Although a Villain, My Wish is World Peace

The Cheongsong Gate Workforce Office was a company that arranged jobs gathering byproducts from gates that had been conquered.”

There were many gate workforce offices that provided jobs for awakeners in this way, but the reason Cheongsong was thriving was one thing.

They had a contract with Sirius, the top guild in South Korea.

Perhaps thanks to that, the place was packed with people from the early morning.

So what do I do now?

I somehow made it here by recalling memories from a decade ago, but I couldn’t remember what to do next. So much had happened over those ten years.

“Oh, Yi-sin. You’re here now?”

The moment I heard that voice, I unconsciously clenched my fist tightly.

An unforgettable voice.

Im Hyeon-su.

The bastard who ruined my life. I had completely forgotten that I would see him here.

I turned my head. Im Hyeon-su was exactly as I remembered him.

Still with that friendly-looking face and kind-looking eyes. The people here probably had no idea what kind of scum was inside him.

I barely suppressed the rage boiling within me.

I could punch his face right here, but then I wouldn’t be able to achieve my purpose for coming here. Expose Im Hyeon-su? How? Right now, I’m just a day laborer without any power. Even if I expose what he’s done, without proper evidence, I’ll just end up looking like the weird one.

So endure.

Endure.

Noticing my expression, Im Hyeon-su asked:

“Is something wrong?”

I spoke through gritted teeth.

“Nothing’s wrong.”

“I was worried when you didn’t contact me and were late.”

Im Hyeon-su was good at saying these irksome things. He was so attentive to those around him that there was no one at this workforce office who didn’t know Im Hyeon-su.

A good person who had approached me first and reached out a hand when I had drifted here after graduating from the academy.

I had sincerely trusted this guy until he sold me out. The dirty memory resurfacing made me bite my lip hard.

“Be careful today. From the morning, Chief Park has been really pissed. Seems like something bad happened at home.”

“I see?”

“Yeah, he was raising hell even while handing out the supplies earlier. You should hurry and get yours too. You’re already late.”

The supplies for the day were already in Im Hyeon-su’s hands as he said that.

Ah, the supplies.

I had completely forgotten.

To enter a gate, you need special items.

So that’s why there were so many people milling around even though it wasn’t a proper operating time.

I clicked my tongue and quickly headed to where they were handing out the supplies.

As Im Hyeon-su said, Chief Park’s face looked far more menacing than I remembered. Leaning against the wall, he immediately started yelling at the people lined up.

“Hurry up, hurry up!”

Despite the ‘No Smoking Indoors’ sign, Park was puffing away on a cigarette.

Even with such a foul-tempered man around, everyone still wanted to come to Cheongsong because of the gate supplies they handed out to people.

Unlike other companies that only arranged jobs, Cheongsong provided gate supplies for free, albeit in a simplified form.

But those supplies happened to run out right in front of me.

“You’re all out?”

“Yes, you know it’s first-come, first-served, right?”

The employee handing out the supplies noticed my stiff expression.

“You should’ve come a bit earlier?”

Seeing me, Chief Park waved dismissively.

“What are you going to do, stay here forever? Everyone get to work!”

At Chief Park’s booming voice, the people who had gathered with some hope scattered like cockroaches.

“Ah…”

I glanced at the warehouse that would be filled with supplies siphoned from Sirius as I moved my feet.

Yes, this was the reality I knew.

Even at a company contracted with Sirius, the top guild in South Korea, they were still squeezing the life out of awakeners.

Those who failed to receive supplies lined up in front of the supply store set up to purchase items.

Everyone knew these outrageous markups were absurd, but they couldn’t complain. If they did, they would only lose their jobs.

Actually, I didn’t really need these supplies. My talent’s potential was B-rank, so I wouldn’t suffer from mana addiction at least.

But a protruding nail gets hammered. Not wanting to stick out, I had diligently purchased the supplies in the past.

But now that every penny was precious, I had no such intention.

Most of these so-called ‘gate supplies’ were shoddy items that were better off just buying substitutes. The most important part of the gate supplies was the mana addiction prevention filter that attached to the gas mask, which barely filtered out the mana contained in the air inside the gate.

Gates, spaces connected to different dimensions, were filled with the energy of those dimensions – in other words, mana.

Highly concentrated mana was practically a poison. While those who could handle mana were fine, mana that infiltrated ordinary people’s bodies would destroy their cells and stop their functions.

In the past, when gate research was not properly conducted, even non-awakeners entered gates, I’ve heard. But now, gates strictly prohibited the entry of ordinary people.

Even awakeners who could handle mana were not completely free from mana addiction inside gates.

Awakeners who could handle enough mana to filter it out of their bodies were fine, but most of the personnel mining mana stones had such low mana sensitivity that they couldn’t become hunters.

Unable to detoxify the mana accumulating in their bodies, special precautions were necessary.

Since mana stones themselves were objects formed from highly concentrated mana, the risk of mana addiction had to be considered.

Im Hyeon-su, who had approached me, asked:

“Did you buy the supplies?”

“I still had some left from before,” I gave a vague answer.

“Those going to the Gapyeong Gate, come this way!”

At the distant voice, Im Hyeon-su tapped my shoulder. 

“Let’s go.”

I got into the truck headed for the gate along with Im Hyeon-su.

The truck was already packed with people. The tightly packed men emanated an indescribable stench.

The musty smell of clothes that hadn’t been properly dried, body odor as if they hadn’t bathed for days, and the stench of cigarettes clinging to them. In the past, I hadn’t even realized such smells existed inside this truck, but after living the high life among the upper class for years, it was unbearable.

Damn it, if I just make money, I’m out of here. If I really make money.

I tightly shut my mouth and turned my head to look outside.

Then Im Hyeon-su spoke up.

“Why does Han Jo-hee’s face look like that again?”

At those words, I shifted my gaze. Among the tired-looking people, one face did indeed stand out as unusually pale.

At a glance, his bluish lips were an early symptom of mana addiction.

Im Hyeon-su addressed Han Jo-hee.

“Did you skimp on the filter again?”

“Well, I took some time off last month because I was sick. My rent fell behind…”

“Even if your rent is behind, what are you going to do if you skimp on the filter?”

At Im Hyeon-su’s words, Han Jo-hee lamented.

“Starting last month, they suddenly raised the rent by 40%. Does it make sense for the rent to be 200,000 won for a place that barely has enough room to lie down?”

No matter how safe South Korea was from gates compared to other countries, the demand for ‘gate safety zones’ was still immense. Even real estate took advantage of being in a gate safety zone.

“Ah, I can’t move somewhere else because of my brother…”

At Han Jo-hee’s words, Im Hyeon-su asked:

“Didn’t you say your brother attends the Hunter Academy?”

“Yes. Unlike me, he’s an amazing guy. I’ll support him no matter what. So he doesn’t end up living a life like me.”

Defiance was evident on Han Jo-hee’s face. Silence fell inside the truck. No one was unaware of Han Jo-hee’s feelings. Everyone here was a dropout who couldn’t become a hunter.

“Still, don’t overwork yourself. Then you really won’t last long.”

At Im Hyeon-su’s words, Han Jo-hee gave a wry smile and nodded.

I narrowed my eyes as I looked at Im Hyeon-su. He might act like he cares on the outside, but inside, he was probably thinking about how to drag Han Jo-hee down into the abyss.

Han Jo-hee was good prey.

Part of me wanted to give Han Jo-hee some advice, but it was impossible in this situation with everyone watching.

Moreover, there was the question of how Han Jo-hee would receive my advice.

Unlike me, an outsider who couldn’t blend in well with people, Im Hyeon-su was known by everyone here.

So even if I revealed Im Hyeon-su’s faults now, I would just end up looking weird.

Being cautious around Im Hyeon-su was dangerous for me too.

Perhaps because of Han Jo-hee’s story, a gloomy silence hung in the truck for the entire trip to the gate.

After a 4-hour drive, the truck stopped in front of a gate. The awakeners, who had been cooped up in the truck for a while, poured out in front of it.

In front of the gate with a green flag planted – signifying its conquest had been completed – several people were standing guard, to prevent any potential gate break incidents.

The people who got off the truck checked the luggage they had brought in their backpacks – pickaxes for mining mana stones and specially treated pouches for storing the mined stones.

Those who finished preparing lined up in front of the person at the gate entrance.

“You’re from Cheongsong?”

“Yes. Are you the hunter who will be accompanying us today?”

“Yeah.”

The man, yawning as if bored, counted the number of people in line. After confirming the count, he started walking towards the gate and spoke.

“As you all know, the mining time is 5 hours, and you should head back to the entrance around then. If anything happens, fire a signal flare.”

Words we had heard hundreds of times already. The man speaking to us also had a bored expression.

“I’ll go through first, then you can follow in order.”

From the side, the gate looked no thicker than a sheet of paper, but passing through it guided us into the space of another dimension.

There were still many scholars studying these gates, but even in the future 10 years from now, no one had accurately figured out their operating principles.

The people lined up on the stairs and passed through the gate one by one. The moment they passed through the purplish gate, their bodies disappeared like a mirage.

I also stepped forward.

The instant I passed through the gate, an electrifying current flowed through my body. And a hot wind brushed my face.

Ah, a jungle type, huh.

Of course. I inwardly clicked my tongue.

The jungle type, where you start sweating just by standing still, was the worst for gate mining.

Not only the high humidity that caused sweat to bead all over your body as soon as you entered, but the ground was so muddy your feet would sink in.

But the people who had entered had no leisure to make sour expressions, walking briskly ahead instead.

The mining time was only five hours. To meet the quota within that time, they had to work diligently.