The Police Do a Better Job than Heroes - Chapter 68

WeTried Translations

Translator/Editor: ZERO_SUGAR

Chapter 68: Fame Is Often Exaggerated (5)

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A broadcasting station near the center of Light City.

"That's why I called this press conference today."

Countless reporters packed the room, camera flashes going off nonstop. On the stage, Kang Jin-ho tapped a long pointer against his palm.

There were so many cameras that there was barely room to stand. Word had gotten out that Kang Jin-ho himself had called reporters together for the first time.

"These are cases recently collected from the area around South District 4."

Kang Jin-ho pointed the stick at the screen behind him, and the files flicked across it.

Cases of unexplained abnormalities gathered recently from the southern and eastern parts of the city. Interviews with people who found their own names unfamiliar, or said they felt something was off whenever they looked in the mirror. There were even cases where family members said, "This person has changed."

Kang Jin-ho had people gather thirty-seven such cases in all.

"Excuse me, Officer Kang Jin-ho. Couldn't this just be something that happens? Collective stress, perhaps..."

One reporter who had read through the materials raised a hand. Kang Jin-ho shook his head.

"No."

Tap.

The wooden pointer moved again, and the screen changed to a screenshot from the Hero Association website.

More specifically, it was a bounty page for one person.

A question mark hung over a black silhouette on the huge screen, alongside the name Body Snatcher.

"This is the work of the 1-rank villain, Body Snatcher."

"..."

No one there was unfamiliar with that name.

"B-Body Snatcher?"

"How did you know?"

"What exactly is that villain's ability? The Association hasn't released anything beyond the fact that Body Snatcher takes people's bodies..."

Even so, the reaction was explosive.

It was only natural. The public knew almost nothing about Body Snatcher's ability apart from the fact that the villain took over bodies. Even the information heroes had uncovered was being kept secret by the Hero Association.

And yet Kang Jin-ho had just stated, as if it were fact, that this phenomenon, citizens collectively feeling something was wrong, was Body Snatcher's work. He couldn't have said that without understanding Body Snatcher's ability to a considerable degree.

"I can't tell you what the ability is."

As though he had expected that reaction, Kang Jin-ho shook his head with a grave expression.

"This is a matter that requires confidentiality. The moment I reveal how I found out, or how much I know about that villain's ability, Body Snatcher will prepare countermeasures."

It wasn't exactly a lie. He couldn't very well say, "I saw it in the game," and it was true that saying so would cause serious trouble.

"Ah..."

"Hmm..."

The reporters were visibly disappointed.

But Kang Jin-ho wasn't finished.

"Give me five days instead."

"...Five days?"

"Yes. Within five days, I'll use the same method that let me identify this as Body Snatcher's work to pinpoint where the villain is hiding."

"...!"

Camera flashes erupted wildly.

Body Snatcher's combat ability couldn't compare to that of other 1-rank villains. What made the villain truly frightening was how difficult Body Snatcher was to identify because the villain kept changing bodies. Given enough time, Body Snatcher could take over someone else's body again.

That secrecy was the villain's greatest strength... and Kang Jin-ho was saying he would catch a 1-rank villain in just five days?

If anyone else had said something like that, they would have been cursed out for talking nonsense. But no one there laughed at Kang Jin-ho.

After all, it was Kang Jin-ho saying it. Everyone believed he must have some terrifying method, something only a genius could imagine and criminals would never even consider, to make a declaration like that.

'...Of course, I don't have any such method.'

Squinting against the barrage of flashes, Kang Jin-ho thought to himself.

There was no magic trick like that. What he had just said was a one-hundred-percent lie.

Could game knowledge help? No, it couldn't.

He knew the bases of villains who actually had bases, but Body Snatcher was the type to wander from one back alley to another.

Of course, he knew where the villain's treasure vault was, but there would be nothing left inside after the escape ritual performed recently. Body Snatcher wouldn't be anywhere near it, either.

Still, that was fine.

He had told that lie for Body Snatcher to hear in the first place.

The villain believed Kang Jin-ho had a terrifying information-type ability. So his claim that he would catch Body Snatcher within five days wouldn't sound like a bluff.

Body Snatcher would grow impatient. Kang Jin-ho didn't know how far the ritual was from completion, but the villain would try to finish it as quickly as possible within those five days. Body Snatcher would probably use personal treasures to make up for the portions that could have been completed using ordinary people's selves.

It took too long to tamper with citizens without getting caught.

That was Kang Jin-ho's first goal.

To prevent any further harm from coming to the citizens.

"Ah, and there's one last thing I'd like to say."

Kang Jin-ho casually cleared his throat and put a map on the screen.

It showed a small gym on the eastern outskirts of Light City, scheduled for demolition.

"Starting today, I'll be preparing the operation here. So I ask all citizens and reporters... please do not come to this location. You'll interfere."

"..."

"It's dangerous. Seriously. I won't say it three times. Don't come."

"Um, Officer?"

Someone cautiously raised a hand among the reporters.

"Why are you revealing the location where you'll prepare the operation? Body Snatcher will find out too."

"Yeah...?"

"If it's some kind of trap, shouldn't you keep the location secret?"

"And why tell us where it is if you're saying not to come..."

The reporters murmured in confusion, but Kang Jin-ho smiled brightly.

"It's fine. It won't matter if Body Snatcher knows. In fact, the villain needs to know."

Then he gave a small bow.

"That concludes the press conference."

With that, he coolly walked straight out of the room.

Kang Jin-ho only had one thing left to do now.

"All right, then. From now on, with everything I've got..."

...do nothing.

* * *

Kang Jin-ho's declaration shook all of Light City that evening.

-Breaking) Kang Jin-ho publicly calls out 1-rank villain Body Snatcher... "I'll pinpoint the location within five days."

-[Exclusive] That gym where he stressed "Don't come" three times... Where exactly is it?

-Expert reveals, "Kang Jin-ho appears to be thinking at least three moves ahead"...

Special reports poured out, online communities exploded, and people talked about it everywhere over drinks.

The strange part was that even though so many people were discussing it, every interpretation was different.

-The gym itself is a trap. It's bait to lure out Body Snatcher.

Some claimed the gym itself was bait.

-No? What kind of trap gets announced publicly? Ordinary people are already flocking to the gym to take pictures. His real plan has to be something else.

Others said the gym was only a distraction, and that Kang Jin-ho was secretly preparing something else.

-I think he can't catch Body Snatcher anyway, and he's actually targeting another 2-rank or 1-rank villain. They'll let their guard down because they think he's after Body Snatcher.

Still others said it looked like he had been planning a carrot-and-stick strategy from the start.

But there was one thing everyone was curious about.

-Why five days?

-Why five days specifically? Why not three or seven?

No one could say for certain what the five days Kang Jin-ho had declared actually meant.

In any case, the eyes of villains and heroes alike were all fixed on the gym.

"Blackflame, here's the report."

"Hmm."

Several heroes and villains even investigated the gym in detail.

"There's nothing there?"

"Yes. There aren't even any traces of ether or any security personnel. It's just an old gym."

"Hm."

The gym Kang Jin-ho was staying in really was nothing more than an old gym. If there was anything noteworthy about it, it was only that the facilities had fallen into disrepair because it was scheduled for demolition.

"It's a trap."

With a scoff, the 1-rank villain Blackflame tossed the report aside.

"But there really is nothing..."

"Nothing you fools would be able to detect, perhaps."

Blackflame turned in the chair and looked back at the cells Blackflame had been studying.

"A man on Kang Jin-ho's level wouldn't have prepared nothing. And even if it really is a gym with nothing in it, that itself would be part of his plan. Everyone, stay out of this matter."

The reputation Kang Jin-ho had built, and people's faith in his genius, had blinded them.

There had to be something.

It might look like there was nothing, but there had to be something.

"..."

And someone sat in the darkness, watching all the commotion.

"That bastard..."

It was Body Snatcher, the villain at the center of the incident.

Body Snatcher had been drenched in cold sweat throughout the entire press conference. Not only had Kang Jin-ho figured out that this was Body Snatcher's work, but he was also saying he would pinpoint the villain's location within five days?

Kang Jin-ho... would do it.

This couldn't be a bluff.

'It's a trap. That gym is a trap.'

Body Snatcher knew it too. The gym was a trap, and nothing good would come from going there.

But... there was no other choice.

Even if Body Snatcher stayed away and held out, the villain's location would be exposed.

That left only one option.

A direct confrontation.

Before Kang Jin-ho could figure out Body Snatcher's location within five days.

"I'll come for you first."

Taking that body.

That was the only way out.