The distance between the two of us in this room was only a few centimeters. I could not run out of here, and I could not call anyone to save me either.
A serial killer was now standing right in front of me with a sleepy face. She did not look guarded at all, and her voice sounded completely relaxed, which only made me more suspicious.
Were the things she said actually true, or was it just some annoying joke while reading this article with me?
"Hey, JJ." I lightly nudged her shoulder. "Did you really kill those people?"
"Yeah… You just saw it earlier in the alley. Why are you asking such a strange question?" she answered without any hesitation.
It was true that she had killed someone earlier, but part of that could be considered self defense. That situation was forced. Kill or be killed.
That was completely different from killing those five people… unless…
"Were those people threatening you, so you had to fight back to protect yourself?"
That explanation would make more sense.But stabbing someone twenty or thirty times as self defense still felt excessive.
"No. No one threatened me." She shook her head. "I just saw them alone at night and felt annoyed. That is all. No specific reason."
She finished her sentence with a smile.
At that moment, I could no longer tell what was real and what was not. But the feeling inside me was not fear or panic.
It was simply curiosity.
"So you had no reason to kill them? Why would you do something like that?"
There is always some reason behind murder. Even shootings or terrorism. No matter how irrational they are, the killers always rely on something to justify their actions.
But killing just because someone annoyed you felt strange.
However, JJ's answer opened my eyes in a completely different way.
She casually picked up my cup and drank it in one go. Then she tilted her head slightly and answered.
"Hm… You do not need any reason to kill. You just want to."
"What? What are you even saying?" I raised my voice slightly.
"Think about it this way. Do you need a reason to live or to let someone else live?"
Her question caught me off guard. I hesitated for a moment.
"No. But those are completely different things. You cannot compare them like that."
"You are wrong." Her voice remained calm. "Humans always try to balance the value of life and death. If that is the case, then you should see them as the same.
If you have a reason to live, then you will have a reason to die. And if you do not need a reason to let someone live, then you do not need a reason to kill someone either."
"Wait a second… The law. There is still the law."
She clearly did not understand how dangerous that way of thinking was.
"…That does not apply to me. And can we stop arguing about this? It is just a matter of personal perspective."
At that point, I gave up. She was not childish, but she was stubborn and refused to change her viewpoint.
But I still could not believe that she was the serial killer terrorizing Srimnet.
"I do not believe you are the one who killed them." I said what was on my mind. "Your thinking is too simple to do something like that."
JJ narrowed her eyes, clearly annoyed. Her teeth clenched together.
"…Then how do I make you believe me?"
"Prove it." I pointed at the article on the laptop. "Show me that you can do those things."
Her expression quickly changed from anger to boredom. She let out a sigh and glanced around the room. Her eyes stopped at the kitchen.
"…I did not want to do this, but do you have a knife in your kitchen? Let me borrow one."
The atmosphere immediately changed.
I froze for a few seconds, staring at her without blinking. When she began to stand up and head toward the kitchen, I quickly reached out to stop her.
"Wait a second. Why do you need a knife?"
"To prove it. What else?" she answered, completely serious. "A few sample stabs should be enough, right?"
"Hold on. That is not what I meant. If I die like that, it would be pointless. I am not like you. I cannot survive getting hit in vital spots."
"Oh. That is true." She nodded. "Then how do you want me to prove it?"
…She was actually planning to stab me.
Her way of thinking was simple, but that was exactly what made her terrifying. No one could predict what someone like her might do.
"…Fine." I pointed at the victims' photos. "Can you recognize these people?"
She sighed again, then sat down in front of the laptop and scrolled through the page.
"Yeah, I killed all of them. Is there a problem?"
She did not realize that she herself was the problem.
To confirm, I asked another question.
"Then arrange the order of the murders. Which one happened first, which one came after."
She did not take long to think. One hand moved the mouse while the other pointed at the screen.
"This one first, then her, then this guy, then the bearded one, then the darker guy."
She got everything right. But her hand did not stop there.
"…But there are still missing ones. I did two more, but it seems the news has not found them yet."
My hands felt cold when I heard that.
"You mean you killed seven people? Stop joking. Where are the other two bodies?"
"I am not joking." She tilted her head. "If you show me their photos, I can recognize them. As for the bodies, I am not sure. I just left them there. I did not hide anything."
Immediately, I pushed JJ aside and opened a government website that listed missing persons. After clicking on the image section, I tilted the screen so she could see clearly.
Most of the people listed were homeless, elderly, or had memory problems. But among them were young, healthy individuals who had simply disappeared from their lives.
It was not easy to go through all of them, so I asked JJ for more identifying details.
"Do you remember anything about them?"
"Yes." She placed a finger on her forehead, thinking. "Was it the first or second one… Let me see. Female, short hair, glasses.
I think she wore black or dark blue, but I am not sure. It was dark, and there was blood everywhere."
The information was vague, but it was enough to narrow down the search.
After ten minutes, JJ suddenly pointed at a face on the screen.
"This one. I am sure."
I immediately clicked on the image, and the information appeared.
Alicia Kaler. Assistant director and advisor at a private hospital outside Srimnet. Thirty eight years old. One point six seven meters tall. Short brown hair. Asian.
Last seen at a subway station near her workplace seventeen days ago. No mental health issues. No family problems.
The police were still investigating her disappearance.
"…So her name is Alicia." JJ nodded, eyes wide with interest.
After that, I searched for more information about her and found several articles mentioning Alicia Kaler. If what JJ said was true, her death should have been a major case. But strangely, there was no information about it, only missing person reports.
"You did not hide the body, right?"
"No. I am not good at that. You are better than me. I think it happened near an old building."
If everything she said was fake, then her imagination was too wild. I was still doubtful and asked again.
"I still do not believe you. Explain it more clearly."
JJ's eyes drifted toward the kitchen again. She was clearly losing patience.
"Do you really want me to stab you?"
"Calm down. Do not look at the kitchen. Look here." I waved my hands quickly. "I mean explain the process."
"…You are weird." She sighed. "Fine. I can explain."