Chapter 19
Chapter 19
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Translator: uly
Chapter: 19
Chapter Title: Irrational Adaptation Period (5)
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‘What the hell is this guy?’
Inspector Lee Chanwook couldn’t even muster a hollow laugh as he stared at the man brazenly crossing his legs, radiating dissatisfaction and irritably furrowing his brows.
Sure, these days the public treated cops like dirt, but wasn’t this level of blatant disrespect going too far?
He looked furious, but knowing any complaints would just give him a headache, he swallowed his anger and forced a mild, measured tone to reprimand the unruly guardian.
“Ahem, um... sir? Even if you’re dissatisfied, could you please sit properly? This isn’t some street market...”
“I know. You think I don’t get that?”
“...But if you know, then your posture...!”
“Cut it. Just give me the update on the situation.”
“......”
“Not gonna talk?”
“Ahem...! Just like we informed you earlier. Those foreigners assaulted the kids. They’re in the ICU right now. Even as foreigners, with evidence this clear, they can’t escape punishment. On top of that, they’d applied for refugee status... but right now, they’re illegal residents, so aggravated sentencing wouldn’t be out of the question.”
“In other words, prison rice is a lock?”
“The, the phrasing is a bit rough, but yes. Given the current situation, definitely.”
“Hmm.”
“......”
Was he finally grasping the gravity?
Lee Chanwook thought the utterly unflappable guy might finally frown, but against expectations, he stayed perfectly calm, leaving the inspector tilting his head.
How could a guardian be this laid-back?
Tap.
He even looked amused flicking his fingers lightly.
‘...What’s his deal?’
Lee Chanwook shook his head at yet another weirdo.
‘Jackpot?’
It meant he could legally dump those bastards—a straight-up win.
Hell, the situation was so perfect he was half-tempted to slip the cops some cash to max out their sentences.
Just as his brain’s happy circuit started spinning smoothly like it’d been oiled, a plaintive voice echoed in his mind.
“...Shit.”
“Pardon?”
“...Not talking to you, detective. Just mumbling to myself.”
“......”
“Hoo...!”
Moist, teary eyes circled him in real time, on the verge of sobbing.
Oppressive gazes pricking from all sides!
‘Feels even more burdensome now...’
Creating an avatar meant no more mind-reading, which was nice, but her expressiveness had ramped up, making it a total hassle.
“...I’d rather suffer than die.”
Tsk!
Yuseong grumbled but figured the goddess bawling would be worse, so he pulled out his smartphone.
“I’ll handle it, so quit yapping in my head?”
“......”
Not crying?!
‘She’s gotten craftier...’
Yuseong eyed the goddess oddly, unable to shake the feeling he was being tamed.
“You the guardian of those hook-nose pricks?!”
“...Something like that.”
“Ha! The balls! Didn’t you hear the detective?! What those hook-nose bastards did to our kids...!!”
“I heard. Well, their own damn fault.”
“Wha, what the...?!”
“Come on, isn’t it?”
Yuseong shrugged with a sly grin, picking his words like he was curating the most infuriating ones.
“Sure, they were nosy, fine. But your kids swung first, ganged up like clueless idiots, and turned delinquent from shit parenting—that’s on the parents. All self-inflicted, right?”
“You little shit...!!”
Sticking to polite speech throughout, but delivering it in a way that enraged even more—Yuseong was the perfect example. As intended, the man’s face flushed red like boiled octopus, veins bulging; if you didn’t know better, you’d think he was some Eastern Hellboy.
The man spewed curses.
“You fucking punk! Might not forgive even if you apologize! Talking back to an adult like that? Is that how your parents raised you?!”
Even tried family insults, but zero damage.
“My parents raised me right. Didn’t turn thug like your kid. Didn’t suck them dry either. Lucky for me they’re not vermin like you.”
“You little...!”
He lunged like he’d grab his collar, but Yuseong smoothly sidestepped without engaging.
One dead serious, the other grinning like it was a game.
Finally—thud crash!—the man tripped over himself, turning the street sounds into pathetic BGM. It was downright pathetic.
“Yo, you goddamn dog bastard...!”
“C, calm down, sir...”
“I’m perfectly calm. Don’t drag me into your mess.”
“......Please, just stop.”
Why the side-eye?
Makes me wanna gouge those eyeballs out.
Yuseong raised both hands in mock surrender.
“As you saw, I didn’t lift a finger. He came at me first; I just dodged. What, blame me for his own stumble?”
“Yo, you kept provoking him...!”
“Just stating facts, detective. Facts. Let’s stick to them.”
“Wha, what are you...?”
“Isn’t it? Sucks they got beat, sure, but they started it, right? CCTV shows your kids lunged first.”
“Th, that’s...”
“More importantly, the fact: over a dozen piled on at once. Leak this to the press, and the country flips again... You cool with that?”
“N, no, but...”
“Keep painting our side as criminals. Flip it: those punks really innocent?”
“......”
“Just facts?”
“......”
The station fell silent, politeness vanished, atmosphere thick with veiled threats.
The cops weren’t clueless—they knew right from wrong but fixated on juvenile victims, avoiding deeper scrutiny... Yuseong nailed it.
“Why entertain that crap?! The kids got hurt! The kids...!! Why listen to him?!”
One parent sensed the tide turning and lashed out, pointing accusingly.
“Our kid left like that, and he says no fault! Cronyism as usual! You thug bastard! Pulling political strings!!”
“R, right! Kids grow up scrapping. Adults hitting kids is a crime—crime!”
Like whoever yelled loudest won, parents amped up. Yuseong just listened quietly.
His eyes steadily chilling colder.
And then...
“Kim Chan-seong, Woo Jung-jae, Kang Yo-han.”
“...?”
“Kim Min-soo, Jeong Kang-il. Go Il-hwan.”
“......”
“These punks all seniors now, yeah?”
“......”
“Rest are second-years. Two years max left before they’re all adults.”
“......”
Silence descended.
Not just that those were their sons’ names—but how did he know...?
“Two years... If I drag this out that long, what happens to your kids’ futures?”
“......Th, that’s a threat—”
“Not a threat, an example. Juvenile status is the issue now. Once adults, full punishment. Sounds fine to me.”
“......”
“I’ll drag the trial two years, ten if needed. Confident I can torch their college apps and resumes. You lot got that in you?”
“......”
“Oh, detective—no misunderstanding. Not threatening. Just stating my side. They keep coming at me verbally; can’t just take hits. Gotta push back or I’m a chump, haha.”
“......”
The inspector couldn’t nod along.
Cold sweat soaked his back unnoticed.
Like, somehow...
A primal chill swept his body, as if naked before a massive beast?
Throats constricted by pressure, they couldn’t muster a proper response. Forced to hear the follow-up ‘notice’.
“So, anyone gearing up for a mudslinging war, stick around? I’m dead serious.”
“......”
Only then did it dawn on them.
This guy...!
‘He’s a psycho! Total nutjob—!!’
They’d messed with the wrong dude.
“...Wouldn’t wanna meet as enemies.”
“......Agreed.”
“......”
In the holding cell, Leon and his crew watched like they’d caught a one-man show.
At first, it’d looked hopelessly against Leon.
But the moment he walked in, it unfolded like a perfectly scripted stage.
‘He’s not eloquent.’
Not logically airtight—just brutally direct. No persuasion, just relentless jabs like pressure points.
Despite all the shortcomings, Yuseong held the edge because he seized control of the vibe!
Masterfully wielding momentum and intimidation, baiting their rage, turning them hostile! Crushing with sheer dominance, logic be damned!
Seemed emotional, but ‘who’ wielded it turned passion into flow!
‘...Ah, there’s a way to fight like that.’
Leon felt a fierce wave of emotion.
Petty yet intensely so—the adrenaline rush fluttering his brain, rattling his frontal lobe.
Luke, his old comrade, embodied not just the battle-hardened lion’s ferocity, but the fox’s cunning, the serpent’s venom, and a general’s caliber!
Almost...!
‘...Like gazing at Grandfather.’
The shadow of the man he’d idolized flickered across his old ally’s back like an afterimage on Leon’s retina.
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