Catching Bad Guys is a Talent, Too

I was in the meeting room, cutting and pasting the wanted flyers I'd received from Officer Song, when I realized this wasn't the first thing I should be doing.

"Team Leader. Can I have a moment?"

"Huh?"

"Let's talk in the meeting room."

I requested a private meeting with the team leader.

Na Sangdo followed me into the meeting room, looked at the clutter scattered across the table, and asked, "What is all this?"

"I was doing some dakku."

"What's dakku?"

"Don't you know? It's diary decorating. It's a popular hobby among Gen Z these days."

"I don't know who this Gen Z is, but I doubt they decorate their diaries with photos of wanted criminals."

"What's wrong with wanted criminals? It's unique and cool."

"Sure, whatever. Why did you call me in here? Don't tell me you have some major announcement."

"A major announcement?"

"These days, whenever someone asks to talk, my heart drops. I'm always worried they're going to hand in their resignation."

"I told you I'm going to work hard now."

"Good to hear. So, why the meeting?"

"I have a favor to ask."

"Shoot."

"Let me work solo for a month."

"You want to go solo?"

"Yes."

"Have you already forgotten what happened to Inspector Son?"

"I know the rule is to work in pairs. But I can't bring a crowd when I'm going to meet informants."

"Informants?"

"You know what my mentor left me, right?"

"A Commando that's practically scrap metal?"

"Do you really think that's all?"

"..."

Wherever Inspector Son Daesan pointed, a criminal was bound to be found.

Some chalked it up to divine intuition, while others rumored he had a well-organized network of informants.

Team Leader Na, who had only guessed at the truth, felt his heart race as if he were finally seeing the reality of it today.

"Are you sure you'll be okay on your own?"

"It's easier for me to move alone."

"You'll make sure you don't get hurt, right?"

"Of course. I swear on my mentor's name."

"Alright. Do it."

Finally, I had the freedom to move.

A moment later, Team Leader Na Sangdo called the team members into the meeting room.

"Detective Park, review all the CCTV footage in the Sangwon-dong area today."

"All of it?"

"The control center's cameras aren't enough. Scour everything, even the private security cameras on the shops, and find where he went."

"Understood."

"Inspector Choi, meet with the victim's family and see if you can dig up any clues."

"Yes, sir."

"We've been stuck on this case for five days now. Let's get some results."

As Team Leader Na prepared to wrap up the meeting, Inspector Choi asked, "Are you taking Detective Min with you, Team Leader?"

"No."

"Then can I take him with me?"

"Go alone. Detective Min has a separate task."

"What kind of task?"

I thought about answering myself, but it felt more natural coming from Team Leader Na.

"We got a tip, so I told him to check it out."

"What tip?"

"It's not confirmed yet. We'll know once he meets the informant."

Inspector Choi glanced at me and asked, "This is your first time meeting an informant, right? Are you sure you can handle it alone?"

"Yes. It won't be a problem."

"If it seems like a crucial lead, call us right away. Don't try to be a hero and rush in alone."

"Understood."

Inspector Choi shared the same concerns as Team Leader Na.

They believed I was still too inexperienced to handle unexpected situations.

That was why the first impression mattered.

I planned to bring in someone so impressive that they would never doubt me again.

"Excuse me, but it's almost time for my appointment, so I'll head out first. Good luck, everyone. Salute!"

Fearing ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠they would hold me back with more questions, I quickly slipped out.

Left without anyone to answer him, Inspector Choi turned to Team Leader Na.

"Team Leader, is it really okay to send him off like that?"

"He said he wants to work hard, so why not?"

"If he doesn't have a partner, shouldn't we make it a three-man team...?"

"He's not a kid. Let's trust him. Even the rookie can handle meeting an informant."

"But..."

"The inheritance he got from his mentor isn't just a junk car."

"Pardon?"

"Don't pry into someone else's trade secrets and just watch. The golden age of Violent Crimes Team 1 might be starting again."

"Then, the informant is...?"

"Exactly. The invisible hand that Inspector Son used to run. He's definitely going to meet a confidential informant."

Team Leader Na spoke to the team with a flushed, excited face.

"There's no good in letting the outside world know about this. Both of you, keep your mouths shut."

"Of course. We'll head out now too."

"Right, good luck."

Left alone after everyone departed, Team Leader Na smiled to himself.

"It feels like Senior Son has come back to life."

I walked outside, holding the notebook containing the photos and personal details of the wanted fugitives.

With the Target Location Search, I could easily find even a hermit buried deep in the mountains.

The only thing I had to worry about was looking suspicious if I caught too many at once.

"I need to pace myself. That must be why my mentor emphasized work-life balance."

I planned to rack up enough arrests to push Team Leader Na into the position of Detective Division Chief.

If my direct ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠superior succeeded, I succeeded.

We were in a symbiotic relationship.

However...

"Why isn't this working?"

I sat in the Commando and entered a fugitive's resident registration number into the navigation system, but even after waiting a long time, the red arrow didn't appear. Instead, the same message kept repeating.

I entered up to half the list in my notebook, but I couldn't find a single person.

Just in case, ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠I tried using the Beomjappa app on my phone, but the result was the same.

"...It's not broken, is it?"

If it was, I was in deep trouble.

If I failed to arrest 20 wanted fugitives within 30 days, not only would I fail to level up, but I would also lose access to Beomjappa's information.

I might have to give up on the Team Leader's promotion, and worse, tracking down the sniper who killed my mentor.

"Why is the system suddenly acting up when it was working perfectly fine?"

I had to find the cause of the malfunction first.

I stopped searching and calmly retraced the events of when I successfully leveled up.

"As a level-up reward, the location search function and tracking keywords were unlocked. At Level 1, I was told that entering the resident registration number as a keyword would bring up the location, so I didn't even look at the other settings..."

What was I missing?

Was there something I hadn't checked properly?

"Ah! There's something I haven't opened yet."

I decided to carefully review the navigation menu from the very beginning.

"When I open Target Location Search, the tracking keyword comes first. Then there's the information range and my info... Wait, information range? Could it be because of this?"

As I looked closer, a message I had completely forgotten about flashed in my mind.

"Right, the searchable range. That's what I overlooked."

The tracking range changes based on the Main User's achievements.

This meant the target had to be within that range for the system to guide me.

What was my current achievement level?

"I can find out if I open My Info, right?"

When I tapped My Info, the details I already knew unfurled before me.

The only thing I hadn't known was that last line.

The target had to be within a 30-kilometer radius for the arrow to appear on the navigation screen.

Without knowing that, I had immediately suspected the system was broken.

"Ugh, what a tech illiterate."

Most tech-challenged people rarely read product manuals.

They think reading manuals is a waste of time.

They just press random buttons, and if the function they want works, they're satisfied.

Hard as it is to believe, they even feel a sense of accomplishment from doing that.

Thus, failing to utilize even half of a device's features is a racial trait of tech-illiterate people like me.

"I need to stay sharp from now on."

The navigation system had never once glitched or broken down.

It was just that I, the Main User, had skimmed the manual out of habit.

I began entering the resident registration numbers of the wanted fugitives from my notebook into the keyword search bar one by one.

If no one was within the 30-kilometer radius, I planned to move to a different area and start entering them all over again.

After nineteen failed attempts, the moment I entered the twentieth and final number:

I finally hooked one!

The senior partners of Violent Crimes Team 1 caught the culprit of the robbery-homicide that had occurred at a guesthouse in Sangwon-dong.

The killer was a man in his fifties who had no prior acquaintance with the victim.

Right after the crime, he was caught on CCTV buying cigarettes at a convenience store and handing over blood-stained cash.

They immediately contacted the control center to describe his appearance, and after a three-hour pursuit, they successfully arrested him.

Team Leader Na praised the exhausted team members.

"Good job, everyone."

"Thank you, sir."

Having finally caught the culprit after five days of relentless tracking, they felt deeply moved.

"These random acts of violence are a real problem. If we hadn't caught him today, there would have been another victim."

"Then it would have turned into a serial murder case."

"Indeed. But that guy looked completely out of his mind. I wonder what the verdict will be once he gets a psychiatric evaluation, claims he's a first-time offender, and writes a letter of apology."

"Why worry about that? It'll only stress you out."

"True. Sentencing is the judge's job. By the way, did the rookie go home already?"

It was 9:00 PM.

Although he had allowed him to act as a free agent, he still expected him to report before heading home...

"Huh? Isn't that Detective Min?"

Team Leader Na spotted ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠Corporal Min entering the office.

He was carrying a grown man slung over his shoulder like a wild boar captured in the mountains, looking very much like a hunter.

"Detective Min. What is that?"

"A wanted fugitive. Ham Jung-mo. Age 48. Suspect in armed robbery and murder."

"...He's not dead, is he?"

"He's alive. Just temporarily knocked out—I mean, asleep. He must have been tired from running away all day."

"Anyone can see you beat him unconscious."

"Well, there's no proof of that. Where should I put him? It's probably best to throw him in the holding cell until he wakes up, right?"

"Uh, yeah. Let's do that."

Team Leader Na felt like he was dreaming.

Perhaps it was because his expectations had turned into reality in the dead of night.

Ham Jung-mo, a man whose shadow they hadn't even glimpsed in the three years since his arrest warrant was issued, had been brought in after a single afternoon. And he did it alone.

"I'll be back."

Min Suho dashed out of the office again, looking like a young boy running an errand to buy cigarettes.

Team Leader Na hurriedly called out to stop him.

"Where are you going now?"

"I found another one. He's in Suwon."

"You're going to catch him at this hour?"

"If I don't go now, he might slip away overnight. Since I've already located him, it'll be easier to just bring him in now."

"Alone again...?"

"I'll be quick."

Team Leader Na was left babbling like someone who had just woken up from anesthesia.

Inspector Choi, who had been listening to their conversation from the side, asked, "He just brought in a publicly wanted fugitive, right?"

"Uh, looks like it."

"And that other guy he mentioned...?"

"Well, he didn't say it outright, but it seems likely, doesn't it?"

"Wow, this is insane."

"I told you. That kid isn't normal."

Sergeant Park, standing nearby, asked, "If he does this, what does that make us?"

The three of them had spent five days tracking down a single deranged random killer, yet the rookie had brought in a nationally wanted fugitive in just half a day.

Was catching bad guys really a talent?

Staring blankly at one another, the three of them uttered the exact same words at the same time:

"Want to grab a drink later?"