In This World, Police Face the Mastermind(2)

Let’s ruminate on the incidents Yuna-ri caused in the original work after she caught Sai’s eye and became a supervillain called Overmind.

The point where she betrays in the original work is after Sai concludes negotiations with the National Assembly.

Her becoming a villain, from the perspective of novel development, is the common event of a comrade’s betrayal.

But if I were to face that Overmind in reality—her existence would be quite troublesome.

Overmind’s ability is the power to control stress. She’s not particularly strong physically or in terms of strength, so she’s not that powerful a supervillain in that sense.

What makes Yuna-ri dangerous is her brain and cunning.

Police officers thrown into extreme situations where the state gives up on arresting Sai and they could die at any moment inevitably become psychologically exhausted or fearful.

Yuna-ri focused on targeting these aspects when attacking police officers.

By harassing family members or acquaintances of detectives, she made even police officers filled with a sense of justice waver.

When they started suffering from the incredibly high stress levels caused by her ability, she would appear before such officers and use them by approaching them with offers to help if they would just do one favor for her.

Of course, she didn’t stop at police officers but involved ordinary people too, creating a scene that couldn’t be laughed at where the powerless, entranced by Yuna-ri’s words due to stress, threatened the protagonist and pressured New Hope—

Well, ultimately she gets taken down with one blow. What could civilians do against overwhelming power and speed? No matter how many civilians there are, they’re instantly subdued in the blink of an eye.

As such, while she was easy to subdue, it was Overmind who caused considerable damage to the police officers who wanted to help Mina.

This was an episode that revealed why this ability, which sounds like an advertising slogan for some aromatherapy product when described as “controlling stress,” is classified as a superpower—

It’s just that Yuna-ri hasn’t shown me her ability in front of me. If she were to fall into villainy like in the original work and try to attack, how troublesome would she be?

Stress, when seriously accumulated, can cause heart attacks, or even if not to that extent, it can make the brain not function properly and reduce efficiency.

Moreover, since Yuna-ri’s ability isn’t visible, it’s easy to mistake it for stress due to the situation or fatigue.

Yuna-ri is someone who could cause tremendous damage to us even if she just used her ability while continuing to work as a forensic researcher in the investigation team, without pretending to be dead and reappearing as in the original work.

She’s a crazy woman who gives debuffs just by standing quietly. But it’s too much to just dismiss her because, as we’ve seen so far, her ability is excellent. Damn it.

That’s why I needed to check what state Yuna-ri is currently in.

No, is it even right to call it a check? What I’m trying to do is closer to interrogation.

She has committed crimes that come into contact with the law as I’ve seen, but it’s hard to call her a supervillain just for that.

In such a chaotic situation, competent people were especially needed, and her ability is significant enough to temporarily ignore the crimes she has committed.

But if she tries to harm people with her superpower, then she’s a supervillain, so I’ll arrest her first.

As I was thinking this, the Police Commissioner finished the work for establishing the special task force and said he would handle the cleanup, told me to be a figurehead once later, and to directly recruit the necessary “special personnel,” then sent me out.

The Police Commissioner seemed to have been reluctant to use superpower users in investigations before. But because of Sai’s existence, he appeared to have realized the unavoidable necessity of joining forces with superpower users.

That’s fine. In my case, I’m in a position where I need to use whatever I can to not die in the field.

Given the current public and social perception of superpower users, plus someone who has risen to the position of Police Commissioner simply condoning an illegal vigilante group, that would be problematic in its own way.

It’s surprising enough to think that a Police Commissioner who changes his thinking so flexibly is an incredibly open-minded person.

While I was admiring this, I realized one question that I can’t understand why I hadn’t thought of until now.

“Why am I to lead the special task force…”

Why am I in an atmosphere where I would command a special task force?

A special task force that doesn’t even appear in the original work. The purpose of this team is clear. Not a comprehensive mission like the Special Investigation Team handling superpower cases, but a special mission team for capturing Sai.

But they’re telling me to command this? Shouldn’t they assign this to someone with at least a team leader rank or such position? Why are they assigning this to me?

I had a lot to say, but recalling the smile Sai showed on the screen a few hours ago, I realized that to survive, I need to use everything I can, even if I don’t like it.

That terrifying smile will surely appear in my nightmares tonight.

My feelings toward the woman called Sai evolve from disgust and hatred to fear.

Even if I’m given a position that doesn’t suit me, I’ll use it to arrest Sai and live or die accordingly.

Additionally, having this position helps prove Mina’s innocence regarding what she experienced.

Without the hero New Hope, nothing can be done—would I throw away this opportunity just to avoid being a scapegoat?

The Police Commissioner must have calculated everything, so I’ll make sure Mina’s case is treated as innocent when there’s an inauguration ceremony or whatever next time.

I conveyed this news to Mina via KakaoTalk. On the other side of KakaoTalk, Mina said it would be fine even if her innocence wasn’t proven, as long as I believed in her.

Come to think of it, Mina still doesn’t know about Sai’s purpose? Let’s talk about it when we meet in person next time.

…Damn, do I have to speak about that crazy woman’s purpose with my own mouth? My mood is starting to get indescribably bad.

“…Hey. Are you okay? Your face looks quite unwell.”

As I was walking out of the Police Commissioner’s office, thinking about how I hate the world or whether I could escape from Sai if I got facial plastic surgery, an unknown police officer asked with a concerned face.

I tried to open my mouth to answer the kind police officer’s question—but my lips were strangely heavy. Words that hadn’t passed through my brain came out of my mouth on their own.

“…No.”

I wanted to answer that I was fine, but my mouth wouldn’t move, and my true feelings leaked out without me realizing.

Who would understand the heart of a police officer being stalked by the strongest mastermind in the world?

“Whoa, damn. Your face doesn’t look human.”

The police officer who had spoken with concern fled in horror. His words made me curious about the state of my face, but only as much as an ant’s saliva stuck to an ant’s mouth.

I decided not to think about it. Throwing a Molotov cocktail at the beehive in front of me isn’t my style.

Moreover, since it’s time to interrogate Yuna-ri and find out if she’s corrupted, I hurried my steps.

---

Upon checking, Yuna-ri was living under police protection after the previous laboratory raid incident.

It wasn’t particularly difficult to meet her, who was in the position of a witness and someone who had faced danger while digging into police corruption.

We hadn’t gone to work since that day, so others had handled the paperwork for us, but I was the one who needed to write the report for this case.

I had been forgetting about it because I’d been running around without time to do paperwork these days.

When I went to the Special Investigation Team, which had received the case to investigate where Yuna-ri was, the captain, who had completed all the paperwork instead of me, came at me threatening to kill me right away.

I couldn’t bring myself to counterattack due to my conscience, so after quietly having a handful of hair pulled out, I heard from the captain where Yuna-ri was and headed there.

She was staying at a motel or lodging near the police station, not her own home.

At that motel, police officers disguised as staff or guests were on standby and checking who came in, but.

Of course, this wasn’t our company [the police] allocating personnel or providing money.

The situation was that responsible individuals from the Special Investigation Team were spending their own money to protect Yuna-ri, feeling responsibility after learning someone had tried to kill her.

A safe house? Sending a victim to a mysterious place that exists only on paper with no support, what kind of incident would you expect?

I entered the motel with a feeling of respect for people who spend money out of responsibility when they can’t even earn money.

As soon as I entered the motel, the person who appeared to be the owner glanced at me through a small window in the office, then gestured to someone behind.

An unfamiliar face came out of the office. But since the other person seemed to know me and was about to salute in such a place, I quickly stopped them and asked:

“New recruit?”

“Yes! Police Officer Park Sang-wook. It’s my third day since being transferred to the Special Investigation Team.”

“Huh, you’re having a hard time. Especially at a time like this. You’ve probably heard roughly from the captain, but I have something I want to confirm with the victim… Which room is she in?”

“Yes! She’s in room 404!”

No… Why would you book such an ominous room number even when booking a room?

I felt an uneasy sensation. But I followed Police Officer Park Sang-wook’s guidance to the room where Yuna-ri was said to be.

I knocked on the door and waited for her to answer, but no answer came.

In such an eerily silent situation, I asked Police Officer Park Sang-wook if she had ever secretly run away.

But he said Yuna-ri had been cooperative and always moved with police officers when she needed to go out.

Then is she sleeping? Checking the time, it was still early, before daybreak.

Ah—she’s probably sleeping. Maybe I should go eat breakfast early and take a rest before coming back.

My body seemed to have accumulated fatigue from running without rest like a crazy person for days.

Maybe I should get a couple of hours of sleep at a place like a sauna?

While I was contemplating this, suddenly there was a crashing sound from inside. As soon as I heard that sound, I immediately kicked the door hard to open it.

“Good heavens. You opened a reinforced door by kicking it…?”

Police Officer Park Sang-wook looked at me in surprise as I kicked the door open faster than he could draw his gun from his chest, but there was no time to waste.

Yagi was dead, the Special Investigation Team 2, which was at the center of corruption, was completely shattered. And the laboratory making the awakening drug was also destroyed today.

Even if Sai doesn’t make a move, there are still police officers who benefited from dealing with the awakening drug, or those who had collusive relationships with the police.

Such guys might look for someone to vent their frustration on if they can’t touch me, who hasn’t been visible for the past few days.

Or maybe she’s being targeted for digging into strange things without my knowledge, or in the worst case, maybe she’s become a real supervillain and is causing this noise!

I went through the broken door and quickly turned on the indoor lights to examine the interior—

Yuna-ri, wearing only a white gown, was lying upside down on the bed, peacefully sleeping while scratching her stomach, in a perfectly normal state.

I wanted to question why she sleeps naked, and it was also surprising that she was sleeping soundly amid such a commotion, but what was more puzzling was where the loud noise from earlier came from.

I quietly rolled my eyes to scan the room. In the room, a lamp that was estimated to have been at Yuna-ri’s feet was shattered and rolling on the floor.

I understood how the situation had unfolded. Yuna-ri, with her bad sleeping habits, had spun like a windmill on the bed and kicked that lamp.

Did I misinterpret that sound and break in by destroying the door?

Police Officer Park Sang-wook also recognized the situation and looked at me. A look asking what I would do about this.

I quietly turned around and left the room. I tried to straighten the dented part of the door and the broken hinges but gave up and forcibly fitted the door back into its original position.

When Police Officer Park Sang-wook looked at me with empty eyes through the half-door, I pondered what to do about this.

Should I make up an excuse that an unknown supervillain suddenly appeared and did this? How do I explain this? Before that, I need to coordinate the story with Police Officer Park Sang-wook, but how do I persuade him?

As I was anxiously shaking my legs while standing and thinking, I felt a gaze from the side.

Slowly turning my head toward where the gaze was coming from, I saw the manager I had seen at the entrance earlier alternating his gaze between me and the broken hinges of the door.

I knelt down just as if it was what I was supposed to do.