WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: Dionysus
Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried
◈ The Newbie Civil Servant Hunts Villains Before Going Home ◈
Chapter 14: Don't Get Cocky (2)
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* * *
* * *
‘Maybe it’s because it’s the first day, but this is pretty relaxed.’
As Hyeonyul stepped outside during the break, he could not shake the strange feeling.
They taught people things like this.
It felt as though he had gone to school.
As Hyeonyul headed for a nearby water cooler, he suddenly stopped short.
People passing by slowed as though they had stopped walking too.
When Hyeonyul sharply turned his head, he even saw someone running away as though fleeing.
‘What are they doing?’
Hyeonyul stood before the water cooler again.
Even the person who had been about to drink hurried away.
Without caring, Hyeonyul drank a cup of water, then quietly smiled.
‘...Ah, has the rumor spread already?’
It seemed word had gotten out that Haeryeon had gone to see the White Sparrow’s administration chief.
Otherwise, people would not react so obviously.
He liked it.
‘The bigger this gets, the more the guilty ones will gather and whisper about what to do, right?’
Now it would be worth listening in.
Until then, he would only have heard people gossiping about him anyway, so he had not bothered to listen closely.
Hyeonyul went back inside for the rest of the training.
There were three new recruits, including him.
Everyone was visibly holding back words that were itching to come out.
With the rumored Team Three right here, how curious must they be?
But whether they were patient or had something else in mind, none of them said anything to Hyeonyul or even met his eyes.
Hyeonyul sat down and pretended to rest his chin on a hand, covering his ear until the break ended.
His ear melted into darkness and moved through the building’s walls.
There was only one thing he needed to hear.
“...Hey, what do we do?”
That frightened voice.
‘Found you.’
“What if they find out it was us?”
The voice continued, nearly pleading, and Hyeonyul listened quietly.
“Don’t say such unlucky things. Not us. You.”
“W-what are you talking about? You told me to do this! You said we should leave out that bastard’s information...”
“You’re the one who spread the word. You said a former villain had joined Black Eagle. As your colleague, I was worried about you, so I only told you what to do. You were the one who actually did it.”
‘That’s the way of talking I hate most. Twisting words around to make someone look like an idiot.’
Hyeonyul touched his temple once as he listened.
“Then if you put it that way...”
“And you didn’t do it, did you?”
“...What?”
“You didn’t do it. Did you forget?”
At those words, the corners of Hyeonyul’s eyes rose.
It seemed they intended to bury the whole matter.
“R-right. I didn’t do it. It wasn’t me!”
“So remember it well. Neither you nor I did anything.”
“Okay. Okay. We didn’t do it.”
“And you, even if you were desperate, how could you act like that? I must have treated you too well if you’ve forgotten that you and I aren’t the same.”
Hyeonyul nearly laughed at those words drawing a line between those above and below.
Now it was time to see who they were.
He removed the hand covering his ear and pretended to scratch his eyebrow, covering his eyes instead.
He saw their faces.
One was from Black Eagle.
One was from White Sparrow.
Quite a fitting pair.
Now he knew exactly whom to deal with.
‘You first.’
Hyeonyul lowered his hand and quietly smiled.
* * *
The moment class ended, Hyeonyul went outside.
He heard footsteps following him, but ignored them and lost everyone.
There was only one subject anyone would want to bring up to him right now.
The truth behind the current rumors.
Or why Team Three’s leader had gone to see the manager administration chief.
‘People like other people’s gossip everywhere.’
Whenever he changed jobs, all kinds of ridiculous rumors followed him, and it had been bothersome. This place was no different.
Hyeonyul entered Team Three’s room and looked around.
‘No one’s here.’
Haeryeon had told him that because of the theory training, he did not need to go out on field assignments today.
Haeryeon had told him to enjoy the situation, but Hyeonyul could not feel at ease.
Was he really allowed to rest?
Even though he had always settled everything with his own hands, he had still done all sorts of things to avoid being fired from his jobs.
After knocking, Hyeonyul opened the door to Haeryeon’s office.
“You’re here?”
Haeryeon welcomed Hyeonyul.
Hyeonyul dipped his head slightly.
“Theory class was boring, wasn’t it?”
Haeryeon grinned.
After running wild in the field, theory was usually dull.
“No. I was fine. I got to find out what it feels like to be a student.”
Haeryeon’s eyes blinked rapidly.
Haeryeon pressed her lips together, then forced a smile.
Hyeonyul had never gone to school.
“That’s good, then. There’ll probably be more interesting theory waiting for you tomorrow.”
“Is that so?”
Hyeonyul answered calmly.
After a brief silence, he called to Haeryeon.
“Team Leader.”
“Hmm?”
“There’s something I need to tell you.”
“...Ah.”
Haeryeon remembered midway through speaking.
Haeryeon had forgotten because she had been so angry about the administration chief earlier.
Clasping her hands, Haeryeon slowly exhaled.
“No matter how urgent it was, you shouldn’t steal someone else’s things.”
‘Should I have taken it by force instead?’
Hyeonyul only thought it and did not answer.
That was not the villain’s way.
“And if something like this happens, you need to tell me first, not Team Leader Ye Juhyeon.”
“I will from now on. I was flustered.”
Hyeonyul immediately bowed his head.
Haeryeon drew in a breath at the quick apology.
Whether it was sincere or not, it was awkward to see.
“No. It makes sense that you’d be flustered. What is this, right after you joined? There won’t be anything like this again. Even if there is, I’ll handle it, so leave it to me.”
After finishing, Haeryeon checked the time.
“In about five minutes, the people who didn’t send you an alert will come here. Say whatever you want to say.”
“Were those people fired?”
“That’s right.”
For just a moment, a smile touched Hyeonyul’s lips before disappearing.
“Hyeonyul. This may be needless concern, but you haven’t met the Poison King, have you?”
“No. I haven’t contacted them since then.”
That was the truth.
Honestly, he had considered contacting the Poison King, then decided against it.
He no longer had any reason to rush.
He had already found a job and was doing well there.
“This may also be needless concern, but if the Poison King comes to you again and offers you very good terms, would you go?”
Haeryeon tested the waters.
“How good are the terms?”
“What...?”
“...W-wait a moment!”
Just then, Sinu hurriedly shouted from the doorway.
Before even catching his breath, he rushed over to Hyeonyul.
Perhaps he had been on a fire-related assignment. He smelled of smoke.
“Hyeonyul! That isn’t even an offer worth hearing out!”
Sinu spoke firmly.
“Why not? Listening is not a bad thing. They say one should listen carefully to what others have to say.”
“...From that book?”
Haeryeon asked hesitantly.
Haeryeon remembered the title being something like 101 Ways to Do Whatever.
“Yes. More than that, I have always been good at listening.”
Hyeonyul puffed up with pride.
He only listened well. Whether he complied with requests or answered questions was entirely up to him.
For a moment, Sinu was at a loss for words at Hyeonyul’s oddly proud expression.
He toyed with the longer hair at the back of his head and drew a short breath.
‘This is... driving me crazy.’
If nobody said something, it felt as though Hyeonyul might really be completely taken in.
This kind of education had to start in childhood.
Why else were humans social animals?
Hyeonyul’s upbringing had been different.
“I know you might hate me interfering, but the other party is the Poison King. Isn’t it extremely suspicious that the Poison King is interested in you?”
“Because I killed Shin Daeho. That is the answer there. They seem to like it the more people you kill.”
At Hyeonyul’s simple, clear answer, Sinu was once again at a loss for words.
His mouth was practically itching.
Though the time had been short, from watching Hyeonyul nearby, Sinu had concluded that Hyeonyul was weak to company benefits.
For example, the break room inside this office had premium ice cream and a variety of snacks, and at first Hyeonyul had asked whether he had to pay for them.
When told there was a company cafeteria, Hyeonyul had cheered quietly, then been startled to learn there was no charge.
It was as though Hyeonyul had never enjoyed benefits before.
How could Sinu not be worried?
‘You can’t go.’
Sinu was desperate.
A rookie like this was far too precious.
“I understand why you are both worried. I’m not going. Even if I do, I’ll only pretend to go.”
Hyeonyul let him know so he could relax.
Why would he walk into such an obvious trap?
“Really...”
“You can’t even pretend to go. That would be dangerous from the start.”
When Haeryeon cut Sinu off and spoke firmly, Hyeonyul gently closed his lips.
As he wondered how to persuade him, a question he had wanted to ask came to mind.
“Ah, Team Leader, there’s something else I want to ask. May I?”
“Go ahead.”
Haeryeon looked at Hyeonyul seriously.
“What does a Black Eagle have to violate to get fired?”
It was quite an odd question, but one Hyeonyul could certainly ask.
Haeryeon thought seriously before answering.
“You can’t hurt or kill civilians. Other than that... killing another Black Eagle, or killing a manager? And failing too many assignments, maybe? People have run away before, but no one has ever been fired.”
“Thank you for telling me.”
Hyeonyul smiled lightly.
‘In short, it means it’s fine to kill anyone as long as I don’t get caught.’
Honestly, that was an area he was quite confident in.
He had always done it that way.
Knock knock.
“Is someone coming?”
Sinu asked.
“The former managers came to apologize to Hyeonyul.”
“Apologize for what?”
“They didn’t tell him where the theory training was being held.”
Haeryeon gave Sinu a meaningful look.
Honestly, the timing was perfect.
Sinu could not stand injustice.
“...Ah. So that’s why things were a little noisy outside?”
The corners of Sinu’s eyes had already risen.
“That’s right.”
“What happened to them?”
“They were fired.”
“That’s all?”
“Of course not. They have to be investigated at the police station too.”
“I’ll help as well.”
As Sinu spoke firmly, Haeryeon beamed.
Hyeonyul knew they intended to do something for him, but Haeryeon and Sinu’s conversation made him uncomfortable.
‘Those aren’t the real ones.’
They were merely being used.
Hyeonyul could not let the two exhaust themselves over this already.
“You don’t have to do that. I appreciate the thought.”
Hyeonyul lightly declined.
“No, why?”
“Team Leader is fully capable of handling it. You can trust Haeryeon. Haeryeon will tear them apart.”
Haeryeon and Sinu immediately added their own disappointed words.
“It’s not that. I called them because I wanted to meet them and see what kind of people they are.”
“Just... see what kind of people they are?”
Haeryeon did not understand.
They had crossed the line long ago. Was he not angry?
“I’ve never been fired, but I know how it feels to lose a job.”
Hyeonyul rose from his seat and headed for the door.
Sinu watched his back with wide eyes.
If this had happened during an assignment, it could have cost someone their life.
Was he going to forgive something so cowardly and dirty?
“So I wanted to meet them and talk.”
Ignoring Haeryeon and Sinu’s gazes behind him, Hyeonyul greeted the two people.
“Hello.”
The two were startled by Hyeonyul’s rather gentle greeting.
‘This is the person from the rumors...?’
They knew magic that muddled people’s perception of his appearance had changed how he looked, but it could not hide expressions.
Hyeonyul clearly did not look angry.
Still, the two lowered their heads slightly and felt uncomfortable around him.
No matter what anyone said, they had been fired because of this man.
They had done nothing wrong.
That man was the one in the wrong.
Why the hell had a villain come here?
If he had been a villain, he should have known his place.
Anyone would naturally think he was a spy.
“It seems there has been a misunderstanding.”
Hyeonyul used a way of speaking he greatly disliked, yet found very effective.
“You were not the ones who did it.”
As though he knew something.
As though comforting them.
With that ambiguous tone, he slowly moved their hearts.
It did not have to be now.
They needed to be shaken more slowly, for longer.
“If you need help later, please let me know. I know that you were not the ones who did it.”
Hyeonyul spoke even more gently.
They were not at fault.
Hyeonyul knew very well how much that alone could let someone justify themselves.
‘Look. Their eyes have changed already.’
Hyeonyul snickered inwardly.
* * *
Hyeonyul sat in a cafe, drinking coffee.
He sat by the window and stared blankly outside.
‘This is nice.’
The life he had only imagined was now unfolding before him.
A life with leisure.
If he could keep living like this, he would want for nothing.
Unfortunately, that was not why he was here today.
He needed an alibi.
The security cameras here would prove where he had been.
He planned to erase one of the people behind today’s incident.
He had already found out where the target lived.
From now on, he would leave his seat briefly to go to the restroom, while his target was somewhere too far away to reach in that time.
‘But I can do it, and nobody knows that.’
Hyeonyul stood.
He slowly headed to the restroom.
The moment he entered a stall, his body melted into darkness.
Between darkness and darkness were countless spaces.
The spaces were packed so tightly that one could not know where to go. They were like a vast sea.
Because he did not know what he might inhale if he breathed in, he had told the villain to hold their breath when he moved them last time.
The scenery around him changed.
The room had no lights on, but Hyeonyul could see perfectly well.
Beep beep beep.
He heard the sound of someone entering a front-door password.
When the sensor light turned on with a click, something dark came into view.
The target entering the house was seized by an oddly cold feeling as soon as they closed the door.
Someone was standing in front of them.
Who was it?
They could not see their face.
Enveloped in smoke, they looked as though they had been dyed black.
They tried to speak.
The moment they opened their mouth, something flowed.
It was hot and thick.
Trickle.
As something streamed down, their viewpoint gradually lowered.
They blinked.
They saw their feet.
“Why did you have to get cocky?”
Those words were the last thing to seep into their ears.
Slowly, the light vanished and darkness settled in.
* * *
After leaving the restroom, Hyeonyul washed his hands and walked outside.
As he headed back to his seat, he went to the ordering counter instead.
“One cheesecake, please.”
To make a stronger impression, Hyeonyul bought a slice of cake.
He remembered quite a few people looking at him strangely, as though he did not suit cake.
After ordering, Hyeonyul sat down.
‘Knowing what villains are like, I don’t understand why they picked on someone who worked among them.’
Resting his chin lightly on a hand, he looked up at the sky.
He had survived.
That alone was enough to earn recognition in the villains’ world.
‘Maybe I should buy a lottery ticket before going home.’
He looked forward to seeing what rumors would spread at work tomorrow.
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