The city's streets were still slick and glistening from the rain the previous day the rain had stopped by the wee hours of the morning, and streaks of weak light kept wanting to break free from darkened clouds in the sky. Ari leaned against the window of a bustling cafe near the precinct, she had spent her night in the precinct, her time spent trying to figure out the serial killer's motive. She only had an hour of shut-eye before resuming her investigation. Her coffee cooling in her hands her reflection stared back at her, pale and thoughtful, as the world outside carried on with its chaotic hum of life.
The zodiac shadow, the name that had first appeared in the headlines two years ago, was whispered with fear by the media and written in bold, capital letters on every front page. The press had latched onto it, feeding on the killer's theatrics–the cryptic ciphers', the eerie precision, the chilling taunts left at every scene.
But for Ari, the name was a weight.
Two years ago, she had been called to a crime scene Unlike any she had encountered before.
At the time, Ari Kang was already known as the "modern-day Sherlock Holmes."
A young detective with an uncanny ability to see what others missed, She had a growing reputation for solving cases. Deemed Unsolvable.
Cold cases, violent homicides, elaborate fraud schemes—Ari had cracked them all with her signature mix of sharp wit, relentless determination, and a charisma that even the gruffest suspects found disarming.
But the zodiac shadow was different.
Her mind drifted back to the scene, In the moment when it all began.
It had been a blistering hot summer day. the kind that turned the air into a thick, suffocating blanket. Ari had been called to the outskirts of the city, where a body had been found in the abandoned park. the victim a university professor named Park Jun-ho, was discovered sitting on a wooden bench beneath a sprawling oak tree.
At first glance it could have been mistaken for a peaceful Death–his posture serene, his hands folded Neatly in his slap. but the details told a darker story. The man's throat had been slit with surgical precision, a thin, red line that seemed almost artful in its cruelty. His expression was eerily calm as if he hadn't even seen it coming. In his right hand, clutched tightly, was a piece of paper.
Ari had unfolded it carefully, her gloved fingers brushing against the coarse, yellow edges. The message was written in a cipher–intricate symbols arranged in a pattern, accompanied by a single line of text written in blood-red ink:" Solve this or another will die." Ari had stood there for a long moment, the wind rustling the leaves above her. It wasn't just a murder–It was an invitation. Her first instinct had been anger, a fiery burst of frustration at the killer's audacity. But as she studied the cipher, her anger gave way to something else: intrigue. The zodiac shadows wasn't just a murder. They were a strategist, a manipulator someone who saw the murder as a game–and Ari as their opponent.
She hadn't solved the cipher in time. the memory of the failure still haunted her. Another body was found 3 days later this time, in a high-rise office building downtown. the same message. The same symbol. The same eerie calmness in the victim's face. But Ari wasn't the type to back down. She threw herself into the case, dissecting the ciphers, studying the victims, chasing every lead, no matter how tenuous.
Over time, she began to see patterns–small, almost imperceptible threads that connected victims. They weren't random, as they first appeared. The zodiac shadow was targeting people with secrets–corrupt Officials, hidden criminals, liars cloaked in respectability. The media painted the killer as a vigilante a Twisted anti-hero.
But Ari knew better. The Zodiac Shadow didn't kill for justice. They killed for control, for the thrill of knowing they held life and death In their hands. Ari snapped back to the present as her phone buzzed on the table dragging her from her thoughts.
"The watch has been analyzed. Sending you the lab report now."
Ari set her coffee down, she checked the time on her phone it was forty after eleven her heart quickening. The watch. The cracked face, the faint scuff marks—she'd been right to focus on it.
She opened the report on Her phone, her eyes scanning the text. The crack had been caused by a Blunt impact, likely occurring hours before Kim Hyun-soo's death. Traces of dirt and ash had been found in the crevice, consistent with the environment around Gwangjin District—the same area where the witness had reported seeing the Zodiac Shadow
It wasn't much, but it was a lead.
Ari grabbed her coat and left the café, her boots clicking against the wet pavement. the street smell of damp asphalt and lingering rain, The air cool against her skin.
The drive to Gwangjin District was uneventful, the city, was a blur of neon signs and rain rain-streaked windows. The warehouse she arrived at was hunting and creepy as they came—gray and hulking, its edges softened by rust and disrepair.
She parked a block away, and stepping out into the street the sky was dark and gloomy making the already creepy area creepier. The faint hum of distant traffic filled the air, accompanied by the occasional bark of a stray dog.
Ari approached the warehouse cautiously, her eyes sweeping at every corner her mind alert and sharp her hand brushing against the compact flashlight clipped to her belt. She slipped inside through a side entrance, the heavy metal door groaning in protest.
The air inside was damp and stale, carrying the faint smell of mildew. Stacks of wooden crates lined the walls, their labels faded and unreadable.
Her flashlight cut through to the place, illuminating the dust motes that swirled in the beam. She moved slowly, her senses on high alert.
And then she saw it.
A piece of paper pinned to a support beam in the center of the room, the edges fluttering slightly in the draft. Ari's stomach tightened as she approached it, her flashlight casting long shadows across the floor.
The cipher was scrawled across the paper, the symbols as hauntingly familiar as ever. Beneath it, in the same red ink, were four chilling words:
"You're getting closer, Detective."
To be continued...