Monday morning. As soon as he arrived at the office, Senior Attorney Park Do-hyun handed him a file.
"New case. An assault case, but it's a little unusual."
Woo-joo took the file and opened it. The victim's name, age, and a summary of the incident. It took him three seconds to read.
"The victim is Awakened."
"Yeah. D-rank. Not affiliated with a guild—he's freelance. Apparently, he was beaten by another party member during a rift raid."
"A dispute between party members?"
"That's how it looks on the surface. But if the victim came to us, it probably wasn't simple assault. I've scheduled a meeting for this afternoon, so take a look."
Park Do-hyun left it at that and returned to his desk. Woo-joo began reading the file.
The victim was Jung Tae-ho, thirty-one. A D-rank Awakened. His ability type was sensory enhancement. He was the sort who made a living as a freelancer, making the rounds of minor rifts. On the day of the incident, he had joined a temporary party for a C-rank rift raid and been assaulted by one of the party members. According to the medical certificate, two fractured ribs and a torn ligament in his left shoulder.
When an Awakened person assaulted another Awakened person, the damage was greater than in an ordinary assault. The applicable statute also changed depending on whether an ability had been used. Woo-joo read through the case records carefully, organizing the issues.
After lunch, at two in the afternoon, he went to the interview room.
Jung Tae-ho came in.
His first impression was ordinary. Average build, average face. He wore a brace on his left shoulder, and his walk looked slightly uncomfortable. He grimaced faintly as he sat down. Probably because of his ribs.
"I'm Attorney Kang Woo-joo. You can speak freely."
"Yes. I'm Jung Tae-ho."
Woo-joo turned on the recorder and began asking questions. The circumstances on the day of the incident, the party's composition, and when and how the assault had occurred. Jung Tae-ho answered calmly. His speech was organized, and he wasn't emotional. He sounded like someone who had prepared in advance.
Woo-joo watched as he listened.
How often Jung Tae-ho's eyes moved toward the upper left. The subtle rhythm of his fingers tapping against his knee. The pattern of his voice dropping by half a tone on certain questions.
This man wasn't lying. But he wasn't telling them everything, either.
"The assault took place inside the dungeon, correct?"
"Yes. In the corridor right before the boss room."
"Did the assailant pick a fight with you first?"
"...Yes. Over loot distribution."
Jung Tae-ho's fingers stopped. For 0.3 seconds. Then they started tapping again. The rhythm had changed.
Woo-joo noticed.
It wasn't about loot distribution.
He was certain. It wasn't logic—it was instinct. This man's body was speaking. His mouth said "loot distribution," but his body was telling a different story.
"Mr. Jung."
Woo-joo set down his pen.
"It wasn't a dispute over loot distribution, was it?"
Jung Tae-ho's expression hardened.
"There was another reason the assailant really attacked you. And you know what it is."
Silence descended. The fluorescent light in the interview room flickered faintly.
Jung Tae-ho opened his mouth.
"...How did you know?"
"If you tell me, I may be able to help you."
Jung Tae-ho hesitated for a long time. Then he slowly began to speak.
"In that dungeon... I saw something strange."
"Something strange?"
"Something was carved into the wall deeper inside the boss room. It looked like writing, but I'd never seen shapes like it before. I have sensory enhancement, so I could see it more clearly than the others. I took a picture of it, but that person told me to delete it. When I refused, he hit me."
Woo-joo listened in silence.
"Why did he tell you to delete it?"
"I don't know. But he wasn't just another party member. I looked into it afterward and found out he belonged to Taegang Guild. He joined the party pretending to be a freelancer."
Taegang Guild.
The name from the news in Episode 1 came to mind. Korea's number one raid guild.
The pieces of the puzzle began falling into place in Woo-joo's mind. Someone from Taegang Guild had hidden his identity and joined a minor rift party. He had discovered something inside the dungeon and assaulted Jung Tae-ho after the latter witnessed it. Not simple assault, but an assault meant to cover something up.
"Do you still have the picture?"
"Yes. On my phone."
"Could you show it to me?"
Jung Tae-ho pulled out his phone and showed him the screen. A picture of the dungeon wall. Something had been carved into the dark stone. It was impossible to tell whether it was writing or a symbol.
Woo-joo looked at the picture.
At that moment.
Something moved inside his chest.
It wasn't his heart beating. This was deeper. Inside his bones, or somewhere even deeper than bone. Something writhed in an unnameable place.
He knew this symbol.
Woo-joo blinked and looked at the phone screen again. It was a symbol he had never seen before. Of course he had never seen it. There was no reason for a lawyer to know some ancient writing on a dungeon wall.
And yet he knew it.
He thought he knew it. No—he had seen it before. Where? When?
"Attorney Kang?"
Jung Tae-ho's voice brought Woo-joo back to himself.
"...Yes. Thank you."
Woo-joo didn't change his expression. He picked up his pen again and continued taking notes. Only he knew that his hand was trembling faintly.
The interview ended. After Jung Tae-ho left, Woo-joo sat alone in the empty interview room.
He reopened the picture of the symbol saved on his phone. He looked at it. Then looked again.
He didn't know. He didn't know what this symbol was.
And yet the sensation inside his chest didn't disappear. As if something that had been asleep had opened one eye.
Woo-joo set down his phone and looked up at the ceiling.
What is this?
There was no answer. Not yet.