I was Mistaken as a Monstrous Genius Actor [EN]: Chapter 248

“……Huh? What did you just say?”

On the other hand, Kang Woo-jin, with a mix of dead eyes and a smile, continued speaking nonchalantly.

“Let’s meet after this is over. There’s something I need you to do.”

A little while later.

The karaoke room where Kang Woo-jin had been was slightly changed. The camera angles, the lighting setup, the props on display. All the staff who had been crowded around had left. The interior, which had been moderately dark, was now bright. The music was off. It was exactly like before opening. Kang Woo-jin was nowhere to be seen. Of course. It was a different scene being filmed.

It was a return from the past to the present.

Among the tables in the karaoke hall, three people were visible near the entrance. Mana Kosaku in a navy lightweight padding jacket, or Detective Mochio. A junior detective. And.

“Please finish quickly, I have a lot to do.”

A woman in a long-sleeved top that revealed her belly button. It was Uramatsu Mihuyu, who played ‘Horinochi Amie.’ The pungent smell of perfume, long brown hair, and plump lips were red and heavily made up.

The three were sitting at the same table.

-Swish.

Amie, with an annoyed expression, crossed her legs. The junior detective glanced at her legs, trying not to make it obvious. Amie, feeling the gaze, nonchalantly put a cigarette in her mouth and pulled the glass ashtray on the table in front of her. Then, she asked Mochio, who was looking at the junior detective with a pathetic gaze.

“Is it okay if I smoke?”

“Of course.”

Mochio, who answered, opened his investigation notebook and, taking out one of the photos tucked inside, began to speak.

“Konakayama Kinzo, do you know him?”

Amie, looking at Kinzo in the photo with cigarette smoke, answered curtly.

“I know him. You came knowing I know him. The news of his death is all over the world.”

“Yes, I’m just asking as a formality. Then, do you know this person?”

Mochio changed the photo. But this time, Amie’s answer was different.

“I don’t know. I’ve never seen this old man before.”

“Misaki Shutoku. He’s the culprit who killed Konakayama Kinzo. Do you know him?”

“······”

The camera films Amie, who has a cigarette in her mouth, head-on. Her eyes flickered briefly.

“I don’t know him, that kind of person.”

No, she knew. She didn’t know Misaki Shutoku specifically, but she knew his surname. Misaki. Yes, it was the same surname as Misaki Toka. Soon, Mochio, scratching his head, closed his notebook.

“I see. Well, you were classmates with Kinzo, right? What was he like back in school?”

“······We weren’t that close. We hung out, but he wasn’t my type. He liked girls and was stupid.”

“Any incidents that might have caused a grudge?”

“Why, why are you asking me that!”

Amie suddenly became agitated. Mochio chuckled softly and calmed her down.

“I’m sorry. As I mentioned earlier, it’s just a formality.”

“Oh, come on. I don’t know, that kind of thing. What kind of grudges do students have?”

“That’s right.”

This time, the junior detective took out another photo from his notebook and showed it.

“By any chance, do you know this place? It’s a fishing village in Chiba.”

That is, the place where the incident occurred.

“I don’t know any rural villages like that.”

“Okay, I understand.”

At that moment, Director Kyotaro gave the OK sign. After a few retakes and some lighting adjustments, they moved on to the next scene on the storyboard. This time, the question came from Mana Kosaku, who played Detective Mochio.

“Konakayama Kinzo called Amie before he died. You talked on the phone, right?”

“What is it? Why are you talking in an accusatory tone?”

“Oh, I’m sorry. I apologize.”

“······I did get a call. When I was working.”

“What kind of conversation did you have?”

“I don’t know.”

“Excuse me?”

“I answered the phone, but there was so much static that I couldn’t hear a thing!”

It was a lie. In her annoyed mind, Kinzo’s last voice flashed for a moment.

‘Ah, Amie. Misaki Toka is back.’

Mihuyu, or Amie, felt nauseous. It felt like the cigarette smoke was blocking her throat. Disgusting. She had goosebumps. Her excited breathing trembled. Misaki Toka is alive? That’s crazy. But who is this Misaki Shutoku guy? Toka’s father? Or-

‘I, is Toka really alive? Did I… did I really see her die?’

Amie manipulated her own memories. It was a common process for humans when they fell into confusion. She had clearly seen Toka collapsed on the floor, bleeding in the past. Then she was taken away in an ambulance. She heard the news of her death a few days later.

But was that really a corpse? What if she’s really alive?

Amie began to fall into delusion. First of all, the existence of Misaki Shutoku was the starting point. Toka’s father killed Kinzo. Why? Why on earth?

‘No one should know?’

Only the members knew in detail, everything about what they did to Toka. Her father’s revenge? That didn’t make sense. There was no way he could know. The fact that nothing had happened for years was proof of that.

At this moment.

“Amie, it’s certain that Misaki Shutoku is the culprit, but there’s a possibility that there’s an accomplice.”

Mochio’s line. The junior detective looked at him, surprised. Amie’s eyes widened rapidly.

“A, an accomplice?”

This was all just Mochio’s speculation. There was no point in telling her. But Mochio felt something was off from Amie’s reaction.

‘There’s something… there.’

It was a probe.

Anyway, this line added to Amie’s confusion. You could say the timing was good.

“An accomplice······”

The news said that Kinzo was killed by a single perpetrator. The detectives said the same at first. But an accomplice?

‘N, no way! Is Misaki Toka really alive??’

Otherwise, there’s no way Toka’s father would have suddenly killed Kinzo. Moreover, Kinzo was even raped. Amie vaguely realized the reason why Kinzo was raped.

What Kinzo did to Toka.

That.

‘As I thought, Toka, she’s alive, I’m sure of it.’

Because Horinochi Amie instigated it. It was practically Amie who moved Kinzo to harm Toka. Of course, only a few people know that. However, Toka herself would know.

-Thud!

At that moment, Amie, startled, jumped up. Her eyes widened, and her lips trembled slightly. But she hid her thoughts as much as possible. She covered up the past as much as she could.

“Please go back! I need to rest.”

However, Mochio, who was scratching his head, didn’t move.

“Uh- I still have a few questions left. If the call wasn’t clear, how often did Kinzo come here? He even came on the day he died.”

“Please leave!!!”

Amie screamed. The junior detective, sensing something was wrong, pulled Mochio away.

“Senior. Let’s go for now. Next time, next time.”

“Huh? No- I still have questions.”

As Mochio was being dragged away, the junior detective whispered in his ear.

“If you cause trouble again this time, you’ll really have to take a long break. Please be reasonable.”

“······I, is that so?”

Only then did Mochio slightly bow his head to Amie, who was huffing and puffing.

“I’m sorry, I’ll ask the remaining questions next time.”

“Don’t come back!! If you come again, I’ll formally protest to the police!”

“···I’ll contact you again.”

The two detectives left the karaoke. Horinochi Amie, who immediately locked the entrance door, covered her face with both hands. Then, she rolled her widened eyes. She repeated the same words as if possessed.

“······She’s there. She’s alive. That bitch Toka is alive.”

Meanwhile, among the two detectives who came up from the basement to the ground, Mochio glanced back at the karaoke below the stairs.

“Twice.”

The junior detective sighed deeply and asked back.

“Huh? What again?”

“Horinochi Amie’s eyes noticeably wavered twice. The first time was when she heard Misaki Shutoku’s name, and the second time was at the word ‘accomplice.’”

“Was that so? Anyway, Senior. Please be reasonable. Let’s see each other for a long time.”

Regardless, Mochio was lost in deep thought.

“······Let’s go back for now, I need to look at Misaki Shutoku’s family relations again.”

Back.

The karaoke setting changed once again. There were still no customers, but the lighting was endlessly dark. It felt like there would be a musty smell. Perhaps because of that, Horinochi Amie, who had gone insane, was not in the hall.

Following the camera rail, you could see a room.

Amie could be found in the VIP room at the end. She wasn’t alone. She was lying on the lap of her lover, the handsome Horyo Eishi. And Amie was completely drunk. Worn out. With her face on her lover’s lap, she was shedding tears.

“Hic- sob!”

The handsome Eishi patted her gently.

“It’s okay, Amie. If you have something difficult, tell me everything. I can be your strength.”

Eishi embraced her as warmly as possible. It was about 30 minutes. Amie opened her mouth while sobbing. Of course, her mind wasn’t clear. On top of that, she was drunk, so how could she be?

“Sob······Toka. Toka is alive.”

“Toka?”

“Yeah- that bitch Misaki Toka is alive. She should have died, but she’s alive.”

“What happened, Amie?”

“······I didn’t like her from the moment she transferred.”

Horinochi Amie began to spill everything. Her lover, Eishi, listened calmly. But there was something strange in his eyes.

About an hour passed like that.

“······”

Amie fell asleep. Of course, on Eishi’s lap. Around this time, the handsome Eishi slowly lifted Amie’s face and left the room.

-Swish.

He looked back at Amie for a brief moment. She was passed out to the point where anyone could have taken her. Soon, Eishi left the karaoke with a serious face and went into the back alley.

He looked around as if searching for someone.

That’s when it happened.

“You’ve arrived.”

A dry voice was heard. The camera captures ‘a stranger’ slowly appearing from the darkness. No, it captures Kang Woo-jin head-on. He held out his hand to Eishi with a blank expression.

“Give it to me.”

Eishi, trembling, took something out of his pocket and dropped it onto Woo-jin’s hand.

-Thud.

It was a recorder.

End