NOVPUB“Now, that’s all the assignments. Did you get it?”
Mu Zach repeated the assignment details once more, confirming with me to make sure I’d written them down.
“Mm.”
I had already noted everything down in my notebook.
“Oh, Snowy Jiang, are you really going to be able to pass the assignments on to the next person? Maybe I should just call for you? The person after you is... uh... what’s his name again?”
His name is Ethan An. A very important friend.
Mu Zach is a friend too.
But Ethan is a more important friend.
“Snowy Jiang, you still can’t speak loudly, right? Are you sure you don’t want me to help you pass it on?”
“No need.”
I didn’t want to entrust this to anyone else.
“I’ll do it myself.”
“Mm... Alright then. But if it doesn’t go well, just call me, okay?”
“I will.”
“Okay then, bye-bye. Goodnight.”
After hanging up the phone, I pressed the number according to the contact list and called Ethan An.
The call connected.
“Hello? This is Ethan An. Is this Snowy Jiang?”
“Mm.”
He recognized my voice immediately. Ethan really is a perceptive person.
“Go ahead and tell me the assignments. Ah, wait a sec, let me find a pen.”
“Okay.”
There was some noise coming through the receiver — Ethan must have clamped the phone between his shoulder and ear while searching for a pen.
“All right, go ahead.”
“Mm.”
I picked up my notebook and began reciting the assignments.
Halfway through, Ethan’s voice, slightly confused, came through the receiver.
“Uh, Snowy Jiang?”
“What’s wrong?”
Maybe he couldn’t hear me clearly.
My voice was too soft.
I raised my voice and repeated the assignments.
But it seemed Ethan still couldn’t hear me clearly. His tone was still uncertain.
“Uh, I can’t hear you well. Can you speak a little louder?”
“Okay.”
I pressed a hand against my throat and forced my voice to come out.
“The English assignment is a cloze test on page 28. Also, the entire passage needs to be translated. The math assignment is to choose any three problems from the end of Chapter 3. In addition, there are two worksheets to complete.”
I read out all the assignments in one breath.
I used the loudest voice I could manage.
“Uh, still can’t hear you well. Why don’t you just take a photo of the assignments and send it to me?”
Huh, he still couldn’t hear me...
This was a bit troubling.
Looks like my voice is still too soft.
But I can’t make it any louder.
My throat — it {N•o•v•e•l•i•g•h•t} was once injured.
I was completely unable to speak at all before.
But thanks to Kan Tsukiyo’s help, my throat was healed. no𝚟𝚙u𝚋.c𝚘m
However, as a side effect, I can’t raise my voice too much.
Still, I didn’t feel sad about the injury.
In fact, I was a little happy.
Because now, I too, was someone with a disability (mute). I was incomplete. Finally, I could be one of them.
I felt happy.
I felt so, so happy.
I never regretted it.
And I never will.
But...
Not being able to convey my voice to others — it’s a more troublesome thing than I thought...
For the first time, I felt inconvenience.
I wanted to talk to Ethan.
But my voice couldn’t reach him...
“I don’t... have a phone.”
“Huh? You don’t have a phone either?”
“Mm.”
I should get a phone next time.
I think I have enough money.
After taking down a serial killer, I received... how much again?
I don’t really care.
But it should be enough to buy a phone.
“How about a computer? Do you have one?”
“No.”
In that case, there’s no way to convey the assignments to Ethan.
Should I ask Mu Zach for help...?
I don’t want to.
Suddenly, I thought of a good idea.
“Come... to my house.”
There was a slight panic in Ethan’s voice from the receiver.
“What? Come to your house?”
If he comes to my house, that will solve everything.
I want to see him.
“The address... isn’t long.”
“...Alright. Got it. Go ahead. I’ll come over.”
Good.
I managed to convince him.
“District 6, Seaside Road.”
There are many entrances to Black Street. The one closest to Ethan’s house should be the one on Seaside Road.
There’s a passage to Black Street inside Beishan Park.
“Black Street, Building 221B.”
“Huh? Black Street? Does such a street even exist?”
As expected, Ethan doesn’t know about Black Street.
Ordinary people don’t know about it. Even if you take a photo from the sky, it won’t show up.
It exists, but ordinary people can’t enter it freely. It’s a street that belongs to the ‘underworld’.
Everyone who lives here is connected to the organization.
Although normal people can’t get in, I can just go and fetch him.
Suddenly, the window shattered.
Someone jumped into the room, swinging a knife at me.
I pulled out the combat knife hidden in my coat and blocked the incoming blade.
The strength behind it was enormous. I was sent flying.
Who was it?
“Hello? Snowy Jiang? Hello! Snowy Jiang! Are you there?!”
The man didn’t continue his attack. Instead, he turned his head towards the receiver where the voice was coming from.
“Hey! Hey!”
Ethan was worried about me.
I can’t let him worry.
I need to tell him...
Just as I reached for the receiver again, the man kicked me in the stomach.
I retaliated with a roundhouse kick, but the difference in strength was too great, and I was sent flying again.
“Hello?! Snowy Jiang! What’s going on?! Hello!”
The tall, thin man picked up the receiver and hung up.
Ethan’s voice disappeared.
This guy...
How annoying.
“So now you can’t call for help. Hehehe...”
A sharp, grating voice.
The man stuck out a tongue like a lizard, licking the side of the knife as he grinned obscenely.
“Oh? Are you the so-called ‘Ghoul Hunter’ who’s been picking off our kind lately? Didn’t expect you to be such a little girl...”
“...”
A killer.
One of them had come to my house.
How strange.
Did he come here to die?
Killers are always insane.
The killers in crime novels all have some kind of motive.
But these killers don’t.
They kill simply to kill.
I don’t understand.
I don’t get what’s so fun about killing.
Killing without reason is utterly meaningless.
“The ones who died at your hands really deserved it! They couldn’t even kill a little girl like you. They don’t deserve to be called killers at all!”
The phone — it shouldn’t be broken, right?
If it’s broken, who should I ask to fix it?
The uncle at the cleaning division probably knows how to fix phones.
“Oh? Not even a flinch? Got some nerve, huh? Or are you just so scared you’re about to piss yourself? Hehehe, come on, let uncle have some fun with you~”
The sudden disconnection — Ethan An must be worried.
I still have to tell him about the assignments.
“Hehehe, I love girls like you the most. I can violate you while listening to your sobs, then slice you open from your navel all the way up to your throat so you can’t scream anymore. Hehehehe... Just thinking about it makes me so excited!”
“Shut up.”
This guy... he’s so annoying.
“You’re... too loud.”
“What did you say...?”
Is he angry?
How boring.
“I said, you’re too noisy.”
I should just cut off his tongue.
But compared to the other killers, he seems to be a little stronger.
I guess I’ll have to take this a bit more seriously.
...
I sliced off one of his hands and a few of his fingers, then gouged out one of his eyes.
But at the crucial moment, his accomplice rescued him.
I didn’t expect there to be two of them.
Were they specifically sent here to kill me?
How troublesome. I don’t feel like chasing them down.
First, I need to call Ethan.
It took a lot of time. He must be worried by now.
“Hello?”
The call connected.
But it wasn’t Ethan who answered.
It was a girl’s voice.
Was it his sister?
“Hello, I’m...”
“Oh, so you’re Snowy Jiang, huh?”
...Her voice carried a clear murderous intent.
Strange.
Did I say something to provoke her?
“I am Snowy Jiang.”
“Ohhh... So, you’re Snowy Jiang. So, what business do you have with my brother?”
...Beneath her tone was seething anger.
She sounded full of hostility toward me.
“To pass on... the assignments.”
“Oh~ Is that so? Then why don’t you just tell me? My brother’s not home right now anyway~”
Not home?
So late at night, and he went out?
Ethan is usually a rational person. He wouldn’t do something so reckless.
Which means...
He went out looking for me.
So, he must have heard the noises earlier. He must have come to some bad conclusions.
That’s why he went out — because of me.
“Hello?”
“...I understand.”
“Huh? What do you understand?! Tell me clearly! What’s your relationship with my brother?!”
The killer escaped.
If Ethan is out looking for me, he will definitely head toward Seaside Road.
If he runs into them...
“...”
“Hello! Speak up! Who are you?! Where did you even come from?!”
“Sorry. Thank you.”
Thank you for telling me this, Ethan’s sister.
I hung up and bolted out the door.
I have to catch those two killers before Ethan meets them.
And then, I have to kill them.
The only one who can hurt Ethan is me.
The only one who can take Ethan’s body is me.
Anyone else who dares to harm Ethan — I will kill them all.
Kill them.
Tear them apart.
They don’t deserve to stay in one piece.
