Chapter 2. Serial Killer (2)

Translator: Lili

At that moment, Nabi had forgotten one crucial detail: a person standing silently in the center of a dark room looked like a ghost.

The robber gasped in surprise.

Anticipating his scream, Nabi quickly dashed forward and covered his mouth, personally shutting the front door behind him. She had to handle this situation quickly. If he screamed, unnecessary suspicions from neighbors would grow, further fueling superstition and rumors and leading to fewer guests—something she’d learned painfully from past experiences.

In a rush, Nabi placed her index finger against her lips and urgently whispered to the man.

“Shhh.”

Caught off guard, the robber nodded reflexively. Although only his eyes showed beneath the mask, Nabi could easily detect his shock. Clearly, she had frightened him too much.

Nabi desperately tried to come up with soothing words.

“I only closed the door to keep out insects.”

Nabi’s conversational skills were catastrophically poor.

Predictably, the man didn’t seem convinced. It appeared she’d failed. Nevertheless, Nabi comforted herself by thinking at least she always tried. Quickly shifting gears, she attempted to find another peaceful method to lure him deeper into the room.

“Would you like some tea?”

A hopelessly outdated pick-up line emerged from her lips.

The man stood speechless, clearly bewildered. Nabi still held him pinned against the door, hand over his mouth. A bizarre scenario unfolded where the victim was now threatening the robber.

Nabi grew anxious. She had always strived to build good relationships with humans, and this time too, she hoped to reach a peaceful resolution without resorting to violence. In other words, she wanted to persuade this man to enter at least the inner room willingly.

The robber remained silent, showing no sign of speaking, quietly staring back at her. His heart thumped wildly—he must have been very shocked. Nabi mistakenly concluded he was undoubtedly a rookie robber, forgetting she’d labeled every robber she’d ever met as a rookie.

‘What should I say to a rookie robber…? Perhaps start by offering some bait.’

“You’re here to steal, right? There’s cash in the inner room.”

Nabi stretched her arm to indicate the way to the inner room. The presence of cash was true; in fact, she’d displayed it openly enough to be visible even from the front door. Since she lived here as a decoy, she had naturally placed bait-like items everywhere.

However, she might have gone too far. The stack of bills was illuminated prominently by a standing lamp—indeed, the only source of light in the semi-basement apartment.

This eerie interior, spotlighting the bundle of cash, appeared so suspicious it gave the entire place a surreal quality. Witnessing this odd scene, the robber stood frozen as though rooted to the spot. Nabi clearly saw his pupils tremble in the darkness.

Nabi felt worried. She didn’t understand exactly what she’d done wrong, but clearly she’d made another mistake.

‘How troubling.’

While Nabi desperately racked her brain, still pressing tightly against his mouth and nose so he could barely breathe, the man gently pushed away her arm and finally spoke.

“… I’m not here to steal.”

His voice was incredibly attractive, deep and resonant. Nabi inwardly admired it, asking curiously.

“Then?”

“I came to… kill you.”

An odd pause lingered between the words ‘to’ and ‘kill you’. Clearly, he had omitted something. Evidently, his intention wasn’t merely to kill.

Many had wanted Nabi dead, for various reasons.

She had often been treated as a ‘creature’. A goblin, a ghost, a monster, a nine-tailed fox—once even an alien. Nabi was none of these, but she still carefully remembered each nickname.

By the time rumors of a nickname reached Nabi’s ears, public opinion had already been firmly established. Eventually, the villagers would form groups and attack her home, and only then would Nabi learn her new nickname.

She always learned about rumors too late. It was depressing.

There was a more realistic reason why she was treated as a creature—eyewitnesses directly seeing her murder or devour people.

If someone witnessed such a scene, usually their sanity would crumble. Yet, the courage of those who still dared to challenge her despite that fact always moved Nabi deeply. Recently, there had been such a person.

There were also cases when Nabi hadn’t done anything particularly suspicious, but someone just tried to secretly eliminate her, perhaps sensing intuitively that she was bound to cause trouble sooner or later. In those instances too, Nabi had found herself oddly moved.

‘Why does this man want to kill me now?’

She had been living quietly for the past four years and couldn’t even begin to guess the reason.