The Strongest Self-Employed Splurges on Three Cars
As the strongest self-employed person out there, I'd gone and bought no less than three cars. Did I really need three? Well, kinda questionable, but Woorim Group hooked me up with some killer deals. Sure, it cost a pretty penny... but with the fat reward payout coming soon from the Special Task Force, I figured if you're gonna spend, might as well go big.
Breaking it down simply: my personal car, an office work vehicle, and a camper van. The office one is a six-seater for now. But something that huge isn't practical for my daily drives, so it's parked in the office lot, ready for any field trips that come up. My personal ride stays in the apartment parking garage for casual outings. And the camper? Sometimes you gotta dive into an anomaly straight from the vehicle. Plus, a six-seater can't fit the whole office crew...
Me, Ari, Lisa, Nao, Sua. Taemi, Miyeong, Yeoul, Matan. That's nine people already. Taemi's a figurine, so eight if we exclude her. Still, Yeoul never leaves my fingernail, Matan stays tucked in storage, and Miyeong's always manning the salon—so do I really need to cram them all in a car? Probably not! ...Except I can't say that for absolute certain, so I bought the camper just in case.
But man, this camper is seriously huge. It's so big that parking it at the apartment lot would draw too many stares, so for now, it's with Woorim Group. And the most crucial part: our driver. Jo Sua passed her license test in under two weeks...!
"Yeah, stuff like this is total candy for detective assistant Watson."
Sua declared it proudly. From afar, Ari stared at her like she was some kind of monster.
Sua's got a bit of a menthal health streak, sure, but overall, she's super capable. As a monster who's always been pretty clued-in on human society—Watson adapted way better than expected. Nao's vtuber modeling is progressing nicely too. And I loved the new cars.
While everyone was busy regrouping and getting their acts together, what was I doing? Checking my Bond Effects.
"Ari's Bond Effect isn't totally omnipotent, huh."
Boosting Ari's Bond Effect lets her fool not just monsters, but 'humans infected by monsters' and 'monsters spawned from anomalies' with a single fact. That opened up some experiments. Attaching Ari's flies to anyone triggers an infection check. Helped me understand it better. Most lies work fine, but anything that's 'common sense' to the target? Can't flip that. Like saying, "The sun rises in the west"—nobody buys it.
Stuff like that. I was mapping out the traits and limits of all my Bond Effects one by one. The most intriguing? Probably Sua's, the latest one.
◆ Poari (King of Flies): Will the day come when you know something more painful than hunger?
Sua's Bond Effect: Acquire clues about an entity. No clue what 'entity clue' even means yet. If it was 'clues to resolve anomalies,' that'd make sense. But it works on monsters already resolved and girlified. Ari's clue, Lisa's clue, Nao's clue, Taemi's clue... What am I supposed to do with these? The 'clues' they spit out are all vague and cryptic too.
Reusing it on the same target just repeats the same info. So I tested it daily on the office staff. Here's the rundown:
◆ Shin Nao (Vampire): Your words can help her grow inside.
◆ An Taemi (Moon's Fall): Be honest with her.
◆ Ma Yeoul (Darkness-Swallowing Fox): She is already a part of you.
◆ Work Negligence Prohibition: Aren't you trapped by stereotypes?
◆ Joo Miyoung (Ambiguous Hairdresser): You are her last customer.
◆ Yerisa (Carnival Chef): Weakness: Mayuri.
"...Huh?"
I blinked. The others made some kinda sense, but what the hell with Lisa's? No idea, so I asked her straight up. "Dunno? I have no clue what that means either." She tilted her head, equally puzzled.
Me as Lisa's weakness? Zero idea what it means, but whatever—I'll figure it out eventually.
Tinkering with Bond Effects like that, I finally got the call from the Special Task Force. Not a phone call, though—they showed up in person.
"Hey, Yuri! Second time visiting the office!"
Baesena herself dropped by. "Uh...? You're alone...?"
"Yup, just me! Weird to come solo?"
"Kinda, yeah...?"
Baesena's a monster. Human-friendly, sure, but still a monster—one that can multiply infinitely. So protocol's strict on taking her outside Task Force HQ... or so the setting goes. She always needs an escort or a tracker.
"Guess I don't need this anymore, huh." She yanked off her tracker.
Eh...? Is that allowed...?
"Reason I'm here: the reward for that last incident's finally set! Brought the paperwork—take a look!"
She handed over the docs. I read through carefully. Huge sum. Way more than you'd expect for one Doppelganger. Probably 'cause most Task Force staff were suspects, and I cracked it. Still, just for one Doppelganger. Four entities total went poof in that mess: 'Twentieth Sea Turtle Soup,' 'Mary-san,' 'Doppelganger,' and 'Watson.' Feels low for four takedowns.
Reward Amount: [Large Sum] for resolution of Doppelganger incident.
Additional Proposals:
1. Appointment as Special Consultant.
2. [Second Proposal Redacted for Negotiation]
"Paying it all in cash is a hassle, y'know? So we've got two bonus offers starting here. Hate 'em? Say no—we'll swap."
One was right there in the docs: 'Special Consultant Appointment' in big letters.
"Special Consultant?"
"Yup, thinking of bringing you on as one. Know what that is?"
"Not really..."
"Simple: this biz, you learn stuff you can't unlearn. Spill it, boom—disaster. So we appoint retired staff as consultants for a bit, pay 'em steady stipends. Basically hush money."
Task Force rates my work high, so consultant gig with occasional advice? "Wait, so I'd have to consult?"
"Not forced! Even if you do zilch, consultant pay rolls in monthly. Help out? Extra hazard pay that day."
Honorary staff, basically! They probably freaked over the cash dump—especially since we owned 'Twentieth Sea Turtle Soup' officially, and it got wrecked. Paying reparations via monthly drips. Plus, a friendly gesture. Might ask for 'consulting' help sometimes, but I could hit 'em up too as a consultant.
Money's nice, but this perks my interest more.
Key rights listed: 1) Request info/help from Task Force. Database access! Not sure on limits, but maybe Rank 6 monster deets? 2) Manage/supervise isolated Muksi Saengmyeongche for them. Pull one out! Can't bring to office, obvs, but borrow with permission? Probably Rank 0-2 max. Still, wild perks. No mandatory shifts or duties. Help when I feel like it, tap their intel, steady paycheck. Sweet deal. Leverage it right, snag Rank 6 access even.
"No hard obligations? Sign me up."
"Got it! Just sign here!"
I filled it out. Boom—Special Task Force consultant, paycheck secured. Monthly stable income for a self-employed hustler? Ultimate self-employed life.
"Second offer: reparations for 'Twentieth Sea Turtle Soup.' Cash alone feels off, right? So as consultant, handle part of an isolated Muksi Saengmyeongche for us?"
"Handle?"
"Tricky wording—basically, we give you equity in one. No interference from us; you do whatever."
Like: Can't give whole apple tree, but you own the first branch—all apples from it are yours. Trim, smash, use it how you want—no meddling.
Handy Muksi chunk, gotta be.
"So, which entity?"
"Me!"
"Pardon...?"
"Gonna give Liriri Detective Agency one of my Human Shelter splinters."
Baesena grinned. "Liriri Detective Agency Chief Mayuri takes charge of one Baesena splinter from Rank 0 Muksi Saengmyeongche 'Human Shelter.' Whaddya think?"