The Police Do a Better Job than Heroes - Chapter 72

WeTried Translations

Translator/Editor: ZERO_SUGAR

Chapter 72: Fame Is Often Exaggerated (9)

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Living as a villain in Light City, especially a low-ranking villain, was far from easy.

Committing a crime was one thing. The real problem came afterward. They had to avoid getting caught by heroes, and that was hard.

Superpowered investigations had made the possibility of a perfect crime extremely slim. Some people could read the traces of ether left behind. Others could see an object's memories, or identify someone by scent alone... In this day and age, leaving no trace at a crime scene was practically impossible.

Of course, it varied depending on the type of superpower.

Combat-type ability users found committing crimes easy enough. They could just brute-force their way through. The problem was that they left traces everywhere, and once they committed a crime, they were guaranteed to get caught. Commit it early in the morning, get arrested before evening... It was practically same-day delivery to prison.

Concealment-type ability users, on the other hand, were less likely to get caught. But pulling off a crime in the first place was difficult. How were they supposed to crack a safe or fool employees with an ability specialized in hiding? And if they had the bad luck to run into a competent information-type ability user, their deliberate concealment would be considered premeditation, leading to harsher punishment.

Why not have concealment-types and combat-types work together?

They could. But that wasn't easy either.

For one thing, hardly any villain in Light City was remotely normal to begin with. Turn your back on someone, and they'd stab you in it. Suggest splitting the take, and suddenly all the proceeds would vanish. How could they cooperate when nobody trusted anyone?

Even if they overcame every obstacle and successfully committed a crime through sheer luck, that still wasn't the end. If the crime was big enough to draw an A-rank hero, or even an S-rank hero, into the investigation... no matter how carefully they planned it, they'd eventually be caught.

Everyone had their own reasons for becoming a villain. It was true that a successful crime could pay well. The problem was that “success” was brutally hard to achieve.

Then, amid all this, someone became the talk of the town.

"...A part-timer who tried to steal by turning into a cake?"

For some utterly random reason, the first criminal Kang Jin-ho had arrested after becoming a police officer was gaining fame.

As Kang Jin-ho's reputation soared, people naturally began looking into his past. One by one, the people Kang Jin-ho had arrested were being reexamined. What was that man's first case? Who had he caught? Was there some kind of pattern?

Once scholars, reporters, and YouTubers started digging into it, the part-timer who had failed to rob a café became a celebrity overnight, all under the title of “Kang Jin-ho's First Case.”

"..."

One villain watched this development very closely.

The 3-rank villain, Sack Thief.

His ability was simple. He could move any object he held into the “sack” he carried on his body, making it invisible to others. The ability itself was classified as a teleportation-type ability and was fairly useful, but all the crimes he had committed so far amounted to petty theft.

If he pulled off a big job, high-ranking heroes would come after him and catch him. But he couldn't simply quit either, since he already had a criminal record...

After spending years drifting through back alleys without ever making a name for himself, he sprang from his seat while watching the news.

"Wait a second."

The people caught by Kang Jin-ho were becoming famous?

Then did that mean... getting caught by Kang Jin-ho could make someone famous?

Once that thought occurred to him, Sack Thief began furiously working it over in his head.

First, the sentence. Everything he had done so far amounted to minor offenses. If he turned himself in on top of that, he'd probably get one year, maybe two at most. It might be even shorter if he behaved well in prison.

Then what would he get in return?

"...I could gain a reputation as a villain arrested by Kang Jin-ho."

That title alone could open up a way for him to make a living. Prison? He could just serve his time. Once he got out, surely someone would invite him onto a show or call him in for an interview. The whole world was obsessed with Kang Jin-ho right now, while Kang Jin-ho himself avoided interviews, leaving everyone desperate for a firsthand account.

There was no telling whether that would still be true in a year or two... but what if Kang Jin-ho was still famous then? What if little was known about him? Couldn't he make plenty of money from interviews as someone who had met him personally?

And if he didn't like going legitimate, he could stay in the underworld. Even in the underworld, someone who had faced Kang Jin-ho and come back alive would be worth more. He might escape the life of an unnamed petty criminal and get involved in some fairly big jobs.

What was the hardest thing in this line of work to begin with? Becoming famous. And he could buy that with two years in prison?

"...This is a great deal."

And so Sack Thief made up his mind.

"That's why I'd like you to arrest me. It's free credit for your record. What do you say?"

Sack Thief rested an elbow on the front desk and smiled slyly.

"But there's one thing I need you to make absolutely certain. This is very important."

"...What is it?"

"It absolutely, absolutely has to be Officer Kang Jin-ho who arrests me personally."

"..."

"You can't give another officer the credit. It has to be Officer Kang Jin-ho. You understand what I mean, right?"

Sack Thief licked his lips and continued.

"And make sure it goes in the record too. Write that Officer Kang Jin-ho made the arrest personally. Ah, and if possible, one photograph as well..."

Kang Jin-ho pressed his temple, dumbfounded.

A villain had walked in on his own, begged to be arrested, filled out the paperwork himself, and even demanded a photograph. He had no idea what was going on, but...

"...All right. Fine."

What else could he do? A villain had come in to turn himself in. It wasn't as if he could send him away.

"Officer Jeong Do-man, bring me some handcuffs."

"Yes, sir! I'll get them!"

A little while later, a vehicle from Central Station arrived, and Sack Thief was taken away with a broad grin on his face.

By that evening, it became clear that Sack Thief's calculations had been quite accurate.

-Breaking) 3-rank villain ‘Sack Thief’ arrested... Arresting officer is once again Officer Kang Jin-ho

-Analysis] The danger of teleportation abilities... ‘Stopped before it could lead to a major crime.’

-Expert says, “If not for Officer Kang Jin-ho, the damage could have been severe.”

The media eagerly covered Sack Thief from every angle. His ability was exaggerated far beyond its actual danger, while the fact that he was a petty criminal who had never committed a major crime was twisted into proof that he was a sinister villain who had been waiting for the right opportunity.

The media's logic went like this. An ability that secretly moved objects he held into a sack? Then if the sack were large enough, couldn't he move something like an entire building? Even if he only moved it somewhere else, wouldn't that obviously cripple the building's functions?

A villain with such terrifying talent had been arrested before he could cause a major incident. Wasn't this the very essence of preventive policing, proof that Kang Jin-ho could see the city's future?

"...No, all that guy did was rob a few convenience stores."

Kang Jin-ho was dumbfounded, but he had to admit that Sack Thief's plan was excellent. Once he got out of prison, he might never have to worry about making a living again.

At that point, Kang Jin-ho didn't know.

This was only the beginning.

* * *

The next morning.

On his way to work at the police substation, Kang Jin-ho stopped short when he saw a strange sight.

"...?"

A line of people stretched out in front of the police substation's main entrance. There weren't just one or two of them, but at least twenty people extending all the way down the alley. Some had spread out mats and sat on them, while others had brought thermoses and sipped drinks.

"The station is open, though...?"

The police substation was open twenty-four hours a day to begin with, so what exactly were these people waiting for? There were too many of them to be people filing complaints... and above all, every one of them either looked rough or was dressed suspiciously.

Kang Jin-ho approached a man crouching at the very back of the line, looking at his phone, and cautiously spoke to him.

"Excuse me, what is this line for?"

"Huh? Don't cut in line. I've been waiting since four in the morning."

Without even looking away from his phone, the man irritably waved him off.

"This is the Kang Jin-ho line. The Kang Jin-ho line."

"...The Kang Jin-ho line?"

"Yeah. You saw that Sack Thief guy Kang Jin-ho arrested this time, right? The news was going crazy over him."

"Right."

"So we want to get arrested by Kang Jin-ho too, see if we can get a few scraps out of it."

"..."

Kang Jin-ho understood the situation in an instant. He looked over the long line, then at the police substation's sign.

Then he sighed and covered his eyes with one hand.