A wave of nausea sweeps over me.
I can't tell if it's because the police car has turned into a roller coaster or if the corpse in front of me is triggering a full-blown panic attack.
But I can't collapse now. Even as the world spins, I force my eyes open and hang on.
Get it together. A deadly monster is less than a meter away.
If I don't desperately find a way to survive, the moment this chaos ends will be my last.
The car shakes unpredictably, like a serpent slithering. One of the wheels is caught on a bulge in the road, twisting its direction—any second it could hurtle onto the sidewalk.
It's moving far too fast.
The young officer—now headless—hangs limp over the gas pedal.
The speed will only climb. The wind pressure will keep the doors sealed, and smashing the window to escape is impossible.
The middle-aged officer in the passenger seat… no, the Ghoul using that cop's credentials, does nothing but sigh, treating this runaway car like a speeding train.
Is it the Ghoul's confidence that even a crash at this speed won't hurt it?
Even under cover, it doesn't look the least bit guilty for killing a junior colleague it'd known for years. Maybe it's just scheming how to untangle this mess.
Think.
Really think.
An escape route from here—can you see it?
"I see one!"
I sprang to my feet and heaved my torso upright.
I shoved my upper body between the front seat—the headrest forced down—and the roof, wedging past the headless corpse of the young officer.
Blood sprayed everywhere, drenching me, but I ignored it and reached forward with my handcuffed wrists.
"…!"
The Ghoul's eyes widened at my unexpected move.
It probably didn't know my intention, but more likely it was cocky—sure I couldn't stop it no matter how I thrashed.
That gave me the opening I needed.
I grabbed the wheel—out of control and shaking—and yanked it as hard as I could.
Skreeeeeeech…!!!
The tires shrieked, slicing my eardrums with a piercing scrape—even though I hadn't hit the brakes, the car's path twisted sharply.
I gripped the bent wheel like a lifeline, bracing against the centrifugal force that tried to fling me out.
"What are you doing…!"
Only then did the Ghoul react, reaching toward me, but it was too late.
I glanced sideways.
A shadow loomed over the window next to the Ghoul.
It was a truck barreling down the opposite lane.
KRAAAAASH!!!!!!!
The sickening thud of steel crumpling. My mind plunged deeper into madness.
Murmur, murmur.
I cling to consciousness amid the chaos.
My head throbs. My stomach churns like I'm about to vomit.
My vision is hazy, as if shrouded in dense fog. I can't see a thing. Panic hits—did I blind myself?
Murmur, murmur.
I hear people's voices.
Guided by sound, I crawl toward them. At last, I feel myself emerge from the cramped wreckage.
I rub my eyes and blink several times.
Thank goodness my eyes aren't injured—my vision clears and the world snaps back into focus.
First, I see a crowd on the sidewalk, staring at me with wide, frightened eyes.
I turn my head and spot shards of glass and twisted metal fragments.
Behind me lies what was once a police car, now a heap of twisted metal flipped upside-down like a pancake. Beyond it, the truck's front is mangled beyond recognition.
I'm lucky. Even I think that was reckless, yet I…
"…wasn't hurt after all."
Drip…
A smear of red invades the corner of my vision.
I touch the cut on my forehead and realize it's my own blood.
"What happened to him…?"
I look back at the wrecked vehicle.
The Ghoul's seat—next to where it was—was obliterated by the truck's impact, leaving no trace of form.
No matter how tough a Ghoul's body is, it couldn't survive that.
…That futile hope shattered in less than five seconds.
Thud!!!
A chunk—what must have been the door—flies off, and a decidedly unwelcome figure emerges from the back of the wreck.
His hat is gone, and his face is caked in blood, but thanks to a Ghoul's regeneration, there are no visible wounds.
The Ghoul who crawled out turns to face me.
His eyes glow as if molten lava churns inside, radiating pure murderous intent.
"For a moment, my heart literally dropped. I thought you were just perceptive, but I never knew you could be this cunning. What rotten luck I have, choosing someone like this…"
I press my palm to the cut on my forehead, replaying his words.
"He chose me? Me?"
I mull it over. The first time we met was when I was headed home after retrieving a body.
He stopped me for a random inspection.
There'd been a nearby murder. I was under suspicion because of the blood at the inspection site. He's a Ghoul—Ghoul fluid was found at the crime scene.
The case was handed over to the CCG. That's why he apprehended me as a suspect.
The scattered pieces clicked into place, forming the whole picture.
Facing that complete picture, I ground my teeth.
A surge of furious anger welled up.
"You're the one who framed me…!!!"
Yeah. It all went wrong at that dawn when he stopped me. From that moment, I became his target.
"That murder was your doing! You left your own trace there by mistake, so the Ghoul Investigator had to step in! That's why you made me your target—to turn this into a 'human-perpetrated crime masked as Ghoul activity'! You even planted the blood at the inspection spot!!"
The blood smear—the crucial clue that made me the prime suspect!
It wasn't blood from my guitar case; it was planted by him, to implicate me.
"Exactly."
Clap, clap, clap.
The Ghoul sneers and gives a halfhearted round of applause.
"You're probably the first human to surprise me like this. Now what do I do? My original plan was to lock you up, torture you, and force you to write a confession admitting you were the killer… But since you're acting like this, I have no choice but to kill you outright, right? If I keep you alive any longer, who knows what other nonsense you might pull."
The Ghoul shakes his head as if genuinely inconvenienced.
"My cover got blown by a subordinate I worked with for years. I almost died because of this human. Today has really been a run of bad luck. I hope nothing else goes wrong."
"Don't make me laugh. You're not the one who should be lamenting bad luck—I am."
"Do you even know how much you've messed up my life? I was suspected as a murder suspect, Eto went missing, I almost got arrested, and now I'm facing a Ghoul."
If I could, I'd love to clock that Ghoul square in the face with all my might.
Thud.
He vaults over the wreck and approaches me.
I brace myself defensively and say,
"Hey, you sure about this? There are a lot of witnesses—going all-out to kill me right here?"
The crash has drawn a crowd. Exposing himself as a Ghoul here would be suicide.
But the Ghoul just grins.
"It's not impossible. Have you forgotten what my job is?"
In one hand… he holds a gun. Seeing it drains the blood from my face.
Bang―!!!
He aims the gun at the sky and pulls the trigger.
Police-issued guns fire a warning blank first; the next rounds are live bullets.
That shot is both prep for live rounds and a signal to draw everyone's attention.
He steadies his aim on me.
"Don't move, you vicious criminal scum! You won't lay a finger on those citizens as long as I'm here!"
That's right. To strangers, he's just a cop.
And with my wrists cuffed, I look like the criminal being led away.
The crowd's murmurs swell in alarm—warnings about me.
In this setting, even if I screamed all day that he's a Ghoul, nobody would believe me.
"Damn it!!"
Feeling trapped, I act fast.
I have to get out of here.
These onlookers won't protect me; they'll side with him.
I sprint toward the thinnest part of the crowd. Terrified by the rampaging "criminal," people scatter and clear a path.
I see an alley ahead. If I can reach it, I might escape his gunfire.
"Where do you think you're going!!"
He swings the muzzle around as I run.
He pulls the trigger as I hurl myself into the alley almost simultaneously.
BANG!!
And the shot rings out.
Koma leaped forward, but it was already too late. He could never outrun a bullet.
The Ghoul, having aimed at Koma, lowers his smoking pistol.
He clicks his tongue and stares at the entrance where Koma disappeared.
The bullet that should have pierced Koma's body was stopped by a metal sidewalk sign.
Koma's figure vanished completely into the alley.
The Ghoul mutters in a tone of lament.
"Bad luck really is dogging me today."