I Became a Police Officer in a Superhero Genre

With my palm stitched and a short cast on one hand, I headed to the Forensic Science Institute by car instead of returning to the station first.

Somehow I had left in the morning, but I was arriving at a late time when the sun was already starting to set.
It’s just that the sun sets early because it’s winter in November, but the time was still close to 5 o’clock, so it was a bit strange to call it late.

The forensic team people said to bring the evidence by 5:30 at the latest, so if it’s almost 5 o’clock, isn’t it late? I gritted my teeth while laughing haha.

The anger that had built up due to the stench constantly assaulting my nose even while driving was burning inside me like oil that had caught fire.
That flame was about to erupt like an active volcano inside me, combined with my determination to definitely catch the supervillain bastard who carried out the biochemical terror attack using the green liquid this morning.

Honestly, I don’t care even 1/10000th about what the forensic team bastards say, but there’s one reason I’m listening to their request.
It’s because they might be able to get rid of this green stink mass and check the contents of the wallet inside!!
I guarantee. If there’s an ID in this wallet, and if the owner of this wallet is indeed that bastard who caused my car to give off this stench,
that son of a bitch will absolutely not be able to escape as long as he’s in this Republic of Korea. I will definitely take revenge for the humiliation I suffered.

Ah, let’s not forget the grudge for my sense of smell that’s been deemed unrecoverable and deal with it as a separate settlement. In the most terrible way possible.
As soon as I arrived at the institute, I grabbed the devil’s ice box and headed straight for my destination, and although I heard voices exclaiming in horror nearby, I ignored them and arrived at my target.
I roughly flung open the door.

“Oh, you’re here now. I heard. You found something our kids couldn’t find? There’s evidence inside that smelly thing- Uweeeeek!!”

The supervisor uncle in charge of overseeing our case in the Special Investigation Team dry heaved as soon as I entered. No, he really seems like he’s about to vomit. But is that my problem?

I threw the small ice box sealed four times onto the examination table. The middle-aged man with sparse white hair reacted as if he’d seen the devil looking at a cross.

“Fuck, why is this smell so strong!? It’s stronger than what the kids brought!”

“I don’t know.”

“Ugh, crazy. How did you endure this smell? Tough guy. What were you thinking- No, not that. I’ll try to remove this as quickly as possible and check what’s inside, so I’ll contact you when it’s done. So relax your eyes a bit. You’ll appear in nightmares.”

I didn’t hear the last part, but since I heard the answer I wanted, I nodded.
Let’s pray it gets done as quickly as possible. I need to find it and take revenge for my car.

Afterwards, I was about to leave after saying please, but suddenly I remembered another piece of evidence in my pocket that I had forgotten about in my desire for revenge.

What I took out of my pocket was a 10CC disposable syringe commonly used in hospitals, and inside was an unidentified white liquid, or more precisely, something that looked like cloudy coconut juice.

The unidentified syringe that the KKK hood bastard dropped during the attempted child abduction incident I got involved in this afternoon. I hadn’t been able to hand it over to the local police because things were hectic.
I don’t know what this is, but seeing that the superpowered children couldn’t wake up for a long time, could it be a sleeping drug or something like that?

Fuck. I should have hit that skinny bastard who tried to kidnap kids using even this kind of thing one more time before he ran away.
As I was swallowing such regrets inwardly, the examiner noticed the syringe I was holding while putting the ice box on the sink and asked.

“What’s that?”

“You know there was an attempted child abduction case this afternoon, right? This is what the suspects I chased dropped. It seems they used it on the kids. Please find out what the contents are.”

“Oh- okay. I’ll check it out and contact you. Is there anything else?”

“No.”

“Alright, good work and take care.”

The examiner uncle said that while waving his hand. And I headed straight for the parking lot where I had parked my car.
Was it thanks to the cold wind I felt? My anger subsided a bit, and my rational mind that had regained itself questioned me about one problem.
That problem was the state of my car. I had endured it all the way to the institute with the single-minded determination to find and kill that green bastard, but it’s daunting to think about driving it back to the station again.
The smell is too strong. Humanly speaking. It’s so bad that I wonder how I even drove that car here.
It’s worse than mixing sewer water and food waste juice on a rainy day and then pouring it into a clogged toilet bowl.
What should I do about this? I can’t just leave the car here either. As I was standing in front of my car pondering deeply, suddenly something fell from the sky slicing through the wind.

I tensed my body at the sudden appearance of something, but thanks to the streetlight in the parking lot, I could see the faint outline and feel relieved.
Full-body tights with a symbol on the chest. And the familiar flight jacket. The one who appeared before me was none other than New Hope.

“Good evening, New Hope.”

“Ah, hello Detective! What a coincidence to meet at this hour! Wo-would you like to go for a walk together if you don’t mind…!”

A walk? What’s this? Is it some kind of code word?

I was puzzled by her sudden words. But soon I realized that her condition was somehow strange.
Unlike her usual serious face when she came because of an incident, her face was flushed and she was stammering. Even her arms and legs couldn’t stay still and kept fidgeting.
… Is she sick somewhere?

Of course, there will be many occasions to get hurt while doing hero work, and although they say she’s superhuman or whatever, she’s still a young kid so she might make mistakes in managing her condition.
I was about to say just rest if you’re sick, but seeing her act like this, I wondered if maybe she couldn’t go to the hospital because she didn’t have money? The worry came to mind.
Come to think of it, she lives alone without much help from adults, so it’s natural that she’s short on money. In such shortage, she might feel that going to the hospital is a luxury.
Still, is she coming to me for help because I’m an adult she knows since it’s hard? I calculated how much money was left in my wallet while simultaneously zipping up New Hope’s flight jacket and asked.

“What’s wrong again. Are you sick? Should we go to the hospital?”

“Ah, no! I’m healthy! No probl- no, there is a problem! How should I say this……”

“…?”

I guess she really is sick.
While thinking that I should send this kid to the hospital first no matter how much it costs, I tried to recall whether it’s night clinic hours or not at this time.
By the time my thoughts reached the point of maybe having to take her to the emergency room-

New Hope kept fidgeting, unable to keep her hands and feet still, then said with a smile that was described as awkward and nothing else.

“De-Detective! Don’t you have anything you want to say to me! Like, you need my help or something! Don’t you? I can help you with anything! Anything!!”

“? I don’t.”

“Uh, uh, I’m a superhero, you know…?”

“I know.”

“But you don’t need me?”

“Nope.”

“Huaaah……”

I really didn’t have anything so I said I didn’t, but hearing my answer, New Hope bit her lips and made a deflating sound.

Seeing her drooping like a wet cotton blanket on a rainy day, I first thought that it’s cold out and she’s suddenly saying strange things. Could the cold virus have gone to her head?

Come to think of it, I feel like I haven’t been paying enough attention.
I don’t want to get involved as a hero, but I feel a surge of self-loathing that I’ve been too indifferent to a kid who’s working hard despite losing her parents and family overnight.
I felt my anger from my car’s death subside further and a bitter emotion arise.

Still, the fact that she came to me shows that she trusts me that much, and I started to feel really sorry.
I thought I should change my attitude towards Mina a bit.
Anyway, I’ll have to ask for her help in catching Sai later, so it might be good to get closer to her-

KWANG!!

“- New Hope!! Did you think you could escape by hiding in a place like this! Come!! Let’s decide who’s the strongest right here! Your victory last time was just luck from my carelessness!

Tonight! This time for sure! I, the Destroyer, will kill you- Ugh, the smell! Damn! Did I step on a food waste car? What a shitty smell!”

Before I could finish thinking ‘that would be nice’, a huge muscular man appeared, completely smashing my car.

The man with a vicious look and metal-like protrusions all over his body shouted something at New Hope, then grimaced at the stench rising from the smashed car.

Instinctively, I briefly thought there’s no way to remove that stench from my car, and maybe I should just let it go, but I didn’t know we’d part forever in this way, fuck.

Is it my imagination that the headlights of what used to be my beloved car rolling in front of me seem to be shedding tears? No, it’s just tears flowing from my eyes.

“Let’s settle this! New Hope! This time I’ll kill you for sure!”

The criminal raising his huge fist while looking at New Hope after getting out of the car. Or rather, the Destroyer, right. Certainly a face I’ve seen on wanted posters.

He was a guy with the superpower to turn his body into steel, wanted for multiple counts of public property damage, injury, and violence charges, and he had run away after losing to New Hope once, right?

Whatever. He’s a criminal anyway, so I should arrest him. And of course it’s natural to use a gun while arresting.

I quietly took out my gun and loaded it with all live ammunition, removing the blanks. If his body is made of metal, he won’t die.

Thinking this, I pointed the gun at the Destroyer, and for some reason, New Hope looked scared seeing me do this and hurriedly said.

“Y-you! I won’t let you rampage any more! Surrender quickly! No really, can’t you see the detective’s face next to you, you idiot…!”

What about me.

I was curious about my face for just an ant’s eyelash worth, but.
Instead of solving that question, I aimed at the Destroyer and pulled the trigger. Bang! The gunshot that rang out in the middle of the city at night spread very far like the soul of my car.
Fucking hero story.
Thinking this, I grew my hatred for this world along with my grudge for my car.

Mina looked at the sky. Now that it’s gotten cold and she’s wearing the winter school uniform, the sky was clear and bright, and clouds were floating around as if without any worries.

Unlike Mina’s own mood, which had dark clouds fully covering it and reached 100% humidity, that is.

“Haah……”

Mina recalled what happened last night again. The words she wanted to say in front of Detective Lee Mun-su after preparing for hours.

Do you perhaps need help. I can help you. So please tell me if you need help. I am a superhero. Whatever it is, I- will definitely help you.

That’s what she wanted to say, but what actually came out of her mouth was a tone like a kid throwing a tantrum. And after blurting that out – everything became muddled because of the suddenly appearing Destroyer.

Mina felt so pathetic about her behavior last night that she wanted to crawl into a mouse hole if there was one.

What’s the use of worrying for days about what to say, when I couldn’t even speak up in front of him.

Mina bit her lip and made a groaning sound. The sound of children gossiping around her as they walked to school together was caught by her super hearing, but Mina ignored them and sighed again.

The occasion that made Mina ponder such words started from one small coincidence.

She really accidentally overslept and was going to school later than usual, when suddenly she felt like going into a deserted alley near the road she often passed by, forgetting she was late.

It seems to have been the result of her ability called super intuition that detects danger activating – but that’s not the important thing.

Who she met in that deserted alley was not the thugs or people threatened by thugs she usually saw when following her intuition, but Detective Lee Mun-su.

In the moment she met him looking more tired and troubled than usual, Mina felt glad to see him but then wondered.

The times when her super intuition activates are when there are ‘dangerous’ people around her or people in ‘danger’.

Since Detective Lee Mun-su is not a dangerous person, the reason her intuition activated must be the latter.

So Mina worried that something might have happened to Lee Mun-su who was pushing her away telling her to go to school quickly, and instead of going to school, she secretly hid nearby to watch what he was doing.

Looking closely, Detective Lee Mun-su wasn’t meeting someone or being attacked by something as Mina had worried.

He was just talking on the phone with someone. She couldn’t know who the other person was or what they were saying, but.

Mina could sufficiently infer what kind of situation he was in just from the words Lee Mun-su was saying.

‘[No. The reason I came like this today isn’t simply to let you know the investigation has started.]’

‘[The reason I came today is to tell you that there’s a high possibility your brother is already dead and that I can’t start the investigation right away.]’

‘[The one who killed your brother and is causing the superpower awakening incidents is dangerous. The prosecution, police, National Assembly, and even the media are all under that bastard’s hand.

If we try to do anything using the contents of the USB, it’ll be buried in an instant, and both you and I will die without being able to do anything.]’

‘[So, please wait. I’ll definitely find a way to catch that bastard.]’

‘[If I can’t catch that bastard, I’ll die. So I will catch them… and I’ll definitely find out where your brother is too. So… I’m sorry I can only say these things.]’

They were words that showed a determination to even risk death. No, he may have already resigned himself to the fate that he will die.

The words that he can’t trust anyone from the National Assembly to the media mean it’s a more dangerous situation than when he fought against the congressman and other corrupt people when they first met.

It’s doubtful what exactly he’s fighting against, whether something that dangerous really exists, but. If he said so, such a being must surely exist.

Mina wished he would just ignore such dangerous things and run away, but

she had known since the time when everyone turned a blind eye but he alone pursued the one who killed Mina’s family. That he wouldn’t run away just because it’s dangerous.

And she also knows that he wouldn’t ask for help from others, especially Mina, in the face of such a dangerous case-

But hoping that he might ask for help if it’s the hero New Hope, she carefully chose her words yesterday but ultimately failed.

Mina bit her lip hard and suppressed the emotions surging in her chest. If she had to name this emotion, it would probably be sadness and regret.

Was she so untrustworthy? Was even she, the hero New Hope, untrustworthy? Or if she had spoken better yesterday, wouldn’t there have been a good result?

Mina thought this but then shook her head saying even she knows that’s not it.
Mina knows too. How many mistakes she’s made while fighting together as a detective and hero so far.
No matter how well she had spoken, she couldn’t have given trust in the first place, so there would have only been the same result as now. That’s, understandable but-

She wanted to become a more trustworthy hero. Even if the whole world hated her. She had thought it would be nice if at least Detective Lee Mun-su trusted her, but.

“Haah……”

Mina let out who knows how many-th sigh, then strongly shook her head to shake off the thoughts.

If Lee Mun-su, who’s fighting alone in the face of an unknown crisis, can’t trust her and isn’t asking for help, then she should become someone he can trust.

If she doesn’t repeat naive mistakes like before, then he would trust her and ask for help, and tell her about the situation he’s in.

“Alright!”

Mina patted her cheeks. There’s no time to be depressed. At a time like this, she should just keep doing what she can do. Thinking this, Mina was about to hurry her steps to go to school when.

-?

Mina’s senses felt something unpleasant. A slimy and damp gaze. It was similar to the sensation Mina usually feels when someone about to commit a crime is nearby.

‘No, no. This is, this is something more-‘

Something more terrible.

Mina reflexively swung her head around trying to find where this terrible gaze was coming from.

But no matter how much she looked around the area, she couldn’t figure out where this gaze was coming from, and Mina pulled her backpack to the front.

At the very bottom of her bag was a spare New Hope suit in case of unexpected situations, so if something attacked, she planned to go into an alley or somewhere to change clothes.

It shouldn’t be discovered since it’s kept in a secret compartment, but the problem is she’s not sure if this gaze will ignore her and let her go now.

Feeling cold sweat run down her spine, Mina prepared to run while calculating where the nearest alley was to escape this gaze, but-

“—Kiaaak!!”

“Ugh?!”

Before that, something lunged at Mina.

That thing with a creepy appearance that looked like an insect, or rather a spider and human clumsily mixed together, wildly waved the sharp claws that had grown on all 4 pairs of its hands as it lunged at her from ‘above’.

‘It was- from above……!’
Was it hiding on top of the buildings in the street!

Mina gritted her teeth seeing the deformed monster lunging at her, but with her reflexes and physical abilities, she could have easily avoided this attack.

But Mina couldn’t bring herself to dodge. Right behind her. There was a schoolgirl passing by Mina’s side fiddling with her phone at this timing of all times.

If Mina dodges, that bizarre thing will pounce on the girl behind. But if she takes it down – her identity might be discovered.
With such thoughts, Mina ultimately chose to push the schoolgirl away rather than dodge herself.

The girl with a blank face as if unable to comprehend reality seeing the bizarre thing suddenly falling from above was helplessly pushed away.
Mina briefly pondered what to do now facing the monster attacking her.
Not missing that moment of hesitation, the monster quickly moved one of its 4 pairs of arms to take out a syringe filled with white liquid from its chest and stabbed it into Mina’s neck.

“Ah-.”
To think there would be a needle that could pierce her skin. Mina was shocked.

At the same time, the pain felt in her neck and the hot liquid flowing through the blood vessels in her neck. Mina felt her body not moving contrary to her consciousness and collapsed right there.