Ch.176It seemed like it would be a very busy schedule.

Whirrr.

The camera rolls.

The world captured by the lens is completely disconnected from reality—an entirely different world.

“Ready!”

The unreality begins.

“Action!”

The hero finishes a long battle in a warehouse.

He calls the police using Jihyuntae’s phone and calmly leaves the scene.

And then the police arrive late to the scene.

“What the hell.”

Han Taegeon, playing the role of Jo Yongsu, frowns as he surveys the crime scene.

“…How many people did he kill?”

The smell of metal fills the air.

Not ordinary metal, but metal mixed with blood.

Squelch, squelch.

With each step, blood sticks to his shoes.

“He beat them all to death.”

Perhaps because the warehouse itself was cold, the crime scene was vividly preserved.

Thanks to that, it was clear who had done this.

Marks that looked like they were made with a sledgehammer.

Bodies with crushed and twisted bones.

As if a giant had squeezed them tightly in his hands and then let go.

“It’s him.”

“Him? That violent criminal?”

“Yeah, just look—these are clearly knuckle marks.”

The knuckle marks are distinct.

To deliver such powerful punches to human bodies.

He was definitely no ordinary man.

“Roughly twenty bodies, and he took them all down in less than thirty minutes.”

The more they investigate the crime scene, the more the perpetrator’s skills become apparent.

“He even beat someone with a gun?”

“A gun?”

“Yeah, look carefully. Don’t you see the bullet marks?”

Judging by the size, it was a handgun.

But.

“There are bullet marks, but no gun.”

“You mean he took it?”

“Yeah, a gun disappeared from the crime scene… and we couldn’t catch the guy.”

Once again, they’re just cleaning up after the fact.

The process of police catching criminals is extremely complicated.

There’s already so much to investigate.

They have to follow proper legal procedures to avoid problems later.

Naturally, this process takes time.

Ugh.

Jo Yongsu frowned.

The guy didn’t like that approach, so he took matters into his own hands.

He’d always been that way.

“But he’s caught more than ten criminals already.”

In this situation, his junior was saying such nonsense.

Jo Yongsu couldn’t just let it slide.

“So what?”

“Pardon?”

“So what are we supposed to do about it? Give him a medal? A brave citizen award?”

People have a misconception.

Does killing criminals somehow make it not murder?

That wasn’t something an individual had the right to judge.

“He’s disrupting the legal order. Is vigilante justice right? Do you think that’s justified?”

And here was a cop defending him.

It was infuriating.

“N-no, that’s not what I—”

“Don’t give me that. You saw the articles, right? ‘Slow police, swift justice’… did you buy into that crap?”

“I-I’m sorry.”

“Please don’t sympathize with that stuff. It’s a criminal killing criminals—he’s a violent offender.”

The number of people that guy—hailed as a hero in the news—had already killed exceeded twenty.

That made him a serial killer who would go down in Korean history.

Yet the media praised him.

Not only calling him a true judge,

but even publishing thank-you messages from the victims of those criminals.

“Everyone’s applauding, so you think he’s actually something special?”

Jo Yongsu felt the greatest confusion of his eight-year police career.

Screech.

The forensic team, arriving late, repeats exactly what Jo Yongsu had said earlier.

There are bullet marks, a missing handgun, people crushed to death, and so on.

And their conclusion is always the same.

“It will take some time for evidence to emerge.”

“You said the same thing at the last scene. When will that be ready?”

“Well… he doesn’t leave many traces. We know he has heavily calloused fists, but…”

“I can see that much myself.”

“But besides that, there’s really nothing.”

Jo Yongsu laughed hearing this.

What a joke.

He meticulously tracks down criminals and beats them to death.

Yet leaves no traces.

How? That’s what he wanted to know.

“Even the most thorough criminals… leave evidence.”

“He only focuses on beating criminals to death, so there’s nothing else to find?”

“…Yes.”

The forensic team hung their heads in shame.

They wanted to deliver a sharp legal judgment to someone who mocked law enforcement.

But they couldn’t.

‘Another wasted effort today.’

There was nothing more to do.

Soon reporters would arrive, and he’d have to give appropriate answers again.

Before he knew it, he’d be smoking a cigarette and sorting recycling.

With these thoughts.

“I should go.”

Jo Yongsu left the scene, dumping all the annoying tasks on his junior.

Then, stopping by a convenience store to buy coffee and ramen to satisfy his hunger.

“Hmm?”

He noticed someone already sitting at the parasol table in front of the store.

It looked like he was eating two triangle kimbap.

There seemed to be enough room to share the table.

“Mind if I sit here?”

“Huh?”

Answering, he saw a quite handsome young man.

Handsome enough to be a celebrity.

“There’s no other seats.”

“Oh, sure, go ahead.”

His personality was as refreshing as his looks.

Jo Yongsu sat across from the young man and immediately blew on his undercooked ramen.

And at the same time.

‘Why is he here?’

Jo Yongsu’s instinct told him the young man was suspicious.

Near a warehouse with human traffickers.

In this industrial complex, what reason would such a young man have to be at a convenience store?

‘And it’s afternoon.’

As far as he knew, there weren’t many places to work part-time around here.

Even fewer places to hang out.

Was he a resident? He didn’t seem dressed casually enough for that.

So Jo Yongsu decided to probe.

“There’s not much to do around here. You’ve come from far away?”

“Pardon?”

“No, I just felt lonely eating. Am I bothering you?”

“Yes.”

“…”

Immediate failure.

‘These young people nowadays.’

When an adult speaks, they should just listen and say yes.

To openly show such disinterest in conversation.

Still, Jo Yongsu didn’t give up.

“There was a big incident nearby. I’m a detective.”

“Ah, I see.”

An uninterested tone.

The young man answered indifferently with a pleasant face.

“Dozens of people died in a warehouse nearby.”

“Ah… I see. So that’s why it was noisy.”

The fact that he knew it was noisy meant he’d been here for a while.

Why would he come here if he didn’t live here?

What was his purpose?

‘Am I now assuming this young man is the culprit and trying to make everything fit?’

A detective’s instinct might really only exist in comics and movies.

With that thought reflected in his eyes, he continued.

“They say they were human traffickers…”

“I’m not interested.”

The young man, with a face that truly showed complete indifference,

stuffed the remaining triangle kimbap into his mouth and stood up.

At that moment.

Thud.

“Hey, who are you?”

Jo Yongsu instinctively grabbed the young man’s wrist.

His fist was not that of an ordinary person.

A hand with thick calluses.

Cracked wounds and marks that could only come from wearing knuckles for a long time.

He became certain that he needed to catch this guy right here.

But.

“What do you think you’re doing?”

Slip.

His wrist slipped out of the grip too easily.

“…”

“Is it a detective’s job to grab and threaten any random citizen?”

He wasn’t wrong.

“Ah, well, that’s…”

Belatedly, he came to his senses.

“So you just grab anyone and say ‘it’s you,’ and I become a criminal?”

“I-I’m sorry. I suddenly…”

“Always late, yet so quick to grab innocent people.”

It sounded like the words of an angry citizen, but somehow it felt different.

Their gazes locked.

He must be the culprit.

This guy is the one.

He was certain, but that alone wasn’t enough.

That’s the kind of job being a detective is.

In that moment when the gazes of the hero and the detective were intensely locked.

“Cut!”

The camera ends the facade of the constructed world.

“Wow, the immersion is… amazing!”

And then comes the praise from Director Lee Seongdeok.

Despite using a long-take filming technique, there wasn’t a single awkward moment.

How should this be described?

Korean noir? Korean John Wick?

That kind of feeling permeated the scene.

“It’s so good we barely need editing… just some minor adjustments and we can use it right away!”

“There you go again. You’ll still ask for a reshoot.”

“Ah… well, haha, I just get greedy.”

Han Taegeon said this while glancing at Kim Donghu.

‘He really acts well.’

He’d praised him many times, but it still wasn’t enough.

‘It really felt like facing a murderer.’

The scariest thing about Kim Donghu was how he immersed even his co-stars.

You could say he devoured them.

He turned his fellow actors into devices to highlight his own performance.

There was only one way to survive that.

‘Struggle like crazy, act your role, that’s all you can do.’

So did I survive?

Han Taegeon honestly wanted to ask.

How good was my skill?

Meanwhile, he envied actor Seo Jinwoo.

‘Since he’s in the same agency as Donghu… Donghu reviews his work and acting.’

He bragged about it so much.

Honestly, it was irritating.

‘Should I just join Veritas?’

My contract period is almost over anyway.

My long-time manager? I could just bring him along.

“Donghu, does Veritas pay enough for actor contracts?”

“What?”

“Don’t treat me like an outsider if I join later.”

After throwing this joke mixed with sincerity,

Han Taegeon and Kim Donghu moved toward the camera.

It was time to discuss which parts needed improvement if they had to reshoot.

++++++

Late April, as filming for The Real Hero was nearing its end.

“Donghu, when will we ever get a proper break?”

“Hyung, you already look like you’re here to relax.”

Seokho hyung, me, and my stylist Miju noona.

The three of us arrived in Japan.

We had three things to do:

‘Louis Vuitton lookbook shoot, Will You Marry Me filming, and figuring out what Kamen Rider actually is.’

It looked like it would be a busy schedule.

<Sunbae, are you in Japan now?!>

Chisako’s message was a bonus.