Shin Haesu clenched his fist with all his might and opened his hand. His palm struck the substitute driver’s face.

Smack—!

Even so, the force remained the same, causing the driver’s body to be pushed back several meters.

Haesu quickly closed in, grabbed the man's collar, and twisted his arm backward.

“Agh! Shit, let go—”

Crack.

“Guaaah!”

Haesu twisted his arm back even further, spitting out his words as if he were about to devour him, syllable by syllable.

“You swung a knife… it’s self-defense, so why… couldn’t I overlook it? Huh?”

“W-what the hell are you talking about?!”

“I mean, I can use excessive force on you.”

Without hesitation, Haesu forcibly bent his elbow in the opposite direction.

Crunch—!

“Guaaaah!”

Holding down his writhing arm with one hand, Haesu picked up his phone and made a call.

“This is Sergeant Shin Haesu from the violent crimes unit at Naeju Station. Reporting an attempted aggravated assault. The location is…”

After the report, he pulled a cable tie from his inner pocket and bound the driver’s wrists. The man, sitting in the corner, glanced at Haesu and muttered under his breath.

“Shit, shit… You’re a detective? Damn it…”

Haesu frowned and silently stared at him.

‘What the hell just happened?’

The situation had been so urgent that he had acted on instinct. Now that he had a moment to think, confusion flooded in. His head felt like it was going to explode.

What had he just experienced? A dream? It felt too vivid for that. The nail that had pierced his hand, the horrifying pain that had struck the back of his head—it all felt like phantom pain lingering in his body.

Bzzzz. Bzzzz.

Just then, his phone rang. An unknown number—no, a now-familiar number. 88 Substitute Driver.

- “Hello, this is 88 Substitute Driving. I was a bit late, but I didn’t see you when I arrived. Where are you?”

Word for word, the same sentence.

Haesu silently ended the call.

At that moment, a faint light appeared in the distance. It was the truck—the one he had seen in that strange future or illusion. The timing, the situation—everything was the same.

This wasn’t just some random dream he could ignore.

‘Did God take pity on me and give me another chance?’

Then, he remembered what he had to do. Haesu picked up his phone again.

- “Hey, what’s up?”

“Let’s break up.”

- “What? Suddenly? Did he tell you?”

“Yeah. Thanks for everything. I’ll come pick up my stuff tomorrow.”

Haesu hung up before he could hear anything more painful.

The case was taken over by detectives from the local precinct, and Haesu was ruled to have acted in self-defense. But that wasn’t the end.

“This was found among the substitute driver’s belongings.”

The detective showed him some items: blue duct tape, a small wire cutter, and an additional folding knife.

Despair turned into hope.

While searching the driver’s home, investigators discovered personal belongings of victims who had recently been murdered.

The way he had approached Haesu and the weapon he had used were identical to previous cases.

The driver’s original plan had been to kill Haesu at the stopping point, then use the navigation to go to his home, where he intended to assault and murder his girlfriend.

However, due to an unforeseen variable—Haesu’s combat skills—he hadn’t even managed a proper swing with his knife before being subdued.

With the present altered, the serial killer, who had previously remained unidentified, was now caught.

[The substitute driver serial killer who terrorized Gangseong-dong is caught while attempting another crime—by a detective.]

┗ Holy shit, LOL. Of all people, he tried to mess with a detective.

┗ At least Korea’s detectives still got it. Dude was drunk and still took down a serial killer.

┗ Total fluke, LOL. What was the task force even doing? They better give that detective a medal.

┗ The bastard’s arms were broken so badly he can’t even wipe his own ass. Serves him right.

┗ Isn’t this police brutality?

┗ You moron, the guy came at him with a knife. You call that excessive force?

┗ Are you the killer’s family or something?

As news spread about the criminal’s condition, the “police brutality” claims occasionally popped up in related articles, but most people believed the detective deserved a commendation or promotion.

The same sentiment was shared among the members of the Violent Crimes Unit 2 at Naeju Station.

“Damn… Our dear Detective Shin can’t even go to a reunion without catching a criminal. That’s badass.”

“Netizens are already looking up who the detective is. You’re a hero now, man.”

“If this goes well, Shin might get promoted after all.”

Haesu sat blankly in his chair, blinking, showing no reaction.

It felt like waking up from a dream. But it was real. It wasn’t a mere vision or a glimpse of the future—it was too vivid, too real.

He hadn’t just seen the future—he had lived through it and returned to the past.

The sensations from that time were still fresh. It wasn’t just something he had observed.

When he had been beaten by those vengeful inmates, he had desperately wished to turn back time.

And now, he concluded—

‘This is a miracle. A real miracle.’

As a result of his actions, the three-month pay cut he had received for excessive force was overturned. Though he didn’t get a special promotion, he was awarded a first-tier salary increase—an equivalent reward.

“Still, it’s a shame he didn’t get an actual promotion. Where else are we going to find a detective who beats criminals like this?”

“That’s exactly the problem! He doesn’t just catch them—he beats the crap out of them! Otherwise, he’d already be a superintendent!”

“Boss, that’s a bit of a stretch.”

Sergeant Shin, don’t you feel regretful?

The youngest member of the team handed over a cup of instant coffee. Haesu accepted it and nodded.

“Well, at least it wasn’t excessive force.”

“Wow… You’re really something. Not just anyone catches a serial killer.”

“Hey, Shin-dol has really mellowed out.”

Haesu let out a small chuckle. It felt strange.

Maybe because he had briefly tasted the end of his life, even just one salary step increase felt like something to be grateful for.

‘Was it a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity? No, they usually say you get three chances.’

Haesu fiddled with the lottery ticket tucked inside his wallet.

Saturday.

Haesu carefully watched the live lottery draw.

‘43, 28, 11, 36, 8, 3…’

He diligently wrote down the winning numbers, repeatedly going over them in his head.

‘…8, 3, okay, I’ve got them all memorized. Now I just want to go back. I want to go back. Please, let me return to the past…’

Haesu wished more desperately than ever to return to the past.

But as if mocking his desperation, nothing happened.

After that, he prayed whenever he got the chance, begging to be sent back, but nothing changed.

Eventually, he gave up, convincing himself that the chance had come only once and would never come again. He decided to live quietly.

That was when—

“Haesu, the Chief is looking for you.”

“The Chief? Looking for Senior Officer Shin?”

“A special promotion? A special promotion?”

Haesu tilted his head in confusion and headed to the Chief’s office.

The Chief, a strict-looking man with a balding head and gold-rimmed glasses, didn’t even bother looking at Haesu when he entered.

“Sir, you called for me?”

“How many days are left in March?”

The Chief still didn’t look at him, focused on his own work.

“Two days left.”

“Two days, huh… Alright, in two days, head to Gangjin, to… the Eastern District Police Station.”

Leave the place he had worked at for over five years? And to a district police station, at that? It was practically a demotion.

Haesu was so taken aback that he asked again.

“...A district station? All of a sudden?”

At that, the Chief furrowed his brows and finally met Haesu’s eyes.

“It’s an order from above. You should’ve behaved better. So what if you caught a serial killer? What kind of nickname is ‘Excessive Force Specialist Detective’? Aren’t you embarrassed?”

“From above…”

The rat-faced Chief was criticizing his conduct, but Haesu had never felt ashamed of his actions.

The law was lacking, so using force was the only way to get the job done.

Meanwhile, that rat of a Chief had probably taken more bribes than he could count. Haesu had strong suspicions, but regretted not gathering evidence earlier.

Gangjin City was known nationwide as the worst place to work, ranking number one in incident reports, violent crimes, and police injuries on duty.

Crack—

The silence in the Chief’s office was broken by the sound of wood splitting.

Haesu had gripped the armrest of a chair so hard that it snapped.

The Chief flinched at Haesu’s strength, then quickly turned his head away, waving his hand dismissively.

“W-what are you doing? Get out there and do your job.”

“...Understood.”

With a cold tone, Haesu gave a brief bow and turned to leave.

The Chief muttered to himself as he looked at the cracked armrest.

“That brute… He’s got nothing but damn brute strength…”

Gangjin City

Number one in incident reports, number one in violent crimes, and number one in police injuries on duty.

The place known as South Korea’s own Gotham City—that was Gangjin.

Shin Haesu barely had a proper farewell party before heading to the Eastern District Police Station in Gangjin.

Since it was an area swamped with cases, the station building itself was relatively large.

Carrying a bag with his uniform inside, Haesu stepped into the station.

“…Shit, yeah, I threw the first punch, but that bastard cursed at my mom first!”

“This is all because the country is going to hell! Who’s going to take responsibility for my life—Ugh.”

“Don’t throw up on the chair! Here, use this bag, throw up in the bag!”

“Hey, you over there! Be quiet!”

People were passed out on the benches, some snoring loudly, others yelling, others vomiting. Officers were running around, trying to keep everything under control.

Unlike his relatively quiet former precinct, this place was already a madhouse in the early evening. Now he understood why they told him to start his first shift in the afternoon rather than the morning.

A female officer with dark circles under her eyes glanced at him and asked,

“What brings you here?”

“Sergeant Shin Haesu. Transferred here as of today.”

“Urk, ugh—”

Something warm splashed onto his leg. Not just liquid, but a thick, heavy mass pressing against his pants, seeping onto his bare skin.

Haesu stopped mid-sentence and looked down.