Seo Sora went to work at a facility where she had received a request.

Seo Jung-woo also headed to the Jeokseong Gate defense line and met Park Cheol-woo.

Park Cheol-woo was not going on an infiltration mission today and was resting in his personal tent behind the defense line.

Seo Jung-woo grinned widely.

“Hey, this guy. You’re finally taking it easy.”

“The liquor you gave me was so good that I drank the whole bottle by myself, and now I have a hangover.”

When monsters attack the defense line, even the injured in the field hospital grab guns and fight. If the line is breached, monsters won’t spare anyone just because they’re wounded.

On the other hand, infiltration missions are only carried out when one is in good physical condition. Entering a monster-infested area while hungover is basically a suicide mission.

“A hangover is better than getting killed. I should bring you liquor more often.”

“Are you trying to turn me into an alcoholic?”

This was one of the frontlines in the fight against monsters. Small low-rank gates were cleared as soon as they were discovered, but the Jeokseong Gate in northern Gyeonggi was not something that could be dealt with so easily.

“Has the army given any news on when they’ll launch an operation to take this place out?”

“Nope. There’s more than one of these giant gates nationwide, and the monsters coming out of here don’t even make money. Plus, this place isn’t near any cities. It keeps getting pushed back in priority.”

“The longer they delay, the more monsters keep crossing over. Last time, there was even one with a camouflage skill. What if a giant monster pops out of the gate?”

“If the government has any sense, they’ll start the operation before that happens.”

Due to space distortion around such large gates, artillery bombardments and airstrikes were impossible. Any shell fired would land in a random civilian area instead of near the gate.

However, tanks could enter the distorted zone directly and attack. A 120mm tank shell could pierce even the thick carapace of an armored beetle in one shot.

But the military mainly used tanks to defend against large monsters outside the gates. If they deployed those expensive machines into monster-infested areas, the electronic systems would short-circuit, or the engines would melt down in no time.

In the end, closing a gate meant sending infantry in to wipe out the monsters. That was common sense in this world.

“I hope the government doesn’t act too late.”

“Jung-woo, if this defense line ever collapses, would you come to save me?”

“I keep telling you, just run before that happens.”

“Anyway, thanks for saving me last time.”

“Oh, come on.”

Seo Jung-woo handed over a USB drive.

“You wanted to hear this, right? I recorded it.”

Park Cheol-woo plugged the USB into his laptop.

After a few quick operations, the song ‘Little Baby Kittens’ sung by the twins began playing through the external speakers.

A smile bloomed on Park Cheol-woo’s face. The lively and adorable voices made him smile unconsciously. But a slight shimmer of tears formed in his eyes.

On his laptop screen, a younger Park Ha-yeon and Park Da-yeon were smiling.

Park Cheol-woo murmured,

“If my twins had grown up, would they have sounded like this?”

Seo Jung-woo answered in his mind.

‘Exactly like this. It’s their voices. They’re the ones singing.’

Although Seo Sora and Yoon Nana’s voices were mixed in, they only served as contrasting roles against the twins’ cuteness.

‘Little Baby Kittens’ was undoubtedly a song meant for the twins.

Seo Jung-woo thought about the parallel dimension branching theory.

‘In that world, Cheol-woo’s daughters are alive. But that doesn’t mean the daughters of this world, who were caught in a sudden gate incident and went missing, never suffered that fate.’

In this world, being caught in a gate incident meant getting eaten by monsters, leaving not even a body behind. It was the worst kind of death.

Seo Jung-woo waited quietly for the song to finish.

After a long moment, Park Cheol-woo finally spoke.

“It’s nice.”

Seo Jung-woo smiled at last.

“Help them sing even better.”

“Yeah, I will.”

Listening to the song again, Park Cheol-woo began writing a message to the twins. This time, he was much more detailed and put even more heart into his words.

After working on it for a while, he suddenly asked,

“By the way, can I meet these four?”

Seo Jung-woo sighed and apologized.

“Sorry. That’s impossible.”

“I’d like to meet at least two of them if I ever get the chance.”

It was common knowledge that the teleportation skill couldn’t transport other people. Someone had once tried to force it, but the result had been tragic.

“Maybe, far in the future, I might be able to show you a video. A long time from now.”

Seo Jung-woo returned to this world.

He needed a full day before he could use his parallel dimension teleportation skill again. Once the cooldown was complete, he could wait as long as he wanted before using it, but he couldn’t activate it before the time was up.

His house wasn’t too far from the police station. Today, he had gone home before teleporting to the other dimension and coming back.

Since becoming a detective, he had already solved three major cases. In a short time, he had racked up enough performance points to greatly boost his team’s record.

One of those cases had even saved the life of Detective Kim Jeong-ho from the neighboring team.

Now, the other detectives of Team 2 didn’t question it too much when he disappeared briefly during the day. They assumed he had his reasons.

When Seo Jung-woo returned, Jo Min-seok pointed at his monitor with his finger.

“Jung-woo, have you seen this?”

“What is it? Did a case break out?”

“Oh, something broke out all right. 4cats blew up!”

Seo Jung-woo quickly checked the monitor.

A post announced that 4cats would be appearing as guests on a radio broadcast that evening.

“Oh, I thought it was something serious. They’ve been on the radio before.”

“They’re rookies, but they’re on the radio every day. This is a big deal.”

From across the desk, Baek Sung-min stood up.

“Their songs are good. Both of them are hits. And they’re all pretty.”

Seo Jung-woo pointed out,

“But people don’t even know what they look like.”

Baek Sung-min lifted his chin proudly.

“That’s why I’m a special fan. I’ve met three of them.”

Yoon Nana had visited the station to personally thank Seo Jung-woo for saving her from a murderer. The twins had accompanied her. Only Seo Sora had avoided coming, not wanting to run into him.

“I should’ve taken a photo with them that time!”

Jo Min-seok tilted his head.

“But really, why doesn’t 4cats appear on TV? They’re on the radio every day.”

ES Entertainment’s president, Oh Dong-cheol, shouted,

“We can never admit it’s because we haven’t choreographed a single routine yet!”

He had just turned down another TV appearance request from a broadcasting station.

Kim Hyeong-jin spoke up.

“We need to hurry and get the kids ready for their dance. At this rate, the four of them will just be standing there singing like a choir. If that happens, rumors will spread that our situation is worse than expected, and we’ll have even more competitors trying to hold us back.”

“I’m looking into it. I am, but we can’t just leave it to anyone. We need the best.”

“Weren’t you trying to get the choreography done under the table before?”

“Yeah, but none of the best are willing to do it on credit.”

“Huh? You were planning to pay on credit? Sigh. This is bad.”

Seo Jung-woo asked Jo Min-seok, “Do you have any information on the Knife Gang?”

“Why the Knife Gang? Those guys were wiped out in a gang war.”

It wasn’t a gang war—it was Seo Jung-woo who annihilated them. In the underworld, the Knife Gang had changed their name to the White Shark Guild.

“I was just curious.”

From across the table, Baek Sung-min spoke up. “I have it. When the Knife Gang’s leaders were massacred, you could hear gunfire, and the whole building burned down. The detectives over there couldn’t even go home because they were busy investigating the case.”

Seo Jung-woo felt sorry for the detectives at that station.

‘Maybe I should have pinned it on another gang? Then they would have had some suspects to catch.’

Baek Sung-min continued explaining. “But while they were digging into the Knife Gang, they found a connection with the Sagori Gang members we arrested. A friend of mine from over there sent me some files, asking me to look into it.”

“That works out well.”

“But why are you so curious about them? Ah!”

Baek Sung-min suddenly leaned over the desk. “Wait, does this smell like a case? If it does, let’s investigate it together, yeah?”

In the underworld, the White Shark Guild had been taken over by Jeon Chang-su after he awakened both detection and shooting skills, assassinating the previous boss. In this world, Jeon Chang-su had been the Knife Gang’s enforcer.

Since Baek Sung-min was offering help, there was no reason to refuse.

“Something about Enforcer Jeon Chang-su’s past seems suspicious.”

Baek Sung-min grinned widely. “Jeon Chang-su! If you’ve got your eyes on him, then there must be something big! Trust me! I’ll dig up everything that bastard did before he died!”

“Ah. Sure. If you’re that eager to make extra work for yourself, be my guest.”

Since Seo Jung-woo arrived here, he had already solved three major cases, but that didn’t mean the other teams would handle his remaining cases for him.

Seo Jung-woo and Baek Sung-min headed out to investigate an armed robbery case.

Baek Sung-min explained as they walked. “The guy we’re about to meet used to run with the guy we’re after—Gwak Cheol-min. I caught both of them before. This guy’s supposedly gone straight, but he might still know something.”

As they walked, Seo Jung-woo suddenly glanced to the side. Something felt off.

‘Hmm?’

Awakening the shooting skill enhances agility, strength, and dynamic vision. In Seo Jung-woo’s case, leveling up the skill through real combat had significantly boosted his dynamic vision.

The detection skill senses murderous intent from monsters. As a side effect, it also sharpens one’s ability to notice discrepancies in people’s behavior or surroundings.

Since Seo Jung-woo had awakened both skills simultaneously, he benefited from their combined effects. One of those effects was easily noticing when someone was trying to avoid him.

‘Deliberately avoiding me?’

The person might have recognized Seo Jung-woo and chosen to steer clear. Or maybe not.

‘Not me. They’re avoiding my side.’

Next to him stood Baek Sung-min.

‘Do they know each other?’

Seo Jung-woo’s eyes scanned the man’s face. Something about it seemed unnatural.

‘Disguise.’

He had fought monsters with camouflage abilities in the underworld. He had even recently taken down a mutant insect-type monster with such a skill.

Compared to that, this disguise was child’s play. He quickly deduced what the man’s real face looked like underneath.

‘It’s Gwak Cheol-min.’

Gwak Cheol-min, walking towards them from the opposite side, suddenly changed direction after spotting Baek Sung-min.

‘He must have just met with his old partner.’

Seo Jung-woo spoke. “Looks like we’ll be finishing early today.”

“Huh?”

“I found Gwak Cheol-min.”

“What kind of nonsense is that? What are you, clairvoyant?”

Seo Jung-woo pointed at a man trying to slip past them along the side of the road. “He’s right there.”

Baek Sung-min quickly turned his head.

But after checking the person, he immediately looked disappointed. “Nah, that’s not him.”

“It is.”

“He doesn’t even look like Gwak Cheol-min.”

“Because he’s in disguise.”

Gwak Cheol-min noticed Seo Jung-woo and Baek Sung-min staring at him and talking. He realized he had been exposed.

“Damn it!”

He immediately bolted into a side alley.

“See? I told you.”

Seo Jung-woo took off after him.

It took Baek Sung-min a moment to process what was happening, but then he also started running. “Hey! Gwak Cheol-min! Stop right there!”

AKX Pictures’ president, Kim Seong-jun, visited the police department’s detective division.

“I’m here to see Detective Seo Jung-woo.”

Violent Crimes Team Leader Kwon Byeong-cheol responded, “He’s out investigating a case. It shouldn’t take too long, but if it’s urgent, you should try calling him.”

“I wouldn’t want to interrupt while he’s working when I’m the one asking for a favor. I have some free time today, so would it be alright if I waited here?”

“Ah, sure. Let’s take you to the break room.”

Robbery suspect Gwak Cheol-min knew this alleyway well.

Not because he had lived here, but because he was meticulous—he always secured escape routes before committing a robbery. He had memorized this alley while analyzing possible getaways.

Moreover, Gwak Cheol-min was naturally fast. Even when caught in the act, he was rarely apprehended.

He sprinted down the alley, suddenly turning into a side path to shake off his pursuers. He did this several times, gaining confidence.

‘I lost them! Of course, I did. No way a cop could keep up with me!’

As soon as he had that thought, he heard a strange sound behind him. It was similar to footsteps, but from an oddly high position.

He turned around.

Seo Jung-woo wasn’t running on the ground. He was sprinting along the top of a wall.

“What the hell?!”

The wall he was running on ended. But it didn’t matter—Seo Jung-woo pushed off from the edge like a long jumper, soaring through the air as if walking on air, leaping over the alley. The moment his feet touched the opposite wall, he kept running. He was getting even faster.

Gwak Cheol-min was horrified.

“What the hell is that?!”

He realized that no matter how much he ran, he would be caught within seconds.

“Shit!”

Desperately, he spun around, reaching into his pocket. His fingers closed around a jackknife.

Then, he saw Seo Jung-woo descending straight at him from above.