Chapter 181
Terrified for a moment, I unknowingly activated Kinetic Drive and almost raised my fist again.
What a scare. I thought some Texas Chainsaw Killer had appeared.
But looking at Stance, it was someone I knew.
“…Paulo?”
When I spoke cautiously, the man blinked his bloodshot eyes and glared at me, then dropped the chainsaw and smiled weakly as if he finally recognized me after a few seconds.
“Ah, it was hand butcher Hyung-nim… I’m sorry. I just, well, since it could be an assassination, just in case… You must have been very surprised.”
Yeah. I was fucking surprised.
But he looked to be in a bad state just from a glance, so there was no need to be completely honest.
“No. I’m fine.”
“I see. That’s a relief… Ah, right. Let’s not stand out here, please come inside.”
Along with Hina, I followed the trudging Paulo deeper into the room.
Befitting a high-end room, the interior design was quite impressive.
Outside the hexagonal windows, the city’s night view spread out clearly, and charming lamps shaped like lotus lanterns, seemingly pursuing a Neo-Wapanism design, quietly illuminated the room.
Yet, why was it?
Was it because I had gotten used to the top-tier premium suite on the 53rd Floor of Kabuki Tower where I lived with Sey?
Or was it because of the gloomy atmosphere Paulo gave off, or the awareness that this was a house where people had died?
Something strangely displeasing, the thought that I didn’t want to stay here for long made a corner of my mind uncomfortable.
I found myself nervously swallowing my saliva.
I could understand why Paulo had ended up like that. He said he had stayed here continuously from the incident until today; even I would have felt like I was losing my mind.
“Please sit here.”
Paulo said that as he cleared the coffee table, which had things messily piled on it, and pulled out a chair.
As I awkwardly sat down with Hina, Paulo asked.
“Ah, forgive my manners. I should serve you something. Would coffee or tea be okay? Hina, what about you?”
“I’m good.”
“Then Hyung-nim… should I get you tea as expected?”
Wow, this punk, how insolent.
Does he think that just because I’m an East Asian, I would naturally prefer tea over coffee?
What does he take a Korean for, the people who love Iced Americano, the ones who love Americanos the most in the world?
“…Yes. Well, green tea, please.”
But amazingly enough, I actually didn’t like coffee that much, so I had nothing to say.
I tended to think that water steeped with tree leaves was slightly better than water steeped with burnt beans, so I nodded and sat quietly in my seat.
When Paulo pressed a button, a cup popped out from beneath the flowing waterfall model structure integrated into the table, and steeped green tea was automatically poured. I wondered what it was, but it turned out to be a coffee machine.
Having seen so many divine skills, I wasn’t incredibly surprised, just having the impression of, “They even have things like this here.”
The taste of the tea was ordinary. Was it just slightly better than the instant tea from a vending machine that didn’t even mix well?
“So, why did you come all the way here…”
Paulo, who was speaking to me, made eye contact with Hina and flinched. Did he read something in that gaze burning with a desire for revenge?
“You don’t mean.”
“Yeah. I asked hand butcher. He said he’d help.”
“This is our business. We can’t cause trouble…”
“He’s a group member too…Even though he disappeared a week after he joined. Besides, he’s Mister Miguel’s comrade-in-arms.”
“That’s true, but nothing is certain yet. And I’m here too - “
“Oppa, you’re no help at all. You’re just staying here like a derelict. Quit the drugs first before you talk.”
At Hina’s sharp tone, Paulo bowed his head. His voice was mixed with guilt, resentment, and force.
“Then, why did you come here?”
“To show him the murder scene and the video. hand butcher needs to see what we saw to understand the situation. The surveillance camera video is still there, right?”
Paulo sighed and nodded. He looked my way once with an indescribable gaze, then soon manipulated the silicone display placed next to the table.
Not a few seconds later, quite clear security camera footage popped up.
The date and time written at the bottom of the screen were May 13th, 2107 AD, 12:20 AM. It was the timeframe right before Chainsaw Man was murdered.
There were three people in the room.
Paulo, Felix, and Chainsaw Man Miguel Obara Rodriguez.
“Originally, it was just going to be me and Hyung-nim, but Felix said he felt uneasy with just the two of us and insisted on staying together. If I had known it would turn out like this… damn it.”
Paulo scratched his hairless head vigorously with his hand, looking extremely distressed. It was to the point where I worried he might draw blood.
The three people in the video were sitting together at the table, eating drinks and snacks and talking, when suddenly one of them stood up abruptly.
It was Paulo.
The sight of him leaving the two behind and striding out of the room.
Now, I felt like I knew the reason why Paulo was struggling so much.
The sight of him squeezing his eyes shut, unable to watch the video any longer out of guilt.
“We ran out of alcohol, so I went out to buy some. I was planning to buy a whole case of beer and bring it back, and since I was out, I figured I’d buy some dried snacks and daily necessities, smoke a cigarette, and then about an hour later I came back.”
How must he have felt when he returned and realized that everyone except him was dead, that he was the only one who survived?
It was hard to even dare guess, but Paulo’s expression right now is that of the most devastated human in the world.
“I shouldn’t have gone out. If I had stayed, Hyung-nim, and Felix too… I, only I…”
Seeing him screaming and sobbing while his hands trembled violently, I had nothing to say. What help would empty words of comfort be in this situation? They wouldn’t resonate at all.
Hina must have thought the same, as she frowned and offered different words instead of comfort.
“Be quiet. You’re being a distraction. It’s not your fault at all, Oppa, and I’m going to catch the culprit and get revenge, so stop squeezing out tears and stay still.”
Wow, is that way of speaking for real?
When I stared at her with an appalled expression, wondering what I had just heard, she spoke to me calmly.
“What are you looking at? Didn’t you know I was originally this kind of person? Don’t misunderstand. I wasn’t like this from the start, and I originally comforted him warmly and all, but no matter how many nice things I say next to him, he’s been doing that for two days continuously. How am I supposed to put up with all that?”
“…Right. You’re truly amazing.”
Not every MZ high schooler of the 22nd century would be like this, so she must just be peculiar.
At this point, it was to the extent that I seriously doubted whether she was a psychopath.
“Do you happen to know about MBTI?”
“No. What’s that?”
“No… there’s just something like that.”
I didn’t know about the rest, but I had a strong conviction that her third letter was a T, without a doubt.
There was no doubt. If she wasn’t a T, who could claim to be a T? Otherwise, I would eat my hat.
When focused on again, the surveillance camera video that had been playing on fast-forward returned to normal speed at a certain point.
Felix and Chainsaw Man, who were conversing about something, lightly hugged each other. Then Chainsaw Man went into the bedroom.
The time was 1 AM. It was a time when someone with a normal sleep pattern would slowly be falling asleep. Chainsaw Man must have gone to his room for that reason too.
On the other hand, Felix continued to sit in front of the table. Was he standing guard for Chainsaw Man?
Suddenly, the words he had said came to mind.
'Miguel hyung is a really good person. Someone like him shouldn’t die, you know.'
Had he sat there until dawn to keep the words he said back then? To step up and stop it if anything happened?
Time in the video flowed once again. And at a certain point, the light in the entrance on the surveillance camera turned on. There was the sound of a doorbell.
Someone had arrived. Felix, who was vigilantly checking the security system, examined the person’s face and, seemingly relieved, stepped out to the entrance and opened the door.
And the video cut off for a moment.
With a static noise, the screen turned black.
That was the end.
“…Is this the end?”
This abrupt ending left a bad taste in my mouth, like being cut off mid-shit. I had a rough idea of what Hina wanted to say, though…
“That’s the end. Everything else was blown away. I don’t know who the culprit is, but they were definitely thorough. They not only blew away the surveillance cameras outside the room, but they even accessed the security system inside and completely blew away the entire video. I barely managed to salvage this much. Really barely.”
“Really? You must have had a highly skilled hacker among your acquaintances.”
“I did it.”
At the sullen voice, I looked to the side and saw Hina staring my way with a somewhat arrogant look. She skillfully laid her hands on the security system, as if to prove it was her doing.
“Uh, you’re a high school student.”
I definitely didn’t know how to do things like that in high school. They didn’t teach it either. Was Dusk City a bit different?
When I threw out a reasonable question, she snorted.
“I told you I attend the Militia Gifted Academy, didn’t I? It’s not a place just anyone can go. You need connections, money, or if not those, at least some kind of ability. In my case, it’s the latter.”
…Right. She wasn’t an ordinary high school girl, but an elite Talented Person.
I was genuinely afraid that at this rate, she might join Militia in a few years and come to catch me.
It was just a joke a few days ago, but seeing what she did today, I might seriously need to worry about it.