The Max-Level Part-Timer
"Right, then I'll write it down clearly in the contract. But if you break this, you'll have to pay me back! To be honest, I'm taking a loss just by hiring someone during their probation period!"
"Yes! Thank you so much! I'll see you later, Boss!"
"Yeah, see you then!"
Despite having landed a part-time job that was a complete rip-off, Yunjae left the convenience store with an excited, glowing face.
"Ah, that Slender Forearms kid. He knows so little about the world, I almost feel bad for him."
Although living without a conscience was the way of the world these days, his new hire was so incredibly naive that Myeonghan couldn't help but feel a tiny prick of guilt.
"Well, whatever. That's just his luck!"
But that wasn't his problem to worry about! Once the kid quit, they would be nothing but strangers anyway.
"What should I do tomorrow evening?"
Giddy with excitement, Myeonghan chuckled as he began planning his free time for the next day.
"Ah, I feel amazing!"
He said this, completely unaware that his new employee was a tyrant of the part-time labor market—one who would trigger a forced 300% payout via Mamon's Grace.
"...He went to do a part-time job?"
—Yeah! His actions are completely unpredictable!
To think the eccentric, quirky Akemi would say such a thing. Ryu Taejun wore an utterly bewildered expression at her report.
"Ahem."
Currently, he had left Demian in the conference room to step out and secretly communicate with Akemi.
If this 'Slender Forearms' that Demian was desperately searching for was indeed an incredibly powerful ability user, Taejun intended to recruit him before Demian could get his hands on him.
"A part-time job, of all things."
Yet, that monstrously powerful individual had apparently gone to look for a part-time job right after effortlessly subduing Akemi.
"But why?"
No matter how much he racked his brain, it made absolutely no sense. Taejun spoke again, his face still tight with confusion.
"Akemi, for now, keep in contact with him and try to feel out his intentions. It makes no sense for an ability user who can neutralize you without breaking a sweat to seek out menial labor. He must have some other motive."
This had to be a calculated move!
—Got it!
In reality, Yunjae was simply sick and tired of hunting and wanted nothing to do with it, but there was no way they could have guessed his true feelings.
"Keep me updated."
Taejun ended the call with Akemi and walked back toward the conference room.
Inside, not only was Demian waiting, but also Anton and the rest of the top ten hunters who formed the very backbone of the Blast Guild.
"Is everyone here?"
At his words, Gyojin, an ability user rumored to possess the most powerful physical combat techniques in the world, nodded.
"What's the reason for gathering us all here? You know better than anyone how busy we are, Boss."
The Blast Guild was an organization originally formed to maximize their own profits. As a result, Gyojin clearly resented having his precious time—time that could be spent hunting and making money—taken away.
"This is Demian Lewis."
At that exact moment, everyone turned to look at Demian as if on cue.
Demian of the Lightning, widely regarded as one of the strongest ability users in the world!
"Oh?"
Gyojin showed a sudden spark of interest.
"What brings the world's strongest hunter here?"
It was highly unusual for a solo hunter who refused to join any guild to seek out the Blast Guild. Was he planning to join them?
If he did, it might shrink their own standing within the guild, but the addition of such a powerful ally would make their own hunter activities much safer and more stable. Thus, no one seemed opposed to Demian joining their ranks.
"There is a massive portal near Sumatra Island."
"A Sumatra portal? Never heard of it."
"I am the only one who possesses this information."
Everyone's interest was instantly piqued.
"Really? What exactly is in there?"
The types of monsters that emerged from a portal varied greatly depending on its size. The larger the portal, the bigger, more diverse, and infinitely more powerful the monsters inside would be.
Yet, none of them had ever heard of a massive portal on Sumatra Island. Since the area hadn't even been designated as a danger zone due to monster activity, they all looked highly skeptical.
"The Demon King Kadmus is sealed there."
Demian's grave voice fell over the room, bringing an instant, heavy silence.
"Pfft! A Demon King?"
"He's funnier than he looks!"
As Gyojin and his partner, Pim, burst into laughter, Demian let out a deep sigh.
It was a reaction he had fully anticipated. After all, the Demon King Kadmus wouldn't reveal his true colors for another ten years. And by then, his power would grow so overwhelming that humanity would stand absolutely no chance.
"No, the Demon King Kadmus is real. He is an incredibly dangerous threat! We must gather our strength and eliminate him as soon as possible!"
This was the past his lover, Ariel, had risked her life to send him back to! Therefore, even if they mocked him, Demian had to convince them.
"I could solo him in an hour."
Ugh! Of course, remembering the words of that 'Slender Forearms' kid on the plane made his chest tighten with frustration.
"Then what's in it for us?"
Realizing that someone of Demian's stature—hailed as the world's strongest—wouldn't make up such wild claims, Gyojin asked the obvious question. As the most aggressive personality in the room, he spoke up on behalf of everyone.
The other top ten hunters of the Blast Guild felt the same. Though they remained silent, their eyes demanded to know what tangible rewards they would gain from this venture.
"That is..."
But what could they possibly gain right now? The only reward was preventing the extinction of the human race.
"If you wish, I will give you my entire fortune."
"Haha, but how much could that possibly be? Is it really enough to move us?"
Even if he offered everything he owned, it was far from enough to mobilize the entire Blast Guild.
"We don't even know the scale of what's inside. Pitching a raid like this isn't very appealing."
"You need to bring us guaranteed rewards!"
As expected, these bastards...
They were driven solely by profit. Feeling a deep sense of frustration, Demian spoke with rising desperation.
"If we clear the Sumatra portal, we gain a future! A future where humanity doesn't perish!"
"What?"
He realized that to convince them, he had no choice but to lay all his cards on the table.
"I have traveled back in time from the future. Exactly ten years from now, Kadmus will awaken on Sumatra Island! He is a transcendent entity that we can never hope to defeat with our current strength. The Blast Guild, the Nemesis Guild that I led, and almost every single ability user on Earth mobilized to fight him—and we were utterly crushed."
"Nemesis...?"
The Nemesis Guild did not exist yet. However, the mention of a guild led by Demian seemed to rub Ryu Taejun the wrong way.
Is he planning to establish a rival guild?
Because Taejun kept his thoughts completely hidden, Demian failed to notice his wariness and simply looked on with an anxious, pleading face.
In truth, Demian knew the Blast Guild's nature all too well, so he had already expected that convincing them would be an uphill battle.
"Humanity will perish in ten years! Unless we stop him!"
But regardless, he had to persuade them! Demian's solemn, heavy words cast a somber mood over the room.
"Pfft..."
Or so he thought.
"Hahaha! What a load of nonsense!"
Gyojin burst into laughter, casting a displeased glance at Taejun.
"We wasted our time on useless drivel. Let's go, Pim."
As he stood up to leave, his partner, Pim, followed close behind.
"Demian, I'm afraid we find your story too difficult to accept."
Even Taejun shook his head, dismissing the tale as completely absurd.
Portals had opened all over the world, and monsters had begun to pour out. In the aftermath, humanity had awakened supernatural abilities and fought back.
While some monsters required dozens of high-ranking hunters to take down, humanity didn't feel like they were losing the war. To them, the threat of a "Demon King Kadmus" sounded like nothing more than a fairy tale.
"But...!"
Demian tried to plead his case once more, but—
"Call us when there's money to be made."
"We'll be the first to jump in then."
The other Blast Guild members left him with mocking sneers, filing out of the room one by one.
The only one left in the conference room was Ji Suyeon, the hunter of 'Destruction' and the strongest member of the Blast Guild.
"..."
Unlike the others, she silently stared at Demian. Seeing this, Taejun shook his head.
"Do as you wish."
Her ability was unmatched within the Blast Guild. The moment she touched any living organism, her unique power, Deprivation, would instantly decay and weaken it.
Because of such terrifying powers, many ability users were branded as monsters and shunned by society. The stronger the ability, the greater the psychological trauma, often warping their personalities.
In Suyeon's case, she possessed a destructive force capable of decaying almost anything she touched. This had left her with a trauma twice as severe as anyone else's, reducing her to a state of near-total social withdrawal. Though she was exceptionally beautiful, her inability to touch others made normal daily life impossible, casting a deep shadow over her existence.
Furthermore, her gentle and fragile personality was completely ill-suited for the brutal life of a hunter, but she had no other way to survive.
"Please... hang in there."
Touched by Suyeon's quiet encouragement—she was the only one who had shown him any sympathy—Demian nodded, feeling a faint glimmer of hope.
"Thank you."
Suyeon stood up. Clutching her hands tightly together to ensure the destructive energy swirling within them wouldn't accidentally brush against anyone, she quietly left the room.
"Let's grab a meal and discuss this further, Demian."
Still bothered by the mention of the 'Nemesis Guild,' Taejun tried to steer the conversation toward recruiting Demian, but the regressor stopped and shook his head.
If the Blast Guild was going to react this way, there was only one path left. He had to find the person who had summoned Kadmus's avatar on the plane!
"I must find Slender Forearms again."
At this point, Slender Forearms was his only hope. What he had witnessed on the plane was undoubtedly Kadmus—the transcendent being who, in the future, would reduce everything to void and wipe out half of his guild in a single strike.
"He said he could solo him in an hour..."
Ugh! Whether that claim was true or not, Slender Forearms had summoned Kadmus and spoken those words. Demian had no choice but to pursue him. He was grasping at straws.
"If I find him, I will contact you again."
Taejun nodded.
"Do so."
Demian turned and walked away, his steps heavy and lonely.
"He seems deeply disheartened."
While his retreating figure evoked a trace of pity, Taejun couldn't afford to let sentimentality get in the way of business.
"Restrict all social media and information regarding Slender Forearms."
After all, that mysterious powerhouse was a talent the Blast Guild had to secure for themselves!
Ding-dong!
"Welcome!"
He was finally in his eleventh hour of work!
"Whoa! What is this?!"
"I-It's incredible! The store is literally glowing!"
Two hunters who had just entered the convenience store gasped in shock at the blindingly clean, radiant interior.
"Are we even allowed to step inside?"
It was so spotless that they felt guilty even walking in.
"Ah! My job proficiency is at max level, so it's perfectly fine! Please, come in!"
The floor had been buffed to such a mirror-like shine that they felt bad stepping on it with their dirty boots.
The products on the shelves were aligned with military precision, standing like proud soldiers in formation. The sheer majesty of this max-level convenience store made the hunters shrink back instinctively.
Since it was a remote convenience store primarily catering to hunters, the shelves were usually a chaotic mess.
"This is insane."
But with the change in part-time staff, the entire atmosphere of the store had undergone a complete transformation.
"Are you the new part-timer?"
"Ah, hello! Yes! I am the new part-timer!"
True to his nature as the absolute embodiment of introversion and social anxiety, Yunjae answered with a tense, nervous face, causing the hunters to flinch.
"Whoa, so pretty!"
"But wait, is it a guy or a girl?"
"Ah! I am a manly man!"
The hunters stared blankly at Yunjae, who didn't look like a "manly man" in the slightest.
"...Slender Forearms?"
"Ah! That's just a joke username I made! It's like a nickname! Please don't mind it!"
"A nickname?"
It was hard not to mind when it looked exactly like a floating game title...
However, he didn't seem dangerous at all, and his polite demeanor put them at ease. The two hunters nodded, deciding not to pry.
"What we need is..."
As they gathered spare ammunition magazines and water, clearly preparing for a hunt inside a portal, Yunjae's face lit up with excitement.
"What, is it your first day? Excited?"
"No, it's just that once you two check out, our sales for today will already surpass 400,000 won..."
His management skills were at max level too! Thanks to his incredibly high job proficiency, a mysterious force was at play, drawing far more customers to Myeonghan's convenience store than usual.
Of course, Myeonghan had no way of knowing this.
Since the store was located near a portal, most of its sales occurred during the day, and its primary source of income was government subsidies granted to designated hunter-support businesses anyway.
Regardless, seeing Yunjae look so genuinely pleased with this small success, the two hunters chuckled and placed their items on the counter.
"The guy who used to work here before was a real jerk."
"Yeah, and the store was a total dump. We'll be seeing you around."
"Ah! Yes! I'll do my absolute best!"
Even for an extreme introvert, receiving praise was bound to lift his spirits.
As I thought, this is twice as fun as hunting!
Having spent fifty-seven years hunting alone without any human contact, his already timid personality had shriveled into extreme social anxiety, making face-to-face interactions terrifying.
But being praised like this and feeling himself grow, even just a little, filled him with pure joy.
"Have a safe trip!"
As the two hunters left the store—
"Time to clean! Clean!"
Yunjae began erasing all traces of the hunters and organizing the shelves as if playing a convenience store tycoon game.
Since he didn't need sleep and constantly maintained full stamina, he showed absolutely no signs of fatigue despite being on his eleventh hour of work.
Watching him from a table inside the convenience store, Mari and Akemi could only shake their heads in disbelief.
"He is truly something else."