Chapter 3
Job Hunting (2)
To work for a villain’s company, you had to know how to handle bombs.
Not just bombs, either. He could even make simple poisons.
“…Can you really defuse a bomb?”
At Haeryeon’s question, Hyun-yul nodded.
“Why would I lie about that?”
“It sounds like you’re weighing people’s lives against getting hired. That’s not acceptable.”
The Team Seven leader spoke up, but Hyun-yul merely shrugged.
“I said I’d help. I never made getting hired a condition, and I haven’t threatened anyone.”
The Team Seven leader chuckled.
It could be called a provocation. And if Hyun-yul meant to catch them off guard, he’d half succeeded.
“You’re interesting. Very interesting.”
The Team Seven leader’s thumb moved quickly across his phone.
The situation was obvious.
Everyone had heard it. They had no choice but to accept Hyun-yul’s help.
Even if he didn’t ask for anything in return, they’d still owe him a favor.
How was that any different from what the Team Seven leader had just accused him of?
“I’m honored.”
Hyun-yul smiled as electricity crackled around him. Even when it flashed with a sharp snap, he didn’t so much as blink.
“Go on, enjoy this moment.”
The Team Seven leader smiled.
“Now, young lady. Get a grip and focus on the situation.”
The Team Two leader pressed down on the Team Seven leader’s head, trying to stop him.
This wasn’t the time to raise their voices.
“Get off me, old man!”
“Team Leader Yejuhyeon, now isn’t the time for this.”
When Haeryeon chimed in, Yejuhyeon’s eyes drooped as she looked at her.
“…Haeryeon.”
Haeryeon looked at Hyun-yul.
His relaxed attitude made her uneasy. It was suspicious.
That was probably why Yejuhyeon was so on edge.
“I’ll take him with me.”
Haeryeon volunteered.
For now, the only option was to keep Hyun-yul close and watch him herself.
There wasn’t time to do anything else.
She unlocked the handcuffs around Hyun-yul’s wrists.
“Follow me.”
Haeryeon urged him on, and Hyun-yul stood.
“I know you suspect me. So I’ll prove myself through my actions.”
He gave the team leaders a slight bow, then followed Haeryeon.
Whatever he said right now would probably rub them the wrong way.
Haeryeon walked so quickly down the hall that she was almost running. Her fluffy hair bounced with every step.
“Do you know why Black Eagle is called Black Eagle?”
“No.”
“Then you’ll find out now. We’re going to ride an eagle to the site.”
Hyun-yul paused to think.
Ride an eagle? What does that mean?
“Why are you telling me this?”
“Because I hope you’re sincere about wanting to join Black Eagle.”
Haeryeon smiled.
If Hyun-yul really meant it, there was no doubt he’d be an incredible asset.
He’d already done something no one else could.
“…Ugh.”
Hyun-yul turned pale, leaned against the wall, and covered his mouth.
He’d been wondering what Black Eagle was. Now he knew: it was magic.
This world he’d been reborn into was modern, but it had all kinds of strange powers.
Magic, of course, existed.
Wasn’t magic usually just stage tricks?
He’d never seen magic this powerful before.
A black eagle, seemingly made of shadow, appeared before them.
Hyun-yul had only been staring at it when it suddenly grabbed him and took off into the sky.
He hadn’t had time to brace himself. They were moving at an absurd speed.
He’d wondered why there were no cars—other than buses—around the building they called the Nest.
So this was how they traveled.
“…This is the worst.”
“Do you have a chronic illness?”
“No. I’m a former test subject.”
“…”
Hyun-yul felt a sense of dread.
If he joined Black Eagle, wouldn’t he have to ride that thing every day?
“Are you all right? You seem a little weak.”
Haeryeon gave an awkward smile, caught off guard by his reaction.
Black Eagle was fast, and it was startling the first time you rode it, but it was so smooth that it didn’t even cause motion sickness.
Hyun-yul, however, was suffering from a different side effect.
How weak was his body, despite his sturdy build?
“…Yes. I’m not feeling well.”
Hyun-yul checked his watch.
It was almost time to take his medicine.
He turned to look at Haeryeon.
“But I’m not so weak that I’m useless. I’ll be fine as long as I have my medicine. I’m always grateful to modern medicine for that.”
Haeryeon’s expression stiffened.
A test subject?
Anti-government forces had tried to create soldiers with special powers to overthrow the Empire.
They’d experimented on countless people, calling them test subjects.
The survival rate was abysmal.
And yet, they kept abducting people and turning them into test subjects.
How is he still alive?
A question took root in Haeryeon’s mind.
Is that why he came to Black Eagle?
One question led to another.
Honestly, his reason for wanting to join Black Eagle seemed too flimsy.
But if he was a test subject, that was different.
How deep must his hatred of villains run?
The fact that he was still in one piece was a miracle in itself.
“If you don’t believe me, you can have me examined later. They tore me apart inside and out trying to give me strange powers.”
Hyun-yul spoke with his mouth covered.
His body wasn’t like an ordinary person’s. He needed medicine to maintain his physical form and mental state, and the medicine wasn’t free. Only a black company could afford his expenses.
“…No. I saw how many times you’ve been to the hospital.”
Haeryeon hesitated.
She’d seen a few surviving test subjects before, but Hyun-yul was the first she’d met who had stayed alive for so long. She didn’t know what to make of it.
“I’m glad we don’t have much time to talk. I have to go to the hospital regularly, and my medication is expensive. That’s why Black Eagle’s terms looked so good to me.”
Hyun-yul gave a small laugh.
“…This is crazy.”
Haeryeon felt herself wavering.
She knew that it had started the moment he said test subject.
She’d rescued test subjects many times before, but they’d all died.
Maybe she felt guilty about that.
Only then did Haeryeon really notice the scars on Hyun-yul’s face. Aside from a few deep ones, there were countless faint scars, like he’d been slashed over and over.
They were all traces of the experiments.
So that’s why he had the power to kill Shin Dae-ho.
Now that she understood where Hyun-yul’s power came from, Haeryeon assessed the situation coldly.
There were too many risks to judge him based on sympathy alone.
I need to judge Seo Hyun-yul with my own eyes.
Haeryeon rummaged through her bag and held out a pair of black-rimmed glasses.
“Put these on.”
“Do they have a spell that makes people less likely to recognize me?”
“No. They’re just a disguise.”
The spell that reduced recognition was built into the smartwatch Haeryeon was wearing.
But she didn’t explain anything more. She took out her phone and checked a few things.
People were being evacuated. The bomb’s location seemed to be near where they’d landed.
First, the bomb.
Haeryeon fixed her attention on the task and activated her smartwatch.
“Does Black Eagle usually operate in small groups?”
Hyun-yul put on the glasses. When he realized no one else was coming, he couldn’t help asking.
“It depends on the mission.”
He might’ve wondered why she was asking so many questions, but Haeryeon gave him a vague answer for the time being.
“This is a bomb. We need to minimize casualties. You’re the team leader—you can’t sacrifice your team members, can you?”
Haeryeon smiled.
Hyun-yul stared at her blankly.
…Is she an idiot?
He couldn’t understand it.
If a team leader died, the team would fall apart. Sacrificing a team member for the sake of the team was the right choice.
But Hyun-yul reconsidered.
I should learn that.
What he’d learned was the villain’s way.
Black Eagle wasn’t a villain.
“What kind of power do you use, Mr. Seo Hyun-yul?”
She needed to know what he could do to defuse the bomb.
“Shadows. You could call it darkness, too. I’m not sure exactly what it is.”
Hyun-yul reached out. His fingers slid apart, melting into shadow and falling away.
There was nothing where his fingers had been.
From the shadow, a finger emerged and writhed.
“That’s more or less what my power looks like.”
“…Those bastards.”
Haeryeon swore under her breath without meaning to.
What had they turned this man into?
She couldn’t even imagine what they’d done to him before he could melt away like that.
“Does it hurt?”
At Haeryeon’s question, Hyun-yul looked surprised for a moment.
Why was she asking that?
Is she asking about my health?
Hyun-yul shook his head.
“No. I’ll be fine once I take my medicine. No matter what happens, I’ll complete the mission before I leave, so you don’t need to worry.”
His choice of words sounded strange enough that Haeryeon blinked.
It almost felt like he was pleading with her.
But Hyun-yul’s expression was perfectly calm.
“Tell me where the bomb is, and I’ll take care of it. If you watch how I do it, you’ll see that I deserve to leave work on time.”
Haeryeon raised an eyebrow at his words.
At first, she thought she was imagining it. But now she was sure.
“You really seem to… value work-life balance.”
“That’s right. I hate overwork.”
Hyun-yul said it without hesitation, and Haeryeon burst out laughing.
“Honestly, I want to tell you that you’ve come to the wrong place. But leaving on time isn’t impossible here—as long as you’re good at your job.”
Haeryeon walked ahead, and Hyun-yul followed, listening to her.
He hadn’t noticed because of the black eagle they’d ridden in on, but the neighborhood was strangely quiet.
“Villains are everywhere, and Black Eagle has very few people. The more villains you catch, the more benefits you get. We treat our valuable people accordingly.”
Haeryeon’s confident voice made Hyun-yul feel as if he were sipping a warm cup of tea.
“…It sounds like a good place to work. It’s really, really rare to be treated well for the work you do.”
Maybe here, at least, they’d honor the basics.
The thought filled him with hope.
“I hope you’re a good person too, Mr. Seo Hyun-yul.”
Haeryeon spoke quietly, letting a little hope slip into her voice as well.
“I don’t know if I’m a good person, but I’ll do my best to be a good tool.”
Hyun-yul knew what the company wanted: talent they could use cheaply.
What else was a tool?
It was easier not to think of himself as part of the company. They could fire him whenever they wanted.
“That’s not a very nice thing to say.”
Haeryeon’s brow furrowed slightly. She turned away.
For some reason, she seemed angry.
Not knowing why, Hyun-yul followed her and looked around.
An empty playground came into view. He could see signs that people had fled in a hurry.
The closer they got to the tall apartment buildings in the distance, the more belongings were scattered on the ground.
Hyun-yul pushed his slipping glasses back into place and drew a deep breath.
The smell of blood.
The air reeked of it.
Sure enough, as they climbed the hill, they began to see bodies one by one.
Hyun-yul looked toward the apartment building.
That must be it.
He didn’t need to ask Haeryeon where the bomb was.
They’re good at gathering information.
How long had it been since they’d heard about the bomb? They’d already found its location.
They must have a well-coordinated system.
The team that gathered the information, the team that got them to the location, and finally the Black Eagle members who took action.
Not bad.
“Is it there?”
Hyun-yul pointed to the apartment, impressed.
“Yes. The bomb is in there.”
Haeryeon answered. Hyun-yul covered one eye with his hand.
The eye beneath his palm melted away like liquid and reached toward the apartment. As he followed the shadow, a different scene unfolded before his uncovered eye.
Inside the apartment, someone was searching for the bomb.
“Did you get something in your eye?”
Haeryeon asked. Hyun-yul shook his head.
He could see two completely different places: the outside of the apartment and its interior.
“What kind of power do you use, Ms. Oh Haeryeon?”
After asking, Hyun-yul paused, then added,
“Oh, if you think it’s suspicious, you don’t have to tell me.”
“I’m an alchemist.”
Haeryeon pulled back her jacket, revealing a collection of small vials.
“I have all sorts of things in here, including acid strong enough to melt you on the spot.”
“Do you have poison?”
“I do.”
“Then could you give me something that will kill every villain in that room? I’ll bring the bomb out in one go.”
Hyun-yul showed her he wasn’t afraid to go in, no matter what was waiting there.
“There’s a bomb inside. Are you sure you’ll go?”
Haeryeon asked cautiously.
“I’m going.”
“You could die.”
“If I don’t go, I might die in another way. I want to live a long time.”
He had to work to pay for his medicine.
He didn’t know how long he had, but he wanted to live as long as he could.
“Poison is dangerous, whatever kind it is. Don’t go straight in.”
After hesitating, Haeryeon handed him a vial about the size of her thumb.
“Thank you.”
Hyun-yul accepted it with a smile.
I wondered if she’d really hand it over, since it was poison. And she actually did.
The man he’d seen earlier had supported him, and the woman had opposed him. With Haeryeon’s decision still pending, this was a very encouraging sign.
Hyun-yul held the vial and made his hand disappear.
It looked as though black rain were dripping from him.
He kept his hand over his eye and searched for the bomb.
It didn’t take long.
Exactly eleven seconds.
Found it.
Nine people in total.
The bomb was among them, all crammed together in one room.
They’ve positioned them well.
They were set up so that all nine could be killed if it came to that.
The villain behind the bombing must have been clever, considering even how to clean up afterward.
Though there are drawbacks to that setup, too.
They were like rats trapped in a jar.
Hyun-yul moved the hand holding the poison to the eye in the apartment. He reached beneath the sofa and smashed the vial.
When he shifted his gaze there, he could see the poison spreading like a faint mist.
He picked up a long nail that had rolled beneath the sofa.
Then he moved his eye upward to locate the security camera.
Quietly, he moved his hand and smashed it, then looked down.
One person collapsed.
As the others were caught off guard, two more fell.
When someone tried to use a radio, Hyun-yul moved his hand and drove the nail into his neck.
Thwack.
He felt the nail sink into flesh, then looked toward Haeryeon.
“I’ll be right back.”
She’d already noticed the poison and was covering her nose and mouth.
It would be a problem if she ran away like that.
“What?”
Before Hyun-yul could hear her answer, his body melted into shadow.
As soon as his field of vision changed, he reached toward the door of the room where the bomb was.
His hand seemed to pass through the door. It grabbed an enemy by the neck as he tried to escape, then crushed it.
Crack.
Hyun-yul opened the door calmly and walked inside.
“Hello.”
At his indifferent greeting, the enemies clutching their throats saw him as a monster.
He’d come into a room full of poison without even wearing a gas mask.
“You don’t need to look at me like that.”
Hyun-yul was resistant to poison.
It would’ve been strange if he weren’t, considering how they’d put him through so much for their experiments.
He calmly put on his gloves.
When one of the men lunged at him, Hyun-yul snatched the dagger from his waist and stabbed him in the neck.
To keep the blood from splashing, he kicked the man away as he pulled out the dagger.
“Oh, the window.”
Hyun-yul grabbed a man by the hair as he rushed toward the window and threw him to the floor.
The man rolled over and over. Before he could get up, Hyun-yul approached and stomped on his face.
Crack!
The sound of his facial bones breaking rang out clearly.
Hyun-yul glanced around, then moved his hand to the side.
Thrust.
An enemy who had crept up quietly shuddered with a dagger buried in his throat.
Hyun-yul slashed sideways and looked at the last man.
“…M-Monster!”
The enemy screamed, unable to believe what was happening.
“Call me a monster all you want, but you’ll die if you keep shouting. You’ve got a little time left, so do something useful. Send a message to your family or—”
Thud.
At the sound of him falling, Hyun-yul shook his head.
“I told you not to shout.”
Hyun-yul walked over to the bomb.
There was no one left standing in the room.
He started working on the laptop.
There was bound to be a disarm code.
After tapping at the keyboard dozens of times, he found and entered it.
Even if there hadn’t been a code, that would’ve been fine.
There were other ways.
Hyun-yul looked around, then ran his hand over the blood on his body.
It was clean, as if there’d never been any blood on him at all.
This is an interview. I can’t show up looking disheveled.
After checking once more that he was clean, he picked up the laptop and the disarmed bomb.
Then he appeared in front of Haeryeon.
“I thought these might be useful.”
“…?”
Haeryeon stared at him blankly.
“I disarmed the bomb, and all nine people in the room where it was planted are dead. Does that mean the mission is complete?”
Hyun-yul gazed at her. Haeryeon rubbed her face with one hand.
That wasn’t the first thing they needed to deal with.
“First, take the antidote.”
“I’m fine. I’m resistant to poison.”
Hyun-yul shook the bomb and laptop he was holding out.
Those were what mattered most.
“I’m pretty useful, aren’t I? I solved the whole case in just five minutes. Surely that’s good enough to leave work on time?”
Haeryeon blinked at his brazen remark, then covered her mouth.
There were still enemies around, so she couldn’t laugh out loud.
But she truly was impressed.
Hyun-yul had just done something unbelievable.
In five minutes, he’d not only taken out the enemies but also done the bomb squad’s job.
How many people would it normally take to get all that done?
Haeryeon set everything else aside and focused on what Hyun-yul had accomplished.
I came here to watch him at first, but I should treat this like a real interview.
Haeryeon grew serious.
In a way, Hyun-yul was poison—a danger to Black Eagle and to the villains alike.
She didn’t know what that poison might lead to, but she asked him anyway.
“Are you certain you won’t become a villain?”
“Yes.”
Hyun-yul answered without hesitation.
He might wipe villains out, but he had no intention of becoming one again.
At his firm reply, Haeryeon held out her hand.
She couldn’t let the villains get their hands on him.
“I’m in favor of you joining Black Eagle, Mr. Hyun-yul.”
“…Really?”
Hyun-yul looked at her in disbelief.
“On one condition: you join my team, Mr. Seo Hyun-yul.”
Hyun-yul looked steadily at Haeryeon.
He was glad, but what was she thinking?
“I’ll protect you, Mr. Seo Hyun-yul.”
“Protect me…?”
The words were so unfamiliar that Hyun-yul’s brow furrowed.
“Yes. Because I have the power to do that.”
Haeryeon smiled brightly.