Ikho Corporation's New Female Employees
"Holy shit! No, jackpot on iron!"
Choi Ga's boisterous shout echoed through the mountain stronghold.
The warehouse was a goddamn treasure trove. Piles of raw black iron ingots towered like mountains, and one corner brimmed with grain and bolts of cloth meant for smuggling to Japan. Hell, there were even weapon crates stamped with official government seals. That county magistrate bastard had been in deep with these bandits, the corrupt son of a bitch. Ah... the magistrate. Keeps making me miss him. Those pudgy cheeks would feel so damn satisfying under my fists.
"Take it all. Don't leave a single nail or grain of rice behind."
At my command, the Ikho troops dove in with glee, hauling the loot. We ran short on porters and had to commandeer the bandits' carts too.
This haul was more than enough. Plenty for Na Dae-yong to plate his turtle ships with iron armor and still have leftovers. Plus swords, spears, and matchlocks to arm our boys.
Today's take was a real score.
I chewed on jerky, grinning as I watched them work, savoring the salty bite—perfect drinking snack.
That's when it happened.
"B-Big brother! You gotta come see this!"
Chun-sik, rummaging through the inner buildings, came sprinting back pale as a ghost.
"What? Hit another vein of gold?"
"No! It's... there are people."
"People? Bandits left? Just let 'em go. We don't kill needlessly."
"Not that... women."
Chun-sik's face was grim.
I spat out my jerky and stood.
He led me to the stronghold's remotest corner—a prison carved from a rock cave. The stench of piss and rot hit like a wall from the entrance. I smashed the padlocked iron door, and sobbing echoed from the dark.
"......"
Torchlight revealed horror.
A dozen or so women huddled together, clinging in terror. Their clothes hung in tatters, exposing skin bruised and whip-lashed. Peeking through tangled hair, their eyes screamed pure fear and despair.
Daughters and wives kidnapped from villages. No need to guess what the bandits had done.
Something hot surged in my gut. Stealing iron and extorting peasants I could stomach—but this? No fucking way.
"It's okay. We've got all the bandits."
I approached gently, but they shrieked and shrank back. My hulking frame and bloodied club must've looked worse than the thugs.
"Choi Ga."
"Yeah."
"Get the boys to bring outer robes. And food."
Soon, sweat-stained clothes and rice balls arrived. I tossed robes their way and stepped back.
"Put these on. Come out when you're ready. We'll take you home."
A while later, they emerged hesitantly into the moonlight. Their wretched state was heartbreaking.
"You're safe now. Where do you live?"
I forced cheer into my voice.
But their reaction wasn't what I expected—no cheers or tearful thanks. Heads bowed, they stayed silent, sobs growing louder.
Then, a small girl stepped forward from the group, lips bitten tight.
She looked fifteen or sixteen, big eyes, strikingly pale skin, freckles dusting her nose. Trembling in fear, but her gaze on me was clear.
"Sir... we have nowhere to go."
"What? No home? Did the bandits burn it?"
"No... we have homes, but we can't go back."
Tears plopped from her wide eyes.
"I'm Mi-ryeong. I... discarded my family name. Tomorrow I'd have been sold to a brothel anyway. The bandits kept my virginity to fetch a higher price."
"Brothel?"
"Yes. Not just me—all of us here were dragged in, defiled, or waiting to be sold."
Mi-ryeong clenched her fists.
"A woman who lost her virtue—or even if not, one who's been in a bandit den is as good as ruined. How could we face our families? Better to die here than shame them."
"......"
Words failed me.
Right. This wasn't 2025. It was 1591, Joseon.
The mad era where a woman's chastity trumped her life. Raped after abduction? The victim got branded a slut, finger-wagged at. Even untouched like Mi-ryeong, just being in a bandit lair sealed her fate.
Families wouldn't welcome them. No— they'd hurl silver daggers with "Why didn't you bite your tongue?" That was this era's "morality."
"Kill us, please."
Mi-ryeong prostrated, sobbing.
"My body's clean, but my heart is dead. Show mercy—let us die here."
The others followed, wailing in unison.
"Kill us!" "Please, kill us!"
Unbelievable. I saved them, and they beg for death.
This country... In my past life, I griped about "Hell Joseon," but the real hell was here. Victims turned criminals.
My fists shook with rage—not at the bandits, but the old fucks who built this shit world.
"Enough!"
My roar cut the cries short. They stared, terrified.
"Why die? What did you do wrong?"
I growled.
"The bandits who snatched you, the state that failed to protect you, the powerless fathers who couldn't—that's the crime. You're victims. Living and going home is revenge. Thriving is victory."
But their eyes stayed dead. My words sounded alien. Even Mi-ryeong shook her head.
Can't just abandon them.
I racked my brain. A place without prejudice, judging by merit alone?
Yeah. One spot: with me and Seo Baek-seol.
"Fine. Can't go home? Get a job."
"P-Pardon...? J-Job?"
Mi-ryeong's teary eyes went wide.
"No home? Follow me. Food, clothes, bed. But no free rides—you work."
I declared, hands behind my back.
"We're Ikho Corporation. Think trading company. I'm CEO Kim Deok-ryeong. We're expanding but short-staffed."
I pointed at Mi-ryeong.
"You—literate?"
"Th-They say even a dog at a village school learns poetry in three years. My father was a teacher, so I know the Thousand Character Classic."
"Perfect. You're hired."
"Huh?"
"Accounting team, starting today. Ledgers and cash."
"Huh?"
I scanned the others.
"Sewing? Cooking?"
Hands shot up.
"Great. Clothing and mess teams. Need folks to mend our boys' rags and feed 'em. You'll see—they eat like horses."
I nodded at the Ikho troops, who scratched heads sheepishly.
"Herbalists? Nurses?"
"I... worked at a clinic."
"Hired. Medical chief."
I grinned.
"Deal? No past inquiries. Join Ikho, no finger-pointing. I'll crush anyone who tries."
I thwacked a thick tree. Crack! It snapped.
"Get my drift?"
Life sparked in their eyes. Death was off the table—now "life," backed by a solid shield.
"W-We... we'll follow."
Mi-ryeong wiped tears, standing firm despite her small frame.
"I'll work to the bone. I trust you... Uncle—no, Big Brother."
"Good. Wages—no, pay—fair and square."
I called Choi Ga.
"Clear a cart for the ladies."
"Got it!"
He dumped cargo, padding straw thick.
"Prep to roll. But one thing first."
I strode to the bandit chief tied in the yard's center.
Dazed from my earlier gut-punch toss, he squinted up.
"S-Spare me... I did everything you said..."
"Yeah, warehouse was a good raid. But..."
I hauled him up by the collar.
"Those women? Your catch, right?"
His eyes flicked to the cart, then away.
"Th-That... wasn't my orders..."
"Save excuses for hell."
I gripped his right arm.
"Was gonna let you go, but no. Gotta pay for those tears."
Crunch!
"Gaaah!"
His arm snapped like kindling. His scream rang out. I didn't stop.
"Kidnapping."
Crunch!
Left arm.
"Assault."
Thud!
Knee shattered underfoot.
"Emotional damages."
Thud!
Other knee.
"Guh... urk..."
Limbs twisted, he flopped foaming. Not dead—worse awaited.
"Choi Ga, truss this fucker and load him."
"Huh? Taking him too?"
"Yeah. Got a delivery."
I chucked him into a cart corner like trash.
"Move out! Loot home!"
"Yaaah!"
The caravan rolled. Uphill, just armed men. Downhill: iron, grain, new family, one human scum.
Descending, we passed Damyang's magistrate office.
Midnight—gates shut, guards dozing.
"Halt."
I dragged the broken chief out. Limp from pain.
Hoisted him, hurled at the gate. Crash!
"Wh-Who's there!"
Guards jolted, spears up. Torchlight showed the bloody wreck—and my giant shadow.
"Tell the magistrate."
I loomed over them.
"Black Mountain Bandit chief—delivery."
"B-Black Mountain? The boss?"
They gawked. Wanted poster match.
"And one more thing."
I crooked a finger.
"His bounty—Damyang inn by morning. No skimping, or..."
I punched a guardian pillar by the gate. Snap! Head flew.
"Next time, not wood."
"Eek! Y-Yes sir! We'll tell him!"
They trembled, pissing themselves. Warning clear: I wiped your pet bandits—stay down, or else.
I whistled back to the line.
"Let's go. Grub time."
We hit the inn at dawn.
"What the hell is all this?"
Seo Baek-seol, just woken, gaped at iron piles and grain mountains in the yard.
"Raided bandits. You said make iron if none."
"Whoa... insane. Sell this alone, buy a ship!"
She circled the iron excitedly. Na Dae-yong burst out, hugging ingots like teddy bears.
Then women disembarked.
Seo Baek-seol's face hardened.
"Who're they?"
Her eyes iced.
"Bandit captives. Nowhere to go—I recruited."
"Re-Re-What?"
"Ditch 'em, it's death. We need hands—cooks, washers."
I herded them to her. Arms crossed, she eyed them hawk-like.
"Bodies intact?"
"Minds scarred, bodies tough. They'll work."
She took a woman's hand—callused.
"Rough life, huh."
Her tone softened.
"Good timing. These stinking men's laundry was blistering my hands."
Tsundere. Wrapped pity in "need" perfectly.
"Kitchen, now. Rice, cook."
"Y-Yes, ma'am!"
Faces brightened. She bossed them seamlessly inside.
Then Mi-ryeong clutched a ledger from Seo Baek-seol, approached me.
Brushed hair, neatened clothes. Freckled cheeks flushed.
She fidgeted, tugged my hem shyly.
"Sir..."
"Yeah?"
I leaned; she slipped into my arms.
"Uh...?"
I froze, arms wide. Tiny frame fit my 190cm bulk perfectly. She trembled.
"Thank you. Truly."
Whisper-soft.
"I'll never forget this grace. Work hard to repay. And..."
She looked up. Clear eyes held shyness and resolve.
"When I grow... let me serve at your side. Concubine if need be—lifelong."
"......What?"
Silence blanketed the yard. Troops gawked; Na Dae-yong coughed, eyed hills. Her small shoulders quivered. Not love—a cornered beast clutching the strongest branch. Past life, she'd be in uniform, school lunch. Hearing "concubine" from her burned my gut—at this mad era forcing it.
And.
Whoosh.
Blue flames flickered in Seo Baek-seol's eyes.
"Hey! Get over here!"
She blitzed, snagged Mi-ryeong's nape like a kitten.
"Head not dry yet, eyeing men? Work!"
"B-But my heart!"
"Heart my ass! Big Brother's too busy for concubines!"
She yanked her off, fuming. Face oddly red. Threat from a 15-year-old spitfire?
"And you stink! All of you!"
Loud bark.
"Bath! No food till clean and changed! Move!"
"Y-Yes!"
They scurried. Mi-ryeong glanced back, eyes adoring—my back itched.
"Heh... you're blessed, brother."
Na Dae-yong chuckled.
"Shut it. Back to work."
I coughed, smirked, turned. Gotta be her fence till she finds her match.
The inn yard buzzed. Troops hauled iron outside; Na Dae-yong prepped forge in corner; inside, women's laughs mixed with Seo Baek-seol's scolds.
Perfect. Combat, tech, funds, support. Now, forge real "goods" from this.
I stood yard-center, facing rising sun.
Ikho Corporation.
Shaping into a proper outfit.