Park Da-yeon grabbed a large bag in Seo Jung-woo’s room and shook it.

“Wow! This is really heavy. It won't budge at all.”

“That's my brother’s travel suitcase! Just leave it alone!”

“Looks like there’s a lot of stuff inside.”

“He probably just stuffed it with junk! He’s always been interested in weird things!”

That bag was Seo Jung-woo’s armed carrier. Inside it were various firearms, ammunition, and bombs.

The twins said,

“I wonder what's inside.”

“It has five combination dials and a key too.”

“It looks super sturdy.”

“I bet Detective D's secrets are hidden in here.”

The material of that armed carrier was not ordinary plastic or leather. It was processed from the carapace of insect-type monsters and the hide of beast-type monsters. The locking mechanism used an alloy obtained from defeating mineral-type monsters.

Seo Jung-woo never stored his firearms carelessly. Although the armed carrier looked like an ordinary travel suitcase on the outside, its sturdiness was at the level of a small safe.

Moreover, to open it, all five digits of the password must be matched and the key turned as well.

The twins gave up on the carrier and looked around the room.

“From now on, let's search for not Detective D, but the secrets of Dimension!”

“Let’s dig through the trash can first! Maybe there’s a crumpled-up music sheet!”

“That would mean he’s writing a new song!”

“Awesome!”

Seo Sora chased the twins outside.

“Stop snooping around someone else's room and get out!”

Seo Jung-woo moved to the local police station. The investigation headquarters was set up there.

There, he explained how he fought the enemies and rescued Jessica.

Of course, he didn’t tell them everything exactly as it happened.

“So how did you become aware of the crime?”

“It was by coincidence. The official security mission ended after the seminar dinner, but after that, I had a drink with Dr. Jeong at the bar. Then, when I returned to my room, I spotted them.”

“But you rented a room at that hotel?”

“Since I was already there, I thought I’d spend the night.”

“On a patrolman’s salary, that hotel is a bit…”

“That’s why I rented the cheapest room. You can check with the staff.”

There were many questioners, and the questions were diverse.

“How did you get into the building where Jessica Jung was being held?”

“How else? I went through a window.”

“They said all the windows were locked.”

“There was one at the back that wasn't locked. I was lucky. Seems like you didn't investigate the scene thoroughly.”

He couldn’t say that he had entered using the Parallel Dimension Teleport skill. So before leaving, he deliberately unlocked a window at the back.

“Well, okay, let's accept the window explanation. But there were sensors placed in front of the windows.”

“You just have to skillfully avoid those.”

Seo Jung-woo had done nothing wrong in this case. Besides, he was a police officer. Fellow officers had no reason to nitpick or interrogate harshly.

The detectives' questions weren't out of suspicion toward Seo Jung-woo. They needed details for the report and were genuinely curious about how he did it.

Aside from the detectives, other agencies also visited the station to question Seo Jung-woo.

But the questioning didn’t take place in an interrogation room.

The police station provided a meeting room for Seo Jung-woo and the guests.

After a flurry of guests, there was a brief quiet moment.

Baek Sung-min used that moment to come in and talk.

“Jung-woo. Are all the guests gone?”

“I wish. Seeing as no one's telling me to go home yet, I guess more people are coming. Ah, what about the team leader?”

“He got called back while on his way here. The higher-ups urgently need him. Because of this incident.”

The door opened, and a young female police officer came in carrying a slice of cake and coffee. She said to Seo Jung-woo,

“You must be tired, right? I brought this for you.”

Baek Sung-min beamed and reached out his hand.

“Please give it to me.”

“No, it’s fine. It’s for Detective Seo Jung-woo.”

“Huh?”

Seo Jung-woo stood up and accepted the plate.

“Ah, thank you. Wow. It's chocolate cake. I really like this. But it’s amazing that there’s cake here at the police station. We only have coffee mix.”

“I bought it.”

“What?”

“I have a friend at your station, so I called and asked. They said you love coffee and chocolate cake, so I went out and bought them.”

“Wow, thank you. Everyone else just asked questions and didn’t even offer a glass of water.”

She slightly blushed and held out paper and pen.

“Could you sign this?”

“Huh?”

“I’m a fan.”

“A fan, between fellow police officers?”

“S-Still.”

Seo Jung-woo took the pen. But before he could sign, new guests entered.

Seo Jung-woo slightly frowned. Among the two newcomers, one was a foreigner.

The Korean said,

“This gentleman is from the U.S. Embassy.”

A middle-aged white man spoke in English.

“Mr. Seo. Thank you for protecting Dr. Jeong.”

Seo Jung-woo looked at the man and thought,

‘One’s a foreigner, and the other seems Korean. Maybe an American-Korean.’

The problem was the foreigner. It wasn’t his first time seeing the white man who just spoke English.

‘CIA Korea Division agent.’

In the other world, that white man was part of the CIA. Although they weren’t personally close, Seo Jung-woo had come into contact with him during joint operations with the U.S. military when he was part of the Special Awakener Unit.

‘In that world, he was a top agent in the Korea branch.’

He didn’t know what position he held in this world. But one thing was certain.

‘He must be CIA here too. I heard he was already CIA even before the Gates opened.’

Seo Jung-woo neither particularly liked nor hated the CIA.

Seo Jung-woo said,

“I’m blind when it comes to English.”

Baek Sung-min spoke quietly in embarrassment.

“Hey. If you're illiterate, how did you pass the police exam?”

Seo Jung-woo lightly nudged Baek Sung-min and spoke to the white man.

“Let's speak in Korean, shall we?”

Baek Sung-min said,

“No way. He's American. How could he speak Korean? We should be the ones speaking English.”

“Nah. The one who needs something should speak in a way the other understands. And I don't exactly look like the one who needs something here.”

“Huh? That’s strangely convincing.”

The white man smiled and spoke in Korean.

“How did you figure it out? That I could speak Korean.”

Seo Jung-woo shrugged American-style.

“I didn't know.”

He actually did know. In the other world, this man spoke Korean just like a native. It was the same here.

The man extended his hand.

“James Curtain.”

The name was different from what he had heard over there.

Seo Jung-woo shook the offered hand.

“Well. I’m sure it’s not your real name. But still, we need something to call you by.”

“Hahaha. Are you a mind reader or something?”

“I just have good intuition.”

“I heard you were an outstanding detective, but this is quite impressive.”

“I'm just an ordinary cop.”

James glanced at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs official.

“I’d like to have a word with him alone.”

“Go ahead.”

The official started to leave but then looked back at Baek Sung-min, gesturing with his eyes for him to come along.

Baek Sung-min pointed to himself with a finger. The official gestured again.

Baek Sung-min glanced at Seo Jung-woo.

“Jung-woo, you don't mind being alone... right? No one's going to mess with you.”

Baek Sung-min and the female officer left the conference room with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs official.

Seo Jung-woo plopped down on a chair, slicing into a piece of cake with a fork as he asked,

“Seems you have something to talk about privately?”

James asked with a slightly serious expression,

“I’d like to know how much you know.”

“Atlas Project?”

James's expression hardened immediately.

“How do you know about that?”

Seo Jung-woo took a sip of coffee.

“Ah. The coffee here is pretty good. I know absolutely nothing.”

“But you just said Atlas...”

“The first guys we caught were demanding the Atlas Project’s drive unit blueprint from Dr. Jeong Ki-hoon. I just heard the name, nothing more. I don't know what the project is.”

“Is that really true?”

“You haven't met Dr. Jeong yet, have you? Ask him directly.”

It was true that Seo Jung-woo knew nothing. Even in the other world, he had never heard of something called the Atlas Project.

James’s suspicions remained.

“Detective Seo fought and defeated fourteen men alone.”

“How could I beat fourteen guys all by myself?”

“But you clearly...”

“I took them down separately—three guys, four guys, two guys, five guys. One group at a time.”

“You rescued a hostage from armed men. You instantly figured out where the hostage was. All by yourself.”

“That’s what police work is. I’m just a bit better at it.”

“Doing all that alone in such a short time is impossible.”

“I managed it just fine.”

“Our analysis team came up with a plausible scenario. That all of this was prearranged.”

James narrowed his eyes sharply and asked,

“Detective Seo Jung-woo. What’s your objective?”

Still cutting his cake with his right hand, Seo Jung-woo raised his left index finger and waggled it side to side.

“Is that how your agency operates these days?”

“Knowing even my affiliation just makes you more suspicious.”

“Me being assigned to guard Dr. Jeong today wasn’t my choice at all. It was a decision made without even 1% of my input. The government offered security services to Dr. Jeong as a courtesy, and it was Dr. Jeong’s daughter, Jessica, who chose me. You should work harder.”

“Officially, yes, but it might not be the whole truth.”

“Then go verify it and come back.”

“I will. So you’re saying you know nothing about the Atlas Project and didn’t foresee today’s incident either.”

“Of course. I only know how to catch criminals. Now, I’ve humored you enough, so let’s stop the probing, shall we?”

“You even noticed that?”

“It was obvious. Now it's my turn.”

Seo Jung-woo set down his fork.

“Let me ask you something. Are the guys we caught today the core of the industrial espionage organization, or are there more? And if there are, where are they?”

“Why would you...”

“Just trying to be cautious. After the beating they took, someone might hold a grudge.”

“Ah, I see. But I can’t tell you that.”

Seo Jung-woo grumbled.

“So much for thanking me for protecting Dr. Jeong.”

“It’s not that...”

James hesitated. There wasn’t a compelling reason to tell him. But he had two objectives for coming here today: one was to probe how much Seo Jung-woo knew about the Atlas Project, and the other was to build rapport with him.

‘The analysis team is in chaos because of him. He did the impossible.’

James’s work wasn't exactly safe.

‘Maybe answering him could serve as my insurance.’

The CIA knew the answer to Seo Jung-woo’s question. The espionage organization was also being tracked by the CIA. Today, its core force had been crushed. Once the Korean government interrogated the captured men, the rest would soon be revealed.

“The core was destroyed today, but remnants still remain.”

James pulled out a pen and wrote a few lines on a napkin that came with the coffee.

“Consider this a token of gratitude for today’s events and a gesture for future friendship. But it’s not 100% verified information. It might not even be the right location.”

Seo Jung-woo glanced at the writing on the napkin, then folded it and tucked it into his pocket with a grin.

“Just asking to be careful. And it's not even in Korea.”

The napkin contained a Japanese address.

Seo Jung-woo wasn’t the criminal. Rather, he was the detective who had caught them.

But because the case was so huge, many people wanted to question him directly. Various agencies came to see him throughout the night, and he had to repeat the same answers over and over.

Plenty of people asked him about the incident, but no one suspected he had pulled any tricks. It had been verified that he was assigned to protect Dr. Jeong by government order, not by his own choice.

The final visitor came the next morning: Dr. Jeong Ki-hoon.

“We’re scheduled to depart this evening. I just came to say goodbye. Thank you for rescuing Jessica.”

Jessica, standing beside him, raised her hand and beamed brightly.

“Hi, Jung-woo. I’ll call you!”

Seo Jung-woo said to Dr. Jeong,

“I was just doing my job. But you’re leaving already? I’m still stuck here.”

Dr. Jeong explained,

“At the U.S. government’s request, we were cleared to leave without further investigation. We already answered everything that wasn’t classified.”

“What if new questions come up after interrogating the arrested guys?”

“I agreed to testify via video call if needed. And if something absolutely requires my presence, I’ll come back. The U.S. government promised to cooperate.”

“Sounds like the situation is mostly wrapped up. Good work.”

“It’s all thanks to you, Detective Seo.”

“Ah, since you're leaving today...”

Seo Jung-woo handed over an envelope.

“Here.”

The envelope was thin, containing just a single sheet of paper.

Dr. Jeong accepted it and asked,

“What’s this?”

“Something to read if you get bored on the plane. It'll help pass the time.”