Chapter 4 — Level Up
“That sick bastard! In all my twenty years as a detective, I’ve never seen a lunatic like this!”
Team Leader Kim shouted furiously as soon as he stepped inside the house.
The rest of the detectives, including me, felt exactly the same way.
The moment we opened the door and entered, more than ten bodies came into view, neatly packed inside plastic bags and stacked in the living room.
It seemed he had placed the bodies in plastic bags to keep the smell of decomposition from spreading.
“Hey! Call the forensic team right now and tell them to get over here! Tell them we found the bodies!”
We had finally found evidence connected to the serial murders, but Team Leader Kim still looked gloomy.
His warmhearted neighborhood-uncle mode had kicked in again.
“Ah, right! Find the little girl! She should be somewhere in here!”
At Team Leader Kim’s shout, the detectives immediately scattered throughout the house.
“Team Leader, we found her. That bastard hid her inside the closet.”
It didn’t take long to find the girl.
One of the detectives came out of the master bedroom carrying a young girl whose hands and feet had been tied and whose mouth had been gagged.
She looked incredibly young, maybe around seven years old.
She must have been terrified. Her little face was covered in tears and snot.
“Oh, you poor thing... Hey! Hurry up and take off the gag and untie her!”
Even though he said that, Team Leader Kim was the one who rushed forward, removed the gag and ropes himself, then pulled the girl into his arms.
“Waaah! Mom! Dad! I’m scared!”
“There, there. You’re okay now. This detective uncle will take you back to your mom and dad, so stop crying, all right?”
At times like this, Team Leader Kim really did look exactly like the kindhearted uncle next door.
Watching him made a warm sense of satisfaction rise inside me.
“Detective Kang, you really did a great job this time. You little punk, you’re always fooling around and acting like you’ve got no motivation, but I’m seeing you in a new light today. You were amazing. The best!”
Team Leader Kim gave me a thumbs-up and placed a hand on my shoulder.
My mood soared even higher.
I was actually starting to feel proud of myself.
“We’ve got a lot of work ahead of us now. First, we need to squeeze that bastard dry. We’ll head back first, so you take a little break before coming in. You worked hard.”
Leaving a few detectives behind to preserve the crime scene, Team Leader Kim departed with the others.
“Wow~ Senior, you were incredible today. How did you know the bodies were here?”
Detective Park, who had remained behind with me, looked at me with admiration.
First Arang, then Team Leader Kim, and now even my junior.
Today was apparently a full gift set of compliments.
“Kid, this is what you call natural talent.”
Humility had never exactly been one of my strongest traits.
For some reason, Detective Park’s admiring gaze immediately returned to the same dumbfounded look he usually gave me.
Maybe I had acted a little too arrogant.
Perhaps humility really had been the correct answer this time.
Just then—
Ding-dong-daeng-dong.
Suddenly, I heard the familiar chime I used to wait for every day as a student, signaling the end of class.
—Congratulations. By resolving this case, the energy of the Black Spirit, the soul power of His Majesty Inhwang, has increased. You are now eligible to level up as the Inhwang Reaper. Would you like to accept?
I refuse—no, wait. I accept.
—......
I had already promised earlier that I would listen properly, so I had to keep my word.
—Lord Yeomra says that although he wasn’t expecting much from you, you did a good job.
Even Chicken Grandpa was praising me.
So does the Black Spirit increase whenever I solve a case?
—Since an Inhwang Reaper’s main duty is to punish sinners, resolving cases and defeating evil spirits increases the energy of the Black Spirit.
Ah... So it’s basically like experience points in a game. And last time, you said the Black Spirit itself was something like internal energy, right?
I asked Arang again as a quick review.
—That’s right. The Black Spirit is the unique soul power of the Inhwang Reaper and the source of all your strength. Therefore, every technique used by the Inhwang Reaper consumes the energy of the Black Spirit.
Arang’s explanation was a little complicated.
I decided to think of the Black Spirit as internal energy, while the energy of the Black Spirit was basically something like usable energy.
—Then I will begin the level-up process. Due to the increase in the Black Spirit, your physical strength and stamina will increase significantly.
So my body gets stronger. Nice.
—Ghost Eye has evolved to Level 2. The amount of information you can obtain about spirits has increased. In addition, the Soul-Seizing Demon Realm function has been added to Ghost Eye.
What’s the Soul-Seizing Demon Realm?
—It is a function that separates a human’s soul from their body and allows them to experience Hell.
Well, that doesn’t sound bad either. It should be useful for interrogating especially vicious criminals.
—Ahem... Next, the Inhwang Reaper’s absolute martial art, the Black Spirit Demonic Spear Art, will be unlocked. The First Form of the Black Spirit Demonic Spear Art, Soul-Severing Strike, will now be imprinted upon you.
Huh? What did you say?
At that moment, the image of a black spear with a black ribbon tied around it appeared inside my mind.
It looked heavy and dignified, yet there was also something strangely ghostly about it.
Immediately afterward, the combat techniques used to wield that spear began flowing through my mind like a panorama.
Each individual movement spread throughout every part of my body.
Before I knew it, I felt as though I had already mastered the First Form of the Black Spirit Demonic Spear Art, Soul-Severing Strike.
Arang, I’m starting to feel some kind of power inside me. But... it feels incredibly destructive.
Something was writhing inside my body.
A strange energy surged through me like crashing waves, flowing along my blood vessels and spreading throughout my entire body.
—It seems the energy of the Black Spirit is finally awakening.
This is what happens when the Black Spirit’s energy awakens?
—Yes. It seems the Black Spirit Demonic Spear Art stimulated the Black Spirit within you. After all, the Black Spirit Demonic Spear Art is the supreme martial art of the absolute ruler of the Underworld. It was the martial art that allowed the Inhwang Reaper to become the greatest being beneath heaven and above earth.
Arang spoke proudly even though it wasn’t even her martial art.
Hmm... How many forms does the Black Spirit Demonic Spear Art have?
She had been boasting about it so much that I was starting to become curious.
—There are three forms in total. The First Form, Soul-Severing Strike, possesses enough power to pierce even the heavens. The Second Form will be unlocked when you reach Level 5, while the Third Form will be unlocked when you reach the maximum level. However, the Black Spirit Demonic Spear Art can only display its true power when you possess the Black Spirit Demonic Spear.
Then the Black Spirit Demonic Spear Art I just learned is completely useless right now.
—That’s right. At the moment, you could say you’ve only become somewhat physically stronger. Your actual offensive power is practically nonexistent.
That was disappointing.
It was like being awarded an incredible divine sword, only to pull it from its sheath and discover that I had received nothing but the handle.
Or like giving a soldier ammunition before sending him to war, but forgetting to give him a gun.
—However, once you obtain the Black Spirit Demonic Spear, your offensive power will become stronger than you can imagine. The Black Spirit Demonic Spear is one of the greatest treasures of the Celestial Realm, and it possesses an incredibly powerful function capable of shaking both the living world and the Underworld.
Wow~ Really? What does it do?
—......
Why aren’t you saying anything? What’s that function?
For some reason, despite boasting about it so much, Arang suddenly fell silent.
There had to be some kind of defect.
Don’t tell me this Black Spirit Demonic Spear or whatever is actually useless. Were you just lying to make it sound impressive?
—No! The Black Spirit Demonic Spear is a supreme treasure personally infused with soul power by the Jade Emperor and his queen, Lady Seonhwa!
Then what’s this function that can shake both the living world and the Underworld?
Arang hesitated again.
Her strange behavior made my curiosity reach its peak.
Finally, Arang answered in a voice barely louder than a mosquito.
—The Bingsin(憑神) function......
I doubted my ears.
Bingsin? There’s seriously a function with that name?
—Yes. It is called Bingsin because it allows a god to possess the weapon.
Who the hell came up with that name? And you expect me to use a weapon with a name like that?
—I’m sorry......
No, no. It’s not your fault, Arang. Besides, being able to borrow the power of a god is amazing... I’m deeply moved.
Even while saying it myself, I somehow felt sad.
Arang, don’t worry. I swear I’ll change that name.
—Thank you......
For the first time, Arang and I completely agreed on something.
Right.
Since I was the one who had to use it, I absolutely had to change that name.
—Anyway... the Inhwang Reaper must meet the person who currently keeps the Black Spirit Demonic Spear inside her soul.
Who is that?
—Aiz, the leader of the idol girl group Seven Fairies.
What?
Those things didn’t seem to belong together at all.
I couldn’t understand why something called the Black Spirit Demonic Spear was inside the body of a woman named Aiz.
—...Aiz is a medium possessing top-class soul power. Using spirit-medium techniques, she summoned the soul of Hwang Jin-hui, who was known as the greatest famous courtesan of the Joseon era, and allowed Hwang Jin-hui to possess her. She is currently working as a member of an idol girl group while possessed.
Oh? Hwang Jin-hui? You mean that famous courtesan who was said to possess peerless beauty and extraordinary talent in both singing and dancing?
—There seems to be some conflict between Aiz and the soul of Hwang Jin-hui currently possessing her, but regardless, you must meet Aiz in order to find the Black Spirit Demonic Spear.
All right. I’ll do that.
It looked like I was going to meet an idol even though such a thing had never once been part of my destiny.
Still, just as Arang had said, without the Black Spirit Demonic Spear, I was nothing more than an unusually strong human.
If I suddenly encountered another bastard like that Asek-gwi, I could easily end up dying again.
It seemed I needed to meet this woman called Aiz as soon as possible.
“Ah... I’m exhausted.”
Arang switched off the microphone and leaned back tiredly in her chair.
Deep beneath Yeomra Palace in Hell was a secure situation room capable of communicating with the living world.
It could be described as a monitoring room where they adjusted their frequency to match the soul power of a person in the living world, allowing them to observe that person in real time through a screen.
“You worked hard, Arang. Inhwang’s final reincarnation really has a much more difficult personality than I expected.”
Yeomra, who had been watching the entire situation from beside her, approached Arang.
“No, it wasn’t that difficult. I only had to read according to the script.”
Arang picked up the papers beside the microphone and showed them to him.
“But Taebaek, the Inhwang Reaper from a thousand years ago, was famous for being dignified and kindhearted. Why does this reincarnation make people suffer so much? His personality seems incredibly twisted.”
Arang asked Yeomra as she rose from her seat.
“Arang... perhaps it is because the resentment that still remains within Taebaek’s soul has yet to be soothed.”
“Are you saying the resentment Lord Taebaek accumulated through a thousand years of reincarnations is what made that man’s personality turn out like this?”
Thinking of Taebaek from a thousand years ago made Arang’s heart ache.
“Yes. In any case, you must never become careless in watching him. We have no idea what will happen if that man completely recovers Taebaek’s memories.”
Yeomra spoke to Arang with a worried expression.
“Yes. I know that too.”
Yeomra stepped closer and gently embraced Arang.
“My child, it does not sit well with me to make you do this. However, as the princess of Hell and as a Woljik Reaper of the Underworld, this is a duty you must carry out. If nothing else... you must do it for your older sister, Hwa-ryeong......”
“Yes... I understand, Father......”
Arang quietly answered from within Yeomra’s embrace.
Tiny tears, like drops of dew, gathered at the corners of her eyes.
