Do You Offer the Four Major Insurances?
1: Chapter 1.
Do You Offer the Four Major Insurances?
* * * Damn it.
He had died from overwork.
To think the reward for struggling that hard for a pittance of a salary had been death.
He had been furious about it and swore that if he were ever reborn, he would never work himself to death again.
Then he was reborn in another world.
* * * “…” The man let out a long breath.
His face was covered in scars, and even the hand he used to sweep up the black bangs hanging low enough to stab at his eyes bore scars.
As the obscuring hair lifted, gray eyes were revealed, glaring fiercely at someone.
“Hey, Seo Hyeon-yul.
What are you going to do by glaring at me?” The man leaning deep into his chair looked up at him and sneered.
“I clearly submitted a request for sick leave yesterday.” Hyeon-yul spoke to his superior.
He looked utterly exhausted and worn out.
“You submitted one, sure.
But I clearly told you sick leave wasn’t allowed.
…What are you doing?
Get back to work.” His superior jerked his chin toward the door.
“It was clearly written in the employment contract I signed when I joined this company.” “What?” “Strict adherence to quitting time, all legally mandated annual leave, and legitimate sick leave counted as paid leave.” Pfft.
His superior burst out laughing, apparently finding the whole situation terribly amusing.
“Hey.
You think this is some ordinary company?
Do you even know where you are?” “I do.” Hyeon-yul answered calmly.
This was the modern world, but it was different from the one he had known.
The Taesen Empire ruled here, complete with an emperor.
There was a prime minister as well, but the emperor wielded far more power.
With the exception of a handful of small nations, the Taesen Empire had swallowed every country and come to dominate the world, ushering in an age of peace and prosperity.
But throughout history, there had always been those who shattered peace.
People dissatisfied with the Empire, those coveting the imperial throne, and others like them carried out indiscriminate acts of terrorism.
The Empire officially designated such people as “villains” and took the lead in exterminating them.
The person in front of Hyeon-yul was one of those villains, and this company had been founded by another villain.
“If you know, then piss off.
What the hell do you expect from a villain like me?
If I kept promises like that, would I even be a villain?
Have some pride as a villain yourself.” “I don’t care whether you’re a villain or anything else, Manager.
According to my employment contract, I’m entitled to legitimate sick leave.” Hyeon-yul spoke as if delivering a warning.
The terms offered before he joined had been good, and he had liked the pay.
With nothing worthwhile to put on his résumé, he had not cared whether the company owner was a villain.
Any workplace where he could avoid overworking himself was fine by him.
“What a load of crap.
Quit screwing around and get back to work if you don’t want to die, Seo Hyeon-yul.” His superior threatened him, but Hyeon-yul did not so much as blink.
If villains refused to honor contracts simply because they were villains, who would ever work for one?
“Fine.
I’ll ask the president.” “Hey.
Do my words sound like a joke to…” His superior stopped speaking because Hyeon-yul had vanished.
As the man looked around for him, his own shadow suddenly writhed, and Hyeon-yul emerged from within it.
The room fell utterly silent.
From behind his superior, Hyeon-yul pressed a ballpoint pen against the man’s neck.
“You don’t even keep your promises.
Why should I treat the nonsense you spout as words worth listening to?” “Y-you…
what the hell are you doing?” His superior’s breathing quickened.
Hyeon-yul had definitely been hired through the ordinary civilian recruitment track, so the man could not understand what was happening.
“Come to think of it, I suppose I’m a villain too.
I’ve decided I should just do things the villain way.” If you needed something, take it by force.
If someone displeased you, kill them.
STAB.
Hyeon-yul drove the ballpoint pen into the man’s carotid artery.
Watching the blood spray, he felt a strange sense of liberation.
He should have done this much sooner.
“Even villains need trust, Manager.” “…Ghk, hhk.” “You kept mouthing off about offering the four major insurances, but apparently you don’t actually offer a single one.” Hyeon-yul released him and let the pen fall to the floor.
“I’ll ask the president.
If he says no too, I’ll kill him.” Hyeon-yul wiped the blood from his face, and it vanished cleanly as though it had never been there.
He could not understand why anyone would bother starting a company if they could not even provide the four major insurances.
Overtime had been increasing steadily since he was hired, and it had already been getting on his nerves.
After all, dying from overwork was the one thing he absolutely could not stand.
* * * Hyeon-yul checked his wristwatch, took a pill bottle from inside his coat, and walked toward the water dispenser.
Thick blood pooled across the floor, and corpses lay in a row nearby.
Every one of them had been pierced through the neck.
Standing calmly among the pile of bodies, Hyeon-yul filled a cup with water and shook out a pill.
He simply could not understand why they would not let a sick employee take medical leave.
Why was everyone willing to risk their lives over something so trivial, as though the world would collapse if he went to the hospital?
‘I really don’t understand.’ The dark circles beneath Hyeon-yul’s eyes were pronounced, and he looked exhausted on top of that.
“Are you going to come at me too?” Hyeon-yul swallowed his medicine before asking the question.
“No.
We’re partner organizations, so I called them, but fuck, nobody’s answered for two hours.” “Ah, I apologize.
I made sure they couldn’t answer their phones.” Hyeon-yul remembered the phone that had been ringing a little while ago.
Now that he thought about it, it had rung quite a few times.
“Yeah.
Guess you were busy.” The man looked around and pulled a cigarette from inside his clothes.
“Yes.
This pointless nuisance is going to make me a little late to the hospital.
My doctor gets angry when I’m late.” “Oh?
You’re in poor health?” Hyeon-yul looked at the man as he heard the question, ready to kill him at any moment.
A cold tension settled over the room.
“I was born as a test subject at some villain company.
They tore me apart from head to toe, pumped me full of all kinds of drugs, and took my organs out and put them back in.
Do you really think my body could be healthy after that?” “Holy shit!
A test subject?
You?” The man had been about to light his cigarette, but he tossed it aside instead.
His voice was filled with delight.
If one wanted to oppose the Empire, powerful test subjects were indispensable.
The survival rate had to be atrocious, yet Hyeon-yul had survived.
Whatever experiments he had endured, his strength had already been proven.
They were on the third floor, and apart from the man standing before him, nobody else in the building was still alive.
“Yes.
Does that make you happy?” “Yeah.
Fucking thrilled.” Hyeon-yul turned toward him.
When their eyes met, the man felt a chill run through him, yet he grinned.
Hyeon-yul pulled the ballpoint pen from his pocket and clicked it repeatedly as his eyes slowly narrowed.
“I’m rather busy.
Do you still want to try me?” “Want to come work for my company?
I’m Kim Dae-an!” Dae-an made Hyeon-yul an offer.
In this world, strength was everything.
With talent like this standing right in front of him, what else was he supposed to do?
“Do you offer the four major insurances?” Hyeon-yul stopped clicking the pen in his hand.
“Of course!
Take sick leave whenever you want!
In exchange, can you kill the people I tell you to kill?” “I’ll only kill villains.
I don’t want to kill innocent people.” “Fine!
Do that!” “To be honest, I prefer paperwork.
Still, if you let me leave work on time, I can live with two or three nights of overtime a month.” “Good, good!
Then let’s get going.” Dae-an smiled at him in a friendly manner.
* * * STAB!
Hyeon-yul drove a ballpoint pen into someone’s neck.
He had liked that pen, but there was nothing he could do about it now.
“…Are you people idiots?
Why do you keep refusing to honor your promises?” His expression was one of pure annoyance.
When he wiped the blood from his clothes with his hand, it vanished completely.
“Go on, President Kim.
Explain it to me.” “…Ghhhhh.” Blood streamed from Dae-an’s neck and mouth.
Hyeon-yul could not understand why working for a company had to be this difficult.
“I said I could tolerate up to three nights of overtime.
How many has it been now?
Twenty in one month?
And you only paid me for ten days.
Is that enough to make someone angry, or not?” Dae-an flailed weakly and stared ahead with fading eyes.
At the ends of the black force extending from Hyeon-yul’s shadow hung Dae-an’s subordinates, all of them with broken necks.
Looking at Hyeon-yul, Dae-an became certain of one thing.
That man was a monster.
—I’ve put up with plenty.
Give me my paid leave and the wages you owe me.
Hyeon-yul’s demands had been simple, but Dae-an had refused.
From that moment onward, the shadows had begun moving on their own.
Even bursting light against them had done nothing.
Every one of Dae-an’s men had died to those shadows.
“…Cough.” Hyeon-yul coughed and checked his wristwatch before letting out a long breath.
“Now I’m late to the hospital again.
Do you have any idea how hard it is to get an appointment at a university hospital?” His doctor was going to hate this.
Hyeon-yul could not understand why people kept turning him into someone who failed to keep appointments.
He pulled Dae-an’s phone from inside his coat.
“I’m only taking the overtime pay I never received and the wages you quietly skimmed off.” He moved Dae-an’s hand and pressed the man’s fingerprint to the phone.
“Don’t worry about the password.
You were stupid enough to tell me while you were drunk.
…Ah, you also used me like a designated driver a few times, so I’ll deduct that too.” The account was under a borrowed identity, and Hyeon-yul’s own account was virtual as well.
The company itself had bribed a small country and pretended to be a foreign corporation, while its employees, Hyeon-yul included, had been registered in similarly false ways.
On paper, they were effectively nonexistent.
As far as official records were concerned, Hyeon-yul had never even been employed.
It had nothing to do with protecting the workers.
The entire arrangement existed to protect the villains themselves from the Empire’s reach.
Some villains openly operated companies, but others preferred not to.
“Hold on to the money you have left and pray to that precious god of yours.
See whether he comes for you or not.” Hyeon-yul exhaled softly.
Now that he had been completely cut loose, he would have to start job hunting again.
‘I still haven’t even paid off my hospital bills.
I can’t believe things turned out like this.’ His medical expenses were enormous, and he had accumulated a great deal of debt because of them.
He had considered working freelance, but it did not suit him.
If he chased money too aggressively, he could easily end up overworking himself, while being too careful about overwork meant he barely earned anything.
The only places capable of supporting his situation were companies run by villains, like this one.
“Finished watching?” Hyeon-yul looked ahead.
The scene felt strangely familiar because the same thing had happened when he met Dae-an.
“That bastard Dae-an called for help, so I came to laugh in his face, only to find something interesting going on.” To think one person had done all of this was difficult to believe.
The corpses and the stench of blood the newcomer had passed on the way in were enough to send chills down anyone’s spine.
A smile slowly appeared on the man’s face.
He could not help regretting that talent like this had been wasting away under Kim Dae-an, and that he had somehow failed to notice it until now.
“Come with me.
I’ll make you into something even greater.” Hyeon-yul was practically the perfect example of a villain.
Take whatever you wanted, and kill anyone who got in your way.
A being like this was exactly the sort of talent needed to bring down the vast Taesen Empire.
“I don’t need you to raise me.
I’m already fully grown.” Hyeon-yul was tired.
He did not understand why he had to have this conversation yet again, but it was always better to find a new job quickly.
“Do you offer the four major insurances?” Hyeon-yul asked with a sharp look in his eyes.
“Of course.” The answer came back without the slightest hesitation.
“If you don’t honor them, I’ll kill you.
Do you understand?” Hyeon-yul gave the warning in advance.
If the employment contract was not honored, he would kill his employer.
* * * “…Haa.” Hyeon-yul swept back the long bangs hanging low enough to cover his eyes.
At the sound of his sigh, the subordinates who had been working nearby began watching him carefully.
‘How many times has it been already?’ He would annihilate a company, someone would see the aftermath and applaud while offering to recruit him, and then that employer would refuse to honor the employment contract too.
Strangely enough, every time another recruitment offer came, his position went up.
He understood that climbing the ranks meant more work, but it did not mean they were free to work him like a dog.
—Why are you acting like this when we’re so close?
Employer and employee.
That was the entirety of their relationship.
—Didn’t we agree to be like brothers?
You can’t let this one thing slide?
They had barely known each other, so why was the man suddenly talking about being brothers?
‘I only asked them to follow the contract.
Is that really so difficult?’ Late wages, increasing overtime, sick leave being denied, and eventually even annual leave being blocked had become more and more common.
Hyeon-yul had changed jobs more times than he could count, and he had received recruitment offers over the blood-soaked remains of former workplaces more times than he could remember.
He had finally reached his limit.
It was the same everywhere, no matter where he went or how high his position became.
In the end, nothing was ever honored.
After countless job changes, Hyeon-yul finally reached a conclusion.
In the end, villains were still villains.
It was not as if Hyeon-yul himself were innocent, but at least he followed the basics.
He had never been late, he did what he was instructed to do, and he treated his superiors politely.
‘…Ah.’ Only then did Hyeon-yul realize something.
‘Right.
So this is what they call a black company?’ Every workplace he had known had been more or less the same, so he had never recognized it until now.
The realization was almost funny.
He could not believe it had taken him this long to figure it out.
Hyeon-yul clicked his ballpoint pen.
His subordinates watched him carefully at the sound, fear visible in their eyes as though wondering what that lunatic was about to do next.
‘…Five.’ As he counted the people and started to rise, something caught Hyeon-yul’s eye.
It was a recruitment notice displayed on an internet portal.
「Black Eagle Is Recruiting New Employees.」 Black Eagle was an organization established by the Empire to capture villains.
In other words, its members were a special class of civil servants, though some people said the organization felt more like a private company.
‘So it’s a place that kills villains?’ Curiosity stopped Hyeon-yul in his tracks, and he scrolled down.
「*Qualifications —No restrictions on gender, age, education, or prior employment history.
—Applicants must possess power, whether physical or magical.」 ‘No restrictions on prior employment history?’ That single sentence immediately seized Hyeon-yul’s attention.
「*Special Recruitment —Applicants with a record of subduing and capturing wanted villains, excluding police officers.」 ‘Would killing them count too?’ Every company president Hyeon-yul had killed had been a wanted villain.
「*Employee Benefits —Paid leave available for sick leave.
—Additional paid leave granted for overtime.
—Early departure available under qualifying conditions.
—Medical expenses covered.
.
.」 The corners of Hyeon-yul’s mouth rose.
More than anything else, the benefits appealed to him.
The fact that the offer was this tempting also meant the work had to be correspondingly dangerous, but that meant nothing to Hyeon-yul.
He had already taken the heads of countless villains.
‘I’ll go with this.’ When Hyeon-yul smiled, everyone sitting nearby felt a chill run through them.
“…T-Team Leader?” When one subordinate cautiously spoke, Hyeon-yul rose from his seat.
“I’m going out for a bit.” “W-where?” “To satisfy the special recruitment requirements.” Ignoring the startled question, Hyeon-yul walked into the hallway and took the elevator.
The company occupied an enormous building, large enough to have a chairman at the top.
The special recruitment requirement called for only one thing: he needed a head.
Without hesitation, Hyeon-yul headed straight for the chairman’s office.
* * * Ding.
The elevator doors opened, and Hyeon-yul straightened his tie.
“What business do you…” The guard approaching him never finished the sentence.
The moment Hyeon-yul’s gaze sharpened, the guard’s head fell from his shoulders.
Blood dripped from the dagger in Hyeon-yul’s hand.
Before the other guards could react, Hyeon-yul’s body collapsed downward.
It flowed across the floor like liquid before he emerged behind another guard.
STAB.
He plunged the dagger into the back of the man’s neck and slashed sideways.
‘Two left.’ Hyeon-yul’s gaze shifted to the left.
Whether it was magic or sheer physical speed, one guard closed in from the side at tremendous speed while electricity burst forth directly ahead of him.
One from the side and one from the front.
Apparently the two intended to attack him at the same time.
Hyeon-yul reached toward the one coming from the side.
A shadow shot out, seized the man’s leg, and yanked him away as Hyeon-yul vanished from the spot.
CRACKLE!
The magically discharged electricity struck the guard’s own companion and made his body convulse.
The expression of the guard who had cast the spell immediately darkened.
“This is why you’re supposed to be careful when using magic.” A voice came from behind the last remaining guard.
Gulp.
When and how had he gotten behind him?
The guard had never imagined Seo Hyeon-yul was this strong.
His thoughts ended there as a dagger pierced through his neck.
STAB.
Blood trickled down in a steady stream.
“…Ghhhh.” Listening to the man choke on his own blood, Hyeon-yul walked forward and opened the door.
“What is it?” The chairman was leisurely reading a newspaper while drinking alcohol, despite the fact that it was morning.
“I already told you.” At the voice coming from behind him, the man froze.
Goosebumps rose across his skin.
“I asked you to honor the contract.
I absolutely hate overwork, and it has already been five days since I last made it home.” “…Seo Hyeon-yul.
Let’s talk this out.
With words.” “I did talk.
You were the one who refused to listen.” “I’ll do things properly.
All right?
Starting now, I’ll…” “No.
I’m ending this before I work myself to death.
Isn’t that how villains do things?” Hyeon-yul spoke evenly as he moved the hand holding the dagger.
* * * Hyeon-yul stood in front of a building marked with the Black Eagle emblem.
Anyone could find its location with a simple internet search, and he found that rather amusing.
Villains went to desperate lengths to hide, while the organization that hunted them operated this openly.
“…Is this where Black Eagle is located?” Hyeon-yul asked the man stationed at the building’s main entrance.
“That’s correct.” Apparently not everyone working here was a Black Eagle member.
The guard had a sparrow emblem on his left arm.
“I came because I want to join Black Eagle.” Hyeon-yul pulled something from his bag and held out a severed head covered in dark, dried blood.
“This is Shin Daeho.
The bastard you’ve been looking for.” Everyone recoiled in horror, but Hyeon-yul wore a confident smile.
With genuine anticipation, he asked the question that mattered most.
“Do you really offer the four major insurances here?”