Chapter 83

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Translator: penny

Chapter: 83

Chapter Title: The Mayor and Overwork

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The next morning.

The world indifferently welcomed the next morning, just as always.

I had desperately hoped tomorrow wouldn't come, but that bastard sun rose with annoyingly diligent punctuality.

The sky was insultingly clear, as if yesterday's downpour had been a lie.

The plaza in front of city hall had been meticulously ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠cleaned up overnight through emergency restoration work. Only the puddles lingering in corners and the scattered debris proved the flood had really happened.

"Huh? Isn't that Lee Garam over there...?"

"It's the mayor! Mayor! Thank you!"

"Nero! Where's Nero?"

The murmurs of passing citizens clung to my ears.

Damn. Fame is scarier than taxes. No escaping it.

I finally stood before the door to the mayor's office.

Hoo—

I took a deep breath.

What awaited me beyond this door?

Probably hell itself.

It's okay, Lee Garam. You saved the city yesterday. You risked your life to save the citizens.

Well, technically Nero did it, but Nero's my cat anyway, so it's as good as me saving them.

The noble cause of saving the citizens.

The existence of the adorable mascot Nero.

Led by these two powerful shields, maybe I'd pull through somehow.

Yeah, let's go in confidently. Like a triumphant general.

I flung the door wide open.

"Hahaha! Seria! Good morning! No trouble overnight?"

The mayor's office was a battlefield.

Mysterious stacks of documents towered like mountains on the floor, while empty energy drink cans stood in solemn rows on the desk like tombstones.

The air was thick with the scent of paper and coffee, mingled with the sour tang of overwork, forming a bizarre aroma.

And at the center of this battlefield, sitting at my desk—she.

The gatekeeper of hell. The queen of hell. Or hell itself. My pint-sized secretary.

Seria Park.

She didn't even glance at me. She just stared at her laptop screen, hammering the keyboard at a manic pace.

Tak-tak-tak—!

"Ah, you've finally crawled out. Neo Incheon's great savior. Did you sleep well?"

Her voice held no emotion. But I could read the hundreds of layers of blame, contempt, and murderous intent hidden between the lines.

"Uh... yeah... thanks to you. Slept like a baby. Sweet dreams. You must've had a rough night, Seria. Can't run city hall without you."

"I went 38 hours without sleep to cover for someone's absence. But it's a relief you got to greet a refreshing morning."

I swallowed dryly. If I backed down here, it was over.

I forced a casual smile, pretending last night's escape never happened.

"Haha, no trouble overnight?"

"Why wouldn't there be? Because someone left for that noble and sublime mission of 'site inspection,' I had to handle a mountain of troubles alone. Drafting recovery plans, setting press response guidelines, submitting reports to central government, preparing emergency meetings with the top 10 corporations, real-time monitoring of damage reports from each district office, and tracking the runaway mayor. No time to breathe."

"Ahem, y-yeah. Good work. But a mayor can't just ignore citizens' suffering, right? I was just fulfilling my duty."

Seria looked up from her monitor at me.

"At least a good excuse came up to cover your little escape. Congratulations."

She nodded toward the newspaper on my desk.

[Cat-Riding Superman Saves Over 200 Guwol-dong Residents... Hero's Identity?]

[Neo Incheon's Hidden Guardian God, the 'Cat-Riding Superman' Mystery]

"See this! Seria! The citizens are praising me—no, Nero! Savior of the overlooked!"

I shouted desperately. This was my pardon. My alibi. My escape hatch.

"I see. Must've been fun spectating citizens' suffering all night."

"Wasn't fun at all! Super dangerous! A seafood combo set popped out and nearly killed me!"

My desperate plea didn't reach her.

"So, did you prepare the official report on last night's heroic exploits? Secured site photos? After-action plans and support measures for affected residents? Or perhaps tasting notes on the ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠beer you drank?"

Plans? Measures? Those grandiose words weren't in my dictionary.

My dictionary only had 'good enough,' 'slapdash,' and 'it'll work out somehow.'

"Th-that... I was just about to start!"

"I see. Then please process the documents on the desk first. 32 emergency disaster reserve fund approvals, 15 central government special grant applications, 8 MOUs for emergency corporate aid, prep docs for damages lawsuit against Seoul, and interview requests from 17 major domestic and international media outlets. All due today."

The desk was piled Everest-high with papers.

Finish all that today? Might as well ask me to catch another deep-sea fusion beast.

"But! I! Saved citizens yesterday! Media's all saying it! Can't you cut me some slack?"

I made my final struggle. The hero shield.

"Protecting citizens' lives and safety is a mayor's basic duty. Bragging about doing your job is third-rate politician behavior. Surely you don't want to lower yourself to that level?"

"But I am third-rate!"

"Inspiring hope is fine, but we can't have the entire disaster response system looking like an incompetent setup swayed by one person's whims. Didn't you consider how hard other officials worked while you played hero? Their efforts could all be dismissed."

"......"

No comeback.

Straight talk. Too damn right.

I hung my head like a criminal.

Seria let out a light sigh.

"But whatever, can't be helped. Water under the bridge, and citizens are thrilled with you and Nero. The 'hero blooming from despair' narrative is pretty useful for uniting the public in crises. Just this once, I'll overlook it for Nero's sake."

"Ooh, as expected of Seria! You're the only one who—"

Light of hope! Goddess Seria! Merciful secretary!

"In exchange, brace for overtime the next week. Backlog's taller than you. Run again, and I'll personally slap a GPS tracker on your ankle."

"Gack!"

I tucked tail and slunk to my seat like a defeated dog. No, even dogs get walks. I'm an office slave who can't even step out.

Seizing the moment while Seria took a call from another department, I snuck out my smartphone.

Escape reality. Yeah, flee to the internet.

I quietly opened the community app.

Not a single hate comment.

If anything, delusional posts like 'Isn't Mayor Lee Garam actually a secret hero protecting the city?' were topping the featured threads.

Below them hung comments like 'Then secretary's the sidekick?', 'Nero's the mascot?'

Good lord.

The solitude of not being understood.

I shout the truth, but the world believes lies.

How tragic is this.

I turned to look at Nero, who had claimed my exclusive sofa.

The guy was leisurely grooming himself.

I checked Nero's Nyangstagram.

Up 500k from last night.

Neo Incheon's population is 10 million, so one in three citizens follows my cat.

DMs: unread messages over 3,000.

I scrolled down.

— [PremiumCatFood_CatMichelin] Hello, Cat Michelin, world's #1 pet food company. We'd like to be Nero's official sponsor.

= [ToyWorld] Toy World, global toy company. Proposing Hero Nero Special Edition figure...

— [NNC_AnimalTheater] Hello, Nero's guardian. Regarding appearance offer...

— [Munchkin_love] Please let our house cat meet yours once. Dowry of 1 billion ready.

— [The Mouse House] Hello King Nero! We'd like to make an animated series about you...

Sponsor offers, fan letters, mystery courtship messages. What the hell.

The world's gone mad.

Then.

Nero hopped down from the sofa and leaped onto my desk.

"What, wanna see your fame? Here, look. You're this city's superstar."

Nyaao—

Nero meowed contentedly, then batted my hand with her front paw.

I absentmindedly scrolled down.

Latest posts appeared.

Citizen-uploaded Nero photos and videos. Memes praising Nero. Likes and comments exploding.

Nyaong! Nyaong!

Nero meowed impatiently.

Scroll faster. Wants to see more popularity confirmation.

SNS is a waste of life... but for a cat? Nah, cats live for waste anyway.