What It Means to Be Police in This World(6)

The first thing I did after being discharged from the hospital was, of course, to submit my resignation letter.

Whether it was because Sai was gone, or perhaps because of the influence of the higher-ups who disliked me from the beginning, I don’t know. But my resignation letter was accepted as if they had been waiting for it.

Unlike regular companies where you just submit a resignation letter and that’s it, I’ll maintain my police status until the official document is processed. But seeing the speed of their handling, it looks like it will all be done in a day or two.

They even extended the kindness of telling me to organize my belongings and rest during those two days.

I wondered if I had done something to be so disliked by the higher-ups. But after thinking about it for about 10 seconds, I realized that I definitely had done many things worthy of their hatred.

From slamming the mayor to the ground to considering previous incidents, it wouldn’t have been strange if I had already been stripped of my uniform. Yeah.

“You’re really quitting? You, hyung? Are you crazy?! You said you’d finish all the cases! What’s the problem?!”

“Don’t tell me you’re quitting because you couldn’t catch that demon woman!? How are we supposed to catch that monster?! Calm down!”

“Hey, Munsu. I understand how you feel, but this isn’t right. Just, can’t you turn a blind eye for a while? Calm down.”

As I was organizing my desk, laughing and saying it’s a wonder I hadn’t been fired until now, my colleagues were trying to dissuade me.

Do they think I’m quitting because of a sense of responsibility? Right now, I’m not quitting because of responsibility, but it’s more like I’m making a life-or-death decision.

It was clear from the news content I had seen until discharge and the movements that the higher-ups had given up on fighting Sai.

The Social Safety Special Act that the captain mentioned was about measures like amnesty for those who committed crimes using superpowers if they contributed to social stability.

The National Assembly is reportedly preparing to railroad this dog-shit-like law.

But even knowing this, the police can’t do anything, and rather, they’re threatening to discipline anyone who expresses dissatisfaction with this law in any way—

I’m not sure if this is a democratic police force or a police force from the 1980s. No matter how strange the worldview is, they’ve seriously lost their minds.

Did all the police executives who were trying to fight Sai somehow die in accidents this time, resulting in this mess? I don’t know.

There’s no mention of Mina beyond the news that she injured Sai and made her flee. The world is a mess.

I had intended to become a police officer from the start of my second life, but it’s true that I feel a bit strange now that the police have rotted so quickly.

Ah, they were already rotten to begin with.

“Take care.”

I put the things I had kept in the office into the box I brought. Since the items were just a notebook with the original content written down and other miscellaneous things, it wasn’t that heavy.

…Even after working in the field for more than 10 years, is it okay to have so few belongings? Isn’t this a bit wrong? This feels a bit strange.

I slowly looked back on more than 10 years of police life.

I lived as a regular police officer, then got involved with Mina and was dragged into the Special Task Force. The worst mastermind of the crazy worldview came in as a deputy, and I’ve come this far after receiving affection from that crazy woman.

If I ruminate on what happened from when Sai entered as a deputy until today, my head starts spinning, and I don’t want to think deeply about it.

Anyway, as a result of all that, I’ve submitted my resignation letter. And once the official document is processed, I’ll really be quitting the police.

…Come to think of it, I think quitting the police is a good decision. Is that a misconception?

With a feeling even more unburdened than before, I was about to leave the office carrying the box when the captain blocked my way.

That person stared at me for a moment, then rubbed his shiny head and handed me a notebook.

“You left this behind. Leaving something like this behind until the very end.”

“?”

The captain handed me a notebook with the same design as the one I had given to him. I thought it was strange since the notebook I forgot was already in the box, but.

The captain was silently telling me with his eyes to take this. When I quietly received that notebook, beneath it, I felt something with a familiar texture and shape. It was a gun.

…What is this crazy old man doing right now?

I tried to push it away in shock, but the captain shook his head with serious eyes.

“You bastard. You need at least this. … Are the preparations all done?”

“…Huh.”

It was truly absurd to think about how many people would lose their jobs if this was discovered, but considering what I was about to do, having a gun was a great comfort.

Therefore, I put the gun under the notebook into my inner pocket, avoiding the gaze of those around and the cameras. Then, ignoring the words of other colleagues, I headed towards the street.

People are trying to return to their daily lives despite their anxiety, with the news that all supervillains have disappeared and at the same time, Sai has been severely injured and fled.

It was quite pitiful to see people trying to return to their daily routines by any means.

Even if the supervillains have disappeared, Sai is still around. And it’s not like those supervillains have disappeared forever just because they’re not visible right now.

Do they behave like this because they don’t know that New Hope has lost and vaguely heard that the police somehow managed to handle it, or are they trying to forget the fear of supervillains somehow?

If I check my phone, there are people asking how this makes sense when neither the supervillains nor Sai have been caught yet, but those voices are in the minority.

There are many people who get angry at those who say such things, saying it’s all over, so what nonsense are they talking.

With a frustrated mind, I was chewing the nicotine gum that the captain had recommended last time when I reached home.

Suddenly, the garbage dump in front of my house caught my eye. At that place where I had met Sai on that snowy night, there was nothing as usual.

After roughly disposing of the useless things among the belongings I had brought to that garbage dump, I headed to a nearby playground with just the notebook where I had written the original content and the remaining items.

In a place rarely used by students but more frequently visited by punks or homeless people, a metal oil barrel was placed instead of an ashtray, as if it were natural.

“Damn it.”

I spat the tasteless nicotine gum into the metal barrel and sat down on the chair. A homeless elderly person was sitting nearby, basking in the sun.

Next to that elderly person, an old radio was making crackling sounds and broadcasting outdated popular songs.

I put a cigarette in my mouth and opened the last page of the notebook containing the original content. The passage about Sai’s defeat keeps shimmering before my eyes.

The original content has already been thrown into the inner core beyond hell. Mina, who was the only hope, has been kidnapped by Sai and isn’t to be seen.

The police have given up because all the people in the police who were chasing Sai have died, and the state is trying to secretly pass a strange law to placate Sai.

The media is too scared to try to understand exactly what the situation is, and people are turning a blind eye.

In my previous life, I saw many novels of the type where everything flows according to the original work? That’s fate and everything flows according to fate? I really wish this world would be like that too.

Why am I saying such things when I know it won’t be? Fuck off.

“The world is really fucked up.”

“Tsk, tsk, tsk. Young man, you must have had a hard time. Your face says it all. But don’t put that in your mouth. There’s magic in a person’s words, and if you directly put such things in your mouth, bigger troubles will arise.”

At the words of the homeless elderly person, I shut my mouth. Because it was the right thing to say.

Even in an already sufficiently shitty situation, things can always get worse. That’s the truth and fact I’ve come to understand while suffering under Sai in the Special Investigation Team.

And that is.

“Detec…tive.”

A truth that applies even in a situation like now.

I looked toward where Mina’s voice was coming from. There was Mina with a large gauze patch on her face, holding one wound from another, limping towards me, and upon seeing me, she spoke urgently:

“Thank goodness… I barely escaped from Sai. I was really scared… but now, I’ve found out where Sai is hiding. Detective, I—”

“You’re quite a tenacious one to appear so brazenly after causing such a fuss a week ago.”

‘Sai’ in the form of Mina, making a fuss as if she had luckily escaped. I looked at her with the maximum disgust I could muster.

At that, the face copied from Mina, which had been mixed with joy and urgency, slowly changed to expressionlessness and eventually turned into a coldness that seemed chilling.

She spoke with her own voice while maintaining Mina’s face:

“As expected, you recognize me.”

“Of course, a child who absolutely couldn’t be here is here. What else would I think but that it’s your doing?”

“Ah—so that’s how you recognized me. I was quite jealous, but I can accept that.”

Sai spoke while maintaining Mina’s face without reverting to her original face, and that appearance was incredibly awkward.

“Have you been following me all along?”

“Yes.”

“You’re quite brazen.”

“You knew anyway.”

After saying that much, Sai sat down next to me with light, swaying steps.

Meanwhile, the wounds on her body disappeared as if by magic, and she spoke with a peculiar smile that seemed both smiling and crying:

“I became curious about several things while talking with that child. Can we talk for a moment? Just a simple conversation. I’d like to have coffee together.”

“You’re threatening a police officer.”

“You quit being a police officer, didn’t you?”

“…That’s true.”

Indeed, since I’ve submitted my resignation, I’m not a police officer, but admitting it makes me feel dirty. I tried to find something to say but ended up sighing deeply.

Given Sai’s personality, I thought she might come once to make up for her previous loss of temper, which she might be embarrassed about, but to think she would visit as if she had been waiting.

Admiring her quick action while also ruminating on what she just said.

Saying she became curious while talking with Mina means Mina is safe enough to have a conversation.

That’s a relief. It seems she did kidnap Mina for a purpose, and Mina will be safe until that purpose is fulfilled.

The problem now is finding out what that purpose is—yes, conversation. Well, that’s fine. I should do it.

As I was organizing my thoughts while rubbing my chin, I blurted out to the homeless elderly person who was looking with surprised eyes at Sai, who suddenly showed the miracle of wounds healing:

“As you said, I misspoke a bit and now there are consequences.”

A really huge consequence, that is. I followed her with a cigarette in my mouth, leaving the homeless elderly person behind.

---

The place she took me to was a familiar café. It was the café where I often skipped work when she was my deputy.

It was a place I often skipped work to because I liked its quietness, with just the right number of people and rarely noisy. And today, this place was

We, seated in the café, ordered the coffee we used to drink together while working hard late at night. Meanwhile, people didn’t show any interest in us.

It’s already widely known that Mina is New Hope, and I’ve become even more famous due to this incident.

Even I have at least a dozen people recognizing and talking to me when I walk down the street, but to not attract any attention at all—

—Sai must have done something again. I sighed deeply and followed Sai with my eyes.

Sai brought two cups of coffee with an awkward smile. She brought an iced Americano without a straw and a café mocha that she was drinking.

Sai always drank café mocha, and I drank iced Americano.

Once, she tried to order something like a magical spell that women often drink, which she found on the internet, but she asked me how to pronounce it.

…I’m reminiscing a lot today. Is it because my time to die is approaching?

As I was drinking the coffee she brought with a contorted face, Sai slowly checked my mood and opened her mouth:

“I’m sorry about last time. I became very… emotionally agitated and did something unlike me. Is your head alright, Detective? Did it leave a scar?”

“Of course it did, why wouldn’t it?”

I answered Sai’s words with full mockery, and Sai looked at me with eyes filled with guilt that didn’t suit her.

Of course, it was clear without asking that this guilt was because of my injury, not guilt for others who were injured or died in the incident.

In a situation where I’m even tired of cursing, I put ice in my mouth and asked:

“Forget the apology. So what do you want to talk about? Why did you take the kid? What’s this about a choice?”

“…Straight to the point, huh? Wouldn’t it be nice to just chat and spend time like before?”

“You? With me?”

What’s with this woman? Did she hit her head wrong?

I glared at her in shock as she suddenly started talking nonsense. In response, Sai gave a bitter smile as if slightly hurt, but it felt strange to see such a reaction while she was wearing Mina’s face.

It seems Sai really came to talk, literally. Is this an opportunity? I leaned forward and checked with a glance the syringe containing the neutralization drug that I always carry.

Sai, in Mina’s form, seemed to not think I would do anything, so my instinct whispered that this was the chance, but.

I ignored what my instinct was babbling with reason and took another sip of coffee.

A meticulous woman like a snake hiding in the bushes wouldn’t have come without any preparation, and.

To successfully execute my plan and stop Sai, it’s impossible in a place with so many people. So for now, let’s focus on getting any information.

“Put the chat aside. What do you want to say? There must have been a reason you came wearing that kid’s face.”

“…Yes. There is. As I mentioned, I had a lot of conversations with that child. And I realized that we, as beings that are fundamentally different from ordinary people, have many similarities.”

“So I became curious. Despite being so similar, why are we so different? The difference between what’s easily called a villain and a hero? Legally, we’re both just criminals. Just abnormal beings wielding power without permission.”

“Is it a difference in morality? Is there anything as messy as the moral standards people have? I admit I’ve done wrong. But what exactly is the difference between that child and me?”

Sai paused for a moment. Then, looking at her current appearance reflected in the glass—Mina’s face—she spoke with a contorted expression, as if questioning herself:

“What’s so different that makes that child so close to you that you can recognize her instantly even when I perfectly imitate her… what’s different about me from that child…”

Sai swallowed her words with a breath, as if in pain. I spoke seriously in response to her reality-denying nonsense:

“Hey, no matter what, you’re not like that, right? What kind of unfunny self-justification are you making? Don’t go that far, seriously. You know it all, don’t you.”

“You know what’s different between you and that child. You know it all. Isn’t that why you’re doing all this?”

Sai would know too. She knows that she can’t reflect on her actions, and like an arrow that’s been shot, she can’t change the trajectory of her life, so she’s doing these things.

Therefore, I believed that no matter what, Sai wouldn’t sincerely make such dog-shit remarks.

If she was being sincere about something that only those with smashed heads would say, I might not even feel worthy of dealing with her, beyond just hatred.

Fortunately, Sai heard my words, opened her eyes wide, and then nodded with a bitter smile.

“…As expected, it’s you, Deputy Director. Yes, it’s really nonsense. Knowing full well what’s different. Ha. I didn’t expect that I would engage in such pathetic self-denial.”

Sai’s appearance changed again. Sai, who had been copying Mina’s outward appearance, revealed her original form.

With long blonde hair and blue eyes, Sai shed a single tear, as if there was still a trace of humanity left in her, and said:

“The conversation was enjoyable, Deputy Director. As a token of gratitude, I’ll tell you what I’m going to do next.”

“From now on, I’m going to force people to make a choice. Whether to kill that child. Or to die themselves.”

“People will be trapped in this city and have no choice but to choose. Those who were called supervillains have already been transformed into mutants by my hand. And their number and strength are sufficient to massacre the people living in the city of Seoul.”

“I’m convinced. People will unhesitatingly choose to kill that child in order to survive.”

“So, Deputy Director. Please do what you need to do as well. Just as you’ve done so far.”

Sai left those meaningful words and then closed her mouth. Soon after, she disappeared from before my eyes like a ghost.

The café mocha that remained, proving that everything that had happened wasn’t a dream, was still hot. I quietly finished the remaining coffee and rubbed my face dryly.

Right after, the TV monitor in the café began to crackle. Then, from that monitor, I heard the voice of the person who had been beside me until just now.

“[ — Hello, everyone. ]”

It was Sai’s voice.