Public Execution YouTuber. Notorious Attention Seeker Apprehended.

The man groaning in pain looked at Shin Haesu and grinned.

“You think you can stop me by catching me—”

Thud

Haesu knocked him out with a punch to the jaw, then turned around to check on the victim.

The woman stared blankly into space. Judging by what the bastard had said in the future vision, it was likely he had fed her a large amount of sleeping pills.

“Lee Seo-eun, are you conscious?”

“Ah…”

Haesu untied the ropes binding her arms and ankles and spoke in the gentlest tone possible.

“I’m the police. You’re safe now.”

Her eyes slowly shifted to look at Haesu, then she collapsed, her eyelids flipping upward. Haesu quickly caught her.

┗ What a win?

┗ Damn, look at those dirty police hands

┗ So damn jealous

┗ Should I become a cop too

Even though she was not in her right mind, her body trembled with fear.

Haesu picked her up in his arms and opened the boiler room door. Oh Gaeng had just arrived and was standing in front of him.

“What the—how’d you get here before me?”

“This is Lee Seo-eun. Hand her over to the paramedics.”

“Ah, o-okay.”

“I have something left to do.”

“Alright, go easy... No, go hard.”

While Oh Gaeng was heading back, the rookie burst through the rooftop door, panting. The rooftop door appeared to have been welded shut.

After making eye contact with the rookie, Haesu turned and closed the boiler room door.

The phone lying on its side continued to show dozens of live chat messages.

Haesu picked up the phone and faced the camera.

┗ Whoa wtf scared me

┗ Look at that face

┗ Damn, that face is intense

┗ Kinda uncomfortable

┗ Wait, isn’t this guy a cop? Should we be doing this?

Haesu, still facing them, pulled out his own phone and called Jeong Yeong-su.

“Hey, are you in?”

-Yes, we’re checking everything.

“Good. We can’t just let the people who aided in the attempted murder of Lee Seo-eun off the hook. They’re all potential murderers too.”

┗ Huh?

┗ Wait, what?

┗ I mean I...

-‘Yabulo’ has left the chat.
-‘JinsangPlayer’ has left the chat.
-‘BarksAtIdiots’ has left the chat.

┗ Damn, missed the timing

-‘NoTimingTyper’ has left the chat.

“Can I shut it off now?”

-Yes, everything’s recorded.

“Good.”

Haesu ended the broadcast and turned around. The bastard who had passed out was now awake, leaning against the wall, grinning again.

“Heh, heheh, I knew it too… That I’d be judged someday…”

Haesu crouched and brought his face close to the man’s.

“What did you do to the other victims?”

“You want to know? Of course you do. Whether you're a cop or not, you're still human, and humans are curious.”

He looked like he was itching to share his crimes.

“I’m curious.”

“Alright, I’ll tell you. First, I cut off the wrist that typed out those filthy words. I was going to cut each finger, but some other bastard had already done that, and I didn’t want to copy. I tried pulling out the fingernails too, but that felt too weak, so I went with wrist-cutting.”

His face lit up with joy.

“And then…”

“And then what?”

“Since they hid behind anonymity, I skinned their faces so they’d stay anonymous forever. Nice symbolism, right?”

“Nice.”

Haesu gave a slow, heavy nod, then held the man’s hands with his own, interlocking their fingers. The man tilted his head in confusion.

“Uh, this isn’t really my thing…”

Crack

“Gyaaaah!!”

Haesu bent all of the man’s fingers backward until they touched his wrists, then twisted them like wringing out a towel.

Crunch—!

“Ughhkk—”

The man’s hands were instantly shredded. Bones crushed, skin torn, with pieces of bone protruding.

“What was next again?”

“P-please… s-spare me…”

“Right, the face.”

Haesu grabbed the back of his neck and smashed his face into the concrete wall. Then he rubbed it up and down like painting a wall with blood.

Scrape scrape scrape—

In front of the boiler room, the burly rookie stood tall with arms crossed, facing off against other detectives.

-“Aaaagh!! Ughh!!”

“Hey! What the hell’s going on in there?”

“We’re making an arrest.”

“Then we should help!”

“Staying here is helping.”

“No, seriously, move! What are you, a damn rock—”

Screech—

At that moment, Haesu opened the boiler room door. He was dragging the suspect whose face was mangled beyond recognition.

“Whoa, shit!”

“H-holy…”

“Is that a face or the back of his head?”

Haesu said nothing and kept walking, dragging the man along. The rookie followed silently.

The criminal firmly believed that what he did wasn’t wrong, which actually made interrogation easier. He confessed the locations of the other victims’ bodies like he was bragging.

[Public Execution YouTuber. Notorious Attention Seeker Apprehended.]

-...Confirmed to have murdered and recorded six victims so far, shocking the public.

┗ Holy sh*t… it was real?

┗ I thought it was just some viral marketing for a movie

┗ My friend sent me the link and I watched it... wtf

┗ Gave me chills

┗ Never seen such a true psychopath in my life

┗ So who caught him again?

┗ Is this guy Conan or what? How does he keep solving these huge cases? Just say it’s Detective Shin.

┗ Wow, the criminal’s face gets censored but the detective’s is out in the open. Beautiful human rights protections in this damned country!

Since the incident was live-streamed on YouTube—a medium arguably more influential than TV—it became a huge social issue.

When the suspect was being transferred from the police station to detention, he was swarmed by reporters and gave an interview that circulated online.

-“You brutally murdered six people. Do you feel any remorse?”

-“I hope that through me, people develop a stronger sense of caution and create a better internet culture.”

-“Are you saying you contributed positively to online culture?”

-“Didn’t I?”

Smack! Thwack! Thump!

He was pelted with eggs right after that comment.

Even though Lee Seo-eun’s real name had been revealed, the people who commented things like “Just kill her already” or “I support you” were all rounded up and brought in for questioning at the Violent Crimes Special Investigation Unit HQ in Gangjin.

However, perhaps because she had been targeted for writing malicious comments, Lee Seo-eun chose to settle matters amicably with them.

After finishing everything, Haesu made a call to the true MVP behind the scenes of this case.

-Nothing happened again, right?

“No.”

-Phew… That’s a relief. Every time I get a call from you, Detective Shin, it's always something urgent.

“Sorry about that.”

-Hey now, don’t say that. It actually makes me proud. That crazy psychopath attention-seeker was tough this time, but that made it all the more satisfying. I worked a lot this time, didn’t I?

“You did. You were a huge help. I sent your fee—buy some beef with your mom or something.”

-Oh… How much did you send if you’re talking about beef? Anyway, thank you.

“Make sure you file your taxes properly.”

-Yessir~ Got it~

Jeong Yeong-su is one of the few high schoolers who isn’t afraid of Haesu. Probably because he’s never been hit directly. He’s actually more afraid of Haru.

Chungnam Provincial Police Headquarters, Commissioner’s Office.

The Commissioner got to his position purely through drive.

He had fiercely pushed forward a proposal to distribute simple stab-resistant vests to field officers nationwide.

But he didn’t get a satisfying response. For now, the plan was to produce them locally using the provincial police budget and distribute them in Gangjin City first, then observe injury rates over two years before pushing the budget request to the National Assembly.

“Ah, come on… We’re trying to save police lives here—this is a life-or-death matter—why be so stingy with the money? If it’s not about breeding money or winning votes, getting a budget approved is like plucking stars from the sky. Should I just run for the Assembly myself?”

The Commissioner grabbed a banana milk and stood up as if he might storm the National Assembly right that instant.

Having seen this many times, Secretary Lee just nodded calmly.

“No kidding. Oh, one moment…”

Secretary Lee held up his phone to ask for permission, and the Commissioner, still looking like he was ready to dash out, waved him off.

Secretary Lee took the call and stepped outside briefly, then returned with a bright expression.

“Commissioner!”

“What? What is it? If you’re calling me with that confident voice, it must be something great?”

“It is! Assemblyman Oh Seong-ju is strongly backing the proposal. At the very least, the Chungnam distribution will pass quickly.”

“Huh? Assemblyman Oh Seong-ju? Why? He’s never even spoken a word to me…”

“There’s a rumor his daughter applied to the police force. Could be because of that?”

“Ah… that makes sense. Whoever that daughter is, she’s doing something big.”

Corporations must stay alert to the flow of the world.

Ahn Seo-eun was, as usual, in the office reviewing articles and getting a report from Chief Kang.

“…So, the Commissioner of Chungnam Police is pushing it personally, and with Assemblyman Oh Seong-ju’s support, the proposal is gaining traction.”

“And this is the stab-resistant vest that Shin Haesu commissioned and personally distributed to other detectives? Out of his own pocket?”

“Yes.”

Seo-eun crossed her legs and lightly brushed her lower lip with her index finger as she muttered.

“Haesu really… This is exactly why we made that contract with him. Let’s make it ourselves.”

“You mean the stab-resistant vest? Then…”

“No, not through him. We’ll do it ourselves. Acquire a suitable factory. It doesn’t need to be huge.”

She could ask her half-brother, who owns Daeseong Trading, but she didn’t want to owe him anything. In business, a debt always comes back two- or three-fold.

“Understood. I’ll look into factories.”

“Good. Then I should meet with Haesu and talk in detail.”

“About what exactly?”

“How the vest came to be, and where he had it made.”

“Can’t you just ask him over the phone?”

At Chief Kang’s natural question, Seo-eun’s eyes turned sharp.

“How can you ask something this important and complicated over the phone? Of course we need to meet.”

“…Yes, you’re right.”

A quiet café, just Shin Haesu and Ahn Seo-eun sitting face to face. Haru had gone to work at Daeseong Guard, and Chief Kang was waiting at another table.

Seo-eun wore a simple white blouse and a violet skirt, but her unique actress aura still drew glances from people inside the café.

“Now that I think about it, this is our first time meeting one-on-one like this, isn’t it?”

Haesu raised an index finger and waved it side to side.

“We met at Daeseong Hospital.”

“Come on, that was brief. We didn’t set a proper appointment for that.”

“So you’re interested in the stab-resistant vest?”

Seo-eun looked at Haesu with subtle eyes and softly parted her lips.

“Yes, I’m interested.”

“I see. The Commissioner mentioned it recently as well. There might be good news soon.”

At Haesu’s serious gaze, Seo-eun let out a small sigh and continued.

“Yes, I heard. But if we’re supposed to use you for those things, why did you pay for it yourself?”

“When threatening the rich, using the Daeseong name helps. But receiving something or paying a settlement is another matter—it’s delicate.”

“Mm… Right. Makes sense. One wrong move and people could talk. The image you and the police built up could go down the drain with Daeseong’s. Better to be careful.”

“Honestly, if someone wanted to make things up, our relationship is just perfect for it. No enemies required.”

Seo-eun quietly listened, then rested her chin in one hand and looked at Haesu as she spoke.

“So, do you hate it?”

“Not at all. Ahn Seo-eun is a great partner.”

“Partner… Right. Thank you.”

“However, I don’t know the details about production. I’ll give you Manager Gu’s number. You can talk to him.”

Haesu handed over Asset Manager Gu Se-ju’s number and stood up shortly after.

After saying goodbye to Haesu, Seo-eun got into the car.

“Shall we go to see Manager Gu?”

Seo-eun answered with a coy expression.

“I can just ask over the phone.”

“Huh? Why?”

“He’s probably busy too. It’s just out of consideration.”

“Ah, I see.”

Chief Kang accepted it without question and drove off.

Conference room overlooking a cityscape of high-rises.

A clean-cut middle-aged man stood gazing out the full-length glass wall into the deepening night as he spoke.

“So you’re saying a corporation is backing that detective we talked about before?”

“It’s CEO Ahn Seo-eun of Daeseong.”

The man behind him answered, and the middle-aged man furrowed his brows slightly.

“Do I look like I asked because I didn’t know?”

“I apologize. I’ll manage it.”