Se-rin, I Entrust You with the Interviewer
“Everyone did great. Really, you couldn't have done better.”
After returning to Baek Ya-seong Headquarters and finishing our report, Jin Yeon-ah smiled as she spoke. I'd heard she'd watched our combat footage with her father, Jin Hyun-cheol, and thanks to us, she'd saved face in front of him. She didn't hold back on the praise for taking down the main factory without help from the Execution Team.
And of course, she didn't just stop at words. Once her endless stream of compliments finally wrapped up—I'm not sure how many minutes it lasted—she handed each of us an envelope.
The moment we took them, we knew exactly what was inside. The feel and weight were all too familiar to those of us who'd made our living in the Back World.
“Miss, this is...?”
“Bonuses for this job and the ambush last time, combined. I could deposit it straight into your accounts, but since it's your first bonus from me, I thought envelopes might feel more special. If it's inconvenient, just say the word and I'll transfer it.”
“Mind if I check?”
“Of course. Go ahead.”
At my question about the bonus, Jin Yeon-ah nodded readily. The second she gave permission, me and the other four immediately peeked inside without missing a beat.
Ten, hundred, thousand, ten thousand—easily close to fifty million won. Bundles of fifty-thousand-won bills adding up to fifty million had smiles creeping onto our faces.
Money had always been one of the best rewards, past or present. Especially since not a single one of us would turn our noses up at a stack of cash like this.
Jin Yeon-ah drew our beaming attention with a clap.
Clap clap—
“Anyway, you all worked hard today. I won't assign any missions tomorrow or the day after, so just rest up and tend to personal matters. Feel free to head out if you want.”
Two days off? We couldn't help but cheer again. Bonuses followed by a two-day vacation—didn't that mean we could blow our cash and party hard?
At her order to head back, we let out a collective whoop and returned to our rooms, eager to savor the next two days.
The golden two days of vacation came to an end.
Back to the daily grind, the other four threw themselves into busy days—everyone except me, that is. I'd catch some flak from them on the way back to the dorms sometimes, but it wasn't like I was working them to death, and we had days off, so it was never serious griping.
About three days into this routine...
“The analysis from Central is in.”
“Oh, finally?”
Jin Yeon-ah opened her laptop, announcing that the intel we'd snatched from the Central Direct Command Unit was analyzed. She projected the contents as a hologram so I could see too.
I couldn't help but suck in a breath at what came up.
“Whoa... this real?”
“Has to be. They wouldn't send it if it wasn't.”
To sum up the hologram: The group kidnapping kids was shipping them to a research lab on some uninhabited island smack in the middle of the North Pacific. Close to 600 children sent there so far, but no clue what experiments were happening. Can't even send scouts because it's U.S. territory.
Not earth-shattering on its own. How much could we learn from the grunts who were just the delivery service? Pinning down the lab's location and victim count was probably all there was to squeeze out.
Pity we couldn't uncover the experiments, but that's life. No buyer info either, so they ran a tight ship—no more intel coming.
“A research lab in the middle of the North Pacific... does that mean the U.S. Central's backing it?”
“Who knows. Not impossible, though.”
I wondered if U.S. Central was shielding the lab, but she wasn't sure.
“Good news is, no other domestic groups sending kids there. Central went all-in on the probe, so we can take that as fact.”
“That's a relief.”
At least no more kids from Korea. If Central dug that deep, it was solid.
Jin Yeon-ah closed the laptop, leaned back, and flipped through some papers before tilting her chair.
“Sigh... anyway, that's not the priority. Central handles the lab from here.”
“Something else?”
“Problem? Obviously. The number of assassins under me. And it's urgent.”
“Ah, yeah.”
I nodded in agreement. Right now, her team was just Kwon Ji-yul, Kim Woo-jin, Lee Kang-woo, and Jeong Yoon-hyuk—four total. Meaning only four she could deploy for missions.
“They're strong, sure, but four can't handle everything. We've kept up so far because missions were limited with our low track record. But now? Our rep's blown up.”
“...True.”
Not quite my level, but those four were top-tier in Baek Ya-seong. Probably the strongest excluding exclusive assassins. In under a month, they'd cleared missions that outclassed others in quality and quantity by multiples.
“With results like that, missions'll flood in next month. Pile 'em on four people? Burnout city.”
“So, you're recruiting more... how?”
“Basic way: scout applicants. Baek Ya-seong hopefuls are a dime a dozen. Interviews to filter.”
“Oho. But won't they all be mid-tier?"
“Exactly. Cannon fodder types. We'll match missions to skill, but death risk's high. Look at my brothers' teams—three or four drop monthly.”
I nodded. Interview hires were expendables. Harsh, maybe, but I got it. Not every assassin's a stud like us. We're Back World elite—top ten fingers, easy. To handle the influx, you need fodder.
“Filling spots like that... our floor's finally gonna liven up.”
Dozens of rooms on the sixth floor of the annex, but only five of us—dead quiet. About time it got noisy. I grinned, and Jin Yeon-ah dropped a bomb.
“Oh, by the way—the interviewer? That's you, Se-rin. Heads up.”
“...Me?”
My eyes went wide at the curveball. Interviewer? What?
I shot her a explain look, and she gave a why so surprised shrug.
“To judge assassins, you need someone better than the applicants, right? You're the best fit among mine.”
“Well, I am top dog...”
Objective fact, but still. I pondered a sec, then decided. No choice, really—her order. Plus, these would be juniors to me and the four. Better I vet 'em myself than let randos in.
“Fine, I'll do it.”
I nodded crisply.