WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: Dionysus
Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried
◈ The Newbie Civil Servant Hunts Villains Before Going Home ◈
Chapter 72: Something Always Happens on My Day Off
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* * *
* * *
Hyeonyul opened his eyes.
‘...Yesterday was terrible.’
Now he understood why he had scheduled today off.
He had done nothing, yet they had all lost their minds one by one.
‘How did Team Lead endure all that?’
Only he and Haeryeon had remained sober.
Like him, she had not touched a drop of alcohol.
This was his first welcome party on this side, but it was not Haeryeon’s.
“I can’t get drunk too. Still, cut them some slack today. They were really, really happy that you came, Hyeonyul.”
She did not seem drunk, but her smile was looser than usual. It was strange enough to make him wonder whether she had been drinking after all.
‘Happy...’
Hyeonyul stopped thinking and twitched his fingers.
Darkness brought him his phone.
The moment he checked his messages, Hyeonyul closed the phone again.
They had all been drunk yesterday, so he had expected them to wake up late in the afternoon. Yet there were already over five hundred messages.
Hyeonyul squeezed his eyes shut, then opened them.
He could not shake the feeling that he had been fooled again.
‘How is that possible after the state they were in yesterday?’
“Hyuuung. Hyung. I’ll be really good. I mean it.”
Once Jihwan got drunk, he cried whenever he saw Hyeonyul.
He used over half a roll of toilet paper by himself.
“Want this? It’s good. There’s more too. I can buy you more. See my card? I can afford it. More than enough. Order it all! Order everything!”
Nayun kept trying to feed him while holding out her card.
It was difficult to refuse, so he kept eating.
It was the first time in his life he had eaten so much of anything.
“...How far did I get? Hyeonyul, be my little brother for real. I’ll go stamp the papers right away. Jihwan, you come too! Nayun, you... Never mind.”
Sinu kept trying to make him his actual little brother.
Hyeonyul did not know whether that was even possible.
Even while working for the Villains, he had attended plenty of company dinners and served drinks countless times.
Nothing like this had happened even then.
He had worked for the Villains from the time he was a minor, so he had spent around twelve or thirteen years there.
Then and yesterday had been very different.
Though both had been terrible in different ways.
‘Still, it was very strange.’
Hyeonyul showed his curiosity for a moment, then stopped thinking.
He looked at his hand.
It was trembling.
‘Does this medicine not suit me?’
They had been changing his medication little by little.
It was something that would continue until they found medicine that completely suited him, so he was not surprised.
The last time they changed it, he had vomited blood.
Compared to side effects like that, trembling hands were manageable.
He was searching for the experimental site and the person who had made him this way based on the information from there, while also looking for medicine that suited him.
It was rather funny.
After messaging Jeongmin, Hyeonyul got up.
[My hands are trembling.]
The 1 beside the message immediately disappeared.
[Dr. Jeongmin: Wha?]
[Dr. Jeongmin: Wait.]
Bzzz.
A call came in.
“Yes, Doctor.”
<How badly are they trembling? Does it hurt? You haven’t vomited blood, have you?>
Jeongmin spoke very quickly.
“They are trembling slightly. Not badly enough that I cannot hold a dagger.”
<What kind of comparison is that...? All right. I’ll make something new for you first.>
“All right.”
<I definitely got the ingredients right. This is strange.>
“It is fine. You did nothing wrong, Doctor. My body is simply difficult. It is not falling apart, either.”
<That would be a disaster! It must never, ever happen!>
“Yes. I know.”
<I’m not fine with it. Absolutely not!>
Hyeonyul held the phone slightly away from his ear and yawned.
‘He has quite a set of lungs.’
Hyeonyul waited until Jeongmin’s voice settled down.
<...See you later. Let’s examine you again when you come in.>
“All right. I will see you later.”
Hyeonyul waited until Jeongmin ended the call, then got up.
He swallowed his medicine right away and blankly looked at the sunlight.
‘...It is my day off, but I should get moving.’
Yesterday, he had been assigned to support the bomb disposal team because of bombs attached to a highway.
There, he had found the Villain who had attached the bombs, as well as another group of Villains.
He knew they were not connected to the bomb-attaching Villains from the smell of gunpowder on their bodies.
He wanted to turn over anything he found during a mission to Black Eagle whenever possible, but even if he explained how he found them, others would not easily believe him. It was also difficult to explain how he had learned the location.
“I do not want to hear about you from someone else, Hyeonyul. Then it will be too late. There will be far less I can do. Even if you cause trouble or make a mistake, let me be the first to know.”
Haeryeon’s words suddenly came to mind.
‘This is not causing trouble. Nor is it a mistake.’
He had captured the Villains alive without killing them, so Black Eagle could investigate them too.
He was simply checking things in advance.
After considering several things, Hyeonyul eventually nodded.
* * *
“...Hey. Do you guys know this?”
Someone spoke while passing around coffee cups.
The coworkers working at their desks leisurely got up and accepted them.
“What? Try telling some dad joke, and I’ll rip that mouth apart.”
The coworker threatening him with a knife seemed entirely serious.
“No, not that. Haven’t things been unusual around the Poison King lately?”
“So?”
“Yeah, so?”
The other coworkers responded listlessly.
What happened over there was their business, not theirs.
“I heard the boss there changed.”
When the man who had raised the topic spoke, his coworkers showed more interest than before.
“Who is it?”
“Yeah, who is it? Did some crazy bastard show up?”
“I don’t know.”
Jeers spread at his answer.
“Hey, get your facts straight before talking. Things are already unstable around here.”
“Why? Going to move?”
“If I can, I should. Once you get into this business, there aren’t many places you can go. Still, you should go somewhere good.”
“...Ha. Life is so damn hard. It’s funny that I worry about the kids’ academy tuition when I don’t know when I’ll die.”
The other coworkers laughed idly, as though they agreed.
“Whether we kill the Empire or not, worrying about making a living comes first.”
“Still, do you guys really think we can beat the Empire?”
Silence suddenly fell at the words spoken around a coffee cup.
The atmosphere became unnaturally heavy.
Though it had seemed like an idle remark, everyone stared at the man.
The fierce look in their eyes had completely replaced their expressions of not wanting to work.
“...Hey. Why are you all suddenly acting like this? Honestly, aren’t you curious? I mean...”
Before the man could finish, a scream erupted.
A knife was embedded in his stomach.
He trembled as he looked at the coworker beside him, then collapsed.
His breathing quickened.
As he flailed in an attempt to rise, he crashed onto his backside again with the things on the desk.
Crash!
“Looks like one of those Eagle bastards sent him. He hid well until now.”
“Seriously. Disgusting.”
They were not looking at a coworker.
An enemy.
Nothing more, nothing less.
Feeling a chill, the man struck the floor.
Just as a round light seemed to spread, the coworkers gathered around him collapsed under an unknown force.
Long cuts covered the floor.
“...You crazy bastards.”
The man looked at them, panting heavily.
He had only asked whether they could win against the Empire.
How had that one question turned him into Black Eagle?
“No matter that we all stepped into the mud together, you stabbed me over that one thing...?”
He was shocked.
He had felt them changing little by little with every training session, but he had not expected this much.
Honestly, what did the Empire have to do with anything?
No matter how many reasons they gave about life being hard, they were trash, and they had lived while acknowledging it.
So why were they suddenly talking about wiping out the Empire as though they were something grand?
When had they begun thinking that way?
“I have worked with you for six years, you fucking bastards! Have you forgotten that I bought diapers for your kids, you sons of bitches?”
“You filthy Eagle. You deceived us?”
“When did you infiltrate us?”
They had no intention of listening to him.
They only intended to kill him.
“You said your kids would never get involved in this! Then why the hell...”
The man’s eyes widened as he continued speaking.
Someone had appeared.
Black smoke covered him.
“You know it is useless, do you not?”
As calmly as if he were out for a stroll, he grabbed a coworker by the head and slit their throat.
He was so fast that the man could not regain his senses even while watching.
“You and those bastards are nothing but parts. Do you still not understand?”
Hyeonyul tossed aside the head he held as though it were an object and looked at the man behind him.
“If you think you are sane too, it would be best to abandon that thought. You simply have fewer attacks than they do. Sane people do not step into this line of work.”
Just as he seemed about to approach the man, faint black smoke rippled around his body.
He appeared at the very back of the Villains who had tried to attack him.
“What the Villains want is the Empire. They will do anything for it. Is it not time you realized that?”
Hyeonyul kindly explained as he pierced the throat of the Villain before him.
The twitching figure’s tremors traveled to his fingertips.
Hyeonyul looked at the others.
One mouth was enough to talk.
He kicked away the Villain whose throat he had pierced.
A fist as large as a person’s torso came crashing down toward that Villain.
The Villain’s head was crushed as he was shoved aside, but no one cared even as their coworker died.
How could they be sane?
Hyeonyul sidestepped the incoming fist and cut off the arm.
“Argh!”
A loud scream erupted. Hyeonyul was about to stab them in the throat, but his fingertips trembled.
He immediately switched hands and smoothly drove the dagger into their windpipe.
After confirming that they had fallen to the floor, Hyeonyul walked toward the man.
His steps were slow, but something had changed.
“Did you really think they were your coworkers? They betrayed you.”
Seeing the man’s anger, Hyeonyul could not understand.
“Never mind. You do not need to answer.”
Thinking he had asked something useless, Hyeonyul posed another question.
“You knew that a group of Villains attached bombs to a highway yesterday. Your group intended to add another bomb to those bombs. Why?”
That was what he wanted to know.
What had they been trying to do?
He knew they usually behaved like this, but it bothered him that they had not run even when Black Eagle arrived.
If it was nothing serious, that would be fine.
“...You are one of those Eagle bastards?”
Bleeding, the man asked.
Only Black Eagle would know that.
“Yes.”
“...Ha ha. An Eagle bastard doing something like that?”
“You do it too. Why can I not?”
“You people are fucking idiots, are you not? All you can do is... Urgh, tell us to surrender.”
The man raised the corner of his mouth.
“I do not want to hear that from someone betrayed by his coworkers.”
“People who claim to choose good, in that state...”
“You do the same things, so why can I not? The law? I am following it. Black Eagle is allowed to kill you. My way may not be right, but if it leads in the right direction, is it not good even if it is filthy and shameful? Honestly, seeing you try to rely on that good is disgusting.”
“So how far will you go? Are you going to kill my family?”
“I will not kill them. I will go no further than that.”
“...Right. You could not. You are Black Eagle.”
The man tightly shut his eyes.
Despite his words, he was relieved.
“If you know how shitty it is to come to work on your day off, then talk before you die.”
“Why do you think I will talk?”
“I did not think that.”
Hyeonyul adjusted his grip on the dagger and approached.
“I simply wanted to reduce troublesome actions in one go. Even if I have to take a detour, I can find it. That is what I intend to do.”
The man looked at Hyeonyul.
His face and expression were hidden by his helmet.
But only one thing mattered.
That bastard was Black Eagle.
A foolish Black Eagle only had one choice.
Arrest.
“...Our boss hates drugs.”
The man gave up information for that reason.
It was a way to live a little longer.
“Is that possible?”
“Yes. It is true. The boss’s child was dragged away as an experimental subject and died. ...So whenever drugs are used somewhere, the boss interferes, wipes the place out, or calls in Black Eagle.”
“Then what kind of place was the one where bombs were used on the highway?”
What did drugs have to do with bombs?
Hyeonyul found it difficult to understand the connection.
They were completely unrelated, which made it more suspicious.
‘Was it to draw attention?’
Since bombs were involved, Black Eagle could not help but be concerned about the Bomb Maniac, so their alertness had increased.
What did they gain by aiming for that?
‘Do they want us to investigate the drugs?’
He did not know why, but it was clear that the place they had tried to destroy even while calling Black Eagle was connected to drugs.
“...I do not know either. I only did what I was told. Only the boss would know.”
“Where is the boss?”
“I do not know. I want to meet the boss too. Still, I thought this place would be different from the others, but it was not. It was not!”
The man looked furious.
The moment Hyeonyul saw that expression, he spoke, intending to cut off whatever the man was about to say.
“Give me your phone.”
“...What?”
“I will send a message to your family for you.”
“...”
The man’s face turned pale.
Was it not going to end with arrest?
“Did you think I would let you live if you talked? Why are you so naive?”
All Black Eagle agents were the same.
How identically had they acted for everyone to think that way?
He had told the man earlier that it was fine if a direction was right, even if it was vile and filthy.
It was also the direction he had agreed on with Jeongmin.
“Still, you told me something, so I will show you consideration at the end. Give it to me.”
The man hesitated at Hyeonyul’s words.
Really?
Are you serious?
That was what he seemed to be asking.
“I am not very patient.”
At the threatening words, the man handed over his phone with trembling hands.
“...Th-the password is 1226. It is our princess’s birthday.”
“Yes. Tell me what to write.”
The man had thought mentioning his daughter would change his mind, even a little, but there was no change at all in the Eagle’s voice.
It was hopeless.
Thinking that, the man barely forced out the words.
Hyeonyul typed as the man spoke.
Then he showed him the message.
“Is this correct?”
“...Yes.”
“I will send it.”
Hyeonyul pressed send and showed him.
“Are you really... going to kill me?”
“Is there a way to kill someone falsely?”
“...What a fucking shitty life.”
“Yes. That is how it is.”
Hyeonyul removed his helmet.
“Life is shitty by nature.”
Hyeonyul bowed his head, then drove his dagger into the man’s throat.
The man let out one groan and went limp.
Hyeonyul removed the chip from the phone, then dropped to the floor.
He melted into the darkness.
‘It would be nice if working on my day off was worth it.’
* * *
Hyeonyul came to a movie theater.
There was a movie he had wanted to see, and today was his day off.
He felt that spending it this way might make things somewhat all right.
“...Huh?”
At a familiar voice, Hyeonyul turned his head.
Jihwan and Sinu were standing there.
His breathing deepened, and a strong sense of déjà vu came over him.
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