I cut into the steak and put a piece in my mouth.
As soon as I bit into the well-cooked meat, juices burst out. The steak was incredibly tender, and the sauce perfectly complemented it.
"Ah, a 100,000-won steak! It melts in your mouth."
Until now, I never really cared about food. I liked delicious things, but I prioritized quantity over quality. But now that I have plenty of money, I pursue both.
"This is delicious!"
I praised the steak while cutting another piece.
I glanced at Moon Ji-hyuk, who was cutting his steak with a sour expression. For him, 100,000 won for a meal must be a hefty expense.
"I'm glad you like it."
"So, Detective Moon from the Special Crime Unit, why did you seek me out? Do you think I'm the Red Maniac?"
"Your physique is similar to Red Maniac's, but that's not enough to call you the Red Maniac."
I felt a pang of anxiety but quickly composed myself.
There are many people with similar builds. Unless I'm shirtless, identifying someone by their physique alone is impossible.
"Then, what do you want to ask me?"
"K-Flex. You know it."
"…Yes. I go there sometimes."
I answered calmly while chewing a piece of steak, wondering why K-Flex was brought up. The answer came quickly.
'K-Flex. That's where those gangsters worked.'
Moon Ji-hyuk's gaze turned to me. I felt a bit nervous, knowing from the original drama that Moon Ji-hyuk had a knack for observing people.
He would notice something off if I made even a small mistake with my facial expression.
"We found your blood in an alley near K-Flex. Can you tell me what happened that day?"
"Sure, since you asked."
I know Moon Ji-hyuk's personality.
He's extremely persistent. Once he fixates on something, he investigates it obsessively. Sometimes he fails, but occasionally, his tenacity pays off.
Most importantly, Moon Ji-hyuk is the protagonist of the drama. He has an uncanny protagonist's intuition.
If I tried to avoid him, he'd get more persistent. Meeting him to shake off his suspicion was my plan.
Having watched the original drama, I was confident in my knowledge of Moon Ji-hyuk.
But he was more difficult to deal with than I expected.
"We found your blood in an alley near K-Flex. Can you tell me what happened that day?"
It was a question that made my appetite disappear.
'…No need to panic. They can't identify someone by their blood. If they could, they'd arrest me or summon me, not meet me here.'
DNA testing is a modern investigative method, but it's not perfect. And just because my blood was found doesn't prove I'm the Red Maniac.
Should I deny it? No, Moon Ji-hyuk likely has some information and has approached me accordingly.
"It wasn't a good day. Some gangsters attacked me. I ran away and bled in the process."
"There were no signs of you running away."
"I'm exceptionally good at running away."
"Didn't you think of reporting it to the police?"
"I don't trust the police much. Plus, gangsters' retaliation can be severe."
"Did you know that those gangsters, Ma Bong-chun's gang, were found dead?"
"I heard they disappeared but didn't know they were dead until you told me."
I ditched those guys after taking their money because they were annoying. Despite the hassle, maybe I should have thrown them into the sea.
'No. It's fine. Moon Ji-hyuk doesn't know I'm the Red Maniac.'
Feigning calm, I cut into the steak again.
"You seem quite composed."
I paused. A mistake. An ordinary person wouldn't be this calm in such a situation.
"Their deaths have nothing to do with me. In a way, it's a good thing. I had no good dealings with them."
"I understand. There was a stabbing in that alley. Where were you injured? You seem fine now."
"My wrist. I bled a lot, but it wasn't a deep wound. It's healed now."
"Can I see the scar?"
I extended my right arm. A sashimi knife had slashed my forearm, but thanks to Complete Recovery, there's not a trace left.
"They slashed my forearm. See? It's fine now."
"Does it always heal this cleanly without leaving scars?"
"I know a skilled doctor. Besides, I've always healed quickly since I was young."
"May I touch your arm?"
Normally, I would have refused immediately, maybe even snapped at him. Why would a guy want to touch another guy's arm?
But I knew Moon Ji-hyuk's intention. He wanted to check my temperature to see if I was a vampire.
'Pale skin can be covered with makeup, and fangs can be hidden by carefully moving my lips. But body temperature can't be faked. That's what he's aiming for.'
I nodded calmly.
"Go ahead."
He touched my arm a few times and then let go.
"Thank you."
"No problem. But your hands are quite cold, Detective."
"I have poor circulation."
"Oh, I see."
I finished the last piece of steak and lifted my wine glass.
"Is that all the question?"
"No, I still have a few more. Are you a student?"
"No, I'm currently unemployed. Just lazing around."
"Do you know the nickname 'Sacock'?"
"That's my nickname."
Of course, I knew. And I quite liked that nickname.
Sacock! Kang Eugene's cock! The holy cock!
Sucock is a term of reverence for me.
"I heard you frequent bars in Gangnam almost every day."
"I love bars. They're fun places. Would you like to join me sometime, Detective? It's fun."
"I'll pass. But bars are expensive. Where do you get the money? Can I ask about your parents?"
He was suspicious of my money, which is understandable. If I saw a young guy spending daily on bars, I'd be curious about his source of income, too.
"Parents? They live out in the countryside, in Pyeongchang, Gangwon Province."
That's the story of my real parents. I never bothered to find out about Kang Eugene's parents. I never cared enough to look them up.
"Do they run a business?"
"Not a business. They run a hair salon together. The money I use in bars isn't from them."
"Then where's it from? Did you win the lottery?"
"I've never bought a lottery ticket, but maybe I should try."
Answering Moon Ji-hyuk's questions politely, I felt a sudden surge of annoyance.
I am the Red Maniac, and I do need to hide that. But do I need to keep lowering myself like this? Should Moon Ji-hyuk always take the initiative in our conversation?
Can Moon Ji-hyuk do anything to me?
"So, Detective Moon, you find my money suspicious. Is that it?"
"Yes, it's suspicious. It doesn't make sense for someone like you to have such a large amount of money."
"Fine, it's not clean money. But did you know? Some of the money I spend comes from you, Detective."
"…What?"
"Taker."
Moon Ji-hyuk's eyes widened. He looked at me with disbelief, opening and closing his mouth.
"No way… You?!"
He slipped into informal speech. I didn't mind.
"Yeah. I'm Taker, Detective Moon."
Because I can speak informally too.
"No. You can't be… Taker. You're too…"
"Too young? But guess what? I'm Taker. The best hacker in Korea! That's me."
I smiled slyly and sipped my wine. The sweet wine slid smoothly down my tongue.
"I even sold information about vampires recently. You still don't believe me?"
"…"
"Do I need to show you the messenger logs to prove it?"
I picked up my smartphone and showed Moon Ji-hyuk the message made by Taker.
Moon Ji-hyuk quickly regained his composure after seeing the message. His gaze sharpened as he looked at me.
"Taker. Let me ask you straight. What's your relationship with Red Maniac?"
"No relationship at all."
"Red Maniac's actions suggest either he has hacking abilities or a hacker is assisting him."
"I've looked into Red Maniac myself. He's quite famous. But do you think a hacker can hijack a bus? That's impossible. No hacker, not even me, could do that."
"Are you saying you have no connection to Red Maniac?"
"I'm telling you, I don't. If I were involved, do you think I'd be out here openly?"
"…"
Moon Ji-hyuk crossed his arms and stared intently at the empty steak plate. He seemed deep in thought.
He was probably considering what to make of me.
Simply stating that I had no connection with Red Maniac wouldn't dispel Moon Ji-hyuk's suspicions. It was clear he wouldn't fully trust my words.
'He's probably trying to decide what to do with me.'
He couldn't detain me, but letting me go was risky. Plus, I'm Taker, a genius hacker. Although I'm currently cooperating with Moon Ji-hyuk, I'm ultimately a criminal.
'I can handle Moon Ji-hyuk. It's possible with my knowledge.'
I knew the original storyline. I understood Moon Ji-hyuk's personality, and although some events deviated from the original plot, the core incidents wouldn't disappear.
I interrupted before his thoughts went any deeper.
"It looks like you've become a vampire."
"Did you notice when you touched my arm earlier?"
"I'm not planning to spread it around. You're one of my clients."
"I trust you'll keep it to yourself, Taker."
"Don't worry. You know my identity too, right? We're even."
The easiest way to control Moon Ji-hyuk was to use an incident. What else could move a detective?
"The steak was good. How about I give you some information as a service?"
"Information?"
Moon Ji-hyuk showed interest. He knew how reliable my intel was.
"There's a rumour about a bomb terror attack in Korea."
"A bomb terror attack?!"
Moon Ji-hyuk shot up from his seat, shocked by the unexpected information. Luckily, we were in a secluded restaurant room.
"It's just a rumour. But it's a pretty credible one."
"What's the source of the rumour?"
"A broker. Apparently, the broker heard it from an arms dealer. It's likely true. A retired special forces soldier with a grudge against Korea is planning the attack."
I wasn't lying. This Chapter existed in the story, and based on the timeline, a bomb attack would occur at the Sae-byeok Group's building soon.
"Do you know the identity of this retired soldier?"
"I don't. I only heard the rumour and didn't investigate further. I wasn't that interested."
"Not interested? This is a bomb attack in Korea! Aren't you a citizen of this country?!"
"Calm down. You know there are many people like me. I'm telling you because it's you. Anyone else wouldn't have heard a thing."
He clenched his jaw and sat back down.
"Can you find out who this retired soldier is?"
"It's tough. I'm not omnipotent."
"When and where will the attack happen?"
"How would I know? I said I heard a rumour. I understand you want more information but think rationally. I only heard a rumour."
"…"
Moon Ji-hyuk fell silent, lost in thought. His focus had shifted from Red Maniac and Taker to the bomb terror attack.
Ultimately, Moon Ji-hyuk is a good person. He couldn't ignore an incident that could cost dozens or thousands of lives.
"Taker, I need your help."
"I'm busy. Besides, I don't want to get involved in dangerous stuff. I prefer just gathering information. Why don't you report this to your superiors?"
"Do you think they'd act on just a rumour?"
"Probably not."
A bomb-terror attack was just a rumour. The police wouldn't believe it.
"Do you believe the rumour? It's just a rumour."
"If it were just a simple rumour, you wouldn't have told me."
"Do you trust me?"
"So far, your information has never been wrong. You also think an attack will happen, don't you?"
"Wow, I'm flattered. But I'm not stepping in. Do you think I'm crazy to involve myself in something this risky?"
"If you won't help, I'll arrest you."
I chuckled.
"You're a vampire. I could expose that."
"…"
We glared at each other. Moon Ji-hyuk showed no sign of backing down.
"Taker, help me just this once. I need your skills."
Moon Ji-hyuk stood up and slowly bowed deeply to me. It was a 90-degree bow, almost ready to kneel. That was the kind of person Moon Ji-hyuk was.
"Ten million won. A special service for ten million won. But only this once."
"…Thank you."
"I'll look into it separately. But I have my limits. You should investigate the retired soldier too. You must have other informants."
"I will. Luckily, I have contacts in the military. And if there's going to be a terror attack, there should be a motive."
I held back from saying that the motive was usually something trivial.
"You're in charge of the Red Maniac case, right? Do you have time for this?"
"I can manage my time."
"Then let's have a meeting."
While pretending to plan with Moon Ji-hyuk, I initiated a hack.
[Hacking successful.]
[You can access Moon Ji-hyuk's smartphone for 24 minutes.]
I was curious about who was in the special task force chasing Red Maniac.
As I browsed his contacts, messages, and messenger records, I grinned.
'He hasn't started dating the female lead yet. Judging by their conversations, they're almost there. Damn, I'm getting excited. I need to fuck her.'
The female lead wasn't exactly my type. But she was too tempting to just ignore.
Since I'm in this drama, I might as well get a taste of the female lead too.
'Hehehe!'