Chapter 6
"That kind of guy deserves to get hit."
At Juwon's words, Go Sang-yeop's face turned pale.
'Damn, how does he know...'
But soon, his eyes also turned fierce, as if glowing with life.
Go Sang-yeop glanced around and glared at Juwon before asking,
"Are you alone?"
"Yeah, I came alone. Officer Kim is surprisingly strict about leaving on time, so he always clocks out right on the dot. But he'll be here soon. Today, he decided to wait nearby as an exception, because of you."
At Juwon's words, Go Sang-yeop let out a bitter laugh.
"Damn, I should've known when you were acting crazy alone in the bathroom earlier."
"Wow, you're a completely different person in broad daylight."
"Hey, officer, why don't you just relax and leave? There's nothing on my phone anyway. I already deleted everything."
"Phone? I didn't say anything about a phone."
Juwon smiled and slowly took a step forward.
"You seem really flustered, spouting things I didn't even ask about."
"Ha, damn..."
But Go Sang-yeop didn't run away either.
Scratching his head, he also approached Juwon.
"So what if I talk? You said you're alone. Killing one more person is nothing to me."
"Ah, so you're going to kill me and rot in prison for life?"
"Yeah! If I'm going to rot anyway, I might as well shut that big mouth of yours before I go..."
As Go Sang-yeop slowly approached Juwon in a threatening stance, as if he was about to throw a punch, Terra spoke up.
[Use the gun in your pocket. There are no live rounds, but blanks should be enough to intimidate him.]
"Got it."
Go Sang-yeop frowned.
"What?"
"Not talking to you."
"What the hell is this lunatic saying...?"
Juwon continued,
"That kind of guy deserves to get hit during the arrest process."
[There's a certificate in Go Sang-yeop's house. It's a third-degree black belt in Taekwondo, along with awards from competitions he's won.]
"Ha, just because I haven't been performing well lately, you're looking down on me too?"
"What the hell is this crazy bastard talking to...?"
Go Sang-yeop, who had been approaching Juwon, flinched and stopped in his tracks, but Juwon ignored him and continued his conversation with Terra.
"Aren't you supposed to be on my side, as a human? What if you start looking down on me too?"
[It's not about looking down on you. I'm just worried that you might get hurt. If you die here, you won't be able to continue the police work you wanted to do.]
"Did you forget I aced all my martial arts classes at the police academy?"
[I haven't forgotten. It's in the data. But real combat is different...]
"Alright, man. Just say you don’t trust me."
"Hey, are you drunk? Are you out of your mind? Who the hell have you been talking to this whole time?"
Go Sang-yeop waved his hand at Juwon with a bewildered expression. Juwon asked,
"How long did they say it would take for Officer Kim to get here?"
[He sent a text 5 minutes ago saying he left, so it should take about 10 minutes.]
"Hmm."
Juwon nodded, then finally looked straight at Go Sang-yeop.
"Hey."
"Me? Are you talking to me? Not just rambling to the air like a lunatic?"
"Yeah. Now it's your turn."
Juwon wiggled his finger.
"Come here for a second."
"This bastard..."
Go Sang-yeop curled his lips into a sneer, stepping his right foot back and raising both hands.
[Taekwondo is a martial art that uses hands and feet for attack or defense without weapons. Its main feature is kicking techniques. If you really don’t plan to use the gun, watch out for his feet.]
'Got it.'
Fortunately, Terra didn’t insist like last time.
Wait, does the word "insist" even suit an AI?
But its habit of repeating the same sentence makes it hard to think of any other word besides "insist."
'Anyway, it’s clear this guy Terra wants me to win too.'
Juwon also stepped his left foot back and took a stance.
At the police academy, everyone is required to take martial arts classes.
The martial arts include judo, kendo, hapkido, and taekwondo.
If you have prior martial arts experience before entering the academy, you get extra points.
That’s why students aiming for the police academy usually get certifications in advance.
And among those students, Juwon ranked first in all martial arts subjects.
Which means,
[Correction. Juwon, you have the skills to defeat Go Sang-yeop.]
"Took you long enough to figure that out."
[I was prioritizing the analysis of the current confrontation with Go Sang-yeop, so the memory analysis was delayed. My apologies.]
It even knows how to apologize.
This AI is better than the beast of a human standing in front of me.
When Juwon smirked, Go Sang-yeop’s eyes twisted in anger.
"That bastard... Hey!"
Go Sang-yeop’s body tensed up.
He pushed off the ground with his left foot and quickly closed the distance to Juwon.
When they were about a hand’s breadth apart—
Whoosh!
Go Sang-yeop’s right foot shot toward Juwon.
Thud!
Juwon, who had been watching Go Sang-yeop’s foot closely, immediately ducked.
Then, he drove his fist straight into Go Sang-yeop’s stomach.
"Ugh!"
Ko Sang-yeop, clutching his stomach, staggered back.
"Ah, our Terra was so worried, but if it ends like this, it's kind of anticlimactic."
"You crazy bastard... What the hell are you talking about from earlier?!"
Ko Sang-yeop pulled his fist back again and lunged at Ju-won.
Whoosh! Thud! Whoosh!
Several punches were exchanged between Ju-won and Ko Sang-yeop.
Of course, while Ko Sang-yeop was fighting with all his might, Ju-won faced him with a smirk on his lips.
"That bastard..."
Perhaps it was because of Ju-won's attitude that Ko Sang-yeop became even more furious.
His eyes grew even more menacing.
And then, he put more force into his fist again.
But this time, the momentum was different from before.
His fist flew toward Ju-won's face at a rapid speed.
In that brief moment, Terra analyzed Ko Sang-yeop's punch.
And came to an unfavorable conclusion.
[Probability of dodging Ko Sang-yeop's punch: 7%.]
Too low of a probability.
If Ju-won failed to dodge the punch and took the hit directly, there was a high chance that Ko Sang-yeop, who wouldn't miss that opportunity, would follow up with a series of fatal blows.
That was Terra's analysis.
So, what could Terra say to Ju-won at this moment?
Was it just a single phrase, hoping Ju-won would rely on that 7% chance to dodge the punch?
As Terra was quickly processing to decide on that one phrase...
[...]
Snap!
Ju-won didn't duck to avoid the incoming punch.
He simply sidestepped slightly.
Contrary to Terra's expectations.
So, Terra's analysis would be wrong too, since the premise had changed from the start.
And Ju-won,
"Got you."
Crunch!
He grabbed the right arm that had brushed past his face and pulled Ko Sang-yeop's arm inward, positioning himself inside.
Then, with a twist of his body, he lifted Ko Sang-yeop and,
Crash!
Slammed him onto the ground.
"Argh!"
[The analysis... was wrong. An unexpected grappling technique. Impressive.]
Terra's words followed, but Ju-won didn't respond.
He was too busy climbing on top of the fallen Ko Sang-yeop and cuffing his arms.
"Mr. Ko Sang-yeop, you are under arrest for the murder of victim Kim Mi-yeon and the charge of evidence concealment."
[Don't forget the Miranda warning.]
At Terra's seemingly concerned remark, Ju-won let out a snicker as he lifted the cuffed Ko Sang-yeop.
"I know, man. Mr. Ko Sang-yeop, you have the right to remain silent and to have an attorney..."
"F***, what did I do wrong?! She was the one who wanted to break up first! Damn it, why should I be the one to suffer?!"
But this bastard Ko Sang-yeop kept spouting nonsense till the end, worse than a beast.
"Why me! Why should I rot in jail because of that bitch... Ugh!"
*Thud!*
Ju-won shut Ko Sang-yeop's noisy mouth.
Of course, not with words, but with a fist.
[Ju-won, police assault can be punished more severely than assault by a civilian.]
"Assault? Who's assaulting anyone? I'm in the middle of arresting a criminal right now."
What should I do with this trash?
Ju-won was barely holding back his rising anger when Ko Sang-yeop, lying on the ground, looked at him and let out a creepy laugh.
"This bastard, laughing?"
"You crazy bastard, hey, can't I even kill my own girlfriend as I please? Damn it, you're really such a piece of..."
"What did you say?"
Ju-won grabbed Ko Sang-yeop by the collar and yanked him up.
His eyes were filled with murderous intent.
Perhaps it was because he had seen the text messages sent to the victim on Ko Sang-yeop's phone.
Ju-won's eyes were bloodshot, glaring fiercely.
So terrifying that even Ko Sang-yeop, who had been cackling despite being handcuffed, flinched.
Ko Sang-yeop swallowed dryly and spoke.
"Y-you... can't do this! Even I have human rights, you know! You're a cop, you can't just... Ugh!"
"You sure love talking about human rights, you piece of trash who doesn't even deserve to be called human."
And so, Ju-won delivered a small measure of revenge for the victim to Ko Sang-yeop.
A short while later.
*Wee-oo! Wee-oo!*
The blaring sound of sirens filled the alley.
"Detective! I was late because I had to get live ammunition just in case..."
Finally arriving, Sergeant Kim Seok-ho's eyes widened as he saw Ko Sang-yeop lying on the ground and Ju-won standing over him in the alley.
"Ah, Sergeant, you're here?"
Ko Sang-yeop's face was covered in blood as he lay there, with Ju-won sitting beside him.
"Detective... are you hurt?"
"Ah, no. Just a little scratch here on my cheek. This guy put up such a fight during the arrest that..."
Sergeant Kim Seok-ho approached.
He alternated his gaze between Ko Sang-yeop and Ju-won.
No matter how he looked at it, it seemed like Ju-won had beaten Ko Sang-yeop single-handedly.
*Sigh...*
Sergeant Kim Seok-ho let out a deep sigh and lifted the handcuffed Ko Sang-yeop.
But then, unexpected words came out of his mouth.
"We'll have to add obstruction of official duties to the charges. He interfered with the arrest process."
With that, he headed toward the police car with Ko Sang-yeop.
Ju-won called out from behind him.
"Thank you, Sergeant."
"I just don't want unnecessary trouble, so don't get the wrong idea."
