The Cop Is Too Strong [EN]: Chapter 100

The Irate Policeman – 100

A chilling voice, bloodshot eyes.

Shin Hae-soo carelessly tossed the unmoving man onto the floor. Then, he plunged into the chaotic battlefield.

Tatatat

He dashed past detectives and gangsters alike, his eyes fixed on one target: a gangster about to shoot a detective.

“Hey!!”

The gangster flinched at the beastly roar and turned his head towards Hae-soo. As Hae-soo charged menacingly, he instinctively backpedaled and pulled the trigger.

Bang!

Hae-soo, with his exceptional dynamic visual acuity, saw the gun muzzle and slightly twisted his body, but blood still spurted from his forearm.

Thump!

Almost simultaneously, Hae-soo’s full-force tackle slammed into the man. The gangster felt the impact as if he’d been hit by a truck, flying about 5 meters before rolling on the ground.

Hae-soo didn’t stop at the collision; he relentlessly pursued and kicked the man’s head.

Crack!

“Kehk!”

The man let out a final gasp and went still. Hae-soo picked up the knife and gun that had fallen nearby, tossed them to the injured detective, gripped the knife in a reverse hold, and ran to find his next prey.

Stab, stab!! Crunch!

With the strict constraint of ‘do not kill’ forcefully lifted, Hae-soo rampaged like a tiger entering a wolf’s den.

Overwhelmed by his immense power and bloodlust, Jo Ara blankly stared at him, forgetting even the pain from her own wounds.

With just one additional ally, the previously dire situation had completely turned around.

Jo Ara couldn’t quite grasp this bizarre phenomenon.

Just then.

-Ms. Jo Ara, Ms. Jo Ara! Hold on to your senses! Stay with us!

-Kehk, cough, Ah, Dad, I, I’m sorry…

-You tell him yourself! Focus!

-I, I’m sorry.

-Jo Ara!!

Suddenly, chaotic memories flooded her mind; she saw herself being stabbed in the neck and abdomen by that Chinese man. No, she remembered it.

Clearly the same place, the same situation… a dream? The pain, the terror, were vividly remembered.

“What, what is this…?”

Jo Ara barely managed to gather her scattered thoughts and staggered to her feet. Even now, there were detectives who needed help.

Ta-ta-ta-tang!

The sound of gunfire echoed, the submachine gun posing a threat far beyond that of a revolver. The gangsters, and even the detectives, flinched and ducked their heads.

“Get down!!”

“Everyone, get down!”

The SWAT team, finally arriving, jumped out of their vehicles and quickly surrounded the area.

Bang!

A Chinese gangster, who was stealthily moving to grab a dropped knife, was shot in the leg and arm and collapsed to the ground.

Even if capture here meant the death penalty in China, it was better than dying right now.

The SWAT team’s relentless gunfire quickly brought the war to an end.

The SWAT team, unable to distinguish friend from foe, ordered everyone to lie down. However, some people didn’t seem to hear the terrifying gunshots and continued to move. Hae-soo was one of them.

Hae-soo was covered in blood, with blood streaming down one arm.

A SWAT team member who recognized him approached and reached out his hand.

“Are you alright-”

Thud.

Before he could finish speaking, Hae-soo turned around, twisted his hand, and tried to stab him in the side with a knife.

“Argh!”

Squelch.

At the same time, several SWAT team members aimed their guns at Hae-soo.

Just before the knife pierced his side, Hae-soo saw his uniform and stopped. Then, without a word, he slowly released his hand. But his eyes were still filled with murderous intent.

The officer swallowed hard, looking at the blood-soaked tip of the knife Hae-soo was holding.

“Detective Shin, Detective Shin, put the knife down.”

“Kuh, kuh…”

Noticing his abnormal state, tension filled the air.

As the SWAT team leader and members exchanged glances, debating whether to subdue him, a large man limped into the scene.

“Detective! Detective!! What are you doing?! Are you crazy?! Put those guns down!!”

The junior officer, limping, ran at full speed and hugged Hae-soo tightly, regardless of the knife he was holding. Then, he patted him strongly on the back and said.

“Detective, Detective, it’s okay now. It’s all over.”

“…Maknae, Maknae [Korean for ‘youngest’ or ‘junior colleague’], is that you?”

“Yes, Maknae Woo Gang-cheol reporting for duty…”

Hae-soo recognized his face and wiped his cheek once with his bloodied hand. Only then did the murderous intent in his eyes slowly disappear, and his legs gave way, causing him to collapse on the spot.

The junior officer quickly grabbed Hae-soo and supported him.

*

Sixteen members of the Chinese Red Sea Society, seventeen members of the Korean Kang-yeong gang, a total of thirty-three organized criminals. Seven were dead, four of them by Hae-soo’s hand.

Miraculously, none of the police officers died. Three were seriously injured, including Jo Ara, but their lives were not in danger.

The SWAT team rescued thirteen missing persons from the container, who were in danger of being sold to China.

Half of them were malnourished, which sparked the police’s anger.

At a hospital near Pyeongtaek, the usually quiet emergency room was suddenly packed at dawn.

While sitting blankly on a bed, a woman suddenly thrust her face in front of him. It was Jo Ara.

Hae-soo flinched and recoiled, and Jo Ara looked at him with strange eyes.

“What’s with that look?”

“I was startled.”

“Why are you startled when you see me? I don’t think I have a face that’s startling.”

Hae-soo stared intently at Jo Ara, who delivered a joke with a serious face and tone.

Seeing someone who had died in his arms alive and making jokes created a strange sense of incongruity.

“How’s your leg?”

“Oh, this? It’s fine. Thanks to you, but…”

Jo Ara rested her chin on her hand, looked at the air, and said as if talking to herself.

“How should I interpret a dream I had while awake…?”

She clearly thought she had died, but she was still alive. Hae-soo always felt awkward when someone who retained memories from before the reset asked him questions.

Jo Ara stared intently at Hae-soo and told him in detail what she had experienced.

“…Everyone was the same in that memory, except you. And I, who was supposed to die, survived.”

“…”

Hae-soo remained silent, giving her a look that suggested she was just a crazy woman. But Jo Ara didn’t give up.

“Do you have the ability to turn back time and save people?”

This time, he felt a little stung.

“…I wish I had such an ability.”

Jo Ara stared at Hae-soo’s eyes for a moment, then got up, dusted off her butt, and said.

“I guess so. It might be just my wish; I tend to believe in superpowers a little. Anyway, thanks to you, I survived. Thank you. Really, sincerely.”

“It’s not. It’s our fault for requesting support and not preparing for unexpected situations. I’m sorry.”

“No. I’m grateful and sorry. If you need my help with anything, contact me anytime. I’ll definitely help, even if I have to use my dad’s credit card.”

Jo Ara smiled only with her mouth, her eyes not smiling, and left Hae-soo to return to her seat.

The Gyeonggi Northern detectives couldn’t blame the absence of the SWAT team, as they belonged to the Chungnam Provincial Police Agency and were busy traveling all over the country.

Jo Ara thought that her hasty order, instead of waiting for support, was the biggest mistake.

“I’m sorry, it’s all my fault, I’ll take responsibility for this and step down…”

“Hey, why are you like this? You gave the order at the right time, and you caught them all.”

“That’s right, if it weren’t for you, Team Leader, who knows what would have happened to those thirteen people. They said four of them were going to have their organs harvested, and the rest would have been better off dead if they were sold there. Your order saved thirteen people.”

“That’s right, but seeing that not a single detective died, our Team Leader Jo must be very lucky.”

At those words, Jo Ara turned her head and looked in the direction of Hae-soo.

‘Really, did no one die?’

***

[I’m hospitalized, it’ll take a few days, eat well.]

Zzzzzzz Zzzzzzz-

As soon as he sent the text, he received a call right away, even though she must be working.

“Yeah.”

-Are you badly hurt?! Are you okay? Where are you?

Did this woman ever express her emotions so well, other than about food? It’s heartwarming to see someone so worried about him.

Hae-soo chuckled and replied.

“Take a breath, aren’t you working right now?”

-I got permission from Ahn Seo-eun. Ahn Seo-eun is also very curious.

“Very… okay, only my left arm is a little hurt, I’m fine, it’s Pyeongtaek Cha Hospital, ah, don’t even think about coming, it’s a mess here, a lot of gangsters and detectives are gathered.”

At Hae-soo’s words, Haru’s voice turned sharply cold.

-Are you saying that the criminals who hurt Hae-soo are also there?

“No, no, that person… is dead.”

-…That’s a shame. I’ll be there soon after work…

Haru stopped talking. In the distance, Ahn Seo-eun’s voice could be heard faintly.

-Correction. I’ll be leaving with Ahn Seo-eun right now. Don’t try to stop us.”

“Huh? No, even if you come here…”

Haru hung up the phone first for the first time. Hae-soo stared blankly at the disconnected phone.

At that moment, the team leader and Oh Gaeng hobbled towards Hae-soo.

The team leader injured his head and knee in the car accident, and Oh Gaeng injured his ribs and leg.

“Hae-soo, are you okay? You look okay… Holy shit! That’s a gunshot wound!”

“What? No, damn it, which bastard did this to!! Our Dol-gyeok [Roughly translates to ‘assault leader’ or ‘front line fighter’]!”

Hae-soo said calmly to the duo who were making a fuss all around.

“He’s already dead.”

“Huh? Ah…”

“I see, good job, good job, anyone who shoots a detective deserves to die.”

“What happened to the car that was driving in reverse?”

“Oh, it’s over there.”

Oh Gaeng pointed to where a young woman was holding her parents’ hands tightly. Her eyes were swollen from crying so much.

“It wasn’t drunk driving, just a lack of driving skill, some beginners get confused at the highway entrance and exit, I just asked her to pay for the treatment, you… it’s ambiguous.”

“I’m… fine.”

Hae-soo was quite shocked by this incident. Experiencing the death of a colleague after a long time was significant.

He couldn’t even remember how many gangsters he had killed. That’s how crazy he was after seeing Jo Ara’s death. Losing his composure for a moment was a big shock.

“I’d like to take some vacation time.”

“Don’t take vacation, take sick leave, we’ll be out for at least 5 weeks anyway.”

“I’ll be out for 6 weeks.”

The team leader ignored Oh Gaeng’s words and said to the junior officer next to him.

“Maknae, take a break this time, you hurt your leg too.”

“It’s just a small fracture.”

“That’s still an injury, let’s take a good rest this time, if you don’t manage it well, you’ll suffer later.”

“Yes, I understand.”

And so, the Violent Crimes Unit members were happily hospitalized in the same room. There were no empty 4-person rooms, so they went into a 6-person room.

In the same room, there was a young man in his late 20s with a middle-aged woman who appeared to be his mother.

“Jeong-hoon, how long are you going to be a novelist? You need to move around to make money; how long are you going to keep tapping on the keyboard?”

“Ah, I don’t know, Mom, you don’t even know, if this novel hits it big, I’ll make ten million won a month, okay?”

“Oh dear… so what about now? You haven’t even made a million won a month for years, Jeong-hoon, my son, they’re recruiting a lot of police officers this time, why don’t you prepare for the police? You’re smart, you’ll pass quickly, okay?”

At his mother’s words, the young man named Jeong-hoon looked frustrated and said.

“No, just wait a little bit? It’s going to be a hit soon, I wrote the prologue really well this time, okay? And who even wants to be a cop these days!”

“What do you mean, ‘that kind of thing’? It’s a civil servant!”

“A civil servant is still a civil servant, but even if you work your ass off as a cop, you’ll only make 3 million won a month at most. My friend is a cop, and he’s been doing it for 10 years, and he only makes 2.9 million won. And those detectives who catch criminals? They’re even worse. If a case breaks out, they eat, sleep, and stake out at the station 24 hours a day, and their salary is the same, no night allowance or extra pay; they even spend their own money. Why would you go through that kind of hardship, making so little money?”

The mother was speechless for a moment at her son’s machine-gun-like words. The mother had always thought that being a civil servant was the best, but if these words were true, her desire to make her precious son do it wavered.

And the police officers and detectives, who were listening to those words, were busy clearing their throats.

“Ahem.”

“Hmm…”

“N, not wrong…”

“Ah, ouch, my bones hurt, Maknae, I think my bones are broken again.”

At that moment, the doctor in charge entered the room and greeted the Violent Crimes Unit members with a bright face.

“It’s an honor to have the wonderful detectives, Inspector Kwak Soo-cheol, Lieutenant Oh Gang-seok, Sergeant Shin Hae-soo, and Officer Woo Gang-cheol, at our hospital.”

The doctor was proud to have memorized the ranks of the Violent Crimes Unit and pointed out each one, and the young man Jeong-hoon froze.