The Cop Is Too Strong [EN]: Chapter 3

Shin Hae-soo put all his strength into throwing a punch, his palm connecting squarely with the designated driver’s face.

Thwack-!

The force was considerable, sending the designated driver staggering back several meters.

Hae-soo quickly closed the distance, grabbing the man’s collar and twisting his arm behind his back.

“Argh! You son of a—!”

Snap!

“Kuaaagh!”

Hae-soo twisted the arm further, spitting out each word as if it were a curse. “You wielded a knife… it’s self-defense, so why… couldn’t I have seen it coming? Huh?”

“What? What nonsense are you spouting!”

“You’re saying it’s okay to use excessive force?”

Hae-soo snapped the designated driver’s elbow in the opposite direction without hesitation.

Crack-!

“Kueeeeogh!”

Hae-soo firmly held the arm, which was writhing in pain, with one hand, and took out his phone to make a call.

“This is Detective Shin Hae-soo from the Violent Crimes Unit at Naeju Station. I’m reporting an attempted aggravated assault [assault with a deadly weapon or intent to cause serious harm]. The location is…”

After reporting the incident, he took out a cable tie from his inside pocket and secured the designated driver’s wrists. The man glanced up at Hae-soo from the corner of his eye and grumbled.

“Shit, shit… he was a detective? Damn it…”

Hae-soo frowned and stared at him silently.

‘What the hell is going on?’

The situation had been so urgent that he’d acted on instinct, but now that he had a moment to think, confusion washed over him. His head felt like it was about to explode.

What were the things he had experienced so far? A dream? It was too vivid to be a dream. The phantom pain from the nail that pierced the back of his hand, the terrible blow that struck the back of his head, still lingered.

Beeep Beeep Beeep

Then, the phone rang. It was an unknown number—no, a number he now recognized: Palpal Designated Driving.

-Yes, this is Palpal Designated Driving? I’m a bit late, but I couldn’t see you even after waiting. Where are you?

The voice on the other end said the exact same words, without a single change. Hae-soo quietly hung up the phone.

At that moment, a faint light appeared in the distance. It was the truck he had seen in what felt like either the future or a hallucination. The timing, the situation—everything was the same.

It was a situation that he couldn’t simply dismiss as a bad dream.

‘Did God take pity on me and give me another chance?’

He knew what he had to do. Hae-soo picked up his phone again.

-Yeah, what is it?

“Let’s break up.”

-What suddenly? Did oppa [older brother/boyfriend] tell you?

“Yeah, thank you for everything. I’ll move my stuff out tomorrow.”

Hae-soo hung up before he could hear anything more painful.

*

The case was taken over by detectives from the local police station, and Hae-soo’s actions were ruled as self-defense. But that wasn’t the end of it.

“This was found in the designated driver’s belongings.”

The detective showed him duct tape, small nippers, and another folding knife.

Despair was transformed into hope.

While searching the designated driver’s house, the investigating detective found belongings of victims who had been murdered recently.

The method of approaching Hae-soo and the murder weapon were also the same.

The designated driver’s original plan was to kill Hae-soo where he parked the car, then follow the navigation to Hae-soo’s house to assault and murder his girlfriend.

However, the criminal couldn’t properly wield his knife even once and collapsed powerlessly due to Hae-soo’s unexpected combat skills.

The serial killer who had been an unsolved mystery was caught because the present had changed.

[Designated Driving Serial Killer Who Terrorized Gangseong-dong, Caught Planning a Crime Against a Detective.]

┗Crazy lololol, of all people, a detective

┗Still, Korean detectives aren’t dead. He beat down a serial killer even while drunk

┗He was caught by chance lol. What was the investigation headquarters doing? Give that detective a reward

┗I heard the criminal had both arms broken by the detective, so he can’t even wipe his own ass, serves him right.

┗Isn’t this excessive force by the police?

┗Are you crazy? He tried to kill you with a knife, is that excessive?

┗Excessive comment, are you a family member of the murderer?

As the criminal’s condition became known, there were occasional mentions of excessive force in the related articles, but most people were confident that the detective would receive a special promotion or reward.

The members of Violent Crimes Unit 2 at Naeju Station, where Hae-soo worked, felt the same way.

“Wow… our Detective Shin catches criminals even when he goes to a class reunion—that’s awesome!”

“Netizens are already going crazy trying to find out who the detective is. You’ve become a hero, a hero.”

“If this goes well, Shin-ttol’s [Shin the psycho/crazy] promotion that was skipped might be moved up with a special promotion?”

Hae-soo sat blankly in his seat, blinking his eyes without any reaction.

It felt like a dream after waking up from a night’s sleep. But it was definitely real. It was too vivid and realistic to be a dream or a prediction of the future.

It wasn’t just a dream, but a return to the near past, like a future vision or a rewind.

The vividness of the scene at that time was still fresh; it was definitely reality.

It wasn’t just a feeling of seeing it, but a direct experience with his skin. It wasn’t just a feeling of watching.

He had desperately wished to return to the past when he was beaten by inmates who held a grudge against him.

Hae-soo came to that conclusion.

‘It’s a miracle; a miracle has happened.’

Hae-soo had his three-month pay cut due to excessive force lifted, and although he didn’t receive a special promotion, he received a reward equivalent to a one-rank raise.

“Still, it’s a shame it wasn’t a special promotion. Where else can you find a detective who beats criminals so well like Detective Shin?”

“That’s the problem, that’s the problem. It’s not that he catches them well, but that he beats them *too* well; otherwise, he would have already reached the rank of superintendent!”

“Team leader, that’s a bit much.”

“Detective Shin, aren’t you disappointed?”

The youngest member of the team hands him a cup of instant coffee. Hae-soo accepts it and nods.

“Yeah, well, I’m just glad it wasn’t considered excessive force.”

“Wow… you’re really magnanimous; not just anyone can catch a serial killer.”

“Wow, Shin-ttol has become much nicer.”

Hae-soo chuckled. He felt strange.

Perhaps because he had tasted the end of his life, even a one-rank raise felt like enough to be grateful for.

‘Is this a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity? No, they usually say you get three chances.’

Hae-soo fiddled with the lottery ticket in his wallet.

*

Saturday.

Hae-soo watched the live lottery broadcast.

’43, 28, 11, 36, 8, 3…’

He diligently wrote down the winning lottery numbers and constantly repeated them, memorizing them.

‘…8, 3, good, I’ve memorized them all, now I want to go back. I want to go back. Please return me to the past…’

Hae-soo wished to return to the past even more desperately than before.

However, as if mocking his desperation, nothing happened.

After that, he begged to be returned to the past whenever he had the chance, but nothing happened.

Eventually, he gave up and quietly lived his life, believing that it was the first and last opportunity.

“Hae-soo, the police chief is looking for you?”

“The police chief is looking for Shin Detective?”

“Special promotion? Special promotion?”

Hae-soo tilted his head and went to the police chief’s office.

The police chief, with a round bald spot, gold-rimmed glasses, and a stern impression, called Hae-soo in but didn’t even turn his gaze toward him after he entered.

“Chief, you were looking for me?”

“How much of March is left?”
The police chief still didn’t look at Hae-soo and just continued with his own work.

“Two days left.”

“Two days, yes, in two days, go to that… Dongbu Precinct in Gangjin.”

Suddenly leaving a place where he had worked for over five years? And to a precinct—it was practically a demotion.

Hae-soo was so dumbfounded that he asked back.

“…Suddenly to a precinct?”

Then the police chief narrowed his brows and finally made eye contact with Hae-soo.

“It’s an order from above. You should have behaved properly usually. What’s the point of catching a serial killer? What’s with the nickname ‘Excessive Force Specialist Detective’? Aren’t you ashamed?”

“From above…”

The police chief, who looked like a rat, mentioned his behavior, but he had never been ashamed of his behavior.

It’s just that the law is lacking, so the suppression is done with excessive force.

Rather, that rat has probably taken enough bribes to fill a truck. It’s a shame that he didn’t collect evidence in advance.

Gangjin City is known as the worst area in the country and is ranked number one as a police avoidance area.

Crack-

The sound of wood breaking spread through the quiet police chief’s office.

The armrest of the chair that Hae-soo was holding had broken.

The police chief flinched at the monstrous strength and turned his head, waving his hand.

“What, what are you doing? Go out and do your work.”

“…I understand.”
Hae-soo gave a cold greeting and moved his feet.

The police chief looked at the cracked armrest and muttered.

“That ignorant bastard; he’s just disgustingly strong…”

***

Gangjin City

Number one in reported cases in the province, number one in violent crimes, number one in police injuries during duty.

The place called the Gotham City of Korea is Gangjin City.

Shin Hae-soo couldn’t even have a proper farewell party and went to work at Dongbu Precinct in Gangjin City.

As it was an area with a lot of cases, the precinct building was also large.

Hae-soo carried the bag containing his uniform and entered.

“…I hit him first, but that bastard cursed at my mom first!”

“It’s all! The country is going wrong! Take responsibility for my life… Ugh.”

“Don’t throw up on the chair. Here’s a bag—in the bag!”

“Hey, mister, be quiet!”

People lying on the precinct bench snoring, people shouting at the top of their lungs, people throwing up, police officers running around busily.

Unlike the relatively quiet Naeju Station, this place was noisy from early evening. That’s why they told him to come in the afternoon instead of the morning for his first day.

A female police officer with dark circles under her eyes glanced at Hae-soo and asked.

“What brings you here?”

“I’m Detective Shin Hae-soo. I’ve been transferred as of today.”

“Urp, eugh-.”

His leg felt warm. It wasn’t just a liquid, but a mass full of volume pressing down on his pants and touching his bare skin.

Hae-soo stopped talking and looked down.

< #3. Miracle (Revised) > End