Chapter 158
Chapter 158 – Seo Ha-ran’s Wish #2
His sister was waiting for him as he opened the front door. Ha-ran waved her hands with a strange look.
"Wow, I just sent you a message, but you came so quickly!"
"Eh? Message?"
"Yes, I wanted to buy clothes you clothes for my wedding. Didn’t you come running after seeing it?"
Tae-hyuk groaned.
It was just before the wedding. Even though she was surely busy… Was his sister worried about his clothing now? She seriously wanted to talk about this.
She had no one to help with the wedding plans, so she had to do everything herself. Her dark circles reminded him of An Eun-young in her prime studying days. Even so, she was beautiful. She was like a flower that had just fully bloomed.
Ha-ran had started studying at the Wolsang Institute not long ago. She wasn’t even an intern yet, but her face was filled with hope.
"I’m still a student so I can wear my uniform. So don’t worry about it."
A small smile appeared on Ha-ran’s face.
"My Tae-hyuk is all grown up. I knew you would say that. But in this situation, I want to buy you some clothes as thanks."
"Don’t you have to do more wedding invitations? It looks like there are a lot of pamphlets in the living room. It is hard to do alone, so shall I help you?"
"Of course! This is important too! But first, shopping for Tae-hyuk’s clothes! …In fact, I feel really sorry that you are wearing the same clothes every day. Oh look at this!"
Seo Ha-ran pulled out a folded envelope from her pocket. She showed him the contents with a cheerful expression.
"I saved this to buy Tae-hyuk’s clothing. Let’s find something stylish."
10,000 won bills were crammed inside. There were around 50 of them?
At that moment, Tae-hyuk felt a lump in his throat. In the meantime, he had hidden the fact that he made a huge amount of money from his crime skills. He decided to reveal it after changing the future completely. He could use the excuse of winning the lottery or receiving a blank inheritance. If he used the crime skills then he could make a plausible lie.
Until then, he lived sparingly. In such a situation, Ha-ran had collected 500,000 won.
‘…This is obviously something she collected by living sparingly.’
Tae-hyuk licked his dry lips and asked.
"Noona, if we were rich then what would you like to have?"
"H-Huh?"
"You told me that you wanted to live in a two-story house with a garden while we were watching a drama. That is good. Or do you want something else? Or maybe a wish that you want to fulfill?"
Tae-hyuk decided to confess the day before her wedding that he was rich by showing her the bankbooks. The fight with Mister Park was over so the timing was good.
However, Ha-ran suddenly hugged Tae-hyuk with red eyes.
"My wish? Tae-hyuk. Noona only has one wish…"
"So that wish…’
"W-Why are you asking? I’m embarrassed."
"I just want to hear it."
Ha-ran took a deep breath and said,
"Yes, my wish… It is to see you and Tae-min living well."
"…Is that it?"
"Yes. The end."
Ha-ran closed her eyes and opened her mouth like it was time to confess something.
"Mother and Father… they died in an accident… I was always anxious. I confidently said that I would be your parents instead… I always wondered if I was doing well…"
Ttiring.
[The Forgery skill has found an intense image.]
At that moment, an image appeared in Tae-hyuk’s mind. A scene from his childhood that he had forgotten.
Tae-hyuk’s eyes shook wildly. It couldn’t be…
Did that actually happened?
The scene on the Demon Revealing Mirror was of the accident. A truck carrying steel pipes slammed into a car after a sudden stop. The person sitting in the driver’s seat and the passenger seat died instantly. Only the three children sitting in the backseat managed to survive.
It was a miracle since some of the steel pipes penetrated the car. A girl in a school uniform threw herself around two elementary school students. There was a thick pipe in her stomach and blood was flowing down. Despite that, she smiled at her brothers.
‘It’s okay.
I will protect you, so rest assured—.’
‘Ugh… W-What…?’
Tae-hyuk swallowed his saliva. Why was the scene so familiar? It was like he saw it directly in front of him.
The facts overlapped in Tae-hyuk’s mind. Ha-ran never went to the swimming pool after the death of their parents.
Ha-ran whispered to Tae-hyuk,
"I want Tae-hyuk and Tae-min to live better lives than before… As if that accident never occurred…"
"…Noona. I’m sorry to say this all of a sudden. Can you
Ha-ran blushed and asked,
"W-What are you saying?"
"There is something I would like to check."
"……"
Ha-ran was very embarrassed by his sudden request.
"Did you remember that time?"
"…Maybe."
Ha-ran struggled for a moment in silence. Then she nodded.
"Yes. I understand. Instead, you must absolutely keep it a secret from Tae-min."
Ha-ran carefully lifted the shirt she was wearing, exposing her belly. A smooth belly without any fat appeared. However, there was a fierce scar on Ha-ran’s lower abdomen.
"Hehe… Ugly isn’t it?"
Yes. It was there.
Pajik. Pajijik.
Tae-hyuk realized how much Ha-ran had sacrificed for her siblings. She threw away her precious life to save her brother during the accident. How could he have ever forgotten such an important thing?
His head hurt. At the same time, his ears heard the sound of something breaking.
Ahh, yes. He was alive because his sister saved him.
"Eh? T-Tae-hyuk?"
Tae-hyuk literally ran towards the bathroom. He couldn’t stay any longer. Tears constantly flowed from both eyes.
Did Kang-suk know this fact? He couldn’t not know. His sister didn’t have the guts to hide such an important fact. Despite that, they were getting married. Kang-suk really was a good person.
Tae-hyuk wanted to run up to Ha-ran right now and say.
‘I’m sorry Noona.
And―.
…Thank you.’
It was at that moment.
Pajijijijijik―!
Tae-hyuk realized that something on his face was shattering. He slowly raised his head and looked at the mirror in front of him. There was something really strange.
A blank face with no emotions stared back at him. Then half of it broke and fell off of his face. Mask…?
"…What, since when was I wearing this type of thing?"
He couldn’t understand the situation. Tae-hyuk reached up and peeled off the half mask.
"……!!!"
This…
The Phantom mask. Tae-hyuk made a shocked expression as the mask smiled. Then a voice was heard, like a hallucination.
–Ah, I was discovered.
@
Waaaack!
Tae-hyuk covered his mouth to block the scream that wanted to emerge. Ha-ran was outside the bathroom. He didn’t want to unnecessarily worry her.
‘What is this?!’
Tae-hyuk tossed the mask to the ground and started stepping on it. It turned into white particles and disappeared.
"D-Don’t tell me that until now… Ugh…!"
In the end, he couldn’t endure it and dunked his head over the sink. He hadn’t eaten anything, so only yellow gastric juices were vomited out, but it was better than nothing. After a few minutes, he felt the nausea fading away.
Ha-ran’s concerned voice could be heard from outside.
"Tae-hyuk? What’s going on?"
"All of a sudden, my stomach…"
"Ah! Y-Your stomach hurts? I’ll go and buy medicine straight away!"
"…I think it will get better if I rest a little bit. Don’t worry."
Tae-hyuk made an excuse to Ha-ran and sat on the bathtub. Then the illusion of people dying appeared in front of his eyes.
"I-I…killed… P-People… W-What on earth…"
When did he start to cross the line? Tae-hyuk bit his lip and desperately searched through his memories.
"…Yes. It is clearly after I upgraded to a King."
There were some signs of it when he was a Noble. The more he used the crime skills, the more numb he became to committing crimes. It felt like he became another person. It became worse after he was a King, and he easily killed others. It was like he was spellbound by something, but the memories still remained intact.
A few hours ago, he was about to kill a couple who hadn’t done anything wrong.
"This, dammit! I am just like a serial killer!"
In the future, he was framed and went to prison. However, he might be punished for the sins he committed.
"But I have the crime skills… Waaaack! Y-Yes! That is the killer!"
Tae-hyuk pulled out the Demon Revealing Mirror.
"This really was a cursed object from the beginning!"
He had barely come back to his senses. But what if he started using the crime skills again?
Tae-hyuk bit his lip and muttered,
"I’m not a criminal… So now I will quit being Phantom. I will return to being the high school student Seo Tae-hyuk, Ha-ran noona’s little brother."
He couldn’t throw away the Demon Revealing Mirror but he decided not to use the sinister crime skills.
Woong!
Woong woong!
Woong woong woong!
The Demon Revealing Mirror started to vibrate.
"What? Do you think I will be convinced by that? I’m not going to use the crime skills. So just disappear."
At that moment, a message appeared on the screen of the Demon Revealing Mirror.
[It is possible to become the God of Crime by obtaining one million affinity points.]
The Demon Revealing Mirror showed him the condition required to upgrade his rank.
"Are you saying that you want me to kill one million people?"
He obtained affinity points by changing the fate of others. There was a simple way to do this. It was to kill someone who should’ve lived.
"Damn! I guess you laughed when I was possessed by you!"
Tae-hyuk felt terrible.
"…Yes. I won’t use the crime skills. Then I’ll be able to maintain my sanity."
Anyway, the main case was over.
Woong!Woong woong!Woong woong woong!
As if trying to persuade him, the Demon Revealing Mirror kept on raising notification windows in front of Tae-hyuk’s eyes.
"You won’t deceive me!"
Tae-hyuk declared firmly. In the future, it was necessary to protect his important people without using the crime skills. There was only one way to do that.
He left the bathroom and headed to the kitchen where Ha-ran was cooking.
"Noona."
"Huh? Yes? Oh, I’m making porridge because your stomach hurts. Just wait a little longer."
"I’ve picked a career."
"C-Career? Oh, the course you want to go into?"
"Yes. I’m going to being a detective like Kang-suk hyung. I will go into the police department. There is a course at S University."
"Omo! W-Wah!"
Ha-ran grinned and clapped with delight. Her brother wanted to be a police officer. It was a wonderful job where he would protect people.
"Yes! Obviously, Kang-suk will support you."
Ha-ran gently hugged Tae-hyuk.
Yes, this was surely right. The reason he chose a police officer was simple. Tae-hyuk still remembered the future.Most of the information was about crimes. As long as he had those memories, there was a possibility of being dragged into incidents.
Could he solve those without using the crime skills? However, a police officer was different. He could officially fight against crime.
As he thought this, his anxious mind calmed down. Now there was nothing…
The next day, Ha-ran went missing.