Chapter 4. Serial Killer (4)

Translator: Lili

He panicked, blurting out curses rapidly. Wildly striking out at the dark, he backed away, accidentally bumping into something warm and heavy. Immediately, he heard a groaning voice behind him,

“Uuurgh…”

Gasping, the man realized in horror that there was another presence in this room. Terrified, he pulled out the knife at his waist, wildly slashing around, screaming in panic. This time, he distinctly felt his knife slicing through something soft and fleshy.

Then came a horrific sound, like someone choking on thick phlegm. Nabi sighed regretfully.

“Oh…”

A chill ran down the man’s spine, and dizziness overwhelmed him. Clearly, he’d just done something terrible. Nabi helpfully clarified the situation,

“You just killed the person who was already here.”

“What?”

“He could have lived for at least another week, but well… too late now.”

The man stared blankly into the darkness, breathing heavily in shock. Evidently, he was traumatized at the thought of having killed someone. Nabi found this reaction odd.

“Didn’t you come here to kill me?”

Unable to reply, the man exhibited signs of hyperventilation.

Nabi had seen her ‘food’ frequently having such panic attacks. She knew emergency first aid too—just put a paper bag over their mouth. If there was no bag handy, covering their mouth with her hand worked too.

Yet, as soon as Nabi reached out to cover his mouth, the man screamed and started hurling random objects toward her. Primarily, these objects were his robbery tools—knives, pliers, a lighter. His throwing form was professional-looking, but his aim was terrible.

“Don’t panic. Calm down.”

Obviously, her clumsy attempts at comforting him weren’t working.

While neatly catching and arranging everything he tossed her way, Nabi realized his aim was unusually poor. His eyes had lacked focus from the beginning. Considering they’d made clear eye contact earlier, he couldn’t be blind, right?

Then Nabi finally noticed—there were no lights here.

“Are you anxious because it’s dark?”

The man stopped moving abruptly. Nabi was pleased with her own perceptiveness.

“Hang on. You had a lighter, didn’t you?”

When Nabi sparked the lighter, a tiny glow illuminated the pitch-black space, and the man—hypnotized by the sudden light—collapsed as if someone had flipped a switch.

“… Did you faint?”

Nabi stared blankly at the collapsed man for a moment, then switched off the lighter. In the darkness, she gently removed his ski mask, reasoning it’d be uncomfortable to sleep with it on. She ignored that he was lying unconscious on the cold concrete.

As she did, even in absolute darkness, Nabi ‘saw’ his face clearly and gasped quietly.

“Oh, my…”

With his mask off, the man turned out to be exceptionally handsome.

Sleeping, his long eyelashes cast gentle shadows. Even the small scars on his forehead and cheek were charming. Thick eyebrows and a sharp jawline reminded Nabi of a masterful sculpture. Just looking at his peaceful sleeping face hinted at some deep backstory. Truly a face too good-looking to be sneaking into a single woman’s basement apartment at night.

Such a splendid-looking man ending up in her clutches represented a significant social, global, and human loss. But what could she do? Nabi was going to eat him. Such was life.

After confirming that he was still breathing, Nabi took away all potential suicide tools, then kindly covered him with a blanket.