126
Ch.126 No Place To Work
Yoo Hyena looked up at me while browsing the job posting site again.
“Other places might be similar, so I’ll text and ask around. Whether they’d hire someone from A-City… By the way, Han Mu-ryo. Did you used to live in A-City?”
“I was born in W-City.”
“You’ve lived here since before the Alphabetical numbering system? My sister and I have too.”
“Oh.”
So Starlight was also from W-City.
As I grew interested in this new information, Yoo Hyena tapped her phone screen and spoke.
“By any chance, did you go to A-City during the superpower human conscription? Huh…? But that design earlier was the new one, right? superpower human registration cards didn’t even exist back then.”
“I made it recently.”
“Recently? When? How? There haven’t been any trains from W-City to A-City in the past few days…?”
“I had business there, so I walked.”
“Walked?! You shouldn’t do something so dangerous!”
Yoo Hyena, who had been skeptical about my superpower human registration card, became furious upon hearing that I’d walked to A-City.
“These days, people stay inside shelters, and because the Black Cat was such an unusual Despair-class monster, there’s a lot of misunderstanding—but monsters are still monsters! If you wander outside the city these days and accidentally run into one, even if you’re an A-rank superpower human… And you said it was just recently?! A place that dangerous…!”
“You’re loud.”
“You walked back too?! Thankfully, you made it back safely, but if you’d been ambushed by a group of monsters…! No, how did you even leave?! You didn’t go through the official routes, right? That’s illegal!”
“Hmm.”
“I’m not done talking! Don’t cover your ears! Han Mu-ryo!”
Annoyed, I covered my ears with both hands, and Yoo Hyena clung to my arm. I started spinning in place to shake her off. As the rotation sped up and my feet left the ground, Yoo Hyena, terrified, curled up in midair.
“Kyaaaaah!”
“What’s that?”
“Must be some couple playing rough.”
“Ah, okay, Han Mu-ryo! I’ll stop, so stop spinning! I’m scared!”
Sensing her genuine fear, I gradually slowed the rotation and set her down. It was fun while it lasted—shame.
“Haaaah…”
Once back on the ground, Yoo Hyena crouched exhaustedly beside me and rested her head against my leg. After a brief rest, she suddenly stood up, furrowed her brows, and glared at me.
“Han Mu-ryo, are you a child? Why do you keep doing such dangerous things?”
“It’s not dangerous.”
“Yeah, maybe it’s not dangerous for you because you’re strong. But what if you die doing that? What then?”
“I won’t die.”
“You’re impossible. You just do whatever you want, never listening—can’t you at least not make people worry?”
“I don’t listen.”
“Ugh, seriously! Oww…!”
Unable to contain her anger, Yoo Hyena punched my stomach, then clutched her wrist in pain.
“You’re weak.”
“Haa…! Why did you even go to A-City? What did you do there?”
I recalled my activities in A-City and briefly explained, excluding the research lab and Gu Seo-ryong.
“I ate chicken in A-City.”
“Huh?”
“Also had sashimi with the money from my superpower human registration card.”
“Wait… did you go to A-City because you were hungry and jobs in W-City are disappearing?”
“Hmm.”
That wasn’t it, but since I didn’t answer, Yoo Hyena pieced together her own explanation and apologized.
“I’m sorry. I didn’t realize you risked your life to earn money. But still, it’s too dangerous. You should’ve at least contacted me… Next time you’re that hungry, come to me.”
“Are you saying you’ll always buy me food?”
“Well, I mean… If possible?”
“So you’ll give me free meals every day?”
“Every day… You want to eat with me every day?”
Eating with Yoo Hyena wasn’t too noisy, so it sounded good. Nodding at the prospect of free food, I noticed nearby women whispering as they crossed the street.
“Oh my, did you hear that? She said she’d buy him food every day…”
“Must be a gigolo. He’s a superpower human, how interesting.”
“But with that body and looks, he’d make a good gigolo, right?”
“Well, with that physique, he’s definitely not your average gigolo.”
“Oh my! Oh my!”
As they kept glancing my way, Yoo Hyena—whose senses were sharper than an average person’s—heard the same conversation and shouted.
“He’s not a gigolo!”
“Oh my! Oh my! Sorry!”
“She heard us! What do we do?! How could she hear us from this distance?!”
“Must be a superpower human couple!”
As I silently watched the women scurry away, Yoo Hyena frowned and said, “Buying you food doesn’t mean I’ll do it for nothing, okay? You have to work. No being a gigolo. Understood?”
“What’s a gigolo?”
“It’s nothing you need to know.”
“Is that so?”
Then I guess it doesn’t matter.
Yoo Hyena pulled out her phone again and browsed job sites, then widened her eyes.
“Ah! A posting just came up—the butcher shop I get meat deliveries from is hiring! They prefer superpower humans with physical enhancement abilities…”
“Can I work there?”
“The owner knows me well, so he’ll probably take you. Want to go? I can’t come because my lunch break is over, but I’ll contact him.”
“Sounds good.”
“Then, there are a few things to be careful about…”
Yoo Hyena, who’d have to send me alone to the next job, taught me what not to do during the interview.
“First, even if you’re hired, don’t show that registration card.”
“Another person like the convenience store owner?”
“Umm… Yeah. Showing it might make them hostile.”
“Why?”
“These days, superpower humans from other cities are treated as the Black Cat agents by citizens. Like they are trying to make the Black Cat hate W-City or luring the Black Cat to their cities.”
Now that I thought about it, there had been superpower humans like that.
During mealtimes, a superpower human manipulating sound from afar kept whispering in my ear: G-City is a Great city, B-City will do anything for the Black Cat, E-City will all die without the Black Cat.
G-City has Great food, B-City promises over 10 sacrificial offerings a day, E-City will mass-suicide if you don’t come, we’ll really do it.
They made already noisy meals even noisier.
“I’ll vouch for you. Just say you’re a refugee from another city fleeing monsters, and there won’t be any issues.”
“They don’t dislike refugees, then.”
“People just don’t want the Black Cat taken away—they don’t want outsiders to die. It’s District 6, and the location is here. Can you find it?”
“Got it.”
“Then, I’m really late now…! Ah, good luck with the interview!”
After finishing, Yoo Hyena hurried off to work. As she left, she occasionally turned back and waved enthusiastically. I headed toward the butcher shop she’d mentioned.
***
A large butcher shop building, in front of freezers lined with hanging meat.
After arriving at the butcher shop Yoo Hyena recommended, shortly after,
“Your physique is great, and you seem like you’d work hard…”
“No ID, no phone, and the name… What even is this?”
“Baepoman.”
“That’s obviously a fake name.”
“No, no, this is too shady. We can’t hire you.”
At first, the employees were eager when I said I wanted to work. But the more we talked, the worse their expressions became.
“Hey, get him out. The owner said he’s already promised the position to someone connected to a VIP.”
“Who?”
“Don’t know, but I heard a superpower human with serious physical enhancement is coming. A pretty high rank, too.”
“Seriously? For real? Finally!”
“A superpower human’s coming to work here?”
“It’s me.”
“You?”
“Whoever it is, it’s definitely not someone using the name Baepoman.”
The muscular employees, initially excited about a superpower human joining, turned colder than the freezers upon hearing me.
Yoo Hyena said she’d contact the owner, so my story should’ve checked out.
“It’s really me.”
“Just text the owner to confirm if it’s him.”
“How could it be? What even is Baepoman?”
“It means I want to eat meat until I’m full.”
“No, I wasn’t asking what it means…”
“Owner says, Who the hell is Baepoman? The pre-selected candidate’s name is Han Mu-ryo.”
“…Well, there you go. Good luck.”
“Han Mu-ryo is also me.”
At my response, the employees all scowled.
“Hey, let’s stop wasting time and get back to work.”
“I’m really Han Mu-ryo.”
“Look, jobs are hard to come by these days—don’t make things weird.”
“Sorry, but we’ve got a pre-selected candidate. With the Black Cat around, we’re swamped with meat to process.”
I really am Han Mu-ryo.
The butcher shop employees didn’t believe me. They got up and returned to the freezers.
“Damn, I don’t even know if we’re supposed to butcher meat like this.”
“At this rate, even the rich will end up eating lab-grown meat.”
After they closed the door, I stepped outside alone.
Even with Yoo Hyena’s referral, I’d failed the interview.
What went wrong?
***
After being kicked out of the butcher shop, I didn’t give up and kept job hunting.
Nearby restaurants, factories, cafés, convenience stores… I went into every visible establishment.
“S-sorry, but… Our store doesn’t hire superpower humans.”
“If you’re a superpower human, why not be a hero? Why work at a restaurant?”
“No, why would a superpower human work in a factory? Are you from the audit team? No? Then get out!”
“You’re not a robber, right?”
“We’re not hiring right now…”
“No ID? You’re obviously a superpower human—we can’t hire you?!”
But every time I asked if they needed workers, I was rejected.
Wandering the streets, I eventually returned to the park in District 3.
Who knew finding non-construction or manual labor would be this hard?
I miss the construction site.
Then, a familiar face entered my view.
“How’s the baby?”
“Huh? Bongbap? W-wait a sec?”
The father from the construction site—later promoted to road maintenance team leader.
Someone I’d met during manual labor parked his bike at the park and hurriedly pulled something from his bag.
“Delivery~! Number 4772, right? Enjoy your meal!”
“Thank y—Whoa?! What the—?!”
“So huge!”
I joined the father under a nearby tree for a brief chat.
“You’re Bongbap, right? Why’d you get so big? Wow, you’ve grown more than my baby.”
“Eat well, sleep well, grow big.”
“What are you eating? Huh? Can’t you teach me?”
“You’re doing deliveries now?”
“Hahaha! Lost my job, you see. Gotta do anything to feed the kid.”
“Because of the Black Cat?”
“Huh? Not… Really? Well, some unemployed laborers say that, but… Are you also resentful about losing work because of the Black Cat?”
“Not sure.”
“Haha, no one at the site earned as much as you.”
He pulled a carbonated drink from his pocket, opened it, and handed me one.
“Must be tough for you too, Bongbap.”
“You okay?”
“Me? I’m fine. Thanks to Starlight. Ah, you don’t have a phone, so you might not know. When team leaders and others with lots of equipment were selling theirs dirt cheap, Starlight pushed for an indefinite loan using construction equipment as collateral, saying recovery projects shouldn’t vanish just because things are safe now.”
“What’s a loan?”
“Means you can use money equal to the equipment’s value freely. Those with personal equipment are using it to get by while job hunting. You… No, you’re your own equipment, so nothing for you. Found any work?”
“Just got rejected.”
“Hmm, why not try jobs needing strength? Like butcher shops? They’re swamped because of the Black Cat.”
“Got rejected from a butcher shop.”
“…Rough.”
The man quickly finished his drink, then pulled out a wad of cash after some thought.
“What’s this?”
“My earnings today. Take it.”
“Don’t need it.”
“Come on, you eat a lot. It’s nothing compared to what you’ve given me before. Take it.”
I grabbed his wrist as he tried stuffing the crumpled bills into my pocket.
“Buy more baby formula.”
“He’s been eating solids for a while now!”
“More expensive, then.”
“No, you—! I just wanted to look cool for once… Ah!”
“Khek!”
Just then, a child sprinted over and snatched the money from the man’s stationary hand.
A pickpocket. I instantly grabbed the kid’s collar, but he slipped out of his shirt and fled.
“Ack, my day’s earnings… Told you to take it quickly!”
“He stole your money. You’re okay with that?”
The man just watched the thief run off without moving.
His lack of anger puzzled me.
“Let it go. He’s just a kid. Probably a park refugee.”
“Park refugee?”
“You know, the ones from other cities begging for the Black Cat to be sent to theirs, or those who came to W-City hearing it’s safe…”
His gaze landed on the same people I’d seen countless times.
Refugees from other cities camped at the park’s edges—the loudest during my meals.
“The Whyong ones?”
“How do you know about Whyong without a phone?”