What an Ironic Coincidence (5)
What an ironically perfect timing. The sun rose, birds chirped, and a refreshing new day began. The Eastern 7th Police Substation was bustling from the morning.
"I'm heading out?"
"Yes, Senior. Have a good rest. Get some solid sleep."
The night shift officers, having finished their all-nighter, yawned hugely as they left the station. Filling their spots were the day shift cops, shaking off their drowsiness with a cup of instant coffee mix.
"Ugh, I barely slept. Some asshole came in yesterday and pissed me off so bad, I couldn't sleep at night."
"Yeah? Don't get startled—head on in. That asshole filed a complaint before leaving at dawn. You've got paperwork to do."
"...What? What the hell did I even do—"
"Alright, alright, you chatty old uncles. Cut the chit-chat and let's do morning roll call?"
"Yes, Chief!"
The rustle of handover documents exchanged. Stories of incidents piled up overnight. Raphael's voice conducting the morning briefing amid the lively station atmosphere.
Even in that boisterous interior, there was one notably quiet spot.
-Nod.
"..."
-Nod.
In the corner of the station, Kang Jin-ho was dozing so intensely it looked like he might slam his forehead into the monitor.
And for good reason—the fatigue from the past few days surpassed any normal person's imagination.
A week had passed since the Black Snake Faction robbery incident.
In that time, Kang Jin-ho had been dragged everywhere, grinding through a murderous schedule day and night. Case reports, incident logs, headquarters briefings... He could've used two bodies and still fallen short.
Of course, the rewards matched the hardship.
He'd received a commendation plaque in the name of the Police Chief, pocketed a nice bonus, and even got his face in the paper.
But had it lived up to his expectations?
...Kinda iffy.
For starters, he still hadn't checked exactly how much karma he'd earned from chasing off the Grade 1 Villain.
Processing...
He hadn't apprehended the villain himself, just scared him off, so he wasn't expecting much... but seeing the status window still say "Processing" left a nagging itch.
Plus, the paper had run this flashy headline:
But these days, hardly anyone reads physical papers. And the article referred to him anonymously as "an officer's quick thinking"—a "favor" from the President, though Kang Jin-ho didn't know that.
His commendation only buzzed in police internal networks—who cared about some rookie getting a plaque? "Just the usual award shuffle," they'd shrug.
So Kang Jin-ho chalked it up to "Hero cities make it harder to get famous than I thought" and let go of his hopes.
In the game, he'd been in charge of the whole city, so he had no real gauge on what it took for one person to blow up. "Keep grinding, fame'll come eventually" was his mindset now.
The only real bummer? Trace still hadn't resumed activities.
She'd promised to spread word about him to other heroes when she did. But right now, she was holed up at home on break.
Actually, this was Trace's own consideration. Kang Jin-ho seemed fine on the surface after facing the Grade 1 Villain, but how could a normal guy brush off death's terror unscathed?
She figured "He needs at least a month to rest without stimuli" and held off on the rumors.
Kang Jin-ho had a hunch but knew now wasn't the time to say "I'm totally fine," so he stayed quiet. He was exhausted enough to drop dead anyway.
"Ugh..."
If this were his old shut-in gamer body, he'd be hospitalized for overwork by now. Luckily, some recent burst of vitality let him tough it out with mere nodding off.
"...Country."
A faint voice drifted in. Half-asleep, Kang Jin-ho mumbled back.
"Wake up."
"Gah!"
He jolted awake, head snapping up. There stood Son Jin-woo, the famously no-nonsense senior officer.
"A civilian's here. I know you've been through hell since that day, but dozing openly like this is a problem. If you're that beat, crash in the break room or something."
"...Yes, sir. Thank you."
"Yeah."
Son Jin-woo was known for strict rule-following, so this newbie leniency had reason.
Recently, the Grade 1 Villain Black Flame's alley appearance had been kept ultra-secret—limited to top government brass, Hero Association leaders, and the 7th Substation crew. To prevent panic from a city-wrecker threat.
Long-time Light City cops knew the terror firsthand. A typical rookie might quit on the spot.
But Kang Jin-ho showed up unfazed next day and powered through the grind.
'Tough kid.' To the veterans, he looked like a dutiful newbie soldiering on through trauma.
(His startled "Gah!" just fueled the theory. Truth: just spooked from dozing.)
Son left with a curt "Keep it up."
"Jin-ho, you were sleeping like a baby, huh?"
Only then did he notice Park Eun-young across the desk, chin propped, beaming cheekily.
"Ah, yeah... Aren't you tired, sunbae?"
"I'm good."
Park had faced the same villain and schedule, yet her skin glowed flawless, mood chipper—uncannily fine.
"Hey, Park. Newbie. Good work, both. I'm crashing the second I get home."
"Yes, sunbae. Head on out."
Oddly, no one at Eastern 7th worried about or side-eyed Park Eun-young.
Her quirky fourth-dimensional vibe was infamous here. 'Eun-young? She's the girl who ate triangle kimbap over corpse pics. Her wiring's just different.' 'Honestly, sociopath vibes sometimes... but she gets shit done. Pretty too. Good enough.' They figured her odd emotional makeup armored her mentally.
"Anyway, Jin-ho, you really okay?"
"Huh? Yeah... I'm fine. Just startled earlier."
"Good. Thought maybe trauma hit. First time seeing a Grade 1 Villain, right?"
"...Yes."
"Looked it up—rookie cops who eyeball a Grade 2 or higher quit over 50% within a week. Lucky your mental's steel."
"Thanks."
"Heh, where'd we get a gem like you?"
She reached to pat his head approvingly but switched to shoulder taps instead.
"Gonna sleep more?"
"Nah. Wide awake now."
"Cool. Want a drink? Veggie juice?"
"...Veggies no—coffee okay?"
"Veggies are healthy in the morning."
As they bantered trivially—
-Ding.
"Excuse me, anyone here?"
An elderly man in a fancy suit shuffled hesitantly into the station.
"What can we do for you?"
Park cut off mid-chat, greeting him with a warm smile.
"Well..."
The Grandpa, new to stations, gawked around curiously before spotting Kang Jin-ho—his face lighting up.
"You!"
"Me?"
"The cop from the paper, right? Took asking around forever to find you."
He pulled a crumpled newspaper clipping from his pocket. It showed Kang Jin-ho awkwardly grinning with a police brass.
Surprisingly, this Grandpa was one of Light City's rare print subscribers.
"This genius anonymous officer—they match your face perfect."
"Yeah, that's me... What's up?"
"What else? Citizen needs cop help."
"Help?"
Park's eyes sparkled at the word, though she'd stayed quiet.
"Yes, miss officer. See, I run a restaurant..."
"Hold up. Start from the beginning, slow."
Kang straightened his uniform, ready to listen.
A month later, his karma quota had reset.
Time to solve a new case.