Doctor Demon

Hobin was worried. He had been trying to call his brother for the past hour but his phone had been switched off.

"What's wrong?" Jina asked, looking up from the case files. They were at her house, going over the Blue Fish cases.

"I've been trying to call my brother," he admitted. "But I can't seem to reach him."

He tried to call Siwan again but to no avail. 

"He might be performing a surgery," Jina suggested. Hobin sighed and nodded. He plopped on a chair next to her and looked at the case files.

"How is this demon doing it?" he muttered. "Is it using an app? Or an internet site?"

"These kids died exactly at midnight," Jina stated. "This means the demon works at that time. But I've asked around and no one seems to know about this game. Even the parents are clueless about this game. None of the boys ever used it. In Yisub's case, his activities are monitored by his parents. They would have known if he was visiting any such site."

They were now grim, both of them thinking hard. Magrod had surveyed the area for them and even he could not find a single clue. It was like the demon completely vanished without a trace.

"Tomorrow is Yisub's funeral, right?" Hobin finally asked. Jina nodded, unable to say anything else.

"We should go," he said. "And attend the wake as well. Maybe we'll find a clue."

"Alright," Jina agreed. "But we can't ask the parents anything during this time. They're grieving and I don't wanna add to their worries."

They stared at the case files and groaned. The demon was getting on their nerves and they wished there was some way to find that thing. Hobin picked up his phone to call Siwan again. 

"Why isn't bro answering the phone?" he scowled. Siwan never ignored his calls. 

"Did you try calling Soobin?" Jina suggested.

"Yeah but she's at your brother's palace with Baekha," he replied. "And the maid at Kang mansion said brother isn't home. It's weird. I know it's his day off today. Where can he be?"

Jina was now puzzled. Why was Siwan ignoring their calls?

"We'll talk to him in the morning," she said. "Maybe he's in an emergency surgery."

"Maybe…"

Hobin glanced at his phone, hoping that Siwan would call. He was worried about his brother because he had been acting a little strange lately. It was as if Siwan was hiding secrets from him. 

I just hope he's okay, he prayed.

…

"What is this?" Soobin gasped. Magrod was also surprised by the thing he was seeing while Baekha seemed to be unfazed. They were sitting in front of Baekha's laptop, watching her type in a few codes. Instantly, a browser opened but it was not the usual browser they used. Instead, it had a different interface and seemed to be directing them to strange websites which Soobin had never even heard of before.

The webpage was similar to a social media site but instead of people sharing their everyday life, it contained videos and posts which were highly disturbing. Soobin almost threw up at the gruesome sight. One of the pictures had a person cutting off the skin from a dead deer and instead of keeping it hidden,the video was playing on loop. Several people commented there, cheering for the man who was cutting up the deer. Blood oozed out of the poor creature, spilling on the floor.

"Baekha, what the hell is this?" she exclaimed, looking away.

"This is only a glimpse of the dark web," Baekha stated. "This is nothing. There are way worse videos."

"This is like hell but online," Magrod shrugged. "Human souls are pretty much treated like this there. Sometimes several of them are laid in a series and then we take out a mincer to-"

"STOP IT!" Soobin yelled. "This is sick! How can people do this? Don't the cops get a hold of these videos?"

"The guy who posted this is a cop," Baekha revealed. She turned off the video and turned to her.

"The dark web is unfiltered," she explained. "Everything on it is public, without any restrictions. These videos aren't uploaded on the regular sites we visit. On the dark web, people can unleash their deepest and the most sadistic desires. That's what makes it very dangerous. You'll find everything there. Gruesome videos, hackers, criminals and even hire hitmen to kill someone."

Soobin' grimaced while Magrod frowned. "The more I hear about it, the more it seems like Hell itself," he stated. 

"Precisely," Baekha nodded. "Only difference is, people are aware of the things they can do on the dark web. All they need is a website or a forum name. Government secrets, conspiracy theories. Whatever you want, you'll find it here. Of course, you can use it in a good way at times. Police use the dark web to gather information on criminals and crimes. Sometimes, hackers use the dark web to prevent a cyber crime. It depends on how you use it."

"The game, Blue Fish, must be a part of the dark web," she went on. "Whoever created it, is on it. I'm sure of it. Otherwise such a dangerous game is not usually allowed on the clean web."

"But how are people accessing it?" Soobin asked. "Through this browser?"

"Nah. There are millions of dark web browsers," Baekha said. "I'm sure they're either stumbling upon it by accident or there's a way to access it through the clean wbe as well. Not difficult if you use a VPN."

"I doubt a good kid like Yisub would happen to enter the site," Magrod said thoughtfully. "If a demon is involved like the Priestess had mentioned, then that demon was summoned and is hiding in this dark web. It's the perfect place for him to hide."

"If that's the case, it'll be nearly impossible to find him!" Soobin pointed out. "The internet, whether dark or clean, is vast. It's like finding a needle in a haystack."

"But the game is starting to spread fast," Baekha said. "I'm sure if I ask around, the culprit will be caught."

"Plus, all demons need an object to tie them to the living world," Magrod pointed out. "He or she was definitely summoned. If we can find the object and let the Priestess kill the demon, we'll be able to stop the game from spreading."

They sat in silence, thinking hard. 

"How are we going to do it?" Baekha asked but Soobin was unsure.

"Shouldn't we tell the cops?" she suggested. "Jina sis should know."

"Tell you what, I'll ask around and gather information," Baekha said. "And then we'll take our findings to her. That'll help her more. If we can find the name of the person who made the deal, she can track him or her down and arrest them."

"What if the demon hunts us down?" Soobin asked, feeling scared. She was not in the mood to face another demon.

"Just don't sign anything and you'll be fine," Magrod assured her. "But Beaky is right. We should find the summoner first. Then we can think of informing the Priestess."

Soobin was not so sure but she nodded.

"Okay," she agreed. "Let's find the summoner and then tell Jina sis about this!"

Baekha flexed her fingers. "Let's start this mission then!" she exclaimed.

"Aye!" 

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