The Cop Is Too Strong [EN]: Chapter 56

The next day, Shin Hae-soo waited for Haru to wake up before grabbing his phone.

“It’s been ages, Mr. Shin!”

“I need to find a house—somewhere safe, spacious, and with a security guard.”

“Aren’t you happy to hear from me, sir?”

“I am. How long will it take?”

“Well… for a safe house, an apartment would be best… Ah! There’s a place that fits the bill perfectly. The penthouse on the top floor of your Reed Building has been vacant for a month.”

The Reed Building is a mixed-use building with a security guard in the lobby, CCTV [closed-circuit television], and plenty of people around.

The 7th to 10th floors are residential, with a separate elevator. The 10th floor is a single unit, so only the resident can access it.

“Good. I’ll move in there immediately.”

“Immediately? It needs cleaning. I’ll call a cleaning company to take care of it tomorrow. Also, about the special stab-proof vests… Getting that new material is proving difficult, but they can make them with a similar material. There’s enough fabric to make sixteen, at about fifty million won each.”

“That’s much cheaper than I expected. Let’s do it.”

“But because of the durability, it’s not very elastic, so the sizes have to be custom-made.”

“Ah…”

“Aren’t you making them for the detectives Seo works with? I’ll have a professional tailor come by.”

“Yes, please do.”

“Oh, and have you had a chance to read the email about the commission rate change?”

“No, I’m sorry.”

“Well, I’m taking it as a sign of trust, which means I need to work even harder. Anyway, your asset value has exceeded ₩250 million [approximately $200,000 USD], so the commission rate has been lowered from 11% to 9%.”

“Wasn’t it 13%?”

“Hehehe, it’s been lowered to 11% for six months.”

“I see. I’m glad I have a good asset manager.”

“That’s not enough. Buy me some beef later.”

“Alright.”

Hae-soo chuckled and hung up.

*

On his day off, Hwang Jang-soo’s gym.

Hae-soo and Haru faced each other in the ring. Hwang Jang-soo leaned against the ropes, watching.

“Do your best to attack me.”

“…Yes.”

Haru clenched her jaw and nodded solemnly.

No matter how safe their new place was, as a detective, she could face danger anytime, anywhere.

So, despite Haru’s skills, he planned to train her further, teaching her grappling techniques.

Swish, tap, swish, swish, tap—

Hae-soo and Haru’s hands and feet moved quickly, intermingling. Hwang Jang-soo, who had been watching casually, gradually widened his eyes in surprise.

Thwack, thwack, thwack, thwack—

Hae-soo grabbed Haru’s wrists, stopping her.

“Wait, wait a minute.”

“Friend… where did you find this girl?”

Hae-soo was also surprised. The insides of his elbows, wrists, the backs of his hands, his sides, knees, shins—his whole body throbbed.

Haru wasn’t particularly strong, didn’t have a lot of muscle mass, and wasn’t as fast as Mo Chang-gui.

But she instinctively made the best choices in terms of attack timing, dodging, and target location.

This required training, but also natural talent. Haru had a natural talent for combat.

Haru’s main combat method was a counter-attacking style that thoroughly compensated for her physical disadvantages. When an opponent attacked, she moved and counterattacked at the perfect moment.

If they swung a fist, she’d target the inside of their elbow; if they kicked, she’d aim for their shin or instep.

Even lacking strength, she inflicted significant damage by redirecting the opponent’s kinetic energy and stopping their attack.

However, she was vulnerable to grappling. She could handle mediocre opponents, but against skilled fighters like Hae-soo or Hwang Jang-soo, she was at a disadvantage.

“First, grappling techniques. If I attack with this rubber dagger, just counterattack slowly.”

Haru nodded slightly, conserving her energy.

Thwack—

“No, if you do that, the opponent could die instantly. Try this.”

Thwack

“No, even that could be fatal. Like this.”

Thud

“No, that’s also instant death.”

“That’s also instant death.”

“Instant death.”

“Squawk.”

Every move she made was lethal. It was amazing she hadn’t killed anyone during the street fight.

Hae-soo worked hard to modify her techniques, researching how to subdue opponents while utilizing Haru’s ability to use their own power against them.

This wasn’t to protect criminals, but to protect Haru’s mental state. She had suffered for nights after taking a life.

“Huff, huff.”

Haru was breathing heavily, her arms and legs trembling. Still, she didn’t sit down or ask to stop, maintaining her stance.

She must be weak from not eating properly in the underworld.

Hae-soo pulled her over to a pillar, had her sit down, and gave her water.

“Let’s rest. There’s no rush. We’ll come out every day and do this.”

Haru could barely hold the water, catching her breath. Then, her eyes widened.

“Really? Really? That’s great!”

Her joy felt genuine. She had reacted the same way when he taught her grappling techniques before. She genuinely enjoyed training, even when exhausted.

***

[Gangjin Police Station]

“Is that it?”

Not far from the main gate of Gangjin Police Station, five burly men gathered near the wall.

A man with a small mustache replied, “Yes, boss. I checked the website and confirmed Detective Shin Hae-soo’s name.”

“Weren’t you supposed to do a preliminary investigation?”

“Ah, I was a bit busy.”

“Well, he’ll come out if we wait.”

“You and Boss Gooreum should go to a cafe. I’ll let you know when he comes out.”

At the mustache man’s words, the most muscular man, called Boss Gooreum, shook his head.

“No. Let’s wait. A preemptive strike is important. We need to start with a staring contest as soon as he appears.”

“As expected…”

“As expected, a master’s approach is different. I’m learning again, boss.”

As they stared intently at the police station, Shin Hae-soo emerged.

“Oh, I think that’s him… That’s definitely him. He’s got the build.”

“Let’s go.”

“We’re going to confront him right here.”

Gooreum glanced at the police standing at the main gate and smirked.

“Who’s confronting who?”

“Ooh.”

With Gooreum in the lead, the men were about to rush toward the police station when Oh Gyeong, who was short but formidable, and the youngest officer, who was even more muscular than Hae-soo, exited the main building.

As if on cue, the men immediately turned and walked away.

“Even like this, we have manners. We can’t just storm a police station.”

“That’s right. We may enjoy fighting, but we uphold justice, don’t we?”

“Are all detectives built like that?”

“Is South Korea safe?”

“Shh, lower your voice. He’s looking, he’s looking…”

They pressed themselves against the wall again, glancing at the police station.

“But… if he drives home, it’s over.”

“Ah, I’ll go and sweet-talk him, bring him over. You guys go to the battleground.”

“Battleground?”

“Yes, the place we discussed earlier…”

The mustache man trailed off, hearing an unfamiliar voice. He slowly turned around, feeling uneasy.

“Gasp.”

Behind him, Shin Hae-soo was looking at them with a slight frown.

“Who are you guys?”

The men were speechless at Hae-soo’s sudden appearance. His muscles were impressive, but up close, his powerful aura was overwhelming.

‘What the hell? This is no joke?’

‘No, it feels like facing a hungry tiger.’

‘H-He’s cool.’

The mustache man was the first to recover. He assumed his frozen bosses were engaged in a silent battle of wills with Hae-soo.

“W-We heard rumors. Our bosses are members of the ‘Fighting Cafe,’ and the best fighters from all over the country are gathered there right now. We thought the rumors were exaggerated, so we came to see your skills for ourselves.”

“Skills?”

As Hae-soo stepped closer, the mustache man flinched back. The closer he got, the more suffocating his presence became.

“How?”

“I have a battleground in mind. We’ll wear open-finger gloves there and compete like men…”

Hae-soo frowned, looked at the other men, and waved his hand.

“Don’t waste your time. Disband. Don’t say things that will get you in trouble in front of the police.”

As Hae-soo turned away, Gooreum, who had been watching silently, spoke.

“Are you scared?”

Hae-soo stopped abruptly, then slowly turned to face Gooreum.

“Let’s go. To the battleground.”

At Hae-soo’s response, the mustache man clapped and attached his phone to a selfie stick.

“Oh! Finally, a hot rumor has turned into a police fight!”

“Make sure my face isn’t visible.”

“Yes, yes.”

With Gooreum leading, six burly men, including Hae-soo, headed toward the battleground. People who saw them from afar crossed the street or ducked into buildings.

The battleground was a nearby elementary school playground.

“Okay, sign this waiver. Like a street fight, there are no rules, but you stop when the opponent yields. Each person is responsible for their own injuries.”

“Sounds reasonable.”

Hae-soo said, putting on the open-finger gloves they provided.

“One, two, three, four… I don’t have time, so come at me all at once.”

“Ha, I’m dumbfounded… I’m going to flatten that nose first!”

Gooreum swung his fist.

Thwack

Hae-soo caught his fist with one hand, grabbed his wrist, and twisted it back.

“Agh!”

He twisted the other hand back, kicked the back of his knees, and forced him to kneel. Then, he took a cable tie from his pocket and bound his wrists.

“W-What are you doing!”

Thwack!

Hae-soo slapped the back of his head and looked at the other men.

“I told you to come at me all at once. If you don’t, I’m coming to you.”

“E,eek!”

“Yiaah!!”

Hae-soo easily dodged the punches of the two charging men, grabbed their arms, and twisted them.

“Aaaagh!”

“Ugh! L-Let me go, boss!”

“Stay still, or it’ll break.”

Hae-soo crossed their wrists and tied them together, then tied their opposite hands together. Suddenly, the two men were back-to-back, wrists bound.

The remaining man stared at Hae-soo, wide-eyed.

“You, come here too.”

“B-But I didn’t attack.”

“Come.”

“Aagh!”

Hae-soo tied the last man’s wrists with cable ties. The mustache man, filming with his phone, shouted excitedly.

“W-What’s going on? As expected, the South Korean police are strong! Without even throwing a punch…”

“What are you doing?”

“Yes? Ugh!”

The mustache man dropped his phone as Hae-soo grabbed him and tied his hands behind his back.

Hae-soo lined them up and made them duckwalk. The men who were back-to-back were forced to crabwalk while duckwalking.

“Listen carefully. As of today, the ‘Fighting Cafe’ is disbanded. If I hear reports of you wandering around and fighting again, I’ll come for you first. Understand?”

“Yes, yes, I understand!”

“Your voice is too quiet. Go touch the soccer goalpost and come back.”

“B-But Officer, didn’t you say you didn’t have time?”

“Go around one more time and come back.”

“I’m sorry!”

The phone, still standing, filmed the entire scene.

<#56. Fighting Education> End