Second dimensional mercenary

Second-Dimensional Mercenary Volume 1, Chapter 1

Demo ― Click!!!

Do you want to get a job?

Would you be willing to sell your soul to get a job?

If so, you’ve come to the right place.

The job information site ‘Yeongpali’ is for those like you, who are desperate to find work, even if it means selling your soul.

We will provide you with a job that suits you,

A job you want,

A job where you can maximize your abilities,

An easy, high-paying job that fits your aptitude.

The only requirement is your desperation, nothing more.

Do you wish to proceed to this site? Accept / Decline

Click…

SCENE 1. Learned Helplessness

It was a sunny day. The sky was blue and the sun was dazzling.

I was lying around in the room when I heard the sound of my phone ringing. I quickly swiped my finger across it.

Oppa, hurry up and run!

“Yeah?”

It was my younger sister, Yeonwoo. This girl is incredibly fast with her fingers. Sending a message is almost like chatting. Before I could even reply with ‘Why?’ the next message arrived.

“Je-gyeong Oppa’s monthly salary is 400. Dad’s pissed.”

“Holy.”

My eyes nearly popped out of their sockets.

With that one message, everything was settled. I quickly packed my bag in about 30 seconds and left the house in 1 minute and 7 seconds.

“Let’s go. This is the only way to survive.”

There are many kinds of filial piety, but the most important one is living longer than your parents.

I have to live. That is for my father.

Hot-blooded, passionate, our father. He’s a good man under normal circumstances, but when he flips, he’s reckless and indiscriminate. If I’m not careful, he might even beat me to death.

A joke? Do you think this is a joke? Don’t you know Crown Prince Sohyeon? Crown Prince Sohyeon?

“Ah, damn.”

In my haste, I forgot my cigarettes. I was about to turn around and go back, but then a faded green old Sonata caught my eye.

Screech!

Drift parking! That’s an S for sure!

The car raised a thick puff of smoke as it slammed into the parking lot.

Bang! Crash!

The sound of a car door opening and closing roughly followed.

“Cheolho, you bastard―!”

I instinctively ducked. That sound was like an incoming grenade!

“Ugh! Where the hell did he go?!”

Bang! Crash!

My hot-blooded father was pounding away at something. I carefully fled the scene with the sound of the house collapsing in the background.

If I didn’t run now, I could guarantee I’d get a beating.

“Ugh, someone needs to do something about that temper of his.”

I sighed as I sat down in a nearby park.

My hot-blooded father. He usually cherishes and loves his son, but as much as his love overflows, so do his expectations.

Recently, as I entered my third year of unemployment, his mood swings have gotten much more intense.

“…Je-gyeong is making 400 a month?”

I couldn’t do that. I don’t have any TOEIC scores or certifications, and since I just coasted through college, my grades aren’t good either. So, the path to employment is like trying to thread a needle.

In some ways, it’s an inevitable result, but if I’m being honest, I feel… a bit unfair.

“Damn, what did I do wrong?”

In my life, did I really mess things up? No.

I didn’t flunk out with a grade point average that sounded like a gunshot with all the Fs, I didn’t have attendance problems everywhere, I went to a university that everyone goes to, I went to the military like everyone else, my relationships with seniors and juniors weren’t bad, my grades weren’t terrible, I didn’t cause any major accidents, and I graduated on time without any delays.

I didn’t study my life away, but I didn’t just slack off either. I was just ordinary.

If that’s my fault, then sure, it’s my fault. I didn’t study my ass off in college.

But… isn’t that a bit much?

I don’t even wish for the romanticism of campus life and all that. Is school a study room? If I studied my brains out for three years of high school, shouldn’t I have been allowed to rest for at least one year?

“Ugh, my first-year grades…”

When I think of my old grades, I can’t help but sigh. Yeah, to be honest, I did slack off in my first year. I didn’t expect it to lead to something this big.

Job hunting. The ones who got jobs now are the ones who didn’t bother with clubs or society rooms in their first year, and instead, they buried themselves in the library from day one.

Well, that’s the trend in society these days, the harsh reality, and if you don’t work hard, you’ll naturally fall behind… and all that. I don’t have anything to say about that.

The rules are the rules, and the winners are the winners.

Whether it’s job hunting or whatever, the people who got jobs are the ones who sacrificed their precious twenties to study, and they’re getting the reward for it.

But you know,

“It’s unfair, it’s unfair. I wish they would just stop talking about college.”

You might say I’m being childish, but honestly, that’s how I feel.

It’s unfair.

During my senior year of high school, when I didn’t want to study, what did my teachers and parents always say?

“You can have fun in college, just endure for three more years,” right? I studied like crazy because of that.

But it’s wrong. You can’t even have fun in college. You still have to study in college.

I didn’t want to fall behind. I studied enough not to fall too far behind. But because of that, I couldn’t even have fun.

So, here I am, muddling through. If I had just thrown everything away and partied hard enough to not care, I wouldn’t feel so unfair.

But I didn’t do that. I just did what everyone else did, nothing special. And the result is… this?

A lifetime of being unemployed?

“Does being a caddie really make that much money? Should I try that?”

I’m frustrated. So frustrated. My friend Je-gyeong, the one who was at rock bottom in high school, is making an annual salary of 5,000.

Just as a caddie.

Don’t frown at the phrase ‘just a caddie.’ I don’t believe in the idea that some jobs are beneath others, and I didn’t mean it in that sense.

What I mean is, even a golf course caddie can buy a house after working hard for a few years, but after graduating from college, studying diligently, and putting in effort, if the result is a lifetime of unemployment,

Isn’t something wrong here?

If to avoid dying, to avoid falling behind, I have to live my entire life grinding away, unable to even take a breath, just to survive and become ‘normal’ in society,

Isn’t something fundamentally wrong with this?

“Ah, it’s cold.”

After complaining about this messed-up world for a while, it was already evening.

Maybe it was because of the rain, but as the sun set, a chilly wind began to blow.

Damn, it’s cold. According to the calendar, it’s the middle of summer, though.

It’s frustrating. I’m hungry too. I left in such a hurry earlier, I don’t have warm enough clothes. I wish I could stop by a convenience store and eat some ramen, but when I opened my wallet, it was empty.

“Father’s food will take a bit longer to cool down… sigh.”

Ah, it’s so sad that I can’t even eat ramen because I don’t have even a thousand-won bill in my wallet. It’s enough to make me feel miserable. And I’m thirty years old, running away from my father out of fear. What am I even doing?

‘Should I just go back?’

No, it’s still far. When I calculated the time, it had only been about two hours.

“Ah, I’m pathetic.”

I keep running away, and even I think I look really pathetic.

Running away. Yeah, running away.

I could try to make excuses, but I know better than anyone that what I’m doing right now is running away.

In the past, I should have faced things head-on.

I should have gone in front of my father, said ‘I’m sorry. I’ll work harder to get a job,’ and said it confidently.

My father isn’t tormenting me for fun; it’s because he’s worried about me, seeing me like this.

If I tell him that I’m working hard, that I’ll find a job soon, and reassure him, everything will settle peacefully.

The problem is… I’ve already used that excuse five times.

“But getting a job isn’t as easy as just wanting it.”

Ding ding!

Just as I was complaining, a text came in, unaware of the mood. I almost deleted it thinking it was just spam, but my hand stopped.

“…Huh?”

A gift has arrived! Big Cup Ramen!

“Ooh!”

Suddenly, a gift? Big Cup Ramen, just when I’m cold and hungry! I grabbed the gift coupon that had flown into my phone and ran to the convenience store, grinning.

“But… where is this from?”

Job information site Yeongpali…?

Did I sign up for something like this?

I took the Big Cup from the cashier, poured hot water into it, and while waiting, I opened the gift coupon that had come along with it.

Hello, Kim Cheol-ho,

Cold, frustrated, and tired, right?

Are you also hungry?

Oh, young one, when you’re feeling down, you need to power up!

To help fill your stomach and give you some strength, our job information site Yeongpali is sending you a cup of ramen!

“…That really hits me in the feels.”

These people are impressive. Using advertising like this.

I clicked the site link included with the coupon.

When you’re hungry and someone throws you food, it’s only natural to check out the site, at least out of gratitude.

Slurping down the ramen, I followed the message link in reverse.

Ding ding!

“Wow, that was fast.”

All you had to do was sign up to get a free, useless garbage phone… No, a ‘struggling phone’ of all things, but it actually works. The flashy homepage appears smoothly, without any lag, showing all sorts of texts, complex and chaotic.

Ignore

Criticism

Mockery

Empty Wallet

Pain

Tears

Do you want to get a job?

“…What’s this?”