Six men from the Kangsoi Gang blocked the hospital corridor with solemn expressions.

The rest of the group, including the man carrying Mo Chang-gwi on his back, hurried toward the elevator.

The men blocking Shin Haesu’s path raised their blunt weapons.

“Sorry, Detective.”

“It’s fine.”

Haesu gripped the iron rod horizontally and charged at them. Caught off guard by the unexpected attack, the men hesitated, unsure of how to react, when Haesu’s rod struck them.

Thud! Thwack!

“Ughhh!”

The two men at the front were hit directly and fell backward, while the others were helplessly pushed back, caught on the rod.

Thud! Crash!

In an instant, all six men collapsed. Haesu attempted to step over them, but one man desperately grabbed his ankle.

Haesu looked down with cold eyes and smashed the man’s hand with the iron rod.

Crunch!

“Aaargh!”

Shaking off the grip easily, Haesu ran after the man carrying Mo Chang-gwi. But by then, they had already entered the elevator, and the doors were more than halfway closed.

Beep— Clunk.

Arriving just a second too late, Haesu pressed the open button, but the doors wouldn’t budge. The hospital ward was on the sixth floor. Without hesitation, Haesu dashed into the emergency stairwell, practically flying down the steps.

The men who had fallen quickly scrambled up and chased after him, but he ignored them.

Inside the closed elevator.

Mo Chang-gwi, seemingly unconscious on the burly man’s back, slowly opened his eyes. He locked eyes with another man standing behind him.

“Peekaboo.”

Mo Chang-gwi suddenly reached out with both hands and twisted the man’s neck.

Thud. Thud. Thud—

As expected, the elevator stopped not at the first floor, but at the underground parking level.

Haesu jammed the iron rod against the emergency stairwell door to block it.

Two vans were parked in front of the elevator. Each had a driver inside, but rather than stepping out, they ducked their heads, trying to stay out of sight.

—Ding! Basement Level 1. Doors opening.

Beeep—

The elevator doors slowly slid open, and a man with a caved-in skull tumbled out onto the floor.

Inside the elevator, blood was splattered everywhere, and bodies lay strewn about.

In the center stood a single man, dressed in a hospital gown drenched in blood.

‘Idiots…’

No matter the situation, Mo Chang-gwi’s hands should never have been left free. Haesu furrowed his brow and mentally commanded a reset.

But nothing happened. A brief moment of panic surged through him, but he quickly forced himself to stay focused. The man before him was not one to allow even the slightest lapse in attention.

Mo Chang-gwi spotted Haesu and sneered.

“What will you do this time, without a gun?”

“You don’t have a knife either.”

Instead of a knife, Mo Chang-gwi was holding a hammer. In his left hand, not his dominant right. His right arm had been broken once and hadn’t healed properly, and his left arm had also been shot, leaving it far from functional.

“Heehee!”

He bared his teeth and charged at Haesu.

Swish! Swish—

Haesu leaned back to dodge the hammer’s terrifying swings, then used the recoil like a spring to propel himself forward, launching a punch.

But Mo Chang-gwi slightly pulled back as well, narrowly avoiding Haesu’s fist. The difference in reach—if Haesu had been bare-handed, he might not have evaded it completely.

Swish! Swish! Thud—

A series of rapid exchanges followed. Both men only landed light hits, wary of each other. Even in his worst condition, Mo Chang-gwi’s reflexes and eyesight remained extraordinary. If the fight dragged on, Haesu, who had no weapon against the hammer, would be at a disadvantage.

Raising his guard high to protect his head, Haesu suddenly rushed forward, closing the distance.

“Wide open here!”

Thwack—!

The hammer struck Haesu’s side. He could feel his ribs cracking.

But Haesu’s eyes glinted with determination. Clenching his teeth, he charged forward, forcing Mo Chang-gwi back into the elevator.

Bang!

Pressing him against the back wall, Haesu finally lowered his guard and spoke.

“Got you.”

Mo Chang-gwi’s eyes widened, as if to say, ‘So what?’ But he was overestimating himself.

With his forearm pressed against Mo Chang-gwi’s chest, Haesu rained down relentless punches to his jaw and face.

Thud! Thud! Crack! Splat!

Mo Chang-gwi dropped the hammer and tried to push Haesu away, but his strength was failing.

Thud—

His face was so mangled it was barely recognizable as he slumped down.

Haesu’s gaze fell on Mo Chang-gwi’s hands, his eyes gleaming.

“Might as well take care of this too.”

Dragging him to a spot outside the CCTV’s view, Haesu used the hammer to pound Mo Chang-gwi’s hands until they were crushed flat.

His hands were pulverized beyond use, resembling nothing more than dried fish. But already unconscious, Mo Chang-gwi didn’t even groan.

Swish—

Haesu turned around, still gripping the bloodstained hammer, and found the Kangsoi Gang members who had just broken through the emergency stairwell door.

Locking eyes with him, they flinched and instinctively stepped back.

“Stay put and surrender quietly.”

“Y-yes! We understand!”

One of the men reflexively shouted. Just then, the detectives from the Violent Crimes Unit 1 and 2 arrived. The hospital staff had called them the moment the chaos broke out.

Seeing Detective Oh Kang-seok stepping out of a car, Haesu finally discarded the hammer and trudged toward the stairwell, exhausted.

“I need to go rest now.”

After arresting Mo Chang-gwi and the Kangsoi Gang members, the Violent Crimes Unit 1 reviewed the hospital’s elevator CCTV footage.

It showed Mo Chang-gwi, supposedly unconscious, suddenly springing to life and butchering the men inside within seconds. Even through the screen, the sheer brutality of his movements sent chills down the spine. One of the younger detectives shuddered.

“That guy’s a monster.”

“Seriously. He’s terrifying.”

It was hard to think otherwise. Even with his body in shambles, he had effortlessly slaughtered eight well-built men, all wielding weapons.

Then, Haesu appeared in the footage. Seeing him, Detective Oh Kang-seok smirked.

“There’s always another monster to hunt one.”

The other detectives nodded in agreement. When Mo Chang-gwi was cornered and subjected to Haesu’s barrage of punches, some even winced.

Regardless, thanks to a single patient in the hospital, the worst serial killer had been kept from escaping into society.

In the hospital room.

Shin Haesu gazed at the dark night sky beyond the window, his expression grave.

‘Did I lose my reset ability after coming so close to death?’

Among the members of the Kangsoi faction who boarded the elevator, two were dead, and most of the others were seriously injured. It was more than enough to trigger a reset.

Yet, no matter how many times Haesu called for a reset, time did not rewind.

‘Wait, the conditions?’

Haesu carefully went over the conditions again:

1. Once per day.

2. A scene where someone has died or suffered a critical injury.

3. A sincere desire to go back.

‘Sincere…?’

That last condition caught him. Had he truly, sincerely wanted to go back when the gang members lay collapsed in the elevator?

He couldn’t say with certainty that he had. Without realizing it, he had started to categorize who deserved to be saved through a reset.

It wasn’t clear yet. Maybe his reset ability really had disappeared.

He would only find out for sure once he returned to work.

After being discharged from the hospital, Mo Chang-gwi was imprisoned in Hyoseong Prison, the highest-security facility.

Haesu, along with the Violent Crimes Unit 1 team members, received commendations, and he was even promoted alone.

On the day he received his commendation, each of his colleagues in Unit 1 had something to say as they parted ways.

“Sargent Shin—no, now it’s Officer Shin—make sure to apply to our team when the transfer season comes.”

“Putting your life on the line to make an arrest even off duty—Officer Shin, you’re a real cop. A true officer.”

“Don’t worry and apply. We’ll risk our lives to bring you into our team.”

As his teammates kept giving him thumbs-up, Haesu bowed his head slightly.

“Your words alone mean a lot. Take care, everyone.”

After the gathering, at Shin Haesu’s home.

As soon as he arrived, he gathered all the scattered cigarettes and lighters and threw them into the trash. Then, he headed to the gym.

He had been complacent. Every night, the fight with Mo Chang-gwi replayed in his mind.

He visualized scenarios where they fought while both were in perfect condition, and where they both wielded knives. The probability of his victory didn’t exceed 30%.

‘The world is vast, and there are many strong foes.’

For years, he hadn’t encountered anyone exceptionally strong, and his training had grown lax.

Haesu decided—no more smoking. He would strengthen his body even further.

Bang! Pop!

“Wow!”

“Officer Shin, congratulations on your promotion!”

“Welcome back from the hospital!”

At the Dongbu Precinct, Shin Haesu was welcomed with party poppers as he returned after two months.

It was a relatively quiet morning, but one side of the precinct was still busy dealing with intoxicated individuals.

Feeling somewhat guilty, Haesu watched as Officer Lim entered, carrying a cake with a single lit candle.

“Officer Shin, you’ve been through so much. Congratulations on your promotion and your discharge!”

“Thank you.”

Haesu gave a brief thanks, blew out the candle, and practically snatched the cake.

“Now, let’s get to work.”

His rigid attitude made the team leader wave both hands dismissively.

“Come on, we can’t send someone who got stabbed and shot straight back out. Just stay on standby for now.”

“If that were the case, I wouldn’t have come to work. I’m heading out. Officer Lim.”

“Yes, sir!”

And just like that, Haesu immediately took Officer Lim and left the precinct.

While patrolling in the squad car, an early-morning report of public drunkenness came in. When they arrived, they found a middle-aged man causing a scene. In the commotion, he tripped and fell onto a broken glass bottle, piercing his eye.

“Ugh…! Aaahhh!”

The paramedics hadn’t arrived yet. Looking at the glass embedded in his eye, Haesu could see blood and a clear fluid oozing out.

It was lodged deep. There was almost no doubt—he would go blind.

On the ground nearby was the man’s wallet. Inside, there was a photo of him with two teenage children. No sign of a wife—he was probably raising them alone.

Compassion for the kids surged within him.

‘Would blindness be enough for a reset…?’

The moment he thought that, the world around him changed in an instant.

“Welcome back from the hospital!”

He was back at the precinct, right when he had just arrived for work.

Haesu clenched his fist, celebrating inwardly. His reset ability hadn’t disappeared after all.

That day, he made sure to patrol near the area where the incident had occurred. When the middle-aged man started acting up, Haesu arrested him before he could get hurt, preventing the eye injury entirely.

And just like that, after two months, he spent a busy day on duty until his shift ended at 5 PM.

Vrrrrm—

On his way home, Haesu rode his motorcycle, maintaining a steady 30 km/h as he passed by a girls’ high school.

It was a peaceful scene—high school girls giggling at nothing as autumn leaves fell around them.

Screeeech—!

“Aaaah!”

A white sedan suddenly veered toward the school and hit one of the girls.

“Kyaaaah!”

That wasn’t the worst part. The real problem was that the girl was now pinned between the car and the school’s brick wall.

It seemed like the driver had been trying to make a U-turn in front of the school and lost control.

The girl was gasping, unable to even scream from the pain, as if her organs were being crushed.

Inside the sedan, a middle-aged woman was screaming in panic.

Vroooom—

Then, as if by mistake, the car’s wheels spun, pushing forward even harder. The girl’s face turned deathly pale, blood spilling from her mouth. Her pristine white uniform was stained red.

“Son of a—”

Haesu threw his motorcycle aside and ran to yank the car’s door handle. But it wouldn’t budge. He pounded on the window, but the driver only screamed back at him.

Grinding his teeth in frustration, Haesu slammed his elbow into the window, shattering it, then reached in to grab the woman by the collar and pulled her out.

“Kyaaah! What are you doing?!”

Ignoring her, he shifted the gear to neutral and pushed the car backward.

Slide—

As the car moved, the girl collapsed limply to the ground. Haesu quickly rushed to check her condition.

“Hey, stay with me.”

Her eyes were half-open, her gaze unfocused but still there. Her breathing was weak.

With her organs compressed, moving her before paramedics arrived could make things worse. Haesu shoved away the driver, who was trying to lift the girl, and waited.

Thankfully, a student had called 911 immediately, so an ambulance arrived swiftly.

“Can you hear me? Do you see me?”

As she was placed on a stretcher, the girl whimpered as she answered the paramedic.

“I… I can’t feel my legs…”