The Special Abilities Investigation Department agents rushed to Daegu’s top hospital.
Deep inside, to the intensive care unit.

“This way. Detectives are already guarding the patient.”

“How’d they manage to secure them? Stopping someone trying to kill themselves can’t be easy.”

“They got lucky.”

At Department Head Han Hyung-jun’s question, his subordinate shrugged.

“A hotel manager caught them trying to hang themselves and intervened. Reported it immediately, so they were brought here.”

Pure luck.

The killer’s victims usually took their lives in secluded places, unnoticed.
No clear way to stop or detect it.

By the time they’re found, they’re long cold. This time, they were spotted in time to intervene.

“They’re conscious, but… normal conversation might be impossible.”

“What? Did they suddenly lose it?”

“…Something like that.”

Entering the patient’s room, they saw the killer’s victim, as hoped.

Raging and screaming like a lunatic.

“Let me go! Let me go, you bastards!! I want to die—why are you stopping me?! I’ll report you for locking me up!!”

“The patient’s not in their right mind, okay? Someone tighten the belt! It’s already loose!”

“How’s this skinny guy so strong?”

Han Hyung-jun, witnessing the patient thrashing in a straitjacket, eyes wild, was momentarily speechless.

“…Is this the killer’s doing too?”

“Yes.”

They saved her life, but the killer—Kim Sua’s—suicidal compulsion remained intact.

The patient was still desperate to hang herself.
Communication might be possible, but her mental state was completely shot.

“Damn it. Twenty years as a cop, and I’ve never seen a case this messed up.”

A curse slipped out naturally.

But what could he do?
With a rare witness in hand, they had to investigate diligently.

While grumbling, nurses and doctors restrained the victim. Thoroughly, so she couldn’t move a finger.

Exhausted, she finally calmed, showing signs she might talk.

“You can speak now. Don’t get too close.”

“Thanks for your hard work.”

“It’s just another day.”

The weary medical staff left.
Han Hyung-jun cautiously approached the victim.

Flashing his police ID, he carefully stated his purpose.

“Hello. I’m from the Special Abilities Investigation Department.”

“…”

“May I ask a few questions, if it’s not too much trouble?”

“…Go ahead.”

Was she cooperating because suicide was impossible now?

Whatever the reason, it was fortunate.
More cooperation meant more information.

“Why did you try to take your life? You’re young, with a bright future.”

“My head told me to.”

“What exactly do you mean?”

The victim shook her head, as if the problem lay in her brain.

“It feels like my instincts are screaming to hang myself. To tie a rope and jump. My head’s filled with that urge… I just want to die and feel free. Only death will ease my mind.”

“Still feeling that way?”

“Yes. So why not let me go? I just want to be free.”

She shook her body, pleading desperately.

“…Sorry, that’s not possible. It’s not in our authority.”

Brushing off the strange request.
He glanced at her background.

A grade-5 civil servant at the district office.
Ten years in, with decent experience and status.

Only in her thirties, with plenty of room to climb higher.
A promising talent, perfectly described.

‘But her character’s trash. No sense of ethics either.’

The downside? Her attitude and personality were rotten.
Terrible reputation among colleagues, criticized for excessive flattery to superiors.

Vain, extravagant, taking bribes to cover her spending… A textbook corrupt official.

She took dirty money from Han Song Makgeolli to cover for them, landing on the killer’s radar.

…Is this self-inflicted?
Feels like she paid the price for her filthy deeds.

“Ugh.”

“What’s wrong?”

“Nothing.”

Sighing inwardly, the victim suddenly recalled something.

“Oh, and… my head’s saying something else.”

“What?”

“It’s telling me to tell cops and investigators like you. To do your damn job when crimes happen. If you don’t want this to repeat, manage things properly from the start—urgh!”

Suddenly, the victim retched.

Medical devices connected to her flashed red, blaring warnings.
Her body convulsed, then went limp, collapsing.

“Brain hemorrhage! Is this the killer’s work too?!”

“Hit the call button, get the doctors! We have to save her!”

“I’ll try to stop it!”

Lee Hye-ji, a mental-type Awakened from the department, stepped forward.
She’d try to undo or mitigate the brainwashing with her ability.

It might stop the body from triggering a hemorrhage.

“Can you do it?”

“No idea. Gotta try!”

With nothing to lose, Lee Hye-ji attempted to interfere with the victim’s mind.

“Huh?”

She ran into something dangerous.

‘What the hell kind of suggestion is this?’

Awakened abilities vary widely.
Sword telekinesis, telepathy, gravity control, bodily fluid explosions, brain severing.

Lee Hye-ji’s ability was reading and manipulating human minds.

She could see and manage mental states, illnesses, or curses.

She’d treated or investigated countless people with this power, and planned to do the same here.

–Hmm? What’s this pest doing here?

Something strange was there.
Not a curse, blessing, or magic—something else.

A buxom woman in black and purple cloth noticed her, giving a sly glance.

–Who are you? Didn’t expect to meet someone here.

‘What… what is this?’

Why was a person inside someone’s mind?

Was this the killer’s true form?
Or some kind of special ability?

Before she could ponder further, the woman approached slowly.
Floating silently through the air, extending a slender hand toward Lee Hye-ji.

–Sorry, but you need to leave. No hard feelings, but I don’t want my work interrupted.

In that moment, she realized.

The world began to crack.
Or maybe her mind did.

That thing in her vision wasn’t human.
Just something borrowing a human form—a higher existence.
Something no mere mortal could handle.

“Ahh.”

Slowly, so slowly, her existence was devoured.
Like insects eating rotten flesh, bit by bit.
Her limbs were intact, yet her body felt like it was vanishing.

Her heart pounded wildly.
No, not pounding—thrashing, desperate to escape pain.

Her blood felt like it was surging backward.
Her breath caught, chills consumed her spine, and helplessness overtook her body.
Fear saturated her nerves, crushing her brain, convulsing her muscles.

“Ahhh.”

She felt it.
It was too late.
No turning back.

She’d learned it.
Known what she shouldn’t have.

She should never have looked.
The moment she made contact, she should’ve turned back.
Dropped the investigation and fled.

This wasn’t something a petty ability could handle.
No trivial power could bind it, nor should it try.

But she did.
She committed the forbidden act.

Now it was time to pay the price.

–Goodbye. Let’s not meet again.

The moment the woman’s finger touched her forehead.
Lee Hye-ji’s mind shattered into pieces.

–Finally cleaned up.

“What’s that about?”

–Nothing. Just chased out a pest that wandered in.

“Ugh, boring.”

The plan to take down corrupt companies and their accomplices wrapped up neatly.

Leaving one survivor per country to deliver a message to the police worked perfectly.

They must’ve been thoroughly screwed.
They thought they saved a victim to investigate, only for them to spew a final message and have their brains melt.

‘I’m not that sloppy.’

Sorry to those thrilled about saving a victim, but I don’t do half-measures.

If I meant to kill, I’d have set it up airtight.
A quiet, quick suicide in a place where help’s scarce. Just a couple of extra settings, and it’s done.

By contrast, the cause of death I set with my power was like this:

[Attempts to hang themselves in a populated area but gets caught. Once transferred to a hospital, causes a scene until police arrive, then leaves a dying message as brain vessels melt.]

In other words, I used the investigators for my purpose.

‘Maybe this’ll make them investigate harder.’

I don’t expect society to turn morally upright or grow from this.
But it might wake up law enforcement a bit.

They’ve learned that slacking off means more victims and more blame.
They’ll put in more effort, even if reluctantly.

The harder police work, the more stable public safety and civilian life become.

If they don’t… I’ll just whip them harder.

–Nuooong.

I leaned back in my chair.
To celebrate, I’ll get sushi tonight.