I Became a Police Officer in a Superhero Genre

Things are going according to plan. I succeeded in luring Park Jung-hoon out with the bait of revealing New Hope’s identity.

The supervillains following were lured elsewhere with Dokkaebi’s magic and left to ‘Mina’, while I tricked that Park Jung-hoon bastard into returning the injuries and then started fighting him directly.

Rationally thinking, there’s no reason for me to fight this guy.

Now that the injuries passed to Mina have returned, pain is coursing through my entire body to the point I want to collapse on the ground, and it feels like my body will fall apart.

If I were to act rationally, I should leave this bastard to Dokkaebi too, but-

When has a person ever acted purely rationally?

From the moment I swore to catch this bastard and throw him in jail, I had already thrown rationality far away.

No, to be honest, I’m doing this because I feel like I won’t be able to sleep if I don’t beat the crap out of this fucking bastard.

Someone might look at my current state and say something about wielding personal vengeance unbecoming of a police officer, but

I’m not some great saint, and if someone complains about treating a fucking bastard like a fucking bastard, how is a person supposed to live? Fuck.

Gritting my teeth, I dodge his fist and swing my intact left hand. There’s a thud as my fist connects with his jaw, and his body shakes comically.

But that’s only for a moment. Park Jung-hoon quickly regains his posture and charges at me.

“You, damn bastard!!”

Park Jung-hoon charges like a beast with a dark bruise on his jaw.

He’s not as physically strong as the average superpower user at superhuman levels, but he’s also not a young master who’s never fought like Minus.

He doesn’t go down easily because even before awakening his ability, he rolled around in back alleys and fought tooth and nail with thugs.

Of course, that’s just street fighting level, so I can dodge his attacks even in this body condition, but- whether I can win is questionable.

Think. His passing-on ability is currently neutralized by Dokkaebi’s power, but that won’t last long.

What did Dokkaebi say again? He blocked Park Jung-hoon bastard’s very perception of being attacked with his magic.

But humans are sensitive to pain, so if he keeps feeling pain, Dokkaebi’s magic could wear off and his ability could revive.

Let’s see. I’m currently unable to properly use my right hand and one leg. If it weren’t for adrenaline, it would be hard to move like this.

In contrast, even though he’s confused by the pain, as a superpower user he has physical abilities incomparable to ordinary people. If I make a mistake and take even one hit, I’m the one who’ll go down.

The more I think about it, the more I realize it’s stupid for me to face this son of a bitch, but-

When I recall the scene I saw in the emergency room, blood rushes to my head and I’m filled with thoughts of destroying this bastard no matter what.

Come to think of it, from the time Mina started her hero work, I thought I’d see her get hurt.

Born into this shitty world, I was desperate just to save my own life while facing superpower users without any power.

But I think I cherished that kid like a niece or daughter in my own way. Otherwise I wouldn’t be this pissed off, feeling like I can’t stand it unless I do something to this bastard with my own hands.

Park Jung-hoon rushed at me with a face like a rabid beast, and I struck his face with my intact left hand.

“Gaaah?! You, son of a bitch!!”

Park Jung-hoon writhes on the ground as if unable to bear the pain. I grab his collar and headbutt him.

The part of my mind that should be called reason says that I might have to take off my uniform for beating this guy here.

The investigation hasn’t officially started yet, and even if there’s evidence, how many rules am I breaking here right now?

Such thoughts race through my mind, but I ignore them and swing my fist again.

I chewed on it. He’s stronger than me. If he comes to his senses and starts fighting back, I can’t win in my current state. So I need to finish this before he regains his senses.

Fortunately, his pain tolerance threshold seems to have lowered, and he’s at a loss from the pain. It felt like I could win if I hit him a few more times harder like this.

“You, son of a bitch! Mere cop scum! Do you know who you’re interfering with?! The future of this country!”

“It’s the hope of people pushed to the bottom just for being superpower users!! If, if you kill me! The future of such people will also be pushed to the bottom-! Urgh!”

I kicked him in the face with my leg because he was spouting nonsense.

He stumbled backwards, and I also fell backwards from the pain in my leg after kicking.

“Ugh, argh! You son of a bitch! Me! How dare you!! How dare you to me!! Why isn’t my ability working?! My ability is invincible!! How?!”

“Fucking idiot… getting drunk on his own setup.”

The sight of him flapping his huge wings and thrashing about is like watching a freshly beheaded chicken.

I’m amazed that he’s seriously spouting such nonsense while blood is streaming from his nose as if the nasal bone is broken, but now I need to end this.

While blood is flowing from my arms and legs, I grit my teeth and endure the pain to get up. Then I approach him, take a mount position, and swing my fist.

Thwack! Thwack! My fists make the sound of hitting meat.

At first Park Jung-hoon struggled as if trying to fight back. But as blood flowed down his face and his face started to contort, instead of fighting back he started pushing me away and crawling backwards.

I chased after him again, and he started retreating in fear, throwing everything he could grab.

The sight of him crawling while drooling, crying, and even coughing up phlegm made me wonder if it was really okay to do this to this bastard. I let out a hollow laugh seeing that sight.

Fucking bastard. He has even less guts than that Minus bastard.

This guy should have done some fighting before getting superpowers, but does having a superpower turn people into such idiots?

Bricks and glass shards flew fiercely as if thrown with full force, but they didn’t hit me because he was throwing so wildly.

Meanwhile, he rolled on the ground, crying out in pain as his hand was cut by glass shards on the floor, and for a moment he thrashed about saying he couldn’t be caught in a place like this.

When I kicked him in the stomach, he soon knelt before me and began to speak with a wretched face.

“W-wait! Spare me! I’ll confess! Detective! Okay? I’ll confess! So please don’t hit me anymore! I went crazy because of money! No, there’s someone who told me I could do this!

A guy called the Coordinator! That guy! That guy ordered it all! I’ll tell you everything I know about him! A deal! Let’s make a deal for my sentence?!”

Coordinator. He suddenly brought up an incomprehensible term, but.

I could easily guess who this Coordinator guy he’s talking about is.

Of course there would be. The bitch who orchestrated this situation. Park Jung-hoon babbled about making a deal for his sentence by telling who raised him to this point.

I’m certain. Sai wouldn’t have left this guy with enough information to make such a deal.

So I ignored what he was saying and was about to hit him once more, when I noticed how wretched his state was.

To be precise, just before crossing the line of being judged as intentional injury during an arrest operation?

Scuffles during criminal arrests are routine, but if a suspect is injured beyond a certain level, you have to write a shitty report or even get a pay cut if unlucky.

If I take this bastard in now, disciplinary action and writing a report are certain, but my reason that has faintly returned is saying ‘It’s late, but shouldn’t you minimize the grounds for disciplinary action?’

Let’s see, my condition is clearly the worst, but. The higher-ups won’t believe I suffered this at his hands.

Just like insurance or compensation systems in this country that make victims prove how they were victimized, this bastard’s ability is hard to prove the damage from.

Then what should I do? I pondered for a moment. Then I came up with one method.

“Stand up.”

“Huh…?”

“I didn’t hit your ears. I know you can hear well. Stand up.”

At my words, he flinched and stood up. I also stood in front of him.

Then I picked up the knife he had dropped, and put it in his hand. When I put the knife in his hand, he stiffened, thinking I might stab him.

I forcibly moved my crushed right hand and firmly grasped his knife blade. A long cut was added to my right arm that was already bleeding.

Looking at Park Jung-hoon who seemed surprised, I smiled and said:

“Hey, how could you try to stab a democratic police officer with a knife.”

“Huh? No, you crazy bast-”

I didn’t listen to the end of what Park Jung-hoon bastard was saying and kicked his leg, then grabbed his collar and slammed him to the ground.

Due to the state of my legs and arms, I couldn’t flip him properly and ended up collapsing on the ground too, but. It didn’t hurt much since I fell on top of him.

Park Jung-hoon bastard not moving. Sitting on top of Park Jung-hoon, I blankly stared at the ceiling.

Thinking about calling the police, cleaning up afterwards, and writing reports makes my head hurt. I’ll get disciplined for running wild on this case too.

What the hell kind of stupid thing did I just do?

The realization hitting after everything’s over. My face flushed at the fact that I acted like some hot-blooded cop that doesn’t suit me, but the cold weather cooled my face down.

“That throw that knocked out the corrupt official in one strike. Truly a clean hit. Mr. Kim. One who only passes on their pain to others cannot defeat one who tries to shoulder the passed on pain as well.”

“Eat shit.”

Dokkaebi appears again from thin air, reminding me of things I want to forget.

I wanted to give him the middle finger in return, but my body starts to feel terrifyingly weak, as if the adrenaline’s duration has ended.

But why is this guy here? I wondered, looking at Dokkaebi.

According to our plan, Dokkaebi was supposed to seal off Park Jung-hoon’s passing-on ability and then leave the final blow to me while dealing with the other supervillains together with ‘Mina’.

“Sadly, my presence was a hindrance. She’s handling everything alone, and all I can say is what a terrifying woman. She’s even stronger than New Hope. Just what is that woman’s identity? Do you know, Mr. Kim?”

Would he believe me if I said she’s the New Hope of the future?

Dokkaebi spoke with a mix of admiration and shock. Right after, a boom and crash could be heard in the distance, and several trees could be seen soaring into the air.

The ground shakes, and ice walls and flames appear, with forces beyond human comprehension raging, but ‘Mina’ could be seen flying freely like a butterfly amidst it all.

A fierce battle that makes the fight between me and Park Jung-hoon rolling on the ground after exchanging a few blows seem embarrassing in comparison.

It’s truly an amazing sight. So this is how future ‘Mina’ fights. Well, the future ‘Mina’ would have defeated Sai too, so these small fries wouldn’t mean anything even if a truckload of them gathered.

But she’s fighting really frighteningly. As I blankly observed that scene while hearing screams echoing through the air, Dokkaebi guy nervously sat down in front of me.

“I’m grateful. No matter how many times I say it, there’s no way to repay this debt. How petty my justice was. The more I see you, the more I realize it, and I can’t lift my head to the heavens.”

This guy suddenly sitting in front of me and muttering gloomy words. Is a criminal regretting his wrongdoings? He seemed to have at least some conscience.

But should he be like this in this situation? I’m in a lot of pain right now. I need to go to the hospital soon.

I can’t even tell him to go confess if he’s reflecting. This guy’s younger sister suffered humiliation because of Yagi, and without him she would suffer even more.

Damn it. To think a police officer can’t trust the police and can’t tell him to confess.

I tried to kick Dokkaebi bastard with my leg to vent my shitty feelings, but I had no strength and fell backwards instead of kicking him. Damn it.

As I lamented my weak body while lying on my back, Dokkaebi guy who I tried to kick laughed weakly.

“I see. I understand. I shouldn’t say such things now. …Someday I’ll have to take responsibility for what I’ve done. The past can’t be undone…”

He said that and slowly got up, but.

Right after, a cold wind that felt like it would freeze the skin blew inside. The moment I felt my body freezing in the coldness that didn’t even allow breathing.

Something appeared behind Dokkaebi guy. Something wearing all black from head to toe as if hiding its body in the night, wearing an inverted Hahoetal mask.

It’s holding an ice blade, poised to slash Dokkaebi’s neck.

“Hey-! You…!”

I tried to warn Dokkaebi. Dokkaebi also seemed to notice something was there from my reaction and swung the danso in his hand backwards, but.

The guy behind. The black figure that seemed to be Yagi sliced through Dokkaebi’s danso and was about to slice his neck-

BANG!!!

“[Kuhek?!]”

In an instant, something kicked Yagi. Yagi immediately flew far away, smashing through the wall of the abandoned house.

“That woman wouldn’t miss this timing. – Are you both alright?”

Looking to see what had sent Yagi flying so far away. ‘Mina’ smiled brightly as she lowered her outstretched leg.

But that smile was brief. She checked my body condition and then her face hardened.

‘Mina’ spoke with a deflated smile:

“It’s time to end this case now. Detective. You remember what I told you that night, right?”

‘Mina’ approached me. She gently stroked my cheek and spoke with tears in her eyes, as if unable to control her emotions.

She opened and closed her mouth trying to find the words to say, then spoke as if her throat was blocked, with the sound of air leaking:

“This time… there’s a way to save you, Detective… Please believe me…”

At her words, I sensed that I would have to face what became of my future, which I had been trying not to think about, saying I’d worry about it later.

Fuck.