INV 94

‘Was Samra this rotten to the core?’

At this point, Gwak Deukcheon wondered if it was finally time to accept the promotion offer to Great King Yama that he had repeatedly rejected.

The proposition that one must seize power to implement reform was a subject that had fatigued Gwak Deukcheon for a long time.

Yet, once one engages in political maneuvering to grasp that power, one becomes corrupt. Then, reform becomes impossible.

It was a chronic dilemma.

‘I refused because wearing the crown restricts one’s freedom of movement, and the fact that I wouldn’t be able to go out into the field pissed me off.’

The current Great King Yama, formerly Gangnim Doryeong, was strangely fixated on Gwak Deukcheon and had once mentioned he would provide accommodations so Gwak Deukcheon could still go into the field if he wished.

Back then, he had shuddered at the thought, but now he felt that perhaps he should have just accepted it.

The feeling of having neglected Samra until it reached this state was incredibly foul…

‘You peers of mine, crazed with old greed. Have you gone senile? If your brains are that rotten, just drop dead or something.’

Let’s say the grand mission of stopping Jae Angshin is fine. If that’s the case, then you lot should step up and be the meat shields or whatever. Why push it onto the young kids?

‘Because you old-timers don’t set an example, the brats are running wild!’

Gwak Deukcheon ground his teeth, then relaxed his jaw when the employee in front of him flinched as if frightened.

Then, with a tilt of his head, he summoned Kang Taerim.

‘In times like this, he’s the one I definitely need.’

Unlike his own bleak and chilling eyes, the smile of a good-natured man with a kind impression has a tremendous effect on ordinary people! The effort the team members put into emphasizing this point repeatedly was finally paying off in a place like this.

The subjects were all omitted for the sake of courtesy, but anyone could guess that Gwak Deukcheon’s eyes were the bleak and chilling ones, while Kang Taerim was the good-natured man with the kind impression…

Having accepted the terrifying nature of his own face through much trial and error, Gwak Deukcheon always assigned Kang Taerim to handle emotionally unstable individuals.

It would be a disaster if he stepped up himself, started babbling, and caused the person to collapse in sobs.

However, despite summoning Kang Taerim, the reaction was strange.

“I’ve processed it as paid leave, so rest easy. You’ve been through a lot, so it’s best to take a few days to stabilize. I’ve already spoken with your department, so don’t worry…”

“Who said I wanted that? Why are you deciding things on your own?!”

“…”

It was truly a rare sight to see Kang Taerim frozen, momentarily lost for words.

Seeing him, who always acted so kindly, crumble in the face of an unexpected reaction was quite funny, so Gwak Deukcheon cackled and clapped his hands.

“See? I told you I’m not the only scary-looking one. Huh? It’s not just me. You’ve gotten old too.”

“You, just shut up…”

Because Kang Taerim was an extremely sensible person, he worried that the victim, who had become unstable enough to shout at a superior from another department, might become even angrier.

He wasn’t particularly angry that a subordinate had raised their voice. He thought it was only natural for them to be in a psychologically vulnerable state right after being exposed to a crime.

‘This guy, laughing his head off at a time like this, is the strange one…’

However, if he got angry at Gwak Deukcheon, things might escalate. He wanted to prevent such a situation in advance if possible.

“If you want to move up your return to work, let’s do it after you’ve been cleared as having successfully completed treatment. Can you at least understand that?”

“…”

A very small nod.

“Good, we’ll settle the work issue like that. And there’s something I want to ask—it might be uncomfortable to hear—but the company inevitably needs a testimony regarding the situation at the time to track down the culprit…”

A very brief tremor.

‘The reaction is… odd?’

It was just as Kang Taerim was feeling a strange sense of dissonance.

“Hey, employee, what’s so great about returning to work even a day early? Don’t you think it’s best to be a salary thief at a company anyway? It’s not like you guys hold some grand sense of duty at your age. I don’t know why every twenty-something around me is working like a person who’s lost their mind.”

Gwak Deukcheon began to ramble nonsense.

“Hey, you. Move aside. I need to collect testimony.”

“Ahem. Calling your Team Leader ‘you’!”

“I really want to sell you off somewhere…!”

“Humans must not be objects of trade, Manager Kang. Don’t you even know such basic ethics?”

“…”

Kang Taerim wanted to sink down and cry, but he stopped himself. He had to endure. He was an adult.

However, it would be impossible to shake off Gwak Deukcheon’s clutches on his own.

In times like this, he needed his team members.

“Mr. Yihyeon! Help me!”

“Huh? Me?”

“Don’t back out at a time like this! This is work!”

With agile judgment, Kang Taerim succeeded in pulling Kwon Yihyeon in.

Having known him for a long time, Kang Taerim could tell. Gwak Deukcheon was currently bothered to death by these young people who were obsessed with work!

‘So, if I throw Kwon Yihyeon in front of him, he’ll stop his useless long-winded speech. Sorry, but for the sake of hearing the testimony, you’ll have to monopolize the Team Leader’s affection!’

However, Kang Taerim’s plot failed.

Absurdly, Gwak Deukcheon pulled both Kwon Yihyeon and the employee in and started lecturing them both…!

“Hey. What are you guys? Aren’t you the grand M-Z generation? The MZ generation. Then, like MZs, if the start time is 9, you should show up at 10; if the finish time is 6, you should leave at 5; if lunch is 1 hour, you should take 2. Shouldn’t you live like that?”

‘As if!’

Kang Taerim was starting to tear up. It seemed his tear ducts had weakened as he aged.

‘Not all of the younger generation is reckless! That’s closer to a phantom image created by the older generation! Besides, even the truly reckless kids couldn’t go that far! You’d get fired if you did that. Logically, it makes no sense!’

As Kang Taerim became gloomy, curled his body up, and huddled in a corner, Man Juhae approached him with a paper cup.

“Um, Manager. Some cold water…”

“Ah, thank you… But should I just hit him on the back of the neck and knock him out? Letting the victim hear that kind of talk right after what they’ve been through…”

“Ah, well. Actually, when you said we needed testimony… didn’t that employee’s expression look a little, eerie?”

At Man Juhae’s hushed whisper, Kang Taerim’s eyes widened. He had certainly felt a similar sense of dissonance himself. Even so, he had pushed through because it was information they had to ask.

‘I thought it was just the usual case of a victim being reluctant to testify. But was that not all?’

“Since Team Leader Gwak doesn’t just act like that for no reason. Maybe he’s doing it because he has something in mind…?”

“No, that guy definitely acts like that for no reason.”

“Ah, is that so.”

“Still, he’s not a brainless guy, so I’m thinking of leaving him be.”

“Hehe, poor intern!”

“That… is truly unfortunate…”

⋆˙⟡

‘Don’t just feel sorry, get me out of here!’

Kwon Yihyeon sincerely wanted to shout that.

He would have done so if Gwak Deukcheon wasn’t currently holding him in an armbar under the guise of putting an arm around his shoulder.

“Anyway. You shouldn’t be so intense about company life.”

‘I don’t think I should do it like you either, Team Leader…’

“You need time to be appropriately flexible, skip out on work, and play. Don’t you think so? Kwon Yihyeon?”

“No, I don’t.”

“This punk.”

The pressure from the forearm around his neck increased.

Kwon Yihyeon folded his precious desire to just perform an over-the-shoulder throw on him, along with his resignation letter, and tucked it neatly into his pocket. He couldn’t very well kill his workplace superior, after all.

“Right, you said your name was Yu Jimin, right? How’s the team atmosphere?”

“Why are you asking that?”

“Ah, you’re asking because you don’t know? I’m asking because two hours is the appropriate time for lunch! You have to subtly blur the lines. A salaryman should find fulfillment in stealing wages from the corporation. Don’t you think so? Kwon Yihyeon?”

“Haha, of course not?”

“No-fun guy. So, how about you, Yu Jimin. Do you usually take plenty of time for lunch?”

The victim, Yu Jimin, let out a sigh and responded in a drained voice.

“Usually, I finish eating in 30 minutes.”

“What? You go straight to work? Are you even human? Even a working machine isn’t treated like that. You need time to cool off.”

“I don’t work immediately. I do drink coffee…”

“Aha, at a cafe? Do you go in a crowd with the people you ate with? Dutch pay? Or does the boss pay?”

“I get it to-go and drink it in the office. We do Dutch pay… but we don’t eat in a large group.”

“Eating alone? A lot of people do that these days.”

“It’s not alone…”

“Then who do you eat with?”

“…I, don’t want to say.”

At that point, Kwon Yihyeon also felt a certain flow. Kang Taerim seemed the same as he leaned forward.

Yu Jimin probably didn’t realize it because his gaze was lowered, but Gwak Deukcheon’s smile was deepening.

“Why, is it someone you’re dating? Well, I suppose you’d want to hide an office romance? I heard young people these days do Dutch pay even when they’re dating. I find that truly fascinating. In my day…”

“We’re not dating! They’re just a colleague!”

“A colleague? In the same department? What’s their name?”

“I-I’m uncomfortable! Why do you keep prying into my private life?!”

“Huh? I told you to testify, but you started feeling murderous intent toward our employee, so I just approached it indirectly?”

“…!”

“What, you got a problem with that?”

Come to think of it, Gwak Deukcheon was a person very sensitive to “flow.”

Whether it was spiritual energy. Or murderous intent.

‘Or human emotions…’

“Actually, these things are always the same old story. Avoiding testimony even though you were almost hacked to death usually means it’s either a lovey-dovey story or a pathetic one. Do you understand what I’m saying?”

“…Right to silence! I’m exercising my right to silence!”

“I don’t know who you’re trying to ‘protect,’ but it’ll be better for your well-being to just stay hospitalized quietly. I don’t care if you interpret it as confinement. Armed personnel will be swarming around your hospital room. Until the culprit is caught.”

“…!”

“So just lie down and relax.”

Yu Jimin tried to stand up with bloodshot eyes, but Gwak Deukcheon lightly pressed on his neck and put him to sleep.

Kwon Yihyeon suddenly thought that it would have been a problem if Gwak Deukcheon wasn’t there.

From the first time he interviewed, until now.

“Right, the interrogation ends here. There’s probably no more info to squeeze out. The culprit is an acquaintance of Yu Jimin. That’s enough. Got it?”

“Yes!”

“Good. Let’s get to it for real.”

Well, follow anyone other than this man? It was at the point where he couldn’t even imagine it.