In This World, Police and Heroes Do What They Must(2)

After escaping from the journalists in a way that was almost dejectedly simple. I began moving with Mina while contemplating what’s wrong with this world.

The current top priority, as I had thought earlier, was to meet with Shin Yu-mi and confirm information about Kim Yun-shik.

After purchasing a prepaid phone at a convenience store, I moved quickly with Mina, planning to contact her in a safe place.

Even though I wanted to contact Shin Yu-mi using the prepaid phone, to check if there was any surveillance or tailing from Sai, I deliberately walked around a bit, and the scenery I saw was quite bleak.

Although 5 days had passed since Sai began moving, the anxious air hadn’t disappeared, and there were no people on the streets.

Of course, that doesn’t mean there were absolutely none. There were people moving around to make a living.

It was quite unfamiliar to see all of them trembling in anxiety, scared by the honking of passing cars, slight noises, such trivial things.

Mina, walking silently beside me, seemed to feel various emotions as well, unable to hide what looked like a stifled expression even while wearing sunglasses.

“—Let’s fix everything. Us.”

Seeing Mina seemingly feeling a sense of responsibility and guilt that she had to fix everything, I lightly pressed on her head.

“Why are you making a face like you did something wrong? You’re strange too. That bitch Sai did everything wrong, yet you’re making such a face.”

“…Yes.”

Mina slightly lifted the corners of her mouth and smiled at my words.

Seeing that, I started to worry sincerely. She seems like she would be easily susceptible to a sucker punch scam.

I knew she was this kind of person, but seeing it directly beside me is really frustrating. Why would this be her fault? The culprit is someone else.

When there’s a car accident, it’s common for the other person to grab the back of their neck and collapse, and for you to do the same. But she seems like she would suddenly say sorry and offer her liver.

Shouldn’t what I need to teach her be not math or such, but how to say “fuck off” to shitty people?

Sincerely thinking that might be necessary, I rubbed my chin for a moment. Then, confirming there was no one tailing us, I raised the prepaid phone.

Anyway, with so many people around, who would care about one phone call?

With that thought, I called Shin Yu-mi’s number, which I had confirmed in advance.

If Shin Yu-mi doesn’t answer, the worst-case scenario is that she’s already been killed, or all of this might be a trap.

So I waited for the call to connect, hoping she was in a state to answer. Fortunately, after a brief ringing tone, the call connected.

And—

“[ – P, please save me!! ]”

“?”

The fact that an abrupt rescue request feels familiar as soon as the call connects probably means I’ve been through a lot until now.

I had a stray thought for a moment, but I quickly shook it off and said:

“What’s your current location? Can you explain exactly what situation you’re in?”

“[ I don’t know where I am right now! I’ve just been running away! I’m crossing through some building right now! The current situation is! Huack! Being chased-[BOOM!] Aaargh!!! ]”

Shin Yu-mi making a sound like a frog being squashed by a fist. At least it seems clear that she’s being chased by something.

But at that bizarre scream, I couldn’t help but bite my lip with a sigh.

Did that bitch Sai know I had the USB? If Shin Yu-mi is being chased by someone at this precise timing, I can infer that Sai did something.

I paid such close attention to ensure she never saw the USB while we lived together?

No, that’s not it. It’s too early to be certain. It would be foolish to jump to conclusions when we don’t even know how this situation came about.

As I composed myself and was about to ask questions to somehow infer Shin Yu-mi’s location while she still had energy left.

Suddenly, police siren sounds came from both beyond the phone speaker and nearby. It seemed like she was near me.

Then people started screaming and running away, and as Mina and I quickly looked to where the sound was coming from to check what was happening.

There, a pure white lightning-like thing was seen running at an impossible speed through the streets, desperately fleeing.

And following it, a huge green jelly-like thing was sluggishly chasing Shin Yu-mi, wha?

“Ugh… why is Stinky Jelly, the one who causes odor terrorism, here…! Detective! I know we need to stay quiet right now. So, so, for now, can we at least evacuate people? Huh? Eh?”

I heard Mina shouting that we should evacuate people. But my mind went blank, and I couldn’t find words to say.

I had searched for it many times. I had looked everywhere to find its whereabouts. And after so much endurance, I finally met it.

I don’t know how many times I’ve seen videos and photos of its appearance, wanting to catch it.

No, I should say I’m too happy it’s here. And I’ve met the enemy I’ve been searching for.

“Det, ective?”

“Mina. Do you see that fire hydrant? Can you break it and turn on the water stream? This is a favor. If you don’t want to do it, you don’t have to help. But, I’d appreciate if you could help me. Will you please help?”

“Ah. Yes.”

Good. Honestly, with Mina’s power, arresting that thing would be extremely simple.

This request could interfere with the plan I verbosely rambled about earlier—to stay quiet for a while and make people realize how necessary Mina is.

Moreover, if we get caught by the police for situation assessment, things could go wrong in many ways. What I’m thinking of doing right now is definitely dangerous.

Although it can be excused because Shin Yu-mi is someone who must be saved for our current plan, it still doesn’t feel right for me to change what I said, does it?

That’s why I was very grateful to Mina for understanding me and agreeing to help.

How long have I waited for that bastard? That that fucking bastard. A fucking bastard who should be locked up immediately. Damn, does that bastard know how much I’ve been searching for him?

Smiling, I explained the current plan to Mina. Meanwhile, I can see her face turning blue and her lips closing tightly, but let’s ignore that.

There was a reason why I specifically asked to break the fire hydrant.

With the appearance of the supervillain, police cars were rushing in and evacuating people.

In the midst of that, I spotted several outdoor fire hydrants and recalled the plan I had tried but failed with Yagi.

Everyone knows how much water gushes out when a cross-shaped outdoor fire hydrant breaks.

And such a massive amount of water will be shot out with overwhelming water pressure, and when hit by such a water cannon, wouldn’t anyone hesitate?

Even if it’s a jelly lump that emits a stench.

After asking Mina to move when I give her the signal, I quickly ran to the police officers who were evacuating people from the incident site.

Fortunately, those police officers were familiar faces, so I approached them to borrow a vehicle.

“Step back from here! A supervillain is rampaging right now, so quickly flee- what the fuck?!”

A detective with a familiar face who had endured for quite a long time in Special Investigation Team 1, though not as long as Captain Na and me. He saw me and trembled in horror.

What’s with that reaction? Does he not recognize me? It’s absurd enough that journalists I’ve never met in my life don’t recognize me, but it’s truly preposterous that even people I’ve eaten with don’t recognize me—

But thinking about it, isn’t this a good thing?

It was as if a light bulb in my head turned on. If this is the case, whatever I do now, I won’t be Detective Lee Munsu but some unnamed vigilante 1 or something.

Oh, thinking about it this way, things start to get interesting.

“Ah, Detective Kim Chan-sik. I’d like to borrow a car to arrest the villain? Is that okay? We know each other, right? I’ll give you all the credit for the achievement. Good, right? It’s good, isn’t it?”

“…What?… What?!”

Good. He answered YES, so I’ll borrow it.

Come to think of it, after the press conference the other day, there’s been no exact word on how I’ll be handled. I can’t tell what’s happening above.

It could simply be that neither of us has gone to work so I haven’t heard, or judging by the lack of phone calls, they might be quiet for now as they’re sweating over the cleanup—

But do I care? From the moment I made that scene at the press conference, I was prepared to lose my job. Whether I get fired after writing a resignation letter or for unauthorized absence, it’s all the same.

What I’m doing now is not as Detective Lee Munsu but as an unnamed man engaging in crazy antics.

I drove the police car with the keys still in it, with the prepaid phone to my ear. I heard someone urgently trying to stop me from behind, but I ignored it and moved.

And through the front window, I saw Shin Yu-mi running like crazy, scattering lightning around. She still had the phone to her ear.

That’s good then. No need to draw attention and be a nuisance.

I pressed the accelerator. Breaking through the barricade set up by fellow police officers, I rushed forward and spoke into the prepaid phone.

“There’s a car rushing forward now. Escape behind that car. And let’s meet again in 10 minutes at Cheonho Triangle Park.”

“[ Huh? Oh, there really is one… Is that Detective driving? ]”

Yes. I answered briefly, and the white lightning that had been gliding at an impossible speed through the middle of the city rushed toward me.

A white light passed by the car, brushing past it at a speed that made the car swerve, jumping over the car window. And the jelly lump that had been spreading stench on the streets also approached where I was.

I gripped the steering wheel of the police car and caught my breath for a moment.

Even if it’s to rescue Yuna-ri, this is clearly a crazy act.

It’s even likely to be life-threatening. Even with Mina nearby, I can’t make excuses like “somehow it will work out.”

It would be better to leave the aftermath to the police since I miraculously met Shin Yu-mi.

But what blocks such a choice is what is commonly called memories.

After becoming a police officer, I saved money from my very first paycheck. And the car I bought with that money. Though it was used, how long had I driven it.

I drove it well until I turned 35. Even when caught up in all sorts of shitty incidents, that car took me where I needed to go.

But because of what that damn guy left behind, my car met its demise.

I’ve thought countless times. What if the National Forensic Service had found the wallet first? Or if I hadn’t found that wallet and had tossed it to someone else?

Such hypothetical scenarios fill my head, imagining a situation where I still have my car.

But the reality—where I couldn’t drive, had to run like hell, or move by bus whenever something happened recently—reminds me that I no longer have my beloved car.

So to put it simply, it’s like this:

Since it turned my car into that sorry state, I won’t be able to sleep peacefully without taking revenge, damn it.

“You fucking bastard!!”

In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, die!!

Pressing the accelerator with all my might, the vehicle rushed forward quickly. The Avante AD, used as a standard mid-size patrol car, seemed well-maintained as it quickly reached that jelly lump.

The enemy of my car. The closer I get, the more I wince at the disgusting smell.

But for the first time, I could properly see its appearance. Something that looked clearly like an important core could be seen in that green thing that moved like a snake, emitting a disgusting smell.

I don’t know how a superpower user becomes something like that, but there’s no reason not to aim for what’s obviously its weakness.

I drove the car straight toward the approaching creature. It seemed momentarily confused by my sudden charge, but then it rolled as if trying to crush the vehicle with its body.

Yes, I expected that. With enough power to chase after Shin Yu-mi who was running while sprinkling lightning, it could easily crush a car of this size.

But that’s impossible now because there’s someone who can shoot a water stream at that guy.

With a bang, a strong stream of water was sprayed at the jelly monster from behind.

The jelly monster stiffened its body in response. I didn’t miss that opportunity and secured the steering wheel by tying together the belt and the police baton in the car, then escaped from the vehicle.

Because the car was moving at a high speed, I rolled quite harshly on the ground as I escaped. But it was bearable.

“Keeeeiiiaaaak?!”

The car embedded itself into the creature’s body that had stiffened from the water stream, resulting in a clean hit. A dirty scream echoed, and I saw the damn creature’s body shrink to human size.

Not dead, situation resolved.

Good. It worked properly. I stood up, holding my slightly aching body.

Seeing Mina rushing over urgently, I waved my hand to signal I was okay. Now that this had happened, I was about to flee from the scene to meet Shin Yu-mi at the nearby park as arranged—

“Lee Munsu, you crazy bastard!!! Not coming to work and what the hell kind of stunt is this?!!”

Ah, damn. The captain was here.

A familiar bald head appears among the detectives who were just staring blankly at the sudden development.

I clicked my tongue at the fact that only that person recognized me and got up to leave the scene.

That person probably can’t chase after me because he has to clean up the scene. The thought of this smelly bastard being thrown in jail made me smile.

But since getting away from here was more important, I hurried my steps.

As I heard the detectives crying about how to clean up this mess, I suddenly realized why people like Mina or the Goblin acted so brainlessly in the past.

They probably just acted recklessly because they weren’t the ones who had to clean up the aftermath.

When a person’s position changes, their perspective changes. Expecting the captain to handle the cleanup, I waved to him.

I could see the captain ranting about shooting me, but I ignored it.