Around two hours later…
It was almost afternoon, and the crowd at the exhibition had thinned to almost nothing.
Koyo was standing in a corner—one where there were no cameras, yet from where he could clearly see “The Painting of Love.”
That corner was dimly lit.
He was leaning against the wall, standing there without any visible emotion.
As he kept looking at the painting, his attention shifted to a strange man wandering around it.
Loose, shabby clothes. Messy hair.
His body language was odd.
His eyes kept darting around.
Koyo tilted his head slightly. Suspicion crept into his mind.
Just then, he noticed Rivan and Ira entering the floor, and he immediately prepared to leave.
He started moving down from the second floor.
Ira noticed this from the corner of her eye, smiled to herself, and began roaming around the floor with Rivan as if casually observing the artworks.
Koyo reached the first floor and pretended to examine the artwork near the stairs. An odd restlessness filled his mind.
After a few moments—and at that moment, the same strange man collided with him.
Koyo saw the lifelessness in the man’s eyes.
He sensed a strange smell coming from him.
And instantly, Koyo ran upward.
Smoke had started filling the second floor.
The reason— “The Painting of Love” was .
Koyo rushed straight toward the painting.
Shouting for help, he tried to extinguish the fire, and in the process, his hands were lightly burned.
Ira, Rivan, and several security officers came running.
Seeing them, Koyo said, “That man—he’s the one who set the painting on fire! Catch him!”
Rivan signaled the guards, and all the security personnel ran to chase the man.
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Inside Koyo, rage burned—so intense that he wanted to kill that man.
But he suppressed his expressions.
Looking at the half-burnt painting, he asked Rivan, “What kind of arrangements are these?! This painting was the central attraction of your exhibition! You should have been more careful!
And even after the fire spread so much, no fire alarm went off!? How can you put ordinary people’s lives—and these artworks—at such risk?!”
Rivan replied, “We’re deeply sorry for this incident. Our entire building has a fire safety system, and it’s well-maintained. We don’t know why it didn’t activate.”
“And the security?! What about that?! There isn’t a single guard on this entire floor!”
Koyo said hurriedly—then lowered his voice.
He didn’t want to show his anger.
Speaking calmly, he continued, “I’m an art lover, and I can’t tolerate seeing paintings being disrespected. A lot of people visit this place, and seeing such weak security truly disappointed me.”
Ira smiled and said, “We understand. A lot of people come here, and many more will while the exhibition continues. We take our responsibility seriously and will make changes to our policies.
According to our policies, paintings submitted through anonymous accounts are given minimal security so that common people can view them closely. That’s why there was no guard on this floor—only CCTV surveillance. But it seems guards are necessary here as well.”
Just then, a guard arrived and said, “Someone hacked our fire system—that’s why it shut down.”
Another guard came running and said, “Sir… we couldn’t catch that man.”
Hearing this, Koyo’s fists clenched—but his expression didn’t change. He didn’t let it.
Taking a deep breath, Ira said, “We already felt that displaying this painting in the exhibition wasn’t a good idea.”
Koyo, hiding his anger behind fake confusion, asked, “Why? This painting was the central attraction of the exhibition.”
Rivan replied, “Yes, but just by looking at it, one can tell it’s inspired by the famous serial killer from a few years ago—the Smiley Mask Murderer. She destroyed many families, so it’s natural for people to feel resentment.”
Inside, Koyo burned with rage. “What do you mean!? The world hates my … this world—this world that commits countless evils itself—how dare it call my evil!?”
His eyes remained fixed on the half-burnt painting, where his master’s face was still visible.
He came back to his senses when he felt a hand on his shoulder.
Rivan said, “Come quickly—we should show your hands to a doctor. You must be in pain.”
Koyo didn’t refuse, because doing so would raise suspicion—and that was the last thing he wanted.
Rivan took Koyo to the hospital.
Ira stayed back, saying she would fix the hacked system, assess the damage, and file a police report.
But as Ira watched Koyo leave in the car with Rivan, a strange smile appeared on her lips.
“Phase two of the plan… completed.”
Meanwhile, elsewhere…
Aditya was sitting in his office.
He was checking emails on his laptop when he noticed one from Mr. Shah.
He was about to open it when Ruhi knocked on the door.
Aditya half-closed the laptop, moved it aside, and gestured for her to come in.
Ruhi entered with several files.
She spread them across the table one by one and said, “This file contains the board meeting summary.
This one has sales and turnover data by area.
This file has details of our new products’ performance.
And this one—this is the summary and details of yesterday’s meeting with the marketing team. Please check them.”
As Aditya took the files, Ruhi added softly, “Sir… the board members are worried. They’re saying your attention hasn’t been on work lately. You’ve been missing many meetings.”
Aditya, reading a file, replied, “Don’t worry. I’ll try to attend all board meetings.”
Lowering her gaze, Ruhi asked, “Sir… may I take leave now?”
Aditya looked up.
He stayed silent for a moment, then said, “Alright. You may take leave for today.”
Ruhi left—but suddenly opened the door again and stepped back inside.
Aditya was confused.
Ira smiled and said, “I’m not your employee… yet.”
Aditya took a deep breath. “Stop these childish antics.”
Ira slammed her hand on the table. “This is not a joke.”
When her eyes met Aditya’s, she straightened herself and said respectfully, “Shekhar sir often comes here. And every time he does, he tells me the same thing— to take care of you, so that when the lady boss returns, she finds you smiling… just the way you were when she left you.
But day by day, I feel like you’re changing.
You don’t take care of yourself. I don’t know where you stay… or what you do… but I do know one thing—you’re not taking care of yourself. Please… take care of yourself.”
With that, she left.
Silence filled Aditya’s room.
He pushed the files aside, brought the laptop back in front of him, and opened it.
Mr. Shah’s email contained Mr. Lucifer’s address, along with the locations of the Grin Reaper’s men.
It also included details about the Grin Reaper’s activities and a list of people he had killed so far.
There was no certainty that the list was complete or entirely accurate.
Some additional details were mentioned:
There were rough estimates of his height and body structure.
After reading the email, Aditya looked up at the ceiling and said, “Have I changed? No… this version of me always existed. The only difference is that now it’s coming out.
To find Anamika… I need this version of myself. Once I find her… once I see her smiling again… the old Aditya will return.”
His eyes were filled with emptiness.
And there was nothing in the silence— except that emptiness itself.
