, but how did you get here so quickly?”

“Mr. Kim is the CEO of AKX Pictures.”

Baek Sung-min hesitated for a moment and looked at Kim Seong-jun.

“He’s in his 30s, though…”

“He achieved success at a young age.”

“And what exactly does AKX Pictures do?”

Jo Min-seok chimed in,

“You know when you go to the movies and see ‘Produced by AKX Pictures’ at the start?”

“Oh, so it’s a film company?”

Lawyer Lee Cheon-sang corrected him.

“Not just films. We produce dramas and commercials as well.”

“Wow. A successful company CEO accused of murder, huh?”

Lee Cheon-sang immediately protested.

“Watch your words. Murder?!”

At this stage, he was only a suspect. They hadn’t even found the victim yet.

Baek Sung-min quickly apologized.

“Ah, my apologies. It’s just our job to suspect everyone.”

Just then, Team Leader Kwon Byeong-cheol entered the precinct, roughly ending a phone call.

“Damn it, this is a nightmare.”

Baek Sung-min asked,

“Boss, what’s wrong?”

“I’ve already gotten three calls telling me to release Kim Seong-jun because ‘he’d never do such a thing.’ Do these people think we’re their errand boys? I decide who gets released! We don’t have time for this—get that bastard talking and find out where the victim is!”

Kim Seong-jun, who had been sitting dazed in handcuffs, suddenly jumped up and shouted,

“It’s not me! Please, just find Yoon-mi!”

Baek Sung-min asked,

“Mr. Kim, we want to find Lee Yoon-mi too. So just confess—”

“I told you, I didn’t do it!”

Seo Jung-woo focused his detection skill on Kim Seong-jun and frowned.

‘Something’s off.’

The skill detected the killing intent of monsters.

Though it wasn’t as clear as with monsters, human killing intent could still be sensed. Using the skill in active mode, focusing on one target, made it easier to detect—but at the cost of a short duration and cooldown time.

‘Did he really just kill someone?’

Yet, there was no killing intent from Kim Seong-jun.

Usually, after a murder, once the perpetrator calms down, their intent fades, making it harder to detect. But a person as agitated as he was should still have residual traces.

But there was none.

He had seen cases like this before.

‘If he wasn’t trying to kill someone, or if he stabbed them by accident or mistake… No. If it were a mistake, he wouldn’t have been able to dispose of the body so quickly.’

Kim Seong-jun might not be the culprit, but it was also possible that a psychopathic murderer was merely pretending to be agitated. It was difficult to discern such nuances even with the detection skill.

‘Something feels off.’

Violent Crimes Team Leader Kwon Byeong-cheol let out a deep sigh before giving instructions.

“Sung-min, you come with me. Let’s split the suspect between us. Min-seok, you work with Jung-woo and get cooperation from the staff here to find any witnesses around the crime scene.”

After leaving the police substation, Jo Min-seok opened a map app on his smartphone and showed it to Seo Jung-woo.

“I’ll check this side, so you go that way.”

“Ah. Got it.”

After parting ways with Jo Min-seok, Seo Jung-woo walked along the back alley behind the building, lost in thought.

“If Kim Seong-jun isn’t the culprit, and someone framed him, then who did it?”

There wasn’t enough time to investigate.

“Judging by the victim’s blood loss, even if they were still alive, they wouldn’t last long.”

He had a way to buy more time.

“If I go that way…”

He could gain 24 hours. Though this world and the other had diverged after entering the 21st century, the same people still lived in both.

“It’s worth trying.”

Seo Jung-woo stepped into a secluded corner of the alley. There were no CCTVs nearby. There, he used his parallel dimension teleportation skill.

Seo Jung-woo crossed into the parallel dimension.

The air that had occupied the space where he appeared was pushed outward, creating a brief gust of wind.

Other teleportation skills typically operated in three steps: activation, destination selection, and actual movement.

Some teleportation skills, such as Blink, which only covered a few meters, had random coordinates. However, whether it was teleportation or Blink, objects at the destination never overlapped with the body.

The moment the body arrived, objects in that space were either pushed aside or the body was relocated to the nearest empty spot.

As soon as he crossed dimensions, Seo Jung-woo called Seo Sora.

– “Hello?”

“I need to find someone.”

– “I’m at work. Go ahead.”

Seo Jung-woo recited Kim Seong-jun’s name and resident registration number.

– “I’ll run a search.”

Seo Sora was a sniper with long-range surveillance skills. Important facilities always had hunters with detection skills on duty, but when security needed to be reinforced, additional hunters like her were hired.

When she was on duty at such a facility, she had access to the facility’s computers for identity verification. This was necessary to confirm the identities of those entering the premises.

– “Found him.”

Seo Jung-woo asked,

“Is Kim Seong-jun a film company president here too?”

– “Film company president? No, he’s not.”

“Then what is he?”

– “This guy is a hunter.”

There were many terms for people who fought monsters, but the most commonly used was ‘hunter.’

Seo Jung-woo furrowed his brows slightly.

‘Could he have become a hunter to avenge Lee Yoon-mi?’

Park Cheol-woo, who fought at the Jeokseong Gate in northern Gyeonggi Province, was a case like that.

‘Did Lee Yoon-mi already die in this world?’

“Where is he active?”

– “A small lower-tier gate opened in Apgujeong today. The monsters that emerged from the gate moved toward the Han River. He’s there.”

“Huh? Apgujeong? A rich neighborhood like that failed to defend against a mere small lower-tier gate?”

Wealthy neighborhoods had their own security systems. They typically hired hunters for routine protection, and when gates opened, additional contracted hunter teams were called in.

In Apgujeong, even if a small lower-tier gate appeared, it should have been wiped out by the contracted hunters before the military could even get involved.

– “The radar at Namsan Gate detected the rift, and it fully opened in just five minutes. It was a sudden gate.”

“Still, something’s not adding up. Was there another issue?”

– “Some of the Apgujeong security hunters were dispatched to assist a VIP event in Cheongdam-dong, and in the meantime, the situation unfolded. The initial response failed, but the remaining security hunters managed to drive the monsters toward the Han River with minimal damage. Hunter Kim Seong-jun took an emergency request from the district and is currently sweeping up stragglers near the riverside.”

“That makes sense. Got it. But if Kim Seong-jun is a hunter operating in Gangnam, then he’s not doing it for revenge.”

– “What’s this about?”

“Saving one, no… two people in the other world.”

Seo Jung-woo took a bus home first. After gathering his gear, he headed to Apgujeong.

“The subway in the other world was really convenient.”

In this world, the subway was primarily used for military and tactical hunter team movements. There were no restrictions on civilian use, but the fare was so high that ordinary people couldn’t afford to use it for commuting.

The number of cars on the roads was significantly lower than in the other world. Instead, the vehicles were larger.

They were equipped with armor plates or heavy machine guns for monster defense. To support such weight, the cars had to be built sturdily, which drove up prices compared to the other world.

However, no matter how much armor a vehicle had, it would be easily wrecked in an actual battle. People knew having a car was convenient, but buying a new one every time it got destroyed would ruin them financially.

So, not many people bought cars for personal use.

When Seo Jung-woo arrived near the Han River in Apgujeong, multiple hunter teams were already searching the area.

Even though he was entering an active monster-sweeping zone, no one stopped him since it wasn’t a military operation.

However, with everyone wearing protective masks, it was difficult to tell who was who.

Seo Jung-woo shouted loudly.

“Kim Seong-jun!”

Two hunters turned toward him. They were moving as a pair, watching each other’s backs—a duo hunter team.

“Who are you?”

Seo Jung-woo walked toward them.

“Are you Kim Seong-jun?”

Kim Seong-jun, thinking he might be a new client, took off his protective mask and replied,

“Yes, I am, but…?”

“I have some questions for you—”

Seo Jung-woo abruptly stopped.

The person standing beside Kim Seong-jun also removed their mask, revealing a face he knew.

‘Lee Yoon-mi?’

In the other world, she had disappeared after being stabbed, yet here she was, alive and well.

She asked,

“What business do you have with my husband?”

Seo Jung-woo looked between the two.

‘So, they got married in this world.’

In the other world, Kim Seong-jun was being investigated as the prime suspect in Lee Yoon-mi’s murder.

‘They seem really close here. Were they like that in the other world too?’