What It Means to Be Police in This World(9)

The day I opened my eyes in the hospital. I told Yuna-ri and Dokkaebi that there were items I wanted them to prepare to defeat Sai.

To that, they said without a word that they would prepare anything, but this time that alone wasn’t enough.

To catch a monster like Sai, I would need their help in any situation.

Since there was a lot to prepare to create the exact timing I wanted.

I first asked Yuna-ri to draw some blood and continued speaking.

“Even if we all rushed at her, we definitely can’t beat Sai. We’ll probably be wiped out instantly. Yuna-ri, even if your blood touches Sai, or you, Dokkaebi, fight as well as you can. You know all that, right?”

“……”

“But fortunately, by luck, there is a neutralization drug that works on Sai. If we have this, we could stop that woman.”

“But the problem is how to get Sai to take it. Honestly, even New Hope couldn’t manage to inject this into Sai if she’s not off guard, right?”

When I asked “Right?” they all nodded silently without saying a word. Originally, only Yuna-ri would know that I had such a neutralization drug.

But the captain had vaguely noticed that I carried this syringe like my life depended on it, and Dokkaebi didn’t have any additional questions for me, probably because he heard something from his sister.

Instead, as I spoke this far, they asked with their eyes if I had a method.

I spoke, thinking that even to myself, this was quite an absurd method:

“So I have to show her something that will make her let her guard down. Since she’s a woman who has various kinds of interest in me, if I inject a dose of superpower awakening agent into my body that’s enough to turn me into a mutant right in front of her, she’d be surprised, right?”

“…Did this old man take drugs? Did he really go crazy after hitting his head? You’re saying you’ll become a mutant?”

“Are you crazy? I’m preparing a fake, of course.”

“Ah.”

After that, I made a plan based on the assumption that Sai would appear before me again, considering that she deliberately kidnapped Mina and her personality.

I explained what I wanted Dokkaebi and Yuna-ri to do while fighting Sai, regardless of how events unfolded when we actually went to fight her.

Honestly, even to me, it was an absurd operation.

Dokkaebi buys time with his magic, somehow creates an opening using things like blood packs containing Yuna-ri’s blood, and deliberately tries to stab her with an incomplete neutralization drug.

Whether it succeeds or not, this is to give Sai the impression that we tried to use the neutralization drug on her but failed.

The real thing is to ask someone who’s in a position to do so in the gap when I surprise Sai by injecting a fake awakening agent.

Honestly, looking at it myself, this was barely even a plan. It’s a gamble, either we’re screwed or we succeed.

But there was no other way.

Sai is really absurdly strong, overwhelming, and even her forces are powerful.

Facing such a Sai, we have no police help and essentially only 2 people who can fight, so for us, there’s no other way but such a suicide attack method.

Moreover, she might even know that I have a neutralization drug. This was the biggest problem.

Thinking rationally, no matter how much it’s Sai, it seems unlikely she would come up with something as absurd as receiving a completed product from the future, but again, with Sai, it’s possible.

So creating an opening, inducing carelessness, using everything, aiming for that opening, aiming for that one chance—we have no other hope.

I know. I know that the biggest problem is creating that opening. But I think there is a way to create that opening.

If Sai’s emotions are real, I can surely use them as an opening.

“- Alright. I hate to say this, but let’s say this plan that doesn’t even look like a plan succeeds. What’s next? Even if that woman stops, it doesn’t seem like she would just be caught like that.”

“I bet that woman has prepared bombs or supervillains to blow up the National Assembly or kill the president, regardless of whether her ability disappears.”

That was certainly true. This is purely about confronting Sai in that situation and stopping her, not a method to stop the schemes she might be plotting.

But what can we do? This is our best.

The people here are not superheroes who can save the world.

Just a researcher with a nasty personality who gets ground down every day, one fool who committed crimes but admits his guilt and wants to do good, and one man in his mid-30s.

We can’t solve everything from beginning to end like superheroes in movies or comics, or like Mina.

“What can we do? They say if a small bird tries to follow a heron, its legs will split. A small bird should do what it can as a small bird. If it dies doing that, it dies saying it did all it could as a small bird.”

At my words, Yuna-ri said “I don’t want to die though…” with a bitter smile, but it sounded more like a joke to lighten the mood than a complaint.

I matched her tone and exchanged contact information while chatting, but in the midst of that—Dokkaebi’s sister woke up.

Dokkaebi’s sister, who had been sleeping soundly, suddenly sat up, blinked her distinctive green eyes, and suddenly started crying.

We were in the room and tried to comfort the child, asking if she had a nightmare, but the child just cried sorrowfully.

His sister suddenly rushed to me and said something in a child’s typical mumbling speech, with tears and snot running, and in a volume too small to be properly heard.

She said something, but naturally, I couldn’t understand.

---

“- That’s too cruel. To use even love.”

“Aren’t you being too much?”

The plan succeeded. It’s a complete mess, and while we’re all not dead, we’re in a state where it wouldn’t be strange if we died right now.

Yuna-ri lay face down, making sounds as if she was about to breathe her last. Dokkaebi seemed unconscious, only making weak breathing sounds and unable to move.

Even Mina, who was barely able to escape thanks to me shooting the part where the wire and stone were tied, was bleeding dangerously, perhaps because the wire dug in deeper in the process.

Three people who would be in danger if immediate measures weren’t taken.

I worried about who to tend to first and how, but decided to first take out handcuffs to arrest Sai.

Sai seemed to have really lost her power, panting and lying face down on the stone floor.

But the frightening thing about this woman is her brain more than her ability. Even if she’s lost her power, her mind is still working, so preventing her from doing strange things was the priority.

I approached Sai with handcuffs. Just as I was about to put the handcuffs on her wrists, Sai smiled faintly and said:

“Congratulations, Deputy Director. But what can we do? Now that I’ve lost my ability like this—the mutants can’t be stopped. The mutants I created this time are scheduled to move according to the vote results of the people.”

“If people chose to kill the hero girl, they’ll rush here. Unlikely, but… if they chose themselves to die, they’ll destroy Seoul itself.”

“What choice did people make? What are the other police doing now? They can’t stop it. No one can.”

“- Ah. Don’t worry. There is a way. If you kill me here, everything will stop. Because… I made it that way.”

Sai said this and looked at the gun in my hand. A gun with one bullet left.

Sai was saying with her eyes that this was a calm fact without any lies or deception.

I felt my breath being taken away as I looked at those eyes and pondered what to do.

Mina tried to get up, infuriated by Sai’s words, but blood spurted from her wound and she collapsed to the floor.

This damn woman really plotted the most vicious act until the very end.

Honestly, I also think people would have chosen to kill Mina. If that’s the case, it means over a hundred mutants will rush here. Then we’ll be annihilated.

Sai was looking at the muzzle of my gun with a demonic smile as if she already knew what choice I would make. When I gritted my teeth and aimed the gun at her, Sai laughed softly and said:

“If you won’t accept my love, Detective, I’d rather die by your hand. I’d rather that. I think that would make me truly happy… hehe…”

“Crazy woman.”

I must pull the trigger. I must. I approached until the gun was right in front of her to ensure the last remaining bullet wouldn’t miss, and aimed at the bridge of her nose.

Sai was smiling with an ecstatic expression, looking at my face. As if she wanted to engrave my face in her eyes until the very end.

Looking at that face, I was about to pull the trigger out of burning anger. There was no need to think about whether this was right as a police officer or not.

I had already quit and regardless of what happened in the future, this was a situation where I had to kill her for my own survival right now.

Isn’t it a cheap price to pay if the cost of saving the lives of those who followed me here and those young ones is to have blood on my hands?

Feeling cold sweat dripping from the bridge of my nose, I was about to apply force to my finger while holding my breath—

—Piriri!!

I was about to apply force. But before that, my phone suddenly started ringing.

Who could be contacting me in this situation? I took out my phone with trembling hands. The person who contacted me was—the captain.

“[Hey, you idiot. Put down the gun, you bastard. Who do you think you are, confidently brandishing a gun? Do you want to screw me over that badly?]”

“…What is this bald old man talking about now…”

The captain’s voice came through when I answered the phone.

With the familiar voice, I felt my blocked breath opening slightly, if only a little. But only for a moment.

I thought that if this situation was also being broadcast live, I should shoot even more, so I was about to hang up and pull the trigger. But the captain urgently stopped me and said:

“[You’ve always been hasty. Hey, are you shooting after seeing how that vote is going? I’ve told you from a long time ago. Look before you leap. You’ll really die that way.]”

“…Vote?”

Is there any need to look? It would obviously be leaning towards killing Mina. With such thoughts, I checked the voting page that Sai had uploaded by hacking the internet.

Honestly, a scene hard to believe even seeing with my own eyes entered my vision.

Mina’s life and one’s own life. With these malicious choices, the time left until fate is determined is just 10 minutes.

But when I checked now. The number of people who participated in this vote, staged in the metropolis of Seoul, was just over 100.

Moreover, even the voting ratio was exactly 5 : 5, a tie.

I didn’t know how to understand this.

If people had not voted at all, as if in some movie, or had forcibly created a tie, I might have been moved.

But look at this ambiguous and strange figure. People couldn’t choose, and even if they did, it ended up with a 5 : 5 ratio.

How should I really understand this?

Honestly, isn’t that the case? Half of 100 people chose for Mina to die? Half of 100 people chose to die instead of one girl?

I don’t know. I can’t understand. But for some reason, I found myself letting out a hollow laugh. Is it because it feels like such a messy number is characteristic of humanity?

“[There are 10 minutes left, but the numbers are like that. She didn’t say anything about what happens in case of a tie, right? But since she might do something by changing her words, catch her and throw her around. Police and ambulances should be going there, so get treatment. Even if things go wrong, we’re also moving in preparation for any eventuality, so rest assured.]”

“…Eventuality?”

“[Yeah. Eventuality. After all, it’s the police doing what they should do.]”

Behind the captain who spoke like that, I could hear people shouting. Sounds like prepare weapons, or build barricades to prevent them from coming over.

“[You bastard. What is a bastard younger than me talking about living or dying? Even if we’re about to die, we’re the police of this country, so we have to do what we need to do. If we run away here, I’d be too ashamed to live, you idiot.]”

That short remark from the captain reminded me of what I had said at the hospital before. I let out a chuckle and ended the call.

Yeah, well, given how things have turned out, it wouldn’t be stylish for me to use the gun.

I looked down. Sai was looking stiff-faced, as if she had heard the call. I took out the handcuffs again instead of the gun, cuffed her wrists, and said:

“Sai, you are under arrest as of the current time for multiple murders and aiding and abetting murder, terrorism, illegal drug distribution and manufacturing, and a whole bunch of other charges. You have the right to an attorney.

You have the opportunity to explain, the right to refuse statements disadvantageous to you, the right to request a review of your arrest… sigh. It’s exhausting to say all this.”

“You’re not going to kill me?”

“Kid. If a police officer arbitrarily kills a subdued criminal, they’ll lose their job, you idiot. Didn’t you learn even that under me?”

“…But you quit being a police officer.”

“The official document processing hasn’t been done yet. Legally, I’m still a police officer. For now.”

I smiled playfully at Sai. She gave a bitter smile at my words. Then, with tears welling up in her eyes, she said:

“…Nothing really goes as planned. Congratulations, truly, Deputy Director. This is your victory.”

Silver handcuffs on Sai’s wrists. I raised Sai’s body. I also supported Mina and was about to move to escape this damned hill.

I could hear ambulance and police car sounds from afar, and as I was about to rejoice at the truly unbelievable fact that we had really defeated Sai—

Kuduk.

A sound too ominous to be considered an ordinary stone sound came from under my feet. And then followed by a creaking noise.

What flashed through my mind at that moment was the previous statement that after the great earthquake, the ground had weakened and could collapse at any time.

The moment I felt the ground ominously shaking, I pushed Sai and Mina forward.

At the same time, my body fell backward. When I urgently turned my gaze, I saw something gleaming like a beast’s fangs in the gap formed by construction materials and concrete chunks behind me.

Come to think of it, if wounds were healed using Dokkaebi’s sister’s ability, they were said to revert back to being wounds again.

But Dokkaebi’s sister said that could come back as a greater wound.

That statement I had heard before came to mind. And I instinctively realized that time was up.

“De-Deputy Director!!!!”

“Detective…!!!”

Sai and Mina reach out to me in shock. But Mina is too covered in wounds to aim her body properly, and Sai has been injected with the neutralization drug and is handcuffed.

There is no one who can save me.

If I fall into such a place, even with the best luck, I would end up like minced meat. The timing of the ground collapsing and the vicious appearance of the gap was truly frightening.

Do injuries at the level of permanent disability to arms and legs come back to take life?

No, it seems a bit different. The existence of ‘Mina’ comes to mind in this situation, and my mind races quickly.

‘Mina’ said that I died in the future, but to save me, she used Dokkaebi’s sister’s ability to return to the past and saved me.

Doesn’t that mean that my dying like this is fate?

The fact I had been trying not to think about for various reasons was now laughing in my face.

Yes, this is how my second life ends too.

Rather than feeling wronged, it was just absurd, but my body helplessly fell according to gravity.

Mina and Sai screamed and reached out to me, but of course, they couldn’t reach. I closed my eyes and gritted my teeth, waiting for the pain to come, but—

“I’m not too late.”

There was no pain. With a boom! sound, a dust cloud that obscured everything in front of me rose, and human warmth enveloped my body.

A familiar voice. I strained my eyes in the dizzy vision to look ahead.

Time had passed, and the sun that had been high in the sky was slowly setting into twilight, casting shadows in this pit-like place.

But what was visible amidst all that was a bright smile. A beautiful woman with a half-white aviation jumper that had lost all its color, and long hair tied in a ponytail.

‘Mina,’ whom I thought I would never meet again, was hugging me with a dream-like, blurry appearance, smiling with a face full of wounds.

“Hehe, that child said the past could never be changed, but you know what I thought? That if it’s you, Detective, you would make a completely different world from the one where I was alone. That if it’s you whom I loved, you would definitely succeed.”

“And if it’s a completely different world, if it’s not the world I knew, then it wouldn’t be changing the past, right?”

‘Mina,’ who spoke like that, was covered in dust and wounds, yet she laughed like a child, shedding tears and snot together.

With a face filled with relief. And with a satisfied face, ‘Mina’ quickly wiped her face once and said:

“Then all that’s left is to save people, right? Whether it’s fate or whatever, I’m the best hero in my own way. I can easily defeat something like fate.”

“With this, I’ve definitely won!” Mina said as she carefully put me down in a safe place. Mina disappeared as if swallowed by the shadow of the sunset.

She didn’t give any prior notice or drop hints like in novels or movies. She just suddenly appeared.

But since I was saved by ‘Mina’ just like when I first met her. I looked at the scratches on my arms and legs and hoped she would be happy in another world.

I informed the two who were calling out to me that I was fine and that we should also call 119 fire department personnel.

Now it’s really over. With me surviving. I slowly lay my back on the ground, watching the setting sun.