The Crown Prince Who Raises Alt Characters

#322 Boss Quan (3) - Employment Contract The sharp scent of disinfectant mixed with acrid cigarette smoke assaulted Qiana's nose. As she struggled to lift her heavy eyelids, her blurry vision gradually cleared and an unfamiliar ceiling came into view. An old, stained fluorescent light was flickering faintly. Qiana frowned at the dull pain that seemed to crush her entire body as she tried to sit up. Particularly throbbing pain was felt in her head and chest where bullets had penetrated, and below her right shoulder that had been blown off entirely. Rising from the old leather sofa, Qiana let out a hollow laugh at the sight of her own right arm lying on the glass table like some mannequin's arm. "Are you awake? I was just wondering whether to force you awake since it's about time for a meal." Turning her gaze toward the voice from beside her, she saw a man with his legs propped up on a large mahogany desk. The man who had put Qiana in this state, Quan, was leisurely smoking a cigarette in his comfortable shirt. At his appearance that showed no sign of wariness, a dangerous glint briefly flashed across Qiana's eyes. —Both of his legs are up on the desk. Rapid movement impossible. No firearms in either hand. After naturally concealing that emotion, she spoke with a polite yet slightly frightened attitude. "Did you... treat me? Thank you, Boss." "Why are you suddenly speaking so formally? It's not like you." "B-but I'm your subordinate now, Boss. I should change my way of speaking." "Hmm. Is that so. And that arm there. I brought it along, so what are you going to do? If it'll help with regeneration I'll give it to you, otherwise it goes to the incinerator, so tell me." "It would be a big help. Repairing just the severed part and reconnecting it uses less spiritual energy than creating it from scratch. Thank you, Boss." Qiana stroked the surface of her right arm with her intact left arm. The right arm showed no visible changes, but in reality it had already shifted into a standby state where it could move the instant Qiana sent a signal. Leaving her right arm on the table, Qiana approached Quan with natural movements. And without making it obvious, she positioned herself so her right arm was in a blind spot from Quan's position. Quan seemed not to notice, still sitting with his legs crossed, only exhaling cigarette smoke. "Is this your office, Boss? It has quite an atmosphere. Very classical." "You certainly dress up 'old and shabby' quite nicely." "No, I'm serious. But Boss, what exactly is the work I need to do?" Qiana leaned forward slightly, emphasizing her chest area. "I'll do anything I can." The moment Quan's gaze focused on Qiana herself. Her right arm, hidden in his blind spot, transformed like a spear and rushed toward Quan's defenseless side. And simultaneously, Qiana's left leg whipped out like a whip, aiming for Quan's head. Perfect timing and trajectory that would be difficult for human dynamic vision to even react to. It was a decisive surprise attack where failing to block either attack would result in death, and Qiana was certain of victory. "You'll do anything. That's a very good attitude." Along with his calm response, Quan's body smoothly slid away from the desk as if gliding. It was a graceful and flawless movement, like stepping to a precisely choreographed waltz. Qiana's right arm flying like a spear cut through the empty air where Quan had just been, and her fiercely swung kick missed its killing blow as Quan simply leaned his body back slightly. Right after Qiana's eyes widened in shock, Quan's long leg drew a bold arc as it struck her jaw. Thwack!! With a dull impact sound, Qiana's jaw snapped upward. Her vision flashed white and her body floated into the air from the terrible shock that rattled her brain. The next moment, Quan's large hand, extending from an angle and position impossible to predict, roughly grabbed Qiana by the collar and mercilessly slammed her toward the floor. Crash! The old office's stone floor vibrated with a thunderous roar. Blood that had barely stopped flowing from Qiana's wounds burst out again, soaking the floor, and her body arched like a bow from the breath-stopping impact. "Kugh!!" Qiana coughed up blood and writhed in pain. She tried to somehow get up, but the pain piercing through her entire body made it hard to even move a finger. Then, Quan's heavy shoe mercilessly pressed down on her head. Crack, crack. Ominous cracking sounds echoed repeatedly from above Qiana's head. It was the sound of Quan, who had somehow grabbed Qiana's severed right arm, breaking every single bone in it. Since the arm was already severed, Qiana didn't feel pain from it, but it was enough of a performance to carve his ruthlessness into her mind once again. As Qiana trembled in fear that she might really be killed this time, Quan, who had shaken off his cigarette ash above her, spoke. "So, are you going to continue? You see, I'm a merciful man. I'll forgive you up to twice." "...I was wrong." "You don't need to use formal speech. Now that I see it, you seem to be the type who becomes more menacing when speaking formally." "Sorry. I won't mess around, so please forgive me." Quan's foot that had been trampling Qiana's head lifted away. As she struggled to get up with groans, her right arm was thrown in front of her with the same indifference as a butcher throwing meat onto a cutting board. "I'll give this back. I gave it a bit of a massage, so it should be very flexible now." "......" Qiana looked at her right arm where every joint was twisted and new joints had formed where there were none before, let out a short sigh, and obediently connected it to her right shoulder. She was certain that complaining about massage therapists who crush their clients' bones wouldn't get her anywhere with him. Whether Qiana frowned deeply from the terrible pain or not, Quan pulled out a document from his drawer and placed it on the table where Qiana had originally been lying. Qiana also returned to her original spot and checked its contents. -------------------------------------- [ Mutual Cooperation and Labor Contract Between Party A and Party B ] Article 1: 'Party B' (Qiana) shall perform combat, housework, decoy roles, and basically anything 'Party A' (Quan) orders. Article 2: Due to the nature of this work, working hours shall be 24 hours a day, year-round. Holidays and legal rest days do not apply. Article 3: Base salary shall be 0 won. However, incentives based on work performance will be provided. Details are entirely determined by Party A. Article 4: This contract can only be terminated when Party A cancels it, and Party B cannot arbitrarily break it. -------------------------------------- "Hey, you crazy bastard." Looking at this employment contract that seemed to have regressed several hundred years—no, it was just a slave contract—profanity spilled from Qiana's mouth. She knew she should be considerate given that she had just tried to kill him and been thoroughly beaten, but this was something she absolutely couldn't help cursing at. "Huh, why are you swearing? No matter how free-spirited the young generation is these days, isn't it a bit too extreme to start off by cursing at your workplace boss?" "How could I not swear at this?! You want me to sign this kind of slave contract?! Don't you know the concepts of human rights or labor ethics?!" At Qiana's fierce opposition, Quan surprisingly agreed readily without showing any sign of displeasure. "It does seem like I presented a somewhat unreasonable contract." And then, he pulled out his gun and aimed it at Qiana. "Between humans and anomalies, it's more appropriate to present this instead." "Come to think of it, anomalies probably don't need to worry about human rights. Can you give me a pen? It's fine if there's no seal, right?" Qiana spoke very quickly and then hurriedly wrote her name on the contract. The handwriting was quite crooked since she wrote with her left arm instead of her still-recovering right arm, but Quan put the contract in his briefcase as if such things didn't matter. While Qiana tried to soothe her bitter feelings by thinking that she could tear up that piece of paper anytime once she regained her strength, Quan called out to her. "Follow me. Let's go eat. Malatang is okay, right?" "I seriously think you should get tested for psychopathy." "If you can't eat spicy food, there's also white soup, so go with that. The owner's skills are very good." This wasn't even like cursing at a wall. Sighing at the frustration of being unable to control the pace no matter how much she struggled, Qiana began walking behind Quan. Whether the elevator was broken or he simply preferred walking, Quan's steps naturally headed toward the stairs. Each step down the old concrete stairs echoed with heavy shoe sounds, and through the signs between floors, Qiana could tell this was a 5-story building. The moment they stepped onto the 4th floor, well-built men who had been wandering around the corridor spotted Quan and all bowed 90 degrees in unison. There were plenty of rough-faced men with scars or tattoos, but they all quietly bowed their heads like dead mice in front of Quan. "Good work, Boss!" Loud yet tense voices echoed through the corridor. Quan only casually raised his hand in response to their greetings, neither stopping his steps nor giving them a glance. Qiana asked. "Are you a gangster? Yakuza? Triad?" "Tsk tsk. Boss. Or president. Main business is real estate and construction." That's exactly what a gangster is. As if sensing Qiana's incredulity, Quan calmly continued his explanation. "Ruins possessed by evil spirits, cursed hospitals, research facilities with monsters living underground—anyway, when there are buildings with stories, we go and clean them up, then either sell them or build new buildings. That's what we do now." "Now? What about before?" "It was exactly what you think. I blew off the previous boss's head and completely overhauled the organization's culture." Qiana didn't bother asking if he had 'only' overhauled the organization's culture. What was the point of asking when the answer was obvious? "Anyway, food or whatever, I can barely use my hands right now, so what am I supposed to do?" "Your regeneration is slower than I thought. Use this." So saying, what Quan threw was a silver hip flask. After catching it with her left hand, Qiana was about to frown and ask why he was suddenly giving her alcohol, but was drawn in by the sweet aroma flowing through the closed lid and downed the contents. The moment the sweet yet potent liquid went down her esophagus, Qiana's eyes widened. It wasn't ordinary alcohol. Like high-purity spiritual energy condensed into liquid form, she felt something that went down her throat explosively spreading through her bloodstream starting from her stomach. The spiritual energy that had been hovering near rock bottom was rapidly replenished. Her body, having finally secured fuel, exhibited regenerative power as if cheering, and not only her right arm but also the dull pain remaining from the previous battle was instantly healed. A faint moan escaped from Qiana's lips without her realizing it. "What is this?" "Oni's alcohol. More precisely, that hip flask is processed from a gourd that an oni used to carry. If you put alcohol in and wait, it matures into amazing spiritual liquor." "Give it to me." "Want to get shot?" "Tch. How petty." Finally arriving on the 1st floor, Quan casually exited through the main entrance and headed to the building on the right across the street, where the owner didn't even ask what they would order and began cooking on his own. The perfect picture of a regular customer. Whether he always came to eat at this time or the owner was just quick, the food came out soon, and when Quan started eating, Qiana also focused on her meal. "How's the taste?" "It's not bad, but the mala is weak." "Did you hear that, owner? Our new employee says to make it stronger next time." The owner just nodded silently, and as if that was enough, Quan focused on his meal again. After finishing their meal. As Quan cleansed his palate with tea, Qiana asked. "So. What should I do now?" "Rebellion." "What?" Quan curled up the corners of his mouth beneath his eyes that were barely visible due to his sunglasses and said. "Aren't you interested in killing a god?"