I Became a Police Officer in a Superhero Genre

“It was Miss New Hope who told me Kim was here. No, I misspoke. To be precise, it was a righteous young lady who resembled New Hope.”

“Is that so.”

Dokkaebi followed me, speaking as if it was natural, as I returned to the room after a shitty time had passed.

Hearing that ‘Mina’ had told him, I was relieved it wasn’t the worst-case scenario I had worried about, but questions still remained.

I wondered how he found out where I was when I hadn’t met him since parting with ‘Mina’ – Ah right, she came from the future so I guess she roughly knew.

After entering the small room like a solitary cell, I looked at Dokkaebi who followed me in.

This guy who came saying he would enter the Chosen Ones to meet me directly at ‘Mina’s’ words. I checked the surroundings for a moment and said:

“You didn’t come just to say hello either, so let’s get straight to the point. How did you end up involved here?”

When I asked, Dokkaebi stopped moving for a moment, then took off his mask and said while rubbing his face with a voice mixed with fatigue and pain:

“…After the research lab incident. The Chosen Ones found out where I was staying. I still don’t know how they found out, but those bastards kidnapped my younger sister while I was away.”

“And they’re making me do various things using my younger sister as a hostage. I tried to push them away somehow, but their forces, facilities, and security were not things an ordinary civic group could have. So… I.”

Dokkaebi bit his lip to the point of bleeding and rolled his eyes down. He slumped down on the bed next to me as if exhausted.

Even with Dokkaebi’s ability, he couldn’t find where his younger sister was being held, huh.

There was no need to particularly ponder who had orchestrated this. It was Sai bitch’s plan.

To find that deep forest mansion where Dokkaebi was staying and kidnap Dokkaebi’s younger sister. I thought she was truly a vicious woman befitting the mastermind of this world, but.

Even so, I wondered how they found that house deep in the forest.

Since Dokkaebi had stopped activities after I told him to stay put, it should have been even harder to track – Wait a moment. How did this guy end up at that research lab?

One ominous thought occurred to me, and I asked Dokkaebi with anxious eyes:

“How did you end up at that research lab scene?”

“Oh, a police executive contacted me.”

“While investigating a politician who had committed crimes before, I happened to get to know a police executive. He was someone who helped with investigating political corruption, saying my justice had good points too.”

Dokkaebi bastard said he went to the lab because that person asked for help. I rubbed my face at his words.

“Is that executive’s name perhaps Yagi?”

“Yes, that’s right… but?”

Seeing my expression, he seemed to sense there was a problem there too and turned pale.

Come to think of it, that Sai bastard, when briefing about the incident, showed that shitty piece of metal as a protective gear and said this:

‘The first one is so confidential that we can only show you if the worst case we can predict happens.’

Was that confidential thing Dokkaebi?

I’ve said it many times, but it was time to spit out words that would still be insufficient no matter how many more times I say them in the future.

Really vicious sons of bitches. I let out a sigh.

“Let’s find a way to save your younger sister first. For that, you need to help me. Is that okay?”

“…Yes.”

Hearing my words, Dokkaebi shook his head with a face like he was about to die, perhaps thinking his younger sister was kidnapped because he moved on his own.

Is it a sense of responsibility that he must save his sister somehow that’s keeping him from completely breaking down?

I was curious what on earth this guy had gone through to leave even his young sister alone and chase after politicians’ and chaebols’ crimes, but now wasn’t the time to ask that, so I quietly swallowed my questions.

For now, since Dokkaebi came to find me directly, unnecessary persuasion isn’t needed. It wasn’t time to be stuck in this shitty building for two days either.

Let’s see. With ‘Mina’s’ help, half of the second goal I had set – persuading Dokkaebi and securing the hostages – was successful.

Then what remains is securing the hostages and transferring Mina’s injury to me.

And gladly, if Dokkaebi cooperates with me, securing the hostages’ safety is simple.

It would be even simpler if that Dokkaebi holds the key to solving the case that ‘Mina’ said she secured.

“The New Hope young lady said if I handed this to Kim, we could find a way to solve the problem. When I looked at it, it seemed like just a simple ledger – What do you think? Do you understand anything?”

Dokkaebi bastard, who had put his mask back on at some point, asked.

While thinking his changing speech pattern was really strange, I examined the Chosen Ones’ ledger that ‘Mina’ had supposedly handed to Dokkaebi.

The ledger had everything written down, from common supplies to money going out and coming in for all sorts of reasons, for items purchased under the foundation’s name in the past week.

I looked through it with burning eyes after hearing what ‘Mina’ had said.

I didn’t know she would help like this, but if she went this far, I should show something!

Thinking that, I read the ledger – but this ledger wasn’t related to tax evasion or other crimes.

It looked like a ledger meticulously written regarding fund circulation in preparation for tax audits or when someone takes interest.

I was puzzled. Why did ‘Mina’ say this was the solution? She wouldn’t have just handed it over for no reason if she said that.

Whether ‘Mina’ knew something from the future, or found out while investigating here, there must be an answer in the ledger.

I kept examining the ledger for about 30 minutes without saying anything. And finally – I found something strange.

This address, I’ve seen it before?

I racked my brains because the address written in the ledger was familiar, and I remembered. This is it. It was here.

“Hey Dokkaebi. I’ll confirm this first, but. You checked all the buildings under these bastards’ names, right?”

“That’s right. I checked all the buildings and land under the names of people related to the Chosen Ones. But – I couldn’t find my younger sister or the other people said to be held hostage.”

“Really? Then was Gildong Ecology Park among the places you checked?”

“Ecology… park?”

I showed Dokkaebi one side of the ledger. There was a list of toys that were said to have been purchased and delivered for orphanage children.

The address where those toys were sent was near that ecology park I had gone to before.

To be precise, it was the address of the junkyard near the place where Park Jung-hoon bastard had sent me to pray.

I should have known there was something between these bastards and the ecology park managers from the fact that there was a way to enter a place off-limits to the general public under the guise of an ecology park, and even tap into CCTVs.

I thought they just bribed their way in – fuck, these bastards, they’ve been sending monthly support funds to this junkyard under the guise of an orphanage?

On paper, this place had no connection to the Chosen Ones other than support funds, and checking the documents, that junkyard was so thoroughly hidden that you wouldn’t know it was a junkyard unless you went there directly.

But because it was so thoroughly hidden, I was certain.

The hostages and Dokkaebi’s younger sister are here. All my instincts screamed there was no other place but here.

“…I certainly didn’t think of it. This place is indeed very suspicious. But Kim. They’re supporting several orphanages besides this place. What’s the exact reason you say only this place is suspicious?”

Dokkaebi nodded seeing my explanation and the documents, but he didn’t seem to be as certain as me that the hostages would be here.

Seeing that, I showed him the documents written in the ledger and said:

“Look at this list of toys they supposedly purchased.”

“Magical Girl, Violence Wand Set, Tr?”

“It’s what your younger sister likes. Those bastards wouldn’t lock up hostages they absolutely need alive in a room and torture them, they’d keep them quiet by giving them what they want moderately. Toys would be especially effective for a child.”

It’s unlikely all the hostages kidnapped by the Chosen Ones are here, but at least the chances are high that Dokkaebi’s younger sister is here.

At my words, Dokkaebi now seemed to understand that the probability of his younger sister being here was high, and took off his mask to reveal an agitated face.

I pressed down on Dokkaebi’s shoulders as he looked about to rush out right away, and said:

“Act calmly. If you move, those bastards will notice too.”

“But…! It’s my younger sister! I, I have to save her! This happened because of me! Because of me…!”

Dokkaebi said grinding his teeth.

We don’t know what kind of surveillance is attached to us being together right now, and we don’t know what kind of guards they’ve posted at this junkyard either.

But one thing for certain is that if Dokkaebi goes to this junkyard, his younger sister’s whereabouts will become unknown again.

He probably knows this too, but his face looked like he didn’t know what to do as the emotions he had barely been controlling under the mask burst out at this fact.

He looked young on the outside, but was he really just a young guy? I let out a deep sigh and said to the guy who was being crushed by self-blame:

“It’s not your fault. At least this incident isn’t. The one who kidnapped your younger sister is that Park Jung-hoon son of a bitch, and the one who used you is that damn Yagi bitch who infuriatingly wears a police uniform.”

“I’ll say it again. You killed people and you’re a guy who should go to prison. But still, this incident is absolutely not your fault. Legally, or by any moral standard, this incident is not your fault.”

“So I’m going to catch those bastards. But my strength alone isn’t enough. I know, I know what a pathetic cop I am. What a nobody I am. But as long as I’m wearing this uniform, I’ll do what I have to do even if I die. So-”

Trust me.

This is all I can say as a police officer right now. I can’t say anything more than this.

Dokkaebi looked at me with a face like he was about to burst into tears at my words, but. That was only for a moment. He put his mask back on and said:

“If I had met Kim a little earlier. I too, wouldn’t have done such things… Ha, I know regretting won’t undo what’s been done. So-”

The words “I beg you” echoed in my ears.

For a moment my vision flipped and shook, and when it returned to normal, I was in front of the junkyard I had seen earlier that morning.

The sun had set and the moon had risen, and the night was quiet.

Fortunately, Dokkaebi bastard listened to me. But fuck, couldn’t you have at least brought the coat I had taken off?

I clicked my tongue and quietly looked at the building with its lights on, standing alone in the darkness.

That light felt very – ominous, like the lure of a deep-sea anglerfish tempting prey in the darkness.