Chapter 1
Do You Provide the Four Major Insurances?
I’d died from overwork. The reward for working myself to the bone for a meager salary was death.
It was unfair. I’d sworn that if I were ever born again, I’d never work myself to death.
And then I was reborn in another world.
The man let out a long sigh.
His face was covered in scars. Even the hand he raised to sweep back the long black bangs that nearly stabbed his eyes was scarred.
As his hair lifted, his gray eyes were revealed, glaring fiercely at someone.
“Hey, Seo Hyun-yul. What are you gonna do about it if you glare at me?”
The man leaned back in his chair and looked up at Hyun-yul with a sneer.
“I clearly applied for sick leave yesterday.”
Hyun-yul spoke to his boss. He looked exhausted—thoroughly worn out.
“You did apply. But didn’t I tell you sick leave wasn’t allowed? …What are you waiting for? Go back to work.”
His boss gave him a dismissive nod.
“It was clearly written in the employment contract I signed when I joined.”
“What?”
“It said we’d leave on time, receive the legally mandated annual leave, and get paid leave for valid sick days.”
The boss burst out laughing.
He seemed to find the whole situation hilarious.
“Hey. Do you think this is some ordinary company? Do you even know where you are?”
“I do.”
Hyun-yul answered calmly.
This was the modern world, but it wasn’t the modern world he knew.
The Taesen Empire.
There was an empire, and there was an emperor. There was also a prime minister, but the emperor held far more power.
The Taesen Empire had swallowed up nearly every country in the world, save for a few small ones, and ruled over it all. The world had been enjoying an era of peace.
But, as history had shown, there were always those who shattered the peace.
Some resented the Empire. Others coveted its throne. They carried out indiscriminate acts of terror.
The Empire officially branded them “villains” and led the effort to wipe them out.
The man before him was a villain, and this was a company founded by one of them.
“If you know that, then get lost. What do you want from me, a villain? If I followed the rules, would I still be a villain? Have some respect for your villainous boss.”
“I don’t care whether you’re a villain or anything else, Manager. I’m taking the sick leave I’m entitled to under my contract.”
Hyun-yul spoke as if issuing a warning.
The terms had been good when he’d joined. The pay suited him, too.
His résumé was empty, so he didn’t care whether the company owner was a villain. Any workplace where he wouldn’t be worked to death was fine.
“Yeah, right. Quit messing around and go back to work before I kill you, Seo Hyun-yul.”
His boss threatened him, but Hyun-yul didn’t so much as blink.
If they wouldn’t honor the contract just because they were villains, who would want to work for them?
“Fine. I’ll ask the president.”
“Hey! You think you can just ignore what I—”
His boss stopped talking.
Hyun-yul had vanished.
As the boss looked around for him, his shadow stirred, and Hyun-yul emerged from it.
Silently, Hyun-yul stood behind him and pressed a pen to his neck.
“You don’t keep your promises. Why should I treat anything you say as a promise?”
“Y-You… What do you think you’re doing?”
His boss’s breathing quickened.
Hadn’t Hyun-yul been hired as an ordinary employee? What on earth was going on?
“Come to think of it, I’m a villain too. I should just do things the villain’s way.”
If you need something, take it by force.
If someone complains, kill them.
Hyun-yul plunged the pen into the side of his boss’s neck.
Watching the blood spurt, he felt a sense of liberation.
Should’ve done this sooner.
“Even villains need to be trustworthy, Manager.”
“Cough… Hah…”
“You said you provided the four major insurances, but you don’t provide a single one.”
Hyun-yul let go.
The pen fell to the floor.
“I’ll ask the president. If he says no, I’ll kill him too.”
Hyun-yul wiped the blood from his face, and it disappeared as if it had never been there.
Why even start a company if you couldn’t provide the four major insurances?
The overtime had been piling up ever since he joined, unlike what they’d promised, and he was getting fed up.
He couldn’t stand the thought of dying from overwork.
Hyun-yul checked his wristwatch.
He took a container of medicine from his pocket and walked toward the water dispenser.
Thick blood pooled on the floor, and bodies lay scattered around it. Every one of them had been pierced through the neck.
Even among the pile of corpses, Hyun-yul calmly poured himself some water and took out his pills one by one.
He’d been feeling ill and wanted to take sick leave. Why wouldn’t they let him?
Why did everyone act as though the world would end if he went to the hospital—as if they’d give their lives over something so trivial?
I don’t get it.
The dark circles beneath Hyun-yul’s eyes were deep, and he looked utterly exhausted.
“Are you going to attack me too?”
After swallowing his medicine, Hyun-yul asked the man.
“No. We’re business partners, so I came to get in touch. But damn, I couldn’t reach you for two hours.”
“Oh, I’m sorry. They wouldn’t let me answer the phone.”
Hyun-yul remembered the phone that had rung a little while ago.
It had rung quite a few times.
“Yeah, you must’ve been busy.”
The man looked around and pulled a cigarette from his pocket.
“Yes. Some annoying business delayed me, so I’ll be late to the hospital. The doctor’s going to scold me.”
“Is that so? Are you feeling unwell?”
Hyun-yul looked at the man as he asked. He was ready to kill him at any moment.
A chilly tension settled between them.
“I don’t know what kind of villain company it was, but I was born there as a test subject. They tore me apart from head to toe. They injected all kinds of drugs and took out my organs, then put them back in. Do you think I’d be in good health after that?”
“What the hell! You were a test subject?”
The man had been about to light his cigarette, but tossed it aside instead.
His voice was full of delight.
To fight the Empire, they needed powerful test subjects.
The survival rate must’ve been abysmal, but this one had made it. Whatever experiments they’d performed on him, his strength had already been proven.
They were on the third floor, and aside from the man, nobody else had survived.
“Yes. Are you happy?”
“Yeah. I’m damn happy.”
Hyun-yul turned to face him.
When the man met his gaze, a chill ran through him, but he grinned anyway.
Hyun-yul took the pen from his pocket and clicked it. His eyes slowly narrowed.
“I’m a little busy. Are you sure you want to try me?”
“Why don’t you come work for my company? I’m Kim Dae-an!”
Dae-an made the offer as he looked at Hyun-yul.
In this world, power was everything.
With talent like this right in front of him, how could he pass it up?
“Do you provide the four major insurances?”
Hyun-yul stopped clicking the pen.
“Of course! And you can take sick leave whenever you want! In return, can you kill the people I tell you to?”
“I’ll only kill villains. I don’t want to kill innocent people.”
“Sure, that works!”
“Honestly, I’d rather do paperwork. But if you let me leave on time, I’m in. I can put up with two or three overtime shifts a month.”
“Great, great! Then let’s go!”
Dae-an smiled warmly.
***
Thud!
Hyun-yul plunged a pen into someone’s neck.
It had been one of his favorite pens, but he couldn’t help it.
“Are you all idiots? Why do you keep breaking your promises?”
He looked annoyed.
The blood on his clothes vanished as he wiped it away with his hand.
“Go on, President Dae-an. Tell me.”
“Cough…!”
Blood poured from Dae-an’s neck and mouth.
Why was having a job so difficult?
“I said I’d put up with up to three overtime shifts. How many have there been now? Twenty in one month? And you only paid me for ten days. Wouldn’t that make anyone angry?”
Dae-an scrambled, his vision fading as he looked ahead.
At the end of the dark power stretching from Hyun-yul’s shadow stood Dae-an’s subordinates. Every one of them had a broken neck.
Looking at Hyun-yul, Dae-an understood.
That thing was a monster.
—“I’ve been very patient. Give me my paid leave and the wages you owe me.”
Hyun-yul’s demands had been simple.
But Dae-an had refused.
From that moment on, the shadows had moved on their own.
Even unleashing a burst of light had been useless.
The shadows had killed them all.
“Cough…”
Hyun-yul coughed and checked his wristwatch.
He let out a long sigh.
“Now I’m late for the hospital again. Do you know how hard it is to get an appointment at a university hospital?”
The doctor was probably going to be furious with him.
Why did people keep making him look like someone who couldn’t keep an appointment?
Hyun-yul took Dae-an’s phone from his pocket.
“I’ll just take the unpaid overtime and the wages you’ve been quietly skimming.”
He moved Dae-an’s hand and pressed his finger to the phone to unlock it.
“Don’t worry about the passcode. You drunkenly told me what it was, you idiot… Oh, and you used me as your designated driver a few times, so I’ll take that money too.”
This was a mule account, and even his own bank account was a virtual one.
The company had paid a small country to pass itself off as a foreign business. Its employees—including Hyun-yul—had done the same.
He was effectively a nonexistent person. As far as the records were concerned, he’d never been employed.
This wasn’t about protecting the employees. It was about keeping themselves out of the Empire’s grasp.
Some villains ran their companies openly, but not all of them did.
“Take the money you have left and pray to that so-called god of yours. Let’s see if he comes or not.”
“Ha.”
Hyun-yul breathed out softly.
Now that he’d been fired for good, he’d have to start looking for work again.
I haven’t even paid off my hospital bills yet. And now this.
The bills were enormous. He was deeply in debt because of them.
He’d thought about freelancing, but it wasn’t right for him. If he chased money, he might end up overworking himself again. If he was careful to avoid overwork, he couldn’t earn enough.
The only places that could afford to accommodate him were villain-run companies like this one.
“Finished watching?”
Hyun-yul looked ahead.
The scene felt familiar. It had probably looked just like this when he met Dae-an.
“I came to laugh at Dae-an, that bastard, for asking me for help, but it looks like I walked in on something interesting.”
He couldn’t believe one person had done all this.
The corpses and stench of blood he’d passed on the way here had made his skin crawl.
A smile crept across the man’s face.
What a waste of talent, rotting away under Kim Dae-an. And how had he not noticed him until now?
It was a shame. A real shame.
“Come work for me. I’ll help you grow into something even bigger.”
He was a villain through and through.
Just imagine how much better he’d become with proper nurturing.
Take what you want.
Kill whoever gets in your way.
That was exactly the kind of talent they needed to bring down the mighty Empire.
“I don’t need you to help me grow. I’ve already grown just fine on my own.”
Hyun-yul was tired.
He didn’t know why he had to have this same conversation all over again.
Still, it was best to get back to job hunting as soon as possible.
“Do you provide the four major insurances?”
Hyun-yul asked, his gaze sharp.
“Of course.”
The answer came right away.
“If you don’t keep your word, I’ll kill you. Do you understand?”
Hyun-yul gave him fair warning in advance.
If they didn’t honor the employment contract, he’d kill them.
***
“…Ha.”
Hyun-yul swept back his long bangs, which nearly covered his eyes.
At the sound of his sigh, the subordinates at work glanced nervously at him.
How many times has this happened now?
He’d wiped out a company. Someone had clapped with delight at the sight and recruited him.
Then they’d broken the employment contract, too.
Every time someone recruited him, somehow his rank went up. He’d known that meant more work, but it didn’t mean they could work him like a dog.
—“Come on, why are you acting like this between us?”
Employer and employee.
That was all they were.
—“We said we’d be like brothers, remember? Can’t you let this one thing slide?”
They’d barely known each other. How could the man go around calling him “brother”?
I only asked them to stick to the contract. Is that really so hard?
His pay was late. The overtime kept piling up. Sick leave was out of the question, and more and more often he wasn’t even allowed to use his annual leave.
He’d lost count of how many jobs he’d gone through—and how many times he’d received a recruitment offer after the workplace had been left covered in blood.
He’d reached his limit.
It didn’t matter where he went or what rank he held. It was always the same.
In the end, not a single promise was kept.
After changing jobs over and over, Hyun-yul had reached one conclusion:
Villains were villains.
It wasn’t that he thought he was a saint.
But at least he’d done the basics. He’d never been late, he’d followed his work instructions, and he’d been polite to his superiors.
“…Ah.”
Hyun-yul remembered something belatedly.
That’s right. This is a black company.
He’d worked at one awful place after another, so he hadn’t noticed until now.
The realization was almost funny.
How had he only just figured that out?
Hyun-yul clicked his pen.
His subordinates watched him at the sound. Fear crept into their eyes, as if they were wondering what the lunatic would do next.
“…Five.”
He was counting as he started to rise when something caught his eye: a job posting on a web portal.
“Black Eagle is recruiting new employees.”
Black Eagle was an organization established by the Empire to hunt down villains.
In other words, they were special civil servants.
Some people said they were like civil servants; others said they were more like employees of a private company.
So they kill villains?
Curiosity held Hyun-yul’s attention as he scrolled down.
Qualifications
- No restrictions on gender, age, education, or previous work experience.
- Applicants must possess power. This can be physical strength or magic.
No restrictions on previous work experience?
That line caught Hyun-yul’s eye.
Special Recruitment
- Applicants with a record of subduing or capturing wanted villains. (Police officers excluded.)
I wonder if killing them counts.
Every boss he’d killed had been a wanted villain.
Benefits
- Paid sick leave.
- Additional paid leave for working overtime.
- Early dismissal, depending on the circumstances.
- Medical expense support.
Hyun-yul’s lips curled up.
More than anything else, he liked the benefits.
A posting this tempting meant the work must be dangerous. But that didn’t matter to him.
He’d already taken countless villain heads.
This is the place.
The moment he smiled, everyone sitting nearby felt a chill.
“…Um, Team Leader?”
One of his subordinates spoke up. Hyun-yul stood and replied,
“I’m going out for a bit.”
“W-Where to?”
“To meet the special recruitment requirements.”
Without answering any further questions, Hyun-yul walked down the hallway and took the elevator.
The company was huge. It had a chairman, after all; it was easy to imagine how big it was.
All he needed for the special recruitment process was one head.
He headed straight for the chairman’s office.
The elevator doors opened.
Hyun-yul straightened his tie.
“Can I help—”
By the time the guard approached him, Hyun-yul’s gaze had turned icy. The guard’s head fell.
Blood dripped from the dagger in Hyun-yul’s hand.
Before the other guards could react, Hyun-yul’s body collapsed.
He flowed across the floor like liquid, then appeared behind a guard.
Thwack.
He stabbed the man in the nape and slashed sideways.
Two left.
Hyun-yul’s gaze shifted to the left.
He didn’t know if it was magic or if the man was simply fast, but he rushed up beside Hyun-yul in an instant. Electricity burst out right in front of him.
One from the side and one from the front.
They were going to attack him at the same time.
Hyun-yul reached for the one coming from the side.
A shadow shot out, seized the man’s leg, and yanked him down. Hyun-yul vanished from where he stood.
Crackle!
As the guard convulsed from the electricity, the face of the one who’d used magic darkened.
“This is why you’re supposed to be careful when using magic.”
The voice came from behind the last guard.
Gulp.
When had he gotten behind him? How?
Seo Hyun-yul… Could he really have been this strong?
The thought ended as a dagger pierced the guard’s neck.
Splurt.
Blood poured out.
“…Cough!”
Hyun-yul heard the man choking on his blood as he walked forward and opened the door.
“What is it?”
The chairman was drinking and leisurely reading a newspaper.
At this hour of the morning.
“I told you, didn’t I?”
A voice came from behind him. The man froze.
A chill ran down his spine.
“I asked you to honor the contract. I hate overwork more than anything. But I haven’t been home in five days.”
“…Seo Hyun-yul. Let’s talk this out. We can talk.”
“You’re the one who didn’t listen when I tried to talk.”
“I’ll do better. Okay? From now on—”
“No. I’m going to finish this before I die from overwork. Isn’t that how villains do things?”
Hyun-yul spoke calmly and moved the hand holding his dagger.
Hyun-yul stood in front of a building.
The Black Eagle emblem was stamped right on its exterior.
A quick internet search was enough to find its location.
It was rather amusing. Villains did everything they could to hide, while the people who hunted them were so brazenly out in the open.
“…Is this where Black Eagle is based?”
Hyun-yul asked.
“That’s right.”
A man standing in front of the main entrance answered.
Apparently, not everyone here belonged to Black Eagle. A sparrow emblem was stitched onto the guard’s left sleeve.
“I came here because I want to join Black Eagle.”
Hyun-yul took something out of his bag.
He held out a severed head, caked in dark red blood.
“This is the head of Shin Dae-ho. The bastard you’ve been looking for.”
Everyone recoiled in horror, but Hyun-yul smiled with confidence.
Then, full of hope, he asked,
“Do you really provide the four major insurances here?”