"…Here it is."
Hayul stared down the empty back alley.
No light, no presence—she could barely even see in front of her. A world apart from the dazzling city skyline that stung her eyes in the distance. Yet she had walked here of her own accord, and now doubt crept in.
"Why is there no one here? This place feels off. …What the hell?"
This was definitely the right spot.
Her superiors had yanked back her hard-earned vacation, claiming an urgent case had come up. They’d practically shoved her out the door, only to call her back now.
She’d been furious—first they force her to take time off, then drag her back in. But she’d swallowed her anger and come, and now this?
No one in sight. Not even a single person to explain what was going on.
…But her instincts were screaming. Something was here.
"Sssip… Haaa…"
To steady her nerves, she pulled a cigarette from her pocket and lit it.
After countless battles against superhuman criminals, she knew the drill: if a bad feeling hit out of nowhere, she needed to be ready. Even if she couldn’t pinpoint the threat, her subconscious had picked up on something from past experience.
"A gut feeling this strong, at a location the higher-ups sent me to… What the hell is going on…"
"Guess you *are* a detective, huh? Sharp instincts. Reminds me of Yu Siwoo."
"?!"
There was *no one* here!
Hayul’s legs tensed, ready to bolt at the sound of the voice. Someone had spoken to her in this empty alley with no warning. This was *way* too suspicious.
She had to restrain them, find out what was—
"Ah-ah, don’t move. One more step… and you die?"
"…Shit."
Cold sweat trickled down her spine.
Through the haze of her cigarette smoke, she saw them—thin threads, stretching out around her like a web.
To anyone else, they’d look like ordinary strings. But she knew better. If she moved, she *would* die.
She’d seen these threads before. She’d stared at them for hours before her vacation. There was no way she’d forget.
These were Arachne’s threads.
Damn it. If only she’d had more time!
Then these flimsy things wouldn’t even graze her. But right now, if she so much as twitched, her neck would snap in an instant.
…This was it. She was done for.
"…I thought Arachne only killed villains? Hah. That’s why villains are—when things don’t go their way, they’ll do *anything*…"
Had she pissed someone off?
She’d known chasing Arachne was dangerous, but she never expected retaliation *after* she’d stopped the pursuit.
Shit. Was this how she died? Claire’s nagging voice suddenly echoed in her mind.
*"Stop doing reckless shit!"* she’d yelled at her every damn day.
Hayul had brushed it off—*Don’t worry, it won’t happen again*—but Claire had been terrified of losing another comrade, another friend.
…She was going to cry again. Shit. She’d promised herself she wouldn’t.
"Hello, Detective. Long time no see?"
*Tap. Tap.*
In the suffocating silence of the empty alley, the footsteps echoed unnaturally loud. Then, from the darkness, a figure emerged—almost *expected*, in a way.
"…So it *was* you, Arte Isis. You’re the culprit."
The woman Hayul had never stopped suspecting stepped forward, her eerie eyes slightly open as she approached. Her smile, paired with those unsettling eyes, felt like a mockery.
"It was very inconvenient, Inspector. You kept bothering me even though I had an alibi."
"···."
"Have you ever thought about what I might do to you?"
It’s obvious without even looking.
Wanting to remove an annoying obstacle is a basic human instinct—almost a natural response.
When it comes to people, most either avoid them, try to correct them, or endure them···.
But villains are different.
Why bother with complicated solutions when you can just get rid of them?
"You’d kill me. Damn it."
"No, I’ll keep you alive."
"What?"
What the hell is she talking about?
···She’s not going to kill me? Why?
"There’s a good reason. I don’t intend to kill you."
"···Then why did you attack me?"
"Oh, attack? Would you call it subduing instead? You’re not even injured."
Her blunt tone was infuriating.
In the end, she’s a villain too. She’s keeping me alive for now, but only because it serves some plan of hers.
Being at the mercy of a villain for my life made my mood sink to the bottom.
"···Well, it’s nothing major. I just wanted to make you an offer."
"An offer?"
"Yes, an offer. It’s not difficult."
Whoosh.
In an instant, the threads floating around me coiled around my body and forcibly pulled me to my feet.
"?!"
"Ah, you shouldn’t move. I’m not used to this yet—if I mess up, your muscles might tear."
If you don’t want to end up in the hospital, you’d better stay still.
Hearing Arte say that, all the fight drained out of me.
Resistance was meaningless. In this situation, fighting back would only lead to pain or worse.
I’d either die or suffer so much I’d wish I had.
"What kind of offer?"
"···It’s not difficult. Now, come with me."
What happened next was something I didn’t even want to think about.
A horrifying sensation.
It was as if my body wasn’t my own. Like I was walking on clouds in a dream.
Siwoo realized just how unpleasant it was to have his entire body controlled by someone else.
He felt like a puppet bound by the Puppeteer’s threads.
Or rather, wasn’t that exactly what he was? He really was being dragged around by threads against his will.
It was a cruel twist of fate that he had to entrust his life—not to a trusted comrade, but to a villain.
"Here we are. This is the place."
"Where is this?"
"The outskirts of the Weaver Menace’s hideout. Half of their remaining remnants are here."
"···!"
Siwoo didn’t know what she was planning, but he could easily imagine what would happen here.
Suddenly, the horrific scene from the mountain lodge—the one that had led him to take on the Arachne case in the first place—flashed through his mind.
"Now, look over there. Those are the villains."
"···Villains? What are they doing right now?"
"What do you think they’re doing? You’ll see for yourself."
What the hell was she trying to show him?
It was too dark to see clearly, so he squinted—only to realize what was happening once his eyes adjusted to the darkness.
A disgusting act was unfolding before him.
"Why are you showing me this? I’ve already seen things like this countless times. If you were trying to shock me···."
"No, it’s not about shock. ···If you were in their position, what would you do?"
"What?"
"If you were them, what would you do?"
"That’s a strange question. Obviously, I’d arrest them···."
"And after you arrest them?"
Suddenly.
My eyes, which had been forced to witness the disgusting scene, now captured Arte’s ominous gaze as it obscured the crime scene.
As if whispering like a demon, she murmured to me.
"If you arrest them, they’ll go to prison."
"Of course. If you commit a crime, you have to pay the price."
"Are the victims satisfied?"
"What?"
"The victims who were harmed by the villains. What do they and their families say?"
"Th-they…"
Her question made me hear the countless pleas of the victims I had met over the years.
Not just one or two. Every single one of them had begged me.
Why is the sentence so light? Why are they released on bail?
Why, why, why, why.
The voices of countless victims echoed in my ears.
"Don’t you have someone too? A colleague or a loved one who was badly hurt by villains… or even killed?"
"H-how do you—!"
"If you’ve been an investigator for over ten years, it’s only natural. Right? What is that villain who hurt your loved one doing now?"
"They’re serving their sentence. Why are you—!"
"Ah. I see. …Really?"
"What are you trying to say?!"
"Doesn’t that person look familiar?"
I was about to shout at Arte, but I had to close my mouth.
…The face of that villain, toying with the already lifeless victim, was familiar.
"N-no way…"
"Serving their sentence? Ahaha. Then who is that over there?"
"Th-that can’t be. It’s impossible! That villain killed an Association investigator! A criminal who murdered a superhuman!"
"You know as well as I do that villains can return to society."
"…!"
I knew.
That after surviving the brutal front lines and serving a certain period, they could reintegrate into society.
But… no way. No way it’s really—!
"The criminal who killed your former colleague is committing crimes again. This time, as part of a much larger criminal organization."
"…"
"Ah, but what can you do? Even if villains are caught, if they’re lucky, they can return to society again. If they survived once, the second time will be even easier."
"…"
"The poor victims will only keep increasing, and the citizens’ suffering will reach the heavens!"
The horrifying scene before my eyes overlapped with the horrifying memories burned into my mind.
The victims were different. But the perpetrators were the same.
A monster who had killed someone and laughed about it was back out in society, repeating the same atrocities.
"…What the hell are you trying to say?"
"Ahaha, ahahaha! Have you finally decided to listen?"
"Speak! Now! What do you want to say?!"
Arte, who had been laughing so loudly that even the distant villains might have heard, suddenly stopped and spoke to me.
"Investigator Ha Yul."
"…"
"I have an offer you can’t refuse."
The threads slowly unraveled.
Even as the threads around my arms and legs loosened, allowing me to escape, I stood frozen in place like a nail driven into the ground.
Even as the threads around my neck, forcing me to look at the horrifying scene, unraveled, I still couldn’t look away.
"Arachne wants you."
"…You, you want *me*?"
"Won’t you help us clean up society’s trash?"