Overtime Villain 02

Tanasananas

May 1

The copier broke down. This darn copier had never worked properly. It relentlessly tormented me like a bald supervisor since I joined this company three years ago.

Especially on busy days like today, when I had to voluntarily work overtime, nothing was more irritating than the copier breaking down.

"For heaven's sake… I'm really busy today… I don't have time and need to go out for a crucial meeting soon."

I pleaded with folded hands in front of the copier, but the stubborn machine refused to budge.

After struggling with the copier for a while, turning it off and on repeatedly, I finally managed to get it running again.

Exhausted from the battle with the copier, I blankly stared at the paper coming out of it. But the bald supervisor couldn't even wait for the short time it took for him to approach and start nagging.

"Newbie! You still haven't copied the documents I asked for? Why are you so slow? It's an important meeting, so pull yourself together."

"…Yes."

'Clearly, I looked like someone struggling with the copier.'

Passing by, the continuous nagging from Manager Kim ignited my anger.

Shin Jae-eon, from the moment he joined, with his impeccable appearance, tall stature, and broad shoulders, not only made the company lively, but also remained popular due to his friendly demeanor.

One of the few people who disliked him was Manager Kim.

He had an unimpressive figure with a protruding belly and almost no hair on his head. Despite not bothering to dress properly and having a bad personality, there were hardly any people among the employees who liked him.

Perhaps for this reason, Manager Kim always found fault with everything Jae-eon did.

Those who had to endure Manager Kim's nagging waves of complaints sent sympathetic glances Jae-eon's way. But Jae-eon had no intention of receiving Manager Kim's perennial hysterics on their behalf and quickly lowered his head as if he hadn't seen anything.

'That damn guy…'

Jae-eon cursed in his mind, wishing for Manager Kim's head to be even more bald, and returned to his seat.

After meticulously reviewing the meeting materials once again with a few colleagues, he neatly organized and clipped them together. Before he knew it, lunchtime had passed, even though it was nothing special.

"Shall we go grab some lunch?"

"Sure."

As the company was going through a particularly busy period, it wasn't until at least twenty minutes into lunchtime that people began to rise from their seats, one by one, at someone's suggestion.

Jae-eon, too, finally set aside his tasks and left the office when his colleagues, looking zombie-like with pale faces, started tapping each other on the back.

"Manager Kim's behavior has gotten worse lately, hasn't it?"

Yoon-jung, a new hire from a different team, walked beside Jae-eon and patted his shoulder.

"…It's nothing new."

Watching her bitter smile, as if apologizing, Jae-eon recalled how she had turned a blind eye to Manager Kim's unreasonable behavior just now.

Of course, knowing that butting in with unnecessary comments wouldn't help much, he didn't feel upset or resentful.

"I heard the promotion got canceled again this time. I was thinking we'd be on the same level soon, and it got me all excited."

"Haha."

"That's because he habitually harasses his subordinates, making him a perennial deputy."

Her belly protruded noticeably under the comfortable dress she wore. It wasn't due to fat accumulation like Manager Kim, she was a pregnant woman, who had become pregnant earlier this year.

In fact, she had confessed to Jae-eon and got rejected just two months after they joined the company together. That incident could have made things awkward between them, but thankfully, she had a graceful personality, and they had gotten along well ever since.

As she sat down with a plate of food, the news on the screen in the cafeteria caught their attention. The breaking news that had been repeatedly broadcast was about a prisoner, who had escaped this time.

He was a villain in the telekinetic field who had committed the crime of killing more than five innocent civilians for money. He was being transported to Dolphin, a prison known as the villain's correctional facility, when the vehicle overturned during an escape attempt by his followers, according to reports.

It was such a significant event that it could turn the government and even the Hero Association upside down. The prisoner's name was Kang Min-chul, and his specialty was explosive telekinesis.

"It's really scary… But there shouldn't be any harm here, right?"

Jae-eon, who had been reading the urgent notice urging special caution for a villain with a very dangerous ability along with Kang Min-chul's photo, lifted his head at the sudden remark.

"We have 'Red-Hell' here."

Yoon-jung sighed as she stroked her bulging belly. It seemed that her craving for buckwheat noodles wasn't going away, despite humming a song. Seeing her dilemma, Jae-eon added a few pieces of tonkatsu* to her plate.

(Japanese cuisine dish, deep-fried pork)

"Please have this. You should eat well, especially since you have a child."

"I was sure I wanted this, but the smell is putting me off. Thanks, Jae-eon."

"It's nothing."

'Safe'… Yeah, there wasn't anywhere as safe as here in the whole world. Because this place, Gangnam, was where the headquarters of the Hero Association was located.

The reason why such an important headquarters could exist in such a small piece of land was all thanks to 'Red-Hell-Fire'. There were rumors that he detested being called a hero, but regardless, if it weren't for his mighty ability, Gangnam might have already turned into a sea of flames.

Red-Hell-Fire, commonly known as Rehel, was the only avenger in the world and was registered with the Hero Association as the strongest among the heroes.

There were jokes circulating that if he didn't exist, the world would have already fallen into the hands of villains. In fact, on the days when Rehel came to Korea, the crime rate of villains dropped significantly, so the statement wasn't entirely false.

After swallowing the tonkatsu in one gulp, Yoon-jung chewed thoughtfully for a while before suddenly lowering her head.

"Ugh… What's important now isn't the escaped villain. I have to go to the bank today…"

"It's not too late to go now, right? You can go quickly."

With about twenty minutes left for lunchtime and a bank located next to the company building, she could finish within ten minutes, if she was lucky. Yoon-jung seemed to think the same, as she hurriedly finished the remaining buckwheat noodles and got up to leave.

Before Jae-eon could suggest what to do if she felt unwell, or to eat slowly, she had already left the restaurant.

Left alone, Jae-eon finished the food still on the plate, then got up and followed her to the bank. Even if he hurried, there was still time for the bank, so he planned to check how much longer the bank business would take and inform the team leader instead.

Considering how busy the team leader had been lately, he would probably understand even if Jae-eon took an extra five minutes during lunchtime. Unlike the rude and petty Manager Kim, Team Leader Park was a wonderful boss who was adept and broad-minded, capable of embracing and caring for his team members.

"…Huh?"

Standing at the entrance of the bank, Jae-eon tilted his head at the sudden strange feeling. The air was oddly silent. There were no people coming out, and there was no sound coming from inside.

The bank located in the heart of Gangnam couldn't possibly be deserted during lunchtime. Moreover, there was a strange feeling that he didn't want to enter this place for some reason.

After lingering at the entrance of the bank for a while with a strange premonition, Jae-eon let out a deep sigh. He trusted his intuition.

In fact, Jae-eon was a psychic known as "Lucky Guy." His ability to be lucky wasn't extensive or absolute.

It was just that he often found a ten-thousand-won bill on the street, or during exam periods, the questions on the pages he had reviewed seemed to appear in the test, or whenever he felt like he should study, there would be a pop quiz.

But he wasn't lucky enough to win the lottery jackpot or experience a life-changing stroke of luck.

So, whenever he had a bad feeling, the best course of action was to avoid it at all costs. He felt a strong desire to turn around and run away. If he hadn't known that Yoon-jung was inside the bank, he wouldn't have entered this ominous place.

If it had been Bald Manager Kim inside the bank, he might have actually walked away with a sense of satisfaction.

After much deliberation, Jae-eon closed his eyes as if making a decision, then opened the bank door and stepped inside. Upon seeing the scene in front of him, he let out a disappointed smile and raised both hands.

Inside the bank, a scene straight out of a movie was unfolding. Armed robbers holding firearms suitable for use in foreign countries all aimed at Jae-eon as he entered.

"Add one more hostage here."

As Jae-eon was led away with his hands tied behind his back, Yoon-jung was kneeling in the corner. Fortunately, apart from her pale, frightened complexion, she didn't seem to be injured.

"Are you okay?"

"Yeah. I'm sorry, Jae-eon. Because of me…"

"It's okay."

Jae-eon comforted the frightened Yoon-jung, then scanned the inside of the bank with his eyes. There were quite a few people who seemed to be hostages, but strangely, he didn't feel anything unusual from the outside. Judging by the fact that no heroes or police had intervened so far, it seemed that the current situation hadn't leaked outside.

'Is there a meta here? What kind of ability could it be? A barrier? Or sound suppression? Robbing a bank in the middle of Gangnam… It's absurd.'

There was no point in provoking such people. Occasionally, someone would enter the bank, but most of them either screamed or caused a disturbance, only to be knocked out cold by the robbers.

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