Chapter 294: Chulsoo88 (2)

“You found him?”

“Huh?!”

Park Dongshik and Gwak Yangchul, who had just hung up the phone and were preparing to leave, were startled by Louis’s sudden entrance.

“Y-you arrived so quickly?”

“I happened to be in the area on business, so…”

“Oh, I see.”

The Dongsik Detective Agency was located on the fourth floor of the commercial building. Since there was no elevator, Louis had to climb the stairs. Yet barely a minute had passed since they ended the call.

Even if he was nearby… how could he have climbed four flights of stairs in under a minute?

Something didn’t add up, but it wasn’t important at the moment. Park Dongshik greeted Louis with a sly smile.

“My goodness, you must be exhausted from your long journey.”

“Where is he?”

“Let’s go together. We’ve already completed a preliminary reconnaissance.”

“You’re quick,” Louis remarked.

Gwak Yangchul abruptly interjected, “My 형님 is the best in Korea at finding people, no doubt about it. If you’d come straight to us instead of stopping elsewhere first, we would have found him by early evening and contacted you!”

Park Dongshik’s shoulders puffed up slightly at his subordinate’s praise.

“Ahem, that little punk… Number one, my ass. Actually, now that it’s come up, there used to be two guys above me, but they both kicked the bucket, and I ended up at the top!”

”…”

“Didn’t you find that funny?”

“No.”

“My apologies. L-let’s go, the car’s waiting outside. Yangchul, lock up and come out!”

“Yes, sir!”

Embarrassed, Park Dongshik hurried outside.

A short while later, inside the car driven by Gwak Yangchul, Park Dongshik flipped through his notebook, reciting the information they had gathered.

“Name: Wang Cheolsoo, born in 1988. He’s 34 years old this year. He dropped out of high school and currently resides in Gapyeong, Gyeonggi-do.”

“Wang Cheolsoo…” Louis chuckled.

His real name is Chulsoo, and he was born in ‘88? No way…

Just as I suspected.

“And?”

“He was severely bullied in high school, leading to psychiatric counseling. Afterward, he became a hikikomori for several years. Following the tragic deaths of both his parents in a traffic accident, he completely ceased all external activities.”

“Any other relatives?”

“His mother was an orphan. He has two aunts on his father’s side, but both appear to have severed ties with him.”

”…”

“The only remaining online trace we found was the personal blog you mentioned. But it was shut down about two years ago, leaving no digital footprint. It made our investigation quite difficult.”

“You found him remarkably quickly, considering the circumstances.”

“Haha, our detective agency specializes more in finding people than investigating affairs. We really put our skills to the test this time. But, um…”

Park Dongshik fidgeted, looking awkward and uncomfortable.

Louis, sensing what he was getting at, said, “If this person is who I’m looking for, you’ll definitely be paid in full. Don’t worry about it.”

“Haha, of course I trust you, sir! It’s just that we had to pull a few strings and grease a few palms to handle this case, and we’ve completely exhausted the advance payment…”

Louis reached into his pocket, pulled out two gold bars, and handed them to Park Dongshik. “Overtime pay, plus a special bonus.”

“Oh my! You didn’t have to do that! Thank you so much!”

Park Dongshik kept bowing deeply toward the back seat.

Just as the gold bar was about to change hands, Louis grabbed it and refused to let go.

Noticing Park Dongshik’s puzzled expression, Louis said with a serious face, “Just… step on it. I’m in a bit of a hurry.”

“Yangchul! What are you waiting for? Floor it!”

“Yes, hyung!”

Vroom!

With a roar of the engine, the SUV sped down the road.

Finally, the gold bar passed into Park Dongshik’s hands.

From Seoul to Gapyeong, Gwak Yangchul covered the hour-and-a-half journey in just over fifty minutes. They arrived at an old detached house.

“Here we are,” Gwak Yangchul announced.

”…This is it?” A suspicious glint appeared in Louis’s eyes. The house before them looked more like an abandoned ruin than a habitable dwelling.

Under the bright moonlight, the gray walls and the iron gate with its peeling paint exuded a palpable sense of neglect and an eerie atmosphere.

As if anticipating Louis’s reaction, Park Dongshik offered an awkward smile. “I know it doesn’t look like much from the outside, but… someone does seem to live here. There’s a small mart nearby, and the owner says they come out once a week to buy cigarettes and a few other things.”

“Hmm…”

At Park Dongshik’s words, Louis extended his senses. Just as Park Dongshik had said, he could feel a human presence inside the house.

Louis walked to the iron door. It was locked from the inside.

Seeing this, Gwak Yangchul smirked slyly. “For an extra fee, I can open the door for you quietly. If your boss is the best at finding people, then I’m number one in the country when it comes to this kind of thing! Of course, you’ll have to handle any trespassing issues yourself…”

While Gwak Yangchul was rambling on, Louis pushed against the iron door.

Then—

Crack!

With a small, dull sound, the iron door swung open.

”…?!”

Gwak Yangchul stared wide-eyed at the open door. Inside, a rusted latch dangled loosely.

Seeing this, Gwak Yangchul spoke with an embarrassed expression. “Ah, I guess the latch must have rusted. It opened so easily.”

But Louis, who should have been listening, had already passed through the iron door.

Without hesitation, Louis strode into the courtyard and surveyed his surroundings.

Overgrown weeds suggested years of neglect, and scattered among them were the charred remnants of burned trash.

Ignoring these details, Louis approached the front door of the house.

Now convinced it was time to intervene, Gwak Yangchul pulled several tools from his pocket and whispered quietly, “This is easy. It’s not even a doorknob lock—just a regular key mechanism. If you’d left it to me, I could have had it open in five minutes…”

Once again, before Gwak Yangchul could finish speaking, Louis grasped the doorknob.

And then…

Crack!

With a sharp snap, the doorknob came off in his hand.

At the same time, the door creaked open slightly.

“Huh…?”

Gwak Yangchul froze in shock, but Louis had already stepped inside again.

The first thing to greet him was a nauseating stench—the infamous “bachelor’s smell,” a mix of rotting sewage, sweat, and stale odors. It was a space that felt utterly unfit for human habitation. Yet, as if to prove someone still lived there, a pile of dirty dishes, caked with food scraps, overflowed from the sink.

Louis glanced at the mess and slowly walked further into the unlit room.

Louis strode forward without hesitation, his steps purposeful and unwavering.

He soon found himself standing before a particular door.

This is it.

It was the only place where he could sense a human presence.

Without knocking, Louis flung the door open.

The scene that greeted him:

Click-click.

A gaunt man sat before the sole source of light—a computer screen—moving the mouse. His unkempt beard and greasy, matted hair testified to how deeply he had sunk into this squalid existence. An ashtray overflowing with cigarette butts on the monitor stand confirmed the extent of his self-neglect.

Bang!

“W-what the hell?!”

The recluse sprang to his feet at the sound of the door crashing open. When Louis switched on the light, the man frantically shielded his eyes.

“What’s going on?!”

“Wang Cheolsoo.”

The low voice echoed in the room, and the man slowly lowered his arm.

Frowning slightly, he barked, “Who the hell are you?! How did you get in here?!”

Louis’s lips curled into a faint smile at the familiar voice.

“Who do you think you are, barging into someone else’s house like this?! Get out before I call the police!” He grabbed a utility knife from the desk and pointed it at Louis. “Get out before I kill you!”

“Chulsoo88.”

The man’s rage abruptly ceased at Louis’s quiet voice. Wang Cheolsoo finally realized something was amiss and stared intently at Louis.

A moment of silence hung in the air.

”…?!” The man’s face drained of color as he cried out. “Y-you?! How… how is this possible?! N-no way! How could someone like you… This can’t be happening…”

That confirmed it.

The man’s reaction to recognizing him despite Louis’s silence, coupled with his flustered, incoherent babbling, only served to confirm his identity as Chulsoo88.

Louis flashed him a radiant smile. “You little bastard… I’m so damn glad to see you, it’s making me tear up.”

“N-no way… How is this possible?”

Crack… Crack…

Louis cracked his knuckles as he advanced toward Wang Cheolsoo.

“D-don’t come any closer!”

Louis’s smile widened even further as he watched the man retreat, waving a box cutter wildly. It was a breathtakingly beautiful smile, a smile meant for murder.

“You know, I have so much to talk to you about. But before we get to that…”

“D-d-d-don’t come any closer!”

“…let’s exchange some punches first.”

Crack…

Louis’s fist clenched tightly.

After Louis entered the house, Park Dongshik and Gwak Yangchul stared at each other in astonishment, their eyes fixed on the doorknob that had been pulled out, leaving an empty hole in the door.

”…Did this one rust off too?”

“Even if it’s rusty, how could a doorknob come off this easily?”

“Maybe it’s possible…”

“If that were true, technicians like me would starve to death. Anyway… are you just going to leave it like that?”

Gwak Yangchul glanced at the door Louis had entered.

“Mind your own business,” Park Dongshik scolded. “We just find people and get paid. Don’t get involved any further…”

He was still lecturing Gwak Yangchul when a bloodcurdling scream suddenly echoed through the house.

Kyaaaaaaak!

The ghastly shriek reverberated through the already eerie house, sending a chill crawling down their spines.

Squeal!

The sound of a pig being slaughtered followed in quick succession.

The two men froze solid.

Their eyes met.

“S-should we take the car?”

“Y-yes, that would be best.”

They quietly backed away from the door.

Just as they were tiptoeing away, a voice suddenly rang out, stopping them dead in their tracks.

“You two over there.”

Slowly, they turned their heads and froze once more.

Beneath the blue moonlight, a white-haired man emerged from the dark hallway.

Wiping blood from his knuckles as he approached, his violet eyes glowed with an eerie, bewitching light.

A chill ran down their spines, their legs threatening to give way beneath them.

Having lived a few years longer than the others, Park Dongshik was the first to regain his composure, forcing an awkward smile.

“H-ha… A-are you finished with your business?”

“Not yet.”

“T-then we’ll wait in the car…”

“Just a moment.”

“Huh?”

As Louis spoke, gold bars began spilling out of his pockets in rapid succession. He handed them over with a smile.

“You’re exactly who I was looking for. This is your fee, plus a special bonus.”

“T-thank you!” Park Dongshik hastily snatched the gold bars.

One might have wondered how such a quantity of gold could emerge from someone’s pockets, but they were too overwhelmed to think straight.

“U-um… we’ll just wait in the car.”

“No, there’s no need for that. I still have some business to take care of here, so you two should head back to Seoul. I’ll manage on my own.”

“R-really? Are you sure that’s alright?!”

“Go ahead.”

The two men’s faces lit up at his permission, and they bowed deeply.

“W-well, then we’ll be going now!”

“T-thank you so much!”

They practically sprinted to the car without looking back, terrified that Louis might change his mind and call them back.

Once they were gone, Louis returned to his house to continue the unfinished threshing.

Meanwhile, inside the car, the two men wiped cold sweat from their foreheads.

“What’s with that murderous glint in his eyes…”

“Hyung… did you see that gold bar? The one that came out of his pocket? How is that even possible?!”

“Huh? Now that you mention it…”

”…Is he even human?”

”…”

“Or maybe a ghost? A goblin?”

Park Dongshik couldn’t easily answer Gwak Yangchul’s questions.

Just then…

Kuaaaak—!

A faint, desperate scream pierced the darkness.

Park Dongshik, trembling violently, shouted, “What the hell are you waiting for, you idiot! Drive now!”

“G-getting out of here!”

Terrified, Gwak Yangchul slammed on the accelerator.

Vroom!

Screech!

The moonlight itself seemed stained crimson with blood that night.

The ghastly screams continued throughout the night.