Chapter 7
Go Sang-yeop has been arrested.
Of course, he wasn’t in one piece, but still.
“Hey, you punk! Are you out of your mind?”
The chief’s office at Kangjung Police Station.
A file folder hit Joo-won’s head and fell to the ground.
“Ahem…”
The folder had been thrown by Myeong Geon-hyung, the chief of Kangjung Police Station.
But after throwing it, he seemed flustered when he saw Joo-won actually get hit.
“Damn it!”
Chief Myeong Geon-hyung muttered a curse and irritably sat down in his chair.
Joo-won and Team Leader Gu Jin-gu, who was standing in front of him, bowed their heads.
“I’m sorry.”
“Sorry my ass! If you were going to be sorry, you shouldn’t have turned him into a bloody mess!”
Joo-won bowed his head again.
“I’m sorry.”
“If this leaks to the media, you’re really… Ugh!”
Chief Myeong Geon-hyung slapped his chest in frustration.
Team Leader Gu Jin-gu took a step closer to him.
“Uh, Chief. Please don’t worry too much. All police officers know that arrest processes can get rough, right? Physical altercations happen often during those situations. If it leaks to the media, we might get some backlash for a while, but it’s not like we’ll receive complaints or anything…”
“Team Leader Gu, you stay quiet too!”
Team Leader Gu Jin-gu shut his mouth.
Chief Myeong Geon-hyung held his forehead.
“Sigh…”
Then he gestured toward Joo-won.
It was a sign to come closer.
Joo-won approached Chief Myeong Geon-hyung.
“How did you know that guy was the culprit? Even Detective Kim Seok-ho didn’t have any suspicions, but you insisted and tracked him down to his house, right?”
“It was because of the skid marks.”
“Skid marks?”
Joo-won explained the analysis that Terra had provided to Chief Myeong Geon-hyung.
“So you found a cell phone in the bathroom while looking around?”
“Yes. But at the time, we didn’t have a warrant, so we couldn’t collect it as evidence. That’s why I waited for Go Sang-yeop to come out. I stayed in the bathroom where the evidence was for quite a while, so he must have been pretty confused.”
“Hmm.”
Chief Myeong Geon-hyung nodded as he listened to Joo-won’s explanation.
“Alright, you did well.”
“Yes, I’m sorr… Huh?”
“Get out.”
Chief Myeong Geon-hyung gestured again.
This time, it was a sign to leave.
Joo-won, who had been rolling his eyes for a moment, bowed.
“Team Leader Gu, stay behind.”
Click.
The door to the chief’s office closed, leaving only Chief Myeong Geon-hyung and Team Leader Gu Jin-gu inside.
But suddenly, Chief Myeong Geon-hyung burst into laughter.
“…Ch-Chief.”
“Puhahahaha!”
Team Leader Gu Jin-gu rolled his eyes in confusion, but Chief Myeong Geon-hyung’s laughter didn’t stop for quite some time.
After a considerable amount of time had passed, Chief Myeong Geon-hyung's laughter finally subsided.
"Scary, sir. Did Inspector Lee really do something that wrong?"
Tears welled up in his eyes as he wiped them and looked at Team Leader Gu.
"I'm proud, that's why. Proud."
"...What?"
"That kid, Juwon. He's a good one."
Chief Myeong Geon-hyung gazed at the door through which Juwon had left and continued.
"He knew he'd get criticized, but he still completely destroyed that guy."
Chief Myeong Geon-hyung let out a sigh.
"I feel so relieved."
"Chief..."
"Honestly, it's been hard watching criminals prattle on about human rights and acting all high and mighty. I couldn't stand seeing my guys get dragged into investigations for excessive force just because they lost their temper in the interrogation room."
"..."
"You raised Juwon, didn't you?"
At Chief Myeong's question, Team Leader Gu Jin-gu shrugged.
"Half of it, I guess. The other half is just his natural talent."
"Anyway, you taught him well."
Chief Myeong Geon-hyung stood up and walked to the window behind him.
"After wandering for so long, it's a relief he finally found his true strength."
"I was surprised too. Honestly, I didn't have as much faith in him as you did, Chief. I thought you might be overestimating him a bit... But you really have a good eye."
Chief Myeong Geon-hyung gave a faint smile.
"I'm looking forward to seeing more from him. Though he'll need to tone down that temper if he wants to make it to headquarters..."
A short while later.
After leaving the chief's office, Juwon headed to the end of the third-floor hallway where Team 3's office was located.
His destination: the vending machine.
He hadn't had a proper drink all day, waiting for Go Sang-yeop to show up.
*Ding! Thud!*
An ion drink can dropped from the vending machine.
*Fsssh— Clunk.*
With a refreshing sound, the can opened, and Juwon immediately gulped it down.
"Nothing beats a drink after catching a criminal."
Just then, Terra's voice chimed in.
[Looking at your recent achievements, this kind of satisfaction probably ranks within the top five—no, top three experiences.]
Why does this sarcastic feature even exist?
"If you were human, you'd have no friends."
[Even as a human, Juwon, you don't have many friends, do you?]
"Ha, hey, you... really..."
At that moment, a detective passing by flinched at Juwon's voice and stopped in his tracks.
"Ah, sorry."
"No, it's fine..."
The detective slowly backed away from Juwon, muttering.
"The rumors are true... Tsk. Poor guy."
With that, Juwon headed back to Team 3's office with his ion drink.
But for some reason, the detectives were gathered in small groups, whispering among themselves.
It seems like someone is gossiping about someone else.
"Oh, he's coming. Hey, don't make a fuss."
"Yes, yes. I'll do well."
"Yeah, he's pitiful. But I heard he was second in his class at the police academy... How did he end up like this..."
"By the way, I heard he solved a murder case disguised as a traffic accident this time?"
"What?"
At the sudden news, the detectives who were gathered in small groups quickly turned their heads.
"The perpetrator has been arrested and is now in the detention center."
"Really? Ah, are you talking about that case passed over from the traffic investigation team?"
"Come on, no way. If it was passed from the traffic investigation team to the violent crimes unit 3, it was just because they were too busy and wanted to offload it, right? But it turned out to be a murder case?"
"I think it's that case. The perpetrator who hit the victim with a car was the victim's ex-boyfriend. He got angry after being told they were breaking up and killed her..."
As they were gossiping, Juwon passed by.
Of course, Juwon didn't know what they were talking about.
He just felt something strange about their smiles, which were a bit friendlier than before.
'Why are they acting like that?'
As Juwon passed by, the detectives huddled closer and continued talking about him.
"Even if his performance was bad, being from the police academy makes a difference, huh?"
"Yeah, there's something different about him."
"Wow, the superintendent was so happy when he heard that a genius from the academy was coming, but then he found out he was only half a genius and was really disappointed when his performance tanked. But it seems like that half is being filled now."
The detectives' respectful gazes followed Juwon.
Even though it was just one case, the atmosphere in the office had noticeably changed.
Turning a traffic accident into a murder case.
Everyone knew how difficult it was to extract a new case from the original one.
Moreover, according to rumors, Juwon had even brought solid evidence against the perpetrator.
Thanks to that, the suspect could be sent to the prosecution without any issues and they could win the trial.
Even if he was only half a genius, the title of 'genius' wasn't something just anyone could have, and the detectives were about to give Juwon a thumbs up when...
"Hey, what are you talking about! Hey, Officer Park! When is the interpreter coming?"
A noisy sound came from Team 2.
"Cái tôi nhìn thấy là con trai!" (What I saw was a boy!)
"Oh, wait! Uh... wait! Just wait!"
A man who appeared to be Vietnamese and a detective from Team 2 sitting in front of him.
The detective's head quickly turned to the side.
"Officer Park, the interpreter!"
"Ah, I just got word that he got into an accident on the way... It's going to take a while because of the insurance process..."
"Ugh!"
The Team 2 detective grabbed his hair in frustration.
"Khi nào thông dịch viên đến? Bây giờ tôi sắp phải đi làm rồi!" (When is the interpreter coming? I have to go to work soon!)
"No, I mean... uh... English please! English! I can't speak... Vietnamese! Vietnamese language!"
Two people were exchanging frustrated expressions, speaking in an incomprehensible language.
Then, at that moment, Juwon stepped in between the detective from Team 2 and the Vietnamese man.
“Um… they said they need to leave for work soon, so could you please call the interpreter quickly?”
The office fell silent in an instant.
The detective from Team 2 quickly turned his head.
“What… Detective, do you understand Vietnamese?”
“Huh? Oh…”
Juwon paused for a moment.
Then, he soon nodded.
It was because of Terra’s voice in his head.
[All languages on Earth, including minority languages, are installed. Activating translation function. Please read the text that appears in front of you.]
At the same time, Juwon looked at the text floating before his eyes.
It was like VR—Vietnamese words and their corresponding Korean translations were floating in the air.
“Well… yes.”
[The translation will appear according to the Vietnamese man’s words. Think of what you want to say, and I’ll display the translation along with the Vietnamese pronunciation.]
‘How did you do this? This is only visible to me, right?’
[Yes, as before, I’ve temporarily borrowed your optic nerves.]
While Juwon was marveling at Terra’s abilities, the detective from Team 2 urged him.
“Ah, then please help with the translation. It’ll take time to find another interpreter, and this gentleman keeps pointing at his watch and fidgeting, so it seems like he needs to leave soon.”
[Go ahead. I’ll assist you.]
After hesitating for a moment, Juwon sat down next to the detective from Team 2.
Juwon thought of what to ask the man, and almost simultaneously, the Vietnamese words along with their Korean pronunciation appeared before his eyes.
“Mình cần gặp bạn điều gì đó…”
“Ô! Cậu nói được tiếng Việt không? May quá!”
As if understanding Juwon’s words, the Vietnamese man’s expression brightened.
Juwon relayed the man’s words to the detective from Team 2.
“He says the person he saw wasn’t a woman, but a man. Ah, with long hair…”
As Juwon drew the attention of the office while acting as the Vietnamese interpreter,
“Wow… amazing.”
The detectives, who were looking at Juwon with admiration, began to show even more trust in him.
“Wasn’t Violent Crimes Team 3 the one with no achievements, just on standby?”
“Exactly. First, unsolved cases, and now Vietnamese. This detective seems a bit different.”
“Looks like they’re finally stepping up.”
And so, the perception of Juwon and Team 3 at Kangjung Station began to change little by little.
