WeTried Translations

Translator/Editor: ZERO_SUGAR

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◈ The Police Do a Better Job Than Heroes

Chapter 36

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Life Is Like a Railroad Track (3)

Kang Jin-ho sat still and stared into the old fortune-teller's eyes.

He had no idea what exactly the woman had misread from him. But going by her reaction, it wasn't the ordinary kind of misunderstanding. Nobody reacted this violently over something mundane.

And worse, Eun-yeong was standing right next to him, eyes bright with interest.

If he couldn't shut this old woman's mouth right here, his walk home tonight might turn into his last walk on this earth.

Kang Jin-ho quickly smoothed out his expression. He put on an air of ease, curling his lips into a gentle smile.

Then he locked eyes with the old woman and asked, low and calm.

"Ma'am. Just now... what did you see? Is it something hard to say out loud?"

An open, unthreatening smile. A friendly voice. Warm rapport through careful eye contact.

Kang Jin-ho had run every calculation he could to avoid spooking the old fortune-teller further.

"Huhh, huhh, huuuh..."

But instead, the old woman seemed to be having trouble breathing, one hand pressed to her chest as she gasped for air.

[Say one word out of line and I'll tear you apart right here.]

It sounded like a hallucination, some phantom voice from nowhere. Or maybe not a hallucination at all, maybe it was that man's ability. The fortune-teller lifted her head just enough to check his face, then immediately dropped her gaze back to the floor. The smile she'd caught was chilling enough to freeze her blood.

"I shouldn't have asked what he was."

The old woman regretted it. She cursed her past self for failing to control her curiosity. She should have played dumb, pretended she saw nothing, remembered nothing! Instead she'd gone and provoked that monster...!

"...Hm."

Kang Jin-ho, unsure what to say to her reaction, fell naturally silent.

"..."

The old woman took that silence as a threat and clenched her jaw, and a strange tension settled over the tent.

"Um."

It was Eun-yeong who broke the odd quiet.

"What is it? What did you see that's got you like this? Is our rookie's ability something incredible?"

Even with Eun-yeong needling her, the fortune-teller kept her eyes on the floor, lips barely moving.

"Th, that is..."

Say it and die. No, dying might not even be the end of it if she said it.

Even Eun-yeong, one of the most powerful figures in Light City, didn't know the man's true nature. In the old woman's mind, Eun-yeong was already dancing on Kang Jin-ho's palm, just another puppet, same as every other power broker in this city.

Did she really need to provoke a man like that any further?

"I don't think... I can say it myself."

No. She had no choice but to drop to the floor right now and beg for mercy. The old woman broke into a cold sweat and barely managed to squeeze out an answer.

"Hmm..."

At that, Eun-yeong's crimson eyes curved into crescents. The proud old fortune-teller, famous in the back alleys for her uncanny accuracy, reduced to this much fear.

"Well, I guess that reaction's an answer in itself."

"..."

"Got it. We'll head out now."

Whatever Eun-yeong had read from the exchange, she wore a thoroughly satisfied smile as she walked out of the tent first.

With Eun-yeong gone, cool as ever, only Kang Jin-ho and the old woman remained in the tent. Kang Jin-ho watched the trembling grandmother and clicked his tongue inwardly.

'She saw... the karma, probably. And there's no way to explain that.'

What else could have scared the old woman this badly? Running through the possibilities, only a few came to mind, and the karma count was by far the most likely.

Kang Jin-ho wanted to protest that this was all a misunderstanding, that he was actually a decent citizen who carried old ladies' bags for them... but there was no way to properly explain himself here. It left a knot in his chest.

Still, feeling a pang of guilt over what felt like unintentionally traumatizing an old woman, Kang Jin-ho leaned in and whispered kindly, hoping to clear up at least part of the misunderstanding.

"Ma'am. I'm really not that bad a person. You've got the wrong idea. So whatever you just saw... please don't go around telling people. It gives them the wrong impression, you know? Understood?"

"Hiiik...! Y, yes! Understood!"

Of course... it didn't look like the misunderstanding had cleared up at all.

**

The weekend flew by. Maybe it just felt that way because so much had happened, or maybe weekends just always went by fast.

"...Good morning."

Still, a lot had genuinely happened, so Kang Jin-ho pushed open the precinct door with steps twice as heavy as usual.

"Oh, Officer Kang. You're here?"

"Yes. Chief, did you have a good rest?"

"Me? Well. Heh heh."

When he opened the door, Chief Raphael, who was tidying up the whiteboard on the wall, greeted him warmly.

"Jin-ho, good morning~"

"...Morning."

Beside him, Park Eun-yeong, who was helping with the tidying, flashed her usual bright smile too.

That same good-natured smile, that same friendly manner. Exactly like before the weekend, down to the last detail.

"..."

Kang Jin-ho found that "exactly like usual" attitude strangely unsettling.

Think about it rationally. They'd gone on a date together at the festival over the weekend, tagged along to the black market, and met with a fortune-teller who was clearly hiding something significant. From Eun-yeong's side, she must have come away certain that Kang Jin-ho carried some kind of extraordinary secret.

For a normal person, wouldn't that mean at least trying to satisfy some curiosity, or at the very least, treating him a little differently now?

But Eun-yeong hadn't reached out separately since that day, and her attitude toward him hadn't shifted in the slightest either. She just smiled like always, talked like always.

'How is she doing that?'

Kang Jin-ho found it far more unnerving this way. Was she simply too much of a sociopath for something like this to register at all? Or had she already had her suspicions long before any of this?

"Jin-ho, what are you staring at like that?"

"N, nothing! You're just especially beautiful today, senior..."

"Hehe. You think so?"

Well, a mystery was a mystery, but Kang Jin-ho decided to match Eun-yeong's rhythm. If Eun-yeong was going to act normal, he'd act normal right back.

They exchanged a bit of meaningless small talk, and after changing into his uniform, Kang Jin-ho returned to his seat.

Jingle, jingle.

"How can I help you?"

The door opened with the sound of the bell.

What stepped in right after was a woman with a familiar silhouette.

Glossy brown hair. Fair skin and a sharp nose, every bit the mixed-heritage British look.

It had been a while since A-rank hero Trace had come by the precinct.

"Oh, what brings you here? No call ahead or anything."

Glad as he was to see her, Kang Jin-ho rose from his seat looking a little baffled. He and Trace usually kept in touch fairly often, so this was unusual.

"Well..."

Trace looked troubled, and let out a sigh as if she had no choice.

"Pleasure to meet you!"

Then, from behind her, a muscular man in a skintight bodysuit suddenly popped out!

The man wore a latex outfit that clung to every inch of him, and with his build and his sheer mass of muscle, the visual effect was... quite something to take in.

"Ah, pleasure to meet you too."

Kang Jin-ho, clearly at a loss for where to look, hesitated, and the man grinned as if he understood completely. Magic Muscle.

"Trace has told me so much about you! Said you were an extremely capable officer... you're finding it a bit much to look directly at my muscles, aren't you? The fact that you can appreciate this kind of beauty just proves you really are a capable officer!"

"Y, yeah..."

"I'm A-rank hero Magic Muscle! You're Officer Kang Jin-ho, right? Nice to finally meet you!"

Magic Muscle shook Kang Jin-ho's hand, his huge palm practically swallowing it whole.

"Seeing you in person, you've got a real glow about you! Hahahaha!!!"

He laughed heartily, flexing every muscle in his body as he did. Then, as though remembering something, he patted down his bodysuit and produced a sheet of paper from some entirely unclear location.

"Here, take this!"

"This is..."

Kang Jin-ho accepted the paper in bewilderment, silently wondering where on earth it had come from. It read "East District Hero Social Gathering," with a specific date printed below, along with the words "one guest permitted."

"What's this for?"

"Just what it looks like, it's a party invitation! Heroes cross paths at HQ and get to recognize each other's faces, sure, but there's rarely a real chance to build proper friendships... so when the veteran heroes throw one of these gatherings, we all show up and get to know each other!"

Kang Jin-ho, of course, already knew that hero social gatherings existed. What he was confused about was...

"So... why give this to me?"

He wasn't a hero, so why was he suddenly being handed an invitation to a hero social event?

Magic Muscle answered with a dazzling smile.

"I'd love for you to attend this party! I need your help!"

Having said that much, Magic Muscle suddenly leaned his head close to Kang Jin-ho's ear and whispered, very quietly.

"We've had a tip that there's a villain hiding among the heroes registered with the Eastern Association...! I want you, Jin-ho, to be the one to catch them!"

"..."

Kang Jin-ho had to work very hard not to look at Eun-yeong.

He might not know of any heroes hiding their true identity, but he sure knew of one officer doing exactly that.

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