The Foreigner on the Periphery

Minjun quietly turned his back. The opponent was an old wagon troll driving a buggy. He then glanced at him with annoyed eyes. Thanks to the memorized contents in advance, Minjun realized that he belonged to the management team.  

"Are you the cooking team? What are you doing here now?"  

The spy recruited by Jenkinson was working in the department responsible for food in Changcheon. Minjun gave the prepared answer.  

"I'm not feeling well." The answering voice was very restful and split. The neck was made like this on purpose.  

It was a troll that regenerated over time even if its arm was severed, but it was not completely immune to disease. Moreover, if the same area was damaged for a long time, the regeneration ability eventually decreased and abnormalities would then occur.  

The texture of his voice was so ugly that the staff did not notice that his accent or pronunciation was different from usual.

“Therefore?”  

Turn on the lights in your eyes and stare. "I'll go to the infirmary and get some rest."  

Then, the troll trembled as if he had heard a terrible remark. “What? you’re going to die Do you know how busy the cooking team is right now?"  

“ · · · · · ·Why?” Changcheon wouldn’t be there.  

"The owner skipped meals and left at dawn. When you come back, you’ll probably eat several times as much as a recoil, but you have to prepare that much at once! Is it normal to skin and excavate fifty elephants? Are you telling me to fuck the rest of the team if I’m hanging out here in a yard like this?”  

The kitchen was far from his destination. Minjun pretended to go to the infirmary like this, and he was going to use invisibility magic and evaporate. moaning like an excuse.  

"I can't really feel my strength right now… can I just lie in the infirmary for a few hours?"  

Then, the old troll responded as if it was ridiculous.

"Anyway, young people these days… have to practice being patient even when it's hard. If you’re not feeling well and run to the infirmary, who will do the work? I’ll take sick leave if I get tuberculosis later. Aren’t you thinking of team members to replace your work? Don’t you think it’s a waste of money!”  

Tuberculosis, a serious disease by standards of other races, was a disease similar to the common cold from the point of view of trolls.  

"And, your voice is a little bad, you're walking just fine! If you have the strength to walk, you will also have the strength to be the daughter of an elephant. Go back to the kitchen right now!"  

Minjun had no intention of continuing the quarrel here. ‘Can I sleep for a while? No, that’s not going to happen.’  

It was quite easy to stun a troll with a curse. The problem was that this scene was being watched by CCTV in the control room. If a healthy troll, neither human nor diseased, suddenly collapsed, the management team would suspect poison poisoning and put the entire rare into an emergency.  

It was absolutely not what Minjun wanted.  

‘It’s not that there’s no way.’  

Minjun immediately remembered the disease most feared by the trolls who migrated to Earth. He then let his lips move slightly.  

"Ugh!"

The troll’s face, holding the steering wheel, turned blue. He collapsed into the passenger seat with his body sideways.  

"Ugh… Ah ah ah ah ah ah!"  

He then grabbed his belly and rolled over. “Hurt! It hurts! Aww! Who… call someone!"  

It was a work created by Minjun’s curse. The pain that some said was comparable to the pain of childbirth, that troll was now experiencing it as a male body. The disease's name was urolithiasis.  

The troll then bit the foam in the pain of turning left and right with a knife in his stomach. The transcendental regenerative power was effective in healing wounds, but it could not remove the hard stone stuck in the ureter.  

“Ugh! Whoops!"  

While holding onto him who couldn’t breathe properly and pretending to check his condition, Minjun grabbed the buggy’s walkie-talkie. After revealing his disguised identity, he then reported the situation to the control room.  

"Emergency patient outbreak. Complaining of severe abdominal pain. This is zone AC-19. I will take you to the infirmary."  

"Copy."  

Permission was easily dropped. He threw the seizure troll into the infirmary and said he was going to rest because he wasn’t feeling well. The medics were all busy focusing on the troll.  

‘Code Blue! Code Blue!'  

He then saw a nurse pulling a CPR cart to see if there was a shock.  

‘Even if it was a troll, was the absence of a one-centimeter in diameter a bit severe?'  

Minjun, who left the chaotic treatment room and headed for the hospital bed, activated the invisibility spell in the blind spot of the CCTV. After he left the infirmary, he then headed to the elevator hall. Many employees were still on their way to work.  

He waited for a moment in front of the elevator that led to the 30th basement floor. Then, two men who stood out from the procession of the trolls who made up the majority of the staff approached.  

If one dared to hire that race, it meant that one would have to have a special skill to do that.  

Once they brought the ID from their neck to the pad, the elevator door opened. Unlike other areas, no one can ride. Minjun, who was in a transparent state, floated in the air and rode after them. Ultrasonic sensors or weight sensors to catch invisible intruders were useless.  

The elevator doors then closed and they started moving downstairs. The two men, who had been silent until now, only opened their mouths. They were wary of hearing other employees say.  

"Changcheon-nim said he went out at dawn?"  

"Yeah, wearing it today is cancelled. You only need to close the prepared extraction tube until you return and monitor the existing specimen."  

"Hey, I'm going to catch my breath after a while."

Minjun, who was hiding behind them richly, was going down a different path than when Ha Eun-seong broke in.  

Ha Eun-seong, who was in a free spirit state at the time, approached straight through from the position where he was listening to the psychic waves, but Minjun moved to the elevator, so he was heading to another area on the 30th floor that the ghost could not see.  

Ding! Upon reaching the 30th floor underground, Minjun’s eyes widened as he got out of the elevator following the two of them.  

‘What, this!'  

In the huge underground cavity, cylindrical glass tubes about 2 meters in height were densely lined up. Most of them were empty, but the items placed in the direction the staff walked were filled with contents.  

‘!'  

Beyond the glass walls, people were immersed in a liquid that emitted a faint light. Most of them were goblins, and humans and Orcs were also occasionally seen. What they all had in common was that they were so skinny that their bones stand out.  

It wasn’t difficult to guess where they came from. He had already heard something from Lakefield.

‘You are the poor who were being protected at the medical center. Such crazy…’  

Perhaps it was not all of that. However, at first glance, not a small number of them were confined here instead of being treated and cared for there.  

‘Are you dead?' He then looked closer.  

Minjun, a warlock, could notice the faintly wriggling vitality within their bodies. ‘This is a life support device. You deliberately put me into a state of homelessness.'  

It was believed that the extraction tube the staff was talking about was this glass tube. Minjun observed the magic circle engraved on the outside of the device.  

‘Exorcism?'  

The container that held the living people were sealed with exorcism. The same barrier was engraved on a kind of ‘pipe’ connected to the upper part of the glass tube. Pipes connected to each extraction tube met from the ceiling and lead to the next room.  

Passing by the staff looking at each extraction tube, Minjun headed to the place where the pipe continued. He predicted that the dragon ghost that Ha Eun-seong witnessed was probably here. However, what he saw inside was not a dead dragon.  

" · · · · · · · · · ·!" Minjun opened his mouth wide. His trembling eyes contain a tube of glass that was much larger than anything he had ever seen. He couldn’t believe it when he saw it. Beyond the transparent glass wall, a creature covered in scales was sealed with its eyes closed.  

It was a familiar race.  

‘Dragon?!'

He barely resisted the swearing that was about to come out. A dragon about the size of Edeline was asleep in a glass tube filled with liquid. still alive Considering his size, he would not have been even a hundred years old yet.  

‘This crazy bitch is real!'  

This made it clear. Even if the ghost Ha Eun-seong saw was not a dragon, there would be no problem for Jenkinson to punish Changcheon. This was for there was no reason why a living dragon was less honorable than a dead dragon.  

On the other hand, there was one more thing that puzzled him.  

‘Even, it's a dragon I don't know about.'  

The strangely curved horns were a peculiar appearance that could not be mistaken for other dragons. Also, there were no dragons that Minjun was not aware of among dragons who had officially obtained earth citizenship or have been granted status of residence.  

‘Illegal stay? Or…’  

Jenkinson’s words ran through my mind.

– Even after the death of your ex-husband, do you always choose to meet people who are younger than a thousand years apart? Rumors spread all over the world, and they don’t go away, so it’s famous for hunting men to outer space!  

– Among the men I met like that, there are several missing children!  

Of course, there was no evidence, so they were all dismissed. One assumption came to mind.  

‘Are you kidnapped… and locked up on Earth?’  

At this, Jenkinson’s assertions fill my mind.  

– She’s got some mental problems. Psychopath! His expression contorted automatically.  

‘Jenkinson was right.'  

First, he could fully understand that Changcheon was not a normal dragon. So, what the hell was he trying to do here?  

Minjun looked at the structure of the room, the barriers everywhere, and the composition of the magic circle. The pipe was also connected to the upper part of the glass tube where the dragon was trapped. The pipe was connected to another empty glass tube.  

Minjun, who was examining the barrier in the empty container, furrowed his eyebrows.  

‘Isn’t it a barrier used to stabilize talents?’  

A pipe was connected over it again, partly leading to a room where the poor were sealed, and partly to another room beyond this… was an area that Minjun hadn't confirmed yet.  

In addition to this, Minjun seemed to be able to guess what was in the third room. It was because there had been a loud scream that hurt his ears since before

" · · · · · · · · · ·!"  

There, the dragon was imprisoned dead there was.  

Whoops! Spiritual heat that ordinary people would not be able to feel was everywhere.  

= Save me! I was wrong… Changcheon! Please… Ah! hot It’s so hot here!=  

This was a ghost twisting in a spiritual flame. Screaming and struggling like crazy. No, it actually looked like it was already crazy. Minjun looked at it with a smirk. He paid particular attention to the horns on his head.  

There was a skeletal crystal that is curved in a strange shape. He just saw a horn in the broth that looked almost exactly like that one. naturally compared. If one were to burn a dragon trapped in a glass coffin, wouldn’t it be similar to that ghost?  

And… Unlike the alien dragon whose identity was unknown, Minjun knew the identity of that ghost.  

‘It is certainly. Changcheon’s ex-husband who died in China. Now I know roughly what they were up to.’  

Minjun carefully examined the barriers and magic circles that kept the ghosts in check.  

‘But, who taught you?'  

The magic circle built here seemed to hide a principle that even Minjun did not know. Even in the midst of doubts, he could remember them all.  

‘This is enough.'  

Jenkinson took the evidence to hit the sky, and memorized the magic circle composition that seemed to use talents. They also uncovered the crime of kidnapping the poor of the medical center.  

After observing, Minjun waited in front of the elevator. Someone here was looking for a chance to climb to the ground.  

– Beep! The wait wasn’t long. One of the researchers who received the radio responded to it and showed signs of returning to the upper floors.  

Minjun then waited for the door to open and then flew inside. The moment the elevator, which had stayed on the 30th basement floor, went up to the first basement floor. The door then opened.  

"!" Minjun came face to face with people he had hoped he would never see here.  

‘Oh my gosh!'  

The researcher who came up with him stuttered in bewilderment. "Hey, what is this…"  

Many people had gathered in the elevator hall with savage expressions. Of course, there was no waiting line for boarding. It wasn’t even waiting for the researcher. Most of the eyes were slightly shifted, unable to find the exact location of Minjun, but only one was staring at him precisely and clearly.  

There was a voice full of laughter. "Yeah… Did you have a good time watching?"  

Tuk! It was clear that the distance was measured accurately. The opponent threw a heavy object at him. Something then rolled under Minjun’s feet in the air. It was the severed head of someone Minjun knew.  

***  

After breaking Minjun into Rare, Jenkinson was waiting for Changcheon at the meeting place.  

He began to grumble at the secretary.

"No, why has that old woman been roaming around since three in the morning?"  

The intelligence that she left much earlier than her appointment and toured the city of Seoul was being transmitted through spies planted throughout.  

"After going out after a long time, I seem to be looking around the companies."  

The question that no one would go to work anyway even if one were to go so early was because he didn't know Changcheon well. The news that she was moving must have been communicated to her subordinates in advance, and they must have run out of the house at three or four in the morning to welcome the arrival of the head of the company, neatly dressed in her clothes, and waiting politely for the arrival of the head of the company.  

"Anyway, she's a damn woman."  

While muttering like that, Blair delivered another update. "It is said that they just teleported from the Changcheon General Insurance headquarters building," she said.  

"What is your next destination?"  

"It's still good…"  

Jenkinson then looked at his watch. They only had 20 minutes left for our appointment.  

"I will probably come here. I’m not an old woman who breaks the time promise.”  

Now that she thought she would make an appearance soon, Jenkinson checked what she was talking about. In any case, the purpose was to prolong the time until Minjun returned safely.  

"!"  

The thoughts of such a dragon had to be cut off in a violent way in the middle. “No!”  

Blair asked in bewilderment as his face flushed red. "President, what are you doing?"  

Jenkinson sensed that one of the barriers he had just built had been broken by an external force. He shouted with a face full of anger.  

"What kind of bastard…!"  

Tirriri! Jenkinson’s and Blair’s phones then rang at the same time. "!"

The two exchanged hard glances and immediately answered the phone. Opponents on the other side of the receiver conveyed the same information to both of them. It was reported that a "witness" who had been protecting in a safe house that Jenkinson had worked hard for had just been kidnapped by an unknown entity.  

***  

Minjun stared at the floor for a moment. It was clear that the head that the opponent had thrown at his feet had been torn off in a violent way. Looking at the pupil where the light had disappeared, Minjun raised his head again. The invisibility magic must have already been detected.  

He stared at his opponent while clenching his teeth. He was waiting for him in the elevator hall. eyes entangled Minjun said the name of the dragon who should have met Jenkinson at this time.  

"Changcheon!"  

Even if the appointment time comes after a while, the talks between the ancient dragons will not take place. She had no intention of meeting Jenkinson today. The reason he left early in the morning was for a different purpose.  

"I was deceived. Jenkinson and me."  

In the form of an old goblin old woman, the old dragon smiles leisurely. “Okay. right.” She said sarcastically.

In order for the two old dragons to meet, both must come out of their rar. If Changcheon was absent, so would Jenkinson.  

"A spy planted in Rare? Jenkinson’s head was stiff. Why are you guessing that what is possible for him is impossible for me? What I swore with my words was that I would never form a military organization. And… you see, information organizations are always in an ambiguous category."  

Because of the confrontational system on the rare surface, it was impossible to communicate with the outside without the permission of Changcheon within this area.  

Had Jenkinson noticed by now? The neck that lay at his feet was that of a troll. A spy deployed by Red Dragon and an original that mimics Minjun. A real employee who worked in the cooking department.  

He should have left for the warm island of the Philippines with a forged passport by now, but he died horribly with his throat decapitated. His cracked one eye, ripped skin, burn marks and smashed ears revealed the torment he had been through.  

He probably died . . . he was tortured until he could no longer regenerate.  

"…"  

Min-jun’s gaze turned to Changcheon's side this time. There stood a woman who had lost one of her arms, her body twitching slightly. At the back of her head was the muzzle that Changchun’s subordinates aimed at.  

Ha Eun-seong, who should have been protected in the safe house, stood there. His eyes were half-opened, terrified.

A ghost trapped in a living woman’s body was kidnapped by an old dragon and brought here. Changcheon pretended to go out to meet Jenkinson, and he achieved everything he wanted within that short time.  

‘How? Where did the information come from?'  

The old dragon then spoke slowly. "Then why don’t we talk to each other here where Jenkinson is not there?”  

Minjun then promptly responded to Changcheon's suggestion by summoning a bubbling shadow behind his back.