I Became a Police Officer in a Superhero Genre #Chapter 12 - Even in This World, Police Officers Have It Tough(5) - Read I Became a Police Officer in a Superhero Genre Chapter 12 - Even in This World, Police Officers Have It Tough(5) Online - All Page

I Became a Police Officer in a Superhero Genre

Chapter 12 - Even in This World, Police Officers Have It Tough(5)

This isn’t something to brag about, but the corruption case of the politician’s son that I solved involving Mina was a major incident with huge repercussions.

It was such a large-scale case that even I, who solved it, wondered “Shit, is it really this interconnected?” as political and other corruptions were linked like a string of sausages.

Even I, who had lost my mind at the time, momentarily came to my senses and got scared, thinking “Did I touch something I shouldn’t have?” but.

Faced with a situation where I would die if I didn’t solve this, I gritted my teeth and continued the investigation, eventually succeeding in catching all those bastards.

But because the case size was what it was and the aftermath was no joke, for the sake of my future, I didn’t reveal anything about myself to the media and it ended with simply “the prosecution discovered politicians’ corruption and realized justice.”

Now that I look back on it, that too is a memory- no, it was still a crazy thing to do. I’ve thought about it almost yearly since then, and it was definitely a crazy thing to do.

As long as I’m wearing a police uniform, I’ll do what needs to be done, and I don’t intend to live recklessly like my former mentor,

but the aftermath of that incident made me answer that if something similar happened again, I’d rather hang myself than rush into it again.

Strictly speaking, getting involved with New Hope and joining this Special Investigation Team was also because of that incident, if you think about it.

Anyway, after that incident, fellow police officers and people in nearby professions naturally knew about the case I solved while pretending not to know. I also don’t even open my mouth about anything related to that case.

But now Dokkaebi knows about it? Then what? Is Dokkaebi also a former police officer or someone from the legal field?

They said his identity was unknown until the end of the novel, but is it okay to give hints about his identity like this?

“Detective? Are you… alright?”

“… No.”

As I was thinking this, New Hope spoke to me from the side, and thanks to that, I came to my senses.

Okay, now is not the time to regret the past, I need to focus.

It’s not my business who Dokkaebi is, what matters is what I should do after hearing Dokkaebi’s demands, so I need to somehow get my uncooperative brain working.

As soon as we entered the City Hall building, the earpiece I had in my ear became useless, so it’s impossible to get help from the negotiator who’s an expert in these situations. Let’s think.

First, it’s not good to just accept it. If I accept and then fail to do the job well, my head will be cracked open by a danso while walking on the street at night,

and if I do it well, I can see in full HD 1080p quality a future where I become an errand boy arresting people Dokkaebi chases.

What should I do? As I was clenching and unclenching my fist aimlessly, I noticed the speed of Dokkaebi’s fan waving getting faster, so I hurriedly opened my mouth.

“That case is already closed, what do you want me to do? I mean, okay, fine. Even if we say we’ll reinvestigate the case,

you’re taking all the citizens in City Hall hostage because you want to request a reinvestigation? If your real goal is to reinvestigate the case, how about releasing the hostages at least?”

My tongue lost control, and it was half-rambling, but I chose my words carefully, and Dokkaebi, upon hearing my words, stroked his chin, pondered for a moment, then nodded and said,

“Indeed. It’s true that I scared innocent citizens to draw attention. Now that you’ve come here, it would be right to release the citizens.”

Immediately after, Dokkaebi snapped his fingers with a “snap!” sound, and then from above our heads, the surrounding scenery melted away like ink, revealing the familiar City Hall.

The black wall was still visible outside the building windows, but the interior was bright as if sunlight was shining in, and the people gathered in the City Hall lobby were looking around with their necks stretched out like meerkats.

Among them were people who looked like security guards or employees, but seeing that only they were sitting blankly with their eyes unfocused, it seemed he had done something to prevent the employees from resisting.

And in the middle of it all, there was a pig flapping around with its limbs and mouth tied… oh, it’s the mayor.

A volume that even a suit couldn’t hide. The pi- no, the mayor, who looked like he could roll away if pushed, was trembling in fear with his eyes bloodshot.

The mayor saw New Hope and me and tried to shout something, but due to the gag in his mouth, it couldn’t be understood, and Dokkaebi ignored the pig-like sounds and continued speaking.

“Well then. I sincerely apologize to the citizens for causing such trouble. Everyone can leave now, so please go. Thank you for your patience.”

“R-really? We can leave?”

“That’s right. As I promised from the beginning, I will not harm the citizens in the slightest until the very end.”

“…!”

The citizens who had been held hostage looked at each other at Dokkaebi’s words, but soon, without exception, they started running to the entrance to escape.

The black wall didn’t hold these citizens back, but I clicked my tongue at this situation.

Okay, fine, he released all the citizens. But there are still unconscious security guards and the tied-up mayor, some City Hall employees.
And some citizens who didn’t escape, or couldn’t, either because they were too scared or for some other reason, are still here, aren’t they?

Honestly, he looks more like a pig tied up for a roast than a mayor, but this Dokkaebi is cunningly pretending to release the hostages while still trying to manipulate us as he wants.

The novel described him as some kind of dark hero, but from the perspective of a police officer, not a reader, this bastard is still a criminal after all. A bastard is a bastard.

“Mr. Kim. I’ve released the citizens as you wished, will you now listen to my request?”

Dokkaebi shrugged and spread his hands. I was about to argue that there were still people left there, but before that, New Hope stepped forward and asked sharply.

“You’re releasing the citizens? Hey, don’t you see that there are still people who couldn’t leave right there?”

“Those are people I had to knock unconscious to subdue them without harming the citizens.
And those who didn’t leave can leave right away if they want to. Everyone here will wake up fine after some time passes – I just left them like that because it’s difficult to wake them up directly.”

“That’s…”

I was dumbfounded by Dokkaebi’s fluent speech, but.

As the hostages were still in Dokkaebi’s hands, I was pondering what to do when Dokkaebi, as if he couldn’t wait, thrust his masked face forward and spoke to me.

“Cowards may have buried your achievements, but I know your sense of justice. Mr. Kim. I also know that you are someone who will play a very important role in finding justice for this country.”

“Please help me! You are already a man who has proven justice against corrupt power! It’s certainly an admirable achievement and feat! But it’s not over yet.

This country is broken. The corruption of those in power is rampant, and the staff of the people has long since rotted and crumbled! But if you, I, and New Hope join forces, we can rebuild even a country like this!”

Dokkaebi continues his speech. This speech was originally meant to persuade New Hope to join forces, but he’s giving it to me.
What a memory. When I saw this as a reader before, I thought without using my brain, “Isn’t that method okay too? Isn’t Dokkaebi’s method better for punishing bad guys?” but

Now, seeing him give such a speech while still keeping hostages behind him, I have something I want to say.

“First of all, I’m not Mr. Kim.”

“And secondly, this is something I’ve wanted to say continuously. If you want a reinvestigation of a closed case, you should write a petition or go to a prosecutor and argue.
Telling an ordinary detective won’t do anything, and a reinvestigation is impossible without evidence strong enough to overturn a closed case. Okay? And lastly.”

I took a breath there. This last part was really, really what I wanted to say.

I looked at the child trembling in the corner.

A child who was stuck close to a female employee who looked like her mother, not running away and trembling heavily. Okay, it’s fine to talk about justice or whatever. I know politicians and such are shitty.

But fuck, what nonsense is this in front of a scared child?

In the novel, it was written that he doesn’t harm civilians, so I just thought that was the case, but aren’t there victims like that?
Right, this is reality. This is reality.
Even being caught by a neighborhood thug and having a knife pointed at you is scary, so why should that little kid experience the terror of being threatened by a being wielding transcendent power?
Until now, I knew I wasn’t diligent or a good person as a police officer, and I’ve been living thinking I’m definitely not a good person, just somehow maintaining professional ethics.
Fortunately, it seems I’m not enough of a bastard to ignore something like this.

“Is this persuasion, taking hostages and spouting such nonsense? What bullshit about justice is this from someone threatening what might happen to the hostages if I don’t listen?

I wouldn’t say anything if you had just taken the mayor hostage. But can you tell that scared child over there that they have to go through this for the justice you talked about? By the way, I can’t do that even if I die. It’s fucking embarrassing.”

There was no description or anything in the novel, but honestly, I can’t help but think what wrong these hostages have done. Even though I’m far from being a diligent police officer, I can only say this isn’t right.

Coming in and seeing even a child here, while he’s spouting about his justice or whatever, my temperament makes me want to curse him out and empty all my bullets into him – but there are still hostages.
I clenched my trembling hands that wanted to draw my gun right away and took a deep breath.
Then I saw New Hope biting her lip with a seemingly moved expression, and I also saw Dokkaebi lowering his head and shrugging his shoulders after hearing my words.

What’s up with that guy?
“Hu, huhu!”

As I was wondering, Dokkaebi made a sound like sobbing from under his mask, then soon rubbed his chin as if satisfied and shouted.

“Hahaha!! I see! To someone like you, this was just an insult! I failed to understand your beliefs and made a mistake!

No, it had to be different from the beginning! It’s because you have such beliefs that you’re there! I apologize. I buttoned the first button wrong.”
???

What nonsense is that again? Dokkaebi suddenly made strange noises while slapping his knee and laughing, and even seemed pleased, saying it was exactly as he expected.
To have such a reaction after hearing what I said. I was genuinely disgusted by Dokkaebi’s arrogant behavior.
I’m really starting to doubt the ideology of the author who called this bastard a dark hero. What civilian damage prevention and different justice? Bullshit, that’s just a crazy bastard.
I should have recognized it from when he started speaking in Joseon-era style. I glared at Dokkaebi with an expression like I’d bitten a bug, but Dokkaebi didn’t seem to care about my gaze at all.

“I will make the offer to work together again after I make up for this mistake and offer a sincere apology. But the judgment of this corrupt official must be carried out.”

Dokkaebi suddenly stood up, approached the tied-up mayor, and pulled the rope as if herding a pig to bring the mayor in front of us. Then, Dokkaebi removed the mayor’s gag and said,

“The crimes this corrupt official has committed. Killing people out of greed for money, not just slandering but even framing and sacrificing an innocent person! Even the heavens tremble at these evil deeds!”

At Dokkaebi’s shout that seemed to command heaven and earth, the mayor trembled so much that his thick belly fat could be seen shaking even through his clothes, but he still raised his voice bravely and shouted,

“W-who says that! I’m innocent! I didn’t do anything! It’s already been proven by police investigation, what nonsense is this! Y-you, police! Guards! What are you doing not arresting this bastard right now!!”

The mayor pig shouting, his face red as if not understanding his situation.
Seeing that ugly sight, my anger towards Dokkaebi’s behavior from earlier suddenly subsided. Conversely, I was worried that Dokkaebi might slit the pig’s throat out of anger at his appearance.

As if that ugly appearance was nothing, Dokkaebi hummed a tune and snapped his fingers. Immediately after, several cameras appeared surrounding us as if encircling us.

Dokkaebi took out a smartphone that didn’t match his attire and showed it to the mayor. Right after, as if following him, something started playing on all the TVs and LCD screens in City Hall.

“Good. You asked for evidence? Here it is. Here is the evidence of all the crimes you’ve committed!”

On the video playing on various internet broadcasting sites and news channels, this pig mayor was sitting with someone and talking.

‘[Yeah, so we can just pin everything we did this time on that idiot, okay? The prosecution and the police are all~ on my side. Do you know how much they’ve been fed? This redevelopment project, I’ll leave it all to Chairman Jin, so can you take care of the aftermath well?]’

‘[But Mayor… The citizens also know about this incident, will it be forgotten just by framing someone like this? And public opinion is already bad because of forcibly evicting people from the Gangdong-gu redevelopment area, won’t it become troublesome? Those people are also citizens.]’

‘[Citizens~? Ha! Don’t worry. I can’t believe those pot-bellied idiots. Even if they scream for a reinvestigation, it lasts exactly a week at most, and as soon as a celebrity scandal breaks, they completely forget about it, I tell you.

And those guys who lived in the redevelopment area are just idiots without money anyway. Do they even vote? Most of them just go on trips on voting day anyway.]’

“This is…”

“This is my method of justice. Mr. Kim has his own beliefs, and I understand and respect that they’re different from mine, but Miss New Hope. What kind of justice do you hold?”

Behind the conversation between the pig and some man, the voices of New Hope and Dokkaebi’s conversation can be heard in surround sound.

Ignoring their conversation, I watched as evidence of other crimes kept appearing on the screen.

The mayor, seeing the screen, turned pale and muttered ‘I’m ruined’. Dokkaebi, looking satisfied with this sight, laughed lowly and took something out of his pocket.

“I will prove my justice here! Come on, you corrupt official, speak! Spout excuses and lies with that gaping mouth of yours like you’ve been doing until now! The truth has already been spread, and all the evidence you thought you had destroyed is here in my hands!”

What Dokkaebi took out was a clear file containing numerous bundles of papers, which even at a glance appeared to be documents that would serve as criminal evidence shown on the screen earlier.

If those are real, they’re irrefutable criminal evidence. This is exactly like the novel’s progression. Then, is all that’s left the mayor causing a fuss, telling New Hope to kill Dokkaebi immediately, and then self-destructing?

“Th-that’s fake! It’s fabricated! How dare this damn criminal bastard! Do you know who I am! I’m the mayor of Seoul!! The Seoul mayor! That’s the result of coercive investigation! It’s a lie!!”

The mayor pig starts rambling, his face red as if not understanding his situation.
Seeing that ugly sight, my anger towards Dokkaebi’s behavior from earlier completely subsided. Conversely, I was worried that Dokkaebi might slit the pig’s throat out of anger at his appearance.

As if that ugly appearance was nothing, Dokkaebi hummed a tune and snapped his fingers. Immediately after, several cameras appeared surrounding us as if encircling us.

Dokkaebi took out a smartphone that didn’t match his attire and showed it to the mayor. Right after, as if following him, something started playing on all the TVs and LCD screens in City Hall.

“Good. You asked for evidence? Here it is. Here is the evidence of all the crimes you’ve committed!”

On the video playing on various internet broadcasting sites and news channels, this pig mayor was sitting with someone and talking.

And those guys who lived in the redevelopment area are just idiots without money anyway. Do they even vote? Most of them just go on trips on voting day anyway.]’

“This is…”

“This is my method of justice. Mr. Kim has his own beliefs, and I understand and respect that they’re different from mine, but Miss New Hope. What kind of justice do you hold?”

Behind the conversation between the pig and some man, the voices of New Hope and Dokkaebi’s conversation can be heard in surround sound.

Ignoring their conversation, I watched as evidence of other crimes kept appearing on the screen.

The mayor, seeing the screen, turned pale and muttered ‘I’m ruined’. Dokkaebi, looking satisfied with this sight, laughed lowly and took something out of his pocket.

What Dokkaebi took out was a clear file containing numerous bundles of papers, which even at a glance appeared to be documents that would serve as criminal evidence shown on the screen earlier.

The mayor pig starts rambling, his face red as if not understanding his situation.
Seeing that ugly sight, my anger towards Dokkaebi’s behavior from earlier completely subsided. Conversely, as I was worrying that Dokkaebi might slit the pig’s throat out of anger at his appearance.

Dokkaebi, as if that ugly appearance was nothing, hummed a tune and snapped his fingers. Right after, several cameras appeared surrounding us as if encircling us.

Dokkaebi took out a smartphone that didn’t match his attire and showed it to the mayor. Immediately after, as if following him, something started playing on all the TVs and LCD screens in City Hall.

“Good. You asked for evidence? Here it is. Here is the evidence of all the crimes you’ve committed!”

On various internet broadcasting sites and news channels, videos were playing showing this pig mayor sitting with someone and talking.