Fate's Cruel Joke (6)
Karki spread both hands and chattered nonstop.
“Todai too, to provide us with our daily bread, the great, revered, beloved, and respected……”
Everyone sat with their meal trays in front of them, listening to Karki’s speech.
Each of them swallowed hard, but no one dared pick up a spoon yet.
This, if anyone was wondering, was a kind of service creed we recited before eating after I became the boss.
“……our boss, who’s got the skills, a great personality, and handsome looks, we fill our hearts with gratitude.”
That was the end of it.
The final highlight was coming up.
“Together!”
When Karki led the chant—
“We’ll eat well, Boss!”
“We’ll eat well, Boss!”
“We’ll eat well, Boss!”
The foreign workers shouted back in unison.
The foreman and the Factory 4 workers burst out laughing.
“Man, if I didn’t know better, I’d think this was some kind of North Korean leader’s meal ceremony.”
“Doesn’t it feel like the speeches keep getting longer?”
“So what? It’s fun.”
Once Karki’s grand speech was over, everyone dug in like they were starving.
The main dish was multigrain rice and curry.
There was also fried squid, bulgogi, kimchi, salad, and a heaping bowl of doenjang stew packed with tofu.
For the people who didn’t want rice, there was even seafood jjajangmyeon prepared as a side option.
Compared to the old menu, it was a lavish meal—practically a five-star hotel spread.
Rebuilding the cafeteria was financially unrealistic.
So instead, I changed the catering company.
The old one had been run by the boss’s relatives.
They’d been skimming off the top so badly that no wonder all they ever served was frozen pork cutlet day after day.
I tried to kick them out, but they put up more resistance than expected.
“What do you mean, all of a sudden? The boss changed, so now you want us out? Like hell we’re leaving!”
They threatened to sue, report us to the Labor Office, and claim we were violating the contract.
Basically, they were digging in their heels and refusing to budge.
Honestly, situations like that were pretty annoying.
No matter how much of a righteous hero I was.
Could I really just throw on the Purple Devil mask and deal brutally with the boss’s shady relatives for something as petty as this?
I was a legitimate small-business owner now.
For the company’s representative to step in and get his hands dirty himself would be like using a butcher’s cleaver to kill a chicken.
So what did I do?
I had no choice but to bring out the last resort.
I headed for Factory 7.
“What? If something like that happened, you should’ve told me right away!”
“Yeah. Just don’t rough them up too badly.”
“Got it. Leave it to me!”
The former gang crew.
Now Yeong-cheol Suho-dae.
Gi Yeong-cheol and his men stepped in.
“Hey, lady. Have you got a steel plate in that belly of yours?”
“I was planning to retire and live decently, but I guess that’s not happening. Want me to dance with knives again?”
“D-don’t you gangsters think you’re all that! I’m not leaving! We’ll do this by the law!”
“Huh? By the law?”
Gi Yeong-cheol ran a finger across the kitchen shelf, which was coated in filthy food scraps.
“Damn. Look at this dust. You can tell at a glance it’s crawling with germs.”
The frozen pork cutlets, which had practically been the workers’ staple food, were piled high on a dirty tray.
The frying oil had been reused so many times it had turned a murky brown.
The plastic cutting board was covered in blue-black mold.
He kicked a trash bag on the floor, and a cockroach crawled out of it.
“Eek! Boss, just report them for violating food safety laws.”
“That sounds better, doesn’t it? Hey, look over there—see that lady’s car? Damn, it looks like it’s burning to me.”
“Agh! My car!! You bastards!!”
Which was worse: a restaurant with disgusting hygiene that was also stealing money?
Or Gi Yeong-cheol threatening them and driving them out?
What a funny world.
“Then just leave! I’ll leave, so please stop!”
In the end, thanks to Yeong-cheol Suho-dae’s activity, the restaurant owner who’d been squatting there finally waved the white flag.
Gi Yeong-cheol said to me,
“Hey. Boss Choi. So you bought Factory 4 outright, huh? Take good care of us from now on. I quit the gang life, but we’re still the guardians of this place. If anything happens, just leave it to us.”
And with that, peace came.
Snapping out of my thoughts, I slowly looked around.
“Damn! This rice tastes good! The grains are nice and fluffy.”
“Look at that squid, all shiny. Now that’s fried food!”
“These days I look forward to lunchtime more than anything.”
“I even like overtime now. Means I can solve dinner here.”
The table where the foreign workers sat was noisy too.
“Hey, Uzbekistan! Stop stuffing your face with the bulgogi.”
“What, man? I’m on my second bowl!”
No one was sitting with their heads down, staring at their phones like before.
Everyone laughed and talked freely, enjoying lunch.
Once one of life’s basic needs was taken care of, both the workers’ human dignity and their productivity went up.
And that wasn’t all.
The cafeteria used locally produced ingredients from nearby farms and fisheries.
“My goodness. Thanks to Boss Choi, the local economy is really picking up.”
“Thank you so much, Representative Choi.”
A small flap of wings had revived Ilsan’s business district and opened a path to mutual prosperity.
“Ahh. That was good.”
“Let’s go smoke a cigarette.”
“Nah, I’m gonna catch a nap.”
Just before lunch ended and everyone was about to scatter for their break, I called them together.
“Could everyone gather for a moment?”
The Factory 4 employees gathered in front of the cafeteria.
“Boss. Stand up here.”
Karki somehow came back carrying a shelf and set it down in front of me.
“Thanks.”
I stepped up onto it and looked down at them.
A mix of all kinds of foreign faces looked up at me with bright, expectant eyes.
“Anyone here who only finished high school, raise your hand.”
Hands shot up all over the place.
There were fewer people who didn’t raise their hands, so everyone’s attention drifted that way.
“Oh? Mr. Kim, you went to college?”
“No. I only finished elementary school.”
“Ha! Bragging rights, huh?”
“Who’s bragging? My old man never sent me to school—what was I supposed to do?”
Among the people gathered at the Ilsan Hunter Complex, very few had gone through a proper education.
Karki had been a genius too, but because of his family’s miserable circumstances, he’d given up on his dream and come to Korea instead.
I went on.
“It’s nice to meet you all. I’m only a high school graduate myself.”
I’d drifted from one part-time job to another just to make money.
I’d entered the factory to support my family.
And after that, this place became my lifelong job.
“What do you do after you clock out?”
My sudden question made them glance at one another blankly before they started chiming in one by one.
“What else? We go with Professor Jang to the lottery shop and play sports betting.”
“I go home, drink alone, and pass out.”
“I’m not much different. On payday I usually head to a hostess bar.”
I used to be the same.
Without dreams or hope.
I’d work like a machine, drag my exhausted body home, read a book until my eyes burned, and go to sleep.
“Good. Whatever you do after work is your business. But—”
I met each employee’s eyes one by one.
“If any of you want to move in a better direction, I’ll help you.”
“Help us? How?”
“If you’re thinking of attending night school, I’ll cover the tuition.”
For now, they still looked indifferent.
And why wouldn’t they?
None of them had ever had any real relationship with studying.
And chances were, they never wanted one either.
That was why motivation mattered.
“If you graduate college successfully, I’ll give you a bonus.”
By then, the eyes of the high school students on work placement had begun to shine.
But the old guys over fifty were still just chain-smoking away.
People that age didn’t change easily.
Their stubborn brains didn’t move much, either.
In that case—
“If you earn certifications related to Hunter equipment, I’ll raise your annual salary. The more difficult the certification and the more you have, the more your monthly pay will go up.”
One of the old men ground out his cigarette.
“Yongki—no, wait. Boss Choi! Are you telling the truth?”
“Of course. When it comes to factory work, I never lie.”
I finished with the final stroke.
“And if you hold a certain number of certificates, I’ll promote you too. Depending on the final results, I’ll even consider giving out company shares.”
There was no guarantee that working hard in life would lead to success.
But at the very least, I wanted the people under my umbrella to be rewarded for their efforts.
If individual performance was recognized, responsibility would increase as well.
And the whole of Factory 4 could grow because of it.
“Like I said before, this factory isn’t mine alone. Let’s all grow together and move forward side by side.”
The moment I finished speaking, someone clapped once.
Then thunderous applause erupted all at once.
“Wow! I need to sign up for cram school right away.”
“Night school? College? Where do I find that? Tell me, tell me!”
“I’m starting to study for the Hunter Equipment Technician Level 1 license today. Nobody stop me!”
The heat in the room swelled hot and bright.
Of course, I had no idea how long that passion would last.
Human will was not something you could trust that much.
Still, it didn’t matter.
If even a few of them succeeded, a new wind would surely begin to blow.
As I came down from the platform, Karki approached me.
“Boss. Can I go to college too?”
Karki had a strong thirst for learning and always longed to absorb new knowledge.
He was smart, too, so his Korean was the best of all the foreign workers.
I gave him a light slap on the back.
“Of course.”
“Hehe. Okay, boss! Thank you!”
Karki walked off whistling, his hips swaying with every step.
With that, lunch ended and the afternoon shift began.
I met the foreman.
“I’m going to go attend a guild interview.”
“All right. Take care, Yongki.”
Now that I’d finished registering with the Hunter Association, it was time to join a guild.
Hunter registration was mandatory, but guild registration wasn’t.
Whether an Awakened worked alone or moved as part of a guild was entirely a matter of personal choice.
That said, no guild would just sit still once it found a Hunter with real skill.
Guild members would trail after high-rank Hunters and try to recruit them.
But my expected rank was F. Not just F, either—F-.
Someone like me, an Awakened with a low predicted rank, wouldn’t even get a second glance.
I’d just be dead weight, so even lousy guilds usually hesitated to accept F-rank Hunters.
The foreman asked,
“By the way, Yongki. What’s your predicted rank?”
“F-.”
“Ah…… is that so?”
He gave an awkward laugh.
He looked like he didn’t know what kind of reaction he was supposed to have.
“Which guild are you joining? I don’t think you told me properly.”
The foreman wiped his sweat and gulped down some water.
“Dio Guild.”
“Pffft!”
He spat out the water and stared wide-eyed at me.
“W-what? Why there? Why in the world would you voluntarily walk into a nest of trash like that!”
He wasn’t wrong.
A trash guild that gathered every kind of ragtag loser imaginable.
I was going there.
“Does it have to be there?”
“Yes.”
“……I see. Well, I’m sure you’ve got your reasons. If you’re going to do it, then go in and pass.”
“Yes, sir. I’ll be back.”
I took a taxi and arrived in front of the Dio Guild headquarters.
The huge building standing tall on Gangnam-daero glittered in the sunlight.
Feels strange.
On the day the rain had poured down in sheets, I’d come here to get rid of Go Ju-hun.
Back then I’d been wearing a mask and a suit.
But not today.
I’d come here not as the Purple Devil, but as Choi Yongki.
When I walked through the entrance, the place was packed with people.
“Please line up here. After you fill out the paperwork, put on your name tag and head up to the fifth floor.”
When it was my turn, I received a name tag.
Stamped on it in bold, glaring letters was:
Choi Yongki: F-
They really had to print my predicted rank that big.
Bitter, but that was reality.
Most guilds recruited Hunters for a set period of time.
The minimum requirement for applicants was usually a predicted rank of D or higher.
If you had a special Talent on top of that, you got preferential treatment.
In other words, an F-rank Hunter like me was disqualified from the start.
That was right.
I had a reason for applying to Dio Guild.
There was nowhere else I could apply.
Dio was the only guild that recruited Hunters regardless of rank or criminal record.
No wonder every stray dog and runaway mutt ended up here.
The reason I was bothering to join a guild at all came down to two things.
First, the quality of the information.
Villain movements, real-time Gate reports, monster emergence zones, and more.
If I wanted high-grade intel that was hard to uncover on my own, guild membership was essential.
Second……
“Dammit. Are you not moving? You trying to block the way and start something?”
A voice came from behind me.
When I turned, an all-too-familiar face was there.
“H-hik!”
It was the beefy guy with the buzz cut I’d met at the Hunter Association before.
“Hello, sir!”
He bowed ninety degrees to me.
“You came too?”
“Yes, sir. What brings you here……?”
I pointed to my name tag.
“I’m here to apply.”
“Ah…… yes. I see.”
“But how old are you that you keep calling me sir?”
“I’m twenty-one this year.”
“……”
I’d barely believe it if he said thirty-one.
The big guy glanced around and then continued.
“Sir, could you maybe tell me, even in rough terms, what a Talent is? I’ve been so curious ever since that day I couldn’t stand it. Just to me…….”
“You want to die?”
“N-no! Sorry! Let’s go. Move aside! You idiots!”
He shouted at the top of his lungs and cleared the path for me.
I rode the elevator with the other applicants.
The big guy and I stood side by side, watching the floor numbers climb.
“So why did you come to Dio Guild?”
“Ah, well…… I got into trouble when I was younger. I was in a brawl and ended up in juvenile detention.”
That made sense.
As expected, there wasn’t a single normal person in Dio Guild.
It was definitely the problem child of the guild world—a place where any Tom, Dick, or Harry could throw in an application.
As I talked with the big guy, a question suddenly occurred to me.
“What about the army?”
I’d enlisted around this age too.
After I enlisted, my grandmother died, and my family collapsed into ruins.
The big guy grinned.
“My predicted rank is B, right? I’m planning to reach real B-rank soon.”
Once a Hunter reached B-rank or higher, several privileges kicked in, and one of them was military exemption.
With monsters coming out almost every day, locking an experienced Hunter away in the army was a serious waste of manpower.
If someone awakened during service, the moment they were confirmed to be B-rank or higher, they could leave their military status behind.
That was why, when someone got a predicted rank of B or even B-, they became obsessed with raising it as fast as possible.
There were two ways to raise a Hunter’s rank.
You could build up your record, climbing step by step on paper.
Or you could pull off something so exceptional that Korea itself would take notice and be promoted two ranks at once.
That was my second reason for coming to Dio Guild.
To build merit and officially rise from F-rank to B-rank.
And to get out of the army the right way, too.
Ping.
With a cheerful chime, the elevator doors opened.
Outside, a huge banquet hall greeted us.
Gleaming chandeliers sparkled overhead.
A red carpet covered the floor, soft underfoot, like walking across grass.
Following the guide, I spotted someone standing on a stage in the distance.
As the applicants found their places, he watched silently for a while before finally speaking.
“Welcome to Dio Guild. I’ll be your interviewer for this test.”
He stepped to the side of the podium, bowed politely, and then continued.
“I happen to be very interested in fortune-telling. The fact that I’ve met you all here isn’t some heavenly arrangement? So, everyone, don’t just stand there. Come forward.”
Heavenly arrangement, huh.
I’d stopped Seo Gwang-pal’s crimes.
Put down the twins.
Killed Go Ju-hun.
And now I stood at the very ground where the source of all that rot had taken root.
If all of this was fate—
I’d gladly accept it.
The big guy beside me tilted his head.
“Huh? What did you say, sir?”
“Shut up and follow me.”
“Yes, sir.”
I straightened my crooked name tag and blended into the crowd of applicants.