The Cop Is Too Strong [EN]: Chapter 84

Gasping in pain, he smirked at Shin Hae-soo.

“You can’t stop it by catching me-”

Thwack!

Hae-soo punched him in the jaw, knocking him unconscious, then turned to check on the victim.

She was staring blankly into space. Recalling what the guy had said in the future vision, Hae-soo presumed he had given her a large dose of sleeping pills.

“Ms. Lee Seo-eun, can you hear me?”

“Ah…”

Hae-soo untied the ropes binding her arms and ankles and spoke in the kindest tone possible.

“I’m a police officer. You’re safe now.”

She slowly moved her eyes to look at Hae-soo, then collapsed, her eyelids turned inside out. Hae-soo quickly caught her.

┗Jackpot?

┗Damn, that cop has wandering hands

┗So jealous

┗Should I become a cop?

Her body trembled, as if fear remained even in her disoriented state.

Hae-soo lifted her in his arms and opened the boiler room door. Oh Gyeong was standing there, having just arrived.

“Hey, what are you doing here already?”

“This is Lee Seo-eun. Please hand her over to the paramedics.”

“Oh, uh, okay.”

“I have some things left to do.”

“Okay, gently… no, hit him hard.”

As Oh Gyeong turned back, the youngest detective came panting through the rooftop door. Hae-soo noticed that the rooftop door had been completely welded shut.

Hae-soo made eye contact with the youngest and turned to close the boiler room door.

The fallen phone still showed dozens of real-time chat messages. Hae-soo picked up the phone and faced the camera.

┗Wow, holy crap, you scared me

┗Look at that face

┗Damn, I’d be terrified just looking at his face

┗Whoa, a bit much

┗Wait, isn’t this guy a cop? Are we allowed to be doing this?

Hae-soo faced them and took out his own phone to call Jung Young-soo.

“Hey, are you in here?”

-Yes, I’m checking everything.

“Good. We can’t let those who aided and abetted the attempted murder of Lee Seo-eun go. They’re all potential murderers.”

┗Huh?

┗What?

┗No, I…

-Yablo has left the chat.

-Jinsang Athlete has left the chat.

-TheGuyWhoBarksAtIdiots has left the chat.

┗Damn, missed my chance

-TimingIgnorantTyper has left the chat.

“Can I turn it off now?”

-Yes, everything’s saved.

“Okay.”

Hae-soo ended the broadcast and turned around. The guy who had been knocked out had regained consciousness and was leaning against the wall, smirking.

“Heh, hehehe, I knew it too, that someday I would be judged…”

Hae-soo squatted down, brought his face close to him, and asked.

“What did you do with the other victims?”

“You wanna know? See, whether you’re a cop or whatever, humans are humans, you’re curious, right?”

He was more eager to tell about his crimes than to hide them.

“I’m curious.”

“Okay, I’ll tell you. First, I cut off the wrists of those dirty typers [internet users]. I was going to cut off their fingers one by one, but some bastard already did that. It’s no fun if it overlaps, so I tried pulling out their fingernails, but that was too weak, so I went with cutting off their wrists.”

His expression was constantly gleeful.

“And?”

“And what? Since they’re doing it hiding behind anonymity, I peeled off their faces so they could be anonymous forever. Good meaning, right?”

“Good.”

Hae-soo nodded heavily, then grabbed both of his hands with his own and clasped them together. The guy, caught off guard by the clasp, tilted his head.

“Uh, I’m not into this kind of thing?”

Crack!

“Kkyaaaaak!!”

He bent all of his fingers backward until they touched his wrist, then released the clasp and twisted the guy’s fingers like he was wringing out laundry.

Creak-!

“Ugh, keueoeoe-”

The guy’s hands were instantly mangled. Bones were crushed, and bones that had torn through the skin were visible.

“What was next again.”

“Ah, ah, sa, save…”

“Right, the face skin.”

Hae-soo firmly grabbed the back of his neck and unhesitatingly slammed his face into the concrete wall. Then, he rubbed his face up and down as if painting the wall.

Eueujeueujeueu-

*

In front of the boiler room door, the hulking, muscle-bound youngest detective stood tall with his arms crossed. He was confronting the other detectives.

-Aaaagh!! Keueoeok!!

“Hey, hey! What’s going on? What’s happening inside?”

“We’re making an arrest.”

“If it’s an arrest, we should help!”

“You guys being here is helping.”

“No, just move! Hey, this isn’t some kind of rock…”

Squeak-

At that moment, Hae-soo opened the boiler room door and came out. In one hand, he held the criminal, whose face was mangled.

“Ah, geez, you scared me!”

“H, huh…”

“His face is completely shredded, is that a face or a back of the head?”

Hae-soo silently dragged him away. The youngest detective followed behind him.

*

Because the guy had the ingrained belief that what he had done wasn’t a crime, there were also convenient aspects. During the interrogation, he boasted and readily revealed the locations of the remaining victims’ bodies.

[Public Execution YouTuber. Infamous Attention Seeker Arrested.]

-….It has been confirmed that he murdered and recorded six people to date, causing great shock.

┗Wow, crazy s*it… that was real?

┗I thought it was a noise marketing movie [a movie using controversial marketing tactics]

┗My friend sent me that, I watched it ㅡㅡ

┗So creepy

┗Never seen such a psycho in my life

┗So who caught him again?

┗Isn’t this like Conan [a reference to Detective Conan, a popular manga and anime series] level? How does he keep getting involved in such big cases? Just tell us, Detective Shin

┗The detective’s face is shown but the criminal’s face is covered, human rights protection is awesome in Korea!!!

As a shocking incident that was broadcast live on YouTube, a more popular medium than TV these days, it became a major issue for people.

The scene of the guy being surrounded by numerous reporters while being transferred from the police station to the detention center also circulated on YouTube.

-You brutally murdered six people, do you have any remorse?

-Through me, I hope people will have a sense of alertness and create a more beautiful internet culture.

-Are you saying that you contributed to cleaning up internet culture?

-Isn’t that so?

Thwack! Thwack! Thwack!

He was pelted with eggs after that statement.

Those who typed comments like, ‘Kill him quickly,’ and ‘I support you,’ even though Lee Seo-eun’s real name was mentioned, all had a friendly gathering at the Gangjin Police Station’s Violent Crimes Unit headquarters.

However, Lee Seo-eun, perhaps because she was targeted for leaving malicious comments, ended things amicably with them through a settlement.

After finishing everything, Hae-soo called the hidden MVP [Most Valuable Player] of this case.

-Did something else happen?

“No.”

-Phew… that’s a relief. Whenever Detective Shin calls, it’s always something urgent.

“Sorry about that.”

-Hey, don’t say it like that, I’m so proud. This crazy psychopath attention-seeker was a bit tough this time, but that’s why I’m even more proud. I did a lot of work this time.

“That’s right, you were a big help. I sent the commission fee, so buy some beef with your mother.”

-Oh… I wonder how much you sent to be talking about beef? Anyway, thank you.

“Report your taxes well.”

-Yes, yes, I understand~

Jung Young-soo is one of the few high school students who isn’t afraid of Hae-soo. It seems like it’s because he’s never been directly hit. Rather, he’s more afraid of Haru.

***

South Chungcheong Provincial Police Agency, Commissioner’s Office.

The Commissioner is someone who rose to this position with sheer drive.

He fiercely pushed for the proposal to supply makeshift stab vests to field officers nationwide.

However, he didn’t receive a satisfactory answer. He received a response that they would first produce them with the current provincial budget, supply them to Gangjin City, and then submit a budget proposal to the National Assembly after seeing how much the police injury rate decreased over two years.

“Ugh… I mean, I’m trying to save the police, but is it really worth saving that much money when it’s a matter of life and death? Anyway, unless it’s something that makes money or gets votes, getting a budget is like reaching for the stars. Should I run for the National Assembly this time?”

The Commissioner held a banana milk in one hand and jumped up as if he were about to run to the National Assembly right away.

Having seen it often, Chief Lee nodded indifferently.

“That’s what I’m saying. Ah, just a moment…”

Chief Lee showed his phone and asked for permission, and the Commissioner, still in a posture ready to run out, waved his hand.

Chief Lee answered the phone and went out of the Commissioner’s office, then quickly came back in with a bright face.

“Commissioner!”

“What is it, what is it? If you’re calling me with such a confident voice, it must be something really good?”

“That’s right! Assemblyman Oh Sung-joo is strongly pushing for it in the National Assembly. At least the supply to South Chungcheong seems likely to pass soon.”

“Oh? Assemblyman Oh Sung-joo? Why is he doing that? I’ve never even exchanged a word with him…”

“There are widespread rumors that his daughter applied to the police, could it be because of that?”

“Ah… I guess so, wow, I don’t know who that daughter is, but she’s doing great work.”

*

Companies must be nimble in keeping up with the world.

Seo-eun was reviewing articles in the office today and receiving a report from Chief Kang.

“…So the South Chungcheong Provincial Police Commissioner is directly pushing for it, and Assemblyman Oh Sung-joo is leading the charge to support the Commissioner’s proposal.”

“Shin Hae-soo commissioned the production and even supplied it to the detectives in the same station? With his own money, too.”

“Yes.”

Seo-eun crossed her legs and muttered, stroking her lower lip with her index finger.

“Hae-soo is really… we have a contract for times like this, we should make it.”

“Are you talking about the makeshift stab vest? Then…”

“No, not that guy, we do it directly, by acquiring a suitable factory. It doesn’t have to be that big.”

She could ask her half-brother, who owns Daesung Corporation, but she didn’t want to incur debt. Businessmen always pay back debts two or three times over.

“Yes, I’ll look into factories.”

“Okay. Then I should meet Hae-soo and talk about it in detail.”

“What are you talking about?”

“How he came to produce the stab vest, and who he commissioned the production to.”

“Can’t you just ask that over the phone?”

At Chief Kang’s obvious words, Seo-eun’s eyes turned sharply.

“How can you ask about such an important and complicated matter over the phone? Of course, we have to meet.”

“…Yes, that’s right.”

*

A quiet cafe, Shin Hae-soo and Ahn Seo-eun sitting face to face. Haru went to work as a Daesung guard, and Chief Kang was waiting at another table.

Seo-eun was simply wearing a white blouse and a violet skirt, but her unique actress aura made people in the cafe glance at her.

“Now that I think about it, is this the first time we’ve seen each other alone?”

Hae-soo raised his index finger and shook it from side to side.

“We also saw each other at Daesung Hospital.”

“Hey, that was just for a moment, and we didn’t make a separate appointment to see each other.”

“So, are you interested in the stab vest?”

Seo-eun looked at Hae-soo with a subtle gaze and opened her lips slightly.

“Yes, I’m interested.”

“I see. The Commissioner also mentioned it recently. There may be good news.”

At Hae-soo’s serious gaze, Seo-eun sighed softly and continued.

“Yes, I heard. But you’re making us use you to help with that kind of thing, why did you make it with your own money?”

“Using Daesung’s name when threatening rich people is helpful, but receiving something or paying a settlement is cautious.”

“Hmm… I see. That’s right. If anything happens, there could be talk, so you have to be careful because the image that Hae-soo and the police have built up so far could fall into ruin along with Daesung.”

“In fact, it’s also a relationship where enemies can easily make up stories if they want to. Our relationship.”

Seo-eun listened quietly, then rested her chin on one hand, looked at Hae-soo, and opened her mouth.

“So, do you dislike it?”

“I don’t dislike it. Ms. Ahn Seo-eun is an excellent partner.”

“Partner… okay. Thank you.”

“However, I don’t know much about the production. I’ll give you Chief Gu’s number, so talk to him.”

Hae-soo gave her Chief Gu’s number and got up from his seat shortly after.

Ahn Seo-eun said goodbye to Hae-soo and got into the car.

“Shall we go to Chief Gu?”

Seo-eun answered with a prim expression.

“We can just ask over the phone.”

“Yes? Why is that?”

“Chief Gu must be busy, so it’s out of consideration.”

“Yes, I see.”

Chief Kang thought so and drove the car.

*

A conference room overlooking a forest of buildings.

A middle-aged man with a neat impression looked down at the darkness spread thickly beyond the glass windows and opened his mouth.

“A company is backing that detective we talked about back then?”

“It’s Ahn Seo-eun, CEO of Daesung E&M.”

At the answer from the man behind him, the middle-aged man’s brow furrowed slightly.

“Do you think I’m asking because I don’t know that?”

“I’m sorry. I’ll manage it.”

< #84. The End of the Attention Seeker > End