As soon as Seo Jung-woo dashed out of the alley, he spotted a rather large prefabricated warehouse.

However, the entrance to the warehouse wasn’t on his side. The only opening on this wall was a small window positioned far higher than a person’s height.

Seo Jung-woo didn’t slow down. In fact, he ran even faster, then kicked off the ground, stepping on the warehouse wall as he leaped upward. The moment his toes made contact with the wall, he pushed off to propel himself even higher.

As he skimmed past the small window, he quickly glanced inside. He spotted Lawyer Lee Cheon-sang and Lee Yoon-mi. Lee Cheon-sang was raising a knife, about to stab Lee Yoon-mi.

Seo Jung-woo brushed past the window, grabbed the roof with his left hand, and at the same time, reached inside his clothes with his right hand.

It was a habitual action, but his hand did not find his gun. If he had his pistol, he could fire a few rounds into Lee Cheon-sang from this position and resolve the crisis instantly. But he didn’t have it.

Regretting the gun he had left behind would be a waste of time.

He kicked the window frame with all his strength. The glass and frame of the prefabricated warehouse shattered simultaneously and fell inward.

A gaping hole was left in the wall.

Seo Jung-woo threw himself through the opening.

Lee Cheon-sang, startled by the sound of the shattering window, turned around in shock.

Seo Jung-woo observed him and thought:

Too slow. His reaction is sloppy. The Lee Cheon-sang from that world would’ve grabbed the hostage first in a situation like this.

Seo Jung-woo landed softly on the warehouse floor like a cat. His body sank low before springing forward again. His target was Lee Cheon-sang.

Flustered, Lee Cheon-sang swung the knife—originally meant for Lee Yoon-mi—wildly in Seo Jung-woo’s direction.

“W-what the hell?!”

Too slow. The movement was too exaggerated.

Seo Jung-woo leaned slightly to the side, easily avoiding the knife. With his left hand, he grabbed Lee Cheon-sang’s right wrist. At the same time, he drove his right fist into Lee Cheon-sang’s torso.

“Urgh!”

Lee Cheon-sang’s body lifted off the ground. Since Seo Jung-woo was holding onto his right arm, he didn’t go flying toward Lee Yoon-mi.

Seo Jung-woo twisted the captured wrist and slammed Lee Cheon-sang onto the floor.

Lee Cheon-sang’s body crashed down, face-first.

“Guh!”

Seo Jung-woo wrenched his arm, snapping it completely.

Only then did the knife slip from Lee Cheon-sang’s grasp.

Seo Jung-woo pressed his knee against Lee Cheon-sang’s back and grabbed his head with both hands.

For a moment, he considered twisting it a full rotation, then hesitated.

Ah. I can’t just kill him in this world.

He checked Lee Cheon-sang’s condition. Several teeth were broken, his nose was shattered, and blood was streaming down his face. His eyes had rolled back.

Neutralized.

Leaving the unconscious Lee Cheon-sang behind, he rushed over to check on Lee Yoon-mi.

The knife wound is deep.

In that world, an injury of this degree would be easy to treat.

But in this world, he lacked knowledge of its medical capabilities. He didn’t know whether such a wound could be treated here.

Lee Yoon-mi was conscious. Lee Cheon-sang had deliberately woken her up to insult and berate her before attempting to kill her.

Just moments ago, she had been terrified of Lee Cheon-sang. But now, someone even more terrifying had appeared out of nowhere.

Terrified, she pleaded with Seo Jung-woo.

“P-please, spare me!”

Hearing her voice, Seo Jung-woo felt slightly relieved.

Her lungs seem fine, at least.

He spoke.

“I’m a police officer.”

“What?”

Even in her frightened state, Lee Yoon-mi couldn’t help but blurt out in disbelief.

A man who had smashed through the window and, in the blink of an eye, utterly destroyed Lee Cheon-sang was now claiming to be a cop.

It was hard to believe.

Seo Jung-woo took out his police ID and showed it to her.

“I really am. You’re safe now.”

The name “Seo Jung-woo” was clearly printed on the badge.

Lee Yoon-mi burst into tears.

“I want to live. But it hurts so much. What’s going to happen to me?”

Seo Jung-woo checked her wounds again.

In that world, she would definitely survive…

That world had advanced medical treatments for cuts and lacerations. Because of the constant influx of monster-related injuries, not just surgeons but even internists and ophthalmologists knew how to handle such wounds.

Kim Seong-jun is wealthy, so if this were that world, he’d just use a red potion to heal her completely, leaving no scars. But in this world…

“Of course you’ll survive. Your boyfriend has been desperately looking for you.”

Detective Baek Sung-min sprinted toward the warehouse.

“I just heard something break in there!”

Detective Kim Jeong-ho, from the adjacent team, came running from the opposite direction.

“I heard a scream too!”

Baek Sung-min grabbed the warehouse door and rattled it. It was locked.

“Damn it! Break it down!”

Suddenly, the door swung open.

Baek Sung-min, startled, instinctively raised both fists and stepped back. Kim Jeong-ho reached for his issued firearm.

Baek Sung-min was taken aback when he saw the person who had opened the door.

“Huh?”

Seo Jung-woo had swung the warehouse door wide open from inside.

Baek Sung-min asked, “Why are you coming out of there?”

“Did you call 119?”

“Huh? Oh, yeah. We called them in advance so we could act immediately if we found the victim. The ambulance just arrived.”

“Tell them to come quickly. Miss Lee Yoon-mi is badly injured.”

“Huh? What? Miss Lee Yoon-mi?”

Baek Sung-min rushed inside.

“Miss Lee Yoon-mi! We’re the police! You’re safe now…”

He trailed off, startled. There was another person inside, bleeding profusely.

Baek Sung-min quickly shouted to Kim Jeong-ho, who was behind him.

“There’s another victim! Call another ambulance! One won’t be enough!”

Seo Jung-woo said, “That guy’s not a victim. He’s the perpetrator.”

“Huh? What? Who?”

“The culprit.”

“But he’s bleeding so much?”

“Because he resisted with a knife.”

Baek Sung-min checked Lee Cheon-sang’s condition again. He wasn’t just bleeding from his face—his right arm was also broken and twisted.

“Jung-woo, last time you broke that serial killer’s leg. Now it’s an arm…”

“He was armed with a knife and resisting. It was too dangerous, so I had no choice.”

Baek Sung-min swallowed hard and asked, “Are you sure you really had no choice?”

“I barely managed to subdue him in time. Phew. I almost got stabbed.”

The first ambulance took Lee Yoon-mi away immediately.

Lee Cheon-sang was put into the second ambulance that arrived later. Detectives boarded that one with him.

Baek Sung-min walked around the warehouse to check for any other issues.

He looked up at the window Seo Jung-woo had entered from on the opposite wall.

“Min-seok, how do you think Jung-woo got up to that high window?”

Jo Min-seok pointed at footprints left on the middle of the wall.

“Looks like he ran from that side, jumped, pushed off the wall, and went up.”

“Is that even possible for a human?”

“It works in movies.”

“That’s because they use wires. You see any wires here?”

“Good point.”

Baek Sung-min checked the height of the footprint on the wall. It was at his face level.

He bent his knees and jumped as high as he could from where he stood.

Not even close.

Baek Sung-min muttered, “Jung-woo… isn’t he weird?”

“What now?”

“A guy who should be in the Olympics—why did he become a cop?”

“He’s insanely good at catching criminals. In just a few days, he’s taken down two murderers.”

“Well, yeah, there’s that.”

Kim Seong-jun was released from the police station.

Team Leader Kwon Byeong-cheol unlocked his handcuffs and apologized.

“There seems to have been a misunderstanding. Please don’t take it too personally…”

But receiving an apology wasn’t Kim Seong-jun’s priority right now.

“Where is Yoon-mi?”

“She’s at the hospital…”

“Which hospital?”

As soon as Lee Yoon-mi arrived at the hospital, she was rushed into surgery.

Kim Seong-jun waited outside the operating room until the surgery was over.

When it ended, the doctor came out looking for a guardian.

Kim Seong-jun quickly approached and asked, “How is Yoon-mi?”

“The surgery went well. You don’t have to worry.”

“Phew… Thank you.”

“It’s a good thing she got to the hospital early. If it had been even an hour later, she would’ve…”

“What?”

“Ah, never mind.”

The doctor said nothing more, but Kim Seong-jun understood exactly what he had meant.

The detective team finished their on-site investigation and returned to the police station.

Team Leader Kwon Byeong-cheol praised Seo Jung-woo.

“Wow, our rookie did it again. You saved Miss Lee Yoon-mi. The doctor said if she had been even an hour later, she wouldn’t have made it.”

“That’s a relief.”

“Good job. Do you need anything? Just say the word.”

“Time off.”

“Huh? Time off?”

Kwon Byeong-cheol checked the time. It was 3 p.m.

“Already?”

“I fought hard with the perp, so my body’s…”

“Oh. But what about the interrogation? Lee Cheon-sang was sent to the hospital because he was so badly injured, but we’re planning to start questioning him in the evening.”

“I don’t have to be there, but if I do it, can I handle it my way?”

Baek Sung-min, who had been listening, was startled.

‘Every time Jung-woo catches a criminal, he breaks their limbs. And when he interrogates them, he’s ridiculously rough. If he pulls another stunt like last time…’

Lee Cheon-sang was a lawyer.

‘That guy would definitely file charges immediately. He’d latch onto it and wear us down.’

Baek Sung-min quickly interjected.

“He should go! Of course, he should go home! Team Leader! Let’s give Jung-woo the rest of the day off, right?”

Kwon Byeong-cheol laughed.

“After today, how could I refuse? I’d even approve a vacation if you asked.”

Seo Jung-woo wasted no time.

“Then I’ll take tomorrow off as well.”

“Huh? I was just saying that… Wait, are you serious?”

Baek Sung-min took Seo Jung-woo's side.

“Go. Take your leave! No, just don’t show up tomorrow and pretend you worked. We’ll take care of everything for you!”

Team Leader Kwon Byeong-cheol smacked Baek Sung-min’s back with his palm.

“Are you the one approving leave requests?”

“Ow! We just have to work hard to cover for him!”

“You think the commissioner won’t be looking for him tomorrow?”

“Ah, right. Jung-woo, make sure you come in tomorrow.”

“Yes.”

After Seo Jung-woo left early, Detective Kim Jung-ho from the neighboring team asked Baek Sung-min.

“Hey. I know your rookie is skilled, but isn’t he a bit too reckless?”

“He’s been like that since his first day here.”

“Shouldn’t you discipline him a bit?”

“Discipline?”

Images of criminals with broken limbs and blood pouring from their wounds flashed through Baek Sung-min’s mind.

The warehouse window Seo Jung-woo broke through today was extremely high. No matter how much Baek Sung-min jumped, he couldn’t even touch the frame, but Jung-woo had scaled the wall, smashed through the window, and taken down the suspect in an instant.

In both the previous and today’s cases, the criminals had knives. But despite that, Jung-woo, who fought them empty-handed, didn’t have a single scratch.

It wasn’t just about fighting skills. In just a few days here, he had solved two major cases. And he had done it all alone.

Baek Sung-min swallowed hard.

“Well… He’s the rookie, but he doesn’t feel like one.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

Feeling embarrassed as he spoke, Baek Sung-min suddenly got angry.

“Discipline him? What is this, the military? We’re police officers sworn to uphold the law, not some old-school boot camp!”

After her surgery, Lee Yun-mi was moved to the intensive care unit. As it was right after the operation, visitation was not allowed.

Her secretary came to find Kim Seong-jun and reported.

“Sir, rumors of your arrest have spread, and the investors are in an uproar. You need to return to the office and handle the situation.”

AKX Pictures was a production company that gathered investors to create movies and dramas.

Kim Seong-jun forced himself to move his reluctant feet.

“Alright. Let’s go.”

Once inside the car, he gave his secretary an order.

“Before we head to the office, stop by the police station first.”

Detective Baek Sung-min flinched when he saw Kim Seong-jun walk in.

‘Was I too rough with him earlier? He’s a big-shot movie producer—what if he hires a lawyer and sues me?’

His worries were unfounded.

Kim Seong-jun bowed his head toward the detectives.

“Thank you!”

Baek Sung-min grinned.

‘Phew, so he’s not here to complain!’

“Oh, no need to thank us. We were just doing our duty as officers.”

Kim Seong-jun looked around and asked.

“By the way, where is that detective?”

“Huh? Who?”

“The one who saved Yun-mi.”

“Ah, Jung-woo? He’s our Team 2 rookie, and I trained him. Hahaha!”

Team Leader Kwon Byeong-cheol asked.

“Detective Seo Jung-woo isn’t here at the moment. What brings you to see him?”

“I just wanted to thank him in person, but I suppose I won’t get the chance.”

In the back seat of the car on the way to the company, Kim Seong-jun muttered to himself.

“Detective Seo Jung-woo…”

The secretary, who was driving, spoke up a little louder.

“Ah, Seo Jung-woo!”

Kim Seong-jun leaned forward.

“Do you know him?”

“No, I only know his name. It wasn’t mentioned on TV, but if you look into the articles, you can find it.”

“Articles?”

“Detective Seo Jung-woo is the one who caught the serial killer in just 24 hours. The news didn’t reveal his name, but if you dig a bit, you’ll find it.”

“That case?”

“Yes. The police couldn’t even find a lead for years, but Seo Jung-woo caught him within two hours of the crime occurring and saved the victim.”

“Do you know how he did it?”

“Apparently, he spotted the suspect watching the crime scene by chance. He got incredibly lucky.”

Kim Seong-jun leaned back against the seat and thought about everything that had happened to him and Yun-mi today.

‘Yun-mi was stabbed, kidnapped, the police arrived, I was falsely arrested, we found out the real culprit was Lee Cheon-sang, Yun-mi was rescued, and that bastard was arrested… All of that happened in less than two hours.’

And the one who single-handedly resolved everything was the same detective who caught the serial killer just days ago—also in under two hours.

AKX Pictures’ president, Kim Seong-jun, was certain.

“That wasn’t luck.”

“Sir?”

“I experienced it myself, and it’s almost unbelievable. That’s not luck—it’s real skill.”