WeTried Translations

Translator/Editor: ZERO_SUGAR

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◈ The Police Do a Better Job Than Heroes

Chapter 56

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Luxury Is In the Details (5)

"If it's Tienrang, then..."

"Yeah, definitely..."

Kang Jin-ho's sudden proposal, wedging an S-rank hero into the Gallon family party, met with a kind of grudging acceptance from everyone in the room. The general mood was something like, well, if it's someone like Tienrang, I guess...

"Um..."

Just as everything was about to steamroll forward, the youngest sibling, who had been listening quietly, raised a hand.

"This is finally supposed to be a moment for just the family to reconnect. I don't mind Officer Kang being here, but bringing in an outside guest feels... off, somehow."

"Hmm..."

Hearing that, Gallon fell into thought. Tienrang was, without question, a hero at the top of their field, more than qualified to join a party like this. But the youngest sibling had a point. If this was supposed to be family time, an outsider crashing it did clash with the spirit of the thing.

"That's a fair point. Officer Kang, I'm sorry about this."

Gallon offered Kang Jin-ho an apologetic look, then nodded toward the youngest sibling.

"No, no, not at all. I completely understand."

Kang Jin-ho backed off without so much as a word of protest, cool as anything. There was no ground to stand on if he pushed further. What could he possibly say when a family wanted their family party to stay a family affair?

"I'll explain the situation to Tienrang-nim myself. It's a shame it worked out this way, but... yes."

"Would you? I feel bad, making them come all this way for nothing."

"No, no. I'm sure Tienrang-nim will understand."

Kang Jin-ho tapped at his phone, sending a text message off to someone. The staff watched out of the corners of their eyes, secretly impressed. These were people who worked in the core district of Light City and took a certain pride in not being easily rattled, but today, Kang Jin-ho kept handing them one surprise after another.

"They're really turning Tienrang away at the door like that?"

"...With just a phone, no less?"

"They must be close..."

Tienrang. An S-rank hero, one of the top-tier information-type abilities out there, that much everyone agreed on. But Tienrang's personality, inversely proportional to their power, was just as widely known. There was even a rumor going around that Tienrang's actual ability had something to do with fire.

A family with the Gallon name's kind of clout could smooth something like this over. But some random cop who'd only recently gotten a little famous, inviting Tienrang and then kicking them back out? The fact that he seemed to think he could handle the fallout from that was, honestly, the more shocking part.

Tienrang had the temperament of a spoiled brat. Just how exactly did this cop plan to survive the consequences? While everyone watched him, wondering.

"Hmm..."

Kang Jin-ho didn't so much as flinch. Not a blink. Not a shadow of worry crossed his face.

Want to know why he could stay so composed?

Because Kang Jin-ho had never actually called Tienrang in the first place. He didn't have Tienrang's number. He'd never even met them.

Put simply, he'd made the whole thing up from scratch, no basis whatsoever. Just to see how the youngest sibling would react.

'A 1-rank villain, for sure. Let's see how far you can hold out.'

Kang Jin-ho slid the phone back into his pocket, eyes glinting. The fight between him and the youngest sibling had already begun.

**

"I made it clear the whole family needs to stay inside the estate for the time being. Remember that?"

"...But."

"I'll let this one go. But since everyone has to stay here together for now, let's not have any more of this squabbling. Come, raise your glasses. Once we drink, we forget it."

"...Yes, Father."

The head of the family delivered a sharp scolding to the eldest daughter, and once everyone raised their glasses and drank with practiced elegance, the mood in the room turned warm and easy.

"..."

The youngest sibling sipped orange juice, eyes moving carefully around the room.

Or, more precisely, it was the 1-rank villain Body Snatcher, wearing the youngest sibling's face like a mask.

The real youngest sibling had actually succeeded in slipping out of the core district of Light City. With help from staff the eldest sister had arranged beforehand, the sibling had put on a hazmat suit, blended into the crowd of workers, and made it through the side gate without a hitch.

The youngest sibling's wish had been simple. Not the cramped inner core, but the wider city, seen with their own eyes. To feel, just once, what freedom was. And the plan had worked.

Well. Part of it worked. Getting out was fine. The trouble came after.

Once they'd put some distance between themselves and the core district, the moment they lost the people the eldest sister had assigned to watch over them, the youngest sibling was kidnapped. And their body was taken.

What lived inside the youngest sibling's body now wasn't the youngest sibling. The original consciousness lay dormant, and the one moving the body belonged to the 1-rank villain, Body Snatcher.

A 1-rank villain existed on an entirely different level from everything ranked below it. It was the tier reserved for the most dangerous, most powerful villains in all of Light City. Body Snatcher wasn't the strongest among them, but when people made lists of the most unsettling, most nightmarish villains around, Body Snatcher's name always came up.

Body Snatcher's ability allowed the seizing of another person's body through a kind of ritual. Not just control of the body, but every memory locked inside it, all of it became Body Snatcher's own.

It was closer to an outright soul swap than anything else, which meant there was no ordinary way to detect the switch. Since the memories went too, there was no catching the villain by behavior alone.

Of course, a power this absurdly overpowered demanded a price to match. The ritual required all sorts of tedious preparation and no small sacrifice, and the stronger the target whose body was wanted, the more offerings the ritual demanded. And once the ritual was performed, it couldn't be done again for a set period of time.

Using an ability this terrifying, with this many conditions attached, on nothing more than the youngest child of the Gallon family felt like a bit of a waste to Body Snatcher. But there were reasons for coming here.

About five years ago, the Gallon family, in the middle of a deal, had stumbled onto a piece of information fatal to the villains involved. They'd learned something they never should have known.

So the Gallon family struck a bargain with the villains. Using Lethe's ability, they'd had the memory wiped clean, and in exchange, they received various favors and interests from the villains, sealing something like a peace treaty.

The Gallon family forgot the villains' secret, and the villains, in turn, did a handful of things useful to the Gallon family. A little precarious, maybe, but it had held together, a balance of sorts.

Until recently, that balance broke. Lethe's arrest was the cause.

In the process of Kang Jin-ho apprehending Lethe, she'd been left an empty shell, and every memory she'd sealed away came spilling back out. Normally these were memories hidden away specifically to avoid investigators, but among them had been the dangerous memory the Gallon family had erased.

And once Kang Jin-ho locked up a 2-rank villain on top of that, things spiraled toward disaster. The villains no longer trusted the Gallon family. Unless something was done about the memories they now held, trouble might be coming.

The Gallon family hadn't sat idle either. Feeling the threat, they'd used a "family gathering" as cover to move the whole household into the safety of Light City's core district. Even villains couldn't reach that far.

In fact, the reason they'd hired Kang Jin-ho for this case in the first place traced back to that same unease. All the talk about the family's dignity had just been an excuse. What they'd really wanted was to confirm whether this incident had anything to do with the villains.

"Little one, does the food suit your taste?"

"Yes. It's good."

The youngest sibling smiled weakly. Body Snatcher had stolen the youngest sibling's body and infiltrated this far specifically to check on the Gallon family's situation. The goal was to blend naturally among the family, dig for information, and if necessary, "handle" them one by one.

There was no real risk of getting caught. Body Snatcher's ability couldn't be picked up by ordinary examinations or ability detection, only a detailed brain scan could catch any trace of it. If the victim never realized what had happened, there was no stopping it, an ability close to unbeatable.

'...That cop. Just a coincidence, right?'

But that name Kang Jin-ho had just dropped. The S-rank hero Tienrang's absolute sense of smell might, just might, be able to catch this subtle wrongness. That unease was exactly why Tienrang had been blocked from joining the party earlier.

That same cop had also taken down Lethe. His name had been floating around among villains lately. At first Body Snatcher had assumed it was just government spin for the press, but... was there really something to it?

While Body Snatcher sank into these thoughts, eyes fixed on the floor.

"Oh, right, come to think of it."

"Yes?"

Kang Jin-ho, who had been off in the corner chatting with the staff, suddenly walked up to the youngest sibling. He spoke in an easy, offhand tone, as though the thought had just occurred to him.

"You've been looking a bit pale for a while now. Why don't you get a thorough checkup, just to be safe?"

"...A checkup?"

"Well, I heard something like this before. Feeling down, feeling depressed, it's not always just a mental thing. Sometimes it's actually physical, something wrong in the body. Especially the head."

"I'm... fine, really."

"No, no. I heard you're staying around here for a while anyway. Why not get a detailed brain scan while you're at it?"

Kang Jin-ho pressed on, relentless. Gallon nodded along.

"Ha, Officer Kang, that's not a bad idea at all. And it doesn't have to be just the little one, might as well have the whole family get checked out together. Health matters are best handled the moment you think of them."

"You're right, Father. Since we've got the time now, it wouldn't hurt to get a physical."

"Isn't there a VIP hospital right around here anyway?"

Kang Jin-ho's suggestion seemed to land, and the family fell in line one by one. Since they had to stay at the estate for a while regardless, might as well use the free time for a health checkup.

"Wait, wait a moment. Our whole family is perfectly healthy, isn't it a waste of time to bother with checkups?"

Only the youngest sibling squirmed, restless as a dog that needed to go outside.

"Little one. Health is the kind of thing that always breaks down where you can't see it."

"I've been under a lot of stress lately, and just thinking about a checkup makes me sick to my stomach. Could we maybe skip it?"

"...There's no need to hate it that much. It's just a checkup."

"I'm just tired right now... sorry."

The youngest sibling laughed it off awkwardly. But cold sweat had already beaded along their back.

'...A brain scan?'

Having stolen a body this frail, right after performing the ritual, with no way to switch again yet, and now a thorough physical exam?

That couldn't happen. Absolutely not. The risk was far too great.

First Tienrang, and now a health checkup. Watching the cop drop two spine-chilling remarks back to back, Body Snatcher thought inwardly.

'...Is this really just a coincidence?'

That bastard... he's not doing this on purpose, is he?

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