Doctor Demon

Jina picked up Junho from Bomi's house and went to the national library where there was a section dedicated to Demonology, a study on demons. It was not completely accurate most of the time but there were instances when they stumbled across useful information. Hobin already texted her about what he found out from Myungsoo and they were now worried.

"Song Aina is killing these people simply to test her website?" Junho frowned.

"She's probably trying to hide her involvement in her husband's murder," Jina muttered. "There's no proof against her unless the site is tracked back to her. If we arrest her now, she'll claim in court that she has no connection to the other victims and hence, she's not the murderer in all the cases."

Junho nodded and picked out a pile of books. The library was open all the time so they were able to enter it. Moreover, he was friends with the librarian and let him use the restricted section where the books on demons were available.

"Did you find anything?" Junho asked.

"Nothing!" Jina exclaimed, throwing aside a book which had no explanation on any previous cases where a demon was killing through websites. More of the information was useless because it did not match with what Maggie told them. There were no mentions of Vozakel lords or Jazrads and all that. She was frustrated as she flipped through the books.

"Can't we summon the demon and ask what its deal is?" She asked.

"I can't find Bomi," Junho sighed. "Conducting a seance without him is dangerous."

"Where is he anyway?" Why can't we reach him?"

They had tried to reach the shaman but to no avail. Bomi's phone was switched off and he was not calling them back either. It was not unusual for exorcists and shamans to be out of reach when there was a case but they desperately needed Bomi to track down the demon.

"We'll think of him later," Junho said. "Let's see…Ah hah!"

He flipped a page and showed it to Jina. She read it, frowning at every line.

"Succubus?" She questioned him. "Maggie never mentioned this as a kind of demon."

"Succubus is not a demon type but that doesn't mean the demons can't intercourse with humans," Junho reasoned. "Look at Hobin. His father was a demon, right? I'm guessing he possessed a human and that's how he stayed with his Hobin's mother."

"But this demon is possessing avatars on the website," he went on. "Giving it a physical form and seducing these kids."

They had been in the library for hours but there was no fruit. Jina was sleep deprived and tired of seeing all the books in front of her. Suddenly, she felt a cold presence and snapped her neck around.

"Yisub?" She asked, shocked to see the boy. He had been staying over at his parents' home, watching over them and his sister. They were still grieving over his death and he refused to move on when his family was in misery.

"What are you doing here?" Jina asked. "Is everything alright?"

"I want to help," he simply said. 

"You should go back home," Jina suggested. "We're trying to find the demon-"

"Let him stay," Junho said. "He might be able to help in his own way."

Jina was not so sure but she nodded. They pored over many books until finally, they were forced to give up. It was nearly 10 PM and she decided to check up on the teen gang who was still playing the game.

"I'll call Yoonmin," she finally said. "And-"

Just then, her phone rang. It was Yoonmin.

"Sis!" He exclaimed from the other end of the phone. "We did it!"

Jina frowned. "You got the code?" She asked in shock.

…

*A Few Hours Ago*

Hamlet blended in with the soldiers in the barrack. Night had fallen and they were waiting for everyone to go to sleep but it seemed the place was on red alert. Doggy was sitting on his head, both of them peering from behind a wall. There was a group of people ahead who were talking about the arrival of someone.

"SJS66 said he's gonna come tonight," one of the guards was saying. "Some of us gotta wait for him."

"What a drag!" Another guard complained. "He's on level 70! What's he doing in our area?"

"We're too weak. He's strong. We'll be protected by his squad."

There was a murmur of agreement. They were busy talking to each other so Hamlet took Doggy aside.

"Listen up," he muttered. "You go and distract them. I'll mix this in the well."

He took out a packet full of laxatives. Doggy scoffed. 

"I'm an elite! I should be the one to mix this in their well. You go and-"

Hamlet picked up the dog and flung him across the long distance.

"AHHHHHH! THIS IS ANIMAL ABUSE!" Doggy screamed as he flew across the barrack and landed right in front of the soldiers who were distracted by the animal which fell right in front of them. Doggy coughed out dust and glowered towards the place where Hamlet was hiding.

"I'm gonna sue you in court and suck out all your money!" He threatened. The soldiers were staring at the strange dog which appeared and to their shock, it was talking!

They instantly pointed their guns at him.

"Kill him!" One of the soldiers yelled but Doggy pounced on him, scratching his eyes while the others tried to shoot at him. Doggy growled at them and began to transform. They watched in horror as the dog grew larger with flames spitting out of his mouth.

"HE-"

Before the soldiers could scream, Doggy swooshed his long tail, hitting all three of them hard on their heads. They fell down, unconscious. Hamlet came out of his hiding place and nodded in appreciation.

"Good job," he praised the dog. 

"Oi! I'm gonna sue you for animal abuse!" Doggy growled. "That hurt!"

"Yeah yeah and who's gonna pay for your lawyer?"

Grrr…Doggy growled at him but Hamlet did not care. He stepped towards the well and poured the laxative in it. 

"Are you sure this is strong enough to knock the men out?" Doggy frowned.

"I used a cheat code to make it stronger," Hamlet muttered. "I'm sure it'll work just fine. As for these three…"

Hamlet turned to the unconscious guards. "Let's just throw them into the well," he casually says.

"Huh? You wanna kill them?" Doggy was shocked but Hamlet merely shrugged.

"This is a game, Doggy," he replied. "An online game. These guys won't die in real life. They'll just be eliminated and restart their levels. Only their game data will be removed so it'll take them ages to find us. Now stop whining and help me throw them in the well!"

Doggy winced but did as he was told. They threw the soldiers into the well. A robotic voice echoed from the well.

"Game over for player 78. Game over for player 110. Game over for player 1001."

"See?" Hamlet said. "They're just eliminated. Not actually dead."

"Humans are weird," Doggy muttered. They quickly left the place to avoid detection. 

"What do we do now?" he asked Hamlet once they reached a safe hiding place.

"We wait for a few hours," Hamlet said. "The cooks will start to make dinner soon…"

A few cooks were approaching the well and the duo watched them taking water from the well.

"Perfect!" Hamlet muttered. "Now we wait."

They waited for a while, pretending to stroll around. Night had fallen and the other soldiers were preparing for dinner. Finally, the alarm rang for dinner time. 

Doggy was hiding in Hamlet's pouch, having shrunk to his regular size while Hamlet made his way to the banquet hall.

"I'm hungry!" Doggy whined.

"We can't eat anything here otherwise we'll fall sick!" Hamlet muttered. He entered the boisterous hall where the food was going to be served. Most of the soldiers were there, talking and gossiping. Their avatars were depleted of food and water so they needed nourishment.

"Aren't these guys just game avatars?" Doggy asked from inside the pouch. "Why do they need food?"

"Game avatars are designed to behave like humans," Hamlet muttered. He took a seat at a far corner, away from everyone. There were so many soldiers that he went unnoticed.

"Since avatars are like humans, they need food and water too," he went on. "Of course it's not actual food. It's just fake."

"Huh? My real body is starving for cookies!"

"Your real body is a stuffed animal!"

Doggy pouted. He watched the other soldiers with envy. Seeing them eat was making him hungry and he only imagined the cookies waiting for him in the real world. Hamlet pretended to eat but threw away most of the food because it was cooked using the water from the well.

Hamlet was sitting quietly, waiting for the impact of the medicine when the siren began to ring loudly. All the soldiers stood up in alarm, their food half eaten. Hamlet and Doggy were also on their feet, wondering what was going on.

"Intruders!" One of the soldiers shouted. "Let's go!"

Intruders? Hamlet and Doggy followed the men, wondering what was going on. The soldiers headed for the town square where a pair of small soldiers were rounded up and tied together. Doggy peeped out of his pouch.

"What's going on?" he hissed. 

"I don't know…" 

Hamlet squeezed his way through the crowd, reaching the spot where the intruders were caught. A pair of familiar faces appeared in front of him, tied and bound together. His eyes widened in shock.

"Cookie and Ofelia!" He gasped.