Hedgehog -2-
The pupils are shaking.
“That’s ridiculous.”
Then, his gaze becomes fixed on my face.
“Superhuman······ Were you a superhuman?”
Has your speech changed a bit?
I shook my head.
“Not yet.”
If you bring out your mutant traits now, you will instantly become a superhuman.
The problem is the aftereffects.
My whole body ached as if I had been beaten.
My head is so dizzy, it feels like the world is spinning.
Even considering your energetic nature, you’ll probably need a few days of rest.
I suppressed the feeling that I was about to collapse at any moment and approached the corpse of the hedgehog monster.
Place your hand on your chest, temporarily equip the extraction trait, and then pull it out in one breath.
Between my swollen breastbone, a small stone was carried into my hand.
Maybe about the size of a little finger?
It was a stone that was as transparent as glass, but had a strange sheen like oil on the surface of the water.
Magic core.
Since it was level 1, it had some value.
It’s not like it’ll turn your life around though.
“What, what is it?”
“Are you done?”
“The mutant is dead!”
“What? He died?”
“We survived!”
The old men came back little by little.
They all opened their mouths wide as they looked at the corpse lying on the floor.
He looked at the corpse with a face of utter disbelief and then looked at me.
There is no one here who is oblivious.
“Junior! Did you do it?”
“her······”
“You are truly amazing.”
“Why is such a precious person here in such a shabby place······”
Everyone seems to think I’m a superhuman.
After all, only superhumans can catch level 1 mutants.
It would be different if they brought a large-caliber shotgun or an automatic rifle, but they don’t have anything like that.
I didn’t necessarily explain that it wasn’t true.
Anyway, these are people I won’t see anymore after today passes.
If I try to explain that I’m not a superhuman or something, my mouth will hurt.
However, the deer approached me and whispered something, which seemed to tell me that I was not yet a superhuman.
“Let’s go back now.”
“Yes, ah! Yes!”
“Let’s all go!”
“How do I do that?”
When I asked while looking at the body, one of the men smiled bitterly.
“If you tell the government officials, they will take care of it. In fact, this kind of thing happens sometimes.”
“I guess so.”
“Hmm, hmm. Excuse me, can I just grab a few thorns?”
“Are you going? Oh, hair?”
“Yes. There are people who collect things like that.”
“Do whatever you want.”
The men laughed and rushed towards the corpse.
He picks up the shovel he had thrown away and roughly hits the corpse’s head with it.
Bang! Bang!
A dead corpse with its magical powers scattered and its body weakened and limp.
The metal thorns, which had been as strong as steel when alive, had rotted flesh at the base, so they could be easily removed with a few shovelfuls.
The deer also stood up slightly and took several metal thorns from the corpse.
As far as I know, it’s not a very valuable item, but it seems there are people who collect it.
“Sir, rest comfortably now.”
The deer took a hip flask out of his pocket and put it in his mouth.
A cloudy brown liquid flows out.
Other men also stuffed cheap cigarettes, crushed candies, and other things into the corpse’s mouth.
“Mr. Kim, may you attain Buddhahood.”
“Don’t get sick there.”
“bye.”
“May the blessings of the old father be with you.”
The men each prayed for the deceased in their own way.
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As I looked at it, a bitter taste stung my tongue.
It is not a formal way to pay condolences.
They wave their hands appropriately while laughing and plundering the body of the deceased.
Well, I have no right to blame them. I started by extracting the magic core.
After taking one last look at the body, he left.
No one spoke while we walked.
The damp air, the clammy atmosphere, was pressing down on us like a lump of mud.
Finally arrived at the entrance.
The door opened and bright sunlight poured in like an arrow, replacing the dim fluorescent light.
The air is so clear and cool that I find myself flaring my nose.
“Whoa!”
“It’s finally outside!”
“I really thought I was going to die.”
“It was long. It was really long.”
“I survived······”
“A guy who wants to go get a drink?”
“Mr. Kim said he owes 2,000 this month.”
“Just tell them you’re going to do the cleaning again tomorrow. Those bastards are making a fuss to make money, so why are you trying to cut open my stomach? You’re probably just trying to squeeze out a little more.”
“Is it a pork belly party today?”
“Are you crazy? Where did I get the money? I’ll buy you some meat soup.”
“Noodles again?”
“If you don’t like it, then don’t say anything.”
I couldn’t even enter the office.
There was a knock on the door from outside, and the civil servant who had opened the door that morning came out walking slowly.
“It’s already over? Oh, there’s no one here.”
“He mutated and died.”
“From inside?”
“yes.”
“No additional victims?”
“yes.”
“You’re lucky. The last team was all dead.”
The deer frowned.
A look of unluckiness as if to say something like that.
The civil servant looks annoyed.
“I guess I’ll have to go inside… Okay. Return your card key and go home. Stop by the quarantine room on your way out.”
“Yes, thank you for your hard work.”
“Thank you for your hard work.”
An attitude of being annoyed by one’s own piling up work.
The civil servant received the card key and went into the office.
After stopping by the quarantine room and passing through the magic purifier and contamination detector, go to the parking lot.
On one side of the parking lot, the bus that had picked us up was parked.
When I got here, the driver was lying in the driver’s seat, taking a deep nap.
When the deer opens the door and goes in, he wakes up with a start.
“Huh? Deer-nim? You finished quickly? I thought you’d be out in a few hours.”
“That’s what happened.”
“Thank you for your hard work. Where······ One, two, three······ Huh? I don’t see one person? What about Hedgehog Man?”
“You know.”
“Ah······ I know what you mean. Shit.”
The driver rubbed the back of his neck.
Then he takes out a green bottle of soju from the glove box on the passenger seat and blows it into the bottle.
Crazy. You’re going to drink and drive?
But no one interferes.
“Mr. Park! Don’t just eat Mr. Park, give us some too!”
“Oh, I have nothing to eat!”
“Don’t do that. We feel like we’re going to die too.”
“Are you complaining to the police?”
“You f*cking humans. Just take a sip.”
The men blew on the soju bottles.
Of course, one bottle wasn’t enough. The driver grumbled and brought out two more bottles of soju.
“Kyaa!”
“Ugh, I’ll live.”
“There is no one else but Mr. Park!”
“Are you eating something good, sir? What did you put in your soju?”
“What are you going to do with the money? I’ll just drink some good alcohol. I’m leaving now, so hold on tight. You won’t drink anything new, right?”
When I shook my head in refusal, the driver looked at me with a puzzled look on his face.
Before I could say anything, the old men started making a fuss.
“Oh my! A newbie!”
“Call me junior, junior! You’re a potential superhuman, so where did you pick up that kind of speech?”
“If it weren’t for our junior, we would have all been lost!”
“Junior? What’s wrong with you guys? Hey, wait a minute. You’re a potential superhuman? Seriously?”
“Graham!”
“We saw it all!”
“I saw it clearly with my own two eyes!”
I don’t even want to talk to you anymore.
I sat in the corner of the bus and closed my eyes tightly.
I feel like the driver is looking at me with a new look.
Vroom.
The diesel engine started with the sound of a cultivator.
A bus rumbling out of the parking lot.
It was a weekday afternoon, so Gangbyeonbuk-ro was quiet. I was able to drive straight ahead without any traffic jams.
Thanks to that, I was able to arrive at the human resources office in 30 minutes.
I was able to interview the director first thanks to the other people’s consent.
The director looked at me with gleaming eyes.
“Something unpleasant happened.”
“Yes. One person passed away.”
“I heard from Won-il. Mr. Kim Min-soo······ He was a very honest and cheerful person, but it’s too bad he passed away because he liked to drink.”
The curator bows his head as if in mourning.
A frowning face, a twisted brow.
But was it my imagination that the expression looked like crocodile tears?
As expected, when I raised my head, the mournful light had disappeared like a pinch of salt thrown into a glass of water.
“Now let’s talk about work.”
The face of a cold-hearted businessman.
“Because the living must live.”
“Well, let’s do that.”
It’s no different for me.
“I received a call from the management office. They said that five areas have been purified.”
“That’s correct.”
“As you know, all the loot goes to the person who found it, and a purification fee of 10 million won is paid for each area purified. My 20% commission is deducted from the total 50 million won, and the remaining 40 million won is divided among eight people, so I have to give you 5 million won… But, that can’t be done when a special event like today has occurred.”
The curator gestured to one side.
Crunch.
As if on display, the safe opened and two bundles of Shin Saimdang came jumping through the air as if dancing.
What is it? Telekinesis? Or magic?
Two bundles of Shinsaimdang······ Perhaps ten million won settle in front of me.
“Please take it.”
The manager raised his hand and pointed to the wad of bills.
“It’s your turn, Mr. Kim.”
Ten million won.
A huge sum of money that I had never even held in my hands in my original world.
I picked up the wad of bills with trembling hands.
The director smiled strangely and waved his hand again.
“I heard you’re a superhuman, or a potential superhuman, but I can’t treat you the same as other cleaners. I’ll only charge you a 10% commission, no, a 5%. This case is no different.”
The open safe door rattles once.
A wad of bills flying with him.
A bouquet of King Sejong.
No, two bunches.
This is definitely worth 2 million won.
“Isn’t that a bit much?”
When I open my mouth in surprise after receiving a wad of bills, the manager chuckles.
“I just added a little more. If you break it down to the thousand won and hundred won, wouldn’t it be unfair?”
“I’m fine, but······”
“Oh, just keep it. It’s a bribe to show my gratitude for your continued support. If you continue to do business with me, you will never be disappointed financially.”
The director smiled sheepishly.
A smile similar to the one I had when we interviewed yesterday, but more trustworthy than before.
So my heart calmed down.
[Just trust me, hyung!]
[I told you I’d take care of everything?]
I remembered what those people who boasted so much did.
Well, if you think about it calmly, it’s no different from being a director.
Didn’t the way you spoke change right away?
From a strange mix of polite and derogatory speech to a thoroughgoing polite speech.
Why would that be?
Of course he’s doing it to take advantage of me!
I hid my cold eyes and smiled broadly.
“Good. Since you are so considerate, I will continue to do business with you. I will trust you.”
“Hahaha! Thank you! When you say that to me, I feel like I have gained a thousand troops. You haven’t eaten yet, have you? I know a good place. How about we eat together and talk about something constructive?”
It’s obvious what we’ll talk about while feeding and drinking.
I guess they’ll even ask us to sign an exclusive contract.
I shook my head from side to side.
“I’m sorry. I have something urgent to take care of.”
“Oh, then when······”
“Well? I’ll come by soon.”
“Okay! Okay. I’ll contact you later.”
“Yes. Thank you for understanding.”
We need to rewrite the contract.
In a clear mind.
After I become a superhuman.
What if I write a number then?
Well, that’s the end of it. I appreciate that you gave me a share of the dead hedgehog’s head and even cut your own fee, but business is business.
I have no intention of signing a slave contract just because they paid me a little more money.
I shook hands with the manager and left the human resources office.
Hum hum.
Could it be because it was the first time in my life that I held a huge sum of money, twelve hundred?
I found myself humming.
I realized that and smiled bitterly to myself.
‘There’s nothing I can do about it.’
A person died.
He mutated hideously and died a horrible death.
But no one cared. Rather, they were only interested in the ashes, the loot, the purification fee, and the commission.
Me too.
To be honest, I had no right to curse the owner or the men.
Maybe I, worn down and worn out by the times, am the type of person who is suited to this crazy world.
‘······joy.’
It doesn’t matter.
My life is much more precious than that of an old man whose name I didn’t even know.
Survive.
He held that one proposition close to his heart, and his face turned pale.
“Junior······”
People sitting in the waiting room bow to me when they see me.
Many eyes are fixed on the bag I am carrying.
A bag bulging with a hundred magic cores and wads of cash.
I read a very familiar emotion in their eyes.
It was greed and jealousy.
