The Cop Is Too Strong [EN]: Chapter 214

< #214. Welcome to Hell. >

The rookie was frozen, cowering from the impact as if he’d been hit by a truck.

Oh Gyeong ran over to check on the rookie.

“Rookie, rookie, are you okay?! Those sons of bitches!”

Thwack!

Just then, Shin Hae-soo burst out as the back door was violently thrown open. He immediately spotted Oh Gyeong and the rookie collapsed on the first floor below.

He also saw two gangsters hastily running away, presumably the ones who had done this to the rookie.

Hae-soo chased after them, his face twisted with murderous intent.

“You guys messed with the wrong person.”

“You son of a bitch, it’s okay for you to beat me up, but I can’t touch you guys? You selfish jerk!”

Thud!

The gangster, enraged and shouting, couldn’t finish his sentence as Hae-soo’s kick bent his back, sending him rolling across the floor. The other one was already almost to the first floor. Oh Gyeong was trying to catch up, but there was some distance between them.

Whoosh-

Hae-soo jumped over the stair railing and plummeted down, landing on top of the gangster from above.

Bang!

“Ugh!”

The gangster crumbled under the nearly 0.1-ton weight crashing onto his shoulders. Hae-soo climbed on top of him and rained down punches.

“How dare you”

Pow!

“Touch our”

Whack!

“Precious rookie?”

Thwack!

The gangster’s face was soon covered in blood, and his hands went limp. He was unconscious. Hae-soo grabbed him by the hair, ready to slap him silly.

“Wake up, I’ll keep hitting you until you···”

Just then, the guy who had been kicked earlier cautiously descended the stairs, only to lock eyes with Hae-soo.

Hae-soo released the hair of the guy he was beating and said,

“You didn’t get hit enough.”

“Huh? Me?”

“If you don’t come at me before I count to three, I’ll hit you again. Three.”

Before he could finish, the man’s survival instincts kicked in, and he lunged at Hae-soo, but Hae-soo immediately shouted ‘three,’ causing him to panic and slam on the brakes.

“Eek!”

Tug-

But it was too late. Hae-soo’s hand grabbed his collar. Hae-soo stared at him with murderous eyes and muttered lowly.

“One more hit.”

Wham!!

*

Fortunately, the rookie only suffered minor bruises. Still, they insisted he go to the hospital for a check-up since he had tumbled down the stairs, but he adamantly refused.

“You still need to go to the hospital.”

“I’m okay. Really, I’m fine.”

“Everyone says that at first. Let’s go to the hospital first.”

“No, no. I’m really alright. I’m okay. I’m just too embarrassed… I don’t want to go.”

Seeing the seniors’ firm stance, the rookie revealed his true feelings. Only then did the seniors pat him on the shoulder and stop pressuring him to go to the hospital.

As they returned to Gangjin Police Station after apprehending the remaining gang members, Chief Kwak greeted them.

“Aigo [Oh my goodness], the toughest guys are the last to return. Teams 2 and 3 have already come back and gone to eat lunch. Wait, what happened to our rookie’s face?”

“Ah, yes! He got scratched a bit during the arrest.”

Chief Kwak glared and shouted at the gangsters being led into the office.

“Which son of a bitch did this to our rookie’s face?!”

Oh Gyeong approached and patted Chief Kwak on the shoulder, saying quietly.

“Hyung-nim [term used to address an older brother or male friend], they’re not here. Hae-soo wrecked them… they’re in the ICU [Intensive Care Unit] right now.”

“Ah, is that so? As expected, our Striker keeps the hospital bills coming.”

Chief Kwak gave Hae-soo a thumbs up and continued.

“Ah, and Team 4, I have good news.”

“Good news?!”

“What is it?”

“Woo-hoo!”

At Chief Kwak’s words, everyone in Team 4 except the rookie dropped the gangsters they were escorting and quickly gathered around.

“The Chief thinks the current system is inefficient, so he’s reorganizing the Violent Crimes Unit under his authority. Team 4 will be assigned to a special team, operating like the old Organized Crime Division, but only within Gangjin City, not the entire South Chungcheong Province.”

“Oh?”

“Ooh!”

“Is that good?!”

In response to the positive reactions, Chief Kwak nodded and continued his explanation.

“The Organized Crime Division headquarters is currently being used as a transportation equipment warehouse. Should we move back in there?”

Hae-soo slightly furrowed his brow at those words. Oh Gyeong also shook his head, looking at Chief Kwak.

“Eh, there’s enough space here, so I’ll just stay here in the Violent Crimes Unit. Information is faster here, and after going out, I prefer being around the other teams here.”

“Me too!!”

In reality, going to the Organized Crime Division headquarters would be much more comfortable, but Oh Gyeong and Hae-soo were reluctant to work away from Chief Kwak.

Chief Kwak secretly liked this and pointed at Woo-daeri with his finger.

“When is that guy going to drop the maknae [youngest member] tone? Anyway, do as you please. That’s what I think too. I’m going to eat first.”

After Chief Kwak left, the Violent Crimes Unit 4 members huddled together, happy.

“Now we’ll finally be handling real cases instead of pointless ones.”

“That’s right. I need to bulk up some more.”

“Stop bulking up, you’re too slow.”

Unlike the team members who were looking forward to their work as a special team, the rookie’s face was ashen.

“I’m going to get some fresh air for a bit…”

While everyone was rejoicing, the rookie trudged outside alone. Hae-soo glanced at his slumped shoulders and followed him.

Corner of the police station’s main entrance, in front of the vending machine.

Hae-soo and the rookie were sipping mixed coffee. The rookie opened his mouth, looking like he was about to burst into tears.

“I’m, I’m… so scared. I thought I was stronger than the average person, confident in the Violent Crimes Unit, but…”

Hae-soo slowly scanned the rookie’s body from top to bottom. He wasn’t as muscular as Woo-daeri, but he had a decent amount of muscle and looked agile.

He had applied to the Violent Crimes Unit as soon as he finished his rotation at the precinct, so he must have been confident in his physical abilities. His foundation was good.

“Hmm…”

“I tried to comfort myself by thinking I’d adapt over time, that I could overcome it. But suddenly, a special team? I’m… scared.”

Hae-soo was silent for a few seconds before speaking.

“It’s natural to be scared. I was too.”

“Liar… Ack!”

The rookie quickly covered his treacherous mouth. His true feelings had slipped out without him realizing it.

No matter how you looked at it, Shin Hae-soo was more intimidating and frightening than the bodybuilder-level muscular Woo-daeri. He couldn’t imagine Hae-soo being scared while looking at gangsters.

Hae-soo nodded slightly.

“Hmm, yeah, I’m lying.”

“Ah, uh, I’m, I’m sorry.”

Hae-soo had experienced fights with various types of people since his school days with Hwang Jang-soo, including martial arts fighters, but he had never felt fear. Only once, when he encountered Manager Ma in the elevator.

Crinkle-

Hae-soo finished his coffee, crumpled the paper cup, and continued.

“The bad guys keep getting stronger. Given our environment, we’re relatively weak. We can’t eat on time, can’t exercise much, and are always exhausted.”

The rookie nodded several times, deeply agreeing. It hadn’t been long, but his body already felt like waterlogged cotton.

“And it’s not like we get paid a lot, so we don’t get any mental satisfaction, sigh.”

“Sigh…”

Every word was true. The rookie sighed along, feeling the reality that the detectives faced.

“So.”

At that moment, Hae-soo’s demeanor suddenly changed 180 degrees.

“Do you want to avoid it?”

The rookie was taken aback by the sudden question and turned to look at Hae-soo’s face.

“Or do you want to become stronger?”

Hae-soo met his eyes. Hae-soo’s face was as solemn as a soldier going to war.

The rookie also became solemn, lowered his head, bit his lower lip, and pondered.

“I…”

He turned his head again, met Hae-soo’s eyes, raised his hand, and clenched his fist tightly.

“I want to become stronger!”

At his choice, Hae-soo nodded with a proud expression.

“Good. Then take a vacation.”

“…Pardon?”

“Sick leave, for as long as possible. Go to Daesung Hospital. I’ll tell them. Right now.”

Shortly after, the rookie, who had been to the hospital, approached Oh Gyeong.

“Um, my shoulder doesn’t feel good, so… I went to the hospital, and they told me to get admitted…”

Oh Gyeong, who had heard about the rookie’s situation from Hae-soo in advance, nodded vigorously and said cheerfully.

“Oh, yeah, yeah! Our bodies are our assets. If you get hurt, you need to rest well. Rest until you’re completely healed, rest! Huh? Rest!”

“…Yes, thank you. I’m sorry.”

“Hey, what’s there to be sorry about! Go on, go on!”

Oh Gyeong waved his hand, and the rookie bowed deeply to him and turned around.

Suddenly, Hae-soo also jumped up and said to Oh Gyeong.

“I’ll take him.”

“Oh, okay, huh? What did you say?”

Oh Gyeong belatedly realized the meaning of the words and asked back, but Hae-soo had already left the office with the rookie.

Watching Hae-soo’s back through the window, Oh Gyeong tilted his head.

“Why is he taking the rookie?”

“I don’t know either? Huh, they’re going together in the car?”

“Huh?”

Oh Gyeong and Woo-daeri widened their eyes and stared out the window before turning their gazes away.

Since it was Shin Hae-soo and no one else, they figured there must be a reason and let it go.

*

Screech-

Underground parking lot of Lead Building.

“Let’s get out.”

“Yes! Uh…”

The rookie’s mouth slightly opened as he saw the expensive cars parked in the parking lot.

They took the elevator, and Hae-soo pressed the top floor, the 10th floor.

-10th floor. The doors are opening.

Whirr-

The doors opened, and as Hae-soo approached, the first lock was released with iris recognition, and the second fingerprint lock was released with a thumbprint.

Beep, click-

Hae-soo naturally opened the door and went inside, and the rookie followed, his eyes widening as he saw the interior.

“Where is this…?”

“My house.”

“Why here…?”

Hae-soo headed to the exercise room without answering. The rookie instinctively followed him before stopping short.

A beauty and a beast wearing functional workout clothes were waiting there.

“Who are these people…?”

One was an incredibly beautiful woman with a radiant glow even without makeup, and the other was an incredibly intimidating man whose body trembled even as he smiled. It was a truly bizarre combination.

Hae-soo turned his head to look at the rookie and asked.

“How much sick leave did you get?”

“Three weeks…”

“Good. For the next three weeks, these are the instructors who will train you.”

“…Pardon?”

It was hard to imagine learning something physical from the delicate beauty, let alone the muscular beast.

“It’s true that I’m lacking compared to the seniors, but not to the point where I need to learn from a woman…”

At that moment, the beast, exuding an atmosphere as fierce as Shin Hae-soo, took a step forward.

“I’m Hwang Jang-soo, the assistant instructor who will be assisting with the training.”

Next to him, the beauty nodded and stepped forward, extending a hand to the rookie.

“Instructor, Haru.”

It seemed like the introductions of the instructor and assistant instructor were reversed. The rookie’s head was in a tangle, and he tilted his head, but still, a hand had been extended in front of him, so he took her hand.

‘Her hand is quite rough compared to her honey skin…’

Whoosh-

And then, the world spun.

Thud!!

Whether she had adjusted in between, he was precisely slammed onto the mat from his back, and Haru looked down at the rookie, who was lying down and coughing, and raised one corner of her lips.

“Welcome to hell.”