There is a villain in Light City known as Eunyeong (Hidden Shadow).
She rides through shadows, controls darkness, and devours space. Without question, she is the strongest among villains, and even when the entire city is taken into account, she is a powerhouse who ranks within the top three.
But the true reason the existence known as Eunyeong was terrifying was not her might, but the fact that she was “unpredictable.” If she was in a bad mood, she would slice through a skyscraper; if she was in a good mood, she would kill a passing mafia boss. An unfathomable madness.
Everything she did revolved around her interest. If something interested her, she did it; if it did not, she stopped. In fact, when Gang Jinho had barely managed to arrest Eunyeong in the game, he had once felt a deep sense of futility upon hearing that her motive for the crime was “because it looked fun.”
“Would you like some coffee?”
“Uh, I had some earlier…”
“I saw you didn’t drink a single sip. You’ll have some, right?”
“Yes, ma’am.”
Yes, what was there to say? That was the identity of the woman standing in front of Gang Jinho. Apparently, this time she had taken an interest in police work, and her name tag brazenly read “Park Eunyoung.” At this point, perhaps she had no intention of hiding it at all.
How did he know that Officer Park Eunyoung was the villain “Eunyeong”?
“She looks exactly the same.”
Her face was identical to Eunyeong’s at the time of her arrest, so wouldn’t it be stranger not to recognize her? When Eunyeong was usually active, she covered her face with darkness, but Jinho remembered her bare face.
“You must be very nervous?”
“Y-yes, yes… It’s my first day. Haha.”
Though he forced a smile on the outside, Gang Jinho’s mind was spinning so hard it felt as if it might catch fire.
One day, he had opened his eyes and found himself a police officer. But his immediate superior was a villain. And not just any villain, but the strongest crazy bitch of them all.
If Eunyeong had not been there, he would have quit the police force on the spot.
The “Light City” Gang Jinho had created was not an environment friendly to ordinary people. It was said that the hero faction was stronger, but there were plenty of powerful villains as well, and above all, public security was not particularly good. There were many heroes, but just as many criminals.
The reason such a grotesque megacity had been created had a great deal to do with Gang Jinho’s tastes. To begin with, the very reason he played “HCS” was to investigate the crimes of villains, and in order to investigate, crimes had to happen first, didn’t they?
As a result, a bizarre city had been completed—enormous and wealthy, with an abundant police force, yet where crimes occurred constantly… Working as a police officer in a city like this? Even if it was in the outskirts, it was not a particularly appealing option.
“I can’t quit now.”
The problem was that the moment he saw Park Eunyoung, it had already become too late to quit. If he had never set foot in police work at all, that might be one thing, but to suddenly quit right after meeting Park Eunyoung? After even showing her how he had been trembling like this?
Suspicious. So suspicious that it would not be strange if Eunyeong said she was curious what he was thinking and split his head open to take a look. The best move he could make right now was to act like “just a nervous rookie cop.”
“Ha, if only I hadn’t been shaking…”
If Gang Jinho had not been trembling from the moment he first met Eunyeong all the way to this break room, there might have been other options. But he had made it exceedingly obvious that he was nervous, and he had already drawn more attention than necessary.
Look at those vivid crimson eyes, full of curiosity. Park Eunyoung was resting her chin on her hand and observing Gang Jinho like a cat looking at a toy.
Why didn’t he just act better, you ask? In truth, Gang Jinho felt wronged in his own way. He had never dreamed he would experience something like this in his life, and naturally, he had not been mentally prepared.
You try it, then. It hasn’t even been thirty minutes since you entered a game—if you don’t tremble and adapt perfectly, are you even an ordinary person? You’re a regressor.
“Are you all right? You’ve looked pale this whole time.”
At that moment, Officer Park Eunyoung drew her face closer with a worried expression.
That gentle appearance made her seem like an excellent police officer sincerely concerned for a rookie, so Gang Jinho was momentarily confused as well. Could she just be someone who looked like her? Had he been mistaken?
“I-I’m really fine.”
“Really?”
“Yes!”
“Then… are you perhaps scared of me? Is that why?”
“…!”
At the same time, Park Eunyoung’s gaze flashed coldly. Gang Jinho sprang up from his seat like a coil and hurriedly explained.
“No, no. It’s just, I’ve never seen a woman this beautiful in my life before.”
“Oh, is that so? I was wondering.”
She smiled softly, as if it had been a joke from the beginning. The graceful curve drawn by her crescent-moon eyes was so alluring that anyone would have swallowed hard at the sight.
“…Gulp.”
Gang Jinho swallowed as well. Not because he had been bewitched by her beauty, but because his excessive tension had made him swallow without realizing it.
“Officer Gang Jinho?”
“Yes, yes!”
“Still, since I’m your senior, may I speak casually to you from now on?”
“Yes! Please speak comfortably!”
“Thanks.”
Park Eunyoung, who dropped the formalities in an instant, spoke with a catlike smile.
“To tell you the truth, before you, a few rookies came in… but none of them adapted and they all quit quickly. So I’m very happy.”
“Ah, yes.”
Gang Jinho briefly imagined what might have happened to those juniors who had “quit.”
“…”
Perhaps it would have been better not to imagine it. The image of Gang Jinho “quitting work” at any moment came to mind, and it had a tremendously harmful effect on his mental health.
Gang Jinho revised his plan on the spot. He would not quit the police force. Instead, he would show himself to be incompetent and let Park Eunyoung’s interest fall away on its own.
Eunyeong was a madwoman, but that did not mean she was a god of destruction who went around destroying everything. If he escaped her interest, it should be possible to survive for a long, long time without any major crises.
“Ahem, anyway! Since a rookie has come in, let me say the usual sort of thing.”
“Yes!”
“Jinho. People curse at us police these days, don’t they? Right?”
“Yes, that’s correct!”
“That really hurts my pride. We’re people who can do well if we set our minds to it, aren’t we? We just lack the will.”
“…Yes.”
The sound of Park Eunyoung tapping the break room table with her finger rang out unusually loudly. By coincidence, the rhythm was exactly the same as Gang Jinho’s heartbeat.
“These days, every rookie says the same thing: ‘Is this really something we need to do?’ They mean the heroes can handle it, so why should the police step in? I really don’t like that. If you do your best, good results will naturally follow, but they get scared before they even try and refuse to do anything.”
“That’s right!”
“I want you to work hard, Jinho. I want you to enjoy your work. People who don’t work hard all end up quitting quickly. I don’t want to see you do that. I’ve taken a liking to you.”
“…Th-that’s right!”
It felt as though his heart had lurched to a stop.
Gang Jinho abandoned the “stay unnoticed and get by” strategy he had been considering until just moments ago. This was a warning. A warning that if he was caught half-assing his work, he would definitely die.
“So I want you to become an interesting and capable police officer—one that my… our citizens will want to keep by their side. I heard you were famous as a genius at the police academy. I can expect great things from you, right?”
Brightly.
It was a pure and elegant smile, without a trace of blemish. If someone had been watching from the side, they would have thought it was heartwarming advice from a passionate senior who was disciplining a rookie while encouraging his growth.
“…”
To Gang Jinho, who knew the truth, the previous sentences were translated into an entirely different language.
[If you turn out to be a toy that can’t entertain me, you know what will happen, don’t you?]
Sticky cold sweat flowed down his spine. Eunyeong had undoubtedly latched onto the phrase “a genius from the police academy.” If he failed to satisfy her expectations, the probability that he would “quit work” seemed extremely high.
So if I want to live, I have to act like a genius? How does a genius usually act? Gang Jinho had been called talented before, but never a genius, so his mind immediately felt as though it had gone blank.
He had to draw her interest somehow. He had to prove that he was capable and entertaining…!
Gang Jinho clenched the hands resting on his knees. He did not want to die because of that insane villain’s whim. Since he had fallen into a world he knew well anyway, he wanted to survive no matter what and live in luxury.
If he thought about it the other way around, this was an opportunity. Inside Gang Jinho’s head was an endless amount of information related to “Light City.” If he made proper use of it, he could live a life far more luxurious than anything in reality.
…Though that, too, would only be possible if he survived.
“Uh, hold on.”
While Gang Jinho was steeling his resolve, Park Eunyoung, who had been listening to the radio, soon put on a troubled smile.
“Mm, this is bad… I was going to let you rest today.”
“What happened?”
“Well, they say a theft occurred. It’s our patrol team’s turn right now. Still, Jinho, you only just got here today, so stay here and rest.”
“Did you say a case?”
Gang Jinho’s eyes sparkled as he asked in return. He had realized that this was his chance to draw Eunyeong’s interest and prove his competence.
“Um, may I ask what kind of case it is specifically?”
“Huh? What did they say again… It’s a theft case that happened at a café, and apparently the culprit wasn’t caught on the entrance CCTV. The entire cash register, with the cash inside, disappeared. They said it’s probably a superpower crime. Superpower crimes are usually taken over by the Hero Association, so we just have to go, take statements, and photograph the scene.”
“A café…”
A café. A theft case. Not caught on CCTV. The cash register disappeared whole.
As several words combined inside his brain, Gang Jinho recalled a case he had seen in “Hero City Simulator.”
Was it a case he knew? It was. Could he catch the culprit?
He could.
“I’d really like to go with you!”
“Uh, really?”