IBP Prologue Part 3

The place he took me was an interrogation room on the sixth basement floor. While it was called an interrogation room, it was mostly indistinguishable from a detention center.

College students caught for anti-establishment activities and rebel soldiers who engaged in armed resistance were still crammed one by one into the small rooms.

Herod took me to one of the few actual interrogation rooms.

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There were two doors.

The left one led to the interrogation room where the suspect questioning took place. The right one led to a dark room where you could observe the process through a magic mirror. Herod opened the right door.

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The inside was dark, and the fluorescent lights from the silvery-white interrogation room beyond the magic mirror were the only source of light.

The exhausted investigators glanced this way but only gave Superintendent Herod a nod before returning their gaze forward.

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Entering behind him, I looked beyond the magic mirror and inwardly clicked my tongue. I wasn’t particularly surprised, as I had expected it.

The investigation of the island victim was assigned to the team leader of Team 2, which I belonged to. The problem was that a massive drug case had broken out on the same day. A new hallucinogen called Seed Lux… anyway.

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Blinded by the prospect of results, the team leader, instead of making the rational and reasonable choice to “give up on one,” chose to “exploit a competent subordinate.”

The kind of subordinate who wouldn’t listen to threats for unreasonable tasks, but would readily take on the work if offered compensation to offset that unreasonableness.

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‘It’s not a bad thing, and it’s part of an investigator’s job anyway.’

The team leader handed me the haphazardly written document (which was little more than a disorganized record of information), and I organized it into a proper report and submitted it to the higher-ups under the team leader’s name.

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So, even when Superintendent Herod said, “I’ve read your report. It was excellent,” I was surprised but not overly worried.

There was no evidence anyway. I was just a little annoyed that things seemed to be getting troublesome.

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Suppressing a sigh, I stared at the hot potato beyond the magic mirror.

The young man, dressed in ill-fitting baggy pants and a t-shirt, had his head slightly bowed and his eyes downcast. He was expressionless and had an overall calm demeanor.

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“Isn’t this closer to a suspect interrogation environment than a victim one?”

Herod brushed off the question with his characteristic languid smile. Does he even realize that he exudes a strangely decadent aura whenever he does that?

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‘Of course he does.’

He wasn’t just aware of his charm; he knew how to use it strategically.

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A man who knew all too well how his gestures, his smiles, affected others. That’s why even the most casual of his actions often felt… suggestive. It was the same now. Herod, his upper body elegantly bowed, pressed the microphone button.

“C-553.”

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What code is that all of a sudden?

…As soon as I thought that, the young man abruptly lifted his head. He looked at the speaker, then his gaze settled on the mirror-like magic mirror.

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“I’ve brought the person you requested. I’ll send them in now, so as promised, you must provide detailed information about the island.”

The microphone turned off. Before I could ask what that was all about, Herod shoved a pad at me. I was sure a record form would appear when I turned on the black screen.

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“Superintendent. I need an explanation.”

“Unidentified. Age unknown. Distinguishing feature is a tattoo on the right clavicle.”

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The superintendent tapped the pad he had pushed on me, turning on the screen. Long, slender fingers lightly manipulated the screen, displaying a picture.

“Venetum?”

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“It starts with a V, but the correct pronunciation is Venetus. It means ‘blue’ in Latin. Don’t you have a tattoo in a similar location? Left clavicle. It’s also Latin, isn’t it?”

How did he know that?

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I felt momentarily dizzy, but this wasn’t the time to be dazed.

“…As you know, Superintendent, half of the people in their twenties living in Koranest have tattoos on their clavicles.”

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“That’s what I’m saying. Whether by appearance or tattoo, he’s from here and in his twenties. That’s all the information we can glean from that young man.”

I decided not to berate myself for panicking in case I got entangled in this. The handsome, youngest superintendent in front of me always wore a gentle expression and a friendly smile, but there was still something about him that was intimidating. Herod turned off the pad screen and slid it towards me with his index finger.

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“That young man specifically asked for you. He said he wouldn’t say anything about the island unless it was you. I don’t know if you heard, but the SD card he presented contained videos of various illegal acts committed on the island. However, most of those filmed were victims who were forcibly taken to the island, and the guests or staff were often cut off or blurred. So, please soothe him and extract as much information as possible.”

“Excuse me? No, wait…”

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Before I could say anything, I was kicked out. Standing blankly in front of the closed door, I grasped the situation belatedly. I ran my hand through my hair. My head was pounding.

But I didn’t have the courage to open that door again. In the end, I opened the left door and went inside.

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“Hello. I’m Investigator Han Yunseo from Investigation Team 2.”

The young man didn’t react. He was extremely quiet and expressionless. I sat down with a cough, tapping on the pad and pretending not to observe him.

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Soft light brown hair, a gentle impression. Extremely handsome. Although hidden by baggy clothes, his body must be good… Are those… nipples?

I steadied my reeling mind. From that moment, an unpleasant, uncomfortable sensation pricked my spine. It wasn’t just because of the abnormally large nipples that his loose clothing couldn’t hide.

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‘He doesn’t seem human.’

He seemed like something else wearing human skin. He looked at me without moving a muscle, only his eyes shifting. His observing gaze was devoid of emotion. A chill ran down my spine.

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‘That’s exactly how it looked in the fast-forwarded psychopath interrogation videos.’

The fact that I didn’t jump when the young man suddenly spoke was entirely due to my training to maintain composure in the interrogation room.

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“You’re Investigator Han Yunseo.”

I stopped my aggressive tapping on the pad. It was strange. Didn’t they say he specifically asked for me? But the way he spoke suggested he was addressing a complete stranger.

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‘No, how did he even know me to ask for me in the first place?’

I swallowed hard. Keeping my head down towards the pad, I looked up at the young man. He was indeed a stranger. There’s no way I’d forget such a smooth-faced, handsome young man. As if reading my thoughts, he spoke.

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“I’m a ‘human invitation’ sent by the island’s owner.”

“Excuse me?”

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“He said, ‘It wouldn’t be fun if I sent it normally.’”

“…Excuse me?”

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Slide.

He stood up. I habitually assumed he would be restrained, but he wasn’t. Naturally. He was, after all, considered a victim.

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I let out a stupid, “Uh.” Overwhelmed by the atmosphere, I couldn’t move a finger. He walked around the desk without any hindrance and bent down towards me. A hazy voice, like smoke, drifted into my ears.

“Come to the island. He wants you, Investigator.”

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Hearing those words out loud should have been cheesy, but instead, it was chilling.

It was akin to the trivial despair of realizing it’s too late while tripping and falling.

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‘Island owner? There’s an owner? …Even if there is, why me all of a sudden?’

My mind froze. I blinked stupidly. The young man returned to his seat and sat down as if nothing had happened. As if the power had been cut off, he lowered his eyes obediently. Belatedly, I pressed him for answers.

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“What does that mean?”

“…..”

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“I asked you what that means!”

The young man remained expressionless, exercising his right to remain silent.

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Now I understood why the suspects sitting in this chair turned their heads towards the seemingly invisible magic mirror. It was an unconscious act born of frustration, anxiety, and impatience.

A pale, haggard man with thick glasses stared back at me. Reflected in the magic mirror, anyone would think I was the criminal suspect.

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Bam!

The door suddenly opened. Tense, I flinched and then blushed belatedly. Ignoring my reaction, Herod entered with a grin, grabbed my arm, and half-dragged me out.

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“Thank you for your cooperation. We’ll assign a new investigator. That person will help Mr. C-553.”

I briefly realized that the code was the young man’s name, then cold sweat trickled down my temples.

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‘Did he hear?…No. It was a whisper.’

Even if there were listening devices, he couldn’t have heard. He mustn’t have. I refuse to deal with any more complications. The assigned documents and reports were already stressful enough.

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“You left the pad behind. It’s fine. The new investigator will be going in now anyway.”

As soon as he finished speaking, an investigator from the dark room entered the interrogation room. A smooth, natural movement.

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