The Foreigner on the Periphery

"And how exactly do you plan on repaying me?"

Etrella decided to reveal her secret that her wanted rating would rise to several levels at once if she made a reckless disclosure to such a peripheral intellectual.

"Do you know why there are so many criminals on Earth?!"

He jutted his chin forward as if he was telling her to say more.

"Because the world's leading fortune teller foretold it! At the farthest peripheral level, there is a soul fragment sown by the worst criminal in history on the run!"

It was a secret most people on Earth were not aware of at all.

"And I have the transcript of the Prophet!" Etrella continued in a hurry.

"There's a detailed hint in the transcript explaining where the soul is hidden! If I sell this, the bounty hunters will line up for it! If you promise to save me, I'll give you this…"  

"What if I get it and try to sell it back to someone? The committee will put me on the wanted list. I'm going to cost a lot more than you do now." Minjun promptly cut her off.

"……"

The last attempt to get out of the situation through fraud proved to be unsuccessful.

"Enough. I've heard a lot of nonsense."

"?!"

At that moment, Etrella forgot to breathe as she looked at Minjun. It was his left hand where her eyes were glued towards.

Definitely, the hand that had changed like a dried and twisted bark returned to normal for a moment when the black magic was activated.

"Nonsense!"

No human being could do such a thing by her common sense. The vitality offered through black magic couldn't simply be restored. This was a natural providence like the truth that the dimension system constantly expanded on, and the new world continued to be born without stopping.

Humans know the unknown knowledge and even ignore the shackles of black magic.

Only then did Etrella know that her opponent was not an ordinary earthman.

"This can't happen. You're…" Her despair was highly evident.

"What kind of race are you?"

Minjun mumbled in a sour voice. "I don't know. Don't remember, either."

Intuitionally aware of something, Etrella stared upwards.

Quang!

The shadow monster proceeded to strike her head with his fist, just like a hammer to a nail. The world she embraced with her eyes disappeared into the darkness with a thud.

*

He looked down at the dead alien whose head had become a bloody mess.

As Minjun assured, Noh Kyeonggu was never going to break the old woman's head since Minjun replaced that job instead.

‘Oh, I'm sick of it.'

The feeling of boredom and exhaustion that disappeared like a lie while working came up to the esophagus as soon as the mission was completed. How many alien earthen pots on Earth did he break with his hands? The records would have shown the statistics, but he was not feeling particularly motivated to do so.

"The hostage is…"

There were dozens of holes in his body, but he remained alive for now.

With such weak psychic power, he would have been a perfect target for Etrella's plan. She had been robbing banks several times like this to cover her expenses. The specific method was to wait inside the bank until a man who had easy abilities came in. The next thing was to stick a tentacle into him so she could manipulate him to commit a robbery instead of her.

"This clumsy ability has become rather poisonous.'

The reason why weak psionic users were targeted was that mind control would prove to be impossible if they were far too strong. The reason why it had to be a person with this ability was not only because it increased the possibility of success in a robbery, but also because one could lose the spirit and throw it away. The intended target was a criminal with this ability and would be killed on the spot, so the destruction of the evidence was perfect.

Despite her careful setup, however, she had the misfortune of getting caught, anyway.

‘If I had the ability as that of the Odens, I think I can think of about 100 things that are better than this. But the only thing that came upon her mind control and ability absorption as weapons was a bank robbery.'

He decided to think for a moment.

"If you put a tentacle around the neck of the chaebol's vault without going too far…Oh, well, a pyramid-like this can't break through that tight security.'

Since private safes owned by the chaebols boast strict guard systems that could not be compared with the banks used by ordinary citizens.

"If you exchange your global currency from illegal currency exchange to a Talent, you'll get 70% deducted off the commission. Even then, she couldn't think of a place other than a bank to rob enough money to get "amnesty."

There was only one reason criminals needed large amounts of money. That was due to the common currency of dimensions which was the Talent, that was offered to the court to absolve for one's sins.

‘I envy you for robbing few banks and committing a crime that's worth getting an amnesty.'

He was the one who had killed the culprit with his own hands, but in a way, Minjun still couldn't help but envy her.

*

As the fog cleared, the police and officers who were far away from trying to block the citizens from coming close came into the bank building.  

"Are you done?" Lieutenant Park Jeongpal asked.

"It's over. Please take care of the rest." Minjun replied as he nodded.

A fuss could be heard from the officers inside.

"Wow, this is amaazziinngg! Hey, take a picture of this! It's a super creepy-looking alien!"

Upon hearing this, Jeongpal began to yell out. "If you take pictures of the scene and it goes all around the Internet, you all know well that you will be all fired!"

However, Jeongpal and the immature little ones knew that the photo of the race that just had become mushy would spread all over the Internet in just an hour, and also Minjun knew this well.

"The hostage is still breathing for now."

Jeongpal looked around the scene and seemed to understand the situation immediately. The old woman who had been thought to be a hostage turned out to be a cross-species criminal, and the young man who was thought to be a hostage criminal was actually the real hostage.

He spoke bitterly. "Thank God. I was so upset that the suspect was so young this time again. He wasn't even the real robber, and he didn't die as well."

"Who cares if the culprit is young or old? If you commit a crime, you will be punished."

"Still, I thought it would be nice if I didn't have to make any eye contact anymore with my son's age, who's being carried out with holes in his forehead. Dreaming will be fierce."

"……"

As if the silence threw a meaning of criticism, Jeongpal spoke defensively. "It's because I've seen so many young people die these days."

"How many times do I have to tell you? With such soft sensibilities, you will have a hard time with your job."

Jeongpal smiled without a reply, then snorted derisively as all Orcs tended to do.

Minjun also smirked.

While he turned his back, he spoke as if he just remembered it. "Oh, by the way, it's not the forehead, but there are some holes in the body."

"?"

"Let's have a drink soon."

"Yes, please head in safely."

Minjun then began to move with the police behind him.

As soon as he took a few steps…

Ding!

There was a text notification.

– "Limited company Jenkinson Father and Sons Company National Administrative Service Privatization Division (Korea Government Immigration Office)" has deposited 223,540,000 won into your account.

As always, the deposit was fast. Minjun knew that this was one of the perks that he got to enjoy as an Immigration Department agent.

For most contract agents, compensation for bringing the number of cases would be paid through on-site due diligence and internal goods procedures. However, as soon as the immigration office sent a short text message, "Completed," it immediately put in the incentives. Of course, the amount was generous compared to other agents.

This was based on the fact that Minjun was always the ace among the immigration agents who did not miss the top spot in performance. Everyone around him knew that he was the best agent.

"Where are you headed?" The driver asked him, to which he mentioned his destination briefly.

When the car departed, he looked out of the window, waiting for the next call. Unlike the Korean government's immigration office, the response on this side was bound to be a little late. However, Minjun understood that.

Thus, some time passed.

Ring, ring!

The alarm he was expecting rang. This time, it did not come from his ancient 2G phone that he had been carrying for the past ten years, but from within his own head.

Ding!

Alien characters visible only to his eyes were embroidered in the air.

* Prisoner's Personal Information

-Prisoner identification number: Asif-666

-Dispatch Agency: Pan-Dimensional Intelligence Reposition Committee

-Working department: Early stabilization of group immigration task

-Working place: Earth (Dimensional #22-189, Polar Land Class 4)

– Type of employment: indirect employment of punishment based on labor-styled rulings

*Restricted memory is being applied to the prisoner.

Today's consultation proved to be far more detailed than the information the doctor was looking at.

"……"

Most of the people around Minjun were familiar with his official status as an independent agent.

He was the number one that no one could beat. He was a legendary agent with a 99% success rate. In addition to this, there was one thing most people around him didn't know.

-Cover status (Name/Species): Ye Minjun / Human

Ye Minjun was an alien.

A long time ago, he had committed one crime. But unlike Etrella, he was arrested without summary execution and was then sentenced to labor.

In the society of those who arrested him, the intellectual body was in the pursuit of free self-realization and happiness and paid tribute to labor. The avoided social essential labor was undertaken by a criminal whose memories were erased temporarily. In other words, employment proved to be a torturous form of restraint, and his resignation would be release.

Behind Minjun's decision to be sent to the far-off world was this complex social background.

The commission which hired him indirectly issued him directly to the periphery. Minjun hid his identity in the chaotic primitive dimension and carried out his mission, and received Talents every time he solved a task.

* Account information (Prisoner identification number: Asif-666)

– The committee has deposited 200 Talents into the prisoner's account.

One of the few advantages of working as an undercover was that, even if you did the same thing, you got paid by both sides.

Minjun received 200 million won worth of global currency from the immigration office and 200 Talents from the committee in return for catching a cross-species criminal today.

And as soon as the deposit was completed…

Ring ring!

Unfortunately, the account information had been updated once again.

– Automatic Transfer Notice: ‘Tax Collection Command' has withdrawn 2,000 Talents from the prisoner's account. (Payment of regular tax amount for prisoners)

  Two hundred Talents came in.

At the same time, 2,000 Talents were taken out.

And his current account balance was…

– Your current account balance is 21,523 Talents.

– Be careful. The moment the Talents in the account are converted to negative (-), court interest is charged and may be summarily executed for excessive delinquency.

– Prisoner identification number: 5,124,990 Talents for severance pay (Immediate release bail) set for ‘Asif-666’.

The meaning of severance pays here was a little different from that of Earth. It was not the money you would get when you retire; it was the money you had to pay to retire.

Minjun, who only had 20,000 Talents under his possession, needed a total amount of 5 million Talents to be able to be released from his punishment.  

In the case of Etrella, the bail to escape arrest would have only been several thousand Talents.

The reason why he had stolen the Earth's currency and changed it to a Talents was to try bailing it before his arrest because the difficulty of getting Talents turns into hell once he started prison life.

In a nutshell, Etrella was the one who worked hard not to end up in Minjun's shoes.

– Below is a list of all the ways for a prisoner to legally earn compensation.

Arrest or Execute a wanted target: Bounties will be paid as compensation.

Performing special duties commissioned by the Agency: Compensation is case by case. See details below.

Propose a solution to the chronic food problem of Dimension #31-490: 40,000 Talents.

Location and information of the wanted pirate's secret base: 45,500 Talents.

Development of vaccines and treatments for the all-dimensional plague ‘Shechehr Papino virus' that occurs every 260 years: 47,700 Talents.

Identify the principle of pheromones that attract other species to some species-specific individuals: 50,000 Talents

Once arrested and sentencing begins, he couldn't possibly steal like Etrella. They were always being monitored because of the prisoner's seal on the soul.

Minjun had collected Talents mainly by catching criminals, but his resignation/release was far away.

Because of this, Minjun's eyes roamed towards the end of the list, which he used to disregard beforehand. This was because he thought of these tasks as too surreal to be achieved.

.

.

.

Find a way to fully control the abilities of prophetic properties and deliver a turn-key solution for commercialization: 520,000 Talents

Prove Ghost origins: 530,000 Talents

Provide a complete DNA sample of the next known extinct species.

(1) Demonic Goblin (2) metal moss type 7 (3) The type that shows off the golden color among interstellar slime  

: 580,000 Talents per type

witnessed and reported within the self-isolation dimension #77-102: 610,000 Talents

.

.

.

The list went even deeper.

It was a list he never looked at before, but Minjun thought he couldn't last much longer. The Earth was the seventh dimension to which he was sent. While touring the seven worlds, the prison life showed no sign of ending.

Minjun felt both tired and bored.

Shh!

When the will was delivered, the list went down at a fast speed.

His eyes stopped at the bottom of the mission list.

.

.

.

Perfect decoding of soul's components: 3.8 million Talents.

Expanding dimensions constantly and identifying the driving force behind the creation of countless worlds: 4 million Talents

((External expenses)) Procure a soul shard of Prisoner Identification Number ‘Asif-1’: 7 million Talents.

* This is the last chapter of the list *

** For a better tomorrow, the Prison Service will serve as your guide to hopeful prison life. **

He began to pay attention to the last item.

At once, it was enough compensation to cover his severance pay.

Minjun made a resolution that he would surely resign here on Earth, the seventh world to be dispatched.

"……I must resign this time. I will quit my job for sure!"

The taxi driver seemed to have heard the words I was mumbling without realizing it.

"You must be having a hard time at work, huh? ……I don't know what kind of job you're doing, but nowadays, it would be better if you just stick into it."

Minjun responded with a serious expression as if he were determined.

"No, I'm sure I'll do it sooner or later. …… I've been here too long in this company."

At the beginning of his prison life, there was something that Minjun was overlooking.

He never dreamed that this forced employment would continue for more than 800 years.