Jeong Ho-san looked at his reflection in the mirror. The sight of himself in the blue police uniform felt awkward.
'It really has become irreversible now.'
As Do Chae-hee had said that the Awakener Crime Investigation Division (ACID) was always short on people, ACID was constantly recruiting people to join.
Though she said there were various corruptions in the recruitment, they didn't have the guts to fail Jeong Ho-san, who had A-rank potential talent and was a current 6-circle hunter.
He passed the test successfully and became a member of ACID Team 2.
Jeong Ho-san, facing his first day of work, calmed his nervous heart.
Though he didn't know what would happen from now on, he had to keep his wits about him in there.
Unlike his Crimson Hound Guild comrades whom he could always trust to watch his back in battle, he couldn't trust the people here.
While outwardly pretending to get along with them, Jeong Ho-san had to always be suspicious and weed out the bad ones hiding among them.
It wasn't a job that suited Jeong Ho-san's personality, but he had to do it.
'Compared to Do Chae-hee, it's not that difficult.'
Do Chae-hee said she was already a protruding stone. She said she must have been marked by those above for causing trouble once, so she would walk her own path.
She told him to gain their trust even if he had to step on her while she drew the aggro.
Whenever his heart felt constricted, Jeong Ho-san thought of Kang Yi-sin.
He recalled the reason that made Kang Yi-sin make such a choice.
Jeong Ho-san looked at his own eyes in the mirror and nodded with a firm expression.
After steeling his resolve, Jeong Ho-san opened the door.
* * *
"Oh, oh!"
A man with a huge build and hair like a freshly peeled chestnut pointed at Jeong Ho-san and shouted.
"Are, are you Jeong Ho-san?"
"Yes, who are you?"
"Ah! I'm Officer Kim Yong-won!"
Ah. Kim Yong-won. He had heard about him from Do Chae-hee. That he was one of the more trustworthy people here. He was originally on the same team as Do Chae-hee, but was moved to a different team after Do Chae-hee was dismissed as team leader.
"How do you know me?"
"Well, that's..."
Kim Yong-won lowered his voice towards Jeong Ho-san.
"You were a key person of interest in the Kang Yi-sin murder case. Inspector Do Chae-hee, I mean, the team leader was quite interested in that case, so I came to know about you too!"
Jeong Ho-san nodded at Kim Yong-won's words. Well, he did get to know Do Chae-hee through that case too. It wasn't strange that Kim Yong-won, who was Do Chae-hee's team member, knew about him as well.
Do Chae-hee said Kim Yong-won was a reliable ally when she was in ACID, but she also said not to trust Kim Yong-won completely.
After being betrayed by Park Cheol-wan whom she sincerely trusted and followed, Do Chae-hee said she couldn't trust anyone.
Rather, she said she became suspicious of people who approached her, and Jeong Ho-san felt a sense of kinship seeing her expression as she smiled sadly saying that.
He too had felt lonely after losing Kang Yi-sin.
But he had no intention of being buried in that emotion.
Jeong Ho-san shook off his thoughts and spoke to Kim Yong-won with a smiling face.
"Nice to meet you like this. Please speak comfortably, it's my first day here after all..."
"Ah, no! I can't do that. Even if our ranks are the same, um, you'll be promoted soon..."
Kim Yong-won seemed to have a timid personality that didn't match his build.
Though he wanted Kim Yong-won to treat him comfortably, Jeong Ho-san quietly nodded at Kim Yong-won's words.
"Um, which team are you on?"
"Team 2."
"Oh! Me too! Then I can guide you. This way please."
Jeong Ho-san moved his steps following Kim Yong-won's guidance.
"Due to the recent Top Villain escape incident, most of the members of Teams 3 and 4 died in the line of duty. So ACID only has Teams 1 and 2 now."
Kim Yong-won's face looked gloomy as he said this. Well, that incident was a huge blow to ACID. Most of the personnel in the detention center that day died on site.
"I didn't know many people since we were on different teams, but I at least knew their faces. For that to happen. If only I had the power..."
Kim Yong-won, who muttered gloomily like that, soon looked at Jeong Ho-san and said:
"You, Jeong Ho-san, are an amazing hunter, right? You were with Crimson Hound!"
"I wouldn't say amazing..."
"To someone like me who only awakened information processing talent, you look amazing! I've thought so many times how nice it would be if I had talent like that. I've been told quite often that this build is wasted on me, haha."
Come to think of it, the difference in build between Kim Yong-won and Jeong Ho-san wasn't that big. Jeong Ho-san was just slightly bigger and looked stronger. Kim Yong-won wasn't someone who would be pushed around easily either.
But maybe because of his hunched posture and attitude that lacked confidence, he looked much smaller.
"Haha, I just talked about depressing things for no reason. Ah, here it is."
They had already arrived at ACID Team 2. Kim Yong-won opened the door. Jeong Ho-san bowed his head politely and stepped inside.
"Oh."
The first to react to Jeong Ho-san's entrance was a man sitting in the team leader's seat. The man who looked to be in his mid to late 30s had such a strong impression that one would say he looked rough at first glance.
He raised the corner of his mouth crookedly as soon as he saw Jeong Ho-san.
"So you've finally arrived, our Team 2's great new recruit."
Jeong Ho-san blinked at that seemingly mocking tone.
"Ah, yes. Hello."
At the team leader's words and Jeong Ho-san's greeting, all the team members' gazes turned to Jeong Ho-san. There were a total of eight team members seated in Team 2. Due to the recent disaster, ACID's personnel had been reduced even further. Everyone looked haggard from resolving awakened crimes all over Seoul.
The team leader walked briskly towards Jeong Ho-san.
"Now, introduce yourself. Here's our new recruit who quit the great Crimson Hound Guild to join this ACID. Mr. Jeong Ho-san."
"Hello, I'm Jeong Ho-san. I look forward to working with you."
He wondered how many times he had greeted people already. But Jeong Ho-san obediently bowed his head.
"I'm Song Cheon-gil, Team 2 leader, and these are our team members. You can introduce yourselves individually in your personal time. We're all busy, right?"
At Team Leader Song Cheon-gil's words, only groans were heard from the seats. Even considering the circumstances, it was an excessively deflated reaction for a new member's arrival.
He didn't expect a grand welcome ceremony like at Crimson Hound Guild, but this atmosphere that didn't welcome the new member at all...
Team Leader Song Cheon-gil said:
"Since it's your first day today, just learn the basics from Yong-won. From tomorrow, we'll put you on the dispatch team officially."
Only then was there some reaction from ACID Team 2 at Team Leader Song Cheon-gil's words.
Someone suddenly raised their hand.
"What?"
"Please put him in our unit!"
"No, he should be in our unit. Your unit has you as vanguard, but our unit is all rear support."
"No, you have that much firepower..."
The atmosphere that had sunk suddenly started heating up. Team Leader Song Cheon-gil frowned watching this.
"Can't you all shut up?"
"But..."
"How can we tie down such a talent to just one unit? Let's have this friend support whichever team needs him at the time."
Jeong Ho-san, who didn't know what those words meant, just blinked. Kim Yong-won was the one who reacted to those words.
"What?"
"What, Yong-won. Do you have a problem?"
At Team Leader Song Cheon-gil's words, Kim Yong-won quietly shook his head.
"N-no!"
But he still couldn't hide his worry, and Kim Yong-won opened his mouth after glancing at Team Leader Song Cheon-gil.
"Still, to use a new recruit like that right away..."
"Since when did our Yong-won become our new recruit's spokesperson? Why is our new recruit keeping his mouth shut, while you're flapping yours?"
At those words, Jeong Ho-san rolled his eyes. Kim Yong-won closed his mouth with a surprised face. Though he still didn't understand how this team operated, it was clear that Kim Yong-won had taken unnecessary abuse for speaking up for him.
Jeong Ho-san opened his mouth.
"I don't know what it means, but I'll do my best as you instruct if you teach me."
"Hmm, he says he's fine with it."
Kim Yong-won still looked at Jeong Ho-san with worried eyes, but Jeong Ho-san gave him an eye-smile.
"Alright, everyone get back to work!"
As Team Leader Song Cheon-gil sat back down, Kim Yong-won tapped Jeong Ho-san. Then he gestured towards the outside with his eyes.
Jeong Ho-san quietly followed Kim Yong-won. As soon as they got outside, Kim Yong-won sighed.
"Just now..."
"Yes, I roughly understand what it means. It means they'll use me like a dog, right?"
"You understand that and still say you'll do it?"
"It didn't seem like I could refuse, and fortunately, I'm confident in my stamina."
"No matter how great your stamina is, Ho-san, you're human. Not a monster."
Kim Yong-won sighed deeply.
"It reminds me of Team Leader Do Chae-hee."
Kim Yong-won, who blurted that out, looked around and whispered in a low voice:
"You know Team Leader Do Chae-hee, right? You must have met her..."
At those words, Jeong Ho-san's face hardened. Do Chae-hee told Jeong Ho-san to never say anything positive about her. But just staying silent should be fine, right?
Seeing Jeong Ho-san nod without saying anything, Kim Yong-won whispered in a small voice:
"She might not have left a good impression on you, but Team Leader Do Chae-hee is really an amazing person. She really worked hard..."
"You seem to know her well, Yong-won?"
At Jeong Ho-san's question, Kim Yong-won hurriedly waved his hands with a reddened face.
"Ah, no. I can't say I know her well! Just, when she was working in the field, I was, um, a fan I guess. I decided to become a police officer all thanks to Team Leader Do Chae-hee."
"Is that so?"
"Yes. There's that quite famous incident. When Team Leader Do Chae-hee was, um, working in the field. There was a time when she subdued a bank robbery. I was at the scene then."
Ah, so that's how their connection started.
"Team Leader Do Chae-hee was a hero to me then. A real hero, like you'd only see in movies. So I thought I wanted to become such an amazing person too."
Kim Yong-won's face looked innocent as he said this.
"It's too cliché a story, right? Haha, but it really was my dream. But my ability didn't match up to that. Ah, I don't go to the field. As I said earlier..."
"Because you have information processing talent?"
"Yes. Haha, so I was deemed unfit for field work. If I had gone to regular police instead, I might have been able to work in the field..."
Jeong Ho-san looked at Kim Yong-won. It was evident at a glance. His physique showed signs of being honed diligently.
He's the type who worked hard and hard again. But even so, 'unfit for field work.'
Because in this field dealing with awakeners' crimes, what mattered in the end was talent.
"But there are still things I can do here! I'll work hard to help!"
Jeong Ho-san nodded to Kim Yong-won who shouted like that while looking at him.
"Yes, let's do well together."
Jeong Ho-san thought that his first day at ACID wasn't so bad after all.