C1.22 —– Crime Record
by UntamedS“Oooh ……” choked cries echoed through the shadowed interior of the illuminated arena as the scrawny man, battered and bruised, struggled to crawl forward on his broken legs, leaving a long trail of blood on the floor.
He wanted to escape from this horrifyingly terrifying museum of death, yet the slow, methodical footsteps behind him had already announced his ultimate fate.
“What a misbehavior~” A black silk gloved palm grabbed the scrawny man’s weed-like, messy, blood-stained hair and lifted his face gently, gentle as a lover’s touch.
“Why resist such a beautiful thing as giving your life for a great art? Didn’t you enjoy it before?” A horrible twist was implied in the magnetic low male voice.
“No, no, forgive me Mr. K, I regret it oooo! Please …… oooo!!!”
The skinny man cried so much that his features were all wrinkled together, and before he could finish his sentence, a sharp knife slashed his throat, and the blood clogged his windpipe so that he could only make hoarse air sounds.
“Tsk, what a failure, how many times have I told you not to make such an ugly face!” Putting away the knife, he took off the gloves stained with blood on his hands.
Wearing a rabbit mask, Mr. K looked down in disgust at the skinny man on the ground.
“Ho ho ho–” the skinny man painfully covered the cut at his neck and died with his eyes wide open.
“There really is no substitute that can match him in this world that exists ……” K regretfully sighed in a hypocritical tone as he closed the man’s black eyes that he once called clear.
He seemed to grieve the man’s death, and as if he was grieving yet another failed artistic endeavor.
K turned on the record player next to him, the old antique from the last century was well cared for, glistening with a metallic sheen, and the music played was still sonically fine.
“…… The truth under the lies, the dead bones in the castle vines ……” the young man’s special voice became more textured through the record player’s transmission, as if it was murmuring in his ears, causing his heart to flutter.
K listened to the music and closed his eyes in ecstasy, gracefully moving his feet and dancing to the music, only the undried blood on the ground proved that a bloody killing had just ended.
It wasn’t until the music ended that the rabbit-masked K stopped moving and let out a regretful sigh.
The perfect work of art in his mind was, of course, the singer of the song, the young singer named Jiu Shu.
It had been an unknown number of years since he had heard Jiu Shu first song, when K had first experienced what a true heartbeat was, the excitement of an uncontrolled heart that was nothing less than the thrill of killing someone for the first time when he was a teenager.
No, it was more intense than those, K who had experienced that kind of pleasure was now a bit tired of killing.
He only wanted to experience that heartwarming feeling again, if that beautiful young man was made into an exquisite wax statue and accompanied by himself forever, that heartwarming could definitely reach the extreme.
K imagined that noble and beautiful young man being wrapped in wax and turned into a wax statue, and laughed maniacally with excitement.
The sound of laughter ghostly spread in the closed pavilion for a long time.
Inside the detached villa in the center of Metropolis, sunlight squeezed into the room through the thick window screens and tiny dust motes floated among them.
Jiu Shu opened his eyes and rubbed his brow with a few moments of exhaustion.
After reading the system panel all night last night, this dog system was at it again, with its little tactics, causing him to sleep through the night without watching many movies, but with a high level of mental exhaustion.
Jiu Shu ruffled his messy soft hair and stretched out before looking at the electronic watch on the bedside table.
It was half past eleven.
Only one and a half hours short of the agreed upon 1:00 p.m. meeting, Jiu Shu got up and briefly washed up, originally intending to put on his usual casual attire.
He reached out his hand and picked through the closet, after a pause, Jiu Shu pulled out one of the matching sets of white shirt and camel-colored long trench coat.
This outfit, which Jiu Shu had seen the day before in You Xin’s photo wall, was pasted squarely in the center, with a number of hearts drawn next to the photo.
He must have liked this outfit.
Jiu Shu thought, quickly changed his clothes, then he took the gift for You Xin, and put on a black mask to cover the lower half of his face, and sunglasses to cover the upper half of his face.
Looking at himself in the mirror, he looked down at the time again, realizing that he was going to be late.
Fortunately, the movie theater wasn’t too far away, Jiu Shu took a taxi and sat in the car, gazing at the scene of rapid retreat outside the window in contemplation.
Today was the day that the hero and heroine met exactly, which also meant that there were only but two months left until the first death of the object of discipline in the plot.
Whether or not the fate of the subject of discipline had changed depended on two months from now.
“……”
Thinking of this, Jiu Shu slightly lowered his eyes and looked at the gift box in his hand.
It wasn’t until the cab arrived at the address and parked that Jiu Shu settled the fare and got out of the car, catching a glimpse of the tall man standing at the entrance of the plaza.
Compared to the passersby around him, his massive physique stood out among the crowd, with people constantly casting strange glances at him, while the tall man ignored it.
He just stood there quietly, his hands holding a bouquet of flowers obediently, his gaze fixed on the flowers in his arms all the time, as if he was afraid that the delicate flowers would be melted by the sunlight.
Today’s You Xin had obviously dressed up on purpose, his slightly long hair was neatly combed to the side of his ear, leaving only some hair to hide the scars on his face, and he even wore a face mask.
He didn’t know how long he had waited under the hot sun, the tall man’s pale bloodless cheeks were a little damp with sweat, staining the dark-colored face mask.
The way his head hung low appeared a bit droopy, much like a large homeless canine.
Seeing this, Jiu Shu’s eyes softened a bit and he moved forward.
This tall man who always looked silly in front of him was wearing a mask that only revealed half of his face covered by his hair, and his expression was almost indistinguishable from that of the master personality, You Xin, making Jiu Shu a little confused.
However, after the man raised his head in surprise, revealing bright eyes, Jiu Shu could tell the difference.
Only the sub-personality would forever stare at him with a blazing gaze, a far cry from the crazy and evil to the extreme sub-personality in the original.
Simple to the point of adorableness.
“Jiu …… Jiu.”
You Xin instantly recognized Jiu Shu not far away, and subconsciously wanted to shout out, but in the end, he realized that they weren’t the only two people here, and that there were many outsiders in the area, and withdrew his voice.
He was a bit chagrined, worried that he had left a bad impression on his beloved, and his palms couldn’t help but tighten nervously around the flowers in his arms.
These were all paper flowers that had been folded in the past two days, and each one was extremely heartfelt, just so that he could give his sweetheart the best gift.
“Have you been waiting long?”
Jiu Shu walked to beside You Xin, looking up at his hair that was dampened by sweat, with only those dark eyes that looked like they were dipped in the night sky, filled with twinkling stars.
“No, I just got here too!” You Xin shook his head and answered obediently.
He had actually arrived two hours early, afraid that he would miss his appointment.
Jiu Shu could tell that he had lied, but didn’t care, he just stroked his cheek soothingly, his eyes softer.
“Jiu, Jiu, it’s a gift, a present!”
Embarrassed by being touched, the face under the mask instantly reddened, only to maintain a good image, he held back his happiness and forced himself to present the flowers in his arms.
Inside the delicate wrapping paper were floral roses, layered and delicate as works of art.
Jiu Shu thought at first that they were real flowers, but upon closer inspection, he realized that they were paper flowers, so one could only imagine how much effort went into them.
His lips under the mask hooked up as he took the bouquet and stood on his tiptoes to give a kiss through the mask.
You Xin’s ears flushed red, and he shyly kept his head down, not daring to look at him until he handed him a gift box.
“It’s …… your album!!!” It was as if You Xin’s eyes were filled with bright crushed diamonds, he held the album in his hands for a long time, unwilling to let go.
In order to make this handful of rose paper flowers, You Xin missed yesterday’s album release date, and by the time he rushed over, the store was already sold out.
You Xin was simply lost beyond words, but still had to brace himself for today’s date, more important than the album was the beloved Jiu Shu.
“The movie’s about to start, let’s go!”
Looking at You Xin’s face full of happiness that he couldn’t hide, Jiu Shu’s eyes curved under his sunglasses from the force of his smile then took his hand, walking together in the direction of the movie theater.
This was a fairly prosperous business district in Metropolis, and the movie theater was on the third floor of the Trade Tower inside the plaza.
[……]
You Xin watched through his sister’s eyes as the two held hands together, their large, slender, pale hands being held by a long, delicate hand, followed by the interlocking of their fingers.
The cozy image of a couple walking hand in hand, snuggling together was like what the world called the best and simplest of relationships.
It had nothing to do with him, a monster that was dirty to the core.
His sister had gotten his happiness, and the monster would stay where monsters should stay forever.
Perhaps this was the end.
Soon reaching the entrance to the movie theater, You Xin was led along the way, his face flushing even more under the mask after noticing that Jiu Shu was wearing something different than usual today.
He knew this was his beloved’s way of showing how much he valued him and how much he loved him.
Realizing this, You Xin felt his face burning, and his brain seemed to be steaming with dizziness not knowing what was going on.
It wasn’t until they reached the ticket counter that he took out their movie tickets in a trance and followed Jiu Shu towards the viewing room.
Just like the countless beautiful dreams he had ever had, sitting quietly together with his beloved, in the dimly lit movie theater, feeling each other’s body heat.
“Bang Bang Bang–!!!” The ambiguous atmosphere was broken by the sudden sound of a fierce gunshot.
Somewhat bewildered, You Xin raised his head and looked at the large screen not far away, full of plasma and severed limbs, briefly interrupting his fantasy filled with pink bubbles.
This didn’t seem to be the kind of romantic movie that You Xin imagined would be suitable for romance, but rather a police procedural with educational value.
It told the story of a young gangster who lived at the bottom of the social ladder and worked his way up the ladder by any means necessary, and was finally brought to justice by the police.
The punk youth who overly revered violence and bloodshed did not end up with the happy ending he had dreamed of.
After noticing You Xin’s bewilderment, Jiu Shu made a gesture of watching carefully, signaling him to focus.
It was a movie he had specifically chosen, perfect for teaching You Xin to stay away from all plot-related offenses.
Especially since You Xin, as the embodiment of the dark side of the punishment target, naturally had a violent side that could easily get caught up in all sorts of incidents.
Although the current You Xin was very different from the original novel, under the inertia of the plot, there was no way for Jiu Shu to ensure that You Xin wouldn’t repeat the same mistakes, so he could teach by example.
In this way, You Xin was asked to watch a two and a half hour long police movie by Jiu Shu.
However, most of his attention seemed to be focused on the back of his hand, which was pressed tightly together with Jiu Shu, revealing a shy expression from time to time.
Until the movie ended and the two of them walked out of the movie theater hand in hand together, You Xin still hadn’t regained his senses from the romantic fantasies that had filled his head.
Jiu Shu walked to the entrance of the building with the stupidly large man beside him and saw that rain was already dripping outside the door.
Metropolis weather was always so fickle, obviously just a moment ago was a bright sunny day, but now it was already dark clouds, gloomy without a ray of light.
“It’s raining ……,” Jiu Shu looked at the weather forecast on his cell phone, it seemed that it would only rain for two hours, so he decided to stroll around the shopping mall in the building.
You Xin still obediently followed Jiu Shu, the two of them just like a normal young couple, walked through the crowded mall, when they got tired of walking, they went to a nearby coffee shop to sit for a while.
It wasn’t until they reached the fifth floor of the building that Jiu Shu stopped, his eyes looking thoughtfully at the lighted sign advertising the entrance to the fifth floor.
Museum of Murder.
A familiar name, having seen the movie in question only yesterday.
The Murder Museum, as the name suggested, was a museum that exhibited scenes of murder cases.
Inside the museum, there were various wax figures that perfectly reproduced the scene of each murder case.
Whether it was the miserable expressions of the corpses or the layout of the scene at the time of the case, all of them were perfectly modeled.
Jiu Shu looked towards the location of the museum, a venue that occupied most of the fifth floor, and behind the glass sliding door was a bright light, making the interior of the venue look more and more spacious.
No one knew the horror of this arena’s interior when the lights went out.
He didn’t realize that the Murder Museum had actually moved here.
Recalling last night’s movie, Jiu Shu remembered that the owner of this arena also seemed to be a member of the Ten Elders Club, from a serial murder case in the original book that made even the hero, Lin Qi, feel quite uncomfortable.
This person, codenamed K, was rather cautious and never contacted others online, leading to the fact that Jiu Shu only had partial information about him and had not discovered his location until now.
According to the content of the movie, K opened museums all over the world, and was also very picky in his killings, preferring to pick people who matched his aesthetic to be made into wax figures.
It should be that someone in this city was more in line with his aesthetic and that was why he opened the venue here.
The serial disappearances of young men and women on the news yesterday probably had something to do with it. After all, this K seemed to like to wash the wax off the bodies and ruin the skin before dumping them.
Jiu Shu retracted his gaze and narrowed his eyes.
Since this person had been brought to the front, it would be a pity not to dispose of him.
Just as Jiu Shu was thinking about how to resolve this plot character, You Xin also noticed his gaze.
He looked over and keenly spotted a dark shadow inside the arena.
It was a middle-aged man in a suit who seemed to be staring at Jiu Shu outside the arena, the expression on his face one of exuberance to the point of excitement.
The tips of You Xin’s ears twitched, and his superhuman hearing allowed him to hear the man’s voice.
“No need to look any further, huh-huh!”
He seemed to be talking to someone, “I have found him, my most perfect creation! Tomorrow, he’ll be the most prized piece in this pavilion!”
“……”
The man’s face, excited to the point of grimacing, was reflected in You Xin’s dark pupils.
“Time to go, the rain has stopped.”
Jiu Shu’s voice interrupted You Xin’s gaze, and he withdrew his gaze to look at the gentle lover before him and nodded curtly.
Only the scarlet overflowing at the palms of his clenched hands revealed his emotions.
Jiu Shu didn’t notice the difference in You Xin as he walked along, pondering what to do with the slippery K.
In the movie, this K seemed to have some strength, he was good at fighting, and could easily take back the escaped young men and women.
He was also emboldened in the face of the police’s siege and was able to escape easily, an all-around criminal with both intelligence and strength.
However, it may be that the way of killing was too artistic and not exciting enough, so there were only a handful of movies made, which were not as many as the punishment target, but the ending was much better.
The movie didn’t even depict this K being arrested and he was still on the loose.
Jiu Shu thought of the end of the punishment subject’s burial in the fire, and could only sigh that fate had played a trick on him.
This time, though, K shouldn’t be able to escape.
Ending the short date, Jiu Shu dropped You Xin off outside the theater doors before returning to his villa.
As the vehicle moved away, the tall man who had watched Jiu Shu leave withdrew his gaze.
He looked down at the palm of his hand, the crimson blood had dried and was a deep red color like a rose held in the arms of a lover.
He had to protect his beloved Jiu Shu.
After returning to the villa, Jiu Shu once again launched an investigation.
After learning K’s specific address, it was easy to find out information about him, and he soon got his real identity and various assets under his name.
He also smoothly invaded the surveillance of the murder museum.
After a few moments of blurring on the computer, the museum’s surveillance screen was accessed.
The eerie venue was filled with life-size wax figures.
Maintaining different postures of death, some died in the bathroom, some died by the bedside of their bedrooms, all kinds of deaths were available.
“Bang! Bang!!!”
Suddenly, the sound of flesh colliding came from the surveillance screen, and Jiu Shu’s beautiful peach blossom eyes narrowed slightly, suspecting that he had stumbled upon the scene of K’s murder.
Quickly focusing the camera in the direction the sound came from.
It was a studio covered in blood.
An unfinished corpse was still wrapped in hot wax, and the victim bound in chains next to the corpse was staring blankly at a short distance away.
“Plop–”
The sound of a body hitting the ground hard came from the camera, and a man wearing a rabbit mask appeared, he was beaten so badly that it was hard for him to get up from the ground.
“Who are you? I don’t think we’ve ever met before aaaaaaahhhh!!!”
A dagger pierced the man’s palm so hard that he let out a scream of pain.
This gentlemanly type of killer who acted courteously in the movie had no decorum at this moment, and even the victims near K who hadn’t been disposed of by him yet were stunned, staring at what was in front of them with a dumbfounded expression.
Watching the incomparably powerful Mr. K in their eyes being beaten by an unfamiliar man without the power to fight back.
Seeing this, Jiu Shu switched the camera with a somewhat subtle expression and saw the person opposite of K.
A tall man who was too familiar to be seen, with childlike, pure black eyes filled with cruel scarlet, and a twisted, tyrannical smile at the corner of his mouth.
“I heard you~” the man’s voice was grim.
K was going crazy, wailing and covering his pierced palm, wondering what the hell the monster-like strong man in front of him was talking about.
He suddenly broke in and started hitting him, K had no reaction and had fallen into a passive situation where he could only be beaten.
“What! I don’t understand ah ah ah!” The dagger in K’s hand was pulled out hard, and blood flowed out.
“Ho ho ho!” K’s screams clearly pleased the tall man, who let out an uncontrollable laugh and excitedly yanked up K’s ankle on the ground.
It was as easy as dragging a dead pig.
[It’s time to stop.] You Xin’s voice rang in You Xin’s ears, and You Xin, lost in the joy of protecting his beloved, completely ignored hiss brother.
“What are you going to do! Damn it! Damn it ah ah ah ah!!!”
K was being dragged, his ribs already broken, and all he could do was let out a miserable scream, the mask on his face worn beyond recognition and stained red with his own blood.
Soon, You Xin stopped dragging.
He placed K on a chair in his workshop, a chair that K usually used to concoct corpses and make wax statues; those who sat on the chair would be scalded alive by the hot wax slurry before he carved and molded them into shape.
K guessed what You Xin wanted to do.
“You! You actually know how to make …… Damn! Who sent you!!!”
K was almost going insane, he could hardly stand the fact that he would become even more pathetic than his previous victims.
He kept letting out harsh words, looking fearfully at the mouth of the mold that was getting closer and closer to him, and for the first time, he experienced the feelings of the past works.
Suddenly, the taller man stopped moving and he let out a nervous curse as if he was cursing someone unseen.
K saw the man’s hand, ready to pull the switch, being blocked by the other hand, its movements grotesque and twisted, as if there were different consciousnesses in that huge, horrible body fighting for control.
K gasped sharply, his mind almost stopped thinking, everything that had happened tonight was beyond his imagination, the joy of being on the verge of completing his most perfect piece of work was replaced by fear.
No matter who sent this man, it was too scary, K experienced fear for the first time in his life, this horrible man in front of him was destined to become a nightmare he would never forget.
Was it because he wasn’t pious enough to Kasmos?
K couldn’t understand why this man had arrived and could only blame it on divine punishment.
“You Xin! What do you want!” The taller man’s voice was spiteful, gritting his teeth.
[……]
[Don’t go on, he won’t like it.]
“What the hell are you talking about!” You Xin looked resentfully at his uncontrollable arm, knowing that his consciousness was about to be superseded.
“Damn you, You Xin!” You Xin hated that You Xin had gone back on his word, he had clearly agreed that the night belonged to him, but now he had gone back on his word.
[……] You Xin didn’t retort, he watched his sister’s actions in silence.
This sister who had the happiness he had dreamed of did not seem to understand her lover.
At the movie in the afternoon, You Xin could see that the young singer didn’t seem to like bloody and violent things, and he knew that once the singer knew about everything that had happened tonight, then his sister would probably be disliked by the singer.
And his sister seemed oblivious.
[Let’s stop here, we’ll just call the police].
“By what right! He tried to hurt Jiu Shu! Why can’t he be punished! It’s not like I tried to kill him!” You Xin’s voice was sharp and angry.
[You’ll be hated by him!] You Xin was losing some of his patience.
He was a filthy monster, a monster who didn’t deserve love.
But his own sister clearly had so much and yet she still didn’t cherish it.
Such a sister made You Xin feel a burning sensation growing stronger in his heart, the spreading malice all towards this only family he had.
You Xin felt despicable, but still couldn’t help but think about it.
If it had been him, if he had been the one who had gotten Jiu Shu’s affection, he would have been more competent than You Xin.
He wouldn’t be as reckless and carefree as his sister.
“…… ha ha! He won’t know!” You Xin listened disdainfully to his brother’s cowardly and incompetent words, knowing of course that this could not be known by his beloved.
But he had to do it in order to protect Jiu Shu.
No one knew how much anger and fear ran through his mind when he saw everything inside this murderous museum and realized what the man who called himself K had tried to do to his beloved Jiu Shu.
If he hadn’t found out about all of this, then perhaps without him knowing it, his beloved Jiu Shu would have been lying in the cold arena as a wax statue.
This dreamy, beautiful day would have disappeared like a gust of wind into his life, never to see his lover’s lovely face or touch his soft skin again.
Separated forever.
The poisonous juices of resentment nearly filled his heart every time he thought about it.
You Xin would never allow this to happen, not even the slightest possibility.
Thinking this, You Xin broke into a sickly smile, “I just want to protect him, fix all the obstacles, and then we’ll live happily ever …… after.”
Before the words were finished, a familiar voice came from the monitor speakers in the workroom.
“You Xin, stop.” It was the voice of Jiu Shu.
“!!!”
[!!!]
Discovered.
Everything, his most unsavory face, his ugliest face, the things he hid the most from his lover.
TN:
Tomorrow ✌️
This was a great chapter thank you for this masterful translation
Thank you!
omg 😳
[Busted from Phineas and Ferb starts playing]