INV 15

Chacha’s tone was tender, feeling like an adult asking various questions to a child who had done something. As soon as Chacha’s questions were posed, Reaper Gwak pulled out a notebook and prepared to take notes.

Come to think of it, this question provided an opportunity for an explanation to Chacha, and to Reaper Gwak, it would sound like a motive for applying.

If only I could ignore the fact that Chacha’s aura is terrifying.

‘Wait a second, if I move my mouth the wrong way even once in this spot, I’ll be hated by Chacha and my boss will pick on me forever…?’

Why is fate decided in such an instant? Kwon Yihyeon had never been employed anywhere except for part-time jobs, but he still knew how to do basic preparation. He had prepared various things like motives for applying and potential questions. However, all of those turned into scraps of paper, and Kwon Yihyeon had to use his mouth wisely.

If he made even one misstep, his home life would be ruined and his workplace would become hell.

“To become stronger.”

However, because he was excessively nervous, he spoke too much from the main point, and thus Kwon Yihyeon started with the first button spectacularly ruined.

Reaper Gwak was chilled to the bone and could not hide his astonishment, while Chacha sneered.

“My groom, my baby, you do not need anything to become strong. You simply do not know the way, for you already possess everything.”

Reaper Gwak’s face sank into anxiety in real-time. A crazy person who contracted with a Jae Angshin says he wants to become strong, and then the Jae Angshin tells that bastard he has all the power—he felt he would react the same way if he were in his shoes.

Kwon Yihyeon was also quite regretful that Chacha had the intention to lend him such power, but for now, he smoothed over the words he had thrown out.

“I am always at a loss because the Great Spirit treasures me so much. Therefore, my attempt to somehow treasure ‘myself’ more ended up progressing so suddenly like this. I apologize for appearing to startle you a little.”

Chacha crossed his arms as if telling him to speak more, and Reaper Gwak cautiously stepped in and questioned Kwon Yihyeon.

“How does becoming stronger become an act of treasuring yourself? Though this is a simplified procedure, I have an obligation to understand you, and when I hear only the goal of ‘becoming stronger’, you feel like a considerably dangerous person to me.”

In fact, this matter was not so simple even if Chacha hadn’t been there.

Kwon Yihyeon—though it wasn’t something a contractor of a Jae Angshin should say—had a grand ambition of wanting to reassure people himself. To do that, it would be problematic if Kwon Yihyeon appeared too threatening to people.

But reality never flowed as Kwon Yihyeon intended, and with Chacha involved, the work became even more difficult.

Kwon Yihyeon, who kept agonizing over the best direction, at some point tossed his calculations far away.

“I am a fragile human.”

As Kwon Yihyeon said that, he rolled up his left sleeve and showed his forearm. Throughout his life, Kwon Yihyeon’s life had left various traces on his body.

Among them, the ones he had left on his own left arm had not yet disappeared.

Those who know will understand what it means when a right-handed person ruins their own left arm.

If he spent a few more nights with Chacha, they might disappear soon. So before they vanish, if a use for them has finally arisen, I should use them. Right?

Chacha’s face distorted slightly upon seeing the old scars.

On the other hand, the Reaper looked unperturbed, as if such wounds were familiar and common.

So Kwon Yihyeon spoke as if targeting his future boss.

“Mister Reaper. Since you have seen countless lives and deaths, everyone must know that humans are fragile. I know it, too. I do not grieve so much just because I am broken a little. I am past the age for that.”

The two high-aged individuals, who had lived through ages incomparable to Kwon Yihyeon’s, showed different reactions.

The Grim Reaper looked as if he understood his words, while Chacha let out a cold snort.

Is it the difference between a human and a spirit?

“However, I do not know well how much the Great Spirit, who loves me even more than I do, will grieve. Nor can I properly gauge how the world might be crushed by the Great Spirit’s sorrow.”

Translation: If I get fucked over, this fox bastard might go crazy and destroy everything, you know?

“Previously, my body was my own, but now it is not. It means no one—not even I—must harm me. Since I have become a body that is cherished so dearly, I have an obligation to protect myself. I must not be broken recklessly. To freely enjoy my natural lifespan in this short life, I must become a little stronger.”

Translation: I refuse a life where I’m monitored or locked up somewhere under the pretext of protecting me. I want to live freely and then die of natural causes.

Kwon Yihyeon spoke while grabbing Chacha’s hand.

“So Great Spirit, please generously overlook the small scratches that occur in that process and the bit of dust that soils me. Because it is for the sake of staying by your side longer.”

Translation: Don’t exterminate three generations of someone just because they gave me a scratch, and let it slide. Please. Fucking. Seriously. Just.

Once those words ended, Chacha’s terrifying aura vanished. He didn’t know about the company, but it seemed he had definitely satisfied Chacha. The opportunity Park Seongjun created for him would be a waste, but if he had to choose between failing a job and the Jae Angshin’s wrath, the latter was obviously more grave, so Kwon Yihyeon felt relieved for a moment.

Chacha leaned down and whispered to Kwon Yihyeon.

“Don’t get too messy.”

It seemed he whispered on purpose so the Reaper wouldn’t hear. The voice reaching his ear had a ticklish quality that made his fine hairs stand on end. Before that pleasant shiver could wrap around his body, he raised his head and Chacha was nowhere to be found. Did he step aside? If so, it was a good sign because it meant he was leaving Kwon Yihyeon relatively free. It might mean even bigger accidents could happen, but anyway.

Clap, clap, clap.

Hearing the sound of slow clapping, he spun around to see Reaper Gwak clapping his hands. His eyes were still listless and tired as could be, but this time they held pure admiration.

“Wow, I said let’s see just what kind of crazy person you are, and you really are a crazy person. A person crazy for love.”

“…I’m not.”

In truth, the emotion Kwon Yihyeon felt was anything but love, but Reaper Gwak did not look as if he believed him even a bit. Kwon Yihyeon, who couldn’t get a sense of whether it was okay to ‘dare’ to shout that he didn’t love the ‘Jae Angshin’ when Chacha might be nearby, was only suffering internally.

Then Reaper Gwak put his notebook into his chest and spoke.

“You’re hired. Come to work starting tomorrow.”

I guess it was a good answer for the company, too. To Kwon Yihyeon, who was feeling proud without realizing it, Reaper Gwak added:

“You know once you set foot in the Underworld, you can’t quit until you’re dismissed, right?”

“I didn’t know.”

“Then know it from now on. That is all.”

“No, wait,”

Reaper Gwak only spouted what he had to say and then suddenly vanished, saying he had left the contract behind. No, Park Seongjun, just what kind of black company did you introduce me to?

⋆˙⟡

Surprisingly, the boss-bastard of the black company brought back a fairly plausible—modern—labor contract.

It was written that he would join with the status of an intern at the Afterlife Company and work as a contract worker without a fixed term until he became a formal employee…

At a glance, it seemed like a very poor condition, but it was explained in the special provisions that due to the nature of the organization known as the Underworld, it was only written that way because one learns things ordinary people shouldn’t know, and that quitting wasn’t actually impossible.

However, after quitting, surveillance would be attached. Hearing the explanation that it was because of cases where people used the laws of the Underworld in reverse to bring dead people back to life, it wasn’t an incomprehensible provision, so he decided to accept it more or less.

The pay, which was labeled as a stipend rather than a monthly salary, was considerably high, and they said it would all be given in actual cash of the human world.

To Kwon Yihyeon, who was about to write down his salary transfer account number for his main bank, Reaper Gwak asked:

“Do you have a Gyemyeong Bank account?”

“No.”

“If you don’t have one, make one. Cash put into Gyemyeong Bank by a Reaper-position civil servant can be used in the Underworld, too.”

“…It was that kind of bank?”

“Many things are necessary for two worlds to interact.”

Gyemyeong Bank is always included in the primary financial sector, but for some reason, it was located at the very bottom of the bank list and he had never once seen a physical branch.

It meant it was a bank of that small a scale.

Then, do ordinary people trade with that place without even knowing that the person standing in line behind them to pull a counter ticket is a Reaper?

Searching the map, it was easier to go to the Dongdaemun branch than the nearest branch. But it was equally bothersome.

“What if I don’t make one?”

“The currency exchange fee is high.”

“Ah, yes. I see…”

Kwon Yihyeon felt his fantasy about the Underworld was about to be shattered.

After checking that there were no absurd provisions and asking everything he was curious about, Kwon Yihyeon finished signing the labor contract.

But the moment he lifted his hand from the last stroke of the signature, the writing glowed red and an unknown energy spread across the entire contract.

Somehow, it was a heart-pounding and chilling energy. An energy that was ticklish and hot, yet cool at the same time.

Thump.

Suddenly his heart sank so he raised his head, and Kwon Yihyeon felt eyes on him.

The gazes of ‘all sorts of things’.