There are many superpowered people in Light City. So many that when someone reveals they have powers, others can simply say, “I see~” and move on without making a fuss.
That is because most superpowers are extremely weak in effect, or are the sort of abilities that are useless. An ability that keeps bugs from coming near, an ability that can lift tiny specks of dust, an ability to earn a faint bit of goodwill from cats, and so on…
“Um, first, please sit here. Fill out this application form. You are A-rank Hero Trace, correct?”
“That’s right.”
But heroes are different. To register as even the lowest rank, a C-rank hero, one has to pass an exam, and passing that exam is no ordinary feat.
There is a written exam on the law and situational judgment, as well as a practical exam evaluating the usability of one’s ability. Even those with excellent superpowers often fail the exam, to the point that hero exam academies exist.
And is it over once you pass? Starting from C-rank, then B, then A, and finally S… One has to compete endlessly with other heroes and prove oneself superior. Trace was an enormous rising star who had climbed all the way to A-rank in just one year.
“Here, I’ve filled it all out.”
Trace handed over the completed form, then looked at Kang Jinho and jerked her chin.
“Come with me.”
“…Come with you? I’m on duty right now…”
“When a hero requests cooperation, the police have an obligation to comply. Did you think I filled out this paper for nothing?”
Trace fluttered the paper lying in front of Kang Jinho. Beside him, An Seongsil gave an awkward smile.
“Um, I’m sorry, but Constable Kang Jinho is a rookie. His mentor is currently absent, so I think it would be a little difficult for him to go with you alone, Trace.”
“Is that so? Then that… An Seongsil? Officer, you can come with us. Then there’s no problem, right?”
“Yes, well…”
“Let’s go. My car is outside.”
Trace headed out of the police substation first. An Seongsil watched her for a moment, then whispered in a small voice, “I tried to stop it, but… no luck,” before following her outside as well.
“I suppose this worked out.”
Kang Jinho also hurriedly put on his outerwear and prepared to leave. The method was rather rough, but he had known from the beginning that Trace would come looking for him. He had also induced it himself.
And so, Trace, Kang Jinho, and An Seongsil left the police substation.
About an hour later.
“Jinho~ I’m back…”
Park Eunyoung, who returned belatedly,
“…Haha.”
stared at the empty seats where the two had been, her eyes gleaming strangely.
As if she could see something there.
**
Inside a top-of-the-line sedan with a chauffeur. Seated in comfort incomparable to a police patrol car, Trace crossed her legs and got straight to the point.
“That apartment noise telepathy case. I heard you solved it, Officer Kang? To tell you the truth, I’ve caught a similar guy before. Even I barely managed to get a lead by using my power, so I was a little surprised to hear that an ordinary police officer found the culprit on the spot in an instant.”
“Not at all. I was lucky.”
“No need to be modest. When I looked into it, I heard that even on your first day at work, you arrested a culprit who had been turned into a cake? And that you were famous as a genius at the police academy.”
“…Thank you.”
“That’s better.”
In fact, this was also what Kang Jinho had intended. Even in the game, Trace’s favorability would sometimes rise out of nowhere with something like, “You solved a case similar to one I handled?”
That was why, when he solved the “Apartment Telepathy Case,” he had wondered whether Trace might come looking for him. Fortunately, Trace had come all the way to the police substation.
“Anyway, to get to the point.”
Trace’s gaze as she looked at Kang Jinho was mixed with interest, expectation, and suspicion.
“I just need advice. I’m not asking you to solve the problem, just to give me appropriate advice.”
“What kind of advice do you mean?”
“A few days ago, I received a reliable tip that there had been a fairly large-scale drug deal near XX Station. Considering the credibility of the informant, the chance of it being false was close to zero. So I went there myself.”
“Hmm, with your ability, Trace, catching the culprit should be a piece of cake, shouldn’t it? Chahaha.”
At An Seongsil’s attempt at banter, Trace scowled sharply.
“If it were a piece of cake, would I have come all the way here? To a police substation that isn’t even in my jurisdiction? To seek the cooperation of ordinary police officers?”
“…That is true.”
“Phew. Anyway, my ability is to read the ‘memory of space.’ By synchronizing my senses with a space at a specific point in time, I can vividly see everything that happened, as if I were standing there myself.”
Her voice was deeply imbued with pride in her ability.
Kang Jinho already knew about her ability, but he nodded as if hearing it for the first time. In truth, Trace’s ability was among the more useful and rare types of information-based superpowers.
“But even when I personally went to XX Station and looked through the memories of the past… there was nothing.”
“Are you saying there was no sign of drugs changing hands?”
“Yes. No one exchanging suspicious bags, no one trading secret glances, not even anyone using the station lockers. It was just… the ordinary daily life of a normal station.”
Trace was arrogant, but she possessed ability worthy of that arrogance. Until she rose to A-rank hero, there had not been a single case she failed to solve, and the fact that she now had her first unsolved case had greatly wounded her pride.
“So I thought that perhaps the ‘intuition’ of an ordinary police officer who’s been a topic of discussion lately might see something I missed.”
Trace had not brought Kang Jinho here with some great expectation. But she thought it would be enough if she could gain even a small clue.
After all, when the answer refuses to come and your head feels itchy, isn’t there sometimes a case where a passing remark from the person beside you provides inspiration?
“Hmm…”
Kang Jinho noticed this and sank into thought.
Kang Jinho’s original plan had also been to arrive at the scene and pretend to look around here and there, then naturally throw out a hint with an “Aha!” He could solve the case, gain karma, and acquire a suitable amount of fame.
But now, seeing Trace without much expectation, he changed his mind. He would solve the case right here in the car.
‘I need fame.’
During the past month of police life, Kang Jinho had realized something. At this rate, he might barely be able to meet his monthly karma quota, but he would never be able to repay 480 million karma in his lifetime.
There was no answer in sitting quietly at a neighborhood police substation and picking up whatever petty thieves or theft cases happened to roll in. At that rate, even if he devoted his whole life to it, he would never fill more than 400 million karma.
He had to become famous. He had to become famous so that major cases would find their way to Kang Jinho on their own. For that, he desperately needed the title of “genius police officer who can solve any case with ease.”
‘If I become famous, I’ll also get a chance later to befriend the number one hero in the rankings…’
And as an opportunity to gain that fame, the A-rank hero before him was an extremely suitable target. She was pretty, successful, and a capable hero.
He had to engrave the name Kang Jinho into Trace’s mind right now. He could not simply throw out a suitable hint and end it there; he had to deliver a shock powerful enough to lodge firmly in her head.
Having made up his mind, Kang Jinho murmured in a low voice, as if letting the words slip.
“To be honest, I think I can tell who the culprit is without even going to the station…”
“Excuse me? What did you say?”
“I said I think I know how the criminal organization deceived you, Trace.”
“…One moment, driver. Stop the car.”
Trace called to the driver in a flustered voice.
Screech!
When the sedan came to a stop mid-drive, a strange silence flowed for an instant.
“Did you just say you think you know the culprit?”
“Yes. More precisely, I think I know the method of the crime.”
“…Ha, I see. So that’s what you’re saying.”
Trace, having heard something utterly absurd, glared at Kang Jinho with a sharp gaze.
Her ability was the power to experience the past. Being able to experience the past on her own was already an impressive enough ability, but she could make up to five people experience the past together with her.
That was why the place they had been heading by car was XX Station, which she had been mentioning all along. She intended to let the two police officers experience the past at XX Station, then ask them what she had missed.
What? He thought he knew the culprit just from hearing the story while sitting here? Without seeing the scene, without hearing witness testimony, just from the single piece of information that “a drug deal happened, but Trace failed to catch it,” he thought he could uncover the truth of the crime?
That was impossible. If this man started spouting baseless nonsense, Trace intended to throw him out of the car immediately and file a complaint with Chief Rafael of the police substation.
But if, truly, this man was a genius capable of inferring the whole story of the case while sitting right where he was,
“So, how did they carry out a drug deal at the station?”
a great detective needed a great assistant.
Trace was a great detective.