CH-048

Sniff sniff.

There was a smell of blood.

"...What happened, meow?"

The cat looked at the man before him. The neat-faced man blinked, as if asking what the matter was.

"Don't play dumb, meow."

Another person might not have noticed, but the cat was different.

Though it seemed he wore them to hide injuries, bruise marks were visible under his gloves.

Noticing the gaze, Seo Shinu pulled his gloves on tighter.

"Is it obvious? Haha..."

"What's with that pitiful state, meow?"

Along with the feeling of pity, a question followed. This was because the mission given to Seo Shinu this time had no particularly dangerous elements.

What could have happened over the past few days?

"There was something I needed to test out, so I went through a bit of trouble."

"Meow?"

The cat looked at him quizzically, but Seo Shinu didn't explain further.

Something to test out, to the point of getting this injured? He looked like he should be heading to the infirmary, not a summons.

While hesitating, Seo Shinu started moving. The cat hurriedly jumped onto the top of a low wall. The wall was about chest height for Seo Shinu.

Hearing the sound of small footsteps, Seo Shinu spoke.

"So, what was it?"

"An incident occurred, meow."

"Was there a need to come pick me up like this?"

"...The Boss is in a bad mood, meow."

The cat glanced sideways at Seo Shinu's face.

"Really?"

A thoroughly indifferent reaction. He seemed to find the explanation that the Boss was in a bad mood to be stating the obvious.

Indeed, days when the Boss was in a good mood were rare. However, this summons wasn't a light matter like usual.

With a trembling heart, the cat gulped.

Swoosh!

"Meowt!"

The cat jumped at the hand that approached suddenly.

"Whoa there."

Seo Shinu, who staggered, grabbed the wall and regained his balance. He seemed to have been limping since earlier, and it looked like he almost fell after all.

"How did you hurt your leg, meow?"

"It's nothing. I just made a mistake while fighting a monster."

"Meow..."

The cat was shocked.

A mistake. That was a word the Seo Shinu he knew would never utter.

Had aging begun? Thinking that the other injuries were also sustained for that reason made him feel sorry.

"Ah, it's not that my ability was lacking..."

The belated excuse didn't register in his ears.

"...so at the end, when I used my ability, it went down in one shot."

Sending him in this vulnerable state was no different from sending him to the afterlife.

Out of consideration for their long-standing relationship, the cat decided to give him a hint. It was because he thought Seo Shinu needed to realize the gravity of this matter.

"Seo Shinu. I'm only telling you, meow."

"Yeah?"

Seo Shinu perked up his ears. There was no one around, but the cat unnecessarily lowered his voice.

"Actually... a thief broke into the office, meow."

"A thief? When?"

"It was the day the Boss went out, meow."

"Ahh."

The only one who had remained in the hideout that day was Seo Shinu. He nodded, as if recalling that fact himself.

"One document went missing, meow."

"That's a big problem."

Seo Shinu clicked his tongue.

"A big problem, meow. Be careful today, meow."

He could be blamed for being in the hideout but failing to catch the intruder. In severe cases, he might even be suspected of being the spy.

The fact that they bothered to send someone to meet him meant he was already half under suspicion.

The cat closed his mouth. He thought Seo Shinu would fully understand the implication.

As expected, the man stopped walking. At the same time, a cold winter wind blew.

A snack bag rolled in front of them. Someone seemed to have left it on the wall.

The shape swaying as if about to fly away any moment stimulated his instincts.

"......"

The cat crouched down.

"Myack!"

Bap!

Using his soft paws, he wildly batted the snack bag around. The bag crumpled with a noisy sound.

Bap! Bap! Bap!

It was while the cat was deeply engrossed in that activity.

"...Hmm."

His ears perked up at the voice tinged with amusement. It was a light tone unthinkable right after delivering gloomy news.

Turning around, Seo Shinu was smiling meaningfully.

"I wonder how much trouble I'll be in."

***

When the Boss hit me last time, how much had my Karma decreased? It decreased incredibly much, so much that it was hard to believe it was from mere punches.

"Who... leaked the information..."

Bang!

The Boss irritably slammed the desk. His tightly clenched fist trembled.

I looked at Jang Yijoong standing next to me. His expression was as blank as usual, but I could see his nape was damp with sweat. Even though the room was nothing but cool.

Given the circumstances, Jang Yijoong looked to be the culprit who leaked the information. In fact, he was the actual culprit.

The Boss would probably realize it too once he calmed his excitement a little. Then that bastard wouldn't get out alive and well.

A situation perfectly cornered.

In short, it meant it was a perfect situation to get Jang Yijoong indebted to me.

I could pin it on someone else, but to bring that righteousness-filled bastard to my side, such petty tricks wouldn't do.

Perhaps noticing my gaze, Jang Yijoong's eyes turned this way. Taking the chance when our eyes met, I smirked, and his feigned composure wavered.

Yijoong-ah... are you that scared?

I, your Hyung, will save you.

I took a step forward.

"...I believe it was my mistake."

As soon as I spoke, the Boss's eerie pupils pierced through me.

"Mistake?"

Removing his hand from the desk, the Boss crossed the messed-up floor and came right up to me. I felt a stinging gaze on the back of my head. I calmly opened my mouth.

"I'm sorry. A while ago, I let a repairman in, and it seems that guy was a spy... Geuk!"

"So you're saying you did it..."

I haven't finished speaking yet, you know...

I wanted to protest that, but only gagging sounds came out of my mouth. It was because the short-tempered Boss had grabbed my throat.

The Boss ground his teeth. Like the control freak he was, he was furious that the plan had gone slightly awry.

"You... dared to..."

Thwack!

Punched in the stomach just like that, I collapsed onto the floor.

"Keok... Keu-euk..."

Briefly clutching my stomach and trembling from the dull pain.

Barely suppressing the corners of my mouth from rising, I checked my status window.

[Karma: 53022(-8)]

...As expected.

What kind of pain was the pain just now? Wasn't it a pain that leads me to happiness!

To lower my Karma, I had to get beaten up more.

"Boss..."

In the meantime, Jang Yijoong tactlessly opened his mouth.

"I'm... ugh, sorry. It was my negligence..."

I hurriedly cut him off. My eyes met Jang Yijoong's. Seeing his flustered face, I felt a faint sense of pride.

'Sticking by him wasn't a waste of effort after all.'

To be able to unsettle a spy who had infiltrated with the determination to kill us to this extent.

Looking now, aside from Jang Yijoong, myself, and the Boss, everyone else had already left the room.

'I went to the trouble of helping you, so don't interfere and take the hint to disappear yourself...'

I gestured towards the door with my eyes, loading that meaning.

"..."

His face pale, Jang Yijoong, who had been moving his lips slightly, turned around abruptly and left as if running away.

As I was looking at the door left slightly ajar, a grim voice called me.

"What are you looking at?"

"...Sorry."

I suppressed the corners of my mouth that habitually rose. The mood was not one for laughing, no matter how I looked at it. I got up, clutching my throbbing stomach.

"Seo Shinu."

"Yes, Boss."

"I am disappointed in you in many ways."

I was kicked by the foot again and fell to the floor. The Boss grabbed my hair and lifted me up. My hair, which I had styled more loosely than usual, quickly became a mess.

"Die. Seo Shinu."

Blood surged up my throat. The previous injuries hadn't fully healed, and the new ones combining created a synergy effect.

It literally hurt enough to die, but still, I knew. The Boss didn't actually want to kill me.

In the old days, I would have immediately spat it out and exaggerated about coughing up blood. But this time, I deliberately didn't spit the blood out and swallowed it. I let my body be thrown around this way and that as if it were someone else's business.

Because...

[Karma: 53017(-5)]

The value was dropping rapidly.

It's more efficient than any method I've tried over the past few days!

Indeed, the Boss knows how to beat people up. I became proud of my discernment in choosing such a man as my superior.

It was while I was mentally offering praises no one would notice.

"What is this?"

The Boss stopped beating me and suddenly grabbed my collar, pulling me up. His gaze was directed at my forehead. He seemed to have discovered a wound.

"I made a mistake during a mission. It's an injury from then."

"You?"

"Even I make mistakes sometimes. Haha..."

The Boss looked at me with an unreadable expression. Not knowing what he was thinking, it was hard to gauge the pattern.

Due to reflexively tensing up, I swallowed involuntarily. I closed my eyes, anticipating the coming pain.

"Stupid."

"...?"

The Boss irritably shoved me. I fell into a good position to be kicked, but instead of a kick, the sound of receding footsteps was heard.

"Forget it. Get out."

"Huh?"

The Boss sat down in his seat.

"Bring Go Sangwon here."

"...You're not going to hit me more?"

"Do you want to get beaten more, you perverted son of a bitch?"

I blinked, watching the Boss cough.

'It ended this quickly?'

Something was strange.

"There was no other intention behind this incident either, right? Wasn't it a 'mistake' like the fool you are?"

As if regaining his composure, the Boss twisted the corner of his mouth up.

"A useless guy like you isn't even worth getting angry at."