I’m Looking for a Job (2) 3: Chapter 3.
I’m Looking for a Job (2) * * * If you wanted to work for a company run by villains, you had to know how to handle something as basic as a bomb.
And bombs were not the limit.
Hyeon-yul even knew how to make simple poisons.
“…You really know how to defuse a bomb?” When Haeryeon asked, Hyeon-yul nodded without a trace of hesitation.
“What reason would I have to lie about that?” “You look like you’re trying to use people’s lives as leverage for getting hired.
I won’t allow that.” When the Team 7 leader spoke, Hyeon-yul merely shrugged.
“I said I would help.
I never made my hiring a condition, and I never threatened any of you.” The Team 7 leader gave a faint smile at that.
If it was meant as provocation, then it certainly qualified, and if he had intended to catch her off guard, he had already succeeded halfway.
“Interesting.
You’re very interesting.” The Team 7 leader’s thumb moved rapidly over the phone in her hand.
The situation was obvious.
Had they not all just heard the report?
They had no choice but to accept Hyeon-yul’s help.
Even if he demanded nothing, they would naturally end up owing him a favor.
How was that any different from what she had just accused him of doing?
“I’m honored.” Hyeon-yul smiled, and electricity spread through the air beside him.
Crackle.
Even as sparks flashed, Hyeon-yul did not so much as blink.
“Fine.
Enjoy this moment while you can.” The Team 7 leader smiled sweetly.
“Kid, keep your head on straight and focus on the situation for now.” The Team 2 leader pressed down on the Team 7 leader’s head to restrain her.
This was no time to raise their voices.
“Get your hand off me, old man!” “Leader Ye Juhyeon, this really isn’t the time for that.” When even Haeryeon spoke up, Juhyeon looked at her with drooping eyes.
“…Unni.” Haeryeon turned her attention to Hyeon-yul.
His relaxed attitude made him suspicious and left a bad taste in her mouth.
That was probably why Juhyeon had become so openly hostile toward him.
“I’ll take him with me.” Haeryeon volunteered.
For now, the only choice was to keep Hyeon-yul under her direct supervision and watch him from close range.
They were short on time.
Haeryeon unlocked the handcuffs that had bound his wrists.
“Follow me.” Haeryeon urged him onward, and Hyeon-yul rose from his seat.
“I understand that you suspect me.
I’ll prove myself through results.” After bowing his head slightly toward the team leaders, Hyeon-yul followed Haeryeon out.
Whatever he said right now would probably sound unpleasant to them anyway.
Haeryeon moved down the corridor at nearly a run, her fluffy hair bouncing with every step.
“Do you know why Black Eagle is called Black Eagle?” “I don’t.” “Then this is a good chance to learn.
We’re going to ride an eagle to the site.” Hyeon-yul paused to think.
Ride an eagle?
He had no idea what she meant by that.
“Why are you telling me something like this?” “Because I hope your desire to join Black Eagle is genuine.” Haeryeon grinned.
If Hyeon-yul was telling the truth, then there was no question he would become an enormous addition to their fighting strength.
After all, he had accomplished something none of them had managed to do.
* * * “…Urk.” Hyeon-yul leaned against a wall with a deathly pale face and covered his mouth.
He had wondered what the Black Eagle was supposed to be, only to discover that it was magic.
This world where he had been reborn was modern, but it was also a strange place filled with all kinds of supernatural powers.
Naturally, magic existed as well.
‘Wasn’t ordinary magic usually closer to stage tricks…?’ This was the first time he had seen magic on such an overwhelming scale.
An eagle shrouded entirely in black had appeared like an illusion.
Hyeon-yul had merely stared at it, wondering what it was, when it suddenly snatched him up and carried him through the sky.
Without any mental preparation, he had been hurled across the distance at an absurd speed.
He had wondered why there were hardly any ordinary cars outside the building they called the Nest, aside from buses.
Apparently, this was how Black Eagles traveled.
‘…This is the worst.’ Hyeon-yul sensed a serious problem.
If he became a Black Eagle, would he not have to ride that thing every day?
“Are you all right?
You seem to be rather frail.” Haeryeon smiled awkwardly at the completely unexpected reaction.
The Black Eagle was fast, and first-time riders were understandably startled, but the ride was so perfectly smooth that it did not even cause ordinary motion sickness.
Hyeon-yul, however, had suffered an entirely different kind of adverse reaction.
Just how weak could his body be despite his sturdy build?
“…Yes.
My health is poor.” Hyeon-yul checked his watch.
It was almost time for his medicine.
He turned his head toward Haeryeon beside him.
“That doesn’t mean I’m weak enough to be useless.
As long as I have my medication, I’m fine.
I’m always grateful for modern medicine.” “Is it a chronic illness?” “No.
I’m a former test subject.” “…” Haeryeon’s expression froze on the spot.
‘…A test subject?’ Anti-government forces had tried to raise soldiers with supernatural powers in order to bring down the Empire.
They experimented on countless people, and those victims were called test subjects.
Their survival rate was abysmal.
Even so, the villains continued abducting people and turning them into experimental subjects.
‘How is a test subject still alive?’ The question lodged itself in Haeryeon’s mind.
‘Is that why he came to Black Eagle?’ One question immediately led to another.
To be honest, his stated reason for coming to Black Eagle had sounded far too flimsy.
But if he had been a test subject, that changed things.
How deep a grudge must he bear against villains?
The fact that all four of his limbs were still intact could already be called a miracle.
“If you find it hard to believe, you can examine me later.
They tore through different parts of my body trying to inject strange powers into me.” Hyeon-yul spoke while still covering his mouth.
His body was no longer the same as an ordinary person’s.
He needed medicine simply to maintain his physical form and his mind, and the medicine was not free.
Only a black company had ever paid him enough to afford it.
“…No.
I saw the records of your countless hospital visits.” Haeryeon hesitated as she answered.
She had seen living test subjects before, but this was the first time she had encountered one who had continued living for so long.
“I’m glad that saves me time explaining.
I have to visit the hospital regularly, and the medication is expensive.
In that sense, Black Eagle’s employment conditions are very attractive.” Hyeon-yul gave her a light, almost relieved smile.
‘…This is driving me crazy.’ Haeryeon felt her resolve wavering.
She knew the shift had begun the moment he said the words “test subject.” She had rescued many experimental subjects, but every one of them had eventually died.
Perhaps what she felt now was guilt.
Only then did Haeryeon really look at the scars across Hyeon-yul’s face.
Aside from several deep ones, countless faint scars crisscrossed his skin as though he had been repeatedly cut apart.
Every one of them was a trace of experimentation.
‘…So that’s why he has enough power to kill Shin Daeho.’ Understanding the likely origin of Hyeon-yul’s strength, Haeryeon forced herself to assess the situation rationally.
There were too many dangerous factors surrounding him to judge him purely out of sympathy.
‘I need to judge Seo Hyeon-yul with my own eyes.’ Haeryeon searched through the bag she had brought and held out a pair of black-rimmed glasses.
“Put these on.” “Do they contain some kind of magic that reduces facial recognition?” “No.
They’re just a disguise.” The magic that interfered with recognition was actually inside the smartwatch Haeryeon was wearing, but she did not tell him that much.
She took out her phone and checked several things.
Civilians were currently being evacuated, and the bomb’s location had been narrowed down to somewhere near where they had landed.
‘First, the bomb.’ Haeryeon fixed her priorities and activated her smartwatch.
“Do Black Eagles normally operate in such small numbers?” Hyeon-yul put on the glasses and, after noticing that nobody else was coming, could not help asking.
“It depends on the mission.” She could have told him to stop prying into everything, but for now Haeryeon simply gave him a vague answer.
“This time we’re dealing with a bomb.
We need to minimize casualties.
I’m the team leader, so I can’t exactly sacrifice my team members, can I?” Haeryeon smiled, and Hyeon-yul stared at her blankly.
‘…Is she stupid?’ He could not understand her reasoning.
If a team leader disappeared, the entire team was bound to collapse.
For the sake of the team, sacrificing an ordinary member was obviously the correct choice.
But Hyeon-yul reconsidered the situation almost immediately.
‘I should learn this.’ What he had learned until now was the way villains operated.
Black Eagle was not a villain organization.
“What kind of power do you use, Mr.
Seo Hyeon-yul?” Haeryeon needed to know what he could do if he was going to help defuse the bomb.
“Shadows.
You could also call it darkness.
I don’t know exactly what it is.” Hyeon-yul extended a hand, and one of his fingers slowly melted away into shadow and dripped downward.
Nothing remained where the finger had been.
Then the finger emerged from the shadow below and wriggled.
“Think of it as something like this.” “…Those fucking bastards.” The curse escaped Haeryeon before she could stop herself.
What in the world had they turned a human being into?
She could not even imagine what Hyeon-yul had endured before his body became capable of melting like that.
“Does it hurt…?” Hyeon-yul looked briefly surprised by Haeryeon’s question.
Why was she asking him that?
‘Is she checking my health?’ Hyeon-yul shook his head without any hesitation.
“No.
I’m fine as long as I take my medicine.
No matter what happens, I’ll complete the mission before I leave, so you don’t need to worry.” Haeryeon blinked because there was something deeply strange about the answer.
It almost sounded like he was pleading with her.
Yet Hyeon-yul’s expression remained remarkably calm.
“If you tell me where the bomb is, I’ll take care of it.
If you watch how I handle it, you’ll understand that I deserve to clock out exactly on time.” At that remark, Haeryeon raised an eyebrow.
At first she had assumed she was imagining things, but after hearing him bring it up this many times, she was certain.
“You seem to care a great deal about…
work-life balance.” “That’s right.
I hate overwork.” Hyeon-yul declared it proudly, and Haeryeon burst out laughing.
“To be honest, I’d like to tell you that you came to the wrong place.
But leaving exactly on time isn’t impossible here, as long as you’re good enough at your job.” Haeryeon started walking again, and Hyeon-yul followed while listening closely.
He had not noticed because of the Black Eagle they had ridden, but the neighborhood was strangely quiet.
“Villains are everywhere, while Black Eagles are few.
The more villains you capture, the more benefits you receive.
Talented people are precious, so the organization treats them accordingly.” There was such certainty in Haeryeon’s voice that Hyeon-yul felt as though he had just taken a sip of warm tea.
“…This sounds like a good place.
Workplaces that treat you according to the work you actually do are very, very rare.” Perhaps this place really would at least keep the most basic promises.
The thought caused anticipation to bloom inside him.
“I hope you turn out to be a good person too, Mr.
Seo Hyeon-yul.” Haeryeon spoke softly, allowing herself a little hope as well.
“I don’t know about being a good person, but I’ll do my best to become a useful cog.” Hyeon-yul knew what companies wanted: useful talent they could exploit cheaply.
If that was not a cog in a machine, what was?
It was easier not to think of himself as truly belonging anywhere when the organization could cut him loose whenever it wished.
“That isn’t a particularly good thing to say.” Haeryeon’s brow furrowed slightly before she turned away.
For some reason she seemed angry, though Hyeon-yul could not understand why.
He followed her and shifted his gaze.
An empty playground came into view, and signs of a hurried evacuation were everywhere.
As they approached the high-rise apartment building visible in the distance, the number of abandoned belongings scattered across the ground steadily increased.
Hyeon-yul pushed his slipping glasses back into place and drew in a deep breath.
‘The smell of blood.’ The stench was heavy in the air.
Sure enough, once they climbed the hill, corpses began appearing one by one.
Hyeon-yul’s gaze moved toward the apartment building.
‘That must be it.’ He did not even need to ask Haeryeon where the bomb was.
The location was obvious.
‘Their intelligence network is good.’ How long had it been since the report that a bomb existed somewhere in the area?
They had already narrowed down its exact location.
‘Their coordination must be solid too.’ One group gathered intelligence, another transported personnel to the site, and finally the Black Eagles acted on the information.
The system was not bad at all.
“Is it over there?” Hyeon-yul pointed toward the apartment building with a sense of satisfaction.
“Yes.
The bomb is inside that building.” At Haeryeon’s answer, Hyeon-yul covered one eye.
The eye hidden beneath his palm seemed to melt away and disappear before moving toward the apartment.
His vision followed the shadow, giving him two entirely different scenes at once.
One eye saw the outside of the apartment building, while the other moved through its interior in search of the bomb.
“Did something get in your eye?” When Haeryeon asked, Hyeon-yul shook his head.
Two completely separate spaces filled his vision at the same time.
The outside of the apartment building and the rooms inside it.
“What kind of power do you use, Ms.
Oh Haeryeon?” After asking, Hyeon-yul thought for a moment and added something.
“Ah, if you’re suspicious of me, you don’t have to tell me.” “I’m an alchemist.” Haeryeon lifted her outer garment, revealing numerous small bottles stored underneath.
“I have all sorts of things, including acids strong enough to dissolve you on the spot.” “Do you have poison too?” “Of course.” “Then could you give me a poison capable of killing every villain in the room?
I’ll bring the bomb out afterward.” Hyeon-yul was making it clear that whatever waited inside alongside the bomb, he had no intention of backing down.
“There’s a bomb in there, and you still intend to go inside?” Haeryeon asked the question in a careful tone.
“I do.” “You could die.” “If I don’t go, I might die in a different sense.
I want to live a long life.” He needed employment if he was going to afford his medicine.
Hyeon-yul did not know how many years he had left, but while he was capable of living, he wanted to live as long as possible.
“Any poison is dangerous.
Don’t go in immediately.” After hesitating, Haeryeon held out a bottle no larger than her thumb.
“Thank you.” Hyeon-yul smiled as he took the bottle.
‘It’s poison of all things, so I wasn’t sure she’d actually give it to me.
She really did.’ The older male team leader had voted yes, while the female team leader had voted no.
Haeryeon’s decision was the only one remaining.
A gesture like this could only be interpreted as a very positive sign.
Still holding the bottle, Hyeon-yul erased his own hand.
It looked as though black rain were dripping from the empty space.
The hand covering his eye remained in place while his detached eye continued searching for the bomb.
It did not take him very long at all.
Exactly eleven seconds had passed before he found it.
‘Found it.’ There were nine people altogether, and the bomb sat among them in a single room.
‘They positioned it well.’ If anything went wrong, the placement would allow them to send all nine of themselves to their deaths at once.
Judging by the way they had even planned for cleanup, the villain who orchestrated the bombing seemed to possess a functioning brain.
‘Although every advantage comes with a drawback.’ They were basically rats trapped inside a jar.
Hyeon-yul sent the hand carrying the poison toward the location of his detached eye.
It slipped beneath a sofa and shattered the bottle there.
When he moved his eye closer, he saw the poison spreading like a faint mist.
He picked up a long nail lying beneath the sofa, then moved his eye upward to locate the security cameras.
His hand quietly destroyed the cameras before he looked back down.
One person collapsed.
While the others panicked at the sudden event, two more fell.
When someone reached for a radio, Hyeon-yul moved the hand and drove the nail into the man’s throat.
SHNK.
As he felt the nail sink into flesh, Hyeon-yul looked toward Haeryeon.
“I’ll be back in a moment.” The survivors had already realized there was poison in the room and were covering their mouths and noses.
It would be troublesome if they escaped like that.
“What?” Before Haeryeon could even finish reacting, Hyeon-yul melted into shadow.
The instant his viewpoint changed, he reached toward the door of the room containing the bomb.
Hyeon-yul’s hand appeared to pass straight through the door, seized the throat of an enemy trying to flee, and crushed it.
CRACK.
He calmly opened the door and stepped inside.
“Nice to meet you.” At the flat greeting, the enemies clutching their throats stared at Hyeon-yul as though he were a monster.
He had walked straight into a poisoned room without even wearing a gas mask.
“You don’t have to look at me like that.” Hyeon-yul was resistant to poison.
Considering how thoroughly his body had been torn apart and altered for experimentation, it would almost have been stranger if he had not possessed some resistance.
He calmly pulled on a pair of gloves.
When one man lunged at him, Hyeon-yul snatched the dagger from the man’s waist and drove it into his throat.
To avoid spraying himself with blood, he kicked the man away while pulling the dagger free.
‘Ah, the window.’ A man sprinted toward the window and reached out, but Hyeon-yul caught him by the hair and hurled him to the floor.
The man rolled several times.
Before he could rise, Hyeon-yul stepped in and stomped down on his face.
CRACK!
The sound of facial bones breaking rang out clearly.
Hyeon-yul swept his gaze around once, then moved his arm sideways.
STAB.
An enemy who had been creeping closer now stood trembling with the dagger buried through his throat.
Hyeon-yul slashed sideways and looked at the last remaining man.
“…M-monster!” The enemy shouted like he was screaming at an impossible sight.
“Monster or not, you’ll die if you keep shouting like that.
Do something with the life you have left.
Send your family a message, or…” THUD.
At the sound of the man collapsing, Hyeon-yul shook his head without any hesitation.
“I told you not to shout.” Hyeon-yul approached the bomb.
Nobody else remained standing in the room.
He opened the laptop and began operating it.
A disarm code was almost always embedded somewhere in the system.
After moving his fingers across the keyboard dozens of times, he found the code and entered it.
Even if there had been no disarm code, that would not have been a problem.
He had other methods.
Hyeon-yul looked around and brushed a hand across the blood staining his body.
It vanished cleanly, as though there had never been any blood on him at all.
‘This is an interview.
I can’t show up looking disheveled.’ After checking once more that no blood remained, he picked up the laptop and the now-disarmed bomb.
Then he reappeared naturally in front of Haeryeon.
“I thought you might need these, so I brought them.” “…?” Haeryeon stared at him with a blank expression.
“The bomb has been disarmed, and all nine people in the room with it are dead.
Does that mean the mission is complete?” When Hyeon-yul looked at her expectantly, Haeryeon dragged a hand over her face.
That was not the first thing they needed to deal with.
“Take the antidote first.” “I’m fine.
I have poison resistance.” Hyeon-yul shook the bomb and laptop he was holding toward her.
These were the most important things.
“I’m fairly useful, wouldn’t you say?
I resolved the entire incident in only five minutes.
With results like this, don’t I deserve to clock out on time?” At the shamelessly smooth remark, Haeryeon blinked and then covered her mouth.
There could still be enemies nearby, so she could not laugh loudly.
Even so, she genuinely thought he was incredible.
What Hyeon-yul had just accomplished was absurd.
In less than five minutes, he had not only eliminated the villains but also completed the work that should have required a bomb disposal unit.
How many people would normally have been needed to resolve the situation that efficiently?
Haeryeon set aside every other concern and focused only on what Hyeon-yul had accomplished.
‘At first I came along to monitor him, but maybe I really should treat this like an interview.’ Haeryeon grew serious.
In one sense, Hyeon-yul himself was poison.
He was a dangerous poison to both Black Eagle and the villains.
She had no idea what results that poison might produce, but she asked the question anyway.
“Are you confident that you won’t become a villain?” “Yes.” Hyeon-yul answered without hesitation.
He might wipe villains out entirely, but he had no intention whatsoever of becoming one again.
At that unwavering answer, Haeryeon extended her hand toward him.
She could not allow him to fall into the hands of villains again.
“I support bringing you into Black Eagle.” “…Really?” Hyeon-yul reacted as though he could hardly believe it.
“On one condition.
Join my team, Mr.
Seo Hyeon-yul.
That’s the condition for my vote.” Hyeon-yul stared at Haeryeon.
He was happy, but he could not understand what she was thinking.
“I’ll protect you, Mr.
Seo Hyeon-yul.” “Me…?” The words were so unfamiliar that a crease formed between Hyeon-yul’s brows.
“Yes.
I have the strength to do that.” Haeryeon answered him with a bright smile.