WeTried Translations

Translator/Editor: ZERO_SUGAR

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◈ The Police Do a Better Job Than Heroes

Chapter 53

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Luxury Is In the Details (2)

A week passed after Kang Jin-ho accepted the request.

On the promised morning, a single car sat waiting in front of the precinct. Nothing about it screamed expensive at first glance, but the minimalist design and the sturdy build gave off a certain quiet class.

"You're not coming along, sunbae-nim?"

"Nope. I've got too much work piled up. You go and tell me everything after."

"Yes ma'am..."

Surprisingly, Eun-yeong backed off without a fight. Normally she'd have insisted on tagging along no matter what he said. But then, even Eun-yeong probably had no way of walking straight into Light City's core district.

"By the way, sunbae-nim, didn't you say you're on leave starting today?"

"Yep. I've got something else to take care of."

"...Will you tell me if I ask?"

"No."

"Got it."

Officially, at least, there didn't seem to be anything on her schedule. Kang Jin-ho decided not to dig any further.

And so Kang Jin-ho climbed into the car alone.

"Excuse me?"

"..."

The driver's seat was sealed off behind a partition. After a long stretch of driving.

"Please get out. We've arrived at the entrance to the core district."

"Right, what do I do from here?"

"You'll need to undergo screening."

"Screening, sure, that's fine..."

"A great deal of screening."

"...I'm sorry?"

Surrounded by examiners in white uniforms, a hellish stretch of testing began.

Physical exam. Ether-related tests. Security screening. And some other test with a name so complicated it made no damn sense.

The tests kept coming, one after another, names so convoluted he couldn't even keep track. Past boring and straight into irritating, but there was no sign of it ending.

"How much is left?"

"About eighty percent..."

"Done?"

"Left."

"...Ah."

Part of Kang Jin-ho wanted to snap, but these people were spending their own time running the tests too, so he held it in. Nobody enjoyed doing this kind of thing. They were just following orders from above.

'Think about how much money I get if this job goes well...'

His years on the police force had sharpened his patience enough to endure the marathon of testing.

When the endless screening finally, finally ended, Kang Jin-ho shuddered like a man who'd just been granted a new lease on life. He'd known through the game that a process like this existed, but he'd never actually sat through it himself, and with fast-forward always an option, he'd severely underestimated it.

"Ugh, seriously. I'm losing it."

He rolled his stiff shoulders and let out a deep sigh. He'd just finished signing a nondisclosure agreement promising not to breathe a word of what he'd seen inside, and the whole thing struck him as excessive.

But shockingly, that wasn't the end of it.

"You'll need to put on a hazmat suit."

"...A hazmat suit?"

"Yes. Anyone without residency clearance is required to wear one."

The attendant held out a thick, orange protective suit, the kind designed to seal off all contact with the outside.

"...Fine, give it here."

By this point Kang Jin-ho had gone past irritation and straight into stubborn defiance. Fine, let's see how far this goes. Let's see just how ridiculous this gets!

"Welcome to the core district."

Fortunately, or unfortunately, that marked the end of the security procedure. Kang Jin-ho had finally gained entry to Light City's core district.

"...Wow."

The thick iron gate opened, and the view of the core district unfolded before him. An involuntary gasp escaped his lips. He'd seen it in the game before, but the sight in front of him now was, quite literally, dreamlike.

Low rooftops clustered together in neat rows, and warm sunlight spilled onto every street. It looked exactly like a scene lifted from a fairy tale. Beautiful, warm, and elegant no matter where he looked. Peaceful, charming little buildings that had no business sitting in the heart of a city.

Calling it the core district made it sound grand, but in reality it felt more like a small village. No high-rise towers, no boxy buildings of the kind you'd see anywhere else, just small houses full of a lyrical, storybook charm.

Of course, Kang Jin-ho knew better. He knew exactly how much a single house in this quaint little village actually cost.

Money alone wasn't nearly enough to build a home here. Money was the bare minimum. On top of that, you needed power and connections in equal measure just to be "permitted" to move in. This was, quite literally, the most expensive residential district on the planet right now.

"..."

The remarkable part was that this was only the beginning. Even the core district itself was divided into several zones, and Kang Jin-ho's destination lay somewhere deeper still.

"Hm."

He walked the road, taking in his surroundings.

The people moving through the streets fell into two categories. Those wrapped in protective suits like his. And those walking around bare, wearing nothing over their clothes. The ones in suits were clearly here to do menial work.

"Sorry about the suit. It's just that the residents here are sensitive to ether..."

"No, well... I understand."

The attendant walking ahead of him offered a perfunctory apology, and Kang Jin-ho nodded.

Being powerless, Kang Jin-ho couldn't feel it, but this space was, quite literally, saturated with an enormous quantity of ether.

That, in fact, was the very reason the place once called "Gwangmyeong City" had grown and grown until it became Light City.

"The ether is why land prices here are what they are, and people like us aren't exactly welcome to go around soaking it up."

One day, a miracle substance called "ether" had been discovered near Gwangmyeong City. At first everyone assumed it was some kind of scam, but ether turned out to have effects that seemed almost too good to be true.

Simply breathing it in slowed aging, boosted physical capability, treated all manner of illness, and, above all, enhanced virility and hair growth.

Exposure to high concentrations of ether also raised the odds of awakening as an ability user, and for those who'd already awakened, it could develop their existing powers further. It was no wonder the world's power players had all wanted to buy homes here, and no wonder the once-stable government of South Korea had effectively lost control of its own land. This was a pie far too large for Korea to keep to itself.

"It's a little disappointing, if I'm honest."

"Yeah, I get that."

Even the wealthy who wanted to live steeped in ether still needed staff to run their households, hence dressing them up in protective suits just to make them work. Kang Jin-ho thought the whole situation was more than a little sad, and yet, at the same time, understandable.

These were people who'd paid untold fortunes just for the privilege of living here. How infuriating would it be to think some total stranger was walking around casually soaking up all that ether for free?

"We've arrived."

"Oh, already?"

He'd lost track of how long he'd walked behind the attendant. When the attendant ahead of him came to a stop, Kang Jin-ho's own footsteps naturally halted too.

He lifted his head to find a massive mansion looming before him. The complete opposite of the quaint little village he'd just passed through, a grand, old-world structure radiating a stately, dignified air.

"This is as far as I'm permitted to go. I wish you the best of luck."

The attendant bowed politely and retreated the way they'd come. Left alone, Kang Jin-ho swallowed hard and reached out to press the doorbell.

Slide.

Before his hand even made contact, the massive door swung open on its own.

'...I feel like I've seen this exact setup somewhere before.'

The scene felt oddly familiar for reasons he couldn't quite place, and Kang Jin-ho stepped inside with a faintly awkward expression.

Past a tranquil garden and into the interior of the mansion, several people sat gathered together, murmuring quietly among themselves. Their similar features made it obvious at a glance that they were family, though the mood in the room was far from pleasant.

The oldest-looking man among them spotted Kang Jin-ho and slowly rose from the sofa.

"Hello. I'm Kang Jin-ho, here about the request."

"Before coming in, did you sign the nondisclosure agreement?"

"Yes. I signed it."

"Hm."

At Kang Jin-ho's answer, the man nodded, looking relieved at last. He settled back into the sofa, crossed his legs, and tipped back a glass of liquor.

"My name is Gallon."

Gallon poured himself an expensive drink and began to speak.

According to him, this mansion was a house the Gallon family had recently moved into. They'd paid an almost unimaginable sum to acquire the property, but thanks to all the ether saturating the place, the quality of life here had been excellent.

"I thought everything would go smoothly from here..."

Gallon dragged a hand down his face.

"Not long ago, there was a murder in this mansion."

"A murder, you're saying?"

"That's right."

The victim was the youngest of the household, who had just turned eighteen this year.

At first they'd assumed the child was simply hiding somewhere, but one day the youngest's biometric data had vanished entirely from the registered system. And yet the body itself had never been found, anywhere.

"There's no doubt the child is dead. What matters is who did it, and how."

Gallon spoke through gritted teeth. This mansion, true to its steep price tag, had cutting-edge technology built into every corner. No live-in staff came and went, no outside employees either.

Which meant, if there truly was someone who had killed the youngest.

"That's right."

Gallon nodded and made his declaration in a low voice.

"The culprit is among my own family... somewhere in this very room."

"..."

Kang Jin-ho nodded along, thinking to himself.

That old man had probably always wanted a chance to say the line "the culprit is in this very room" himself.

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