Descent of the Demon Master

next to Kang Jin-Ho.
“What's going on here?!”

“Director!”

“Can anyone explain to me what's going on here?! What is the meaning of this?!”

A nurse with a frightened expression hurriedly addressed the hospital’s director. “That man showed up in our ER, saying that he has been stabbed, sir.
We first did CPR on him and took him to get his X-Ray to see the extent of his injuries, but we found a foreign object that resembled a bullet in the wound and called the police right away.
Even so, we still had our duty to uphold, so we started treating him, but these officers arrived without knowing the situation.
They started shouting, and now…”

It sounded like the serial killer took a hostage after realizing that the cops had arrived.
Kang Jin-Ho found something about that story that was difficult to understand.
There were actually people willing to treat a serial killer showing up in front of their door? Now, that was a funny joke.

Life might be sacrosanct, but nothing was more important than your own life.
Yet, risking one's life to save a total stranger? Kang Jin-Ho wasn't sure if such an act was worthy of praise, but as far as his personal viewpoint was concerned, that was one of the stupidest things he could think of.

If an acquaintance was injured gravely, then it was understandable why anyone would risk their life trying to save the other party.
Yet, trying to save a complete, utter stranger who also happened to be a dangerous serial killer? Did these people hold too much pride in medicine, and that made them reckless? Or did they simply lose the instinctive wariness to danger thanks to how peaceful the world had become? Kang Jin-Ho couldn't tell.

The serial killer waved around his knife to threaten the cops blocking his escape route.
“Get out of my way! You motherf*ckers, get lost, now!”

If the cops moved aside and got out of the way, the serial killer would have a clear path to the hospital's lobby filled with innocent people.
If something bad happened to them, then… the responsibility would fall on the shoulders of these police officers.

“Put that knife down, now!” A detective kitted out in a leather jacket sharply yelled at the serial killer.

“Get lost, you f*cker!”

“Hey! Do you really think that you can get out of here? We already got you cornered, you son of a bi*tch! Stop making things worse for yourself and let the hostage go.
Then I might tell the prosecutors about extenuating circumstances on your behalf, okay?”

The serial killer spat out another curse word.
“F*ck you!”

The criminal was no dummy.
He obviously wouldn't fall for something that stupid.
How much reduction in sentencing would a serial killer get just because he turned himself in?

“You wanna see this kid's throat sliced open?!” The killer brought the knife in his hand closer to the hostage's neck.
The child hostage’s face turned deeply pale, and she trembled fearfully.

“Wait! I got it! I get it, so I'm gonna back off now! Take that knife away from the kid, will ya!” The panicking detective cried out. “Where's my negotiator?! He's still not here yet?”

One of the officers replied helplessly, “…I did contact him, but…”

“You dipsh*t! Don't tell me, you don't even know what his ETA is! Is that something you should say, you dumb sh*t!” the leather jacket detective roared at the top of his lungs.
The junior officer jumped up in fright and hurriedly dashed off somewhere.
The detective shifted his attention back to the serial killer as cold sweat caked his face. “Argh, f*ck! Gimme a break!”

He could have approached this hostage situation properly if only that bastard hadn't been a monster in human disguise responsible for chopping up over ten people to death.
That killer didn't hesitate for a second to kill his fellow humans.
A bastard like that could really kill the hostage in full view of the crowd if things went sideways for him.

The detective had to prevent that outcome no matter what.
However, things were not looking good since the killer still managed to escape from the police despite getting shot.
If that child hostage was injured in any way, without a doubt, all sorts of criticism would mercilessly rain down on the police.
Even worse, the detective would have to take full responsibility for letting the criminal go, and he might have to turn his badge in, too.

'What the hell am I even thinking about!' 

The detective sobered up and realized that thinking about these wasn’t important right now.
He should worry about resigning or getting thrown in jail later.
His number one priority was saving that hostage.

“Get out of my way.” The serial killer pressed the knife against the hostage's throat and growled menacingly.

The detective was now in a serious dilemma.
He obviously couldn't humor the criminal's demand.
What would he do if the criminal got away? But of course, this didn't mean that he could let the situation continue to boil over like this.
That killer was already half out of his mind.
There was no turning back if that bastard stabbed the hostage right now.

The detective groaned.
“Gimme a f*cking break!”

Just as he said that, the serial killer ever so slightly pushed the knife against the hostage's neck.

“Ah…!”

A streak of crimson liquid seeped out of the hostage's skin.

The detective cried out. “H-hey, you crazy motherf*cker! Okay, I got it! We'll move out of the way! F*ck! Don't do it, man! You hurt that little girl, and it's the death penalty for you, you f*cker! If they don't execute you first, I'm gonna kill you myself!”

“Shut up and get out of the way!”

The detective wordlessly signaled with his hand.

One of the officers urgently called out to him.
“But, Detective Yi Jong-In, sir!”

“What now!”

“Are you planning to let that bastard go?”

“You have a better idea?”

“But, what if we let him go, only for him to do something more…!”

“What, then? You want to take responsibility if that f*cker kills that kid here?”

“N-no, but…”

Detective Yi Jong-In yelled back at his junior officer. “In that case, what the hell do you want me to do, you dipsh*t! We can't do this, but we can't do that, either?! In that case, we should at least prevent another sh*tshow from happening right now!”

“But, if we lose him now…”

“That f*cker's been shot, so he can't go far.
For now, we gotta get out of this situation first.”

“Understood, sir.”

The group of detectives began parting in the middle, creating a slender path toward the exit.

Unfortunately, the serial killer still looked dissatisfied with what had transpired. “Are you kidding me? You lot, stand on one side! Were you thinking of making me walk right through y’all just now?!”

“Dammit!” Detective Yi gritted his teeth after realizing that his improvised plan of jumping on the criminal had gone down the drain.
He unhappily ushered the rest of the officers to the side. However, a young man suddenly stepped out of the crowd with leisurely steps.

“Who's that?”

The young man's appearance belonged to that of a patient.
As for his age, he must be a high schooler or somewhere thereabout. With an expressionless face, he leisurely walked up and stopped in front of the serial killer.

Detective Yi cried out. “W-what the hell is that crazy boy doing?!”