Chapter 160   - God of Crime #2

The Clown leaned back in his chair and made a sad expression. He inspected the researchers addicted to the Psychotropic Incense. As a trial, he gave one of them an order to commit suicide.

“Kuweeeeek!”

The faithful slave stabbed his belly.

However, there was a fatal drawback to the Psychotropic Incense. It was okay for simple manual labour. But the project required doing tasks with a little more difficulty. It was hard to expect a lot from the zombies.

"I can’t use these things.”

At most, he could use them as security guards. The Clown moved his fingers and some of the researchers brought him the Psychotropic Incense.

“Kuweeeoooh...”

"Kilkil, I should use a more moderate amount of Psychotropic Incense the next time I need subordinates since these have become defective products that can’t even speak properly.”

There were almost 100 bottles of Psychotropic Incense in the box. He could create thousands of slaves.

"It is possible to proceed with the Core Drive project that was frozen...! What absurd theory? If my research succeeds, then it will be an innovation that will change human life itself! Uhahahahat!”

In Greek mythology, Prometheus stole the fire of the gods and gave it to humans. It completely changed the lives of the humans who were living a primitive life. What about electricity, or the telephone? They were literally revolutionary.

He didn’t need to go that far. It was easy to think about how much the Internet and smartphones had enriched human lives. With one single click, they could access anywhere in the world, at any time they wanted. 100 years ago, it would’ve been called a miracle of the gods.

“...I will create an infinite energy called ‘Core Drive’! It will bring a new prosperity to humans! Uha, uhahahat!”

If he did it, wouldn’t the academics who ignored him look at him with astonished faces? His heart beat wildly just thinking about it. The Clown touched his chin and started thinking.

"Kuook. I require the help of an assistant.”

His eyes rolled as he went through all the possibilities. It couldn’t be anyone addicted to the incense.

“The right person... Ah!"

The face of a freshman entered the Clown’s mind. She was quite bright and he could teach her what was required to be an assistant.

The Clown called a subordinate over. He was one that had a certain degree of consciousness and could slightly communicate.

“Where is Seo Ha-ran right now?”

"T-That...not, h-here...”

“So where is she?!”

"Gett-ing, read-y, wedding, home.”

“Ohuhuhu, that’s right.

Come to think of it, he remembered hearing something like that. The Clown frowned.

"Hrmm."

It felt like there was a fog around his head.

Some of his memories were hazy.

“Well, it doesn’t matter. These are still the same! Yihihihit!”

He drummed his fingers against the keyboard in a familiar manner and the machines in the laboratory started moving. The Core Drive project was still fresh in his mind. It seemed like he could start his research right now.

"I need research funds since the Core Drive doesn’t have enough material. Ah, before that.”

The Clown beckoned for a subordinate to hand him his phone and entered in a number.

“Ah, Ha-ran? Hello, Clown... No, it is Go Ah-tae. I’m sorry if you’re busy, but I have something important to discuss with you. Can we talk for 10 minutes? No, I’ll pick you up. You need to come here... Ah, I really appreciate it! Then I will meet you at the bus stop.”

The Clown hung up and laughed. He believed that everything he was doing was essential for the development of mankind.

“Hihihi! Then let’s open the circus stage.”

A few days passed by.

An article appeared on the Internet about a group of clowns attacking people. And at the same time, Seo Tae-hyuk realized why the Clown was born three years earlier than planned.

@

Tae-hyuk felt dizzy.

He couldn’t stop his trembling hands.

“What is this...”

The Forgery skill showed the Clown dressed in a white coat. His eyes were familiar. He had gone with his sister to the institute. Then he met a middle-aged man called Go Ah-tae.

“Go Ah-tae... Kwang-tae, no, Clown? What, he was the clown?” (Wordplay since clown in Korean =Kwangdae)

Why hadn’t he realized such a simple pun? The Clown that Tae-hyuk met in prison had a bizarre appearance. His whole body was covered in burns, and he wore clown makeup like he was trying to hid it.

The prison turned a blind eye to a certain extent. If he wasn’t wearing his clown makeup, then the other prisoners would be too disgusted. It was no wonder that his nickname became the Clown.

"I thought he was just called the Clown due to how he looked, but his name was actually the cause.”

Tae-hyuk recalled everything he knew about the Clown. He was in an accident and suffered massive burns to his body. The impact damaged his pituitary gland that controlled reasoning and self-control, things that were essential for a normal social life. He literally became a monster that acted on instincts.

"In the process of changing the future, I hastened the Clown’s accident by three years. Wait a minute, that means...”

Tae-hyuk’s face turned white. There was a place that his mind went to.

“Surely the Clown wasn’t at Taesung Institute?”

He had blown up that place. It was the only explosive severe enough to cause burns that occurred recently. It was enough damage to blow away the whole building. He didn’t think that anyone could survive that.

“The Clown was injured in an accident when he worked at a research institute. Then the institute is...”

It was likely the Taesung institute that was blown up a week ago. Tae-hyuk bit his lip.

If Go Ah-tae, the Clown, was related to Taesung Institute...

It was likely that Tae-hyuk had turned Go Ah-tae into the Clown. At the same time, the possibility existed that he just became the Clown earlier than expected. No matter what it was, the worst result happened..

As a result, the Clown kidnapped Seo Ha-ran.

"Damn, I changed history...”

Originally, he was going to find clues and give Kang-suk’s hints to solve the case. However, he couldn’t stay still now that fate had started to distort this way.

“Wasn’t the Clown’s purpose to continue his research?”

Tae-hyuk knew that the project could never succeed.

“So something might’ve appeared on the news.”

A few strange articles stood out.

“...People dressed as clowns are attacking citizens.”

Something was strange.

Tae-hyuk clearly remembered that the Clown worked alone in the future. He was a scientist who lived without acknowledging his failure until the end. There was no one who could sympathize with such madness.

"Thanks to acting alone, he was easily caught by the police despite his great abilities.”

But how did he have subordinates now? What created such a difference?

First of all, he needed to understand the enemy’s power.

@

-...A bunch of people dressed as clowns are rioting...

Tae-hyuk’s eyes shone as he heard the words from the police radio that he stole. He was planning to use Transformation, but decided to stop. He needed to stop relying so much on the crime skills.

"Well, this much is enough.”

He bought a baseball cap from a nearby store and covered his face. He was just going to watch from a distance anyway. It was the appearance of a slightly bad-looking high school student. Nobody would be suspicious.

"Kyaaaaak!"

“W-What are those people?”

“Are they completely crazy?”

A group of people burst out of the department store. Cracking sounds could be heard from inside the building. An old man came running up to Tae-hyuk and cried out,

“Student! Call the police and get out of here! Crazy people are rioting in there!”

Tae-hyuk replied blankly,

“Huh? Crazy people?”

“Yes! They are dressed up like clowns! Aaaaack!"

The clowns smashed the department store door and came out. The old man ran away as soon as he saw them. Tae-hyuk looked inside and saw people who looked like security guards lying on the floor with blood coming from their heads.

“Kuweeeoooh!”

"Osu! Osu!"

"Kuaah! Kuaaack!”

They let out strange yells and had bloodshot eyes.

They would have no problems appearing as the villains of a horror movie right now. Tae-hyuk examined the clowns. Their appearances were strangely familiar.

“What? Are they addicted to the Psychotropic Incense?”

It was the thing that Mister Park used. Obviously it had burned with the institute, but how could so many people be affected by the Psychotropic Incense?

Tae-hyuk heard the police sirens and hid himself in an alley. It would be complicated if he was discovered by the police. He pressed himself as close to the wall as possible and started organizing the situation.

‘The emergence of the Clown three years earlier... And unlike the future, he has followers. Was there some Psychotropic Incense left?’

The Clown had appeared three years earlier and also had the Psychotropic Incense as a weapon. Tae-hyuk lightly used Spying and determined the number of clowns in the department store.

‘30... No, it is over 40. Isn’t that almost like the mafia?’

The more terrifying thing was that he could use the Psychotropic Incense to increase that number.

’The Clown has subordinates? This balance isn’t right!’

Tae-hyuk bit his lip.

The Clown was armed with future technology not available to the public, and now he had the clowns that robbed the department store. They held things like iron pipes or baseball bats.

The Clown couldn’t be allowed access to another research institute. What would happen if he armed his subordinates with the technology? A power incomparable to the mafia would be born. There would be clowns who could dissolve a steel rail or be armed with things like Machina.

“...Hell.”

Seo Ha-ran had been kidnapped by such a terrible person. Tae-hyuk’s body trembled.

"In the end, I have to appear as Phantom.”

Tae-hyuk’s mouth distorted.

This was the last time. It was over if he just handled the Clown. He would just his crime skills just this once.

"Then it is the co-performance of the Clown and Phantom. Let’s do a spectacular retirement stage.”

Tae-hyuk headed for a deserted hideout. He started to prepare to fight the Clown.