It was a little past 10 a.m. on a Saturday. Several corpses were strewn across the alley floor.
Leaving the scene of a murder was no longer a difficult task for Cheol-su. The countdown he used to see in his vision had disappeared. Of course, he knew it would reappear eventually.
Perhaps he had an hour to rest.
As he scanned his surroundings and exited the alley, countless questions swirled in Cheol-su's mind.
"Why does he need my body and soul? And why must I commit murders and absorb others' souls?"
Cheol-su wondered about Faust's intentions, but he knew there was no way to uncover the truth.
"Thinking so deeply while moving just made me hungrier. Let's hurry home and eat some ramen."
He quickened his pace. Occasionally, his powers would misfire, causing him to move unnaturally fast, but he was quickly adapting to his new abilities.
Upon returning home, Cheol-su immediately showered and cooked himself some ramen. Once his stomach was full, the thoughts he had pushed aside began to creep back into his mind.
"Eight today. Nine in total over two days."
He let out a bitter chuckle. Life truly was unpredictable.
At first, he had worried about being unable to kill, wondering if the contract would be nullified. But now...
"Who would have thought I'd kill so easily? Could there be a latent psychopath within me?"
Yet, he felt no guilt—perhaps because he retained their memories.
All of them had lived lives filled with heinous crimes. Criminals who had walked paths opposite to Cheol-su's.
The man who had hit Cheol-su with a car while drunk driving? He had been running an illegal gambling ring, blackmailing others, and exploiting women through forced prostitution.
And what about the delinquent high school students Cheol-su encountered today?
Extortion, intimidation, assault—they had already committed numerous crimes despite their young age.
These were people who deserved punishment.
"I've prevented future victims by eliminating them in advance."
Feeling content with his meal, Cheol-su lay on his bed. As exhaustion washed over him, his eyelids grew heavy.
"Ah, this feels comfortable. If things continue like this, my family might stay safe..."
The number "7 days" reappeared in his vision. As he had expected, exactly one hour had passed.
When Cheol-su opened his eyes, it was already 11 a.m. He had slept so deeply that he couldn't remember when he had dozed off.
After using the restroom, he instinctively checked the news.
The internet was abuzz with articles about the murders.
Skipping over the articles themselves, Cheol-su scrolled straight to the comments section. He was curious about public opinion.
└ Why is the world becoming scarier? └ Why do people kill? Psychopaths. └ What's with the head explosions? The killer's a freak. └ Staying indoors is the safest option.
The comments were filled with the expected condemnation of the killer.
Disappointed, Cheol-su turned off his phone. A sense of injustice welled up within him. None of this had been his choice.
"In a way, aren't I a victim too? If they knew what those people had done in the past, they wouldn't post comments like that."
Cheol-su kept repeating to himself that he had no other choice, as though trying to justify his actions. There was no alternative.
He thought about what would happen if he were arrested. Even then, the killings would likely continue as long as he upheld the contract.
"There was nothing in the contract about not getting caught. Should I just turn myself in?"
Even if he did, he would still live as a murderer. He couldn't stop killing until Faust reclaimed his body and soul.
"Then turning myself in is pointless. Besides..."
He thought of his family. He didn't want them to be labeled as the parents or younger sister of a murderer.
Just then, his phone rang. Seeing the caller's name on the screen, Cheol-su hesitated. It was his mother.
"Son, what are you doing this weekend? Have you eaten?"
The background noise suggested she was in a bustling place.
"Yeah, I've eaten. What about you, Mom?" "I'm full just knowing my son, who works at City Hall, is doing well."
Cheol-su thought to himself.
"Ah, she's calling to brag about her civil servant son to her friends again."
"Mom, being a civil servant isn't such a big deal these days. Stop boasting." "Oh, listen to this humility! Working at City Hall is no small feat." "I mean, after getting assigned—" "Yes, yes, I love you too, my son."
Click.
After the call ended, Cheol-su set down his phone and stared at the ceiling. The dissonance he felt during the short conversation gnawed at him.
"Mom's son is now a murderer."
He muttered to himself, his voice filled with bitterness. It wasn't funny. His mother still saw him as the ordinary civil servant he once was, but he had changed so much since then.
"Even after all this, I'm still her pride."
To clear his mind, Cheol-su went for a walk in the park near his apartment complex. On his way back, he noticed a notice stuck to the elevator wall.
[Attention, Unit 1001.]
"Unit 1001? That's my place."
He read on.
[You bastard. I warned you about stomping around. Read this and come to Unit 901 immediately, or you'll regret it.]
After finishing the notice, Cheol-su let out a deep sigh.
"Ah, another headache."
Eventually, Cheol-su had no choice but to visit Unit 901.
To be cautious, he took the elevator to his apartment first, then used the stairs to climb up.
Standing in front of Unit 901, Cheol-su took a deep breath and pressed the doorbell.
One second, two seconds, three seconds.
No response. He rang the bell again. This time, heavy footsteps echoed from within.
Thud. Thud. Thud.
"So, such footsteps actually exist," Cheol-su thought.
The door creaked open, revealing a man whose height easily exceeded two meters. His sleeveless shirt exposed arms covered in chaotic tattoos.
"Even without those tattoos, he'd be intimidating enough. Why..."
The man's face was devoid of emotion, his gaze cold and merciless. He looked down at Cheol-su as if he were an insect, a chilling sensation running down Cheol-su's spine.
"What?" the man said. Despite being a first encounter, his tone was aggressively informal.
"Well, I suppose someone his size could speak to anyone like that," Cheol-su mused.
Trying to remain composed, Cheol-su replied, "Uh, I live upstairs, in Unit 1001."
The man's brow furrowed in displeasure. He seemed ready to lash out.
"Oh, so you're the bastard from upstairs."
Suddenly, he leaned in close to Cheol-su's face. The strong stench of cigarettes assaulted Cheol-su's nose.
"How many times do I have to warn you to walk quietly? Do you need someone to spell it out for you?"
His voice grew harsher, his expression on the verge of exploding with rage.
Just then, the man's old phone buzzed in his hand. He cursed under his breath and checked it.
"What is it now? Damn it."
After glancing at the screen, he barked at Cheol-su, "Stay right here. Don't even think about running. I know exactly where you live."
The man answered his phone nonchalantly right in front of Cheol-su.
"I'm busy right now. Dealing with the guy upstairs. Call back later."
After hanging up, he abruptly grabbed Cheol-su's hair roughly.
"Come here, you bastard."
With a cold grip, the man yanked Cheol-su's head, dragging him inside his apartment.
Unexpectedly, something unusual occurred.
"What? My body isn't responding? Am I done for?"
The man growled, "Didn't I warn you to walk quietly, you little punk?"
For the first time in his life, Cheol-su heard someone call him little. At 178 centimeters, he didn't consider himself short.
But now wasn't the time for such thoughts.
The man's fist flew toward Cheol-su's face, but in that instant, Cheol-su's body reacted reflexively.
Swoosh, thud, splatter.
Cheol-su's hand moved in a blur, and the man's head burst open. A sickening sound accompanied the sight of his body collapsing onto the floor.
"My body moved on its own... again."
It didn't even shock him anymore, which made it all the more unsettling.
"Have I become so numb to killing? Am I emotionally dead?"
Just then, the bedroom door creaked open.
"Honey, why's it so noisy?"
A woman emerged, rubbing her eyes. She froze when she saw the scene in the living room. Her gaze darted between the corpse and Cheol-su, fear clouding her face.
Cheol-su instantly knew how this would end. As her eyes widened and her mouth opened to scream, a thought flashed in his mind.
"I have to stop her. If she screams, it's over."
That single thought drove him to act.
Thud. Splatter.
In the blink of an eye, the woman's head met the same fate as her husband's.
[Two souls have been absorbed.]
[The purification of two souls is complete.]
[Memories of the deceased have been stored.]
"Is it really over this time?"
Cheol-su stood there in a daze, then took a step forward, thinking it was over.
Rustle.
A faint sound reached his ears. Suddenly, an unknown force seeped into his mind.
[Ability unlocked.]
[Ability: Nullification.]
"Nullification?"
[Description: Cancels everything within the user's range of ability.]
"Cancels everything..."
Cheol-su was confused. He had no idea what this newfound ability was, its features, or its limitations. But now wasn't the time to ponder.
His gaze turned to the small room nearby. As if drawn by some unseen force, he opened the door.
As expected, inside the room was a man—likely the son of the couple he had just killed. Their eyes met.
"W-who are you?" the man stammered, his gaze shifting to the bodies in the living room.
"It doesn't change anything."
Thud. Splatter.
[The soul of the deceased has been absorbed.]
[The purification of the soul is complete.]
[Memories of the deceased have been stored.]
Cheol-su looked around the blood-soaked living room and small room. The walls glistened, still wet with crimson.
"Let's go home. I'll think this through at home."
Back at his apartment, Cheol-su quickly took a shower. The hot water seemed to wash away the day's fatigue.
"Killing feels easier today than yesterday. Tomorrow will probably be even easier."
He felt alien to himself. How could he be so unaffected by what he had done?
"Maybe that's why Faust chose me. He must've known about this other side of me."
Cheol-su sat on the sofa and turned on his phone. The internet was flooded with news of his murders, headlines screaming in bold letters.
"Shocking Serial Murders,"
"Headless Bodies Found,"
"Society in Shock."
It felt like watching a movie, with himself as the protagonist.
Instead of reading the comments, he turned on the TV. He couldn't bear to see the public's condemnation.
The news on TV covered his crimes too. A criminal psychologist and a lawyer discussed the case, each offering their insights.
[There's a risk of this killer being glorified. If society begins to justify these murders because the victims were criminals, it sets a dangerous precedent.]
"Glorified? Are my killings being seen as heroic?"
Cheol-su pondered the psychologist's words as he returned to the internet and read the comments.
└ Those bastards deserved it. The worst of the worst.
└ I went to school with them. They were constantly causing trouble—sniffing glue, causing riots. Better off dead.
└ All delinquents should die. Scum like them don't deserve to live.
└ Forced prostitution? Truly vile people.
└ If you knew what they did as juveniles, it'd give you chills. I was one of their victims.
Cheol-su knew exactly what they had done in their youth—he had their memories. Motorcycle theft, rape, attempted murder... countless victims.
Now, the public was learning of their crimes one by one.
"It feels like a decade-old weight has been lifted."
More accurately, it was his sense of injustice.
The criminal psychologist was right. Most comments praised Cheol-su's actions. People saw him as a vigilante bringing justice to heinous criminals. "They deserved to die" became a common refrain online.
"Hmm..."
Cheol-su smiled. Unconsciously, the corners of his mouth lifted.
"Looks like I've found my path."