The Foreigner on the Periphery

People viewed Oh Man-sik as an honest and deep person. He had some pure beliefs. Keeping that belief meant that they could continue to produce and keep the furnace burning even while competitors were shutting down their business.  

It was a creed that prevented domestic alchemists from leaving abroad. The idea that he could not hand over the country’s gold market to foreign companies made him refuse to give up.  

In addition to this, his criteria for distinguishing ‘man' and ‘us' could be sufficiently expanded depending on the situation. The word ‘us' mentioned above had been used to group ethnicity, but sometimes the word became a larger concept to group the same race.  

The more he met the great enemy, the more ‘we' grew, and he always struggled and worked for those who belonged to his inner arm. To such an arrogant man, the extraterrestrial races were those who could never become ‘we.'  

They were people who cannot be tied together in any way, whether in terms of ethnicity or race.  

Oh Man-sik had a pure belief. He must exclude non-human races.  

‘In accordance with the provisions of Article 450 of the Civil Act, we notify you that the following trade receivables we have against you have been transferred as follows along with the provisional registration of the mortgage and the right to transfer the title.

Transferee: Global level Korea International Trading Co., Ltd.  

Assignee: Gelanco Dimensional United Kingdom (King) Princess Vermi.’  

When he received the notice, Oh Mansik's eyes were turned over in anger. It was for the sake of the ‘humans’ living in Korea that he had a hard time running the company.  

As if trampling on that effort, the creditor handed over the right to collect the debt to the aliens. Oh Man-sik had a foreboding that this was probably a plan that had been prepared for a long time.  

What was the secret of their ability to supply the raw materials needed for alchemy at a low price? Considering that the material was also used to process Stan’s human body alloy, the answer eventually showed itself.  

He realized he had been playing around. All of this was a plan that Princess Stanin had devised to take control of the company.  

‘How is it? We can help the boss.'  

The man who approached him said that he had been watching Oh Man-sik and his company for a long time. The management philosophy that discriminated against different races was not well known to the public, but it was something that could be easily understood if one were to pay attention to it.  

He planned to terrorize Princess Vermi and wanted to help Man-sik in the process.  

‘There is a story that the Stan people led by the princess are planning the 8th group immigration. This visit is also a preparation for that.'

‘ · · · · ·However, I thought that the woman was coming to urge her to pay off her debts. We didn’t inform our company in advance, but she was like that. If you dare to come to Korea, this time it will be from Korean companies. Everyone is determined. It will come like a surprise attack.'

‘Of course, there must be a reason. As you know, the best way to hide the truth is to hide it in another truth.'  

Both purposes were true, and he said that they would only use the debt-duty purpose externally to hide the mass immigration issue.  

Seeing Oh Man-sik hesitate, the other party said: ‘And, what if this visit does not lead to mass immigration?'  

‘Yes?'  

Oh Man-sik doubted his ears for a moment. ‘We are trying to express the despair and anger that ordinary humans, pitiful humans feel, to the rulers. I’m trying to show how angry I am with aliens who shake and gnaw at human places…’  

‘…’  

‘It means that it doesn't matter whether the Stans will really immigrate or not. And…’  

The other party spoke with a crescent-like smile on his lips.  

‘Isn't that not important to the boss as well?'  

Even if Princess Vermi were to die, the bonds would be inherited by someone else. They promised not only to pay off all of Oh Man-sik’s debt, but also to provide financial support so that he could survive the pranks of the alchemy company Big Five in the future.  

He didn't know when, but it was certain that the princess would visit him during her visit to Earth. Oh Man-sik thought that it would be enough to wait until then and do a few very simple actions.  

There then would be no evidence left. He obviously shouldn’t have left.  

– Boss! Immigration officials are now in the lobby on the 1st floor!  

Oh Man-sik who heard the bewildered staff pouring out, put down the receiver and closed his eyes. Someone’s face flashed in his mind.  

‘How?'  

It was already spilled water. The notoriety of the immigration agent was well known to him. If caught, one would be interrogated until their death. Much less, considering what kind of group he was associated with this time, he thought it would be better to end everything here now.  

With this, he made a tough decision. Quietly, he began to accumulate his magical powers.

As an alchemist, he devoted his entire life to chemical engineering magic, but such a spell was not without lethal power. He tried to create a chemical that was extremely poisonous the moment he inhaled it.  

However, since it was not an attack spell, the rate of synthesizing was quite slow.  

That changed his fate.  

Bang!  

The door began to open with a roar.

"!"

Oh Man-sik looked at the uninvited guest with eyes full of despair. The face in his mind was now standing in front of the door and staring at him with an expressionless face.  

It turned out to be Minjun. After the agent dispatched by the Immigration Bureau to the shopping mall safely ‘successfully' the swarm of undead insects, Minjun was dispatched a backup manpower to attack the Korean Precision Pension Service.  

While the other agents spread across each floor to conduct a search and seizure, Minjun headed straight to the president’s office as if he had a foreboding of something.  

Whirick!  

Long leather straps protruded from his sleeves. It writhes in the air, split the wind, and wound Oh Man-sik, who was sitting on the chair.  

"Ugh!"  

Oh Man-sik realized that the spell he had been preparing for had been shattered. His magic power was frozen. In this state, he could not memorize magic.  

It was impossible for him to take his own life as his hands were tied and movement was restricted. Minjun stood in front of him, him who had long since become defenseless.  

The cold gaze of the agent and the desperate gaze of Oh Man-sik then intersected. Minjun asked, "Why are you like that?"  

He then answered without hesitation. "Mr. Ye Minjun. I’m sorry about this. But don’t even think about interrogating me here before you call a lawyer."

Instead of a troll lawyer who was forced to hire a troll lawyer for a short time as a show by following their advice after working with the Human Rights Solidarity, this time, he was planning to call a "real" lawyer.  

"Sir, I have the right to remain silent…"  

"No, no."  

He cut off his words resolutely. "I should have been prepared the moment I set out to do something like this. According to the 4th Amendment to the Constitution of the Republic of Korea, from now on, your basic rights as a citizen of this country are partially limited."  

Then Oh Man-sik shouted with a distorted expression on his face. "Why are you on their side?!"  

:…:  

The bound suspect then exploded in anger like a flame he had been hiding.  

"Seven times. Humanity has already gone through it seven times! Among the aliens that came, there was only one race that humans happily accepted. It is you, the elves!"  

Externally, the quarter elves, 75% of whom were human, did not hesitate to shoot at Minjun.

Minjun then muttered to himself, ‘Yep, that’s a supremacist. If even the slightest bit of blood is mixed with other races, you are not human. It’s just something else.'  

"Yes, I am always grateful to you. It was also an elf who taught me magic when I lost both my parents and siblings during the war and was begging at the market. I will pay that debt for the rest of my life. But . . . no other race!"  

"Princess Vermi did not come here for mass immigration."  

"Who believes that?!"  

However, Minjun, who looked into the other person’s eyes, knew. The fact that Oh Man-sik did not believe in the conspiracy theories either. Some moved for profit and some moved to carry out beliefs.  

This event was a golden opportunity for Oh Man-sik in order to achieve both goals. Some cognitive distortion would have made the choice easier. Minjun began to speak in a tone that was shiveringly cold.  

The reason why he was angry soon came out of his mouth. "Do you know who the hell are you with?"  

" · · · · · · · · ·"  

"This is the Human Rights Coalition. Do you know what their ultimate plan is? It is to annihilate all non-human intelligent beings from this world. Shall I say it again? It is ‘remove.' Either kick them out or kill them all! How many extraterrestrial races they have slaughtered so far…?!"  

Words like hollow shells came out of Oh Man-sik's mouth. "So what do you mean?"  

"?!"

The old man repeated the words with no emotion. "So what do you mean? It doesn’t matter how many swings it'll take for them to die. I’m not even human after all.”  

At this point, Minjun felt like he was talking to the wall. The eyes of Oh Man-sik who looked at him were terribly clear. He has an unsuspecting glance about what he believed in. It was the eyes of those who had the idea that if animals could be killed for humans, they could also kill other races for humans.  

He didn’t mean to deny that they had hearts, feelings, and intelligence comparable to humans. Nevertheless, they were different.  

This arrogant morality functioned only within the limits of the human species.  

“You are.”  

Then, Minjun decided to end the conversation. "Originally, I was going to interrogate. The gentlest, most efficient, and happiest way for you. But the plans have changed. There was an urgent order from above."  

Agent only then showed a little sympathy in his eyes. There was compassion that had been mixed with malice.

"The elder dragon will interrogate you directly."  

"?!"  

"My method, at best, is to make the other person confess what they remember. But there are a lot of really weird and nasty spells that only dragons can use."  

His eyes were shaking heavily. He seemed to have predicted that something beyond the worst he had ever imagined awaited him.  

"And among them, there are types that push the brain function of living things to their limit, you know?"  

The magic that Minjun couldn't use was simply overclocking the brain. In the process, the character under investigation would reconstruct all memories that he or she couldn't' consciously recall.  

This situation was one wherein he contacted the Human Rights Solidarity, who was around, what the other person’s voice was like, every detail and every word he wore.  

Of course, the process itself would be very painful. "You won’t go crazy or die that easily. Among the agents the old dragon has, there are many yangbans who have been deeply blessed by the gods."  

" · · · · · · · · · ·!"  

While another agent was taking Oh Man-sik, who started to tremble, Minjun’s phone rang again.  

Blair. Minjun’s expression hardened when he checked the sender’s name. From this side, he dared to call first…  

“Yes?!”

And when he answered the phone, he heard something unbelievable.  

***  

At the scene, a bloody smell stung his nose.  

Bradley was lucky. He was believed to have died instantly in a single attack.  

The rest were not. It was estimated that the perpetrator stayed at the scene for only 15 minutes. For those who suffered, 15 minutes must have felt like an eternity.  

All except for Bradley, the bones of their entire body were shattered, and both the inside and outside of the body were indistinguishable, and it was impossible to identify who was who.  

The concrete walls and floors of the underground parking lot were full of flesh and blood. The miserable appearance of being tangled together in lumps made even the agents who had gone through all the antenatal care vomit.  

Minjun stood quietly in the chaos. He kept his eyes fixed on one spot.  

‘Bradley.’  

Bradley had become a stuffed toy that had been torn and sewn back together. The opponent seemed to have torn his body in two at once. After that, he scraped off all the blood, guts, and bones from his body, then poured and stuffed them with foreign substances.  

Finally, the two torn pieces of the body were clumsy and loosely sewn together. He could easily see what was inside.  

There were a few red petals everywhere. They floated, drenched in pools of bloody blood, or were smashed over red shoe prints. The culprit stuffed red rose petals inside Bradley’s sutured body, and Minjun knew what that meant.  

There was a bouquet wrapped in human skin. He seemed to be whispering to him.  

"Me… Agent Ye Minjun," an agent with an unusual ability came and whispered with the intention of having something to confirm. "The soul has already gone out and is not nearby."  

“ · · · · · ·I get it.”  

The Commission had not yet fully deciphered the constituents of the soul. In other words, even committees had a very difficult time dealing with souls. There was miracle-like magic that removed the soul from the prisoner’s body and then transferred it to another body.  

It required a lot of preparation, took a lot of time, and consumed a lot of risk, burden, and resources from the committee’s point of view. Therefore, those who had completed their prison life first got their memories back, and then only after a certain amount of time had passed did they get their bodies back.  

There were plausible excuses. Before returning to the original body, it was said that the rejection reaction should be reduced by spending a period of time to get used to the recovered memories.  

However, the prisoners knew the real reason. This was because those who found their memories were more likely to commit suicide before they could even get their bodies back. If they died on their own, the committee didn't have to spend resources and effort to send a messenger.  

In other words, the committee could not do something like a ‘god' that easily summoned the soul and implanted it in another body immediately after finding out that the prisoner sent to a distant dimension had died.  

If that were possible, no one would die as long as the committee wanted it to.

The implications of that fact proved to be brutally obvious. Bradley was dead.  

"Agent Ye Minjun?" It wasn’t until Blair called him three times that Minjun realized it.  

Unusually, she appeared directly on the scene. She was unable to stay in the office in an emergency when an agent invited from abroad died. Minjun turned to her, prompting her to quickly say what she thought she had been waiting for. "This dangerous fishing is stopped. Princess Vermi must be returned to her original dimension immediately. Although the terminal is closed, it was ordered by Jenkinson in the first place, so it would be possible to make a special exception with Jenkinson’s instructions."  

Minjun forgot to call him by the title of ‘Chairman’ when referring to the dragon because he had gotten so excited.  

However, Blair, who grasped her mood, did not point this out. "There are two reasons. In the first place, what we aimed for as a bait for Princess Vermi was to dig up high-level information from the Human Rights Solidarity. However, the wizard I interrogated was wrong. It is true that the high-ranking people came, but instead of appearing on the scene in person, they invited ‘outside' mercenaries. It has already gone beyond our expectations from here."  

He then gave another reason.

"And the second reason is that I am irresponsible in the current situation. You can’t stop escorting Princess Vermi while she’s being attacked. So we must return the princess to her hometown as soon as possible."  

This was so that her immigration didn't have to care about her anymore. In other words, so that Minjun no longer had to protect her princess. The reason for doing so was clear.  

From now on, Minjun was going to do his best to chase and kill the person who made Bradley like this. In a situation where there was an opponent to protect, you could not go out hunting with all your might. Blair felt a sense of intimidation that was not unfamiliar to Minjun, who spoke each word like that.  

Along with the cold smelted rage, an unbearable spirit leaked out. She managed to prevent the expression on her face, but she had been completely overwhelmed. The elf knew the true nature of this sense of paralysis.  

When her employer was extremely angry, the moment she stood in front of her resembled her intimidation she used to feel.  

“Then, Agent-sama has already identified the suspect’s identity…”  

"I have an opponent I can stick with. No, I am 100% sure."  

As soon as Minjun arrived at the scene, he looked at the scenery of the spirit world with white flames around his eyes. In the dimensional layer overlapped with the spatial coordinates of the physical world, he saw the magical traces left by the suspect.  

He looked like a fluorescent afterimage left on his eyelids right after looking directly into the light, and the bizarre shapes stretched out and distorted.  

However, this time, the traces were arranged according to the intention to make one sentence. The opponent had arrived late and wanted someone who would detect a spiritual trace to look after it.

It was a single line of English sentences with very clear intentions.  

Baby, I missed you.