The Cop Is Too Strong [EN]: Chapter 249

< #249. Knowing the Secret >

“I’m leaving work first, Detective.”

Shin Hae-soo stood up from his seat with a stiff expression. Oh Gyeong-i was puzzled, but since it was past quitting time, he didn’t stop him.

“Oh, okay. Is everything alright?”

Hae-soo hesitated at Oh Gyeong’s casual question, but without turning around, he replied in a calm tone.

“Yes, everything is fine.”

‘The method of luring someone out with a 2G cell phone that’s hard to trace… I’ve experienced it before. Was it Red Moon?’

‘This phone will have a wiretap and GPS attached.’

‘If this wiretap malfunctions or if I don’t obey, Detective Kwak and his family will be in danger. It was sent as a kind of control device.’

Just before leaving the office, Hae-soo took out a small, square, flat patch from his pocket and placed it under the insole of his shoe. He then called someone with a prepaid phone used for contacting the hideout and put it in his pocket.

-Yes, Shin, what’s up? Hello? Hello?

Jung Young-soo’s voice was faint. Hae-soo murmured as if talking to himself.

“Teacher Cheon…”

-Teacher Cheon?!

As he left the police station, as expected, a black taxi was parked across the street. As Hae-soo approached, a man got out from the back seat and ushered him in.

‘One next to me, one in the driver’s seat, two of them. They’re not talkative, and just being next to them makes you feel like a well-honed blade is close to your neck, so I guess they’re company employees too.’

“Where are you taking me?”

The company employee next to Hae-soo silently took the 2G cell phone that Hae-soo had just received and took out a black stick.

“I want to check immediately if Detective Kwak and his family are safe.”

Chijijijik-

The company employee ignored Hae-soo’s words and swept the black stick all over his body. Soon both Hae-soo’s prepaid phone and the 2G cell phone in his pocket went dead.

* * *

Jung Young-soo was alone in the hideout, wearing a headset and concentrating.

-I want to check immediately if Detective Kwak and his family are safe – Chijijijik-

Young-soo frowned and took off his headset. ‘Now I can’t hear anything. It’s dead.’

He didn’t give up and tracked Shin Hae-soo’s dedicated GPS device.

‘He had an emergency miniature GPS device with him just in case.’

“Sigh.”

This one wasn’t broken yet.

Jung Young-soo put his hands on the keyboard and thought about the current situation.

‘Shin Hae-soo is being wiretapped.’

‘He’s going somewhere.’

‘Detective Kwak and his family have been taken hostage.’

‘All of this was planned by Teacher Cheon.’

‘Shin Hae-soo asked for help.’

‘This is not something I can handle alone.’

Jung Young-soo immediately moved the mouse and made a call somewhere.

“Sis, Hyung [older brother/male friend], Shin has been kidnapped. The location is…”

* * *

Shin Hae-soo was taken away with his hands tied behind his back with chains and a black cloth covering his head.

‘It’s not difficult to subdue the two who are going with me now, but I followed without saying anything, fearing that Detective Kwak’s family would be in danger if I acted rashly.’

‘If I don’t obey, they will cut off one of my fingers without hesitation to intimidate me.’

‘Not Shin Hae-soo’s, but Detective Kwak’s family’s.’

Clank

The car door opened. The smell of the sea wafted in. ‘Near the beach, am I taking a boat to Jeju Island [a popular vacation island in South Korea]?’ It didn’t take two hours to get here.

The company employee grabbed Hae-soo without saying a word.

A musty smell. It’s already night, and it’s dark because of the black cloth, but it’s even darker. ‘It seems like I’ve entered an unlit room.’

Thud thud thud

After going down the stairs for a long time and walking about a hundred steps, a familiar voice was heard.

“Ugh, ugh?!”

‘It’s Detective Kwak. It wasn’t Jeju Island. Either I went to Jeju Island and was kidnapped and came here, or I was kidnapped here before that.’

Swish

The black cloth was removed, and the situation came into view.

Detective Kwak and his wife, daughter Kwak Eun-jung, and son Kwak Seong-jae were all tied up and gagged.

The faces of the daughter and son were pale with fear.

The moment Hae-soo saw their expressions, an uncontrollable anger welled up.

‘Even if I do nothing from now on and release them, they will live with today’s events as trauma for the rest of their lives.’

‘Even if I turn back time, it’s already been over an hour since they were kidnapped, so the mental damage is irreversible.’

Hae-soo’s gaze naturally went to the middle-aged man with white hair sitting on a one-person sofa next to Detective Kwak.

He was holding a pistol in his right hand and twirling it around like a toy.

“Finally met, Shin Hae-soo?”

Hae-soo exerted superhuman patience and suppressed his anger.

‘I want to break the chains right now and twist Teacher Cheon’s neck, but the company employees stationed around me are not easy opponents.’

‘The moment Hae-soo moves, even if only one person goes to Detective Kwak and his family, they will be dealt with quickly.’

“A phone call would have been enough, but you’re using rough methods.”

‘I have to buy as much time as possible.’

‘Until Haru and Hwang Jang-soo come, it would be even better if they brought Master Jang with them.’

Teacher Cheon shrugged.

“Rough methods? The rough methods haven’t even started yet.”

At the same time as the answer, the muzzle of the swaying pistol was pointed at Hae-soo’s leg.

Tang tang tang!

The thunderous firing sound of the pistol without a silencer echoed loudly inside the basement.

“Keuheuk!”

“Kkeueuup!!”

I quickly twisted my body, but both of Hae-soo’s knees were shattered by the continuous bullets.

Hae-soo’s legs gave way and he slumped to the floor, groaning.

At that sight, Detective Kwak shouted, and the two children were on the verge of fainting.

Teacher Cheon got up from his seat and laughed so hard that his back was bent backwards. His neatly combed hair was disheveled, and he looked very satisfied.

“Does it hurt? Does it hurt a lot? That’s why you acted up so much, Shin Hae-soo! There’s no one in this Republic of Korea who can trample on me, even if you have the ability to turn back time.”

Hae-soo’s pupils widened at Teacher Cheon’s last words. Teacher Cheon felt an even greater pleasure at that reaction and shuddered.

It’s the moment he’s been eagerly waiting for.

“Why?! Are you surprised?? Does the guy who committed suicide in front of the police station really look like he committed suicide? Weren’t there a lot of fatal accidents today? Now you can’t turn back time, because.”

The corners of his mouth are a grotesque face that looks like it’s really hooked on his ears.

“You’ve already turned back time once!”

Teacher Cheon moved his feet leisurely, stopped, and brought his face close to Hae-soo. His glistening eyes search Hae-soo’s eyes.

“There’s still strength in your eyes. Do you have someone waiting for you?”

Click

He snapped his fingers. Then someone slowly walked out of the darkness.

Thud thud thud-

A man slowly revealing his body, tearing away the darkness that swallowed his body. The moment Hae-soo saw him, his pupils trembled as if an earthquake had occurred.

“Sorry, Shin Hae-soo.”

A heavy bass voice that sounds like it’s ringing from hell.

It’s Master Jang.

Teacher Cheon and Master Jang joined hands again.

It was in the number of cases, but it was thought to be very rare, the worst of the worst situation unfolded.

Hae-soo realized that he had made a mistake.

‘Previously, Teacher Cheon had the intention of scouting him. He thought that he would want him even more to fill his vacancy now that Master Jang had disappeared.’

‘Even after properly setting up a confrontation, I thought that his actions would be restricted because of the vacancy.’

‘But now, those crazy eyes, regaining past glory, recruiting talented people, I don’t need any of that, it’s an eye to kill everything.’

Drag drag drag

Two company employees appeared behind Master Jang, dragging something.

One is a woman, the other is a large man.

“Haru…”

They were Haru and Hwang Jang-soo, covered in blood. Haru, as well as Hwang Jang-soo, can beat most team leader-level company employees, but they must have been subdued by Master Jang.

Hae-soo looked back and forth at Haru and Hwang Jang-soo, whose facial features were difficult to recognize, and shouted like crazy inside.

‘Reset, reset, reset!!’

I regretted like crazy that I saved the commoner who was in danger of dying in a motorcycle accident this afternoon.

All of this was planned by Teacher Cheon.

Reset was unresponsive.

“Haru, Haru! Hwang Jang-soo, can you hear me?!”

Seeing Shin Hae-soo’s composure collapsing, who had been calm even in a state where he couldn’t use his lower body because he was shot in the leg, Teacher Cheon bit his lower lip and felt a thrilling pleasure.

‘This is it. He finally broke the puppy who was threatening him without knowing the height of the sky.’

After forming the Chilseong Society [likely a fictional criminal organization] and firmly establishing himself, it was the first time in a long time that someone had become a threat to him, so it was an even more satisfying moment.

“Now you look like a human, how good is it? Huh? I was going to find them anyway, but they came well.”

Teacher Cheon moved his seat and pointed the gun at Hwang Jang-soo’s knee.

“Shin Hae-soo, watch carefully.”

“No!!”

Tang!

“Kkeueueu!!”

Hwang Jang-soo, who had been slumped over like a dead person, trembled at the terrible pain.

Teacher Cheon shrugged and shot Hwang Jang-soo’s remaining knee and both shoulders as if playing a game.

Jang-soo couldn’t even scream now; he could only let out a faint groan.

“Miaae, Miahae…” [Mispronounced “Mianhae,” meaning “I’m sorry” in Korean]

Detective Kwak sat down and repeated the word sorry, shedding tears.

Hae-soo watched the scene with his eyes bloodshot.

Next was Haru.

Teacher Cheon pointed the gun at Haru’s knee and said.

“Why did you run away? If you hadn’t run away, you would be in Master Jang’s position now. Instead of dying like a dog here, huh? Now all the words are useless.”

Haru’s head, which had been slumped and looking at the floor, was raised very slowly. Her eyes were directed at Shin Hae-soo over Teacher Cheon’s shoulder, not Teacher Cheon in front of her.

Shin Hae-soo and Haru’s eyes met.

Haru trembled and opened her mouth.

-Mi. An. Hae. [Mi-an-hae is the romanization of 죄송합니다 (Joesonghamnida), meaning “I’m sorry” in Korean]

What is she sorry for?

Teacher Cheon’s hand was merciless.

Tang! Tang!

Thud-

Haru’s two knees were shattered and half of her shoulder blades were blown away, and her arms were dangling. She was still looking at Hae-soo as she lay on the floor.

Eujeujeuk-

Hae-soo bit his tongue and savored his anger. Red blood flowed from the corner of his mouth.

Teacher Cheon looked at Detective Kwak’s family and turned his body to Hae-soo and approached him.

“If I’m lenient because they’re old and young, it won’t be fair, right?”

Teacher Cheon reloaded the magazine and mercilessly shot Detective Kwak and his family.

Seeing the people you loved being brutally murdered destroys your mind.

All the blood vessels in Hae-soo’s eyes burst and tears of blood flowed down.

A single moment of carelessness brought about a terrible disaster.

Teacher Cheon smiled and slowly approached.

“This is not enough, considering what I lost because of you.”

Teacher Cheon looked at Hae-soo with cold eyes and pointed the gun at his shoulder. Then, just as his index finger was about to pull the trigger.

Wooddeudeudeuk-!! Clang clang-

The chains that had been holding Hae-soo’s wrists were broken and his hands were freed.

Tang!

Teacher Cheon hurriedly pulled the trigger, but Hae-soo had already twisted his shoulder to avoid it, grabbed Teacher Cheon’s wrist, twisted it, and snatched the gun.

Wooddeuk!

“Aaaagh!”

Then, using him as a shield, he looked for Master Jang over his shoulder first.

“…?!”

Master Jang is not there. No, he’s already hiding behind the sofa. As if he knew that Hae-soo would take Teacher Cheon’s gun.

In the meantime, the other company employees pulled out their swords and rushed at Hae-soo.

Tang tadang!

One in the head, one in the shoulder, one in the chest.

The remaining company employees each stepped back or grabbed the corpse and used it as a shield, taking a stance to pounce on Hae-soo.

“Hey, hey hey!! Wait a minute, Shin Hae-soo? Let’s make a deal, a deal, I’ll save you…!”

While hugging the struggling Teacher Cheon, Hae-soo looked at the people who had died miserably.

Haru and Hwang Jang-soo are still alive, but no matter what they do, they will soon die.

Rather, it’s more cruel. They can’t make a sound, but they must be suffering from more pain than anyone else.

Hae-soo’s gaze reached Detective Kwak and his wife, son, daughter, Hwang Jang-soo, and finally Haru. Her eyes slowly blinked and then closed completely.

“…Shin Hae-soo? Shin Hae-soo, wait a minute…!”

Hae-soo put one arm around Teacher Cheon’s neck and gave it a strong force.

Wooddeuk-

With a chilling sound, Teacher Cheon’s body slumped. Since the best shield has disappeared, there is no reason for the company employees to hesitate. They all rushed at Hae-soo.

Excluding what Teacher Cheon shot at Detective Kwak and his family, Hae-soo shot three shots at the company employees.

The bullets in the full magazine had only one bullet left.

But.

Is it meaningful to live after they all die?

‘I bet everything on 0.1% hope.’

Hae-soo didn’t even look at the rushing company employees and put the gun to his head.

Tang!

* * *

“…I won a family trip ticket! Awesome, I made money!”

Beyond the fading mind, Detective Kwak’s excited voice was faintly heard.