After completing the on-site investigation, I briefly reconstructed the incident.
The victim was drinking with colleagues late into the night and was returning home at dawn.
Then I was dragged into an alley and attacked by the criminal...
In fact, there are very few alleys in Seoul that are truly alleys.
In particular, since the crime scene was near a newspaper office, there were a huge number of cars parked on the shoulder of the road.
An alley between shops that are closed at dawn.
The victim was dragged through it, hung by the neck, and then dismembered alive.
The cause of death was shock due to lack of blood, but it was a slow and painful death.
The reason the criminal chose to hang the victim in the medieval European style was probably because he regarded him as livestock.
Unfortunately, the black boxes of nearby vehicles did not properly capture the culprit's appearance.
He deliberately wore loose-fitting clothes to hide his figure, and when he escaped, he climbed up the wall of the building.
There wasn't a separate part that could be used as a staircase or handrail, but Hunter overcame it with his unique athletic ability.
The weapon is an ordinary hunting knife.
It seems that the hunter ability was not used separately.
'It's definitely a Hunter crime, but... why are there so many suspects?'
The victim in this incident could hardly be called a good journalist.
Rather, he was a talented person who could confidently stand up to the worst reporter in Korea.
I was convinced of that as I read the list of suspects.
"The on-site investigation is complete. You may recover the body. Are there any family members or colleagues of the victim?"
"Here you go."
"First, let's go to the victim's workplace."
We were guided to the newspaper building by a man who was also a reporter for the Hunter Department.
It seems like it would be easy to finish with Blanche, but since I used it so much in Japan, I'm in saving mode for the time being.
First, let's investigate the co-workers who were at the drinking party yesterday and the time of the crime has been determined.
Since everyone's statements match exactly, and it was a hunter crime to begin with, they are not suspects.
I started working without hesitation.
"The type of Hunter's ability isn't specified. For now, we'll focus on investigating revenge crimes. Find out the motive behind the crime."
"Yes, team leader."
"Has anyone had a recent altercation with the victim?"
When I asked the Hunter's reporters, they stared at me without saying anything.
I admitted that my question was wrong and changed my wording a bit.
"Has any Hunter recently had an altercation with a victim?"
"That's... too much."
"I'm not talking about a minor argument, but a case that went all the way to court."
Even a little bit of resentment wouldn't do anything like that.
Even though I filtered it in my own way, the employees' answers didn't change much.
"That's... too much."
"shit."
"Does that include only those who have been sued, or do you also include those who have filed lawsuits?"
One of my fellow reporters made me doubt my ears.
While Lee Seo-woo and his team members were rummaging through the victim's desk, I questioned the staff in detail.
"The victim filed a lawsuit? Did you suffer any injustice?"
"Oh. It's not that big of a deal. I was sued for defamation for leaving a comment on an internet news article..."
"You really have a lot of variety."
Seeing a case where writing a comment calling an internet article a "trash" wasn't considered defamation, I wondered what kind of reporter would sue someone for something like that...
I guess this is exactly the kind of guy he was.
Because Internet articles are required to include the reporter's real name each time they are posted, it is quite easy to sue.
The condition for establishing defamation, performance, is also very well satisfied.
I tried to be as unbiased as possible and looked at the articles written by the victims.
In fact, there's no guarantee that the culprit has recently developed a grudge, so I felt the need to dig deeper, starting from the old days.
As I was looking into the contents with my team members, I discovered something quite surprising.
"What the... there's not a single thing in this article that's correct?"
"I guess I was quite self-restrained in the article I posted yesterday."
"If that's self-restraint, then what kind of trash do you usually create and upload?"
It's a sight to behold.
I thought the article in the paper was a bit better, but this one is even worse.
On this side, they posted an article criticizing the Hunter Guild on the very page where the Hunter Guild advertisement was published.
At this point, I'm a little impressed.
"If there's a rag of the year award, this guy's going to sweep it all away. How on earth has he managed to stay unscathed until now?"
If they only criticized weak guilds or hunters, then I wouldn't know...
I feel a little bit of respect for them when I see them even criticizing large guilds.
This guy was a human of pure chaotic evil tendencies.
To be honest, I don't regret the victim's death at all, but we still need to investigate.
Since I am a civil servant in name only, I have no right to choose my own work.
When it comes to punishment, I may have my own personal opinions, but I will definitely catch the criminal.
Let's list down the hunters who might have a deep grudge against him. Lee Seo-woo expressed his discomfort.
"Isn't that too much?"
"But unless there are other clues, the most reliable way is to pick out the suspects and investigate them one by one..."
"That's true, though."
"Don't worry. I won't investigate everyone, no matter what. Let's start with those who are currently in financial difficulty."
It's not a stereotype or anything that poor people commit more crimes.
It's only natural that people who have nothing left to lose are more likely to go astray.
This case is particularly serious enough that it could easily warrant life imprisonment.
If you kill someone like that, you can't even claim that it was an impulsive murder.
Korean law becomes quite harsh only for criminals who are judged to have no room for improvement.
"Prioritize the investigation of hunters who suffered financial damage due to the victim's report, regardless of whether it was false or not."
"Yes, team leader."
No smartphone signal was detected at the scene of the incident.
Honestly, every time something like this happens, I want to implant a tracking device in the hunters' bodies.
While I was conducting an investigation with my team members, Alice, who had followed us, smiled bitterly as she looked at the victim's works.
"Is there anything here that isn't a false report? Oh, there is. It's an advertisement."
"It's not surprising anymore."
"Team Leader. Isn't it possible that, like the last cross-murder case, there was an accomplice?"
"The odds are low."
There is still one victim in this incident.
Moreover, creating accomplices is an extremely difficult and troublesome task.
It's psychologically very stressful to let your opponent take advantage of your biggest weakness.
"Most accomplices have maintained a close relationship for a considerable period of time. The last cross-murder case was like that... In this case, there's no merit in using an accomplice."
"Then what about contract killing?"
"I had Jiyu research that industry, but it doesn't seem to be anything special yet."
"Uh... Is it okay to send Jiyu to a place like that?"
Lee Seo-woo is slightly startled by my answer.
In fact, there was no need to send Seo Ji-yu.
The Korean black market has been greatly weakened by the recent massacre caused by fake green dust.
The incident has affected other black markets, to the point where the market is not functioning properly for the time being.
After much deliberation, I made a decision, anticipating an overwhelming workload.
"Hello. Uh, honey. Can I help you for a second? Okay, thanks."
Let's just use Ariel's power to investigate the suspects' alibis...
They readily submitted the entry and exit records from the time of the crime.
As expected, things become much easier when Yeriel is involved.
"Active hunters get answers right away."
Since most active players live in guilds, it is quite easy to prove an alibi.
This murder occurred in the early morning, but everyone desperately tried to prove their innocence so as not to be mistaken for the murderer.
Of course. Right now, the reporters are probably waiting with bated breath for the special forces' announcement.
They've been making a fuss about freedom of the press being threatened and all that.
But even with Ariel's help, this case was by no means easy.
"Damn. There are too many prime suspects..."
"There were over 100 lawsuits filed for comments on internet articles. Later, it was classified as a planned lawsuit, and I heard that the prosecution dismissed the case."
"How on earth did this guy keep working? He's already been sued by victims in more than one case."
As we were expressing our admiration, a fellow reporter assisting us spoke quietly.
"That's because he's the boss's relative..."
"aha."
Thanks to you, my curiosity was completely resolved.
By the way, even though he was a parachute, he continued to be a mere reporter.
It must be because the accident was so serious that even the president's influence couldn't cover it up.
After much deliberation, I decided to borrow Blanche's help again.
It's not pleasant to waste time on such trivial cases, but it's even more unpleasant to have such trivial cases remain as one of the special forces' few unsolved cases.
Alice overheard my instructions and was greatly embarrassed.
"You can use up some of your quota, so investigate all the prime suspects. If you were near the scene of the crime or have any suspicious movements, let me know."
[Yes, Master.]
"Are you serious? You used up quite a bit of your quota in Japan, didn't you?"
"Alice, look outside right now. If we can't catch them, it looks like they'll make one themselves."
"ah..."
It is unacceptable for secondary damage to occur in this way.
I accepted the coffee my teammate had brought and prepared for a long battle.