The Police Do a Better Job than Heroes - Chapter 75

WeTried Translations

Translator/Editor: ZERO_SUGAR

Chapter 75: Darkness Sometimes Feels Comforting (2)

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It wasn't as if Kang Jin-ho wanted to live with Eun-yeong either.

No matter how pretty Eun-yeong was, and no matter that they spent all day working together at the police station... her true identity was that of a 1-rank villain in Light City, one even called a special-class villain. On top of that, she was famous for being impossible to read.

"This is your place?"

"Yes."

"You make plenty of money. You could move somewhere nicer."

"I don't really care much about where I live..."

"Really? Me neither. We're alike."

Still, with Blackflame targeting Kang Jin-ho, Eun-yeong was the first trustworthy person who came to mind. She was interested in Kang Jin-ho, and at the very least, she would not hurt him.

So, swallowing his pride, Kang Jin-ho asked Eun-yeong, "Could you stay with me for a while?"

Whether that was fortunate or unfortunate, Eun-yeong accepted the offer without hesitation.

"My clothes go in here, right?"

"Sure..."

It was the best decision. It definitely was.

Then why did it feel like he'd escaped a wolf only to walk straight into a tiger's den?

Of course, the reaction at the precinct was the complete opposite of Kang Jin-ho's complicated feelings.

'It finally happened.'

'I told you so. What did I say? I told you.'

'Living together... so they're not even trying to hide it anymore?'

Led by Chief Raphael, everyone at the precinct smiled knowingly and patted Kang Jin-ho on the shoulder as they passed. No matter how hard he waved his hands and denied it, nobody listened.

'What do you mean, no?'

'If you were us, would you believe that?'

'...'

Right. Even Kang Jin-ho would not have believed it.

If anything, he would have thought it strange for someone to deny it. He'd started living with a gorgeous senior officer, yet instead of bragging about it, he was stubbornly insisting there was nothing going on?

He couldn't tell anyone the truth, but he couldn't admit it either. All he could do was sigh.

Anyway, that sudden cohabitation began like this.

"Jin-ho, breakfast's ready~"

"...Did you make this, ma'am?"

"Yeah. I like this."

It was surprisingly peaceful.

Every morning, Eun-yeong prepared breakfast. While Kang Jin-ho showered, she washed the dishes. In the evening, she sprawled across the sofa and fiddled with her phone. Judging solely by how she acted around the house, it was impossible to believe she was a 1-rank villain.

Of course... it wasn't as though nothing felt strange.

Sometimes Kang Jin-ho woke at dawn to find Eun-yeong standing by the living room window, staring outside. He had never seen her go grocery shopping, yet the next day, the refrigerator would be packed with expensive ingredients. Or just before bed, when faint light came in from outside, he would see shadows moving oddly across the wall.

"..."

Whenever that happened, Kang Jin-ho quietly pretended not to notice. What could he do if he acknowledged it? It would only make things awkward.

"Let's go to work~"

"Yes."

They ate breakfast together, left the house together, went on patrol together, and got off work together.

Then, as Kang Jin-ho walked along, a strange thought suddenly crossed his mind.

'...Doesn't this feel a little like we're married?'

They ate in the same house, left at the same time, and came home at the same time. People called that sort of relationship a marriage.

When he glanced sideways at Eun-yeong, lost in that thought, Kang Jin-ho met her crimson eyes.

Eun-yeong had already been looking at him.

"What's wrong?"

Smiling with her eyes, Eun-yeong tucked her long black hair behind her ear. Watching her, Kang Jin-ho felt his heart begin to race before he could stop it.

'...She's a villain. A villain. Get a grip.'

Kang Jin-ho quickly turned his head and steadied himself.

Logically, he knew what kind of monster she was.

The problem was that this monster had spent the past few days making him meals, folding his laundry, and laughing while they watched TV. On top of that, she was one of the most beautiful people he'd ever seen.

People's hearts were so easily swayed.

'Get a grip. Just as I'm watching Eun-yeong, Eun-yeong is probably watching me. If I don't keep showing her something interesting... I don't know when she might change her mind.'

That pressure was why Kang Jin-ho had been running himself ragged lately. It felt like he needed to solve as many cases as possible and make Eun-yeong as happy as he could if he wanted to survive.

'...Come to think of it.'

Kang Jin-ho suddenly realized something strange.

Since coming to this world... he had never once seen Eun-yeong do anything bad.

Eun-yeong wasn't the type to secretly scheme behind the scenes in the first place. In HiCiSi, she had been the kind of being who did whatever she wanted and destroyed whatever she wanted to destroy. She was closer to a natural disaster than a person. There was no way she had been secretly committing evil deeds behind Kang Jin-ho's back.

'...Could it be?'

A completely unexpected hypothesis popped into Kang Jin-ho's mind.

If she stays close to me, and I keep her satisfied... does she become normal?

'...That might not be so bad.'

Kang Jin-ho considered the thought, then shook his head.

This wasn't the time to worry about something like that. A 1-rank villain was after his life right now.

"Jin-ho, what are you doing? Hurry up~"

"...Coming."

Kang Jin-ho started walking again and followed Eun-yeong.

* * *

"Another failure."

Deep underground, inside a laboratory, Blackflame murmured as he looked down at the charred test subject.

For years, he had devoted himself to one line of research. He wanted to develop his own limited teleportation ability and complete a technique that could move beyond space itself.

The potential uses of ether were truly limitless. If he refined it properly... he might gain an ability beyond simple short-range jumps, something approaching interdimensional travel. Once that happened, no prison or security perimeter in any city would be able to stop Blackflame.

Moving itself might become possible soon enough. The real problem lay elsewhere.

He could move. But he had no way of knowing where he would end up.

Blackflame's cognitive ability wasn't enough to perceive his destination in advance. He couldn't even tell whether the connection had formed correctly. If things went wrong, his body could overlap with solid rock. In the worst case, he might scatter into an empty void somewhere he couldn't even identify.

In other words, Blackflame needed one thing.

An ability that could perceive beyond space, read coordinates, and determine whether a connection had succeeded. He needed a powerful information-type ability user.

Someone ordinary wouldn't do. His ultimate goal was to leap beyond dimensions, so he needed an information-type ability user among the absolute best.

The problem was that all such people were under the Hero Association's protection. Top-tier information-type ability users were classified as assets of humanity. They received round-the-clock protection behind tight security, and wherever they went, they traveled under heavy guard. The reason S-rank heroes weren't often active in the field was because they were assigned protection duties for people like them.

Normally, there would have been no way to obtain an ability user like that.

But there was one exception.

"Kang Jin-ho."

A man who had turned both a 2-rank villain and a 1-rank villain into wrecks, and who had solved every case he'd handled without even leaving his seat. Even the Association had failed to properly identify his ability, but Blackflame was certain it was a top-tier cognitive-type power.

More importantly, the man wasn't a hero. He was outside the Association's direct protection and had no government security detail. Compared to his ability, his job was still that of an insignificant low-ranking police officer.

Blackflame had no intention of killing him. He planned to kidnap him, chain him up in the laboratory, and use him as a component for the rest of his life. Blackflame had countless ways to persuade people. He could persuade them pleasantly, and if that didn't work...

He could use force.

"He should have been the perfect target..."

A complication had appeared recently. Kang Jin-ho had been living with that woman for three days already.

The surveillance reports from his subordinates all said the same thing. They went to work together, left work together, and entered the house together. There was no opening. No, it didn't even look like they intended to create one.

'Why is that woman...'

Blackflame couldn't understand it.

He knew about Eun-yeong. He had heard enough to be sick of how extraordinary she was, how terrifying she was.

Why was a woman like that protecting Kang Jin-ho? A monster who crushed even 1-rank villains whenever they displeased her, why was she now hovering protectively around one man? If Eun-yeong had always been that sort of person, she never would have earned her current reputation.

"Is there no other choice?"

Blackflame was desperate too. If possible, he needed Kang Jin-ho's "cooperation" as quickly as possible. But he didn't want a direct confrontation with Eun-yeong.

"..."

Expressionless, Blackflame opened a private line reserved for 1-rank villains. Eun-yeong had an account on that line as well. Nobody was said to have ever spoken with her through it. There were even rumors that anyone who tried to contact her had suffered retaliation...

-Won't you step aside? I need that man.

The response came quickly.

-Nope.

"..."

Crunch.

Blackflame crushed the communicator in his hand and stood.

"Can't be helped."

Now that things had come to this, there was no turning back.

"Tell everyone to prepare. We're hitting them head-on."

He would deal with Eun-yeong too.

Author's Note (Afterword)

Thank you for reading.