The Cop Is Too Strong [EN]: Chapter 47

Life Meat Restaurant.

A group of burly men were raising their voices, caught up in the excitement.

The atmosphere was heating up with the arrival of the police chief.

“…Did you see it back then? He was so intimidated when the chief came, but our chief! Man, I cut off the phone line! Don’t be scared, just go all in! If you get fired, I’ll open a chicken restaurant and take responsibility for all of you! Hah!! Our chief is the best!”

“I got goosebumps all over back then. I thought, even if I messed up with the case, I joined the right station.”

“Hahaha, it was all a lie.”

The chief laughed and emptied his glass. Originally, he was a good-natured chief with such an affable smile, but when he needed to stand his ground, he showed tremendous charisma like he did back then.

Maknae [youngest member of the team] Woo Gang-cheol had only been hospitalized for two weeks, but he attended the dinner with bandages on his arms and legs. Oh Geng put the maknae next to him and incessantly recounted the heroic deeds of that time.

“…Our hyungnim [older brother/respected colleague] grabbed the prosecutor and said, ‘You stink of poop, go wash up.'”

“Wow… Team Leader, you’re awesome! Against a prosecutor!”

“I wasn’t that cool. It was obvious I was scared.”

“Hey, I wasn’t scared at all! What’s a prosecutor! I’m the team leader of the Violent Crimes Unit 1 of Gangjin Station! Isn’t that right, Dolgyeok [nickname meaning ‘assault’]?”

“That’s right.”

“Then sing a song.”

“Yes, I will.”

At the team leader’s sudden order, Shin Hae-soo answered immediately without hesitation and stood up.

“Hae-soo is a real man. Awesome!”

“Hey, hey, everyone! Our Dolgyeok is going to sing a song!”

“Wow!!”

“Dolgyeok, Dolgyeok, Dolgyeok!”

In the meantime, the maknae stuck a spoon in a cider bottle and handed it to Hae-soo as a microphone.

“I don’t need it.”

“Ah, okay.”

Hae-soo straightened his back and looked around with sharp eyes before placing his hands on his waist.

Just in time, Oh Geng shouted.

“Ah, one, two, one, two, three, four!!”

“Mugunghwa [Rose of Sharon, national flower of Korea] beautiful—three thousand ri [Korean unit of distance, approx. 393 km] of rivers and mountains!”

Hae-soo glared and waved his right hand vigorously, singing in a loud voice.

The detectives had blank expressions for a moment. It was the police song. The atmosphere was instantly shattered, and silence filled the air, but Hae-soo’s face was filled with seriousness beyond determination.

“Was the police song always this solemn?”

“Can he sing that whole thing without looking at the lyrics? Shin is the real deal.”

At that moment, maknae Woo Gang-cheol stood up with an impressed expression. Then, he clenched his right fist tightly and shouted.

“Glory and duty—on our shoulders—”

“Why is he like that!”

“Hey, stop the maknae!”

Oh Geng bit his lower lip at the maknae’s sudden behavior.

“Aish.”

He also jumped up and shouted the next lyrics together.

“Firmly standing—on this land! Democratic—police!!”

“Wow!!”

In the end, the team leader also participated reluctantly, and the final chorus became a group sing-along.

“Giving our all—Democratic—police!!”

“Democratic—police!!”

When the police song ended, the chief shed a tear and applauded.

Hae-soo nodded with a satisfied expression, looking at the detectives united under the police song.

“If I make that guy sing another song, I’m not human. Ugh, goosebumps.”

“He’s a master. A master.”

Oh Geng also shook his head at the team leader’s words.

*

A few hours later.

Ugh, waaaah!

Oh Geng vomited a lot into the sewer outside the building. Hae-soo patted his back steadily with the same expression as always.

“Hae-soo.”

“Should I stick my finger down your throat?”

“Web, ptooey, damn it, Hae-soo.”

Oh Geng’s eyes were quite wistful.

“Yes.”

“Do you remember when we first dropped formalities [stopped using honorifics]?”

“Are you talking about the Dying Night stabbings?”

“That’s right, that’s right. One of the uniforms stood out so much that I couldn’t help but look. You were like a movie back then.”

“There’s no room for that when you’re catching gangsters.”

“Man… I like you. When I see you, the passion that had faded comes back to life.”

Hae-soo remained silent for a moment before opening his mouth.

“I’m covering up guilt…”

At that moment, a loud shout was heard.

“Waaaaa!”

“Hey, hey! Stop the maknae! You’ll make your injury worse!”

“That’s disturbing the peace, you bastard! Do you want to be arrested as a criminal?”

The maknae was running with his arms wide open like a wild boar, and no one could stop him, so they were all flustered.

The maknae suddenly stopped and shouted, looking at the full moon shining brightly in the sky.

“World, bring it on!! The Violent Crimes Unit is here!”

The detectives who were smoking in front of the store and watching the maknae and the team leader covered their faces at the same time.

“Ugh.”

“I can’t stop him.”

***

“Ugh… smells like alcohol.”

“Wow, it’s the guy who threw up his side dishes on the street yesterday.”

Oh Geng waved his hand and entered the office. His face is fine, considering he was the second worst drunk yesterday.

“Hae-soo, didn’t you drink alone yesterday?”

“I did.”

“Dolgyeok, you drank more than him.”

“Wow, you’re really…”

“Sit down, now that the dinner is over. Let’s slowly get back to our daily routine…”

Ring ring ring-

Before he could finish speaking, the internal line rang.

“Yes, this is Shin Hae-soo from Violent Crimes Unit 1. Yes, no cases. Yes…”

“As expected.”

As soon as Hae-soo hung up the phone, the team leader asked immediately.

“What is it?”

“It’s a hyeonpi [real-life PK] case.”

“Hyeonpi? What’s that?”

This time, Oh Geng answered the team leader’s question.

“Real PK [Player Kill], it’s a gaming term. It means meeting in real life to fight because of a dispute in the game. Anyway, it’s an assault case.”

“Why do they have to fight over a game when there’s nothing else to fight about? Tsk tsk.”

Hae-soo received the case file from the situation room and recited the report.

“They said they met in real life to fight, and a trio threatened and assaulted them, even extorting game assets.”

“It’s just a game, how much could it be worth to do something like that?”

Oh Geng pulled his chair closer to Hae-soo.

“The cash value of the game assets that the person who reported being extorted is… 120 million won [approx. $90,000 USD]?”

“Wh-what?”

“I’ll have to check the scene first.”

Hae-soo jumped up from his seat. Since the maknae is not here, he has to run even more diligently. Oh Geng immediately followed him out of the office.

A few hours later.

Tap tap tap tap

“Hyungnim [older brother/respected colleague], tap it gently. Will the culprit come out if you tap it hard?”

“Sometimes they do.”

“Sigh.”

The Violent Crimes Unit 1 is analyzing CCTV footage in the office. The victim is currently in the hospital and cannot be summoned, so they only heard about the situation over the phone.

Tap

“It must be them.”

Joo roo rook

At the team leader’s words, Oh Geng pulled his chair closer. Hae-soo also peeked out.

“I think that’s right. The time, the described appearance, and the clothes match.”

“Yeah… right, they’re all covered up.”

According to the victim, a man with a small build arrived alone at the meeting place first. The victim came out with a friend because they were meeting to fight, and they ignored the small man.

The man lured them to a secluded place, and men wearing hats and masks jumped out and beat them with baseball bats and wooden sticks.

Then, the small man unlocked the victim’s phone and took it, taking the items on the spot.

The items were immediately sold on the exchange and converted into cash, so reporting hacking was useless.

“Wait, they took the items on the spot? Without going to a PC cafe [internet cafe]?”

“Most games are mobile games these days.”

“I’ve already requested a composite sketch of the decoy. The victim said they could draw to some extent and would send it directly.”

The team leader nodded and tapped the keyboard.

“This looks like it’s going to be quite troublesome.”

“Right, you never know when, where, on what server, and to whom they’ll pick a fight…”

They also requested support from the cyber team and obtained the access IP of the character, but they were all public IPs. In addition, it was an account that had been purchased not long ago, and the owner had changed again.

“They’re really meticulous. It seems like it’s not the first time. There must be more victims. Let’s gather more information about the suspects.”

“Yes, I understand.”

*

They also asked the game company to post a notice saying, ‘If there are any victims, report it to the police.’

As a result, three victims reported. The method was the same, and the appearance was the same trio.

“The total amount of damage is 230 million won [approx. $172,500 USD]… Wow, these bastards are worse than voice phishing [phone scams]?”

Hae-soo answered while doing lunges in the office.

“That’s right. We have to catch them.”

“But why is Dolgyeok frowning like that? It’s scary.”

“It’s frustrating.”

“Right? Me too.”

The investigation made no progress. Since it wasn’t a case that could be solved by running around, the detectives were frustrated.

They had no choice but to wait for news from the cyber team or for another victim to report.

Hae-soo suddenly thought of Haru. She’s been into games lately, and it seemed like she was playing the same game.

The composite sketch drawn by the victim was quite plausible. He was wondering if he should put out a public wanted notice with the composite sketch and the faces captured on CCTV.

At that time.

Ding di ling ding ding ding

The ringtone, which pierced through the vibration setting, was Haru. Haru had never called first before. She only sent texts occasionally.

Hae-soo jumped up and answered the phone.

“What’s wrong?”

-Um… there’s a problem.

Hae-soo immediately grabbed the jacket hanging on the chair and went out.

***

A few hours ago.

After finishing her Korean language academy, Haru was lying on her bed again, tapping her phone diligently.

However, her beautiful brows were occasionally furrowed.

“Ah… so annoying.”

Haru knew that Hae-soo didn’t like her using terms she learned on the internet. However, she couldn’t easily stop because of the strange pleasure she felt when using internet slang.

There was a character who kept tapping and running away while hunting, making her angry.

-Harurung: Go away

-BunnyPants: No way no way, I’m going to church?

-Harurung: ?

-BunnyPants: You don’t understand, anyway, so what? Are you going to kill me? You’re a nobody in real life, but you’re acting tough in the game, wanna hyeonpi [meet in real life and fight]? If I lose, I’ll give you all my items

-Harurung: Let’s do it

-BunnyPants: Call the place, I’ll go right now

-Harurung: Gangjin City, Goam-dong…

*

Goam Intersection, in front of the convenience store in the direction of Korea Bank branch.

Haru came to the hyeonpi location on time, wearing a gray hoodie and leggings that were easy to move in.

A short and small man, Jung Young-soo, also arrived there and looked around. However, no matter how much he looked, there was no one who looked like a hyeonpi opponent.

Young-soo logged into the game and sent a whisper to the other character.

-BunnyPants: Where are you? Did you get scared and run away?

-Harurung: I’m here

-BunnyPants: I’m here too

Tap tap

At that moment, someone tapped Jung Young-soo’s shoulder with their finger.

“Excuse me.”

Jung Young-soo turned around and his eyes widened when he saw Haru.

‘What, is this goddess… trying to get my number?’

He smiled as gently as possible and replied.

“Yes, what’s the matter?”

Haru quickly snatched his hand. When she checked his phone, she saw the game screen, and the whisper conversation from just now was displayed.

“Oh, if you do this to me for the first time…”

“You’re BunnyPants.”

“…Yes?”

< #47. Hyeonpi > End