Chapter 72 - Something Always Happens on a Day Off

* * *

Hyeon-yul opened his eyes, already regretting the previous night.

‘...Yesterday was horrible.’

Now he understood why they had arranged for everyone to have today off. He himself had done absolutely nothing, yet one person after another had lost all semblance of sanity.

‘How did the team leader endure that whole ordeal?’

Only Hyeon-yul and Haeryeon had remained sober. Like him, she had not touched a drop of alcohol. This had been his first welcome party, but it certainly had not been hers.

—Someone has to stay sober, you know. Still, cut them some slack today. They were really, really happy that you joined us, Hyeon-yul.

Haeryeon had appeared not to be drinking, but her smile had been so much more relaxed than usual that he almost wondered if she had been drunk after all.

‘Happy, huh...’

Hyeon-yul thought about that for a moment, then twitched his fingers. A tendril of darkness fetched his phone. The moment he checked his messages, he turned the screen facedown. He had expected everyone to sleep until late afternoon after getting so drunk yesterday, but the group chat already had more than five hundred messages.

He squeezed his eyes shut, then opened them again. The feeling that he had been tricked returned with a vengeance.

‘How are they even capable of this after yesterday?’

—Hyyung. Hyung, I'll really do better. I promise. I mean it.

Whenever drunken Jihwan had laid eyes on Hyeon-yul, he had burst into tears. He had gone through more than half a roll of toilet paper all by himself.

—Want to eat this? It's delicious, and there's more. I can buy you more! See your noona's card? I've got the money. Plenty of it. Order everything! Just order it all!

Nayun had kept thrusting her card at him and trying to feed him something. It was difficult to refuse, so he had simply kept eating. Never in his life had he consumed so much food in a single sitting.

—...Where was I? Hyeon-yul, you should really become my little brother. I'll go right now and get the paperwork stamped. Jihwan, you come too! Nayun, you can... Never mind.

Shinwoo had repeatedly tried to make Hyeon-yul his actual younger brother. Hyeon-yul did not even know whether such a thing was possible.

Back when he had worked for villains, he had attended countless company dinners and served drinks to his superiors more times than he could remember. Even then, nothing like this had ever happened. He had been working since he was underage, so he had spent roughly twelve or thirteen years in that world. Yesterday had been very different from all those years. The experience had still been horrible, just in an entirely different way.

‘But it was strange, too.’

Hyeon-yul let the odd feeling linger for a moment before putting it aside. He looked down at his hand. It was trembling.

‘Is the medicine not agreeing with me?’

They had been changing his medication little by little. This was something they would have to keep doing until they found a drug that suited his body completely, so he was not surprised. The last time they switched his medication, he had coughed up blood. Compared with that, a little trembling in his hands seemed tolerable.

He was searching for the experimental facilities and using the records recovered from them to hunt down the people who had made him this way. At the same time, he was still searching for medication his body could tolerate. The irony was almost funny.

Hyeon-yul sent Jeongmin a message and got out of bed.

[My hands are trembling.]

The small number one beside his message disappeared immediately, indicating that it had been read.

[Dr. Jeongmin: What?!]

[Dr. Jeongmin: Hold on.]

Bzzzz.

His phone began ringing almost immediately afterward.

“Yes, Doctor.”

<How badly are they shaking? Does anything hurt? You're not coughing up blood, are you?>

Jeongmin's words came in a breathless rush.

“Only a little. It's not bad enough to stop me from holding a dagger.”

<What kind of comparison is that...? All right. I'll prepare a new batch of medication.>

“Understood.”

<I was sure I'd adjusted the ingredients correctly. That's strange.>

“It's fine. You haven't done anything wrong, Doctor. My body is simply difficult to deal with. It's not as though my body is falling apart.”

<That would be a disaster! It absolutely cannot happen! Do you understand? Absolutely not!>

“Yes. I understand.”

<Well, I'm not fine with this! I'm absolutely not fine!>

Hyeon-yul moved the phone a little farther from his ear and yawned.

‘He's got quite a voice.’

He waited until Jeongmin had finally calmed down.

<...I'll see you later. When you come in, let's examine you again.>

“Understood. I'll see you later, Doctor.”

Hyeon-yul waited for Jeongmin to hang up before rising. He swallowed his medication first, then regarded the sunlight with his usual expressionless calm.

‘...It's my day off, but I suppose I'll have to go out.’

Yesterday, he had been assigned to assist the bomb disposal team with explosives planted on an expressway. At the scene, he had found a different group of villains who had nothing to do with planting the original bombs. He had been able to distinguish the two groups by the different smells of gunpowder clinging to their bodies.

He would have preferred to hand over anything discovered during a mission to the Black Eagles. Unfortunately, no one would easily believe his explanation of how he had discovered the villains, and the method by which he had located their hideout would be difficult to explain as well.

—I'd rather hear about anything involving you directly from you, Hyeon-yul. If I have to hear it from someone else, it's already too late. There'll be a lot less I can do to help. Even if you cause trouble or make a mistake, tell me before anyone else does.

Haeryeon's words suddenly came back to him.

‘This isn't causing trouble. And it isn't a mistake.’

He had even left one of the villains alive so that the Black Eagles could conduct their own investigation. All he intended to do was take a preliminary look for himself. What could possibly be wrong with that? After thinking it over, Hyeon-yul gave himself a firm nod.

* * *

“...Hey. Did you guys hear?”

Someone passed around cups of coffee as he spoke. His coworkers, who had been working at their own desks, rose leisurely to accept them.

“What? If you're about to tell another stupid old-man joke, I'll rip your mouth open.”

One of the men sounded completely serious as he drew a knife and held it out.

“That's not what I mean! You know how things have been getting pretty strange with the Poison King's faction lately?”

“So what?”

“Yeah, what about it?”

The others responded with the same lack of interest. Whatever happened over there was someone else's problem, not theirs.

“I heard that faction has a new boss.”

That piece of news finally caught everyone's attention.

“Who is it?”

“Yeah, who? What lunatic has shown up this time?”

“I don't know that part.”

The answer earned him a chorus of jeers.

“Then don't bring it up until you know something useful. Things are unstable enough here as it is.”

“Why? Thinking of changing jobs?”

“If I can, I will. Once you've entered this line of work, there aren't many places left to go. Might as well find somewhere decent.”

“...Ha. Life really is miserable. I could be dead tomorrow, yet I'm still worried about paying my kids' academy fees. It's ridiculous.”

The others gave hollow laughs in agreement.

“We can talk about bringing down the Empire all we want, but right now we're just worried about putting food on the table.”

“By the way, do you guys really think we can beat the Empire?”

The question came from a man with a coffee cup held to his lips. An abrupt silence followed, and the atmosphere grew unnaturally heavy. It had been a casual remark, but everyone turned to stare at him. The lazy expressions of men who did not feel like working vanished, replaced by murderous looks.

“...Hey. What's with all of you? Aren't you curious? I mean, honestly, we...”

A scream interrupted him before he could finish. A knife had been plunged into his stomach. He stared at the colleague beside him, trembling, then collapsed to the floor. His breathing quickened. He struggled to get back to his feet, but struck the things on his desk and landed heavily on his backside again.

Crash!

“Looks like those eagle bastards planted him here. He's been hiding among us this whole time.”

“Exactly. Disgusting.”

They were no longer looking at him as a coworker. In their eyes, he was an enemy, nothing more and nothing less.

A chill ran down the injured man's spine. He struck the floor with his palm. A circular glow spread outward, and the coworkers gathered around him were struck down by an unknown force. Long slash marks appeared across the floor.

“...You crazy bastards.”

The man panted as he looked at them. All he had done was ask whether they could really win against the Empire. How had that single question turned him into a Black Eagle in their eyes?

“We've all stepped into the same mud together, but you'd stab me just for asking that?”

He was stunned. Every time he attended another training session, he had noticed the others changing a little, but he had never imagined it had gone this far. Frankly, who cared about the Empire? They could complain about their hard lives and make whatever excuses they pleased, but they were all scum, and they had been living with that knowledge. Since when had they started spouting self-righteous nonsense about wiping out the Empire?

“You sons of bitches! We've worked together for six years! Did you forget I bought diapers for your kids, you fucking bastards?”

“You filthy eagle. You dared to deceive us?”

“When did you infiltrate this place?”

They had no intention of listening to him. They were simply going to kill him.

“You said you wouldn't let your children get involved in this life! Then why would you...?”

The man's eyes widened in the middle of his sentence. Someone had appeared, wreathed in black smoke.

“You know there's no point talking to them.”

As calmly as if he were out for a stroll, the newcomer grabbed one of the men's heads and sliced through his throat. It happened so quickly that the wounded man could barely comprehend what he had witnessed.

“Those men, and you as well, are nothing but disposable parts. Do you still not understand that?”

Hyeon-yul tossed away the head he was holding as though it were a worthless object and looked at the man behind him.

“If you think you're sane, I'd advise you to abandon that notion. You're simply less prone to these outbursts than they are. Sane people don't enter this line of work.”

He appeared to approach the wounded man, but a faint black haze rippled around his body. In the next instant, he reappeared behind the last villain who had been trying to attack him.

“What villains want is the Empire. They'll do anything to get it. Isn't it about time you realized that?”

Hyeon-yul explained this almost kindly as he drove his dagger through the villain's neck. The dying man's convulsions traveled up the blade and into his fingers. He looked toward the others. He only needed one person alive to answer his questions.

Hyeon-yul kicked aside the man whose throat he had pierced. A fist the size of a human torso came crashing down at that very spot. The villain he had shoved out of the way had his head crushed, yet the attacker showed no concern whatsoever for his dying colleague. How could anyone call that sane?

Hyeon-yul sidestepped the giant fist and sliced through its owner's arm.

“Aaaaaagh!”

At the deafening scream, Hyeon-yul moved to stab the man's throat, but his fingers trembled. He immediately switched hands and drove the blade smoothly into the windpipe instead. After confirming that the villain had fallen, he walked toward the wounded man. His steps were slow, but there was something different about them.

“Did you honestly think they were your comrades? They just betrayed you.”

Hyeon-yul could not understand why the man looked so furious.

“Never mind. You don't have to answer that.”

Deciding that he had asked a pointless question, Hyeon-yul moved on to something else.

“You know that one group of villains planted explosives on the expressway yesterday. Your group came to add another set of bombs. Why did you do that?”

That was what he really wanted to know. What had they been trying to accomplish? Villains were known to commit acts like that, but what bothered him was the fact that they had not fled even after the Black Eagles arrived. If it was nothing important, then so be it.

“...So you're one of those eagle bastards?”

The man asked through the blood spilling from his wounds. Only a Black Eagle should have known those details.

“Yes.”

“...Ha, ha. And an eagle bastard would do something like this?”

“You do it yourselves. Why shouldn't I?”

“Because you idiots are stupid, aren't you? All you ever do is... Ugh... tell people to surrender.”

The man managed a crooked smile.

“I'm not interested in hearing that from someone who has just been betrayed by his own coworkers.”

“And you're supposed to be the ones who choose to do good, yet look at you...”

“You people do this sort of thing, so why shouldn't I? The law? I'm following it. The Black Eagles are permitted to kill you. My methods might not be right, but even if they're dirty and ugly, if they lead in the right direction, isn't that still good? Frankly, the sight of you trying to shelter behind that goodness disgusts me.”

“So how far will you go? Are you going to kill my family?”

“No. I won't kill them. I won't go that far.”

“...Right. You couldn't do that. You're a Black Eagle.”

The man squeezed his eyes shut. Contrary to his words, he was visibly relieved.

“If you understand how miserable it is to be called into work on a day off, then answer my question before you die.”

“And why do you think I'll answer?”

“I don't.”

Hyeon-yul adjusted his grip on his dagger and came closer.

“I merely hoped to reduce the inconvenience in one step. I can track down the answer even if I have to take a longer route. And I intend to do exactly that.”

The man stared at him. The helmet concealed Hyeon-yul's face and expression, but one fact mattered more than anything else: this bastard was a Black Eagle. There was only one thing a stupid Black Eagle would choose: arrest.

“...Our boss hates drugs.”

The man offered up the information to buy himself even a little more time alive.

“Is that even possible?”

“Yes. It's true. His kid was dragged away as an experimental subject and died. ...So whenever drugs are involved, our boss interferes, destroys the place, or calls in the Black Eagles.”

“Then what kind of place planted those bombs on the expressway?”

What did drugs have to do with bombs? Hyeon-yul could not see the connection. The absence of any obvious link only made the situation more suspicious.

‘Was it just a diversion?’

Once explosives were involved, the Black Eagles had no choice but to focus on the bombers, and their vigilance naturally increased. What would the enemy gain from that?

‘Did they want the Black Eagles to investigate the drugs?’

Whatever the reason, one thing was clear: the organization these men had tried to destroy, even going so far as to summon the Black Eagles, was connected to drugs somehow.

“...I don't know. I just did what I was told. Only the boss knows.”

“Where is your boss?”

“I don't know. I'd like to meet him myself. I thought this place would be... different from the others. But it wasn't. It wasn't!”

Frustration twisted the man's face. The instant Hyeon-yul saw that expression, he decided to cut short anything else the man might be about to say.

“Give me your phone.”

“...What?”

“I'll send your family a message for you.”

“...”

The man's face turned deathly pale. Wasn't this supposed to end with his arrest?

“Did you think I'd spare you just because you talked? How could you be so naive?”

‘All Black Eagles are like that.’

They must all have behaved so predictably for him to assume the same thing. Hyeon-yul had already explained his position: even if his methods were dirty and unpleasant, he believed they were acceptable if they pointed toward the right outcome. It was also the path he had promised Jeongmin he would follow.

“Still, you told me something useful, so I'll show you this final consideration. Hand it over.”

The man hesitated at Hyeon-yul's words. Really? Did he mean it? His expression seemed to ask both questions.

“I am not a patient man.”

At the thinly veiled threat, the man handed over his phone with trembling fingers.

“...The p-password is 1226. It's my little princess's birthday.”

“Yes. Tell me what to write.”

The man had hoped that mentioning his daughter might change something, even slightly, but there was not the slightest change in the Black Eagle's voice. It was hopeless. With difficulty, he began speaking, and Hyeon-yul typed out his words. Then he held up the phone for him to read.

“Is this correct?”

“...Yeah.”

“I'll send it.”

Hyeon-yul pressed Send and showed the man that the message had gone through.

“Are you... really going to kill me?”

“Is there a way to kill someone without really killing them?”

“...What a fucking miserable life.”

“Yes. That's how it is.”

Hyeon-yul removed his helmet and faced the man directly.

“Life is miserable by nature.”

He bowed his head politely, then drove his dagger into the man's throat. The man managed a single groan before going limp. Hyeon-yul removed the chip from the phone, then sank through the floor, dissolving into the darkness.

‘It would be nice if working on my day off turned out to be worth it.’

* * *

Hyeon-yul had come to a movie theater. There was a film he had wanted to see, and today was his day off. Spending at least some of it this way made him feel a little better.

“...Huh?”

An all-too-familiar voice made him turn his head. Jihwan and Shinwoo were standing there. Hyeon-yul let out a long breath as an overwhelming sense of déjà vu washed over him.