WeTried Translations

Translator/Editor: ZERO_SUGAR

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Chapter 79: Darkness Sometimes Feels Comforting (6)

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Director Baek thought. What did he need to do to bring Kang Jin-ho down? How should he act if he wanted to reduce Kang Jin-ho's influence and drive the city's crime rate back up?

“...”

He had only thought about it for a moment, yet it already felt suffocating. How was he supposed to deal with someone who could solve any problem, break minds just by talking, and see through everything without leaving his seat?

An ordinary person might have given up, or searched for another path that did not involve provoking Kang Jin-ho.

“There is no such thing as an impossible problem.”

If anything, this situation only stirred Director Baek's competitive spirit. Defeating a seemingly invincible enemy through nothing but pure schemes and planning. What could be more exciting than that?

So, one step at a time. Starting with what he could do.

First, it was impossible to approach Kang Jin-ho directly and read him. As the last attempt had shown, Kang Jin-ho was aware of Director Baek's movements. Therefore, reading the person known as Kang Jin-ho was impossible.

Second, it was likewise impossible to face Kang Jin-ho directly. There was no point in making plans against someone he could not read. How was he supposed to make a plan when he did not know how that person would act?

Third, he could read the people around Kang Jin-ho. Even counting only those known to him, there were Jeong Do-man, Precinct Chief Raphael, Officer Ahn Seong-sil, Officer Son Jin-woo, and more... There were more than enough people whose movements he could track.

The outline was beginning to take shape. If a rock was too hard to break, he only needed to dig away all the ground around it and pull it out.

“I just need to design a case around the people close to Kang Jin-ho.”

He would start with those around Kang Jin-ho, in a way Kang Jin-ho could not stop even if he knew. There had to be a weakness somewhere.

Of course, having an outline did not mean anything extraordinary had happened. There were still many obstacles to overcome.

Director Baek had recently finished investigating the woman called Eun-yeong as well. He could not be certain, but... Eun-yeong from Precinct 7 and the legendary villain Eun-yeong appeared to be the same person.

Whether Kang Jin-ho had subdued such a villain or reformed her... either way, a direct confrontation would be difficult. Especially for Director Baek, who disliked direct clashes of force.

“Could I do something about the relationship between those two?”

If that were possible, the number of options available to him would increase considerably.

Director Baek did not know why Eun-yeong stayed at Kang Jin-ho's side. He did not know whether they were truly in love or bound by some sort of contract.

“...Then I'll start by attacking his reputation.”

He would begin with the most basic thing. Reducing Kang Jin-ho's influence began with diminishing his reputation.

When Director Baek swept his hand through the air, an old-fashioned sheet of drawing paper unfolded before him, with a brush and ink appearing beside it. It was not Director Baek's innate ability, but closer to a kind of expensive custom-made furniture.

Swish, swish.

The ink-loaded brush moved without hesitation. One possibility gave birth to another, and one conclusion led to the next.

There were two reasons Kang Jin-ho had become famous. The first was that he had defeated famous villains one after another. Lethe, Body Snatcher, Blackflame. Defeating those three alone was an extraordinary achievement.

“But there are certainly people who doubt those achievements.”

Perhaps because the feats were too extraordinary, suspicion naturally followed. Kang Jin-ho was known to be an information-type ability user, and one who had not even awakened yet. Was it really possible for someone like that to capture all those formidable villains?

Some claimed he was a hero created by the Korean government at great expense. Others claimed his true ability was information-type, while other heroes had captured the villains for him. Still others claimed his true ability was mental-type, while an information-type hero had assisted him.

“This... will be difficult to touch.”

Why had all those theories remained mere suspicions? Because there was no evidence. No hero who had captured a villain in Kang Jin-ho's place had confessed, and there was no proof that Kang Jin-ho had not captured them himself. They were nothing more than people loudly claiming that this must be the case.

“But the second reason is different.”

The second reason Kang Jin-ho had become famous was his 100 percent arrest rate.

One hundred percent was a beautiful number, but also an infinitely fragile one. A single failure would turn 100 into 99, and at that moment, perfection would shatter. A 99 percent arrest rate? That was still an incredible arrest rate. But even after ninety-nine successes, people would remember the one failure.

The moment Kang Jin-ho failed, the city's perception of him would change. It would become possible to bring him down from an irresistible monster to merely an exceptional police officer, like the other heroes.

And above all, if Eun-yeong stayed by Kang Jin-ho's side because of how exceptional he was... it might be possible to drive a wedge between them.

Then how could he make Kang Jin-ho fail? How could he give a genius who had never let a culprit escape and never experienced failure his first loss?

“...I just need to design an unsolvable case.”

Director Baek wrote a name on the drawing paper.

Officer Ahn Seong-sil.

He belonged to Precinct 7 and had a lazy personality. He disliked working hard, but he had enough responsibility to finish anything that absolutely needed doing. The last time Director Baek had visited the precinct, he had read Officer Ahn Seong-sil with his ability.

“This one's lazy nature... I can use that.”

The brush moved again. A line beginning with Ahn Seong-sil's name branched out in every direction. Different names appeared at each end, with times written between them.

The case Director Baek was designing was not one with a culprit. If there were a culprit, Kang Jin-ho would certainly catch them. No matter how perfectly they hid, no matter how tangled the case became, Kang Jin-ho would find them. So he needed a case with no culprit.

Instead, people's small actions would create a false “case.” Ahn Seong-sil's laziness. The time he would patrol carelessly and take a break. Another person's mistake that happened to overlap with that time. Each person moved without any intention, but when those actions fit together one by one, they would form a bizarre case.

It was a feat possible only for Director Baek, who could read each individual and predict their actions. The deeper Kang Jin-ho dug into this case, the more it would feel as if he had entered a labyrinth.

“This should be...”

Director Baek put down his brush and looked at the completed drawing paper.

“Perfect, perhaps.”

It was beautiful. The plan on this paper was truly... beautiful. Director Baek had made countless plans until now, but he had never created one as splendid as this.

A true masterpiece. He looked forward to seeing Kang Jin-ho's reaction when he received this gift.

“Now, Kang Jin-ho. How will you respond?”

And the next day.

“...What did you say?”

“Officer Ahn Seong-sil has taken leave.”

“...”

Director Baek tore up the drawing paper.

* * *

Unlike what people believed, Kang Jin-ho was not a genius. He could not see through everything while sitting in one place, nor did he have the power to shatter someone's mind merely by talking to them.

“...Director Baek will probably be next, right?”

That did not mean Kang Jin-ho was an idiot. He knew most of the villains listed in HiCiSi, and he had a fair grasp of their tendencies as well.

Kang Jin-ho understood the current situation. Because he had captured so many criminals, the city's crime rate was gradually dropping, while his own fame was soaring in inverse proportion.

What was interesting was that, in this situation, there were hardly any 1-rank villains who would act openly.

Why would they not push back when they were 1-rank villains? To become a 1-rank villain instead of some middling 2-rank or 3-rank one, they needed not only excellent abilities but also the ability to read the situation. The idiots who ran wild without knowing fear had long since entered the Villain Detention Center. The 1-rank villains still active possessed both skill and caution. They also had much to lose.

“But there is one exception.”

Director Baek. That man would not tolerate a situation like this.

Now, when the crime rate was slowly declining and the city was transforming into a healthier one, Director Baek would very likely try to change the tide somehow. To do that, he would make a move against Kang Jin-ho in one form or another.

It was a prediction, but also a kind of premonition. A feeling that it would certainly, certainly happen.

Kang Jin-ho slowly looked around the precinct.

Honestly, if it became a contest of strategy, Kang Jin-ho could not compete with Director Baek. Director Baek was a genuine genius, while Kang Jin-ho was merely an ordinary person who was a little sharp. Could Kang Jin-ho unravel a plan Director Baek had personally designed in real time? That was impossible.

But Kang Jin-ho had information. Very detailed information about how Director Baek worked and moved.

There was no need to say more. Back when he played HiCiSi, Director Baek was the villain Kang Jin-ho had clashed with most often, and the one who had given him the most enjoyment.

“He'll target the people around me. Probably starting with the easiest person to read. And if we're talking about someone easy to read...”

Director Baek was a villain with an eye for reading people.

“...He'll start with Officer Ahn Seong-sil. That's his style.”

Kang Jin-ho was reading Director Baek.

Perhaps even more accurately than Director Baek read himself.

Author's Note

Thank you for reading.

This is the final uploaded chapter.

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