episode_0006

Change

(Drrring!!)

“…Uhhhhh”

Instinctively, I woke up to the alarm sound.

“Alice, you have to go to school.”

“Uhhhh”

“Hurry up.”

“Uhhhh!!”

“Wake up at once!”

(Snap)

“Oh! Oppa!”

As Alice was forced to open her eyes when Ah-seo pulled back the blanket.

“We have to eat before we go.”

“Uhh”

After waking up Alice, I went downstairs to prepare breakfast. People need to have a good start to the day with breakfast from the morning.

To be honest, I’m not the type to take care of breakfast while saying such things. It’s just that there are people who need to eat breakfast, so I eat thanks to them.

“Munch munch”

“Get yourself together and chew properly.”

I said as I watched Alice eating, spilling food out of her mouth. I don’t know if I’m raising a younger sibling or a daughter right now. Well, since there’s a big age difference, maybe both are correct.

“Oh, I’m late. I’ll go, oppa!”

“Okay, go.”

As always, despite waking her up early, I finished the remaining housework after Alice left the house in a rush.

“Phew”

I sat on the sofa, realizing once again how tough parenting can be.

(Click)

[An A-class hero and a famous idol? The new song of the hero name Red Rabbit, idol name R.R.! Shall we listen to it now?]

Heroes are active in various fields.

Naturally, they are involved in maintaining public order and defeating villains as their main duty. They also work as actors, idols, and exclusive heroes for companies, and some even directly establish and operate businesses among their activities as heroes.

(Click)

However, I wasn’t particularly interested in idols, so I changed the channel.

[The prices of grains have been rising recently. Are there no issues in the colonies?]

In the newsroom, several people glared sharply at one person, ready to tear him apart.

“There are no issues.”

“If there are no issues, why are grain prices rising?”

“There are no issues in the colonies, but it is difficult to keep up with the consumption of the union city with the current production volume of the colonies. Therefore, we are currently formulating plans to expand the colonies…”

“How can you expand the colonies when there is already a shortage of heroes!!”

“…Then we will handle the grain consumption of the union city.”

You’ve been holding on well until now, haven’t you?! Then, how have you managed until now?

Thanks to the stored reserve, we were able to withstand the cost of living and consumption.

And now?

…….

Minister! Please speak!!

In our administration, we distributed a lot of reserves…

What?!

Are you saying that the problem at hand is because of our party?!

That’s right!

After using even the reserve due to populism to lower the cost of living, why are you blaming the current administration for the rise in prices again?

Are you finished speaking?!

No, I’m not! You guys make policies without thinking about the consequences!

Do you think you’re any different?!

……

In the original world where I lived, there were some very unusual words in the familiar hearings I always saw.

First, United City.

It’s where I live and one of the safe areas in this world.

Why is it one of the safe areas? It’s simple. The world has perished.

Really perished. And it was terrible.

A great catastrophe, spatial ruptures appeared all over the world, and from those ruptures, extremely hostile life forms poured onto the Earth.

At that point, it was time for the hunters who could see their status windows to awaken, but sadly, that didn’t happen. One difference was that there were people with superpowers before, and they resisted with various countries, but there were too many monsters.

Even just before the rupture occurred, it was the time when the Third World War had just broken out. Thanks to that, it’s a world of monsters or radioactive wastelands.

The Korean Peninsula broke into pieces, and the Japanese archipelago sank. America split into North and South, and Central Europe and the United States became a mess of radiation and monsters. China and Russia disintegrated in the air due to nuclear missiles and monsters. And almost everywhere, warlords ran rampant.

Among them, the only completely safe place was the country ‘Republic’ located in the Strait of Malacca.

And to avoid such disasters, the Korean Ohsung Corporation, which had a cooperative relationship with the enterprise “Black Enterprise” that ruled the Republic, built a new giant city in the broken Korean Peninsula and named it the Union City. The island-shaped Union City, separated from the continent, installed fortresses on the coast to protect itself from monsters, and thanks to this, people from all over the world flocked to it.

Originally, Koreans living in the region, as well as close Japanese and Chinese people, gathered together with people of all races and nationalities from Europe, America, and Africa. It truly became a united city.

However, the Union City, originally planned to accommodate Koreans and some Asians, found it difficult to feed and support refugees from around the world who flocked there, so they established colonies near the Union City and cultivated grains in the Hwabe Valley, a granary in China.

“For some reason, the price of rice has gone up.”

It was never good to mess around with rice or flour. You know how it goes.

“I should start going out soon.”

* * * * * * * *

In front of a high-end restaurant, people were standing in line, waiting.

(Shuffling)

“What is your name?”

As Arthur walked past the people in line to enter, a staff member asked.

“I’m Arthur Reed.”

“…Hmm, you don’t have a reservation.”

“Do you have a Hector Adler?”

“Well, no. Oh, but there is a reservation under the name of an old man.”

“…That’s me.”

“Darn it, did he make a reservation under a childhood nickname?”

Grumbling about his friend’s senseless reservation, Arthur sat at the reserved seat and ordered food first.

“Will your companion be joining us?”

“He’ll be coming later.”

“Yes.”

Time passed, and the food arrived.

…”

(Clatter)

Despite some time having passed since the appointed time, Arthur took out his pocket watch to check the time.

(Swish)

Thinking it would take longer, Arthur picked up his fork and knife and began cutting into his steak.

(Shuffling)

As Arthur was savoring his meal, a man approached him.

“Are you the old man? Is your name Old Man?”

(Thud)

A hand with several rough scars, a beard that looked like it had been cut and grown again, and strands of white hair scattered throughout.

A strong but tired-looking middle-aged man with a tough yet intellectual impression sat in front of me.

“…”

I’m screwed if I meet that guy, Hector.

“I’m Arthur Riddle. Nice to meet you.”

“Everyone says that.”

The man took out a cigarette from his pocket and said, “Smoking section?”

“Yes.”

“Wanna smoke one?”

“It’s okay. I’m quitting.”

“Good choice.”

The man lit the cigarette and smiled.

“Um… what should I call you?”

“Headhunter.”

He introduced himself.

Headhunter

A mercenary known to few, even in the mercenary industry, but to know his name, one cannot be just an ordinary person. In this industry, he is a legend, no less than that, based on his marksmanship, experience, and achievements. Just by looking at his shooting skills, he is an A-class or even higher figure in this field.

“You want to hire me.”

“Yes.”

“I came here through a recommendation, but it won’t be easy to hire me with just money.”

“The Devil’s Coliseum.”

Arthur said as he put a piece of steak in his mouth, “There will soon be a war at the Devil’s Coliseum.”

“So?”

“I need to protect myself.”

“…You want to hire me as your guard?”

“Yes.”

“Haha!”

The headhunter laughed as if incredulous.

Of course, he would. Where would you find a crazy person who only wants to defend himself with the strongest weapon?

Oh, here he is.

“I have a younger brother too.”

“…Try to grab my attention, convince me why I should be hired.”

“Haha, I’m good at convincing.”

(Swish, tick-tock, tick-tock)

Arthur laughed as he opened a pocket watch and placed it on the table.

“Mr. Headhunter, you’re quite popular. Just the requests already piled up must be dozens or hundreds. But Mr. Headhunter finds it hard to accept them.”

“…”

“Well, unless Mr. Headhunter wants to become a villain.”

The headhunter is undoubtedly an extraordinary hitman. He might be one of the strongest in the world when it comes to killing people, not only in gunfights but also in sniping and assassination.

However, being too capable is also a problem. His commission fee is too high for his abilities, and the tasks that pay such costs are never easy. The target to be assassinated is not the second priority, but rather the aftermath of killing is a big issue.

He also put a lot of effort into hiding his identity. If determining one’s own value in the mercenary industry is based on skill and reputation, the headhunter hid his reputation. The reason is simple.

“I don’t want attention from heroes. Isn’t that the reason?”

The headhunter needs money, but if he takes on such tasks and works as a result, he will be stamped as a villain. Then he will have to face the heroes directly in the future.

Certainly, the headhunter’s exceptional ability is undeniable, but the main game is not against ordinary people; it’s against heroes who are bulletproof. Victory is not guaranteed when fighting them.

“Contributing to dismantling an organization that controls a territory won’t bring fame to the name of a headhunter, nor will taking down criminal organizations attract attention from heroes, right?”

“And there’s another important reason.”

“What’s that?”

“It’s money. How much do you want?”

“…10,000 won per day.”

Paying 10 million won for a day’s work, 70 million won for a week, and roughly 300 million won for a month.

“I’ll give you 20,000 won.”

“Do you have the ability to pay that much?”

“I can earn money with magic.”

“Are you really a magician?”

(Sound of something hitting)

As Arthur raised his arm and grabbed the air, smoke burst forth, and a rose appeared in Arthur’s hand.

“Really?”

“And this is something else, more of a side reason.”

Arthur placed the rose next to a pocket watch and said, “It will be fun. I guarantee that.”

“…Okay, I’ll take the commission.”

(Chuckle)

The headhunter put out his cigarette in the ashtray.

“James Hardy, call me Jim.”

“Alright. Oh, Jim. Shall we eat? What would you like?”

“The most expensive thing.”

When the waiter brought the menu at Arthur’s gesture, the headhunter, Jim, said without even looking at the menu.

“…Give me the same as this.”

“Understood.”

After finishing their meal, Jim and the headhunter, not me, left the restaurant.

“Alright, since you’re hired, make use of it quickly if you’re going to use it. It’s 20,000 won a day, so you have to pay for it.”

It seems like the type that believes you should work as much as you receive, at least.

“Do you see that over there?”

Arthur pointed to the warehouse across while chewing on a toothpick.

“Oh, that’s the Devil Colosseum warehouse.”

“Exactly, it’s the only central logistics warehouse. It transfers weapons, equipment, drugs, smuggled goods, and the main products—humans who will fight in the Colosseum—to each branch. It also collects money from each branch.”

“…Really? I thought it was just a warehouse. Where did you get this information?”

“Well, there are ways.”

I don’t go to Anderson Club for no reason even on days when there’s no performance.

You can meet all sorts of people there. Special people, people with something special, and people who know something special.

“If there’s a war with another organization and the Devil Colosseum is attacked by surprise, that warehouse over there will be the first to be attacked.”

“…Surely you’re not telling me to go like this?”

“Haha, surely not. We’ve hired other mercenaries for that.”

(Vroom!! Vroom!!)

“?”

Suddenly, a tremendous engine noise was heard, and Jim turned his head.

(Vroooom!!)

As he turned his head, he saw dozens of motorcycles and vehicles racing down the street.

“Hmm, they’re coming.”

“…?”

(Vroooom!!)

“What?! What’s happening!”

(Crash!!)

“It’s an attack!!”

(Rat-a-tat-tat!!!)

“…”

The rampaging gang, who had been speeding down the street, pulled out their weapons and crashed into the Devil Colosseum’s warehouse without any hesitation.

“Alright, now that the war has started, civilians should evacuate.”

As people suddenly fled due to the gunfire, Arthur also looked at Jim and said with a smile.

“Shall we go?”

“…”

He doesn’t look interesting; he looks insane. The headhunter thought as he looked at Arthur in front of him.

“I think I may have taken the wrong commission.”

And with that, he also regretted the difficulty of his future.