WeTried Translations

Translator/Editor: ZERO_SUGAR

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Chapter 26: Money Follows Naturally (8)

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Not long after, a tactical unit dispatched from headquarters arrived on scene.

"Confirmed the restraints?"

"Yes. Ability suppressant's been administered too."

"Good. Transport as is."

Marionette was loaded into the transport vehicle, bound tight from head to toe.

Subduing a 3-rank villain and rescuing a headquarters investigator, quite the achievement. Not just any 3-rank villain either, but Marionette, notorious for cunning crimes, and not just any investigator, but Detective Mierou, famous as an ace.

On top of that, there was testimony that someone called "Director Baek," a figure practically an urban legend, actually existed...

Anyone could see this was a major case, worthy of a special promotion.

"Word came down from above. Constable Kang's rank apparently isn't going to change right away."

Detective Mierou said, smoothing out his rumpled clothes.

Headquarters had absolutely acknowledged Kang Jin-ho's achievements, of course, but there was a judgment that a rookie officer racking up hyper-fast promotions would draw too much outside attention and backfire, plus the president's firm stance of "promote him slowly, without special treatment, as much as possible."

"Instead, they've decided to pad your performance bonus generously, and if you want the treatment, they'll grant you lieutenant-level status..."

"Um, no. I don't need a promotion or special treatment. And please donate the bonus under my name."

Kang Jin-ho said this out of the judgment that if he kept getting promoted and ended up separated from Eun-yeong, who knew what might happen, but.

"...I see, you really have no interest in rank, do you? Understood."

Detective Mierou nodded to himself, having completely misread the situation.

Kang Jin-ho, unaware that his own words had just deepened the government's misunderstanding that "the constable is hiding his true identity," sank quietly into thought.

He was mulling over how to handle the aftermath of this case, Director Baek included.

"Detective Mierou! Let's head back together!"

"Mm, give me a second."

Watching that exchange, Detective Mierou quietly stepped closer to Kang Jin-ho.

"Constable Kang Jin-ho?"

"Yes? What is it?"

"Well, I don't usually say things this rude, but."

He glanced around, then lowered his voice.

"I'm rooting for you."

"For what, exactly?"

"Your training officer. From what I can tell, she seems to have feelings for you too. Go for it."

"I, excuse me? No, wait a second..."

"It reminds me of when I was dating my wife. A tough life like a cop's needs a little spark like this, doesn't it?"

"Where are you going? Hey!"

Detective Mierou said his piece and vanished, cool as ever. Kang Jin-ho stood there, mouth hanging open in disbelief, when.

"Now what could that have been about~"

Eun-yeong appeared quietly from behind, wearing a cat-like smile, though he had no idea when she'd arrived at the crime scene.

"Senior? When did you get here?"

"Does that matter? More importantly, I happen to know Detective Mierou's ability is reading emotions... so how'd this happen, I wonder~"

"I, I think the detective misunderstood something."

Kang Jin-ho sweated bullets trying to come up with some kind of excuse, but Eun-yeong, whether she knew or not, kept poking him in the side over and over.

"By the way, Jin-ho."

After teasing Kang Jin-ho like that for a good while, Eun-yeong's expression suddenly shifted, and she asked in a serious voice.

"I've got a question."

"Yes, senior."

"I get everything else, but that word, 'music box,' that you used to free the brainwashed Detective Mierou. How on earth did you figure that out?"

"W, well, so, here's how it happened-"

Thump.

"No, wait, don't explain now."

Eun-yeong pressed her palm over Kang Jin-ho's mouth, smiling sweetly.

"I'm going to start my own investigation, starting today. I'm going to put myself in your shoes at that exact moment and think it over, and think it over some more, about how you figured out 'music box.'"

"..."

"And once I've come up with my answer, I'll tell you... and you just let me know if I got it right. If I'm wrong, that's when you'll give me the real answer. How's that sound?"

Kang Jin-ho nodded with his mouth still covered by her palm. Inside, he thought.

'...I'm screwed.'

He'd been planning to just wave it off as a lucky guess based on big data, but somehow things kept getting bigger and bigger!

* * *

A week had passed since the "Marionette Arrest Case."

Plenty had changed in Kang Jin-ho's life since then. First, the front page of the newspaper ran a huge headline. "3-Rank Villain Marionette Captured!" it read.

The photo in the article was a side shot with a light mosaic blur, but Kang Jin-ho had clearly gotten far more famous than before. These days, patrolling the streets, he often ran into citizens who didn't know his name but would go "hey, wait" when they spotted him.

Then there was the financial reward.

Marionette's cunning methods had kept a bounty on the notorious villain for years. The Metropolitan Police Agency recognized his decisive role in Marionette's capture and awarded Kang Jin-ho a hefty ten million won performance bonus.

"Are you Constable Kang Jin-ho? I'm from the Hero Association."

"What's this about?"

"Regarding the bounty payout... just sign here, please."

For reference, the Hero Association had thrown in a hundred million won as bounty money. The gap in scale between the Hero Association and a government agency was simply unbridgeable.

Still, after setting aside five million won for living expenses and donating the rest, Kang Jin-ho managed to gain a full 10,500 karma. The karma he'd earned for resolving the "Marionette" case also came to about ten thousand, and if he could keep up this pace, achieving his dream of being young and rich wasn't out of reach anytime soon.

'...As long as I earn another 400 million karma.'

Anyway, his days flew by in a blur of busy work, and the workday hours passed quickly.

As evening shift-change crept closer at the police box, Officer Ahn Seong-sil, Officer Park Eun-yeong, and Kang Jin-ho sat drinking coffee and chatting.

"Oh right. You two are going for the ability test after work today, aren't you?"

At Officer Ahn Seong-sil's question, Eun-yeong answered brightly.

"Yep. Our Jin-ho's finally going for his ability test today~. I've decided to tag along in a special capacity, as his guardian."

"Guardian, what..."

Kang Jin-ho kept up the conversation like nothing was wrong, but inside, he was thoroughly rattled about the test waiting for him that day. It would be great if the test classified him as an ability user, but he needed to have an excuse ready in case he got classified as a "regular person."

"Anyway. If I can just kill an hour or two without anything happening, I can head straight to the testing facility right after my shift."

Kang Jin-ho said, glancing at the wall clock, and Officer Ahn Seong-sil laughed and waved him off.

"Hey, Kang Jin-ho. Don't say stuff like that during work hours. Say something like that and some nightmare complainant shows up like clockwork."

"Ah, is that so?"

"Yeah. Like right this second, all of a sudden..."

Bang!

Before Officer Ahn Seong-sil could even finish his sentence, the police box door burst open and a boy came rushing in.

"Huff, huff..."

The boy caught his breath for a moment, glanced around anxiously, then spotted Kang Jin-ho and his face brightened.

"You there! You're him, right!"

"Excuse me?"

"That genius constable guy. That's you, right? The cop who caught the brainwashing villain!"

The boy, having sprinted the whole way, spoke urgently, as if someone were chasing him.

"Please help! My sister, I think she's been brainwashed by some jerk too!"

"Brainwashed, you say?"

"Yes! Please catch that man quick, genius officer! Save my sister!"

He clenched both fists so hard they trembled, unable to contain his frustration, and the sheer intensity of it made his desperation to save his sister as soon as possible unmistakable.

"Mm... kid. You said brainwashed just now, right?"

"Yes! That's right."

"I see."

Officer Ahn Seong-sil thought to himself. Brainwashing abilities were extremely rare, and while conditional, they were also tremendously powerful. Whether villain, hero, or ordinary citizen, anyone with a mind-control type ability fell under the Hero Association's strict oversight.

So the odds that the boy's sister had genuinely been hit with a brainwashing ability were about as close to zero as it got, but.

"Hold on a second, will you?"

Instead of saying any of that out loud.

"..."

He just looked at Kang Jin-ho.

"..."

"..."

"Why are you looking at me?"

"Hm? Isn't it about time you started explaining?"

Kang Jin-ho had spent the past several months at the police box solving cases big and small, not just the heavy-hitters.

By now, Officer Ahn Seong-sil had gotten used to waiting quietly, since Kang Jin-ho would usually say "I've got a feeling" and start laying out some kind of explanation around this point.

"The kid himself came in saying his older sister's been brainwashed. You've probably got some idea, don't you?"

"No, how would I know that?"

"Huh? Up till now you've said you get a feeling off way less than this."

"That's not always true! There's not a single clue to go on right now!"

Kang Jin-ho felt wronged. He wasn't some prophet who could nail the answer the second he heard a case summary, so how was he supposed to know from just this?

Lately, thanks to a few unusual cases, it felt like misunderstandings about him kept piling up, and it bothered him more than he let on. He was someone who made reasonable deductions based on his game knowledge, not some monster who guessed everything the instant he heard it.

"Ah... is that so? Sorry for misjudging you."

"It's fine. It's true I've done plenty to earn that kind of misunderstanding."

Just as Officer Ahn Seong-sil apologized, looking a bit awkward about it, and Kang Jin-ho sighed, thinking, "How did it end up like this?"

"Wait, hear me out a little more first!"

The boy, who'd been watching the two of them anxiously, suddenly launched right into his explanation.

"My sister works at a bank... and lately she's been hanging around some blond, tanned, muscular guy? That's absolutely not her type, no matter how you look at it, so it seemed suspicious..."

"Uh, hold on. Could you start over from the beginning and explain in more detail? I think I might have an idea..."

"..."

At that, Officer Ahn Seong-sil, mid-apology, glared at Kang Jin-ho with a look of pure disbelief.

"..."

Kang Jin-ho, at a loss for words, quietly looked away.

Maybe from now on, even if he did catch on to the full story of a case, it was probably better to just play dumb!

Footnotes:

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