The Cop Is Too Strong [EN]: Chapter 9

The man holding the sashimi laughed at Shin Hae-soo’s words.

“Chicken? Haha, this bastard doesn’t know what’s going on. Should I gut you?”

The man shook the sashimi knife menacingly.

Hae-soo gently placed the black bag next to the shoe rack and waved his hand.

Thwack!

His palm accurately struck the side of the sashimi knife, causing it to fly out of the man’s grip and lodge into the floor.

The man couldn’t understand what had happened and stared blankly with wide eyes, as if his brain had short-circuited.

Then, Hae-soo’s large hand grabbed his neck.

“See, you can’t use a knife if you hold it so loosely.”

“You bastard!”

“Get him!”

At the same time, the men with the hammer and pipe wrench charged at him.

Hae-soo used the sashimi man as a shield and backed away towards the narrow shoe rack area.

“This, cough, don’t, don’t let go, you son of a, cough.”

The more he spoke, the tighter the grip became. Just as the man’s eyes rolled back, Hae-soo slammed him against the wall.

Bang! Crack!

Once against the left wall, and once against the right wall, the sound of cracking came from the man’s neck.

Hae-soo threw him at the other men and charged forward.

“Die!”

The hammer fell toward Hae-soo’s head. Hae-soo leaned back slightly to avoid it, took half a step forward, and delivered a punch.

Pow!

The man closed his eyes tightly at the concise jab and staggered backward. His nose was caved in.

Meanwhile, the other man swung the pipe wrench at Hae-soo’s shoulder.

Hae-soo tilted his upper body slightly, raised his arm to block it with his broad forearm, twisted his waist, and struck the man’s face with his opposite elbow.

Thwack!

The elbow landed between the man’s jaw and mouth. As his jaw was hit, the man’s eyes rolled back, showing the whites, and his mouth opened involuntarily. A mix of white and red spewed out of his mouth and fell to the floor.

Thud.

Four teeth. The man collided with the wall and then collapsed.

“D-d-don’t come closer!”

The last remaining man with the hammer clutched his nose, which was bleeding profusely, and backed away.

It was a narrow studio, and he was cornered, blocked on both sides within two steps.

“You told me to come earlier.”

“Th-there, I, I was w-wrong-”

Pow!

Hae-soo’s fist struck his nose again.

The man, blocking with his hand, felt the pain of his finger bones shattering as he collapsed.

“Ugh!”

Clatter.

Hae-soo took their weapons, threw them into the sink, went back to the front door, and opened it wide. Two more men with grim expressions were blocking the door.

One of the men saw the situation inside over Hae-soo’s shoulder and his eyes widened.

“What the-”

Hae-soo grabbed both of their collars and pulled them inside.

*

Outside Hae-soo’s studio, on the side of the road.

A gray van was parked with its lights off and the engine running. Inside, a man in the driver’s seat was smoking without opening the window.

“Wow, a guy living in a place like this has 10 billion won [approximately $7.5 million USD]? Life is really all about luck, but why is it so noisy… Huh?”

A face appeared on the heavily tinted window. Just as he leaned closer, thinking it was a colleague.

Crash!

The window shattered like candy, and an arm reached out.

“What, what the hell!”

The man tried to shift gears and step on the accelerator while Hae-soo grabbed his hair. But Hae-soo didn’t let him.

Bang! Bang! Honk!

After hitting his face against the steering wheel twice, the man lost his will to escape. Hae-soo opened the door and dragged that man into the studio as well.

“Ugh…”

The driver was dragged in with a dazed mind, but he was startled awake when he entered Hae-soo’s room.

Inside, all five men were kneeling with their heads down, their arms tied behind their backs with climbing ropes. Their necks were also connected, making it impossible to escape.

Hae-soo quietly put his arms behind his back and tied them with rope. Then he silently went to the farthest corner and bowed his head.

Hae-soo sat cross-legged in front of them, ate chicken, and asked.

“Who’s the boss here?”

“I, I am.”

“Sashimi?”

“Yes!”

The man answered and jumped up. Then the noose tightened, and the rest of the men collapsed.

“Uh oh.”

“Ugh!”

Hae-soo pointed at the sashimi man with a chicken leg and waved it around.

“Bow.”

“Yes!”

The men bowed their heads again in unison.

“Tell me slowly what you were trying to do.”

“Yes, well…”

The man rattled off the plan so that Hae-soo wouldn’t have any more trouble.

Because his pronunciation wasn’t good, only the sashimi man was untied and knelt in front of Hae-soo.

“…So the plan was to have them transfer to that account, right?”

“Yes.”

“How much?”

“3 billion… won [approximately $2.25 million USD].”

As expected, they came knowing that he had won the lottery. Moreover, the amount was accurate; they only took the amount that the other party could compromise on.

Previously, based on a 2 billion won [approximately $1.5 million USD] winner, they only took 500 million won [approximately $375,000 USD].

They rattled off personal information and threatened to kill their family and relatives if they reported it, so not a single person reported it.

“Interesting.”

Hae-soo finished his soy sauce chicken, put it aside, opened the spicy seasoned chicken, and ate a chicken wing, asking.

“It’s the bank employee, isn’t it?”

The sashimi man flinched at Hae-soo’s question and widened his eyes. He didn’t open his mouth, but his lips trembled.

Hae-soo was convinced by the reaction and recalled the employees he had met.

“Is it Joo Yong-pal?”

The man’s eyes widened even more.

“The account is being routed, and the final destination is overseas, to the Philippines or China.”

This time, the man’s mouth dropped open.

Hae-soo chuckled at the sight, then suddenly looked coldly and pointed at him with a chicken wing bone.

“Do you think you’ll be able to get that money back if you go to jail with Yong-pal and come out?”

“That…”

“Of course not. As a result, you’ll take all the blame because you took everything, and Yong-pal will get a lighter sentence and take the money. He set it up that way from the beginning.”

“That bastard Yong-pal…”

The man muttered a curse and then raised his head.

“But how do you know so well? Just a civil servant…”

Slap!

Hae-soo hit him on the head with a chicken leg.

“Ouch.”

“Aren’t the police civil servants?”

“Ah…”

“Anyway, let’s start reducing your sentences. First, if you find the money for the victims again…”

“W-why are you, police officer?”

Slap!

“Ugh.”

“I’ll cut your tongue out if you interrupt me.”

“I’m sorry…”

“I hate that bastard who only rolls his tongue behind the scenes more than you guys. He needs to get a proper sentence. Listen carefully, first call and…”

Hae-soo made a plan with the sashimi man and asked the intelligence department for help with number tracking and account tracing.

*

In the parking lot of a downtown club, Joo Yong-pal was quietly listening to music in a foreign car that he couldn’t afford with his bank employee salary.

Two cell phones were placed on the passenger seat, as if waiting for a call.

Soon after, an old-fashioned flip phone rang.

“Why are you so late?”

-President Joo, we have 2 billion won [approximately $1.5 million USD] left to receive, excluding today’s, right? We need to get that.

“Huh? Why all of a sudden? Did today’s go well?”

-5 billion won [approximately $3.75 million USD]. If we get that, we’ll hand over today’s.

“Hey, why are you doing this all of a sudden? How much money have we shared so far? You know I only do sure things.”

-This one is big. Honestly, you only throw information and don’t do anything. We do all the work on the ground.

Bang!

Joo Yong-pal slammed the inside of the car hard with his fist.

“Damn it, who makes this possible? Without me, you’re just petty thieves who can only earn a few tens or hundreds of dollars from robbing one house!”

-If you don’t want to, we’ll hang up. We’re not idiots, do you think we don’t have an account? We can eat everything this time and run.

“Ha… damn, so what do you want me to do?”

-Cash by tomorrow, then we’ll deposit it.

“Tomorrow… damn, it takes a month to find it and launder it. It doesn’t make sense-”

-We’ll take care of the laundry, tomorrow.

“You’re being unreasonable, you bastard. Wait, I still have to check what you stole. You have the money, and 1 billion won [approximately $750,000 USD] is originally sent there.”

-Of course, President Joo is trading with what he has to give… I understand.

After hanging up, Joo Yong-pal slammed the steering wheel several times with both fists.

Bang! Bang! Honk!

“Damn it! That’s why I really hate ignorant thugs. Should I just cut them off?”

Joo Yong-pal shook his head. He shared too much with them on credit.

‘I’ll just take this one and go abroad, and hand these poor bastards over to the police…!’

As soon as he made the decision, 1 billion won [approximately $750,000 USD] was deposited into the account for circulation, and a photo of the remaining 4 billion won [approximately $3 million USD] in their burner account balance was sent.

Yong-pal smirked, raising one corner of his mouth.

“You idiots… how dare a dog try to bite its owner? You’ll regret what you did today for the rest of your life.”

His excitement died down. Yong-pal didn’t get out of the car and immediately stepped on the accelerator.

*

The next day.

A rattling Avante [a compact car model] entered a drive-in theater. Soon after, a van drove in and parked right next to it.

Zeeeee.

The passenger seat window opened, and Joo Yong-pal frowned and looked up at the van.

“You’re really doing all sorts of things… Get in first.”

The sashimi man smiled and got into the back seat where the black bag was placed. And he carefully checked the cash in the bag.

“…One, two… twenty, that’s right, President Joo is accurate as always.”

“Why are you doing this when you know? Deposit the money quickly.”

“Money? I have to deposit it, hey.”

When the man shouted at the van, a person wearing a hat pulled low got out, opened the passenger seat door, and sat down.

Joo Yong-pal didn’t recognize this silhouette among the gang, so he stared at him with wide eyes. But something was familiar.

Swish.

He took off his hat and looked straight at Joo Yong-pal.

“Long time no see.”

“S-Shin Hae-soo…? How did this happen? Boss Kang?”

The sashimi man, called Boss Kang, frowned and muttered.

“What do you mean how did it happen? You’re screwed.”

Click, click.

Hae-soo took out handcuffs from his pocket and put them on Yong-pal’s wrist.

“Joo Yong-pal, I’m arresting you on charges of violating the Personal Information Protection Act and special robbery instruction. If you want to appoint a lawyer, do so. Do you have anything to say?”

“H-have anything to say?”

“Don’t.”

Yong-pal still didn’t understand what was going on, so he looked back and forth between Boss Kang and Hae-soo and couldn’t say anything.

***

The total amount of money that Joo Yong-pal and Boss Kang’s gang extorted by threatening lottery winners was about 10 billion won [approximately $7.5 million USD]. There were 18 victims besides Hae-soo, but not a single one had reported it to the police yet.

By requesting the intelligence department with the 1 billion won [approximately $750,000 USD] that Hae-soo deposited, they were able to track the account and perfectly find the account with the remaining money, recovering half of the damage in cash.

The fact that Joo Yong-pal was circulating the money alone and had never been reported made a big contribution to the recovery of the damage.

The rest was able to recover more than 90% of the damage by disposing of Joo Yong-pal’s current assets.

The Dongbu Precinct as well as the Gangjin Police Station’s violent crimes team were in an uproar over the case.

“Shin Hae-soo? The one who caught him back then? He’s the real deal.”

“Everyone, do your best. The arrest rate for this month is number one for the precinct police officer. Does that make sense?”

“Why is that person in the precinct? Let’s bring him to our side.”

“If I could do that, I’d be the chief.”

“But where did he get the 1 billion won [approximately $750,000 USD] seed money? He has a lot of money.”

“I heard he won the lottery.”

“Wow… I’m jealous. I can’t bring him, he’ll quit the police.”

The precinct chief, who was hard to see in the precinct, directly praised his achievements and gave him a reward.

“Thanks to you, I have a face to see the chief these days. Thank you, please continue to work hard in the future.”

Officer Lim, who was in the same group, looked at Hae-soo with awe-filled eyes whenever he had a chance during patrol.

“You catch criminals even after work… You are a true police officer.”

Hae-soo waved his hand slightly.

“No. Coincidentally… Please don’t do that.”

The shift change time was approaching, and they returned to the precinct. Just before getting out of the car, Officer Lim suddenly grabbed Hae-soo’s arm.

“Officer Shin, you said you don’t have a girlfriend, right?”

Suddenly out of the blue, Hae-soo answered with a bewildered face.

“Yes, I don’t.”

“Then, what’s your ideal type?”

“I don’t really have one.”

“Hey, don’t say that, tell me three things.”

“Three things…”

Hae-soo rubbed his chin with his index finger and pondered with a serious expression. Then, as if he suddenly remembered, he flicked his finger and raised his index finger.

“First, a woman with a strong will to prevent crime, second, a woman who hates crime, third… a woman who doesn’t cheat.”

Officer Lim couldn’t hide her embarrassment at Hae-soo’s answer.

“Wh-what is that? Haha… Hmm… Anyway, I don’t know if my friend meets those ideal type conditions, but… there’s a pretty and capable girl, would you like to go on a blind date??”

“…Blind date?”

<#9. Hyenas> End