Park Cheol-woo grilled the meat with care, just as Seo Jung-woo had when he first ate beef in that other world.

Seo Jung-woo simply watched him.

Park Cheol-woo asked,

“What? Is this your first time seeing someone eat meat? Ah, I guess it’s been a while since you saw someone eating beef. I used to have it pretty often back in the day.”

Seo Jung-woo was curious.

‘I wonder if there’s a Park Cheol-woo in that world too.’

Over the past few days, he had met several people who existed in both worlds. His younger sister, Seo Sora, was a singer in that world but a sniper with long-range surveillance skills in this one. The president of AKX Pictures, his girlfriend, and even a lawyer all lived as Hunters in this world.

‘I wonder what kind of life Park Cheol-woo is living in that world.’

The next day, Seo Jung-woo crossed over to the other dimension.

As he entered the detective division office, Team Leader Kwon Byeong-cheol called out to him.

“Jung-woo.”

“Yes, sir.”

“Congratulations.”

“Huh?”

“You’ve been granted a one-rank special promotion. At the upcoming official police event, you’ll be awarded a commendation and promoted by one rank.”

Detective Jo Min-seok grinned and congratulated him.

“Wow! That means you’ll be the same rank as me, Sergeant.”

Seo Jung-woo called out to him.

“Hey, Sergeant Jo.”

“Wait, did you just drop honorifics? You haven’t even been promoted yet!”

“It was just a joke. Why are you so surprised?”

Jo Min-seok rubbed his arm.

“Man, I thought you were serious for a second.”

“Come on.”

Team Leader Kwon Byeong-cheol spoke up.

“Let’s celebrate. How about some pork belly and drinks tonight?”

Seo Jung-woo smacked his lips.

“Sounds delicious.”

Baek Sung-min commented to Jo Min-seok,

“Jung-woo acts almost inhuman when catching criminals, but the moment he sees meat, he turns into a normal person.”

“Guess he’s a carnivore.”

“He won’t suddenly turn green and bulk up when he gets angry, will he?”

The greasy taste of pork belly was something monster meat could never replicate.

‘Meat from this world is definitely better than in the other one.’

He took a sip of soju.

Soju in this world was made by fermenting natural ingredients like sugarcane. In contrast, the other world synthesized ethyl alcohol in factories, mixed it with water, and added saccharin. Since ethyl alcohol was also used in military supplies, its production was abundant.

‘Even soju tastes better here. If I brought a few bottles to our soju fiend, he’d be ecstatic.’

After enjoying dinner and drinks, Seo Jung-woo went home.

No one had any complaints about him skipping overtime. Thanks to him, Team 2 had been piling up successful cases, so they were more than generous.

Since he was new, he hadn’t been assigned any ongoing cases either.

Team Leader Kwon Byeong-cheol, slightly tipsy, patted his back.

“Go home! You deserve it! I’m heading in early today too. Everyone, go home! Work’s done!”

The others also left for the night.

Only Baek Sung-min returned to the detective division to finish something up.

As he entered, Detective Kim Jung-ho from another team quietly approached him.

“Where’s your rookie?”

“He went home.”

“Ah, I see.”

Baek Sung-min noticed the case file in Kim Jung-ho’s hand and smirked.

“Were you planning to dump that on Jung-woo? To toughen him up?”

“Come on, that was just a joke. This isn’t the military. But seriously, man, I just want to go home. If I crack this case, I might get a break.”

“What case is it?”

“A missing persons case, but I have no solid leads. However, after digging around, something clicked.”

“What is it?”

“I’m not certain yet, but the Sagori gang is suspicious. They probably know something, but I don’t have an excuse to go after them.”

Baek Sung-min had overheard details about that case before.

“Man, that case is a real headache. You seriously want to dump it on Jung-woo?”

“Not dump it—just ask for help. That guy caught a serial killer in no time and dismantled a genius lawyer’s legal trap like it was nothing. I don’t expect him to solve everything, but if he can just point out what I’m missing, that’d be enough. Otherwise, I’m getting kicked out of my house.”

“Try asking him tomorrow. He’s still adjusting to his work here, so he doesn’t have any major cases yet. He might be able to take a look.”

Kim Jung-ho looked surprised.

“Wait, he’s still adjusting? He’s already solved two huge cases.”

“Hard to believe, right? But it’s true.”

Kim Jung-ho sighed enviously.

“Team 2 really hit the jackpot. Why can’t we get a rookie like that?”

“Give it up. Jung-woo should be competing in the Olympics and dominating the world, but he accidentally became a cop instead.”

Seo Jung-woo arrived home.

This time, Seo Sora had taken over the couch he usually lounged on, watching TV.

“Your friends came to the police station today.”

“Yeah, I know. I avoided them on purpose.”

“Why?”

“You told me not to let them know we’re related! How was I supposed to keep that up if we met?”

“Good thinking.”

Seo Jung-woo snatched her snack bag and started eating her chips.

“By the way, about those twins—”

Seo Sora suddenly shot upright.

“They’re high school seniors! That’s illegal!”

Seo Jung-woo was so dumbfounded he yelled.

“Do I look like a pervert?! I was gonna give you another song, but maybe not now!”

Seo Sora’s eyes widened.

“A new song is out already?”

“It was, but it just went back in.”

She immediately sprawled on the couch in a bowing position.

“O Great Brother! This foolish girl has sinned!”

“If you answer my question properly, I shall bestow my grace upon you.”

“Yes, my lord!”

“Why are they trying to become singers? Did they give up on studying?”

Seo Sora sat up properly and explained.

“They say they inherited their dad’s lack of academic skills. But on the bright side, they got their mom’s looks, singing talent, and stage presence, so they set their sights on this career.”

“And their family’s fine with it?”

“Their mom told them to do whatever makes them happy.”

“What about their dad?”

That was the real question Seo Jung-woo wanted to ask.

‘How is Park Cheol-woo living in this world?’

“He passed away.”

Seo Jung-woo was taken aback.

“What?”

“Their dad was a cop, just like you, but he passed away.”

“I see.”

Recalling what the twins had said earlier at the station, he realized something.

‘So when they said they hadn't been here in a while, they didn’t mean they got in trouble before. They meant they used to visit as kids.’

Another question came to mind.

“Then how do they manage their living expenses?”

“Their mom is a lawyer. She makes good money.”

“What?”

“A lawyer. If they had inherited their mom’s brains, they would’ve aced their studies too.”

Seo Jung-woo had never asked Park Cheol-woo how he met his wife in the other world. By the time they met, Park Cheol-woo had already lost his family.

'So, Uncle Cheol-woo married a beautiful, talented, charismatic, and even brilliant lawyer? Wow. Why would someone like that marry him? Did he have some dirt on her or something?'

Seo Jung-woo was too flustered to respond.

Seo Sora continued explaining.

“Their dad passed away really suddenly. So, their mom told them to live doing whatever they wanted. Of course, that didn’t mean she let them slack off—she nags them a lot.”

“No wonder they’re so bright.”

“Okay, I answered all your questions!”

Seo Sora held out her hand.

“You have something to give me, don’t you?”

Seo Jung-woo sent an MP3 file through his smartphone messenger app.

“Picked it up on the way. Here!”

Seo Sora tapped the attached file in the messenger.

Instrumental music without any vocals started playing.

She listened to the music in silence.

Seo Jung-woo immediately knew how she was feeling. Her expression visibly brightened.

As soon as the last note played, she threw both hands up in the air.

“This is gonna be a hit!”

“I know.”

It was a song that had become popular in his previous world.

“When are you going to write the lyrics?”

“The lyrics are already done. I’ll send them to you along with the sheet music by email.”

“Already? Oppa, you’re a genius! What about me? Me too! Come on, work, my genes! Awaken, my hidden lyricist and composer talent! I’ll become a genius too!”

“Uh, no. You won’t. Give up.”

The next morning, ES Entertainment’s president, Oh Dong-cheol, spoke to the company’s sole employee, manager Kim Hyeong-jin.

“‘If We Could Meet Again’ is about to hit number one on the music charts.”

Kim Hyeong-jin was sorting through the receipts from Oh Dong-cheol’s card expenses from the previous day. Since he was the only employee left, he handled all of ES Entertainment’s administrative work.

“Boss, if we make some money, please rehire some staff. Even bringing Assistant Manager Kim back would lighten my workload a lot. If I keep handling everything myself, I won’t have time to take the kids to broadcasts or events.”

“Of course, if we make money, we’ll get Assistant Manager Kim back first.”

“You’re promising, right?”

“I want to, but to make money, we have to book events first.”

“Can’t we do something about the streaming revenue?”

“Dimension didn’t charge us for the song, nor did he ask for a cut from event appearances, broadcast performances, or commercials.”

ES Entertainment had been on the verge of bankruptcy, so even if Seo Jung-woo had demanded a share of event and commercial income in exchange for the song, Oh Dong-cheol would have agreed.

“But instead, we agreed to give Dimension the company’s share of the streaming revenue. Even if the song sells well, that money isn’t ours. We have to earn through events, broadcasts, and commercials.”

It was rare for a composer to give a struggling company, and to trainees who hadn’t even debuted yet, such a high-quality song. The song had even come with a perfectly arranged track, and he provided detailed feedback when they sent their practice recordings.

“It’d be great if we could renegotiate the terms.”

“If we want more than just this one song, don’t even bring it up.”

“Then should we take that one-song event offer? There’s a proposal for us to perform a song at a game tournament’s opening ceremony and also help out with the event. Should we go for it?”

Three of the four members, excluding Seo Sora, had gathered in the office since morning.

Among the three munching on snacks in the corner, the twin, Park Da-yeon, raised her hand high.

“Let’s go to the game tournament! I’m really good at FPS games!”

Park Ha-yeon chimed in.

“Our dad was a Starcraft ranker. He was really famous. If we go there, a lot of people will remember his username.”

Oh Dong-cheol shook his head.

“No, I don’t want to send you out for such a cheap deal.”

“Why is a game tournament a cheap deal?”

“They offered a really low fee. No matter how desperate we are, we can’t take that amount while also helping with event hosting. Especially not for our first event.”

“Oh, come on, we don’t mind.”

Manager Kim Hyeong-jin sighed deeply while organizing receipts.

“Boss, we don’t even have enough money to cover the card receipts from your drinks with the producers last night. We’re not in a position to be picky.”

Oh Dong-cheol let out a long sigh.

“Hahh… If only we had two more good songs. Then we could take on more events.”

“Should we bring a gift and visit Dimension?”

“He wouldn’t like that. Even when we gave him a phone as a gift, he made it clear he’d deduct it from the streaming revenue.”

Yoon Nana asked, “Boss, do we have any broadcast schedules yet?”

“Thanks to selling you out, the publicity blew up, but because of that, variety shows are still hesitant.”

Throwing a recently rescued kidnapping victim onto a variety show within days wouldn’t just bring attention—it would also attract a ton of backlash.

“What about music rankings?”

“It hasn’t reflected yet. It’s only been a few days since the song was released. And…”

“And?”

Oh Dong-cheol hesitated before admitting the truth.

“One of the big agencies is trying to block us. That’s why we’re not getting any broadcast offers.”

“Blocking us? Wait, why would a big company care about a company like ours that’s practically dead?”

“Nana, that really hurts. Too real.”

“I just don’t get it.”

“They know we’re on the verge of collapse. So they probably figured that if they pressured us just a little more, we’d go under completely. Then they could snatch you guys up—along with the songs.”

Yoon Nana grinned.

“Wow! So if the company goes under, we get to join a big agency?”

Oh Dong-cheol looked like he’d just lost his homeland.

“N-Nana!”

Yoon Nana stuck out her tongue slightly.

“Come on, I was just joking. Why so serious?”

“I seriously thought you meant it.”

The office door suddenly burst open as Seo Sora walked in.

She raised her hand toward Yoon Nana.

“Hey, Nana!”

Yoon Nana clapped her hand with a loud smack.

“You’re here?”

“What were you guys talking about? The boss looks like he’s about to die.”

“That we only have one song, so we can’t book events, and now a big agency is coming after us since they think we’re weak.”

Seo Sora grinned.

“Pfft. You guys are stressing over nothing.”

She pulled a USB stick from her bag and held it high.

“Bow before me!”

Park Ha-yeon asked, “Why?”

“Because I pestered my oppa and got another song!”

“Wow! Unnie, is your oppa a composer too?”

Seo Sora flinched.

‘Oh, right, I was supposed to keep that a secret.’

She quickly covered it up.

“I got it from Dimension-oppa.”

The twins jumped up.

“Bow before Dimension!”

“Dimension has given us light, salt, and song!”

“He’s already given us two songs!”

“Bow twice as deeply!”

Seo Sora shouted.

“Bow to me! Me!”