I Became a Police Officer in a Superhero Genre

The sewing machine keeps turning, and the detective keeps rolling and rolling. My transfer request gets ignored.

I let out a deep sigh at the current situation of the investigation team, in addition to the 24th transfer request I submitted after joining the team being rejected.

They say that currently, less than 1% of the world’s population has superpowers, but it feels like all of that 1% has gathered in South Korea, specifically in this Gangdong-gu. Every day is like a war.

I know that events converge here because this world is from a novel and the protagonist is in Gangdong-gu, but knowing and accepting are different things.

As soon as we solve one case, a new supervillain appears as if they were waiting, and even the ones we caught show up again. It really feels like we’re just spinning meaninglessly on top of a sewing machine.

Well, at least a sewing machine sews something, but I sometimes wonder what we’re even doing here-

Don’t all working people have times when they struggle with the futility of what they’re doing? Thinking that I’m just in one of those times helps me easily overcome the emptiness.

No matter how hard and painful it is, you can overcome it depending on your mindset. Plus, there are occasional events like yesterday when I get to slack off at home, so how shitt- I mean, how enjoyable is that?

Satisfied with this new realization, I smiled and poured the contents of three coffee mix packets into my mouth.

“Senior. This isn’t the time to escape reality. The drunk people have arrived. We need to take their statements.”

“Ah, damn it! Why does a fight between drunks come to our department, fuck!! Did the local police shirk their duties again?!”

“They say these guys are superpower users.”

Damn this life. Well, I knew only shitty things would happen when I got stuck with weekend duty.

The team members call me ‘The guy who shouldn’t be on duty’ because whenever I’m on duty, shitty things happen. I can’t even deny it because every time, only crappy things happen.

As proof, within 10 minutes of starting my duty, an incident occurs where drunk superpower users fight each other, end up in a mess, and are dragged to the station.

Originally, fights between drunk idiots would end at the local police station, but because they couldn’t reach an agreement even after sobering up at the station, and because both are superpower users, the case was transferred to the special investigation team.

Damn it. If only one of them had been a superpower user, it wouldn’t have come to us.

What are the odds of two people who don’t know each other both being awakened superpower users, and then coincidentally meeting while drunk and getting into a fight?

Anyway, it’s clearly not my fault. But for some reason, from the juniors on duty to the seniors, everyone is giving me resentful looks.

Trying to ignore those gazes somehow, I was swallowing the remaining coffee concentrate in my paper cup when I felt an uncomfortable sensation tickling the back of my head.

This is usually the sensation I feel when I’ve forgotten something. What did I forget? As I was pondering this, someone approached me.

“As expected, Deputy Chief, you’re amazing. To think a case would occur just 1 minute after you started your duty!”

“Shut it.”

Someone laughing and saying “I understand” – I looked towards where the laughter was coming from, wondering who was laughing like that, and then I remembered what I had forgotten.

The guy laughing had jet-black messy hair, black eyes, and contrasting white skin. He was wearing a black coat with a white turtleneck underneath, and a gun holster over it.

With androgynous features and a delicate appearance, he could be mistaken for a woman if you looked wrong, but the Adam’s apple clearly showed he was male.

Apart from the androgynous appearance, the only thing noticeable at first glance was that he didn’t look like he could do much physical work. He seemed more suited for paperwork inside than running around outside.

But because I knew his true identity, I could only blankly stare at the person who had spoken to me, momentarily at a loss for words.

One of the people on the list of new recruits who were supposed to join. And the mastermind behind most of the incidents happening in this world setting.

“Nice to meet you, Deputy Chief. I’m Sai, who just joined the Special Investigation Team. I look forward to working with you.”

Sai salutes and smiles. Next to him is the bald leader. One familiar bald head and one unfamiliar person.

I had hoped that the KakaoTalk I saw last night was just a hallucination from a dream, but I guess not. Should I commit suicide now? As numerous thoughts crossed my mind, the leader next to him opened his mouth.

“Eh- As I mentioned before, a new recruit has arrived. His name is Sai. You remember that serial killing case in Gangseo-gu? He’s the one who solved it. They say he’s diligent and capable. Teach him well. Don’t let him end up in the hospital.”

After finishing the introduction typically given when a new recruit arrives, the leader rolled his eyes. Those eyes were clearly looking for someone to assign as a mentor. And where those eyes stopped was right where I was.

“Yeah, you do it. You’re the only one with time to spare since all you do as deputy chief is run errands, right? From now on, you’re in charge of mentoring him, so teach him well.”

Well, whatever. Until now, whenever new recruits came in, I was the one with a sturdy body who could somehow cover for them, so even though I was in the deputy chief position, I’ve been doing most of the new recruit training.

I’ve thought before that having a strong body has this kind of side effect. But anyway, since the new recruits are also called elites and have some experience,

most of them adapt well once they know how the team operates, so it hasn’t been a big problem.

But. Fuck. This one?

I felt my lips trembling. I wanted to deny reality. But the leader’s finger wouldn’t leave me.

So, thinking that this too must be fate, I slowly nodded to accept it-

“You bald bastard!!”

“Why is this bastard suddenly making personal attacks?”

Oops, my true feelings slipped out.

Unable to hold back, I voiced the obvious fact in front of me, and the leader grabbed my collar. Hey, who should be getting angry right now, why are you the one getting mad?

As the leader and I were grabbing each other’s collars and bickering,

“Sigh, this guy’s at it again.”

“Unless you’ve put honey on each other’s collars, can’t you go just one day without this, really?”

The colleagues around us, used to this scene, try to stop me, not the leader who attacked first. Wait, shouldn’t they be stopping the leader, not me?

Hearing my colleagues blame me, I gritted my teeth in frustration, but soon calmed down. Then, recognizing the reality, I looked at the new recruit.

“I look forward to working with you, Deputy Chief!”

Is that supposed to mean he’s going to kill me?

The smile the new recruit was wearing felt creepy, as if hiding a sharp razor blade, and his eyes fixed on me seemed suspicious, as if plotting something.

But that’s just because I know his true identity; to others, it would just look like a friendly smile, which was even creepier.

Okay, should I commit suicide? Or should I arrest this guy and throw him in a holding cell? Come to think of it, both seem impossible.

For a moment, the sense of duty as a detective, remaining in me about the size of a booger, screamed that I should immediately arrest this bastard and throw him in a holding cell,

but everything else that makes up who I am shouted to stay still, knowing there’s no justification to arrest him, and even if I pretend to make a mistake and shoot him, he’s not someone who would die from that.

Come to think of it, in any movie, if you find out the truth about the incident before the protagonist, you always die first.

I took a deep breath and turned my gaze away from Sai, then unnecessarily scolded the guys who were just sighing deeply in front of the completely drunk and unconscious superpower users.

“Take statements from these two, and put them in the detention center until tomorrow morning. Since it’s a fight between superpower users, we can’t just let them go.”

“But these guys are giving different accounts, each saying the other was at fault.”

“Did you eat the CCTV footage and witness statements? Hurry up and get those first.”

“Yes~”

I half-listen to the vague response to my words and return to my seat. I feel Sai’s gaze following me, but I try to ignore it somehow.

I’ll just do what a mentor should do. Don’t get involved. Thinking this, I sit at my desk, glance at the case log written on the computer, and casually hand over the manual, telling him to read it.

It was predetermined that this woman would come to this investigation team, so it’s my fault for still being here. So I just need to do the best I can in the current situation,

pretend not to know ‘anything’, and not care. Anyway, this woman will eventually rise to the position of team leader, so until then, I should quietly hope to be kicked out of the investigation team for being incompetent.

“[- Incident occurred. Incident occurred. Code 0! Suspect who attacked police and fled is currently fleeing from Cheonho-daero towards Olympic-daero! Requesting backup! Repeat-]”

Suddenly, the incident radio broadcast rings out. Praying that I can escape as soon as possible, I quickly grab only my gun and handcuffs and rush out.

The start of this mess that occurred in the middle of the night began, they say, when some crazy guy tried to rob a bank at night but couldn’t break through the thick vault concentrated with modern technology.

The reported superpower of the culprit is said to be super-acceleration. He’s a guy who can even dodge bullets, but what can he do with that speed against a massive chunk of metal?

It seems like he prepared everything from a stethoscope to various other things as if imitating a movie. But of course, everything failed, and after rampaging, he knocked down the responding police and is currently on the run.

According to what’s been confirmed, he doesn’t even have any previous experience and is just unemployed, so it’s incomprehensible what gave him the guts to try to crack a vault.

I thought that if he had used that speed for pickpocketing, it would have been really hard to catch him, but I guess you can’t expect that kind of intelligence from a guy who brought a stethoscope to crack a bank vault.

For a moment, I wondered if there was such a criminal in the original novel, but even if it wasn’t described in detail in the novel, I recalled that there were quite a few incidents resolved by the protagonist.

And Sikgwi did that weird thing of gathering subordinates, and even though I’m in the world of the novel,

it’s still a world where people live, so things won’t necessarily flow as predetermined. Isn’t it human to somehow get by even when you’re on edge day and night?

So I should just accept it and do my job- Fuck, for such a shitty incident to happen when I’m on duty. What a fucked up life.

“Wow. His ability is super-acceleration, but he tried to crack a vault? He only brought things that look like they’re from movies. And… a stethoscope? What on earth did he bring this for? Don’t tell me he thought he could crack it by listening? To think such an idiot actually exists…”

Sai, sitting in the passenger seat, exclaims with a mix of admiration as he reads the initial report. He seemed to be marveling at the fact that such an idiot actually exists.

What are you so impressed about when you’re the one who made him a superpower user? I wanted to say something out of disbelief, but I stopped myself with superhuman patience.

I shouldn’t pick a fight with this cross-dressing woman, nor should I do anything to draw attention.

It’s obvious that I’d be horribly murdered if I upset her, and it’s the same even if I draw attention in a good way.

According to the novel, this woman started randomly creating superpower users out of boredom by making drugs, but after accidentally meeting Mina, she became interested in another person for the first time in her life.

This woman, who was born with superpowers, didn’t recognize others inferior to her as ‘people’.

But after discovering Mina, who was also born a superpower user like herself, she thought of her as an equal being and became interested, or so it went.

But that interest ultimately manifests as inflicting pain and harassment to see if a person breaks down or not.

I’ve seen crazy bastards several times while working as a violent crimes detective that make the lunatics in novels seem silly, but this woman is someone I don’t want to associate with for any reason.

But well. As I said, the first person this woman becomes interested in is the protagonist Mina, not me. I’m nothing special. I won’t receive this woman’s attention.

Thinking this, my eyes met with Sai sitting in the passenger seat. Goosebumps spread across my whole body at that smiling face. It was really shitty that my detective instincts were screaming at me to do something, even if it meant flipping the car.

My legs were trembling with anxiety, but what could I do? I clenched my teeth and drove the car towards the culprit’s house with a mind as clear as a mirror.

“Um- Deputy Chief. Shouldn’t we go to the scene where the chase is currently happening?”

“We can’t catch him even with a car. If we’re going to do something, we should look at what comes next.”

“What comes next?”

I nodded at Sai’s questioning words. A chase with the culprit is currently happening at the scene, but- this culprit is said to be able to dodge bullets, so how could we catch him by chasing him with a car?

Currently, in this world, when a supervillain is observed committing a crime, and for whatever reason, the villain remains at the scene until the police arrive, there are usually two ways the scene ends.

First, either New Hope luckily shows up at the scene and subdues the villain, or the villain manages to shake off even New Hope and escapes.

New Hope has only one body and is a student, so proportionally, the latter case happens more often. But it’s hard to just brush this off as “that’s just how it is for police in a superhero genre” because-

How could a few police officers do anything against rampaging superpower users who are completely out of their minds?

That’s why I basically move differently on days when New Hope is unlikely to appear,
like when it’s close to exam period for students, or on days like today when New Hope is taking a day off after fighting non-stop for four days.

Depending on the crime, but in most violent crime cases, I don’t simply chase after the villain like chasing a culprit, but start the investigation by predicting where the villain might hide if they flee.

First of all, we need to know where they are to make an arrest. And if we do it well, we might be able to meet the culprit and persuade them to turn themselves in.

The reason for this is as follows. While crimes using superpowers have been exploding recently,
our police don’t classify everyone who commits a crime using superpowers as a supervillain.

First of all, people who awaken superpowers often lose their minds and rampage like beasts for the first day or two, but as time passes, many recover and turn themselves in.

Not everyone who awakens is a criminal, so how could civilians commit such crimes and escape and pretend not to know? Gangster bastards might revel in it, but anyway.

Currently, the police are trying to figure out why people are awakening superpowers, if there are any commonalities among those who awaken, and so on, but they haven’t even gotten a clue yet.

Yeah, could any sane person deduce that the cause of all these incidents is some crazy woman increasing the number of superpower users because she’s bored?

But in this situation, all the National Assembly does is classify anyone who commits crimes using superpowers more than twice as a supervillain,

gleefully give them aliases, and then quickly approve a super practical bill that says they’ll give harsher punishments if they have an alias. I really wonder what kind of idiotic nonsense this is.

So I want to ask if that damn law is as practical as to make the police keep their mouths shut even when the protective gear they’re supposed to wear when dealing with supervillains can be torn by hand.

“Good grief. They’re all fools.”

“Did I perhaps say that out loud? Since when?”

“From the part where you said you couldn’t understand the idiots who gleefully give aliases.”

“I see.”

Fortunately, I didn’t blurt out everything from the beginning. I felt relieved, but regardless of that, my body had skillfully driven the car and arrived in front of this suspect’s house.

A common residential area street. Since the Special Investigation Team is basically plainclothes police, even though Sai and I came, we didn’t particularly draw attention.

I briefly surveyed the surroundings, then opened my mouth while rechecking the contents of the initial report.

“Myeongil-dong 667-10. Residential complex, 2nd floor, room 302. The suspect is Kim Yun-sik. He works as a day laborer, and according to the investigation, all his family members have passed away, and he doesn’t really have friends. If he flees, he’s likely to either return home or- hide in a place with few people, is it?”

I read the report and try to commit the contents to memory. Thanks to all his rampaging being captured on CCTV without even wearing a hat to hide his face, the suspect’s identity could be confirmed quickly, but.

The more I look at this report, the more something feels off. What exactly is the problem, I wonder, and after a while, the crime scene and address belatedly catch my eye.

It’s far. Too far. Even if he wasn’t in his right mind after awakening his ability, something feels strange.

It’s fine that he tried to rob a bank and failed and is now running away. But why is the bank he tried to rob near Cheonho Station? The culprit lives near Myeongil-dong.

Usually, if someone plans a crime deliberately, they might choose a place far from their home. That’s often the case with intelligent criminals who meticulously investigate routes and make plans.

But- would someone who just awakened superpowers and isn’t in their right mind try to commit robbery in an area that’s not near their home, even if it’s not too far? Something feels off about this.

Thinking I should investigate this more thoroughly, I tried to quickly enter the suspect’s house, but I stopped when Sai suddenly spoke to me.

“Deputy Chief. If the suspect runs away, where do you think he might go? Since he probably just awakened and isn’t in his right mind- couldn’t he go somewhere unexpected?”

Sai spoke while resting his chin on his hand, seemingly pondering and explaining his own deductions to me, but those eyes.
I could see his blue eyes, different from the color I first saw, curved like crescent moons and laughing with joy.

Fuck, this bitch is plotting something

I don’t know what her purpose is, but in a situation where it’s certain that this damn person is plotting something, I swallowed dry saliva, feeling that I might die today.