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Shinichi Kudō didn't know where to start.
The old man in front of him—Seiichirō—looked unusually calm.
Did he not realize how serious this case was?
Shinichi tried probing him.
"Old man, aren't you afraid of dying? Someone's trying to kill you."
"Mm. I know."
Seiichirō glanced at the sudden change in Shinichi's expression and seemed genuinely impressed by his sharpness.
"That's not a person, Kudō…"
After a short pause, the old man added something strange:
"It's not human."
Narrowing his eyes slightly, he sat upright, delivering the little information he knew.
Not human? What's that supposed to mean?
"I don't know. Honestly, I don't understand it much more than you do. It killed Inoue, and now it wants me dead."
"It?"
"What is it?"
Shinichi frowned. This was getting annoyingly cryptic. He hated riddles.
But Seiichirō just smiled at the young detective's stubborn focus on the truth.
"Let me tell you a story, Kudō."
He personally poured tea for both Shinichi and Takagi, leaving them exchanging puzzled looks before settling in to listen.
A long, long time ago…
A young man, backed by family wealth, started a company.
Back then, starting a company meant spilling blood.
And sure enough, the young man spilled plenty—his own and other people's.
It was crime. But no one could ever find evidence.
The young man grew bolder.
He gathered two trusted lieutenants.
They took care of his dirty work for years, until the young man aged—no longer strong, but with a family of his own.
The lieutenants changed too—from loyal to greedy.
One day, something… found one of them.
It told him:
"If you want to live, you must pass this cursed thing to someone else."
The frightened lieutenant became ecstatic—he could escape death.
Without hesitation, he decided to dump the curse onto his old boss.
But someone found out—
the other lieutenant.
By a twist of fate, the second lieutenant ended up with the curse instead. And he learned something the first one never knew:
The curse could be passed on…
but to do so, the new host had to kill the previous host first.
So the first lieutenant died—
killed by the second, along with the thing he'd bargained with.
But it had lied.
It—or they—were blind, mad, and irrational.
Even though the second lieutenant passed the curse onto the old boss, he still suffered under it himself.
And maybe… the next moment… would be his last.
"Yeesh…"
Takagi rubbed his arms, goosebumps running all over him.
"What is this, some creepy bedtime story…?"
Outside the window, the sky had darkened. Night had fallen.
Thankfully, Tokyo was a city that never slept, and its neon lights gave Takagi a small sense of comfort.
Shinichi, however, wasn't scared—his sharp eyes stayed locked on Seiichirō.
"The young man you mentioned… that's you, isn't it?"
Seiichirō only smiled, saying nothing, but dropped a bombshell instead:
"Kudō, I'm going to die soon."
Impossible.
Shinichi knew this man—head of a major corporation, with family and influence. No reason for him to self-destruct.
If it wasn't suicide, who would dare assassinate such a powerful figure?
"Don't doubt it. If I die, Kawaguchi Wataru will also die. Only then will our families survive."
"Who!? Who wants you both dead?!"
Shinichi felt the law itself was being spat on. He was right here—hell, the Tokyo Metropolitan Police were right here—
Who would be crazy enough to do this?
"If possible, let us check your security—"
"No need."
There was disappointment in the old man's eyes.
Nobody wants to die—not even him.
But this so-called savior from the police clearly hadn't grasped what this curse really was.
In that case…
Seiichirō's lips curled into a strange smile.
After living most of his life, he'd only now realized… there really were things in this world you couldn't explain.
"Kudō, go look for it. The curse is real. If you're scared, go back to your normal life."
His words were low, almost like a final will.
With the silence of night as the backdrop, an eerie chill crept in.
Fear seeped in, uninvited.
Even Shinichi, convinced this was just someone using superstition as a cover for murder, couldn't keep doubt from his face.
No way…
His dad had one foot in Japan's political elite—if such curses existed, there's no way he wouldn't know…
The ringtone shattered the tense atmosphere.
Takagi jumped.
It was a call from Megure Jūzō.
He hurried to answer, but Jūzō's voice roared through the line, furious and panicked:
"Dead! Kawaguchi Wataru is dead! You must protect Seiichirō!"
A cold shiver ran down Takagi's spine.
Shinichi spun toward Seiichirō—who was smiling calmly.
His heart pounded uncontrollably. A crawling dread ran up from his tailbone to his skull.
"You…"
"Kudō, my time is up. Remember what I said—Kudō, the curse… the curse is—"
Seiichirō's words cut off.
BANG!!
The sound of flesh exploding ripped through the air.
Blood sprayed everywhere.
Shinichi's vision blurred—he and Takagi were drenched in warm droplets.
No…
No way…
How could this happen?!
Shinichi shot to his feet.
This was different from a murder scene—it wasn't just gruesome, it was terrifying in a way he couldn't rationalize.
A powerful corporate leader—faking something like this? For what?
His scalp tingled. Takagi was even worse off—completely frozen in shock.
As a cop, Takagi had seen plenty of killings. But things that couldn't be explained… those deserved respect—and fear.
After all, Japan was full of religions and superstitions.
Shinichi clenched his fists, forcing himself to calm down.
His eyes dropped to what was left of the old man's body.
This was trouble. Big trouble.
He knelt to inspect the scene—no smell of gunpowder, no sign of explosives.
Then how…?
"Curse."
The old man's deep voice seemed to echo in his ears.
Shinichi wiped his face, feeling a cold sweat.
Could it be… that these otherworldly things—stuff he'd only ever seen in movies—were real?
"....."