Chapter 388. My First Day Back at Work. (2/3)
“Strange aspects? What do you mean?”
“That’s confidential. Anyway, just be careful. Though his son is behind bars he’s still trying to fight his conviction through the legal system despite the damning evidence. It’s a waste of time as far as I see it though. However… if he communicates with the outside world through his attorney, it could be a problem for you two if he holds some sort of grudge.”
“Why would he have a grudge against us?”
“Well, maybe he didn’t at the start, but being locked up over time stuck inside a small cramped up room gives people a lot of time to think. They try to find all sorts of different things or people to blame for the situation they’re in except for themselves.”
“I see. So we should be concerned about some misguided hatred falling upon us?”
“Yeah, pretty much, kid.”
“The legal system sure is shit. Even when they’re locked up, people still have to be wary of them. Makes you think the death penalty isn’t so bad for those types of people. Regardless of how long they spend behind bars, they’re not going to reform or change their ways.”
Officer Johnson frowned and said, “It’s not like there’s a high probability of it happening. It’s pretty low overall.”
“Haha. You know, probability is a scam. If a bad result has a 1% chance of happening in life, you’re almost assured to get that bad result. Life is rigged against you that way.” You showing up here today is exactly that.
“Is he always such a pessimistic kid?” Officer Johnson pointed at me as he directed his question to Alicia.
“Yeah, he’s always like this.”
“Must be tough working with such a downer.”
“It is tough, very tough.” Alicia nodded twice in full agreement.
“Tsk. Are you here to buy anything or just to run your mouth? As a cop, don’t you have better shit to do with your time?”
“I am here to buy something. Same as last time, ring me up for a pack of cigarettes. As for better shit to do… well, I do have something actually.”
“Then please take your cigarettes and go do that,” I was naturally irritated since this was the one cop I didn’t want anything to do with.
“Ran, don’t be so rude, he's a respectable police officer defending the peace. He’s entitled to some time to relax just like anyone else,” Alicia immediately scolded me.
“Kid, you don’t like cops or something?”
“It’s not that I don’t like cops, I just don’t like talking to cops. Anything you say or do around them can and will be used against you in a court of law after all.”
“Pffthahaha! Certainly, that is definitely true. The one thing you don’t ever want to do is talk to us... if you’re a criminal that is. Are you… a criminal by any chance?”
“Yes, I am a criminal actually.”
“Oh? You have a criminal record, kid?”
“Ran, what are you talking about?” Alicia seemed genuinely confused.
“Yeah. I’m a killer.”
“Ran, what are you saying!” Alicia seriously freaked out.
Officer Johnson frowned and asked seriously, “Are you admitting to murder?”
I looked him straight in the eyes and confirmed with a dead-serious expression, “Yes, I’m admitting to being a lady killer.”
“Pffft hahahahaha!” Officer Johnson raised his right hand and hit my left shoulder a few times as he heartily laughed aloud, “Right, right! That was pretty good, kid! You actually had me there for a second. Hahahaha! A lady killer. A lady killer he says. Hahaha!”
“This is assault, police brutality.”
“Hahaha! Kid, are you planning to become a comedian when you grow up? I think you might have a future there.”
“No, I’m not very funny. You just laugh too easily.”
“Well, maybe. But if you aren’t able to find things to laugh at when you’re in this line of work… you’ll probably lose your mind with the sort of shit you see.” Officer Johnson’s expression turned a bit glum as if he recalled something.
“What’s wrong?”
“Haaaaah. It’s nothing. Just remembered a pretty unpleasant scene I came across recently.”
“How unpleasant exactly?”
“You curious?”
“Yeah.”
“Can you imagine what it looks like when a body’s been stabbed so many times to the point it’s an unrecognizable mangled mess?”
“No, I don’t think I could.”
“Right?”
“What kind of sick person would do something like that though?”
“Well… the person deserved it. I can’t even blame the one who did that to them.”
“How could someone deserve such an awful fate?”
“Can’t go into it. All I will say is that there are some really sick bastards in the world.” Officer Johnson clenched his fist on the counter and grit his teeth with a furious look on his face.
“And the one who deserved it was one of those sick bastards?”
“Yeah. Probably… the worst I’ve seen in my entire career. Makes me hope hell and the devil really exist for someone like that.”
“Here you go. How are you paying?” Alicia handed a pack of cigarettes over to Officer Johnson after she scanned it.
“Credit.”
Once Officer Johnson tapped his card on the terminal, the transaction was completed successfully.
“Did you want your receipt?”
“Yeah.”
Alicia printed out the receipt and handed it over.
“Thanks.”
“Thank you for shopping with us today.”
Despite the completion of the transaction, Officer Johnson didn’t immediately leave. Rather, it looked like there was something he was hesitant to ask.
Alicia, who noticed, was the first to ask, “Was there anything else you were looking to get?”
“No… nothing else… but… I did want to ask you two something.”
“What is it?”
“Have you… come across anyone recently who goes by the name Devthor?”
“Devthor? No. I haven’t met someone who calls themselves that. But I have heard of the name in the news recently though.” Alicia answered innocently without any hint she was lying. I hadn’t mentioned to her I was the one using that name. Despite her hearing the name in the news, she hadn’t associated the name with me yet.
“Haaaaaah. The news, huh? Hey, what about you, kid? Met anyone who uses that name? Or have you heard the name before anywhere outside the news?”
“No. Same as her, I’ve only heard some talk of it in the news. Something about the police giving a reward to anyone who can provide any useful information about someone going by Devthor.”
“Figures.”
“Why are the police looking for this person?”
“Well… honestly… it’s not the police looking, but me. Most of my colleagues laugh it off as a wild conspiracy theory when I bring it up. This person is related to the news concerning the dismantling and raid on the Swastika gang… but… I’m pretty convinced they’re also linked to the oddities surrounding the Jae-Sun Yang case.”
I was sweating big time right now. I wanted to curse him out so badly it hurt. Don’t go connecting this shit together!
“What makes you think they’re related exactly?”
“My… intuition is telling me so.”
“Don’t you think you’re just getting old and your intuition is out of whack?”
“Absolutely not. Everything is strange about these two events. In this case with Swastika, I personally confirmed this invisible entity moving around unseen under the radar. I even... talked to them. The way they go about things without leaving any physical evidence behind, only circumstantial evidence, it greatly resembles what happened with Jae-Sun Yang.”
“I see. But why are you suddenly bringing this up?”
“Well… the only common point I can find between the two cases is… this convenience store… and… you kid. There were a lot of times when Swastika was seen in the general vicinity of this convenience store. They were looking for someone. After interrogating the ones we caught, they only had a picture of a girl who works here and a description for her boyfriend who they were hunting… the description they gave matches your appearance. Only one of their members had ever seen you before.”
“Is it mere coincidence that you and that girl were both away from work during that time?”
This is why I didn’t want to meet him.
“What? Swastika was after us? Surely you’re kidding, right? Why would they be after us?”
“That’s what I’d like to know too. Why were they after you?”
“Well… the truth is… something did happen that made me stop going to work for a while.”
“Something happened? What happened?”
Chapter 388. My First Day Back at Work. (2/3)
“Strange aspects? What do you mean?”
“That’s confidential. Anyway, just be careful. Though his son is behind bars he’s still trying to fight his conviction through the legal system despite the damning evidence. It’s a waste of time as far as I see it though. However… if he communicates with the outside world through his attorney, it could be a problem for you two if he holds some sort of grudge.”
“Why would he have a grudge against us?”
“Well, maybe he didn’t at the start, but being locked up over time stuck inside a small cramped up room gives people a lot of time to think. They try to find all sorts of different things or people to blame for the situation they’re in except for themselves.”
“I see. So we should be concerned about some misguided hatred falling upon us?”
“Yeah, pretty much, kid.”
“The legal system sure is shit. Even when they’re locked up, people still have to be wary of them. Makes you think the death penalty isn’t so bad for those types of people. Regardless of how long they spend behind bars, they’re not going to reform or change their ways.”
Officer Johnson frowned and said, “It’s not like there’s a high probability of it happening. It’s pretty low overall.”
“Haha. You know, probability is a scam. If a bad result has a 1% chance of happening in life, you’re almost assured to get that bad result. Life is rigged against you that way.” You showing up here today is exactly that.
“Is he always such a pessimistic kid?” Officer Johnson pointed at me as he directed his question to Alicia.
“Yeah, he’s always like this.”
“Must be tough working with such a downer.”
“It is tough, very tough.” Alicia nodded twice in full agreement.
“Tsk. Are you here to buy anything or just to run your mouth? As a cop, don’t you have better shit to do with your time?”
“I am here to buy something. Same as last time, ring me up for a pack of cigarettes. As for better shit to do… well, I do have something actually.”
“Then please take your cigarettes and go do that,” I was naturally irritated since this was the one cop I didn’t want anything to do with.
“Ran, don’t be so rude, he's a respectable police officer defending the peace. He’s entitled to some time to relax just like anyone else,” Alicia immediately scolded me.
“Kid, you don’t like cops or something?”
“It’s not that I don’t like cops, I just don’t like talking to cops. Anything you say or do around them can and will be used against you in a court of law after all.”
“Pffthahaha! Certainly, that is definitely true. The one thing you don’t ever want to do is talk to us... if you’re a criminal that is. Are you… a criminal by any chance?”
“Yes, I am a criminal actually.”
“Oh? You have a criminal record, kid?”
“Ran, what are you talking about?” Alicia seemed genuinely confused.
“Yeah. I’m a killer.”
“Ran, what are you saying!” Alicia seriously freaked out.
Officer Johnson frowned and asked seriously, “Are you admitting to murder?”
I looked him straight in the eyes and confirmed with a dead-serious expression, “Yes, I’m admitting to being a lady killer.”
“Pffft hahahahaha!” Officer Johnson raised his right hand and hit my left shoulder a few times as he heartily laughed aloud, “Right, right! That was pretty good, kid! You actually had me there for a second. Hahahaha! A lady killer. A lady killer he says. Hahaha!”
“This is assault, police brutality.”
“Hahaha! Kid, are you planning to become a comedian when you grow up? I think you might have a future there.”
“No, I’m not very funny. You just laugh too easily.”
“Well, maybe. But if you aren’t able to find things to laugh at when you’re in this line of work… you’ll probably lose your mind with the sort of shit you see.” Officer Johnson’s expression turned a bit glum as if he recalled something.
“What’s wrong?”
“Haaaaah. It’s nothing. Just remembered a pretty unpleasant scene I came across recently.”
“How unpleasant exactly?”
“You curious?”
“Yeah.”
“Can you imagine what it looks like when a body’s been stabbed so many times to the point it’s an unrecognizable mangled mess?”
“No, I don’t think I could.”
“Right?”
“What kind of sick person would do something like that though?”
“Well… the person deserved it. I can’t even blame the one who did that to them.”
“How could someone deserve such an awful fate?”
“Can’t go into it. All I will say is that there are some really sick bastards in the world.” Officer Johnson clenched his fist on the counter and grit his teeth with a furious look on his face.
“And the one who deserved it was one of those sick bastards?”
“Yeah. Probably… the worst I’ve seen in my entire career. Makes me hope hell and the devil really exist for someone like that.”
“Here you go. How are you paying?” Alicia handed a pack of cigarettes over to Officer Johnson after she scanned it.
“Credit.”
Once Officer Johnson tapped his card on the terminal, the transaction was completed successfully.
“Did you want your receipt?”
“Yeah.”
Alicia printed out the receipt and handed it over.
“Thanks.”
“Thank you for shopping with us today.”
Despite the completion of the transaction, Officer Johnson didn’t immediately leave. Rather, it looked like there was something he was hesitant to ask.
Alicia, who noticed, was the first to ask, “Was there anything else you were looking to get?”
“No… nothing else… but… I did want to ask you two something.”
“What is it?”
“Have you… come across anyone recently who goes by the name Devthor?”
“Devthor? No. I haven’t met someone who calls themselves that. But I have heard of the name in the news recently though.” Alicia answered innocently without any hint she was lying. I hadn’t mentioned to her I was the one using that name. Despite her hearing the name in the news, she hadn’t associated the name with me yet.
“Haaaaaah. The news, huh? Hey, what about you, kid? Met anyone who uses that name? Or have you heard the name before anywhere outside the news?”
“No. Same as her, I’ve only heard some talk of it in the news. Something about the police giving a reward to anyone who can provide any useful information about someone going by Devthor.”
“Figures.”
“Why are the police looking for this person?”
“Well… honestly… it’s not the police looking, but me. Most of my colleagues laugh it off as a wild conspiracy theory when I bring it up. This person is related to the news concerning the dismantling and raid on the Swastika gang… but… I’m pretty convinced they’re also linked to the oddities surrounding the Jae-Sun Yang case.”
I was sweating big time right now. I wanted to curse him out so badly it hurt. Don’t go connecting this shit together!
“What makes you think they’re related exactly?”
“My… intuition is telling me so.”
“Don’t you think you’re just getting old and your intuition is out of whack?”
“Absolutely not. Everything is strange about these two events. In this case with Swastika, I personally confirmed this invisible entity moving around unseen under the radar. I even... talked to them. The way they go about things without leaving any physical evidence behind, only circumstantial evidence, it greatly resembles what happened with Jae-Sun Yang.”
“I see. But why are you suddenly bringing this up?”
“Well… the only common point I can find between the two cases is… this convenience store… and… you kid. There were a lot of times when Swastika was seen in the general vicinity of this convenience store. They were looking for someone. After interrogating the ones we caught, they only had a picture of a girl who works here and a description for her boyfriend who they were hunting… the description they gave matches your appearance. Only one of their members had ever seen you before.”
“Is it mere coincidence that you and that girl were both away from work during that time?”
This is why I didn’t want to meet him.
“What? Swastika was after us? Surely you’re kidding, right? Why would they be after us?”
“That’s what I’d like to know too. Why were they after you?”
“Well… the truth is… something did happen that made me stop going to work for a while.”
“Something happened? What happened?”
