486 - The Outcast Writer of a Martial Arts Visual Novel

"Je Gal So Jo. You're here. I'm sorry for asking you to hurry." Despite the urgency of my call, it didn't take long for her to reach the mansion. "It's fine. I need to help since Gang Gong Ja Nim is fighting alone." Her reassuring smile eased the tension I'd been feeling. "Hey, I'm disappointed, I'm here too." "Ah...! When did you get here?! I'm sorry! I didn't mean to! Ugh, what a slip of the tongue!" As Jeon Gil San teasingly stuck out his head, she bowed repeatedly in apology. No need for her to feel sorry; technically, I'm doing the work of two people. "Why get so downcast over something like that? Anyway, why did you call for her so suddenly?" Jeon Gil San chuckled and looked at me curiously. "Because it's not a suicide but a murder case." "What?!" "What? Are you sure?" At my casual remark, they both stared at me with wide eyes. "Yes, I'm sure. I've found evidence." "Evidence? You can really conduct an investigation? I thought you were just pretending to try." Gesturing to the body behind me, Jeon Gil San questioningly looked at me, disbelief in his eyes. "I have basic knowledge." "Since when did forensic investigation become basic?" "I was friends with Jeon Gil, the most renowned detectives across Joseon." We've known each other for over twenty years, since elementary school. "Heh, Gang Gong Ja Nim was called 'Seolok Heomju' because he followed the famous detectives to dangerous places to record their actions and words." Her memory is impressive. I can't believe she remembered even my joking remarks. Je Gal So Jo added more explanation with a sense of pride. "No wonder you're called a famous detective! You even have a nickname." "It's not really a nickname. It was just something we joked about." I've loved detective stories since I was a child. As a kid, I was so terrified of the bodies in comic books that I'd return borrowed ones the same day, only to borrow the next volume the following day out of curiosity. Even after graduating from university and becoming both a working professional and a web novel writer, I still enjoyed reading mystery novels, even if I didn't write them myself. "So what's the evidence that Yang Baek Hyung Nim was murdered?" "There are many points to address.... Je Gal So Jo, could you please examine the body? There might be something I've missed." "Yes, I'll take a look." First, it's more crucial to find evidence than just talk about it. As I carefully pulled back the cloth covering the body, she began examining it without hesitation. I showed it slowly, worried she might be startled, but as expected, she truly is someone from a martial arts family. "Please pay particular attention to the abdomen. It's important." "Why the abdomen?" Just wait a second. While she's looking, I have nothing else to do. I'll explain now. I began an explanation that didn't require anesthetic darts or risk grandfatherly wrath, but was somewhat straightforward. "Look at the abdomen she's examining. It's bulging like a balloon even though the body's thin, like an alien ready to burst out. And yet, it supposedly drowned." The abdomen of Ma Yang Baek's corpse protruded unnaturally, giving it a pregnant appearance. "As a drowning victim, they might have swallowed a lot of water. Is that strange?" Yes, you'd think they'd naturally swallow water. But here's the thing. "When would they swallow it?" That's a misconception. "What?" "Imagine you fell into water. When do you think you'd start swallowing it as you drown?" "The moment I fall, I'd take a gulp." "Then, instinctively, you'd hold your breath. After that?" "You'd eventually inhale after holding your breath, right? Oh?!" Finally realized something was off? I thumped my chest to demonstrate, helping Jeon Gil San grasp the concept easily. "Exactly. A drowning person doesn't drink enough for their belly to bloat. Water enters the lungs, the chest area, when breathing." "Wow." "Amazing..." Not even close to finished, but being admired this much is a bit overwhelming. "But what about Oh Jak In? He said the evidence points definitively to drowning." I nodded and continued my explanation. "As soon as decomposition starts in a drowning victim, the intestines begin to decay, concentrating decay in the abdomen, leading to bloating. That's usually why drowning victims have swollen bellies." "So, isn't Oh Jak In right?" "Look at the body. After just a day or two in water, a drowning victim's skin turns white and swollen. Yet, Ma Yang Baek's skin is pristine, suggesting death and discovery happened close in time. So such abdominal bloating wouldn't occur." A revolving trope in detective novels is estimating the time of death. Oh Jak In's conclusion did match in theory but neglected the time-based changes. "Wait a moment. Then what does it mean?" "Right, it's not water that's causing it. The abdomen swelled like a balloon before decomposition began. Doesn't that seem odd?" "So then..." "The cause of death seemed like drowning, but there are signs that it wasn't. So, what's there in the belly area?" I had to pause my deduction about the abdominal swelling. To know more, a full autopsy was necessary. However, cutting open a body was a taboo in this world. Since I'm no forensic pathologist, there was no reason to, nor should I even attempt it. A more skilled expert was needed to gather evidence. Someone like a person educated in martial arts and expertise from a prestigious family. "Gang Gong Ja Nim, I found a wound!" That person would be Je Gal So Jo. --- "It pierced through from the Mingmen Point to the navel in one blow." "Mingmen Point? Do you mean the Chiksimheol, the death point near the back of the waist?" The point opposite the navel—being stabbed there disrupts energy and damages both spine and organs. But where was this wound? "Yes. Look here, if you unfold the navel." With a cautious touch, Je Gal So Jo spread the navel to reveal a clear puncture. "That's how the water got in." Lacking experience in actual forensic work, I hadn’t thought to inspect inside the navel. "What? How's this all happening?" "Je Gal So Jo, is it possible for a martial artist to target the Mingmen Point and kill someone without leaving traces?" "Only if they are highly skilled or have received specialized training." "A martial artist, huh..." The world is full of people who are unnecessarily professional in assassination techniques. If someone learns martial arts, they should train their mind and body, not go around wielding weapons randomly. That's why the world is like this. With her assistance, I examined the back of the corpse and noticed a tiny hole I hadn't detected earlier. "Shouldn't we inform Aunt Nan Ok right away?" Jeon Gil San suggested, gesturing towards the door after seeing the wound. "We don't know who the culprit is. If we rush there now, everyone in the mansion will know. I wouldn't have informed only those I trust the most without good reason." For now, it's best that only our hastily-formed martial arts detective group, who are immediately cleared from suspicion, knows. I explained my reasoning, and Jeon Gil San propped up his chin, nodding in agreement. "I see... So that's why you called me first, someone you trust the most." "..." What is this guy saying? "Why? You said you trust me. There was a reason for my declaration of support, you know." It's true, but why do I want to punch him? Watching him smugly pat his chest was irksome. I snorted, speechless. I glanced over to see Je Gal So Jo's lips adorably pursed. Hm? She met my gaze and quickly furrowed her brows, lowering her head. "Bu-but Gang Gong Ja Nim called me first." Her voice was filled with cute disgruntlement. "What?" "Haha, indeed." She took a jab on my behalf. I gave her a thumbs up, and she beamed widely in response. --- "A person missing for a month showed up as a corpse today. So, who could be the killer?" We had a brief moment of levity before returning to our halted deductions. "Uh? Some mysterious martial arts master?" "Sigh..." Is that even a valid answer? "It was just a joke, just a joke!" Realizing the embarrassment in his answer, Jeon Gil San quickly backtracked. "If the culprit targeted the victim, that's serious." Seeing Je Gal So Jo realize the gravity of the situation, she spoke to me with a considerably more serious tone. "Indeed. It's a worst-case scenario." "The two of you, keep your private chatter for when you're holding hands. Come on, explain it in detail—why is it the worst?" "The span of time since the victim's death expands the range of suspects. It's the worst of the worst." "The worst of the worst?" "If we found a month-old body of someone who disappeared a month ago, we'd suspect acquaintances. But Ma Yang Baek has been dead for less than half a day, although he disappeared a month ago." A missing person, emerging as a corpse in the lake. It's always been a common occurrence, yet it signifies that even criminals know it's a challenging case for detectives to handle. "So you mean there's no clue as to when, where, or who killed him?" It's not as if locked-room mysteries happen for no reason in detective stories. At least a culprit will be present among them. In this case, with a month as a factor, it was shifting from the mystery genre to a more forensic genre. "To uncover the culprit, we should rush to the authorities and mobilize the officers, but even that poses a problem." "Why?" "Because there are no witnesses." I nodded at Je Gal So Jo's interjection and added more details. "The officers didn't take the death of the noble family's eldest son lightly. Even so, there were no witnesses. No one saw him go to the lake, or flailing in it." "Nobody saw him being stabbed either." "...." Jeon Gil San's expression hardened as he realized just how complicated the case truly was. "Gang Gong Ja Nim struggled to uncover the deception crafted by the perpetrator, but now we're in a fog." Je Gal So Jo muttered with a sense of frustration. "We need to calmly approach the truth." "Do you have a way?" To Jeon Gil San's question, I nodded. "How?" Extracting information from the corpse falls under the domain of knowledge. Finding the culprit falls under intuition. What I know is based on knowledge. I can't find the culprit with the intuition of a great detective. Is this where things stall? Fortunately, I know my own way to think and deduce. "What is clear is that it's a highly planned murder." "Planned murder?" "We may not know who the perpetrator is or their motive, but the intent is clear. They targeted the death point to kill in one strike, and used water to disguise it as an accident. The fact that no one witnessed it implies that they carefully avoided detection. It's a murder with motive, far from being impulsive." I realized one more thing but decided to hold off on further deductions for the moment. "Aunt would faint if she found out..." "Would it be best to investigate starting with potential grudges?" "For now, let's get moving." I've thought it all through. Now is the time to act. "Where are you going?" "I've thought of someone we need to question immediately." "What?! You suspect someone in the mansion? That servant from earlier?" "The culprit is not in here." "Then?" The perpetrator isn't within this mansion. Not yet, anyway—I haven't even guessed who they might be. But I have pinpointed a definite target for questioning. "The examiner, Oh Jak In." It's someone who may very well be a suspect. "Why meet with Oh Jak In suddenly?" It's because this doesn't sit right with me. "Would Oh Jak In have ruled it a drowning unknowingly? Or did he know and rule it that way?" If I could perceive it wasn't a drowning, could Oh Jak In, who examined bodies so frequently, truly have missed it? "What?" "In planned crimes, the chances of it being a solo act are slim." "Ack?!" "What?!" "Let's go. To the authorities." To unravel the doubts.