INV 52

“You need to learn a bit. You need a spiritual cleansing. Whether you serve a deity or not is your choice, but because you are so popular, even dregs are trying to settle in while acting all high and mighty. It doesn’t even have to be a traditional method; do you have any foreigners in your bloodline? It’s a situation where interest is being sent to you from all sorts of exotic lands. You’ve ended up accepting everything without distinction, but from now on, you must not live that way. If you accept everything as it comes without even serving a deity to protect you, you won’t be able to sort it out on your own, and you’ll just suffer in silence before collapsing—that is how you get defiled.”

The Mansin, who had spoken thus, issued an order to expel the two, and once they stepped outside, they received the remaining explanation from a woman dressed in surprisingly old-fashioned hanbok. The father was anxious, worried about his son who had suddenly stepped into another world, but Kang Taerim was strangely excited about the adventure that was about to unfold.

After that, he decided to take on a teacher recommended by the Great Mountain. The teacher was not of the traditional shamanic sort but was closer to an exotic shaman, referring to himself as a Spirit User. Kang Taerim learned how to borrow the power of nature from him. Simultaneously, he proudly entered a Korean university. Since he couldn’t grasp whether it would be possible to live solely on his abilities as a Spirit User, he didn’t let go of a life unrelated to the occult; later, when Gwak Deukcheon heard this, he said it was obnoxious.

At that time, Kang Taerim had just laughed it off, asking what more one could expect from a self-preservationist who values a safe life.

Kang Taerim’s entry into Afterlife Company Co., Ltd. also happened after a stable system had been secured within the company.

With the arrival of the 20th century, the Underworld was turned upside down. This came along with Gangnim’s ambition to properly reconstruct Hell. However, Kang Taerim didn’t believe those words at all. Still, when ten years passed and things were running properly without the discipline loosening, he applied for the open recruitment just in case. And he proudly passed. It was something he had done half as a deviation, but his heart raced because he actually got in.

He was momentarily flustered because he was suddenly assigned to the field department rather than the office department he had expected, but thanks to Gwak Deukcheon drawing all the aggro, he was scolded less even when he made mistakes. For that one thing alone, he was glad to be Gwak Deukcheon’s colleague.

Except for that, everything sucked!

“Who on earth picked that nutjob?”

The colleagues all joined their voices to curse the interviewer who had passed Gwak Deukcheon.

‘…If it had been known early on that Great King Yama himself had recommended him, such a catastrophe wouldn’t have happened!’

Gwak Deukcheon let the interviewer who picked him take all the insults imaginable before dropping the truth like a bomb.

He was a crazy bastard with one hell of a temper.

‘Ugh, just reminiscing makes my gastritis relapse…’

He heard later that Gwak Deukcheon had been receiving love calls from Kanglim Doryeong since decades ago…

If Gwak Deukcheon had listened to Kanglim Doryeong’s words to come to him from the very beginning, he would have stood several ranks higher than his current starting class. While it was truly relieving that it hadn’t turned out that way, it was also terrifying.

What kind of form would that fighting dog have taken, wielding even more justification and power than he does now?

‘He would have looked like something that would make Cerberus go away.’

Thinking that it was a relief Gwak Deukcheon kicked away his own luck might be a mean thought for a friend.

‘But the target is Gwak Deukcheon? Could this really be a mean thought?!’

It was then, while Kang Taerim was stuck in this dilemma.

The investigator he had momentarily forgotten was babbling something to himself and then sought agreement.

“…Right?”

“…”

Wait a second, what was your name again…

The kind Kang Taerim couldn’t bring himself to tell him the truth—that he forgot because the man lacked a presence—so he forced a smile with a tired face.

“Sorry, I didn’t hear you for a moment because of a headache. What did you say?”

“It’s okay. It’s no wonder you have a headache. You’re going through a lot. Ha, how many years has it been? Cleaning up after them.”

However, the words that followed made even Kang Taerim’s expression stiffen.

“You took such care of them. Huh? Bowing your waist to the higher-ups and settling things that could become problems. How hard did you run? To see that they still haven’t become human after you cared for them so sincerely, those guys are really trash. They’re failures, failures! They’re waste.”

“That’s a bit harsh, Hyeong-taek.”

Kang Taerim said this and tried to cut off the related conversation. But the guy named Son Hyeong-taek, whose name he had barely recalled, was acting all earnest and being a pain.

“Hey. Taerim-ah. I’m just really sorry that your path to success is blocked because you’re stuck in a farce like the Haetae Department, laundering criminals like that. You’re not the type of guy to be stuck in a shithole like that for long. Hmm? When are you coming out? Now is the chance. Is there any employee who doesn’t know those punks are problematic? Let’s use this opportunity to send all those annoying things to prison and wash our hands of it. You should settle down soon, too. How long are you going to run in the field? Isn’t that right?”

…It was true that Kang Taerim was suffering in the Haetae Department. If Gwak Deukcheon threw a fit, Taerim covered for him by saying they were establishing a strategy, and he handled all the planning, reporting, and conversations with the higher-ups. If it weren’t for Kang Taerim, the team would have been broken long ago by pressure from above. Even while doing such grueling work, the Haetae Department’s work was something where one couldn’t even hope for incentives or a salary increase.

As Son Hyeong-taek said, the Haetae Department was a strange department that gathered as many socially maladjusted people with histories close to being criminals as possible.

He knew that if that was at least the public’s view, it was right to agree moderately here and handle it flexibly, saying that sending them to prison was too much. This was the very secret that allowed Kang Taerim to survive as a king of wide-ranging connections. Social savvy.

But it was strange. Kang Taerim straightened his face and glared at Son Hyeong-taek.

“It’s a good team.”

Seeing as he didn’t feel a shred of regret even after saying that…

Had he dipped his feet in the Haetae Department for too long?

‘Why do I feel like I’ve become socially maladjusted too?’

Son Hyeong-taek tried to grab him with a stunned face, but Kang Taerim firmly pushed him away. Then he dashed out of the interrogation room. It was clearly a situation that should be serious, but strangely, a giggle leaked out.

Yes, this was a deviation.

Kang Taerim, who had been raised as an elite, had lived a normal and general life in everything except for the occult.

He had walked only on tracks where safety was guaranteed.

But now he had kicked away the elite course where success was guaranteed and had even pulled off an escape during an investigation, following the criminal course quite openly…

“Ah! Found the Division Chief!”

“Come quickly! Just as our Division Chief said, we were doing the <Secret Technique: Beat Up Only One Guy>!”

“…Haha!”

He really couldn’t tell why he was laughing.

⋆˙⟡

While Kang Taerim and the team members were intimidating the surrounding warriors with <Secret Technique: Beat Up Only One Guy>.

The investigators who entered Gwak Deukcheon’s interrogation room were still repeatedly rushing out while crying.

One couldn’t even guess what kind of antics he was pulling, but the seniors tried to shove even the youngest in because they simply didn’t want to go in themselves. And for good reason—the seniors were all veterans who had personally seen or heard of Gwak Deukcheon’s history. There was no way they wanted to face him, the legendary Reaper of the Underworld.

However, if even the mentor was carried out crying, what could the youngest do properly? When the youngest, who had rushed out in a flurry, even wet his pants, the seniors standing with their hands behind their backs began to pour out all sorts of insults. But when they snapped out of it, a legendary Reaper from an era preceding Gwak Deukcheon had approached.

“Ye-yea, what brings Great King Yama here…!”

The legendary Reaper, Gangnim Doryeong, glared at the seniors with a gaze soaked in fatigue and said just one thing.

“Tomorrow at this time. Everyone from those under me to those right here, assemble.”

“…”

“…”

The seniors began to seriously contemplate whether or not to hang themselves on the spot. Regardless, Great King Yama slowly opened Gwak Deukcheon’s interrogation room.

In the dark surroundings, only a pair of green glows were flashing.

“Don’t open your eyes like that.”

“Ah, has the Great King made an appearance?”

“Is it fun scaring the kids?”

“It was honey-fun.”

Click. Gangnim approached as he turned on the fluorescent light, and as Gwak Deukcheon shot back while snickering, Gangnim finally allowed something like a smile to drift over his cold and silent face.

“I don’t know why reform seems to get more exhausting the more I do it.”

“Did you come to consult me? Don’t even start. I don’t know anything about that. I only know how to ram into things.”

“I, too, have a brain and intelligence. If you just sit still and respond with ‘yes, yes,’ you’ll have fulfilled your entire role. Do you understand?”

“…Yessir.”

Originally, the position of Great King Yama was one of the nine kings of the nine heavens, but as Kanglim Doryeong reorganized Hell, he overhauled it into a centralized system under Great King Yama. It wasn’t particularly out of a desire for power. It was because things would inevitably turn into a mess if he didn’t take charge himself. This was closer to a deep trust in the Underworld rather than a desire for power.

However, the problem was that Gangnim was also human.

“It feels like I’m dying, trying to finish the work that nine kings used to split up by myself.”

“Yessir.”

“Now, really, be on my side. Hmm?”

“No.”

“I told you to just say ‘yes, yes.’”

“No, look at this person trying to pull off a fraudulent contract! Has the Doryeong-nim become completely corrupt too?!”

Gwak Deukcheon said it as a joke, but Gangnim’s expression darkened.

Gwak Deukcheon gradually narrowed his eyes.

“…Maybe so.”

“What kind of stunt did you pull? If you blow it now, I’ll forgive you. It’s a special benefit, so spill it quickly.”

“If you came under my direct command, I’d tell you everything…”

“Ah, god dammit.”

I can’t say a word because everything you say is bait. Gwak Deukcheon shook his head, saying let’s just quit it all, then asked as if spitting it out.

“How many hours are left until the trial?”

“Two hours from now.”

“To hell with it. Where are my brats and what are they doing?”

“They’re picking out warriors and beating them up.”

“Those crazy things. Manager Kang too?”

“Yeah. He seemed the most excited.”

“Crazy thing.”

Gwak Deukcheon said it was disgusting and other nonsense, but he couldn’t hide his rising cheekbones. Then he cleared his throat, ahem, and said.

“So, where is Kwon Yihyeon and what is he doing. You roughly spirited him away, right, Great King? It’ll be troublesome if you didn’t. That bastard Geom Biyeon, the way he’s been acting sharp lately…”

“I did attempt to spirit him away.”

“…Don’t tell me you failed? Dammit.”

In that moment, Gwak Deukcheon immediately sharpened his aura. And he tried to rush out right away.

But the words Gangnim followed up with were peculiar.

“He told me to leave him behind.”

Gwak Deukcheon, who had already reached the doorway, turned his head and looked at Gangnim, who was sitting in his seat.

Gangnim was sipping lukewarm brown rice green tea as if it tasted terrible.