WeTried Translations

Translator/Editor: ZERO_SUGAR

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◈ The Police Do a Better Job Than Heroes

Chapter 17

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As Coincidence Would Have It (4)

-Woop, woop, woop!

Sirens blared as three large transport buses, dispatched from Light City's Eastern Regional HQ, jammed themselves into the mouth of the narrow alley.

"Alright, alright, don't push, one at a time! Hey, move it already!"

The Black Faction and Axe Faction members who'd been beating each other bloody moments earlier now filed onto the bus in a neat line, strung together like a chain of dried fish. The officers who'd come from headquarters kept them in order with wide grins plastered across their faces.

Most of them looked like they couldn't quite believe the police had pulled off something like this, shoulders practically hiked up to their ears with pride.

"Officer, what's all this about?"

"Ah, so here's the thing. The department set up a takedown operation on these gangs, see? Real nasty bunch, too, they were about to hit a gold exchange..."

"Huh? The police did this? Not a hero?"

"That's right. Turns out we can get the job done when we actually put our minds to it."

The officers assigned to crowd control latched onto anyone who so much as glanced their way, some passing ajumma showing the faintest flicker of curiosity, and launched straight into their war stories.

-Step. Step. Step.

The gangsters climbed onto the bus one after another, orderly.

"They're pretty tame for gang members, huh?" one officer said, tilting his head.

"Yeah. I heard the Hero Association left them alone because they figured they were just small fry anyway. Maybe that's why. No killing intent in their eyes at all."

"Back when I worked in the States, guys would pull a gun off their hip the second you so much as talked to them."

Whether or not the white officer's war stories landed with anyone, the criminals staggered onto the bus, still rattled by the presence they'd felt from Blackflame. Their eyes were glassy, clearly not all the way back to themselves yet.

"Ah, Trace, thank you for your hard work!"

Right then, an elite detective from headquarters, sent to oversee the scene, spotted Trace and bowed with easy familiarity.

"I heard the report. You and our genius rookie wiped out two whole organizations single-handedly? Even if they're just regular criminals, they were about to hit a gold exchange, real scum. Citizens can finally sleep easy tonight thanks to you!"

"Um, well, that's..."

"An A-rank hero really is on another level. Thanks to you, headquarters actually has something to show for itself. We keep getting side-eyed from everywhere, so it's nice to save a little face for once, ha ha!"

Since the detective had only heard the report that "the fight between the two organizations was suppressed," they naturally assumed Trace had taken care of both organizations with brute force. And since Trace was famous for her information-gathering, they'd also jumped to the conclusion that her influence must have played a huge role in unraveling the whole criminal scheme.

"Uh, no, that's not..."

"And our rookie! Kang Jin-ho! Wow, first time meeting you in person. Fine-looking young man. Let's shake on it, shake on it!"

Next, the detective spotted Kang Jin-ho, came over with easy warmth, shook his hand, and clapped him on the shoulder.

"They said you graduated top of your class at the academy, and word's already spread like wildfire among the police. High expectations riding on you."

"...Thank you."

"Right, keep it up just like this. Sounds like you'll be moving up to headquarters soon, and I'll see you there."

"Chief! We need to head out now!"

"Yeah, yeah, coming!"

Once the officers and criminals had all boarded the transport buses and driven off, only a handful of patrol officers remained in the alley, stringing up the barrier tape.

Trace, barely managing to lean her back against a wall, finally spoke, her face drained.

"I'm glad Blackflame just left. I don't know why, but... is everyone alright?"

Trace was an A-rank hero, but this had been the first time in her life she'd come face to face with a 1-rank villain.

The overwhelming presence that had closed in from every side. The terror of death so absolute it stole even sound itself.

There was nothing Trace could have done to escape that situation, no matter what she'd tried. The sheer helplessness of it left her fingertips trembling faintly, even now.

"I'm... fine."

"I'm fine too, actually."

Unlike Trace, Kang Jin-ho and Park Eun-yeong looked relatively unbothered.

"Officer Kang, weren't you scared when Blackflame showed up earlier?"

"I was scared. Obviously. Honestly, I thought I was gonna wet myself."

He said that, but truthfully, Kang Jin-ho had managed better than he let on.

Not that he hadn't been scared at all. It was just that the moment he'd seen the Axe Faction boss pull the glass orb from his jacket, he'd recognized it instantly as the "Blackflame summoning orb" from the game. There was a world of difference between getting blindsided and getting hit while braced for it.

The "Black Faction gold exchange robbery incident" was a case that had blindsided him badly back in the game. He'd figured it was just a staged fake robbery and gone after the Axe Faction, only for a 1-rank villain to appear out of nowhere and kidnap every hero sent to the scene. An absolutely insane case.

So why, knowing what he knew, had he let the Axe Faction boss go ahead and break the orb? Well, for one thing, it would've been strange to just casually know what that orb even was. And for another, he'd been greedy for the karma reward waiting on the other side of it.

Even a case this big would only knock off around ten thousand karma, tops. To clear over four hundred million karma, he needed to find out exactly how much karma reward he could earn from getting tangled up with a 1-rank villain.

Besides, if he'd tried to clumsily snatch the orb away and the boss had bolted, that would've introduced a whole new variable into things. Kang Jin-ho believed in the butterfly effect, and he didn't want the game knowledge he was relying on to shift out from under him.

So what had he actually planned to do if a real 1-rank villain showed up?

'Eun-yeong's here.'

Kang Jin-ho trusted Eun-yeong. He believed that Eun-yeong, who currently had an intense interest in him, would drive Blackflame off if it came to that. Eun-yeong and Blackflame were both 1-rank villains, sure, but there was a clear gap in class between them.

And even if Eun-yeong hadn't stepped in to stop it, Kang Jin-ho had his own way to chase Blackflame off. Fortunate, though, that he hadn't needed to use it.

-Case resolved. Karma decreased by 8,000.

-1-rank villain repelled, karma... an error has occurred.

-Calculating.

Kang Jin-ho stole glances at the status window. Between clearing this month's entire karma quota and the extra reward coming his way for driving off a 1-rank villain, a deep sense of satisfaction settled into him.

"Phew."

Just then, Trace pushed off the wall, steadying herself as she straightened up. She looked toward the spot where the detective had been standing and smiled, bitter.

"This case. I didn't do anything. I'll send a separate document to the Metropolitan Police Agency later, asking them to strike my credit."

"What? No, you really don't need to go that far..."

"No."

Trace looked straight at Kang Jin-ho as she spoke.

"You're the one who set the whole thing up, Officer Kang, from start to finish. You saw through their plan and steered them into destroying each other. I didn't do anything, so I'm not about to take credit for it."

"I really am fine with it. If you feel like you owe me one, Trace, just spread the word among the other heroes for me. Tell them there's a capable officer they can come talk to if they've got a case that's giving them trouble."

"...Ha, you almost died to a 1-rank villain a minute ago and you're already thinking about the next case? Honestly... should I call that bold, or impressive? Maybe this is what they mean by a police officer's sense of duty."

Trace laughed, open and easy, and pulled Kang Jin-ho by the arm toward a corner of the alley.

"Officer Kang. No, Jin-ho-ssi."

"Yes?"

"I'm withdrawing the scout offer. I'm nowhere near ready to have someone like you working under me as an assistant."

Trace shook her head, thinking back on how composed Kang Jin-ho had stayed even face to face with a 1-rank villain, and the sharpness he'd shown toying with the gangsters. Right now, her own skill wasn't enough to make proper use of him.

"Once I've grown enough to become an S-rank hero, I'll come scout you again. Please don't turn me down then."

"Sure, yeah. Whatever you say."

Kang Jin-ho nodded along easily enough. By the time Trace became an S-rank hero, he'd calculated, he might already have a way to deal with Park Eun-yeong.

"Well, I'll get going, then."

Trace disappeared briskly into the depths of the alley. Once her back had vanished completely from sight...

-Ding.

"Hm?"

Kang Jin-ho's messenger buzzed. The sender was Trace, who'd just walked off.

-Jin-ho-ssi. You should be careful of that Officer Park Eun-yeong you call your direct superior.

"?!"

Kang Jin-ho shielded his phone with his body immediately. There was too much darkness around this alley. This was Eun-yeong's territory.

-When Blackflame appeared earlier. When the rest of us were frozen in terror.

Whatever he did, Trace's texts showed no sign of stopping.

-Officer Park Eun-yeong was smiling. I found that smile deeply strange. I plan to put out some informants and look into it separately...

-Don't.

Kang Jin-ho fired off the short reply, then immediately powered off his phone. Then, as if he were simply savoring the afterglow of a case well solved, he stretched naturally, rolling his neck side to side.

"Jin-ho."

"Yes! You called?"

Right on cue, Park Eun-yeong's voice came from behind him. Kang Jin-ho turned around as naturally as he could manage.

"Can I ask you something?"

"Yes! Ask me anything!"

"So..."

Park Eun-yeong wore a playful, cat-like smile, closing the distance step by step toward Kang Jin-ho, who was already backed into the corner.

"You. Didn't you know Blackflame would show up?"

"...Sorry?"

"I'm asking if you knew Blackflame would show up here."

"..."

At the critical moment, Kang Jin-ho's mind raced, and after a beat he answered carefully.

"I thought there was a slim chance, but I couldn't be sure. I'm sorry I didn't mention it beforehand."

"That so?"

"Yes, ma'am."

"Alright then. Let's head back and rest up. Good work today~"

Eun-yeong turned, unhurried, and headed out of the alley.

"Phew."

Kang Jin-ho let out a sigh of relief that Eun-yeong hadn't pressed him further. If she'd dug in and kept questioning him, he would've been stuck for an excuse, so it was a relief she'd just let it go.

-Click.

Eun-yeong, having reached the patrol car first, checked her own reflection in the side mirror. In the mirror, Eun-yeong was smiling, wide and bright.

"Hehe."

Eun-yeong thought to herself.

That man.

He really was, so very interesting.

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