I’m not bragging, but the corruption case involving Mina’s politician son that I solved was an extremely impactful major case.

Whether political or not, the corruption was all linked together like a string of sausages, to the point that even I, who solved it, questioned “How the hell is all this connected?”

Even though I had lost my mind at the time, for a moment I came to my senses and got scared, wondering if I had messed with the wrong thing.

But faced with a situation where I would die if I didn’t solve this, I gritted my teeth and continued the investigation, ultimately succeeding in catching all those bastards.

However, given the massive scale of the case and the serious aftereffects, for the sake of my future, the media reported nothing about me and simply stated that the prosecution had uncovered a politician’s corruption and justice had been served.

Looking back now, that too was a memo- no, it was still a crazy thing to do. I’ve thought about it almost yearly since then, and it was definitely insane.

As long as I wear a police uniform, I’ll do what needs to be done, and I have no intention of living recklessly like my former supervisor, but

The aftermath of that incident has made me answer that if something similar were to happen again, I’d rather hang myself than charge in again.

Strictly speaking, it’s because of that incident that I got involved with New Hope and ended up on this special investigation team.

Anyway, after that incident, fellow police officers and people in related fields naturally came to know about the case I solved while pretending not to know. I also haven’t breathed a word about anything related to that case.

But now the Dokkaebi knows about it? Then what, is the Dokkaebi also a former police officer or someone from the legal field?

They kept saying he was someone whose identity couldn’t be known until the end of the novel, but is it okay to give hints about his identity like this?

“Detective? Are you… alright?”

“…No.”

As I was thinking that, New Hope spoke to me from the side, and thanks to that, I came to my senses.

Okay, now is not the time to regret the past, I need to focus.

Who the Dokkaebi is doesn’t matter, what matters is hearing the Dokkaebi’s demands and figuring out what I should do, so I need to somehow get my brain working.

The earpiece I had in my ear became useless as soon as we entered the city hall building, so it’s impossible to get help from the negotiation expert in this situation. Think.

First, simply accepting isn’t good. If I accept and then fail to do the job well, I’ll end up with my head smashed by a flute while walking on the street at night,

And if I do it well, I can clearly see a future in HD 1080p quality where I become an errand boy catching people the Dokkaebi chases.

What should I do? As I was absentmindedly clenching and unclenching my fist, the speed of the Dokkaebi’s fan waving gradually increased, so I hastily opened my mouth.

“That case is already closed, so what do you want me to do? Okay fine, let’s say we reinvestigate the case,

But you’re taking all the citizens in city hall hostage because you want to request a reinvestigation? If your real goal is a reinvestigation, how about releasing the hostages at least?”

My tongue lost control, and though I half-rambled, I chose my words carefully. The Dokkaebi, upon hearing my words, stroked his chin for a moment, then nodded and said:

“Indeed. It’s true that I scared innocent citizens to draw attention. Now that you’ve come here, it would be right to release the citizens.”

The Dokkaebi immediately snapped his fingers with a “Snap!” sound, and then from above our heads, the surroundings melted away like ink dissolving, revealing the familiar city hall.

The pitch-black wall could still be seen outside the building’s windows, but the interior was bright as if sunlight was shining in. The people gathered in the city hall lobby were looking around with their necks stretched out like meerkats.

Among them were some who looked like security guards or employees, but seeing how those people were sitting blankly with the strength drained from their eyes, it seemed they had done something to prevent the employees from resisting.

And in the middle, the only one fluttering about with limbs and mouth bound was a pi- oh, it’s the mayor.

The volume that even a suit couldn’t hide. The pig- no, mayor, who looked like he could roll away if pushed, was trembling in fear with bloodshot eyes.

The mayor tried to shout something upon seeing me and New Hope, but due to the gag in his mouth, it couldn’t be understood. The Dokkaebi ignored the pig noises and continued speaking:

“Then. I sincerely apologize to the citizens for causing such trouble. Everyone can leave now, so please do so. You’ve been through a lot.”

“R-really? We can leave?”

“That’s right. Until the very end, I will not harm the citizens in any way, as I promised from the beginning.”

“…!”

The citizens who had been held hostage looked at each other cautiously upon hearing the Dokkaebi’s words, but soon everyone started running towards the exit to escape without exception.

The pitch-black wall didn’t hold back the escaping citizens, but I clicked my tongue at this situation.

Okay fine, all the citizens were released. But what about the security guards who are still unconscious, the bound mayor, some city hall employees still here.

And the citizens who didn’t escape, or couldn’t, whether due to fear or some other circumstances – aren’t they still left here?

Honestly, the mayor looks more like a pig tied up for roasting than a mayor, but this Dokkaebi is cunningly pretending to release the hostages while still trying to manipulate us as he wants.

The novel described him as some kind of dark hero, but from the perspective of a police officer, not a reader, this bastard is still a criminal after all. A son of a bitch is a son of a bitch.

“Mr. Kim. Now that I’ve released the citizens as you wanted, will you listen to my request?”

The Dokkaebi shrugged and spread his hands. I was about to argue that there were still people left here, but before I could, New Hope stepped forward and asked sharply:

“You’re releasing the citizens? Hey, don’t you see the people who still couldn’t leave over there?”

“Those are people I had to knock unconscious to subdue the citizens without harm. And those who didn’t leave can leave right away if they want to. Everyone here will wake up fine after some time passes – it’s just difficult to wake them directly, so I left them like that for now.”

“That’s…”

I was dumbfounded by the Dokkaebi’s fluent speech, but.

Given that the hostages are still in the Dokkaebi’s hands, I was pondering what to do when the Dokkaebi, as if he couldn’t wait, thrust his masked face forward and spoke to me:

“Though your heroics were buried due to cowards, I know that sense of justice. Mr. Kim. I also know that you will play a huge role in finding justice for this country!”

“Please help me! You are a man who has already proven justice by standing up to corrupt power! It’s certainly an admirable achievement and feat! But it’s not over yet.

This country is broken. The corruption of those in power is rampant, and the staff of the people has long since rotted and crumbled! But if you, I, and New Hope join forces, we can rebuild even a country like this!”

The Dokkaebi continued his speech. This speech was originally meant to persuade New Hope to join forces, but to give it to me.

What a memory. When I saw it before as a reader, I thought thoughtlessly, without using my brain, that this method wasn’t bad, isn’t the Dokkaebi’s way better for punishing bad guys?

But now, I had something I wanted to say seeing him ramble on with that speech while still keeping hostages in the back.

“First of all, I’m not Mr. Kim.”

“And secondly. This is something I’ve wanted to keep saying. If you want a reinvestigation of a closed case, you need to write a petition or go confront a prosecutor.

Telling an ordinary detective won’t do anything, and a reinvestigation is impossible without evidence strong enough to overturn a closed case. Okay? And lastly.”

I took a breath there. This last part was really, really what I wanted to say.

I looked at the child trembling in the corner.

A child, clinging to what looked like their unconscious mother, an employee, shaking badly and unable to escape. Okay, it’s fine to talk about justice or whatever. I know politicians and such are shitty.

But what the fuck are you talking about in front of a kid who’s so scared?

In the novel it was written that he doesn’t harm civilians, so I just thought that was the case, but isn’t there clearly a victim like that?

Right, this is reality. This is reality.

Even being caught by a neighborhood thug and having a knife pointed at you is scary, so why should that little kid experience the terror of being threatened by a being wielding transcendent powers?

Until now, I knew I wasn’t diligent or a good person as a police officer, and I’ve been living thinking I’m definitely not a good person, just somehow maintaining professional ethics.

Fortunately, it seems I’m not enough of a bastard to ignore something like this.

“Is this persuasion, taking hostages and rambling like that? What bullshit is this about justice from someone threatening what might happen to the hostages if I don’t listen?

If you had just taken the mayor hostage, I wouldn’t say anything. But can you tell that scared kid over there that they have to go through this for the sake of the justice you talk about? For the record, I could never do that. It’s fucking embarrassing.”

There was no description or anything in the novel, but honestly, I can’t help but think what fault do those hostages have? Even though I’m far from being a diligent police officer, I can’t help but say this isn’t right.

Coming in and seeing even a child here, I want to curse him out thoroughly and empty all my bullets into him for babbling about his justice – but the hostages are still here.

I clenched my trembling hand that wanted to draw my gun right away and took a deep breath.

Then I saw New Hope biting her lip with what looked like a moved expression, and the Dokkaebi lowering his head and shrugging his shoulders after hearing my words.

• What’s with that guy?

  “Heh, hehe!”

As I was wondering, the Dokkaebi made a sound like sobbing under his mask, then exclaimed while rubbing his chin with satisfaction:

“Hahaha!! I see! To someone like you, this was just an insult! I failed to understand the conviction you hold and made a mistake!

No, it had to be different from the start! It’s because you have such conviction that you’re there! I apologize. I buttoned the first button wrong.”

???

What nonsense is that? The Dokkaebi suddenly made strange noises while slapping his knee and laughing, and even rejoiced saying it was exactly as he expected.

To have such a reaction after hearing what I said. I was genuinely disgusted by the Dokkaebi’s arrogant behavior.

I really doubt the ideology of the author who called this bastard a dark hero. What civilian harm prevention and other justice? Bullshit, that’s just a crazy bastard, that’s right.

I should have recognized it from when he started speaking in Joseon era speech. I glared at the Dokkaebi with an expression like I’d bitten a bug, but the Dokkaebi didn’t seem to care about my gaze at all.

“I’ll ask to join forces again after I make up for this mistake and offer a sincere apology. But the judgment of this corrupt official must be carried out without fail.”

The Dokkaebi suddenly stood up and approached the bound mayor, then pulled the rope as if herding a pig to bring the mayor in front of us. Then the Dokkaebi removed the mayor’s gag and said:

“I will prove my justice here! Now, speak, you corrupt official! Spout excuses and lies with that perforated mouth of yours as you’ve done until now! The truth has already been spread, and all the evidence you thought you destroyed is here in my hand!”

What the Dokkaebi pulled out was a clear file containing numerous bundles of papers, which even at a glance appeared to be the documents that would serve as evidence of crimes shown on the screen earlier.

If those are real, they’re irrefutable evidence of crimes. This is exactly like the novel’s plot. Then is all that’s left the mayor going crazy telling New Hope to kill the Dokkaebi right away before self-destructing?

“Th-that’s fake! It’s fabricated! How dare this damn criminal! Do you know who I am?! I’m the mayor of Seoul!! The mayor of Seoul! That’s the result of coerced investigation! It’s a lie!!”

The pig mayor starts rambling incoherently, his face red. What coerced investigation? The investigation hasn’t even started with an ‘i’. – Well, it’s not my business. Let them handle it.

I changed my mind to think it’s good that the case is wrapping up without any problems. I continued my earlier thoughts about opening a chicken restaurant.

But I guess I need to learn cooking first, do they teach how to fry chicken at cooking academies? Will a month be enough? Even so, they say the food industry is very competitive, will it be okay?

As I was standing there absentmindedly imagining future plans, the mayor who had been spouting nonsense in a daze rolled over to me, grabbed my collar, thrust his unpleasantly fat face close, and rambled:

“You, you’re a detective…! Shoot that bastard right now! You have a gun, don’t you?! Shoot! Shoot him and… Th-that’s right! I’ll give you the police chief position! I can send you even higher!

Looking at you, you’re on the special investigation team, right? I know your face! Good, I’ll promote you right away today and put you in charge of the special investigation team, so shoot that monster bastard right now…!”

What the hell is this bastard babbling about now? For a moment, my brain that heard words that shouldn’t be tolerated stopped working, but.

In contrast to my malfunctioning brain, my eyes that were functioning properly clearly captured what my body was doing.

Yes, I clearly saw the absolutely unreal scene of me slamming the at least 120kg meat lump of a mayor who was grabbing my collar down onto the floor.

• F-fuck, what am I doing now…!

With a loud crash due to the weight, the floor tiles cracked, and the mayor collapsed in a comical state, foaming at the mouth.

As my brain started working again, I realized what I had just done and my mind went blank.

A sudden outbreak of violence. New Hope asked me quietly with eyes like a startled puppy:

“Detective…? Wh-what suddenly…?”

I don’t know. I don’t know what I just did either.

Did I lose my mind at the horrifying words about making me the team leader?

But because of that, I beat up a person, and the mayor of Seoul at that? This is a seriously big problem, isn’t it?

• No, the one who said he’d make me team leader was clearly in the wrong. Yeah.

Let’s calm down first and look for a solution. The only people here are the employees who haven’t come to their senses, New Hope, the Dokkaebi, and the unconscious mayor, so maybe if I persuade them well, we can cover this up?

I looked around with such expectations. Immediately after, I completely gave up hope when I saw the scene of me slamming the mayor down being played on repeat on screens all around.

Damn it.