WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: Dionysus
Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried
◈ The Newbie Civil Servant Hunts Villains Before Going Home ◈
Chapter 68: Extra Pay (3)
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* * *
* * *
After taking a sedative to settle the nausea from the eagle ride, Hyeonyul checked the mission.
「*Incident Begins
―While investigating a company operated by Villains, an item believed to be a drug was discovered.
*Incident Progress
―A rapid component analysis confirmed it to be an unidentified drug.
―The company has been inspected and surrounded for swift recovery.
―While distinguishing Villains from civilians, determining whether more of the drug exists is important.
*Points of Caution
―The existence of additional drugs must be confirmed.
―Wear protective equipment as a precaution against the drug.
―Villains may attack.」
Hyeonyul shifted his gaze to the company building.
It was a five-story building, and the company was nearly mid-sized.
Hyeonyul checked the logo.
‘This is one of the companies I marked as being run by Villains?’
Based on companies Black Eagle had found suspicious and investigated, he had been tasked with checking for logos or symbols located somewhere within them.
He had done that only recently, so he had not expected things to move so quickly.
He had no idea how thoroughly they usually investigated places like this.
‘At this rate, they must know Ahsan is dead too.’
Why had they not told the other Black Eagle agents?
Along with his curiosity came a growing certainty about Black Eagle’s power.
Had he not confirmed something at the place imitating cult activities yesterday?
Alongside brainwashing followers, they had used a drug that transformed non-powered people into powered people.
It was a drug that had been discarded due to severe side effects while he was being experimented on.
He had found records of the transaction on a computer through the confession of the Villain leader who ran the place, but that was all.
At this rate, would Black Eagle be able to track them down with the transaction records alone?
Just in case, he had planned to visit Yujong, the Night Rat and information broker, today.
Hyeonyul walked forward.
The closer he got to the building, the more people there were.
He could sense the perimeter control and a force surrounding the building’s interior.
‘...Magic?’
It was too ambiguous to call it magic.
Then it was likely a superpower.
“Are you with Black Eagle?”
Someone came running over in a hurry.
They showed their civil servant ID first.
They were with White Sparrow.
“Yes.”
Hyeonyul answered briefly and held out his black civil servant ID as well.
“Nice to meet you. The Villains and civilians inside have not yet been separated. The ability suppression device is currently operating.”
“Then abilities cannot be used inside?”
“No. Black Eagle agents can use them after going through an exception procedure. Would you please follow me?”
That White Sparrow agent was polite.
They could clearly see he was from Team Three.
“There’s something I’d like to ask, if that’s all right.”
It was Hyeonyul’s first time in a situation like this, so he could not help asking.
“Please ask as much as you like.”
“How can we be exceptions?”
What kind of force was it?
How did it work?
“The uniform you’re currently wearing is inherently exempt from that force. Furthermore, a Black Eagle agent with a superpower is directly controlling it this time, so the adjustment is smoother than before.”
As Hyeonyul listened, he looked down at his uniform.
The more he looked at it, the more useful it seemed.
“Thank you for telling me.”
“Not at all. This way.”
The White Sparrow agent led the way, and Hyeonyul followed.
There were many people around.
‘Are they all with White Sparrow? This many?’
Unlike Black Eagle, they did not usually wear uniforms, so it looked as though ordinary civilians had gathered.
Hyeonyul kept looking because he had never seen this many people, even on other missions.
They continued their work while occasionally glancing his way.
Their gazes were no longer as sharp as before.
Was stopping the incident where the Poison King had spread poison really that significant?
‘I don’t understand.’
Hyeonyul simply accepted it.
“...I’m sorry.”
Standing before a door, the White Sparrow agent spoke to Hyeonyul with an awkward expression.
Hyeonyul silently looked at them.
“I heard the rumors and misunderstood on my own. This is only my personal opinion. When I met you, I really, really wanted to apologize.”
The White Sparrow agent bowed deeply and opened the door for him.
Hyeonyul looked at them for a moment.
Honestly, it did not matter much to him whether they apologized or not.
It was not the first time someone had disliked him. He had thought that as long as he proved himself with his abilities, that would be enough.
Still, it was easier when they acted like this.
What was he supposed to say at times like these?
After thinking briefly, Hyeonyul smiled more brightly.
“Thank you for saying that.”
He could not know whether those words were a lie or whether they were only doing this for their own conscience.
If it was a lie, he only had to deal with it as a lie.
Hyeonyul went inside, and the White Sparrow agent finally let out a breath in relief.
‘...They weren’t as scary as I thought.’
Even setting aside the heavy atmosphere unique to Black Eagle, they had personally experienced just how false the rumors were.
White Sparrow had been the side that had insisted most strongly that they could not accept Team Three’s new recruit.
Despite knowing that a single piece of information could determine whether a Black Eagle agent lived or died, they had also made the enormous mistake of withholding information from that new recruit alone.
They had heard that, despite the huge trouble on their side related to yesterday’s cult incident and everything else that had happened, Team Three’s new recruit had spoken in their defense.
They might have been a Villain in the past, but at least now, it was right to see them as no longer one.
‘I should reflect on myself too.’
The White Sparrow agent nodded.
* * *
“...Oh!”
A woman with a natural half-up hairstyle spotted Hyeonyul, her eyes widening as she ran over.
Her voice was as loud as ever.
“Could you be the person I met then, um, uh...”
“Seo Hyeonyul.”
“That’s right, Mr. Seo Hyeonyul! No, um, the one from Team Three. Do you remember me?”
“Didn’t you use the power of clouds?”
“That’s right. How did you know? I’m Im Taerin from Team Two, the one who can make anything well.”
Taerin smiled and held out her hand.
When Hyeonyul offered his hand, she shook it firmly.
“You were excellent last time.”
Taerin gave him a thumbs-up.
Hyeonyul slightly leaned back as he greeted her.
“Thank you.”
“The Team Lead, I mean Team Lead Dojin, said he would bring excellent support. Is that you?”
“I don’t know about excellent, but I am the support.”
“As expected of the Team Lead. He brought someone excellent right away.”
Hyeonyul hesitated, feeling quite burdened by Taerin’s uninterrupted praise.
‘Did she make some kind of promise with Team Lead Dojin?’
Dojin wanted him to join Team Two.
If so, it was natural that Team Two would flatter him as well.
He hesitated over whether that was how he should view it.
“Ah! This isn’t the time. Please follow me. I’d like to introduce you to the rest of Team Two, but they may be too busy separating civilians from Villains right now.”
“I have a question about what you just said. May I ask?”
“Of course. I’m ready to answer anything.”
He did not know why everyone could approach him so directly.
Avoiding Taerin’s sparkling eyes, Hyeonyul asked,
“How do you usually distinguish Villains from civilians?”
More than anything else, that was what he was most curious about now.
Did they see things differently from him?
Was there something that let them identify Villains?
“...Um, the answer may be different from what you expect.”
Taerin’s voice and steps lost a little energy.
She hesitated over whether to say it, then opened her mouth.
“First, we check their asset records. On average, Villains often have their assets suddenly increase compared to the salary they earn. Second, for safety, we divide them into high-risk and low-risk groups based on their abilities. Finally, we look at the flow of their abilities through brain waves to determine whether they have used them frequently.”
“You distinguish them through statistics?”
“That’s right. Other than that, we only have confessions or voluntary reports, and those are difficult, right? So for now, that’s our only method.”
“Thank you for explaining.”
“...Are you disappointed?”
“No. I think there is evidence behind it, in its own way.”
Hyeonyul genuinely thought so.
It was true that the more Villainous acts someone committed, the more their assets increased.
He had only touched money related to wages he had not received, but it seemed the others had also taken the assets of the people they killed.
Dividing people into high-risk and low-risk groups based on their abilities was natural as well.
The better an ability was, the more likely Villains were to recruit that person.
He also knew that brain waves could reveal how frequently someone used their abilities, since he had undergone those tests so often while he was being experimented on.
“Still, I didn’t know you could access asset records so quickly.”
“That is honestly a little scary. It does sound like we can do anything.”
Taerin whispered in a lowered voice.
It was not wrong.
For now, it was aimed at Villains, but if it were turned elsewhere, it would be an incredible weapon.
After answering, Taerin only occasionally spoke to him as she moved urgently.
As if to show how suddenly the mission had been launched, the office was full of traces of everyone having left in the middle of their work.
Hyeonyul set a ringing receiver back in place.
Beep beep beep.
“Ah. That’s it.”
Rather than entering the office, Taerin pointed at an object visible in the distance.
Something sat on the desk farthest from the entrance.
When Hyeonyul tried to approach it, Taerin stopped him and immediately pointed to the right.
“You need to put on protective equipment first. When we checked earlier, the contamination level kept rising. That’s why we placed it far away.”
“Understood.”
He did not particularly need it, but Hyeonyul put on the equipment.
Taerin put on protective equipment as well.
When Hyeonyul looked at her, Taerin answered confidently.
“In Team Two, we are taught that once we take on a mission, we must take the initiative!”
Her voice rang out loudly.
“Understood. Then I’ll check it.”
Hyeonyul walked toward the drugs.
He heard footsteps following him.
He examined the drugs inside a box shaped like a bag.
They were transparent.
“I’ll open it for a moment.”
It had been sealed tightly, so there was no smell.
Hyeonyul opened the lid and slightly lifted the equipment covering his face.
The moment he caught the scent rushing into his nose, he almost laughed bitterly.
‘...I found it this easily?’
It was the drug he had identified yesterday.
‘Is this simply a distribution site? Or do they make more here?’
After thinking for a moment, Hyeonyul looked at Taerin.
“I know what kind of drug this is.”
“...Already?”
“I’ll check whether there are additional drugs. Could you let them know that this drug was discovered during the mission Team Three handled yesterday? Ah, have you seized electronic devices such as computers from the president’s office?”
“I believe they have been seized. I’ll go tell them first.”
Taerin nodded and ran off.
Since she did not know what kind of mission this was, she was clearly moving in a hurry.
‘The CCTV is over there.’
Without touching the CCTV, Hyeonyul simply stood with his back to it.
He had reported that this place was run by Villains, but he did not know exactly what it did.
It was merely one of the Villains who had come to wag their tongue at Shin Daeho.
There had been more than one or two Villains like that.
Shin Daeho was extremely weak. What was there for them to gain by picking on him so much?
Hyeonyul’s two eyes melted away.
First, he surveyed the entire company.
He moved his eyes through everything from the top floor to the basement.
‘There’s nothing.’
Was that all?
‘Really...?’
Hyeonyul thought and thought as he looked at the box.
Where had this come from?
He smelled the scent clinging to the box.
It carried the smell of oil.
‘...A car.’
Leaving one eye in its original position, Hyeonyul headed outside.
“I’ve told them...”
“Go to the basement immediately and block every car.”
Lights came on as though cars were being started.
“W-Wait!”
Ignoring Taerin’s words, Hyeonyul ran.
Even a powered person could do nothing if they were struck head-on by a moving car.
Mindful of the hallway CCTV, Hyeonyul vanished the moment he turned into the corridor.
Hyeonyul reappeared in the underground parking lot.
Not one car, but four were preparing to leave.
Hyeonyul looked over the situation.
White Sparrow agents were coming down, but they could not stop them in time.
Hyeonyul pulled every wheel on the moving cars into Shadow.
The cars tried to move, but only their wheels spun in place.
After confirming that, Hyeonyul returned to the original hallway and pretended to run quickly.
“Why are you walking so fast...?”
Taerin spoke as she followed Hyeonyul.
It had looked like he disappeared in the middle of it. Was that just her imagination?
“Did you receive word?”
“Ah! Just a moment.”
Taerin touched her wireless earbud.
Walking ahead, she silently moved her lips.
After talking for a moment, Taerin’s eyes widened.
“They found them!”
“They found them?”
“Yes. They said the cars wouldn’t move for some reason. They said it looked like the wheels had... come off.”
Hyeonyul withdrew his power as he heard that.
“All that remains is to inspect inside them.”
“But how did you know?”
“It was closer to a hunch. I deduced where the box had come from.”
Hyeonyul gave the most plausible explanation.
“Come to think of it, cars are the most useful thing for transporting boxes.”
“That’s right. Ah, may I help select the Villains?”
Hyeonyul changed the subject before Taerin could probe further.
“...Really? You can do that?”
“Yes. I’ll help before I leave.”
It was the task of distinguishing Villains from civilians.
Why would he not do it if it helped catch Villains?
‘...So this is why the Team Lead wants Mr. Seo Hyeonyul. He’s such a kind person.’
Taerin thought that to herself, then instead felt a question arise.
‘But why are the rumors like that?’
She could not understand.
* * *
“...Have you been investigating well?”
At the cold-sounding voice, Yujong did not merely rise from their seat. They practically jumped up.
‘...Fuck!’
Yujong swallowed the curse rising in their throat.
Things had finally quieted down, so why was this suddenly happening again?
“Were you that happy to see me?”
When Hyeonyul asked, Yujong bowed deeply.
‘Would you be happy if it were you, you fucking bastard!’
Their inner thoughts were different.
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