Chapter 024 – Is It Taebaek? Or Kang Hyunwoo?
In the end, I slept at a motel last night.
And honestly, I was extremely satisfied with it.
The motel was a hundred times better than the officetel I lived in.
It had a huge TV, IPTV, computer games, movies—there was almost nothing it didn’t have.
Thankfully, the refrigerator even had free coffee and canned drinks.
The bed was soft and comfortable.
There was a slightly damp smell in the room, but overall, I was satisfied.
There was only one reason I had chosen this place.
It was cheap!
To save as much money as possible, I didn’t rent the room for the whole night.
Instead, I rented it for just four hours.
And on top of that, I used every bit of charm I had to persuade the owner into giving me a ten-thousand-won discount!
The problem was…
This place was a motel meant exclusively for lovey-dovey couples……
Even though I only planned to sleep for four hours, I could barely get any rest because of the strange sounds coming from the room next door.
Those primitive and sacred sounds between a man and woman, which could perhaps be called a blessing from God, were far too much for someone like me who had been single since birth.
Whenever those sacred noises started, I had to cover my ears and toss around on the bed in agony.
After about thirty minutes, things finally became quiet.
At last, I could try to sleep.
Now I had only three and a half hours left.
And thirty minutes later……
Another couple’s sacred sounds began coming from somewhere else.
Once again, matching the rhythm coming from the neighboring room, I covered my ears and rolled around painfully.
Eventually, silence returned.
I could finally sleep again.
Now I had only around two hours left……
‘Huh?!’
Right after that, I heard another room door opening.
The cycle of suffering began again.
In the end, even during the last thirty minutes, I couldn’t sleep properly and just lay there with hollow, exhausted eyes.
I seriously wondered why such a tragedy had happened to me.
Then I remembered the suspicious smile on the motel owner’s face when I left.
The cause had to be that ten-thousand-won discount I had fought so desperately for.
That room was probably one the owner deliberately gave to troublesome customers he didn’t like.
A room designed to make sure they couldn’t sleep.
This incident taught me one important lesson.
Prices existed for a reason.
If you forced an unreasonable discount, the loss would eventually come flying back at you like a boomerang.
The case Madam Jang had forced onto me fell under the jurisdiction of Dongbu Police Station.
Since I hadn’t slept all night, thick dark circles had formed under my eyes as if someone had drawn them there with a marker.
My face looked like a panda’s, but I ignored it and entered the violent crimes division of Dongbu Police Station.
Before investigating the case personally, I wanted to check the police reports first.
“Hello.”
I entered the violent crimes office and greeted the nearest detective.
“Who are you?”
“I’m Kang Hyunwoo from Violent Crimes Team 3 of Jungbu Police Station.”
I took out my identification card and showed it to him.
He was a young detective who looked around my age.
“Your face looks completely different from your photo. Are you really Detective Kang Hyunwoo?”
“……”
Were my dark circles really so bad that even my face had become unrecognizable?
‘Whatever. If that’s how it is……’
I boldly grabbed a marker and drew dark circles under the eyes of my photo.
“Now it looks like me, right?”
“Ah, sorry about that. Now that I look carefully, it really is you.”
I wanted to punch this shameless bastard once, but I held myself back.
“Huh?! If you’re Detective Kang Hyunwoo from Jungbu Station, aren’t you the one rumored to be dating the idol Eyes—”
I immediately covered his mouth.
“Hold on. Come with me to the break room.”
Then I forcibly dragged him into the break room beside the violent crimes office.
“Ah, sorry about that. I suddenly became famous, so I’ve gotten a little sensitive about it. Hahaha……”
“Hahaha, it’s fine. I’ve never met a celebrity before, so if anything, I’m honored.”
His reaction was different from what I expected.
I thought he would get angry after being dragged out here, but instead he was extremely friendly.
Whenever someone acted like this, there was usually some hidden motive.
“You’re close with Eyes, right?”
This guy was already leading me toward the answer he wanted.
“Hahaha. I wouldn’t exactly say we’re close… More like acquaintances.”
“Then… is there any chance I could meet Eyes? It’s my dream……”
“Of course. If I tell her to do something, she’d practically pretend to die on the spot. Something like that is easy. Why do you think she even did an exclusive interview and admitted the dating rumor with me?”
For now, I wrote him one bad check.
I’d probably never see this guy again anyway.
What did one empty promise matter?
“Then what brings you here? I’ll do everything I can to help.”
The world was still a place where connections had power.
“You know the free clinic called the Land of Zion, right?”
“Ah… So you’re here about that case. I was the detective in charge.”
The way he spoke in the past tense made it sound like he had already more or less closed the case.
“I heard the autopsy concluded that the victim’s direct cause of death was a simple heart attack. Is that correct?”
“Yes, that’s right.”
“And I heard the dozen or so surgical scars on the body had nothing to do with the cause of death……”
“Where did you hear that?”
As I continued asking questions, the detective began looking suspicious.
“Ah! Right! I think Eyes said she’s free tomorrow……”
“Yes! The surgical scars had absolutely nothing to do with the cause of death!”
At this point, Eyes was practically a magic key capable of making this guy’s mouth run nonstop.
“But there was one slightly strange finding……”
“What was it?”
If he told me something useless, I planned on canceling the imaginary meeting with Eyes immediately.
“They found a large amount of cortisol in the victim’s body. Cortisol is a hormone secreted when someone experiences stress such as anxiety, fear, or depression. Apparently, the amount found suggests the victim experienced extreme stress right before dying.”
Something about his words felt strangely inconsistent.
‘More than a dozen surgical scars on the body… and a victim who experienced extreme stress before death……’
“Were there any other unusual details?”
“Hmm… Let me think……”
Watching him seriously rack his brain, I could tell this guy really was doing his best for the chance to meet Eyes.
“Ah! You know Han Mandeok, the man volunteering at the Land of Zion?”
The detective suddenly shouted as though something had come to mind.
“What about him?”
“I haven’t worked in violent crimes for very long, but normally when you talk to someone about a victim, don’t they usually look sad or distressed?”
“Usually, yes.”
“When I explained the autopsy results to Han Mandeok, his expression was completely calm.”
“Han Mandeok is a doctor and the person who reported the death, isn’t he? Maybe he simply accepted the autopsy results calmly because of that.”
“What? Han Mandeok wasn’t the person who reported it.”
“……”
For a moment, I wondered whether I had misunderstood something.
“Then who reported it?”
“A woman named Lee Hyuna. She’s volunteering at the Land of Zion and helps Han Mandeok.”
“Really? Thank you. I appreciate your cooperation. I’ll see you around.”
“Huh? What about Eyes?”
“I’ll contact you.”
“But you don’t even know my name!”
“Well then, I’ll be going. I’m really busy.”
If you wrote a bad check, the standard procedure was to run away.
Leaving the stunned detective behind, I hurried out of Dongbu Police Station.
Arang’s office, located on one of the upper floors of the Palace of Yama.
A magnificent tiger skin covered the floor, and on top of it stood a solid wooden desk and a soft leather chair.
It was exactly the kind of office one would expect from a high-ranking official.
Arang sat behind the desk, staring blankly into space.
Arang had been extremely busy lately.
She barely had time to breathe.
A mountain of overdue administrative work had piled up for the Woljik Reaper, the official responsible for overseeing the administrative affairs of the Palace of Yama.
Sometimes she could faintly hear Hyunwoo calling for her from the living world, but she couldn’t answer him.
To respond to Hyunwoo, she needed to go to the monitoring room inside the underground security control center of the Palace of Yama.
The same applied to reading Hyunwoo’s thoughts.
She could only do that from inside the monitoring room.
Because she had been so busy, she had absolutely no idea what Hyunwoo had been doing recently.
‘I wonder how Human Emperor-nim has been lately? Every time I see him, he seems to only drink and doesn’t eat properly… Did he ever get that samgyeopsal he forced his junior to treat him to last time…? I wonder if Eyes is bothering him again……’
Countless thoughts about Hyunwoo refused to leave Arang’s mind.
“Princess Arang, is something troubling you?”
An elderly man standing beside the desk spoke to her.
He wore a neat butler-like suit.
“No! It’s nothing!”
Arang snapped back to reality and answered with a startled expression.
“Tsk, tsk… Were you thinking about the Human Emperor again? Princess Arang, the Human Emperor is someone you are supposed to monitor. You must not become so emotionally involved with him.”
Jangryeong spoke with concern.
He was an old man who had served beside the King of Yama for a thousand years as both secretary and butler, overseeing the affairs of the royal household.
Aside from the King of Yama himself, he was the oldest person in the Yama Kingdom.
Fittingly, his name itself was Jangryeong.
He was also the commander of the Royal Reaper Guard, which protected the royal family of the Yama Kingdom.
His martial ability was comparable to the Four Great Generals of the Celestial Realm.
He was also Arang’s master, the one who had taught her the Wolgang Martial Arts he personally created.
Having cared for Arang like his own granddaughter, he remembered everything about her.
Her expressions.
Her gestures.
Her speech habits.
Even the smallest movements of her eyebrows and lips.
He could tell what she was thinking as easily as reading the lines on his own palm.
“I know, Grandpa. But I still can’t help worrying about him.”
Arang spoke with a gloomy expression.
“Then who exactly is the person Princess Arang cares about? Is it Kang Hyunwoo? Or is it Taebaek?”
Jangryeong asked.
Arang couldn’t answer him.
“I know that Princess Arang once loved Taebaek. However, the current Human Emperor Reaper is not Taebaek. Could it be that because you were unable to love Taebaek in the past because of your older sister, Princess Hwayeong, you now wish to experience those feelings through this man named Kang Hyunwoo?”
Arang’s expression stiffened at Jangryeong’s words.
“Grandpa… I don’t want you interfering this much.”
Arang spoke weakly.
“My apologies. However, this old man only worries because I care about you, Princess.”
“I know… If he regains his memories, he’ll obviously look for Hwayeong unnie again. And then… I’ll probably be hurt all over again.”
Arang stared blankly into space as she spoke.
“Princess Arang. If this old man may interfere one final time… that man is not the Taebaek who loved Princess Hwayeong a thousand years ago.”
Jangryeong felt sorry for Arang.
“What do you mean?”
“I mean that you should be honest with your own heart.”
“If he regains Taebaek’s memories, he might become a dangerous person capable of putting the entire afterlife at risk.”
“That… is a matter for when that day comes.”
Jangryeong gave Princess Arang a gentle, warm smile.
If the King of Yama found out he had said such things to Arang, who was supposed to be monitoring the Human Emperor, he might become furious.
But Jangryeong wanted to help Arang, whom he treasured like his own granddaughter.
“Thank you, Grandpa. I think that really helped me.”
Arang sincerely thanked Jangryeong.
“Ahem… By the way, Princess Arang, the ministers’ meeting begins in five minutes.”
Jangryeong pointed toward the clock on the wall.
The ministers’ meeting was similar to a cabinet meeting in the living world.
It was personally chaired by the King of Yama.
Once every month, the important ministers responsible for governing the Yama Kingdom gathered to discuss major national affairs.
“Ah! Right!”
Arang hurriedly gathered the pile of documents from her desk and quickly put on the upper half of her female Reaper uniform.
“Moonlight Flight!”
There wasn’t enough time to run.
So she used her unique lightness technique, Moonlight Flight, and shot upward toward the highest level of the Yama Kingdom.
“Hohoho… Even though she is over a thousand years old, she still seems to have trouble taking care of herself.”
Despite his words, a warm grandfatherly smile appeared on Jangryeong’s lips.
He looked as though he found her unbearably adorable.
“The number of deceased souls registered in the afterlife last month increased by fifteen percent compared to the previous month. Of these, only around two percent were sent to Mureungdowon, which is an extremely poor result. Meanwhile, the number of souls awaiting reincarnation has rapidly increased, raising concerns that the reincarnation system may become overloaded……”
A middle-aged Minister of Internal Affairs dressed in a black suit stood before the King of Yama.
Using a video presentation filled with charts and graphs, he explained the Yama Kingdom’s situation over the previous month.
‘Ah… This is so boring…….’
Arang, who had barely managed to arrive at the ministers’ meeting on time, felt like she was dying of boredom.
The ministerial structure of the Yama Kingdom closely resembled the system used in the living world.
There was a Minister of Internal Affairs, a Minister of Justice, a Minister of National Defense, a Minister of Culture and Environment, and others.
The reason was simple.
As systems in the living world continued to develop, the afterlife had adopted similar systems in order to run the Yama Kingdom more efficiently.
Arang herself served as the Minister of Palace Administration.
The Minister of Internal Affairs handled administration throughout the Yama Kingdom, while administrative work concerning the Palace of Yama itself had been separated and placed under Arang’s authority.
Because of that, Arang rarely had anything meaningful to say during these meetings.
For more than two hours, she usually just sat there listening like a useless sack of barley someone had placed in the room.
“Uwaaah… Hup!”
Just as a yawn was about to escape her mouth, the King of Yama shot her a sharp glare.
Arang quickly covered her mouth with her hand.
With her older sister Hwayeong gone, Arang was now the only remaining person capable of inheriting the Yama Kingdom.
The reason the King of Yama had appointed her Minister of Palace Administration was also to train her as his successor.
He wanted her to learn how to govern.
—Uwaaaaaak!
Suddenly, a terrible scream tore through Arang’s ears.
It was Hyunwoo’s voice.
“What happened?! Did something happen to Human Emperor-nim……?!”
Even though she was in the middle of the ministers’ meeting, Arang shouted and shot to her feet.
“Your Majesty! Something seems to have happened to the Human Emperor. He may have encountered an evil spirit. Forgive me, but I must go to the security control center immediately!”
“Very well. Then—”
Before the King of Yama could even finish granting permission, Arang had already disappeared from the room using Moonlight Flight.
