What It Means to Be Police in This World(3)

The girl swallowed dry saliva at the sensation that pressed down on her entire body in the thickening fog.

With her stamina reaching its limit, Detective Lee Munsu had come to this street to find new reinforcements to help her.

As if knowing they would come here, in this city touched by Sai’s schemes, Mina heard quite an unbelievable story.

Meeting dead people again? Is that something to be believed right now?

Even knowing how much of an impossible monster Sai is and what evil deeds she has committed, it was still hard to believe, but.

Detective Lee Munsu, whom she respects, focused on Dokkaebi’s absurd words as if trusting them, and listened attentively.

Seeing the half-dead faces of Dokkaebi and the people, the girl also instinctively felt that something was happening in this street, but the story of dead people coming back was still hard to believe.

Moreover, with the faces of those who claimed to have seen their missed ones looking like walking corpses, how could that be taken in a positive sense?

The remnants of the Chosen Ones almost deflated when the detective simply dealt with their leader, but the fog that followed signaled that the fight wasn’t over yet and was just beginning.

Sensing that the reunion with the dead happening here wasn’t as touching as described but rather an attack from a superpower user, Mina prepared to fight whatever she might see in this fog.

She made a pledge not to unclench her fists, no matter what she saw.

Thud. Thud. Thud. As if the rising fog acted like a speaker, she fixed her ears on the inorganic footsteps echoing and glared ahead.

And what appeared before her was—

“…Sister?”

She shuddered with a sensation as if her heart was forcibly pulled up to the tip of her head then thrown onto the dirt.

Meeting family now only visible in photos and dreams, not in dreams but in reality, what the girl felt wasn’t joy at all.

Mina’s sister, who had always been confident and had a bright smile like sunshine, had a face like a corpse.

Like… her face on the day she lost her life. The moment she saw her, what filled Mina’s heart was the despair she felt on that terrible day when she lost her family.

A house with blood splattered. Family members with stopped hearts who no longer smiled. And her sister, who had been cold and soaked in blood that day, appeared before her again.

This is a scheme orchestrated by Sai. She knows that.

That’s not really her sister. She knows that. But the moment she faced it, her heart felt like it was being torn apart, and she became convinced that this was indeed her sister.

The resolution to fight no matter what appeared before her eyes washed away like soil in the rain.

As the emotion of sadness, which she thought she had somehow overcome and buried in her heart, began to rise again as if oil had been poured on it, the strength in her clenched fists naturally drained.

“Ah, uh……”

“Mina.”

As the scenery of that day forcibly inserted itself into her head, and as the girl clutched her chest, the thing in the form of her sister opened its mouth.

That voice was so clear it couldn’t possibly be dismissed as an illusion, and it was sharp enough to disturb the memories she now only dreamed of.

Her breath became blocked and her vision narrowed. The world darkened as if black ink had been painted over her eyes.

Her sister’s face, contorted in pain, entered Mina’s eyes. At that, Mina almost ran towards it, forgetting for a moment that it was fake, but the last bit of reason made the girl stop.

But that was it. That was the limit.

“Sis… ter… are you okay?”

Mina spoke reflexively from her throat and regretted it.

Because when Mina opened her mouth, she saw the thing in the form of her sister coughing up blood and sitting down on the ground.

What flashed through Mina’s mind at that moment was the day she lost her family to that hateful man. It was the sight she saw when she touched her sister’s body after returning to the cold, empty house.

Blood spurting up as if pressing a balloon filled with blood. She has the illusion of the coldness and the sour smell of blood tickling her nose again.

Is the fog transmitting the smell? The feeling is being felt again. The scenery of that day, the scent she smelled, even the touch—everything is being felt.

As if she was forcibly pulled back to that day.

“Why… Mina. Why weren’t you home? If only you had been there, I, mom, and dad, wouldn’t have ended up like this.”

“I… I’m sorry. I’m sorry……”

Her head becomes dull. In the present where she can’t distinguish dream from reality, Mina trembled and broke out in a cold sweat.

Dead family coming back to life and reproaching her. Regret that she thought had passed caught her ankle again. The irrecoverable past resurfaces and slices her heart.

At that, Mina forgot that she was fighting, forgot that the thing in front of her was fake, and couldn’t raise her head like a criminal.

The words her sister in front of her said were things Mina had already thought about dozens, hundreds of times.

But it’s strange. Even in the pain of her heart being torn apart, Mina tried to grab onto her reason and think.

The sensations and memories of the past are rising with an abnormal vividness. Abnormally vivid, as if watching herself rolling on the ground in agony.

It’s certain that what’s in front of her is not her real sister.

But no matter how much reason says so, emotion tramples reason and ignores it. Tears won’t stop, and no matter how much she breathes, there’s not enough oxygen.

As if drugged, she can’t distinguish reality from dream, and can’t even tell how much time has actually passed.

This is— strange—

“Why? You could have saved our whole family. Why use that power after we’re all dead? Was family not important to you at all? What is it? Are you seeking forgiveness? After letting everyone die?”

“Ah… uh.”

Her sister is bleeding. When Mina returned home, her fallen sister’s body had 15 stab wounds in her stomach alone.

She might not have seen all the small and large wounds on her entire body, but the red pond that formed as if all the blood had drained from her body still vividly comes to mind.

Because of me. Because I wasn’t home on that particular day. If I had just been home, I could have saved everyone.

“Ugh…!”

Mina sat down, covering her mouth with nausea.

The regret she thought she had somehow overcome, surges again. It’s painful.

She wants to run away and forget, and if she could only turn back time, if she could only do it again, she would give anything.

“I’m, I’m sorry… forgive me… I wanted to be forgiven too. But……”

“If you want to be forgiven, let’s go together. Mina.”

When Mina asked, struggling with regret, the thing in the form of her sister answered.

Blood dripping, intestines flowing out from the torn stomach, but sister endured the pain and smiled brightly as before. A bright smile that even evoked nostalgia appeared in Mina’s eyes.

Looking at her sister reaching out from far away, Mina felt that if she grabbed that hand, she could really be forgiven.

She had that thought despite there being no basis for it.

For a moment, Mina thought it might be better to grab that hand no matter what happened, but before she could move, someone stood in front of her as if to block her.

“Detec…tive?”

Mina looked at the man standing beyond her tear-blurred vision. Detective Lee Munsu. He was standing as if protecting her.

Seeing that figure, what Mina recalled was what happened on her worst day.

When the culprit was from a family with power and money, and neither the police nor the media paid attention to or spoke about the wrongful thing that had happened to the girl’s family.

On the worst day when she thought she couldn’t fall any lower in life. Just one person. An adult who stood in front of the girl just like now.

Recalling that, Mina could remember the pledges she had made after that day.

“You’re the reason everyone died. But do you want to live? Mina?”

Mother speaks.

Since that day, she hadn’t particularly thought about wanting to live. She just thought she wanted to become someone like the detective.

Someone who could reach out to others on their worst day in life.

“It’s truly absurd. You wicked girl. Useless girl! Don’t you know we wanted to live too? If we had known this would happen, we would have abandoned you outside to die.”

Father said.

I know very well how pathetic and useless I am. I’ve made mistake after mistake, and I’ve counted how many lives scattered through my fingers due to my inadequacies every day.

For whatever reason or scheme, I’ve even taken lives with my own hands. I wanted to die instead.

But. The detective was always by her side, comforting her.

“How many times do you think I called for you when I was being stabbed dozens of times by that devil? Even while dying, even while screaming in pain, I called for you hoping you would come. A hero? Don’t be ridiculous. What kind of hero can’t even protect their own family?”

Sister said.

What came to mind at those words was what the detective had said when she was depressed, thinking the same thoughts her sister had just expressed, after the culprit was arrested.

Her family members must have called for her as they were dying. Mina at that time was consumed by such thoughts.

Mina found it so hard and painful that she vaguely mentioned to the detective, who didn’t know she was a superpower user at the time.

That her family must have looked for her. That they surely did, but she hated herself for not being with them.

Mina regretted saying that even after spitting it out. Saying such things to someone who couldn’t possibly understand her feelings. Mina couldn’t understand why she had done it, but.

That person. As always, with a grumpy face, he answered.

‘They’re family. They would have hoped you wouldn’t come there. If you’re sorry and regretful, from now on, eat well, sleep well, and live diligently. For the family members who worried about you until the end.’

Mina laughed when she heard those words. Because somehow, she was comforted by those rough words that weren’t even formal consolation and seemed to suggest his words couldn’t possibly be wrong.

Perhaps it was because Mina thought the detective’s words were right.

Past memories buried in regret resurface. Happy daily life comes to mind, and days of crying and getting angry over trivial things flash through her head.

Mina eventually gritted her teeth and stood up. There’s no way her family would say such things to her. There’s no way they would ever curse her.

“Mina. Let’s go together. If go togeth we er, will for give you.”

Mom, dad, and sister are standing together. It was like a scene cut out from daily life and pasted here, but Mina gritted her teeth and shouted:

“Don’t disrespect my family! My family! The people I love!! They would never say such things! Don’t be ridiculous!!!”

The past cannot be reversed. No matter how much you regret, you can’t make it undone.

But that doesn’t mean there’s no tomorrow, so there are things you can learn from mistakes, things you can know from regrets.

The moment Mina thought this and gritted her teeth, her blocked breath opened up and her vision returned.

And what entered Mina’s eyes was a huge polar bear trying to pounce on the detective. Mina kicked it away and caught her breath.

Her heart was still trembling, and strength wouldn’t enter her legs. The thing in the form of her family in front of her was still spewing cursing words at her.

At that, Mina felt she still couldn’t swing her fist at it. Standing up after shaking it off was her limit.

But she wasn’t alone here.

“Are you okay?”

Detective Lee Munsu, standing next to Mina, asks. To his question, Mina quickly wiped her messy face with her sleeve and said:

“I’m, fine. I told you, I’d be fine, didn’t I?”

“Is that so.”

After saying that, the detective pointed his finger at the Chosen Ones. Pointing at them, who were trying to rampage after losing their leader due to the detective’s exploit, he said:

“You hold those guys off a bit. Our guys still haven’t regained their senses.”

Then the detective pointed his finger at the thing with her family’s faces. With a gun in his hand and the same face as usual, he said:

“I’ll somehow deal with that. So, sweep away those guys.”

Mina felt her heart beat strongly at those words.

This hallucination, or entity launching a mental attack, is likely a superpower user or a mutant.

If so, she should be the one fighting it, but she couldn’t even clench her fist.

Yet the detective told her he believed in her despite this. He said he would solve it.

Mina felt her face blushing again as she looked at Detective Lee Munsu.

Yes, she had fallen for the figure of an adult who understands her without words and somehow tries to help her.

But just being protected like this would mean she would always be just a child to him, and since she hated that idea to death, Mina slowly shook her head side to side and said:

“No. I can do both.”

Go beyond your limits. Swallow even the regrets you want to forget, or don’t want to forget, and move forward.

Think about what I have now, think about why I clenched my fist. Then I’ll be able to go even further.

Reminding herself of this, Mina was about to rush forward to fight, but—

Suddenly, the entity with her family’s face was crushed by something and burst, scattering blood.

And as if waking from a dream, Mina’s head cleared. She could see what was trampling on the corpse of the bizarrely shaped being.

“Why. How? What exactly is different about you and me?”

“Aren’t you in pain? Aren’t you sad? Don’t you want to turn back time?”

“Because Deputy Director is by your side? If that’s really it, if that’s the difference between you and me, then I can do it too, right? Like you.”

The woman, with her face contorted with jealousy and anger, was a being whose face Mina already knew.

The mastermind who made this country like this and the worst superpower user. Sai.

The moment her blue eyes crossed with Mina’s red eyes, Mina could instantly understand Sai’s emotions.

Sai is currently jealous of Mina. She hates her to an unbearable degree. Furthermore, she’s denying her, is sad, and is in pain.

Could it be because they are both beings who innately possessed superpowers?

Or maybe it’s because they both harbor feelings of love for the same person.

Mina swallowed as she felt the numerous emotions emanating from her.