The Viper in the Boiler Room
The night of the Abyss was deep, and the banquet at Arcana Resort had reached its peak.
“Cheers! To our health and Director Kang’s massive success!”
“To that!”
VIP guests, led by Chairman Song, were drunk on the delicacies made from the finest ingredients sent by the Gluttony King, Beelzebub.
◈ [Abyss Lobster (3m size)] steamed
◈ [Mandrake Root] seasoned raw
◈ Steak grilled with [Fire Dragon's Breath]
These miraculous dishes cleared the mana circuits and surged vitality the moment they were eaten.
In the midst of that boisterous atmosphere, one man quietly rose from his seat.
A man disguised as an ordinary middle-aged hunter. He was an S-rank assassin sent by Apollo Hospital Director Choi Myungseok, codename ‘Viper’.
‘Fools. They have no idea this place will be their grave.’
Viper slipped out of the banquet hall with a sinister smile.
His objective was singular.
Destroy the heart of this resort: the [Power Room].
The barriers, hot springs, and heating systems here were all sustained by energy supplied from the underground power room.
What if he blew that up?
The barriers would vanish, poisonous fumes would flood in, and magical beasts would swarm.
In that chaos, assassinate Kang Jinhyeok and slip away cleanly.
That was the scenario.
‘Kang Jinhyeok. No matter how great you are, you can’t detect me with my S-rank stealth.’
Whoosh. Viper’s body blurred like a shadow and melted completely into the darkness.
He easily evaded the dozing hyenas and headed for the stairs leading underground.
The deeper he went underground, the hotter the air became.
A heat like standing at the mouth of a blast furnace.
‘The power room’s close.’
Viper pulled a specially made [Mana Bomb] from his pocket.
Timer: 10 minutes.
Plenty of time to plant it and escape.
“Who are you?”
A clear voice came from behind. Viper’s heart sank.
She detected me in S-rank stealth?
He whipped around, drawing his dagger reflexively.
There stood Luna, the half-demon girl in a nurse outfit, tilting her head curiously. In one hand, she held a basket overflowing with laundry.
“Sir? This is staff only.”
“Ah… I got lost looking for the bathroom….”
Viper sweated coldly, improvising. Fortunately, the girl seemed unsuspecting.
“The bathroom’s on the right in the 1F lobby. This leads to the laundry and boiler room. It’s hot—head back up.”
“Thanks. You’re very kind.”
Viper bowed and pretended to head back upstairs.
As Luna hummed into the laundry room, he hardened his expression.
‘That was close. That kid’s senses aren’t ordinary.’
He quickened his pace.
Deeper, hotter.
Finally, a heavy iron door appeared, marked [Authorized Personnel Only - Absolutely No Entry].
Red light leaked through the cracks.
‘Here.’
Viper used [Shadow Shift] to slip through the gap.
The interior resembled a massive cavern.
Red mana stones lined every wall, and in the center roared a house-sized furnace… no, a [Mana Blast Furnace], blazing fiercely.
The heat was so intense that an unprotected civilian would roast instantly.
But S-rank hunter Viper endured with mana coating.
‘No guards. They’re slacking.’
He inwardly cheered and approached the furnace controls to plant the bomb. But then—
“Phew… hot as hell.”
A voice from behind the furnace. Viper flinched and hid.
Peering from behind massive pipes, he saw a man working at the furnace.
A man in a red tracksuit. His long red hair tied messily, a name tag reading [Boiler Maintenance Chief] around his neck.
He squatted, shoveling what looked like coal—but high-concentration mana stones—into the furnace.
“Damn it. That exploitative boss Kang Jinhyeok, making me do this grunt work.”
The man grumbled, prodding the fire with a poker.
Clearly a disgruntled night-shift worker.
‘Janitor? I didn’t sense him at all.’
Viper narrowed his eyes.
No mana detected. Just an ordinary civilian?
Or a low-rank demon without mana?
Either way, no match for an S-rank assassin.
‘Witnesses get eliminated.’
Viper gripped his dagger reverse-handed, silently.
It was coated in deadly poison— a graze meant instant death.
He crept behind the man like a shadow.
5 meters. The man yawned, back turned.
“Yawn… Maybe cup ramen for a midnight snack….”
3 meters. Murderous intent filled Viper’s eyes.
‘Die.’
1 meter. As Viper lunged to stab the nape—
“Fly buzzing around?”
The man swatted lazily, like shooing a mosquito.
Thwack!
“Gah!”
Viper’s vision spun.
A massive impact hurled him into the corner of the power room.
Steel pipes crumpled, walls cracked.
“Cough… hack…!”
Viper rolled on the floor, vomiting blood.
What just happened? His dagger snapped, defense magic shredded like paper.
Arm bones crushed in agony.
A mere flick of the wrist sent an S-rank flying?
“Whoa, that startled me. What are you?”
The tracksuit man turned slowly.
His pupils.
Slit golden irises gleamed eerily.
“Not a guest. A rat?”
Red haze rose from the man’s body.
Not mana.
The overwhelming [Presence] of a biologically superior being.
Viper’s instincts screamed.
Run.
That’s no human. That’s… a monster.
“Wh-what are you? A mere boiler grunt!”
Viper shouted, voice trembling.
The man looked incredulous, fiddling with his name tag.
“Me? Top dog in this section.”
He grinned.
A massive red shadow rippled behind him.
Wings.
Flame wings vast enough to pierce the roof, unfurled like an illusion.
[Fire Dragon Balakas].
His humanoid polymorph imperfect, he usually stayed in true form, but suppressed mana for tight boiler work, taking human shape.
“Dr… dragon?”
Viper’s jaw dropped.
Impossible.
Why was a dragon here in tracksuit, shoveling coal?
“Talk about bad luck. Coming in on my shift.”
Balakas cracked his knuckles, approaching. Crackle.
“Bored anyway. Perfect—let’s loosen up.”
“N-no, stay back!”
Terror-stricken, Viper pulled the bomb.
All or nothing. Die together.
“Move and I press it! S-rank mana bomb! This whole place blows!”
Viper’s finger hovered over the detonator.
But Balakas didn’t stop. Eyes sparkling, he advanced.
“Bomb? Good firepower?”
“What?”
“Fuel’s been weak lately—fire won’t catch. Gimme that.”
“Madman… die!”
Viper hit the button.
Beep—!
The core glowed red, countdown starting.
0 seconds.
BOOM!
A colossal explosion devoured the power room in flames.
Viper recoiled with the blast, smirking viciously.
Done.
The bastard’s caught in it.
But as smoke cleared—
Despair.
“Burp.”
Balakas belched.
He’d [Inhaled] the explosion flames entirely. Just soot on his lips, unscathed.
“Hmm. Not great. Kinda spicy.”
Balakas picked his teeth with a toothpick.
An S-rank mana bomb? Mere spicy snack to a fire dragon.
“M-monster….”
Viper’s legs gave out, collapsing.
No running, no fighting.
Leagues apart.
Balakas squatted, eye-level.
“Hey, rat.”
“P-please spare me… I’ll do anything….”
“Anything? For real?”
Balakas’s eyes gleamed slyly.
“Perfect. My back’s been hurting lately.”
Balakas fetched a massive shovel from the corner.
Shoved it into Viper’s hands.
“Hold this.”
“Wh-what’s this?”
“Shovel. Can’t see?”
Balakas pointed to a mountain of [Hell Black Coals (100kg each)].
“Shovel all that into the furnace. Fire dies, you know what happens?”
Balakas opened his mouth—blue flames flickered deep in his throat.
Silent threat: Slack off, you’re fuel.
“B-but I’m an S-rank assassin….”
“So? Can’t shovel? Muscles for show?”
Thud! Balakas smacked Viper’s head.
“Get to it.”
“Y-yes sir! On it!”
Korea’s S-rank assassin, codename Viper.
With tears, he began shoveling.
The world called him a ruthless killer, but from today, his post was [Arcana Hospital Boiler Room Rookie].
The next morning.
Resort guests awoke refreshed.
“Man, heating was blasting last night. Felt like a sauna.”
“Hot springs were perfect.”
Chairman Song entered the restaurant satisfied. Jinhyeok greeted them smiling.
“Rest well? Our staff slaved over the fire all night.”
After breakfast, Jinhyeok headed to the basement power room.
To reward Balakas with a special meal (top-grade steak).
“Balakas! Chow time!”
Opening the door, Jinhyeok beheld a bizarre sight.
Balakas lounged in a hammock reading comics. Beside him, a soot-covered man shoveled furiously.
“One! Two! Maintain firepower! Maintain firepower!”
The man’s eyes hollow, hands blistered, but his shoveling masterful.
Speed, power, angle. Perfect.
“…Who’s that?”
Jinhyeok asked.
The man snapped to attention.
“Sir! Boiler room newbie… er, apprentice!”
Jinhyeok eyed Balakas.
“What’s with him?”
Ah, the rat from last night. Came in with a bomb, so I trained him. Works great. Thinking of keeping him as my sidekick.
“Bomb?”
Jinhyeok’s eyes narrowed. He spotted the viper tattoo through the man’s torn clothes.
Mark of the assassin guild linked to Apollo Hospital: ‘Viper’.
“Ah, Director Choi Myungseok’s gift.”
Jinhyeok grasped it, chuckling. Sent an assassin, got a worker. Talent, in a way.
“Hey, newbie.”
“Yes, Director!”
Viper (now Kim Seoktan) snapped to rigid attention.
“Don’t think of leaving. Caught escaping? You know.”
Jinhyeok pointed at Balakas, who licked his lips.
“Congrats on lifetime employment. Pay’s meals. Work hard.”
Jinhyeok handed the steak plate to Balakas and left.
Seoktan stared at the closing door, tears flowing.
Relief at surviving? Or better dead? Unclear.
One thing certain: reborn as fine [Boilerman].
Meanwhile, on Earth. Apollo Hospital director’s office.
Choi Myungseok paced anxiously, awaiting contact.
Last night was go-time.
By now, Arcana Resort should be inferno, Kang Jinhyeok dead on news.
“Why no word? Viper couldn’t fail.”
Then, his secretary entered.
“Director! Package from Arcana!”
“Package? Spoils from Viper?”
Myungseok opened eagerly.
No bloody head of Kang Jinhyeok.
A charred lump of [coal] and a [note].
Thanks for the manpower. Great at shoveling. - From Kang Jinhyeok
P.S. Send a janitor next. Short-staffed.
“Arghhh!”
Myungseok crumpled the note, screaming. S-rank assassin turned laborer? The humiliation.
“Kang Jinhyeok… just wait… I’ll stake everything to ruin you!”
But Myungseok didn’t know.
The angrier he got, the more Jinhyeok’s hospital thrived.
Back in the Abyss. Morning routine began.
“Director! Patient waiting in 1F lobby! Unusual guest this time?”
Luna called via intercom.
“Unusual? Who?”
“Not… human.”
“Magical beast?”
“No. Not that… Came from the sky?”
Sky?
Jinhyeok peered out the window.
A dazzling light pillar speared the hospital front yard.
From it emerged a being with white wings.
An angel.
A molting one, wings bald and sparse.
“Is this… the hospital that transplants feathers well?”
The angel asked shyly.
Jinhyeok blinked, then grinned wide.
“Cosmic business begins.”
From Earth and demon realms, now [Heavenly Realm].
Kang Jinhyeok’s patient ledger expanded endlessly.