Got an Instant Kill Skill, But Still Gotta Go to Work? (2)
I'd bolted out of the house in a rush to avoid being late. That's when every eye on the street turned my way.
"Whoa, holy shit..."
The delinquent high school boy who usually loitered near my place smoking dropped his cigarette as he stared me down. His face flushed beet red, eyes locked on certain parts of my body. My gaze naturally followed.
Ah.
I'd been in such a hurry, and still getting used to this unfamiliar body, that I'd forgotten women's essential gear and stepped out without it. No wonder everything felt like it was bouncing way too much.
No choice but to head back home. At this rate, being late was basically guaranteed. A sigh escaped my lips.
"Our team leader's got a real bitch of a temper."
I pulled up to the company right at 9:05 a.m. Check-in was by 9, so I was five minutes late. Five minutes didn't seem like a big deal, but our office had this old-school culture where you were expected to show up twenty minutes early. And since my mentor, Team Leader Lee Hyun-ah, was already gunning for me, I knew exactly what kind of earful I'd get.
Beep.
I swiped my employee badge and stepped into the building. Past check-in time, the lobby—which was usually packed—was deserted. The silence made the familiar scene feel strangely off.
I hopped straight into the elevator and headed up to the tenth floor, home of the Service Team. With a ding, the doors slid open, revealing the office I knew so well.
The Hunter Association Service Team handled everything from gate-related complaints to emergency incident reports—post-hunt cleanup for hunter activities, basically. Gates popped up nonstop, so the workload was always heavy. Employees hammered away at their keyboards, buried in their tasks as usual.
I crept quietly to my desk, but someone called out like they'd been waiting.
"Baek Ahjin."
I turned to see a woman in a suit glaring at me, arms crossed. Lee Hyun-ah, team leader at the Hunter Association. Infamous in the office for her shitty personality—and my mentor. I hurried over, bowing my head deep in apology.
"Sorry I'm late."
My lowered head prickled like hell. Someone was boring holes into the back of my skull. Then came a delicate sigh.
"I've told you before, haven't I? Our Service Team might not be out there like the hunters, but we're saving lives too. You need a sense of duty. And..."
The lecture that followed dragged on longer than a principal's assembly speech back in school. My ears burned at first, but soon enough, it faded to background noise. Getting chewed out was daily routine now; I'd mastered the art of letting it flow in one ear and out the other.
"So why were you late? Hey, Baek Ahjin?"
"Huh? Oh, forgot my bra."
"Bra? You're a grown adult—what the hell..."
Team Leader Lee dropped her head in genuine disbelief, then waved me off with one hand like she didn't want to hear more and retreated to her desk.
As you can see, we weren't exactly on great terms. Not a personality clash so much as a little incident from my early days here that soured things.
'I don't really respect that person, though?'
It happened at a company dinner. We were sharing who we admired most, and in my drunken haze, I'd badmouthed the guy Team Leader Lee looked up to. That tanked my relationships with her and the whole department. It was a misunderstanding; I really should clear it up sometime, but no good opportunity had come up. Frustrating.
"Anyway."
I headed to my desk and skimmed the approval docs piled up. D-rank dungeon cleanup crew list, gate-adjacent complaint forms, hunter gear loss reports. Same as yesterday. I'd worried my gender swap might shake up relationships or workload, but nope—everything identical.
I sorted the papers by type like always, then stood and slipped into the break room. One routine I never skipped before diving into work: caffeine intake. Grabbed a mug, stood by the coffee machine. Familiar whir, and steam rose invitingly.
Coffee, lifeblood of the working stiff. Just sniffing it sharpened my mind.
Slurp.
Mid-sip, a bunch of male colleagues filed in. Not close with them, so I figured I'd grab my cup and ghost quietly.
"Morning, Ahjin."
One waved casually with a greeting. Was he seriously greeting me? He looked right at me, used my name—but a coworker initiating? Felt alien. I'd been a ghost here before. I'd assumed relationships stayed the same since Team Leader Lee's attitude hadn't changed, but maybe not. Needed to test.
Perfect timing: ran into a stunning female coworker outside the break room. Cha Ga-eul, 21, my hire-year peer. Known as the Madonna of the Association for her looks.
"Hey."
I greeted first to gauge her reaction. She froze for exactly three seconds. Then:
"Yes."
Icy, frigid eyes met mine—like I was her mortal enemy. Colder than before. Total opposite of the guys. I slunk back to my desk, scratching my cheek awkwardly. Conflicting reactions muddled my head.
I gently set down my coffee mug—fourth cup of the day. In the meantime, I'd cleared every assigned task without a hitch. Light load, smooth sailing, done quicker than expected. I eased off my chair, scanning the office.
By now, extra work should've trickled in, but today it was weirdly slack. Rare for our always-buried team.
Were others thinking the same? The guy next to me stretched leisurely.
"Man, super slow day today."
That did it. His offhand comment shattered the peaceful vibe, turning the air hostile in a blink.
Our department had taboo phrases you never uttered. One was exactly what he'd said: "Slow day." Whenever someone dropped it, disaster rained down. Like this.
Beeeep—!
Blaring emergency siren, red warning lights flashing on the ceiling. Then the horrifying text on screens.
The second the message hit, phones exploded across desks, keyboards clattered frantically. Peaceful office turned chaos.
Someone burst through the door, panting—no time to catch breath. On-site Response Team.
"On-site Response Team here! Any manpower support from Service Team? We're short-staffed and it's a mess!"
His words came ragged between gasps. Rare for them to request backup from us. Probably multiple gates in their district, stretching them thin.
"W-wait. Let me check available personnel..."
The team leader scanned the room, gauging. We weren't swimming in extras, so eyes naturally fell on us grunts.
"..."
We all dodged his gaze, suddenly "busy." Including the guy who'd been playing phone games moments ago. I saw you, buddy.
His eyes landed on me. I'd just wrapped up, so yeah, free time.
"Looks like you're the only one with spare hands right now, Ahjin. Could you head out for support?"
Boom, arrow right at me. No dodging; I stood.
"...Yeah, got it."
A pain, but not dangerous. On-site Response didn't enter gates—just crowd control, probably. And if shit hit the fan? I'd manage. I glanced at my right hand, infused with the Rune of Certain Kill.
"Worst case, I can protect myself."
First day clocking in with instant-kill power. Off to a field dispatch.