A Somewhat Unusual Lawyer - Chapter 10

Murderous intent quietly spread out from the man who revealed himself in the darkness.
His face was still buried in the darkness due to the broken sensor light, but his eyes, at least, gleamed bizarrely.
Da-reum swallowed his dry saliva and asked lowly once again.

“Mr. Han Jae-soo. Is that you.”

Han Jae-soo didn’t answer.
Instead, like a beast eyeing its prey, he walked one step forward very slowly.
Even though he hadn’t admitted to being Han Jae-soo himself, Da-reum instinctively became certain.
That this man before his eyes was the very monster who had tried to kill him.
At the same time, a terrifying question flashed through Da-reum’s mind.

‘…How did he know we came here?’

It hadn’t even been an hour since he received the address from Han Jae-soo’s grandmother along with Inspector Jang Joo-young.
If he knew the police were going to storm in, running away would be the best plan, yet he was rather waiting for someone here.

‘Did his grandmother give him a heads-up beforehand? Or did he lure us from the start?’

If she was an old woman who would condone even murder for the sake of her grandson, it was a fully possible scenario.
However, there was another, more goosebump-inducing assumption.
Nam Da-reum narrowed his eyes and looked at Han Jae-soo.

‘If he received 500 million won as the price for killing Prosecutor Go Kang-hyun, then there must be a huge sum of money placed on the price of my life, which has survived, as well.’

Nam Da-reum’s fingertips went ice-cold.

‘There is only one reason Han Jae-soo appeared here. Han Jae-soo’s target is me. But why?’

As if enjoying Da-reum’s fear, Han Jae-soo put on a fishy smile and opened his mouth.

“Why are you rolling your brain so hard. Being lucky once is enough.”

At that moment.
Regardless of Da-reum’s will, his Left Eye opened on its own.
His left pupil burned hotly as if it were burned.
Black smoke that bloomed from his toes wrapped around Han Jae-soo’s body like chains in an instant.
Soon, letters as red as fresh blood were branded onto his forehead.

[Murder]

The murder charge was something he had already expected, so he wasn’t greatly surprised.
However, the truth the Left Eye showed didn’t stop there.
Below Prosecutor Go Kang-hyun’s name, the names of unidentified victims began to line up endlessly like a receipt.
If Da-reum had died that day, his name too would have been miserably engraved somewhere on that list.
It was then.

Clang.
Han Jae-soo’s right hand appeared from the darkness.
The sharpened short sword reflected the faint light and made a bloody metallic sound.
Drops of blood that hadn’t yet cooled gathered at the tip of the blade and fell to the floor with a thud.
And in his left hand, he was holding the bundle of keys for the rooftop storage room that the gosiwon boss had gone to fetch.

‘Did he stab the boss and come up?’

His insides sank coldly.
The situation was heading towards the worst.
Da-reum rapidly ran a few simulations in his head.

‘What about running down to the 1st floor? Inspector Jang Joo-young and Lieutenant Jin Pil-seong are still on the lower floor. The distance is too far to ask for help from this spot right now.’

Da-reum instinctively clutched the mobile phone in his pocket.
Then, a voice was heard from the darkness.

“Why, are you going to report it or something? For someone who’s the top scorer of the bar exam, your situational judgment is awfully slow. Which do you think is faster, the police coming all the way up here, or me slitting your throat and disappearing.”

Han Jae-soo sneered and closed the distance.
Da-reum didn’t take his eyes off him, and pressed the call button as if making his final gamble.
Naturally, the recipient was set.
The dial tone didn’t even ring fully once.

-Yes. Speak.

Ma Sang-hyun was calm, as if he had been waiting.
Da-reum breathed heavily as breath filled up to his chin and shouted.

“Forced erasure, is it possible.”

He didn’t know exactly what that meant.
But it was certain that it was the only key that could end this hell right now.
The returning answer was simple.

-Of course.

Click.
The call was disconnected in a flash.
Even in that moment, Nam Da-reum asked himself.

‘What the hell am I doing right now?’

However, that question didn’t last long.
Before he could even ponder, a bizarre phenomenon began.

Sssssssss-

An unidentified sound of wind was heard in the enclosed hallway.
It was a vibration too constant and chilly to be a simple airflow.
Da-reum instinctively raised his head.
A space at the entrance of the stairs, next to the rooftop iron door, began to split into a streak of light as if sliced by a sharp blade.
It was as if someone were drawing a line with white chalk in the darkness.

“What is that.”

Even Han Jae-soo stopped in his tracks, seemingly flustered. The fingertips of his hand holding the knife trembled slightly.
Da-reum already knew who the entity walking out from the crevice of that light would be.
His heart beat erratically, as if it would tear through his ribs.
At that moment, the space tore completely and a blinding radiance exploded.

Ziiiing-

His vision flashed intensely once, as if day and night had reversed.
And from between that gap, a man in a suit revealed himself like a ghost.
His silhouette, walking out leaving behind the wavering fragments of light, emitted a commanding presence that was hard to believe belonged to a human.
Nam Da-reum recognized him at once.

‘Lawyer Ma Sang-hyun…’

But it wasn’t the image of the sly lawyer Da-reum knew.
Tearing through space and appearing, he was like a Grim Reaper who had come to execute death.
Step. Step.
The sound of his feet hitting the ground plunged intact into his ears.
Ma Sang-hyun sharply raised his eyes without a word.
At the end of his gaze was Han Jae-soo.
Every time he took a step, the surrounding air wavered as if screaming.
It felt as if even the air couldn’t handle his presence and was being pushed back.
Han Jae-soo stepped back and let out a voice.

“What the…”

However, Ma Sang-hyun didn’t answer Han Jae-soo’s question.
He just very slowly delivered only the words he had to say to him.

“Born April 28, 1985. Han Jae-soo.”

Like a judge from hell.

“Upon the request of the Executor of Unpunished Crimes, forced erasure is executed.”

No sooner had the words ended than Ma Sang-hyun rushed in like lightning.
It was a speed that couldn’t be followed by human eyes.
Bang! Along with a roaring sound, Han Jae-soo’s body broke through the rooftop iron door and was violently thrown toward the outer railing.
The movement was faster than sound, to the point that the impact sound was heard a beat late.
Only then did Nam Da-reum perfectly understand the meaning of ‘forced erasure’.
To erase an evildoer who cannot be condemned by the laws of the living from the world with the authority of King Yama.
It wasn’t salvation, but an execution.
Outside the rooftop, a drizzling rain was falling.
Ma Sang-hyun grabbed the nape of Han Jae-soo’s neck with one hand and dragged him to the edge of the railing.
Han Jae-soo’s gestures, screaming and resisting, were as powerless as a paper boat standing before a massive wave.
If one were to erase Ma Sang-hyun’s figure, it would look exactly as if Han Jae-soo were stepping backward toward the railing himself.

“Urgh… Grgh… Ugh… Let go of this…!!”

More than half of Han Jae-soo’s body went out over the railing.
Han Jae-soo gripped the railing tightly with both hands so as not to fall.
However, Ma Sang-hyun’s arm didn’t even waver.
Ma Sang-hyun checked his wristwatch with an expressionless face, without a single strand of hair out of place even in the rain. Then, he looked down at Han Jae-soo and casually released the strength in his grip.
Thud.
Han Jae-soo’s body lightly bounced off into the darkness beyond the railing.
Craaaash!!!!
A gruesome roaring sound rode up the gosiwon building.
The dull sound of flesh and bones hitting the asphalt was transmitted chillingly all the way to the emergency stairs.
Ma Sang-hyun swept his hair back and checked the watch on his wrist.
And he spoke calmly.

“Lawyer Nam Da-reum, do not come up this way. There’s a CCTV on the rooftop. If you happen to be caught on it, you’ll be put on the suspect list, making it difficult for our side to clean up the aftermath. This case will be closed as Han Jae-soo’s suicide by jumping.”

He slightly bowed his head in the rain and added.

“And go down to the 1st floor quickly. If you don’t want to create any more innocent victims, you’ll have to help Inspector Jang Joo-young. Well then, I’ll go finish the rest of my work.”

No sooner had his words ended than the thin line of light cleaved through the air once again.
And Ma Sang-hyun disappeared into it like smoke.
The time it took for all this surreal tragedy to unfold was barely over 10 minutes.
Nam Da-reum shook his head from side to side a couple of times to regain his senses.

‘Get a grip. Nam Da-reum. You even see crimes with your Left Eye, something like this isn’t a big deal.’

He spurred himself on and moved his body.
He almost ran down the stairs.
When he arrived at the 1st-floor lobby, the scene that unfolded before his eyes was gruesome.
The floor was already soaked with the gosiwon boss’s red blood.
Inspector Jang Joo-young was kneeling, desperately applying pressure to the boss’s wound.

“Boss! Open your eyes! Boss!!! Get a hold of yourself!”

A faint moan leaked from the boss’s mouth.
His face had already turned completely white.
From behind Nam Da-reum, Jin Pil-seong also ran out belatedly.

“Inspector! What is going on! Why is the boss like this!”
“Pil-seong! Call 119! Request backup immediately!”

Jang Joo-young looked up at Da-reum with blood-covered hands. His pupils were shaking severely with shock and confusion.

“Lawyer Nam!!!”

Even amidst his heavy breathing, his voice was trembling.

“Just now, from above… I think a person fell! By any chance, Lawyer Nam, did you see anything up there?”

Nam Da-reum felt as if his heart had stopped momentarily.
In a fleeting moment, tens of thousands of thoughts flashed through his head. He couldn’t speak of Ma Sang-hyun.
The moment he mentioned torn space and forced erasure, it was obvious he would be treated as a madman himself.
Da-reum slowly shook his head from side to side.

“…I couldn’t see anything. The stairs were too dark.”
“Understood. I’ll check on that.”

Jang Joo-young nodded with difficulty and focused on stopping the bleeding. Meanwhile, Jin Pil-seong, who had gone outside, returned soaking wet and pale as a ghost.

“Inspector!!! They said an ambulance nearby can come in right away! Backup from the station is coming too!”

At that sound, Jang Joo-young gritted his teeth and called out to Jin Pil-seong.

“Pil-seong!”
“Yes! Inspector!”
“Go around the corner of the building and check. I think I heard something shattering, go check that first!!”

Jin Pil-seong flinched for a moment, but soon nodded.

“Yes! I will go right now!!!”

He cut through the rain and ran to the side of the alley.
Meanwhile, Nam Da-reum grabbed a few dry towels from inside the counter and approached Inspector Jang Joo-young.

“Inspector. Here.”

Jang Joo-young hurriedly received the towels and applied pressure to the abdomen.
He asked Nam Da-reum the same question once again.

“Did you really not see anything? It seems that Han Jae-soo punk stabbed the boss and went up the stairs…”

Before he could even finish his sentence, the sound of Jin Pil-seong’s footsteps coming around the alley was heard.
His face was completely pale.

“Inspector…! I checked, and…”

Jin Pil-seong swallowed hard and spat out his last words.

“…The person who fell! It’s Han Jae-soo!!!”