The 119 ambulance arrived at the scene. Since they had contacted 119 immediately after the operation started, the discovery of Yoon Nana and the ambulance’s arrival happened almost simultaneously.

The paramedics loaded Yoon Nana into the ambulance.

Team Leader Kwon Byeong-cheol walked toward the van and said,

“I’m heading to the hospital to check on Yoon Nana’s condition.”

Detective Baek Sung-min spoke up.

“I’ll go with you.”

“You’re coming too?”

“Huh?”

“What did you even do today to think about tagging along?”

“Uh… I didn’t really do anything.”

“Go investigate the area.”

“Yes, sir.”

Kwon Byeong-cheol turned to Seo Jung-woo.

“What about you? Want to come?”

Seo Jung-woo wasn’t familiar with the police investigation system. If he followed along unnecessarily, it might raise suspicions.

“I’d like to investigate this area separately.”

“Then do that.”

Detective Baek Sung-min climbed up to the rooftop of the four-story building where Seo Jung-woo had fought the culprit.

He had already informed the other detectives about the building’s location when they went to rescue Yoon Nana. The forensics team had arrived and was investigating the scene.

Baek Sung-min looked around for a familiar face. He spotted Lee Dong-wook, a forensic investigator with whom he occasionally shared drinks.

He approached Lee Dong-wook and asked,

“Our rookie said there should be evidence caught on camera. Did anything come up?”

“Yeah. We got pictures.”

“Pictures of Yoon Nana’s house?”

At first, Baek Sung-min had judged that for Seo Jung-woo to avoid disciplinary action, they needed solid proof that the corpse-like Jo Dong-sik was indeed the culprit.

Now that they had rescued Yoon Nana, they had a solid witness. But his earlier thoughts lingered, so he asked about the photos first.

“It’s not just her house. The guy had been photographing Yoon Nana for a while.”

“So he was a stalker bastard. Damn… Any other photos…?”

Lee Dong-wook shook his head.

“No photos of previous victims. If we had those, this case would be a slam dunk.”

Baek Sung-min clicked his tongue. The previous victims hadn’t been as lucky as Yoon Nana.

Lee Dong-wook asked,

“What about the victim?”

“We rescued her safely. She’ll probably testify.”

The reason they were still uneasy was that the existing evidence might not be enough to charge Jo Dong-sik with murder. Since Yoon Nana had survived, the case was tricky.

So Baek Sung-min asked,

“That bastard really is the 24-hour serial killer, right? Not some copycat?”

“No copycat would have weapons and equipment like this. My gut tells me it’s 100% him. But we haven’t found evidence linking him to the previous murders here.”

“Then we’ll have to search his house and surroundings thoroughly.”

Lee Dong-wook spoke again.

“Hey. I heard your rookie was the one who caught the killer?”

“Yeah. Shocking, right? A patrol officer transfers to Violent Crimes and nails a huge case right away.”

“Who the hell is your rookie?”

“Just beginner’s luck.”

Lee Dong-wook frowned.

“Luck? What a load of crap. You don’t know, do you?”

“Know what?”

“That bastard killer is a second-dan in kendo.”

“He is?”

“And did you know two swords were found on this rooftop?”

Baek Sung-min froze.

“What?”

“Both swords had only one person’s fingerprints. Obviously, the culprit’s. One is a jackknife, but the other is a real sword, about 50 centimeters long. Judging by how it was found separately from the scabbard, it looks like the bastard tried to slash your rookie with it.”

“Damn. Jung-woo just said he fought him… That means he fought against a guy wielding a sword.”

“And here’s the thing—your rookie had no weapon. There’s no sign he used anything to fight back.”

Baek Sung-min thought back to earlier when he found Seo Jung-woo in the parking lot and put him in the van immediately.

“Uh… Today was his first day in our unit, so he didn’t have any gear. He must’ve fought barehanded.”

Lee Dong-wook was genuinely impressed.

“That’s insane. He took down a second-dan kendo practitioner, wielding a live blade, with his bare hands? And not just anyone—a killer who wouldn’t hesitate to stab someone? That’s not something just anyone can do.”

“Uh… That guy is kind of crazy—no, never mind.”

Seo Jung-woo briefly investigated the area where he had rescued Yoon Nana and the surroundings of her home.

‘I didn’t leave anything behind by mistake.’

The detectives had taken Jo Dong-sik to a nearby orthopedic clinic. They put a cast on his broken right hand and leg before immediately bringing him to the police station.

A short while later, Seo Jung-woo also arrived at the station.

As soon as he saw Seo Jung-woo, Jo Dong-sik started screaming.

“That bastard is insane! He tried to kill me! He threw me off the rooftop!”

The detectives all turned to look at Seo Jung-woo.

Seo Jung-woo shrugged.

“Obviously, the culprit is lying. He slipped and fell on his own.”

“Yeah! I slipped! my hand slipped!”

“Guess murderers are good at fabricating stories too.”

Detective Jo Min-seok smacked the back of Jo Dong-sik’s head.

“You little shit, trying to pin false charges on a detective? First, you said he threw you, and now you slipped?”

“I’m not lying! He threw me first, then my hand slipped—Damn it! He tried to kill me! Is this how cops are supposed to act? Huh?!”

“Got any witnesses or evidence?”

“Evidence! Of course, I have evidence! That bastard dangled me over the edge with one hand and threatened to drop me! Look at my neck! This is the evidence!”

Jo Dong-sik pointed at his neck.

A red mark was clearly visible—left there when Seo Jung-woo had grabbed his collar and held him over the edge.

The detectives looked at Seo Jung-woo again.

Seo Jung-woo played it off.

“When fighting, grabbing someone by the collar happens sometimes. That’s probably when it happened.”

Detective Jo Min-seok smacked the back of Jo Dong-sik’s head again.

“You moron. He held you up with one hand? You think he’s a weightlifter or something?”

Seo Jung-woo had a slim build.

In the world he came from, it wasn’t strange for a hunter who fought monsters to be strong enough to lift a person with one hand.

But that was the logic of his old world. In this world, there were no monsters or hunters. For someone with his physique to suspend a person midair with one hand? Unbelievable.

If this had happened in the other world, Jo Dong-sik wouldn’t have survived with just two broken bones—he would have been dead on the spot.

None of the detectives believed Jo Dong-sik. Even if they had seen Seo Jung-woo actually throw him off the rooftop, they would have covered for him. There was no way anyone would take his words seriously.

Team Leader Kwon Byeong-cheol summed up the situation.

“Jung-woo, when you write the report, just state that the suspect fell while trying to escape.”

Seo Jung-woo hesitated slightly. He didn’t even know how to write a police report, let alone the documentation system in this world.

‘This is a problem.’

At that moment, the Violent Crimes Unit Chief and the Police Chief entered the office.

The detectives all stood up.

Police Chief Yeom Gi-hun beamed.

“Hahaha! Well done! Really, great job!”

Yeom Gi-hun asked,

“Who's our hero? Huh? Judging by the new face, it must be you?”

The Violent Crimes Unit Chief only knew that a new detective was joining, but he had never seen Seo Jung-woo in person. He glanced at Team Leader Kwon Byeong-cheol, who nodded and introduced him.

“This is Seo Jung-woo, who officially joined our Team 2 today.”

“Hahaha. Well done! We've got a treasure in our precinct! Hahaha!”

Police Chief Yeom Gi-hun patted Seo Jung-woo’s shoulder and asked,

“If you need anything, let me know. I’ll grant any request today. Should I treat everyone to a team dinner? Beef?”

At the mention of beef, Seo Jung-woo's eyes sparkled.

But Yeom Gi-hun had some common sense.

“Ah. You have to interrogate the culprit and write the report, so a team dinner tonight might be impossible.”

It would be absurd to leave the follow-up work to another team just for the sake of a celebratory meal after catching a serial killer.

Seo Jung-woo had no knowledge of interrogation methods in this world. He also didn’t know how to write a police report.

So he told the Police Chief,

“I’d like to leave early.”

“Hmm? Leave early? Already?”

“I think I suffered some bruises from the intense fight with the suspect earlier.”

“Ah! Really? Go on, then. Of course, you should go! Who here dares to say you can’t leave? Huh? Who is it?”

There was no one. Thanks to Seo Jung-woo, his team had achieved an outstanding result today.

Team Leader Kwon Byeong-cheol quickly added,

“Jung-woo, we’ll handle the interrogation and write the report, so you should stop by the hospital for a check-up. Even if you weren’t stabbed, you might have internal injuries.”

“Understood.”

However, Seo Jung-woo still had something to resolve here.

He turned to Baek Sung-min and asked,

“The return…?”

Everyone’s gaze immediately shifted to Baek Sung-min. Even Police Chief Yeom Gi-hun stared at him, wondering what on earth he meant by 'return.'

Sweat formed on Detective Baek Sung-min’s forehead.

‘If I say the wrong thing here, I’m screwed.’

He quickly blurted out,

“Return? What return? Jung-woo! Since it’s your first day, you might not know, but even if I order a game console online and receive a brick in the package, I don’t return it!”

That wasn’t a lie. He had actually once bought a second-hand game console online, only to receive a brick in the mail. Instead of returning it, he used it as evidence to get the scammer arrested.

Seo Jung-woo was satisfied.

‘If I really get kicked out of the Violent Crimes Unit, the Seo Jung-woo of this world would be in trouble. This should be enough.’

For now, Seo Jung-woo returned home.

But he didn’t enter the house right away. He first settled down near his residence. To fight monsters, it wasn’t just about finding hidden ones—it was also crucial to be good at ambushing.

Fortunately, in this world, there was no need to dig into the ground to set up an ambush.

He entered a neighborhood café near his home. Anyone heading to his house would have to pass in front of this café. There were other narrow back alleys, but from his old memories, he knew he always used this road.

‘For now, I’ll analyze the situation here…’

His expression stiffened as he stepped into the small, privately owned café.

There were cafés in that other world too.

Fighting monsters didn’t just yield meat.

When a mineral-type monster like a golem was defeated, it would drop stone as a basic material, along with some metal resources. If luck was on your side, you could even obtain a small amount of rare alloy. The core component of his handgun, the heat sink, was also made from such a rare alloy.

Plant-type monsters were mostly covered in tough wood. Some had bodies made of rosewood-like material, while others had mahogany-covered torsos.

Defeating such plant-type monsters naturally yielded their wood. In that world, such wood was common.

But just because wood was abundant didn’t mean houses were built from it. In that world, houses were constructed entirely from reinforced concrete—even the roofs. That was the only way to prevent small monsters from infiltrating.

However, concrete walls could only stop small monsters. If anything medium-sized or larger charged in, an ordinary house would crumble easily.

As a result, cafés in that world didn’t invest heavily in interior decoration. After all, a monster attack could destroy the entire building at any time.

Yet, despite that, the quality of interior décor was much higher there. While this world used wood-patterned wallpaper, stone-textured walls, and particle board, the other world used top-grade real wood and stone without hesitation.

But that wasn’t what made him freeze.

It was the glass display case filled with cakes and various drinks.

‘Wow. Those cakes look amazing. They must be made with real flour and sugar, right?’

In that other world, it wasn’t just livestock farming that had collapsed—agriculture itself was struggling. Large-scale farms were incredibly difficult to maintain. In the early years of the war, the U.S. and Ukraine tried hiring mercenaries to guard their vast wheat fields, but it was useless. If even a single fire-type monster slipped through, all the crops would go up in flames.

Because of that, real flour was extremely expensive in that world. Rice was expensive too.

That didn’t mean everything was costly.

Humanity had found a solution in hydroponic farming. Mass-produced chlorella from hydroponic factories was cheap and highly nutritious. No one starved.

People didn’t eat chlorella as is. Factories processed it into synthetic flour and synthetic rice. In that world, when someone mentioned flour or rice, they were usually referring to these processed products. If they meant the real thing, they would specify ‘real’ before the word.

Chlorella had many advantages—it was nutritious, cheap to produce, and could be grown in large quantities even in small spaces. That made it a cornerstone of the food supply in that world.

But chlorella had one fatal flaw—it tasted awful.

Regions that produced sugarcane for sugar faced similar challenges.

To protect those areas from monsters, hunters had to be hired as guards, increasing production costs. As a result, sugar was expensive.

In that world, people used saccharin for sweetness.

There were bakeries there too. But they sold cakes made with synthetic flour and saccharin. Naturally, they tasted far inferior to real cakes.

Cakes made with real flour did exist, but they weren’t displayed in local cafés like this. They were only made-to-order in high-end patisseries and were extremely expensive.

The café owner, Lee Joo-yeon, gave Seo Jung-woo a slight nod and a smile.

Seo Jung-woo hesitated. He wanted to eat so many things, but he only had one mouth and one stomach.

“Uh, that… choco? Choco! A cake made of chocolate!”

The last time he had eaten chocolate cake was Christmas of 1999.