In This World, Police Face the Mastermind(11)

After defeating the mutant that appeared near Jongno, we left the cleanup to the police and soldiers who came for support, and we walked through the streets under Dokkaebi’s guidance.

Going with Dokkaebi serves the purpose of negotiating with him, but also because taking down the supervillains in the Jongno area is our basic goal.

Additionally, for the exhausted Mina to rest even for a moment, we need Dokkaebi, a powerful superpower user who can be trusted.

I glanced at Mina, who was blaming herself after the recent incident but was now sleeping in the armored vehicle following my insistence, then looked ahead again.

Places that used to be bustling areas in Jongno before the country became like this now have almost no open stores and give off a desolate feeling. Partially collapsed buildings can be seen everywhere.

I used to come here to hang out with friends in my previous life, and I’ve wandered around here, so the current scene feels very awkward and doesn’t make sense.

No, wait. The very fact that we have to walk the damn streets of Seoul wearing guns and protective gear or risk death doesn’t make sense.

Letting out a hollow laugh, I followed Dokkaebi, and we arrived at a building.

It looked like a restaurant, one of the few places with its doors open.

Looking at what they’re selling—is this a tteokbokki (spicy rice cake) place?

The person stirring the tteokbokki cooking on a large plate was a middle-aged woman wearing an old-looking apron that didn’t match the store’s interior.

She seemed to have gone through a lot of hardship, with hair that had turned white, and fingers that were so thin they resembled dried-up twigs as they stirred with a spatula.

The middle-aged woman smiled brightly when she saw Dokkaebi opening the door and coming in, but then glared at me as I followed and asked harshly:

“Dokkaebi sir. You’ve come? But who are these people…?”

“Madam. Did I not tell you yesterday? They’re the police officers.”

“Oh… did you say that? Ah, right. You definitely did. Then, I’ll prepare food.”

The woman responded to Dokkaebi’s words as if in a drug-induced trance, with bloodshot, constantly trembling eyes. Her body was visibly shaking slightly.

…Let’s see. Looks like she’s on drugs?

I used to be close with a guy who had transferred from the narcotics unit when I was in the violent crimes unit. This madam showed all the characteristics of drug users that I heard about then.

Reflexively, I examined the area below her elbow. Her sleeve was rolled up to above her elbow, so it wasn’t difficult to look.

There were no injection marks or bruises on the inside of her elbow that would typically be seen on someone using drugs.

Is she taking it in some other form than injections? No, more importantly, is a drug addict walking around so brazenly?

I glared at Dokkaebi, who sat down at one of the restaurant tables. When I sat across from him, Dokkaebi waved his hand and said:

“Don’t worry so much, Master Kim. The madam is not the kind of person you’re thinking of.”

“Is that so.”

At my words, Dokkaebi made a weak “he-he” sound from beneath his mask and said “I understand it’s hard to believe,” trailing off.

He pointed somewhere as if to prove the woman’s innocence. When I looked where he was pointing, I saw piles of medicine packets stacked in the back of the kitchen.

“The madam has experienced something terrible and needs mental help. Yet, despite this, she’s such a strong woman that she continues to make efforts in this situation because she has people to protect.”

Though Dokkaebi said this, I could see his mask trembling slightly, suggesting there was a story behind her that he couldn’t tell here.

And was that story what led Dokkaebi here?

I swallowed my follow-up question. The colleagues who arrived a step later and the armored vehicle stopped in front of the store. My colleagues weren’t coming inside but were keeping watch around the area.

So they’re leaving the task of persuading Dokkaebi entirely to me.

I sighed while looking at those signaling with their eyes from outside, and as I smelled the tteokbokki scent that I hadn’t experienced in a very long time, I addressed Dokkaebi.

“Have you been well?”

“With the country in this state, it’s hard to say I’ve been well as before, but I still have enough strength to take care of myself. Thank you for asking.”

“Good then. Ah—I was late in saying this. First, thank you for your help last time. We failed to arrest that woman, but thanks to you, we prevented greater damage.”

“…Is that so. I’m glad.”

I started with light conversation to check on his situation. Dokkaebi showed no particular reaction to the death of Yagi, who had put his sister in danger.

According to Yuna-ri’s investigation, it seems he even brought his sister here. I couldn’t understand what he was thinking.

Even if he’s present, Seoul is a place where threats can come from anywhere at any time.

Now that Dokkaebi is at war with the remnants of the Chosen Ones, those guys will do anything to bring him down.

And among the things they might do includes recruiting one of the citizens here and kidnapping his sister somewhere.

To the Chosen Ones, Dokkaebi is known as Park Jeonghun’s enemy along with me, so those guys won’t hesitate to pull nasty stunts.

But he brought his sister here…? Even if he’s confident in his abilities to protect her, wouldn’t it be safer to leave her at the home they’ve been staying at?

No, in the first place, why did this guy put the mask back on?

Come to think of it, he had already taken off his mask and revealed his face.

Although Dokkaebi didn’t say it directly, judging from his actions and words at that time, it seemed like he had made a pledge to accept legal judgment for the crimes he had committed.

It seems his surrender was temporarily postponed due to the country’s current state, but I thought Dokkaebi revealing his face directly held significant meaning in many ways.

But what’s going on now?

Bringing his sister here, spending time fighting insignificant remnants of the Chosen Ones, and—

The strange appearance of the people here, too.

“Hmm.”

After making a sound while pursing my lips, I pretended to wet my throat at the water dispenser while looking outside.

People who appear to be residents of this area can be seen walking around, though not many.

Since Dokkaebi is here making the situation relatively better, and police have arrived too, they could be considered people who came out to watch, but.

Some of those people don’t even direct their gaze here. Their eyes are vacant, their gait is strange, and their faces look worn out as if directly hit by the passage of time.

People with appearances similar to the tteokbokki shop owner are walking around like zombies.

It seems like there are too many people in poor condition to attribute it to the harshness of the world?

There’s no way people would be this worn out from working overtime in this situation… I slowly rolled my eyes to survey the surroundings and then returned to my seat, sitting in front of Dokkaebi.

I nervously tapped the table and questioned him confrontationally:

“So what’s going on here?”

“What do you mean, what’s going on? What are you referring to, Master Kim?”

“You know damn well what I’m talking about, you bastard.”

I clicked my tongue and reached out to forcibly remove Dokkaebi’s mask, snatching it halfway.

Despite me, an ordinary person, trying to forcibly take it, Dokkaebi let his mask be taken too easily.

And his revealed face was in a state no different from the tteokbokki shop owner’s.

His eyes were bloodshot, with dark circles settled under them. Additionally, he had a face that looked like it would collapse if touched lightly.

The fact that he couldn’t resist an ordinary person like me taking his mask showed what state he was in.

Dokkaebi was initially flustered by the sudden loss of his mask, but quickly covered his face with his hands and lowered his head.

“…That’s too much.”

At his words, spoken as if through gritted teeth, I let out a “huh” sound like a sigh and bit my lip.

What’s too much? Your condition is what’s too much. I took a deep breath at the rising irritation.

I thought something was quite strange. It was odd that Dokkaebi couldn’t wipe out the remnants of the Chosen Ones.

According to Yuna-ri’s investigation, there are hardly any dangerous ones among the remnants.

The secretary woman who can solidify objects within her field of vision, her subordinates, and some supervillains.

The most dangerous one, cult leader Park Jeonghun, was killed by Sai, and the remaining followers are just insignificant guys.

Dokkaebi should be able to crack all their heads even if it takes some time, so why are they still around?

No, why did he bring his sister to the scene in the first place?

There is clearly something happening in the Jongno area. As I was swallowing these anxieties.

“Cut the crap. So what’s here? What made you like this?”

Something is here. It’s not just the Chosen Ones.

The remnants of the Chosen Ones are mostly just fanatics who were properly brainwashed by Park Jeonghun; most of the truly dangerous ones have either formed their own forces or fled long ago.

Such hollowed-out groups couldn’t possibly reduce Dokkaebi to this state.

Which means—something is here in this place.

Something that turns the tteokbokki shop owner, passing citizens, and even Dokkaebi into walking corpses like this.

“…As expected, I can’t fool a detective like you.”

Dokkaebi shook his head with a bitter smile. Then, he rubbed his face tiredly as if exhausted.

His shoulders looked so narrow and small, reminiscent of a worn-out middle-aged man, but the content of his following words made me forget even that impression.

“In this city, something is happening that shouldn’t be possible.”

“Something so chilling that it’s hard to believe it’s the doing of a superpower user.”

“Detective. You… if I told you that dead people have come back to life, would you believe it?”

Dead people coming back? What nonsense is that?

Dokkaebi’s words were clearly unbelievable. Dead people are dead, and there’s no coming back.

If something could bring the dead back, that would be not a superpower user but a god.

No, wait. In this world, there is one person who could recreate such nonsensical acts, at least in some form.

Who? Obviously Sai.

The only one who could pull off such nonsense is Sai. No matter how I look at it, the only person who could arrange such an impossible thing is that damned woman.

I came here intending to recruit Dokkaebi to fight against Sai, but it turns out it was a place where Sai had prepared some evil scheme.

That woman really should have her table leg break just as she’s about to eat ramen, spilling it all over.

Or have similar shitty things happen to her.

I’d like to pray for a terrible accident to happen to her, but even if she were hit by a bus, the bus would die instead of her, that monster.

If a real accident happens, wouldn’t only the bus driver be harmed? As a police officer, I can’t wish for such innocent victims.

Though I was briefly having such idiotic thoughts, I knew such escapism wouldn’t change anything, so I let out a deep sigh from the pit of my stomach.

“Shit.”