WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: Dionysus
Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried
◈ The Newbie Civil Servant Hunts Villains Before Going Home ◈
Chapter 10: I Know That Face (2)
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Someone had come to pitch something to Shin Daeho.
“This is a truly excellent item.”
Hyeonyul could not see what it was from where he stood.
Judging by the atmosphere, it seemed to be some kind of new weapon.
‘...It isn’t from the Poison King’s side.’
He had not heard the Poison King mentioned.
It was someone else.
‘What did they call them again?’
“...The Witch wishes to distribute it discreetly.”
‘The Witch.’
The earlier words had been unclear as the person left, but he had heard Witch distinctly.
Judging by the fact that they were still alive, they seemed quite capable at business.
After covering his ears as well, Hyeonyul focused on the conversation.
“Did you make sure to search the whole area?”
That arrogant man was his target.
“With the poison spread now, how could anyone be alive?”
“Check anyway. It’ll be a pain if those Eagle bastards catch anything. Make sure you clean up the poison you spread.”
“Yes. I gave the order to recover all of it.”
“Then how long will it take to hack the company’s internal information?”
‘Hacking...?’
Hyeonyul’s eyes moved.
Hacking usually had two meanings.
First, stealing a company’s internal information.
Second, bringing down the company itself.
Would people like them care about appearances?
Rather than sending industrial spies or whatever else, he had learned it was faster to cripple a company and take whatever information he wanted.
Hyeonyul did not know which it was, but he did not overthink it.
Catching the target would be enough.
“...We’ll finish within an hour.”
“An hour? You bastard! The Eagle bastards should be here soon! Finish it in twenty minutes!”
The man snapped and turned away.
Hyeonyul’s eyes narrowed behind his gas mask.
They had split into two teams.
One was hacking, while that man seemed to be heading elsewhere to rest.
‘Good.’
This would make things much easier.
Ding.
Just as Hyeonyul was about to move, an alarm sounded in his ear, and text appeared before his eyes.
<There’s something like a barrier here. What is it?>
It was an actual alarm.
Magic that turned sound into text.
The medium was the wireless earbud in his ear, which Nayun had repeatedly stressed was essential.
Still, Hyeonyul had not expected a message now.
He touched the earbud and spoke.
<Can you see it from there?>
His voice was sent as text instead.
<Of course. My eyes are a little special. Fog like this can’t block my view. I saw how startled you were by that message just now. Hehe.>
It seemed even laughter was transmitted.
<Does the barrier appear to be magic?>
<For now, yes. Shall I break it now?>
<No.>
Hyeonyul quickly stopped Nayun.
<Huh? If I don’t break it, I can’t see inside. Can you see inside?>
<Yes, I can.>
<You can...? How? Do you have good eyesight? Or are you using magic?>
How many question marks was that?
Hyeonyul cut off the growing stream of questions.
<They are hacking the company’s internal information.>
<Hacking? Have they lost their minds?>
<If you break the barrier, they will flee immediately. I will infiltrate...>
Hyeonyul abruptly stopped.
He thought he heard footsteps, then a sharp gust of wind swept past.
Whoosh.
A faint sound reached his ears.
Hyeonyul turned his head. Some distance away, he could vaguely see someone’s feet.
<Did you snipe them?>
<Of course. There was a patrol team, so I shot them. You weren’t startled, were you?>
<No.>
<They’re holding something. Hyeonyul, can you check what it is?>
<Just a moment.>
Black power swiftly spread around Hyeonyul, then vanished.
There was no one nearby.
He casually walked over and looked at the corpses.
‘There were two?’
They were piled together, as if the shot had pierced both of them.
It had been a precise shot to the head.
‘To shoot that accurately from so far away.’
Hyeonyul silently admired the skill, then checked what Nayun had mentioned.
It was an object a little larger than a palm.
‘What is this?’
When Hyeonyul opened it, he found an empty test tube inside.
A little liquid remained.
“Make sure you clean up the poison you spread.”
‘Is this the poison they mentioned earlier?’
Hyeonyul took off his gas mask and tasted a drop of the remaining liquid.
‘...Poison.’
The sharp, tingling taste confirmed it.
It was the same poison used here.
<It’s poison. It appears they are still spreading it.>
<What could possibly be in that company...? Ah, wait. While you were checking, I requested information on the company. The answer just came in.>
Hyeonyul waited briefly for Nayun’s reply.
<It’s just an ordinary liquor company. I don’t see why they would spread poison like this.>
<Then it may not be an ordinary liquor company. I should go inside and confirm it.>
Hyeonyul had even more reason to go in.
He would have to see it directly to know what kind of company it was.
<While you’re inside, Hyeonyul, I’ll take out the people spreading the poison first. I’ll contact you again after I deal with them all.>
<Understood.>
Just as Hyeonyul was about to end the call, Nayun’s message appeared immediately.
<Ah, don’t do anything dangerous. You’re still on probation, so leave the rest to me. Avoid fighting and just look around as if you’re taking a nice, relaxing walk. Got it?>
<...I understand.>
After replying, Hyeonyul ended the call.
Sinu and Nayun both kept saying things he could not understand.
An environment completely unlike the companies villains operated kept appearing before him.
The thought that he had to prove his usefulness before being fired was growing faint.
‘Get a grip.’
He absolutely had to take care of his health.
To do that, he needed money and time, which meant finding a job where he could allocate both properly was inevitable.
So he had to adapt, no matter what.
‘I should read that book again when I get home.’
101 Ways to a Smooth Office Life.
He needed it.
‘But right now, I need to get off work.’
Today was the day he had to go to the hospital.
Hyeonyul gripped the daggers at his waist in both hands.
After moving somewhere beyond Nayun’s line of sight, he vanished.
* * *
Hyeonyul moved to the floor he had observed earlier.
There were many people here, but there was no reason to sweep them all away from the start.
Targeting the key people was more efficient.
‘First, the ones in the hallway.’
Hyeonyul stepped back and seeped into the wall.
People who had fled because of the poison and died lay scattered across the floor.
Some had died while using their phones.
One screen showed only the first letter of the word Mom.
They had probably been trying to type it.
Everyone had a hole somewhere on their body.
‘They were killed by bullets, not poison.’
Hyeonyul shifted his gaze.
Two people were walking down the hallway.
They seemed to be a patrol team.
Hyeonyul threw a dagger from within the wall.
Whoosh!
It pierced the neck of the man closer to Hyeonyul.
“What was th...?”
The other man started to speak in surprise at the unfamiliar sound, then stopped.
Someone wearing a gas mask had suddenly approached.
The moment an outstretched hand reached him, blood poured from his neck.
“...Ghk.”
“Shh.”
Hyeonyul covered the man’s mouth with one hand and pressed a finger to his lips.
The darkness writhing from Hyeonyul’s body swallowed the two men and the bloodstains.
Once everything had been quietly taken into the darkness, nothing remained.
Hyeonyul also walked on, seeping into the shadows.
A door opened to the left of the hallway.
“...Huh?”
Someone looked around.
“Where did those guys go?”
“...I know, right?”
“I told you to manage your men properly. I...”
The irritated voice abruptly stopped.
A blade protruded from the person’s throat.
“I’m sorry! I’ll manage them better from now on... T-Team Leader!”
The superior collapsed forward.
The subordinate reflexively reached out to catch them, then met Hyeonyul’s eyes.
Sparks flew from the subordinate’s eyes for an instant.
Clang!
The blade bounced away, forcing Hyeonyul’s hand back as well.
The stinging sensation was clear.
‘...Hah.’
Hyeonyul almost laughed.
He had encountered an ability user.
But the ability was clumsy, as though it had only just been activated.
Hyeonyul’s hand melted away, and a blade emerged from behind the subordinate’s neck.
When it sliced sideways, the subordinate collapsed beside the dead superior.
Hyeonyul looked at the hand that had collided with the ability.
‘These gloves are reinforced enough to withstand an explosion.’
That ability user must have possessed considerable power.
‘Though they are dead now.’
Hyeonyul immediately took off the glove and inspected his hand.
It was slightly scraped.
‘...Hah.’
Irritation rose within him.
The drugs injected while he had been a test subject made his blood difficult to clot.
As soon as he held out his other hand, a first-aid kit emerged from the shadows.
He applied a special bandage.
His body was already in poor condition, so even a minor injury could not be taken lightly.
If it became infected, there was no telling how far the consequences could spread.
Holding a dagger in one hand, Hyeonyul covered an eye with his bandaged hand and looked toward the target.
There were two people guarding the man.
‘Security is pretty lax. Are they getting cocky because they trust the poison?’
That was good news for Hyeonyul.
It meant he could deal with this comfortably.
Hyeonyul’s hand melted away.
It appeared beside one of the people guarding the target.
The hand emerging from thin air quietly and swiftly cut the guard’s throat.
“...?”
A hand was floating in midair.
What was that hand?
The guard died with that question unanswered.
Before the body touched the ground, Hyeonyul cut the other guard’s throat as well.
Only after the two guards knelt with dark blood streaming from their necks did the man lower their phone.
“...W-What is this?!”
Their eyes shook wildly.
“What do you think it is?”
Someone suddenly appeared before them.
The fluttering darkness looked like living evil taking form.
The man swallowed, and Hyeonyul asked just in case before acting.
“Are there any living people?”
The man barely shook their head.
There were none.
Hyeonyul did not believe it.
He lifted a foot and gently set it down.
Black, smoke-like power rippled around his feet, pierced through the building, and descended below.
It stretched thin and long, branching upward and downward.
Soon, Hyeonyul smiled.
“There are survivors. This is why I cannot trust anything you people say.”
There were three of them.
It was a wonder they had survived at all.
Hyeonyul used his wireless earbud.
To think he would be the one saying this.
After taking a brief breath, he spoke.
<I found hostages. I will rescue them.>
While speaking and even after finishing, he felt strangely as if his fingers were curling in.
<I’m almost done too!>
<Then prepare to destroy the barrier from there.>
<The barrier...? You said not to earlier?>
<I found the ringleader.>
<You said there were survivors?>
<I will protect both the ringleader and the survivors.>
<Then that is enough. You mean we should wipe out all the villains inside?>
<That is correct.>
<Great! Give me the signal, Hyeonyul.>
After the call ended, Hyeonyul grabbed the man by the hair and spoke.
“Close your eyes and hold your breath.”
“W-Wait! Wait! Hngh!”
Watching the man inhale, Hyeonyul melted into the shadows.
* * *
The survivors were underground.
They had apparently been trapped in a logistics warehouse, yet had somehow avoided the poison.
“...Urgh.”
The man vomited, but Hyeonyul treated them as if they did not exist.
“This is Black Eagle. Here, put on a gas mask. You too.”
After speaking, Hyeonyul took gas masks from his bag and handed them to the survivors.
“...B-Black Eagle?”
The survivors looked at Hyeonyul differently.
Their faces suddenly brightened.
They were so radiant that Hyeonyul could immediately recognize the emotion called hope.
Those gazes felt unfamiliar.
‘...What? He was Black Eagle?’
Only then did the man realize Hyeonyul’s identity.
All they had seen was a gas mask.
“I will ask why you came to this company later, so think carefully about what you need to say.”
Hyeonyul instructed the man.
He knew the man would lie, so he intended to search the surroundings anyway.
But something else was more important now.
Eliminating every villain stationed here.
Once everyone had put on their gas masks, Hyeonyul contacted Nayun.
<Please destroy the barrier.>
<I’m doing it! I am!>
Nayun replied without hesitation.
Wondering what Nayun intended to do, Hyeonyul covered one eye and observed the outside.
Something flashed far away, then something poured down.
It was too fast to see properly.
The streams of light came one after another, appearing like a single unbroken line without the slightest deviation.
‘Those are bullets?’
The moment the bullets struck the barrier, a tremendous sound reached even the basement.
Boooom!
The building shook violently afterward.
<I got it!!!>
Nayun’s message appeared.
With the barrier gone, the poison outside would now begin spreading in every direction.
“If you remove your gas masks, you will die from the poison, so you must keep them on.”
Hyeonyul spoke firmly to the survivors.
Safety was directly tied to health, so he had to be firm.
“Then stay here.”
“W-Wait. Where are you going?”
“This place is safe.”
“But...”
“I have something to discuss separately with this villain. Do you want to see how I handle them?”
Hyeonyul pointed at the villain.
“...No.”
“Stay here quietly. Someone will come rescue you soon.”
Since he had not attended theory training yet, he spoke vaguely.
Hyeonyul looked at the still-anxious survivors, then vanished while gripping the villain by the hair.
* * *
Hah. Hah.
The man’s breathing quickened.
Perhaps poison had spread everywhere. The subordinates who had been attempting to hack the company were all dead.
Their skin had turned pitch-black, and the sight made the man’s heart pound madly.
‘...This is Black Eagle?’
Did he knows how many subordinates were in this building?
For Black Eagle to kill so brutally.
‘This is what we do!’
The man wanted to tear Hyeonyul apart immediately.
The desire to avenge the subordinates boiled within them.
“Now, I will ask you.”
Hyeonyul spoke while looking around.
The man watched for an opening, then reached for Hyeonyul.
They grabbed the gas mask and tore it off.
“You’ll die just like my subordinates...”
The man began to speak with a smile, then stopped.
Hyeonyul calmly breathed out.
“Ah, are you saying you want to die?”
Hyeonyul calmly asked while grabbing the man’s gas mask.
“W-Wait! Wait!”
“Do you know Shin Daeho?”
The sudden name made the man flinch reflexively.
‘Why is Shin Daeho coming up...?’
“Ah, I should have asked whether you were the Poison King’s subordinate first. That was a mistake.”
Hyeonyul casually changed the question.
“But this is good. You are not the Poison King’s subordinate, and you do know Shin Daeho.”
At those words, the man’s eyes widened.
‘...What? Just how much does he knows?’
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