In This World, the Police Officer Became Part of the Violent Crimes Unit(8)

The Cheonho-dong redevelopment area I revisited had become even more desolate than before.

The building that was being constructed had collapsed, split in half. The crater in the ground created when Mina took down the spider mutant was only half filled.

It clearly showed that construction here had stopped midway due to money or other problems.

Many parts of the safety barrier walls were collapsed, and windbreak tents for rain prevention inserted in place of those walls swayed in the wind, creating a gloomy atmosphere.

This place sure has had many incidents and accidents. I had the idle thought that if it’s abandoned like this, it seems like one more haunted house where many people gather will be added.

But more than that. Despite leaving a note telling me to come here, not a single person is visible nearby. I can’t see Sai or the black snake either.

What is this? They wouldn’t have written the wrong address, but. Are they hiding somewhere maybe? Even though I made all the preparations, I can’t help feeling anxious.

I looked around but couldn’t see anyone, so I stopped checking from outside and carefully took one step inside-

Shwoop!

“Oh.”

As soon as I took one step, a hand rising from the ground grabbed me. The moment I recognized that arm, my body fell to the ground following gravity.

I almost lost consciousness for a moment, but barely holding onto it, a strange place appeared before my eyes.

What looks like an underground interior. There are lit lights all around, and fierce-looking men in black suits are visible. In the middle, Sai was sitting tied up tightly with ropes on a folding chair.

Sai was limp and motionless. As if unconscious. There were no visible external injuries, but there could be wounds under her clothes.

I slowly organized the information in my head and said:

“…Your welcome greeting is rough.”

“When inviting the famous Detective Lee Munsu, we have to do at least this much.”

A voice came from behind right after. I turned around. There was a rough-looking man with a snake tattoo on his face, smiling while showing off an expensive-looking suit coat.

Seeing black snakes swarming around that man, it seemed clear that the snake that invited me was controlled by this man.

Okay, looking at the snake drawn on his face too, this guy’s superpower is certainly the ability to control snakes. Or something similar to that.

I counted the number of men in suits standing silently around Sai, hiding most of their physical features in the shadows of the lights.

Even considering there might be more in dark places, about 10 people? But hearing beast-like cries among them, it seems there are a few mutants too-…

“This is our first time meeting like this, right? I’m Snake. As you can see, you can’t do anything alone. All the guys here are more dangerous than famous ones.”

“Detective Lee Munsu, since this is our first meeting, I’ll warn you just once, it’s better to quietly follow my words. If you do anything strange now, I’ll kill all your acquaintances as I already warned.”

The man with the snake tattoo said that while touching his phone. Right after, a message arrived on the phone I had in my pocket.

I checked what message had come as the snake-tattooed man told me to check. The message contained what looked like a short video link.

Following that link, what I saw was the figure of Captain Kim walking somewhere-

It was a simple threat saying he could do something to Captain Kim right away if I didn’t listen to him.

“Okay. So what do you want me to do?”

“Aha, good. I like people who quickly understand. What you have to do from now on is simple. You~ now have to kill that woman.”

Snake said that while touching my chest. This guy, he already knew I had brought a gun.

The fact that he knows what I brought, from Captain Kim onwards, meant that this guy was the one who had tapped into the investigation team that Yagi had mentioned.

If it was just this, he would be a dangerous guy whose name and abilities I don’t know, but I erased such thoughts at what he said next.

“Don’t glare at me like you’re going to kill me. Actually, I’m doing this because I’m your fan. Do you know that woman’s identity?”

“That woman you’ve been taking care of for two months, she’s actually the real villain who made the superpower awakening drug, you know? When I found out that fact, I thought about just killing her with my own hands, but-“

“Detective who strives day and night to find the criminal who made the superpower awakening drug, among them, you caught my eye~”

The snakes around made hissing sounds as if mocking at Snake’s words.

He subtly informs me that he’s the one who made the superpower awakening drug, and all the incidents I’ve experienced so far were because of Sai.

This bastard, his way of speaking is fucking awful. It’s a really fucking awful way of speaking.

Moreover, this guy is a coward who tried to deal with Sai while she had lost her memories, but is now trying to make me do the job instead because he’s scared of that meticulous and frightening woman.

I could now understand why the name Snake felt so unfamiliar.

Not all of Sai’s subordinates appeared in the novel, but a cowardly bastard like this wouldn’t be at a level to have his name mentioned in the novel.

Damn it. I thought Snake might be someone I didn’t know and quite dangerous, so I made thorough preparations, but it feels like that wasn’t necessary.

For now, I took out my gun following his words. Snake smiled seeing the gun newly issued to me after coming to the Violent Crimes Unit.

A way of speaking that’s a miracle fights don’t break out when you listen to it. I deliberately made a disgusted expression looking at the snakes crawling around my feet to avoid cursing at this guy.

But meanwhile, Snake put his arm on my shoulder as if we were friends and babbled about dealing with her right away.

The desire to turn the gun on him right away welled up strongly, but I somehow endured it with superhuman patience and asked him, just in case:

“Right. You’re very kind. But where is this? A hidden underground building in Cheonho-dong?”

“Ah- no. This is under the redevelopment complex above. They were planning to make a parking lot or something, but as the development completely fizzled out, it was abandoned like this. Well, the skeleton must have been sturdy, as the underground is intact. It’s impossible for ordinary humans to enter, but – what use is that to people like us?”

Snake kindly answered my question.

That tone was as if he was certain I couldn’t resist him now.

I stood still holding the gun in my hand, disliking that appearance even more.

Snake, who had his arm on my shoulder, slightly frowned at my behavior, but soon smiled and said:

“Wow- As expected of the righteous detective. Really amazing. But what can you do? No miracle will happen for you today like before. You seem to think you’ve survived so far because you’re excellent. That’s not it.”

“The Special Investigation Team, other police officers there die every day, so why do you think you survived? It’s because that woman has been hiding behind you until now, tormenting you just enough so you don’t quite die.”

“But not now. You have no way out now. Die. But if you kill that woman, I’ll let you live. It’s a good thing, right?”

“Moreover, that woman pretended to be your junior partner while cross-dressing, acting as your subordinate and driving your colleagues to their deaths. Look! If you kill her here, you’ll be avenging your dead colleagues and setting the world right. Just close your eyes tight and pull the trigger!”

Oh my. Why do all criminal bastards say such nonsense as if it’s obvious? I forcibly chewed the inside of my cheek and swallowed a bitter laugh.

Even if I shoot Sai now, and even if Sai really dies from that, it can’t stop superpower awakening drugs from spreading in the world.

That’s because this bastard beside me will just take Sai’s place.

Looking at him, it seems like he won’t be able to commit meticulous crimes like Sai, so it might be better, but.

If it becomes known that this kind of bastard has gained power in the process of Sai’s strong power and authority being transferred to someone else.

Other guys will rebel too and a war will break out among Sai’s subordinates, and then, a mess on the level of the Great Chaos incident in the original work could happen.

Or it could become even more horrific.

I held my breath and slowly examined Sai’s condition. Sai was still motionless as if unconscious like when I first saw her earlier- ah, she was awake.

For a moment, faint blue eyes were caught in my sight. I saw her eyes trembling with fear and terror, trying somehow to pretend to be unconscious.

I confirmed that and slowly pointed the gun at Sai.

I exhaled the breath I had been holding while looking at Snake giggling beside me.

Timing, has enough time passed? Even calculating for error, this much should be- okay.

With the sensation of time flowing several times slower than usual, I gritted my teeth and waited – then pulled the trigger straight up towards the sky.

Bang!!

“…What are you doing?”

“Have you ever seen Korean police carrying live ammunition from the first shot?”

The Special Investigation Team loads live ammunition from the first shot because they deal with superpower users, but not the Violent Crimes Unit. We have to fire warning shots into the air for up to two shots with live ammunition.

I mocked the Snake guy glaring at me. He looked very displeased that I didn’t shoot towards Sai, but he shouldn’t make such an expression over just this much.

I put the gun I was holding back into my pocket. Snake applied force to the arm he had on my shoulder at my action.

Pain rushes through and my face contorts. Snake looked at my face and said with a fierce expression:

“Looks like you didn’t understand the situation? Do you think you can survive this time too after luckily living on a rigged board? Do you really want to die, a non-ability user?”

The snakes crawling on the floor start climbing up my legs, baring their fangs.

And the mutants that had been making cries beyond the darkness to prove their existence reveal their vicious faces and glare at me as if to kill me.

The men in suits didn’t move at all in that situation, glaring at Sai who was pretending to be unconscious, as if preparing for any situation, but-

If that’s the case, shouldn’t they not have brought me here? I really couldn’t understand what this bastard was thinking.

I understand that he’s too scared of Sai to kill her directly. I understand trying to kill her by borrowing someone else’s hands. But making a police officer do it, you idiot.

No matter how much I’m related to Sai, how can you treat the police like such idiots, you bastard.

“No way. But there’s one thing you don’t understand now, so I’m going to tell you.”

“…Understand?”

Snake asks back at my words. I took out the police radio I had put in one pocket and showed it to him.

A radio with the power on. Seeing that radio, Snake snorted as if it was ridiculous.

“The police? Do you think you can live by calling for police support?”

Well- I did call for police support. Of course, it’s a kidnapping case so the police should come.

But the reason I deliberately brought this radio is one. It’s embarrassing to say as a police officer, but this radio is a device so vulnerable to security that even a high school girl could hack it.

If I communicate with police using this device, even a high school girl hacking police radio with a phone could easily know the current situation.

But there was a problem. Even though Snake kindly explained where this place is, I can’t know exactly where it is, so even if they try to raid here, it would be hard to enter easily due to the danger of me getting involved-

But if there was something like a flare to signal the exact location, that would be a different story, wouldn’t it?

Instead of explaining these things, I took out what I had put in my inside pocket instead of the pocket where I put the gun. A black, L-shaped object that looked like it was made of plastic.

“…A taser? Do you think that will work on a superpower user like me? You’ll die if you shoot that.”

“I know it usually doesn’t work. But most people get annoyed because it hurts.”

And now I need that momentary gap. I pulled the trigger.

The taser fired from point-blank range stuck into Snake’s arm as he swung it irritably. The taser operates with a crackling sound, but Snake immediately pulled out the stuck needles before even 1 second passed.

But in that instant, I had already rushed to Sai. I rolled on the ground while hugging her.

Before Snake could react next, the ceiling broke with a boom. With an impact like the world was collapsing, the sunset from the sky came down to the underground.

“New Hope!!”

I heard Snake and some other men in suits shout as if screaming.

I ignored that and thought about escaping from underground while hugging Sai, but unfortunately, a huge concrete fragment that we couldn’t possibly avoid fell towards our heads, but-

“Detective-nim!!”

New Hope smashed that fragment, then pulled me and Sai up simultaneously and sent us outside. With lightning-like speed.

“Stay here. I’ll clean up quickly and come back.”

New Hope said that, then glanced at Sai once before flying back down.

Since I kept the radio on, she must have heard what Snake said. So she and other police officers must have heard who Sai is.

After this, they’ll start investigating based on Snake’s testimony, and if I submit the USB I have as evidence too – we might be able to prove Sai’s crimes even though she’s lost her memories.

The sound of sirens coming from afar. The radio starting to ring noisily. I sent a goblin to Captain Kim, so it’s meaningless even if Snake tries to take out his anger on something.

It’s quite bothersome that the goblin responded favorably to my request to an unpleasant degree, but- that’s something to think about later.

I laid my tired body on the dirt ground and mocked the Snake bastard who would be getting beaten up by New Hope on the ground.

“You bastard. Did you think I’d come without any preparation after being tricked so many times……”

I’d really be an idiot bastard if I came without any preparation this time too. I came after matching even the timing for the call sign in advance, you bastard.

As I giggled and mocked that snake bastard. Sai, who I was holding in my arms without realizing, squirmed.

Sai trembled and slowly raised her head to meet my eyes. Sai’s blue eyes were blurred with tears streaming down. Sai was crying now.

Sai’s face, mixed with fear from the sudden kidnapping, joy at being saved, and inexplicable dread, was miserable enough to overshadow her beauty now.

But only for a moment. Sai buried her face in my chest, and said while crying:

“Ah… Is, is this… really true? Teacher. Am I, the person who made the superpower awakening drug? Is everything that person said… true?”

I was at a loss for how to answer Sai’s question for a moment. This woman, who lost her memories and was thrown alone into the world, is now about to be judged for crimes she can’t even remember.

Surely before, I said without hesitation that even if she has no memories, she should be punished since it was her who committed the crimes, and even now I would say what I should say as a police officer, but.

Seeing her face crying with guilt and fear… I couldn’t bring myself to say it.

So I came to hope that she would receive a proper trial in a state of lost memories for life, receive punishment according to the trial, and live a proper life instead of being a woman no different from a devil.

“…Yes. Those words are true. You killed countless people, and before that, you ruined the lives of countless people with the drug you made.”

“Ah.”

At my words, Sai let out a sigh and dropped her head. Tears fell drop by drop from Sai’s eyes, and Sai said while sobbing:

“Ra, rather… then why didn’t you just kill me down there… If, if I really did such things… Wouldn’t it be better for me to just die…?”

Sai must have seen it on the news many times too. People whose lives were ruined by becoming superpower users, countless people who lost their lives caught up in incidents caused by superpower users.

Now that she’s learned that all the tragedies she had dismissed as being caused by some unknown person were all because of her, what must she be feeling?

I hugged Sai with both arms. I felt warm body heat.

Come to think of it, I realized that during these two months, she often snuck into my arms at night or tried skinship, but I had never directly hugged her like this.

I couldn’t bear not doing something for someone who will have to bear crimes she doesn’t even remember alone from now on.

Looking at it as a police officer, the victims will remember what they lost, and since the fact that she committed crimes doesn’t change, she should feel guilty and ask for forgiveness even if she can’t remember.

Of course, the original Sai would never feel guilt, but the Sai I saw for 2 months is different.

If she just receives a proper trial, the punishment will end someday. And she will truly repent properly. If that happens…

“I’ll wait for you.”

It’s quite funny for the person arresting Sai herself to say that, but I couldn’t think of anything else to say so I said something absurd.

To think that affection built up over just 2 months of living together would make me say such things. It makes me think how scary affection is.

I slowly patted her back as my mother used to do for me in my past life. Then she sobbed even more loudly and buried her face in my chest, and Sai said in a sobbing voice.

Why does this simple action feel so inflated, so ominous?

“Aah… Why. Why couldn’t I have met you before doing such things? I feel wronged. It’s too painful… If I could turn back time, I want to… Will you really wait for me…?”

“Deputy chief…”

Deputy chief. At that one phrase, I felt the hair all over my body stand on end.

I hurriedly pushed Sai away from my arms and quickly took out the gun from my pocket and aimed. And fired.

All 5 live rounds were fired without missing at Sai. 2 shots to the head. 3 shots aimed at the heart.

My skills that always won first place in shooting competitions shone, firing steel bullets to the intended locations, but those bullets bounced off without even scratching her skin.

“- Aah… As expected, you noticed. It was too warm, I was so happy, so blissful that my head broke down. Oh my, to make such a stupid mistake…”

I swallowed my breath watching Sai mumble as if in a dream.

Her appearance hadn’t changed at all. The atmosphere changed in an instant. The woman trembling in my arms suddenly became an unknown monster.

I feel suffocated and my soul screams that I must scream and tear this thing off right now.

It’s a monster. There’s a monster in front of me. I see a monster that kneads the world and tramples on people.

Her long blonde hair becomes disheveled and opens like a curtain. The devil with the appearance of a flower slowly smiles.

Since when? When exactly did she regain her memories?

Sai looked at me and lifted only the corners of her mouth from her weeping face. A strange and scary face that I can’t tell if it’s smiling or crying looks at me.

“But, all the words I just said were sincere. Deputy chief. I enjoyed eating meals with you for 2 months, I felt warm spending time together, I’m happy enough to cry because you hugged me. Ah, yes, I was curious about the name of this emotion.”

“Now, now I know what this is. …Aah- This can’t be. Deputy chief. If, if I repent for everything I’ve done and ask for forgiveness, if I say I won’t do bad things anymore – will you, accept me?”

Her eyes are weeping but her mouth is smiling. An unpleasantness like facing a ghost. Sai, with a misaligned and broken face, asked the same question as the night we first met.

I looked into her blue eyes.

Looking at the blue eyes burning with desire and madness, I instinctively knew that the woman before me was not the person I had lived with for 2 months.

So, without a moment’s hesitation, I answered the same:

“You killed people.”

“How can you get forgiveness from people who are already dead?”

You can’t get forgiveness from dead people. Because dead people don’t come back.

But I know. If I just closed my eyes tight and said yes, she might stop doing bad things beyond this.

With that one word that I’ll wait, all the incidents could be resolved.

But, but you know. No matter how I think about it, no matter how I try to endure it, there are things that humans physiologically cannot accept.

“And the person you should ask forgiveness from isn’t me. You should ask forgiveness from the people you killed.”

“But do you, remember even one of the people you killed?”

“……”

“And I’m really, sincerely curious, but. Can you truly, honestly be certain yourself that you won’t kill people again after this?”

Sai remained silent at my questions. I spat out a laugh mixed with disgust as I watched Sai acting out the tragic heroine under the setting sun.

“You bastard.”

At least if she had no memories, I could understand if she said she couldn’t remember who she killed. But that, that’s not it, is it? You had no intention of repenting in the first place, did you?

I threw the gun away and gritted my teeth, putting my hand in my pocket to take out the superpower neutralization syringe, but.

“I don’t like this…”

With Sai’s short sigh, my hand touched the ground.

The result of such a light and simple action was not simple.

As if the earth’s axis was twisting, the sky and ground shook. Caught up in the rising wall of earth, I lost consciousness.