WeTried Translations

Translator/Editor: ZERO_SUGAR

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◈ The Police Do a Better Job Than Heroes

Chapter 41

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Life Is Like a Railroad Track (8)

"Wait, what's this? His face keeps changing?"

"Some villains can alter their appearance. Once the restraints thin out the ether in his body, his real form comes back. Take him away."

The fake Silver Knife was hauled off, and the chaos in the banquet hall had just begun to settle when...

"This is... I have no excuse!"

Magic Muscle finished praising Hell Fire, scratched the back of his head with one huge hand, and edged closer.

"Actually, some critical intel came in just now, so I stepped away for a bit. I never imagined something like this would happen while I was gone! I'm truly, deeply sorry!"

"No, no, it worked out fine."

Kang Jin-ho waved off Magic Muscle's repeated bowing and asked, "More importantly, what do you mean by critical intel?"

"Hm..."

Magic Muscle's eyes went suddenly serious.

"An S-rank prophecy-type hero, Overseer, apparently saw something related to me, so I went to Hero Association headquarters for a bit. Prophecies like this are usually delivered in person, given the risk of leaks, and since I happened to be the subject this time, there was no way around it."

Magic Muscle glanced around, then flexed his muscles, and a shield formed to block any sound from leaking out.

"What I'm about to tell you is strictly confidential. According to Overseer's prophecy, a hero is being held captive underground in a building in District 4. Probably our senior, the real Silver Knife."

Given who was likely trapped somewhere right now, it was almost certainly the missing real Silver Knife. That part checked out. The problem was what came next.

"Overseer said... Overseer saw a future where after I rescue the captive hero, I end up collapsed on the floor, covered in blood."

"...I happen to know quite a bit about prophecies. Doesn't an S-rank hero's prophecy come true no matter what?"

"That's right!"

A hero held captive in a building basement. And Magic Muscle, after rescuing him, collapsing in a pool of blood.

"It's not a positive kind of prophecy, and it's late at night, so we can't pull together a huge number of heroes right now, but..."

Magic Muscle sighed and looked around at the wreckage of the banquet hall.

"Still, the Association's decided to go rescue Silver Knife."

"Isn't there a strong chance this is a trap?"

"It's practically guaranteed to be a trap! But we can't just not go!"

"...I see."

"Right! He's a comrade! If something happened to me, some other hero would come for me. I'm just doing the same!"

Magic Muscle's resolve was firm.

"And once a prophecy's been handed down, it happens no matter what form it takes. If we avoid it and don't go, Silver Knife might end up dead for some other awful reason without even being rescued. So it's better if we take the initiative and shape the prophecy ourselves!"

Kang Jin-ho found himself convinced. This wasn't some reckless charge in. There was real calculation behind it.

"Of course, the Association isn't full of fools either! We're not planning to walk bare-handed into a trap and actually die. All we need to satisfy is the result: ending up covered in blood on the floor."

"Ohh..."

"The Association brought fake movie blood and special effects makeup! Step one of the plan is, we rescue Silver Knife, smear him in fake blood, and lay him out on the floor!"

Magic Muscle flexed his pecs with confidence, then leaned in and whispered quietly into Kang Jin-ho's ear.

"So, here's the thing. I might need your help, Officer Kang."

"My help?"

Kang Jin-ho had actually already collected his karma for cracking the fake Silver Knife case, and it was late, and he'd figured there was nothing left to do, so he'd been planning to go home and sleep like a rock.

"Yes! To make sure this rescue operation goes off perfectly, I think we'll need your help, Officer Kang. This is a plan the Association's brains came up with, so you can trust it!"

Magic Muscle held up three fingers and explained.

"First, we're planning to split into three teams."

"Three teams?"

"Yes. Think about it. If I, the one named in the prophecy, head straight for the basement out in the open, the odds of some huge incident happening go way up. So I'll play bait, causing a scene nearby!"

That was the biggest reason. This place was likely a villain hideout, and going in for a full-on assault at their home base was a bad idea.

"The information-type and communications-type heroes will go in directly with A-rank and above combat personnel from the Association to rescue Silver Knife! We've got a few communication-type ability users too, so they can serve as command as well!"

Magic Muscle as bait. And the main force made up of the Association's elite.

"Lastly, I'd like Officer Kang to lead the rookie heroes as a separate strike unit!"

"...Why exactly am I needed here?"

A strike unit made up of rookie heroes and Kang Jin-ho? Kang Jin-ho thought that sounded like a mismatch in rank, but...

"Since it's a villain hideout, there's a good chance ordinary citizens are being held there too! Once the main force clears a path, you can search the building without pushing too hard."

"Hm..."

"Either way, having a reliable information-type ability user along would be reassuring, but all the available information-types are already assigned to the main force!"

Put that way, it was oddly convincing. The heavy-hitting A-ranks would clear the way up front, and he'd just be searching whatever space was left with the rookies, keeping things safe.

"You'll get proper credit, of course! There's a reward on top of that too!"

"Well then..."

Kang Jin-ho finished weighing it.

"Let's give it a shot!"

**

Not long after.

The Association's elite members, called in on an emergency summons, gathered one after another. A-rank combat heroes decked out in flashy costumes and seasoned, experienced information-type heroes assembling together made for a spectacle in itself.

Among them was a familiar face: Trace. She spotted Kang Jin-ho and gave a light nod, and Kang Jin-ho returned the gesture before turning his eyes forward.

"Over there?"

"Yes."

The building in District 4 looked like nothing more than a run-down strip mall from the outside, but...

"The entrance has cutting-edge security."

The atmosphere shifted completely past the entrance leading underground. A steel door far too thick for the building it sat in, and layer upon layer of ether shielding, made it clear this was no ordinary building.

Boom, boom!!!

The bait squad, including Magic Muscle, was already causing a scene near the building. The combat strength inside the hideout would be thinned out by now.

"Step back."

An A-rank acid ability user from the main force stepped up and sprayed a thick green liquid, and the heavy door dissolved without a trace, letting off a foul stench. The CCTV had already been hacked long ago. After making sure no alarms would trigger, the group walked without hesitation into the dark underground passage.

"Ugh!"

"Argh!"

Inside, just as expected, low-rank villains and the thugs working as their lackeys wandered around, but they were nothing more than candles in the wind before the Hero Association's elite. Even clearing villains as they passed, their pace barely slowed compared to just walking straight through.

"Impressive."

"Really is..."

While the rookie heroes marveled at the sight...

This feels kind of familiar.

Kang Jin-ho felt like this scene was oddly familiar somehow. Not the way the heroes were sweeping through it, but the shape of the building itself.

The design of the doors, the placement of the pipes along the walls, even the direction of the vents. His memory, leveled up several stages by all the karma he'd earned, recognized this place from somewhere. More precisely, it had served as a sort of dungeon in HiCiSi.

Wooeeong!

His train of thought broke apart at the blaring sound of an alarm. Whether it was because of Magic Muscle causing a ruckus outside, or because the main force's infiltration had been spotted, there was no way to know.

"The main force will keep heading straight in. There's a main hall ahead. Strike unit, split off and search the right-side sector. There's a good chance civilians are being held there."

The information-type hero guiding the main force divvied up the roles, then took the lead straight ahead.

"So what do we do now?"

Left behind, the rookie heroes stood around blankly, watching Kang Jin-ho for cues. They'd heard he was actually a police officer, but the charisma he'd shown back in the banquet hall had made them hand over the decision-making without even realizing it.

"Hm... let's try this way for now?"

Kang Jin-ho thought it over for a moment, then turned left, going off memory.

"Didn't they say to go right?"

"Let's check the left side first."

Following Kang Jin-ho's lead, the left corridor they entered carried a faintly eerie atmosphere.

Along both sides of the red carpet stood bizarre statues whose meaning was impossible to guess: a blindfolded angel, a knight with its head cut off, a demon with eight arms. It looked less like a villain hideout and more like the gallery of some rich person with terrible taste, and the rookie heroes walked the corridor tense and on edge.

After walking for some time...

"A door."

"It's a door."

They stopped in front of a firmly shut steel door at the end of the corridor.

"A door lock... huh."

Mounted on the thick steel door was a crude electronic keypad that clashed with the corridor's atmosphere. Something like a riddle was written above the door.

[The eyes of one who turned from the truth, the weapon of one who lost their pride, the fingers of one who grasps for greed, the mark of sin.]

"Hm... what was this again."

Kang Jin-ho propped his chin on his hand, dug through his memories of the game for a moment, then punched in a number without hesitation.

[Beep, incorrect password.]

"Ah, right, not that one."

[Beep, incorrect password.]

"Right, that's a different place."

[Beep, incorrect password.]

"Wait, then earlier... uh... how many was it?"

After three failed attempts, he seemed to realize something and casually punched in an eight-digit number.

[Click.]

With an electronic chime, the thick steel door slid open.

"Whoa, what was that just now?"

"How'd you solve that riddle so fast?"

The rookie heroes trailing behind stared open-mouthed at Kang Jin-ho, who'd cracked the code in an instant.

"Can you explain it to us?"

"I'm curious!"

"To explain how I solved this, first you need to understand the nature of this space. From what I've figured out..."

"From what you've...?"

"...Hold on."

Kang Jin-ho, about to launch into a full explanation, looked around for a moment.

Eun-yeong had gone back to the station, and everyone around him was a hero. And not just any heroes, rookies who'd come here specifically to assist him.

Which meant, strictly speaking, Kang Jin-ho outranked them.

"Is that really important right now?"

"Huh?"

"There's no time. Let's move fast. We need to rescue Silver Knife, don't we?"

"..."

Having changed his mind in an instant, Kang Jin-ho skipped the explanation and strode forward briskly.

If Eun-yeong were here, maybe, but there was no time to explain right now.

...And honestly, it was a hassle anyway!

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