I Became a Police Officer in a Superhero Genre

The villain Dokkaebi. This guy wasn’t a villain who appeared briefly and disappeared in the novel, but one who appeared several times. He’s portrayed as somewhat different from other villains.

Dokkaebi’s goal isn’t simply to want money or to rampage, but to use his power to punish politicians or high-ranking officials who have committed crimes, what’s commonly called an ideological criminal.

The Seoul mayor, who is said to be staging this hostage situation, had been accused of corruption involving criminal organizations related to Cheonho-dong redevelopment funds.

But because a person who was the mayor’s secretary wrote a suicide note confessing that he was the main culprit of the corruption and committed suicide, the case was closed-

It seems Dokkaebi wasn’t satisfied with that. According to the novel, faced with power that couldn’t be punished within the bounds of the law, the method Dokkaebi chose to break that power and find justice was

to draw people’s attention by staging a kidnapping in broad daylight, and to expose the crimes committed by the mayor to the public.

When I read it as a novel in my previous life, I remember he was a character many people liked quite a bit due to his unique personality and the fact that he never touched civilians, only attacking those he deemed ‘corrupt officials’.

A character who messes with those in high positions who commit crimes and try to cover them up with power, he was really hard to dislike,

and even I, saying this, quite liked Dokkaebi when I saw him in the novel. As I said above, who wouldn’t like someone who cracks the heads of those who don’t know how to come down from their high positions?

But now. My impression of meeting that Dokkaebi in reality was like this:

“We’re really fucked…”

The black wall surrounding Seoul City Hall. In front of the unpleasant structure that looked like dried tree branches or dried human hands joined together,

police and special forces, plus capital defense forces had gathered to form a line, and outside that control line, reporters had gathered to continuously report on the current situation.

A sit-in incident at Seoul City Hall. This alone would cause an uproar, but with the mayor, who was in the middle of work, among the hostages, it’s a terrible disaster that police don’t even want to imagine.

What the hell are we going to do about this?

From our Special Investigation Team to the special forces people, and all the other high-ranking officials, everyone had a face that looked like they were fucked, as if copy-pasted.

“[Currently, there is no information about the perpetrator staging the sit-in at Seoul City Hall, and according to witnesses who escaped before the City Hall was sealed off by that unknown substance,

the incident occurred after an unidentified suspect wearing a goblin mask appeared at City Hall. The police are continuing their investigation into the suspect, and the safety of the people inside has not been confirmed. Additionally-]”

The reporter’s words continue from the TV set up in the investigation headquarters tent, with City Hall in the background. As those words continued, the faces of the high-ranking police officials and military officials visibly contorted.

The capital defense forces were also mobilized due to the presence of a supervillain at City Hall, but since that black wall remained intact even after being shot with bullets or blasted with bombs, there was nothing the police and military outside could do.

There was no contact from inside, and thanks to some people who escaped just before the incident, they could identify the suspected entity,

but even after thoroughly searching all CCTV within 500 meters of City Hall and all vehicle black boxes,

the suspect in hemp clothes and a goblin mask seemed to have appeared suddenly in front of City Hall Square, making it impossible to determine where the suspect came from or who they were.

In a situation that was clearly the work of a supervillain with superpowers, if I were also in a state of knowing nothing, I would have worried about the worst-case scenario where the madman inside kills all the citizens and even the mayor.

That’s because while staging a sit-in with people, he’s not even stating his demands or what he wants, so it seems like an indiscriminate terror attack, but because no one can enter due to that wall, one can’t help but think that way.

Really, for the police or military other than me, it must be even more maddening that there’s no word at all.

When I saw the scene of high-ranking officials gathered in another house, earnestly discussing ways to break through this situation without rest, rather than fighting over control rights or responsibility issues, I could tell how seriously they were taking the current situation-

“Then the alias for this guy is-”

“Based on witness testimony, Dokkaebi would be good, right? It’s better to have an alias that’s obvious at first glance, isn’t it?”

“Aish, can we give such an alias when we don’t even know what his ability is?”

“Well, we can’t call him Gaksi-tal (Bride Mask), can we?”

…What’s wrong with these idiots?

I’m sure they were discussing methods of entry or Dokkaebi’s purpose just a moment ago, but looking again, they were getting heated over deciding on an alias.

I was momentarily speechless at the sight of police and military officials gathered together making a fuss over deciding an alias, and other police officers and soldiers besides me looked at the officials in disbelief.

I knew that most of the high-ranking officials in this world setting were incompetent people, but in this situation?

Just as I was about to blurt out “What the hell are you doing?” as if this wasn’t a comedy show being filmed, I noticed the officials’ eyes were strangely unfocused,

and the word “comedy” that suddenly came to mind made me stiffen as I realized who had orchestrated this idiotic situation.

Dokkaebi’s superpower is magic. The ability to perform strange and ridiculous things is Dokkaebi’s superpower.

Although there are several other restrictions, such as not being able to directly harm living beings or not working on those with strong willpower, it’s a strong and dangerous ability that can twist human perception.

With that ability, it’s not difficult to turn those high-ranking officials into such fools.

But the problem is that for Dokkaebi to use his ability on people, there’s a restriction that he needs to be at a close distance, and what that means is-

“Eolssu!”

That Dokkaebi is right nearby.

With that exclamation, something black gathered on the table where the officials were gathered as if ink was being spilled, then took on a human form.

Soon, it transformed into the appearance of a strange person wearing white hemp clothes and a goblin mask. A strange person appearing as if a shadow cast by moonlight. Within 1 second of this strange person appearing, everyone inside the tent shouted simultaneously.

“”Don’t move!!”

Everyone inside points their guns at Dokkaebi, threatening him at the sudden appearance of the strange person. But the officials behind Dokkaebi continue to spout nonsense as if they’re in a different world.

Sitting leisurely with the officials behind him, it looked as if he was showing off that he could harm the officials at any time.

…It’s not the right thing to say at a time like this, but that goblin mask is really fucking scary. It’s a hideous visual that’s unpleasant to look at night.

“Pleased to meet you. Allow me to introduce myself, I am the goblin from Andong who has come to Seoul.”

Tuk, tuk. As Dokkaebi tapped his danso on his palm and spoke leisurely in a historical drama tone, the people in the tent held their breath and tensed up.

Seeing this, I alone thought leisurely while pointing my gun like everyone else.

In the chapter where Dokkaebi appears, Dokkaebi, while holding the mayor hostage like now, publicly demands only two things.

One is to reopen the investigation into the mayor’s corruption and solicitation of murder, and the other is a meeting with the hero New Hope, who pursues justice like himself but is different.

The reopening of the investigation into the mayor’s corruption is the main goal, while the meeting with New Hope is out of personal curiosity, he said.

He said he would kill the mayor if these two things weren’t fulfilled, but compared to other lunatics, he could be considered moderate.

Of course, that’s only from the perspective of a reader reading the novel; for the police dealing with it and the people at the scene, it’s equally shitty either way.

He probably appeared directly like this to voice those demands.

If things continue exactly as in the novel plot I know, New Hope will hear the news and appear to talk with Dokkaebi.

Meanwhile, the mayor, who had a lot to hide, would make a fuss using citizens as hostages to do something about Dokkaebi. Because that was broadcast through cameras prepared by Dokkaebi, the mayor gets screwed without mercy, and that’s the end of this story.

In this episode too, the police only play a background role.

Ah, if there’s anything the police do, it’s providing an opportunity for Sai to become friends with New Hope while being wary of New Hope who was called out by Dokkaebi?

Thinking like this, I started to feel a little more at ease.

Although I was half-forcibly dragged out of the hospital, the Dokkaebi episode is one where no one gets hurt, so it should be okay to feel relaxed.

There might be subtle differences like with the Sikgwi incident, but even if there are differences in this situation, I wouldn’t have anything to do in this hostage situation, right?

Thinking this and trying to relax, suddenly an inexplicable anxiety crept up my spine. For a moment, I rolled my eyes wondering what it was, and saw that the eyes of the goblin mask were fixed on me.

Realizing my idle thoughts had gone on too long, I readjusted my grip on the gun. I gripped the gun again and furrowed my brow, showing signs of tension.

But even so, Dokkaebi’s gaze didn’t leave. Did he get upset seeing a police officer lost in thought?

As I tensed up more and glared at Dokkaebi, he stopped shaking his danso as if thinking of something, then rested his chin on his hand and said,

“The reason I’ve come like this is because, as the perpetrator staging a hostage situation at City Hall, I have some demands.”

“…What kind of demands?”

The negotiator in the tent speaks in response to Dokkaebi’s words. Basically, we don’t negotiate with terrorists, but the hostages are numerous innocent citizens and the mayor of Seoul.

Moreover, even if we try to push through with force, the opponent is a superpower user, and on top of that, we can’t break through that black wall with our current forces and don’t know the situation inside.

With the possibility of some disaster occurring right in the heart of Seoul, even a negotiator would have no choice but to raise their hands in surrender.

But well, such trivial things are for others to do, not me, and our protagonist New Hope will somehow take care of it.

I listlessly listened to the negotiator and Dokkaebi conversing, and Dokkaebi, saying he had no intention of killing innocent citizens, began to voice his demands.

“What I desire is as follows. First, a reinvestigation into the corruption and solicitation of murder by Seoul Mayor Kim Myung-sik.”

“And secondly, please convey through the news that this goblin wishes to have a peaceful conversation with the hero New Hope inside that City Hall.”

Demand conditions exactly as I remember. As I felt my hand holding the gun starting to ache, I was thinking I wished Dokkaebi would disappear quickly when.

“Lastly-”

“?”

Dokkaebi, creating an atmosphere suggesting he had something additional to demand by raising the topic of “lastly”.

I had already anticipated that there could be slight differences from the novel’s progression, so I waited with half curiosity, half worry to hear what Dokkaebi would say.

“Mr. Kim over there. I would like to have a conversation with you inside as well. If these three requests are granted, I promise that not only the innocent ones, but even that corrupt official inside will not be harmed.”

-To call for someone additional, is there another bastard among the police who committed corruption?

I wonder who this Mr. Kim is, whom he’s asking to have a conversation with in addition to New Hope. I leisurely tried to find the person Dokkaebi was pointing at with his danso.

The danso was aimed at me, but there weren’t just one or two people behind me, so it must be one of them.

I wanted to at least see the face of this Mr. Kim who got caught up in such a big incident, feeling sorry for him, but for some reason, people’s gazes were gathering on me.

As I sent a look to Dokkaebi saying, “Hey, you need to tell us who this Mr. Kim is,” the people behind me started to move away from their positions.

-Oh, something’s strange. Even though there’s no one behind me anymore, Dokkaebi’s danso keeps pointing at me.

Something’s wrong. As a wordless pressure and uncomfortable air settled in the tent, I asked with hope, thinking it surely couldn’t be.

“… It’s not me, right?”

“It is indeed you, Mr. Kim.”

“You son of a-”

Goddammit.

Why me? How come it’s me? I tried to argue, but before that, following the American spirit of not negotiating with terrorists, I tried to put a bullet in Dokkaebi,

but Dokkaebi vanished from his spot as if he had said everything he needed to say, and I was immediately subdued.

A day where I, forcibly renamed Mr. Kim, spout curses while pinned to the ground, amidst fellow detectives telling me to calm down and detectives trying to confirm why Dokkaebi singled me out.

It was an autumn where the sky was high and I was screwed.