KVZS 07

Office worker Yoo Sara’s opinion on salary after three years of working.

Salary isn’t payment for work. It’s payment for enduring things.

= Anger management treatment fees.

Company: A place that gives you an illness and then gives you medicine (money).

Warning: The medicine money is ridiculously insufficient to cure all the illnesses you get there.

But this isn’t a company.

They don’t pay me for enduring things here.

Should I really put up with this bastard’s behavior right now? Just because I’m supposed to not stand out?

Holding back what I want to say at work already makes my blood boil up to my throat.

Do I have to endure it here too?

They’re not even paying me!

As someone who developed the habit of calling every person I met at work “this bastard,” “that jerk,” or “that son of a bitch”—

my conclusion was:

“No.”

I’m not enduring it. I don’t want to.

I spoke toward the nuisance guy sitting diagonally in front of me.

“Excuse me.”

“What is it, Young Lady?”

“It’s true that I’m baggage, but hearing that from another piece of baggage instead of those two strong men over there feels a little unfair, doesn’t it?”

The male leads, who suddenly became “two strong men,” widened their eyes.

Looking at the handsome faces that somehow even looked cute, I snorted a laugh.

Whatever.

I’m a troublesome villainess anyway.

Aren’t characters like that made to say outrageous things?

No matter how harsh I get, I still won’t be worse than Assistant Manager Jo from my team at work.

“And Miss Yoo Jein isn’t baggage. She has divine power. The blessing on you right now—who do you think cast it?”

Honestly, I didn’t even like the title “villainess.”

If I’m a villainess, then what is he? A villain? An ugly man?

“Have you never considered that if she hadn’t wasted that blessing on you, Miss Yoo Jein could’ve already healed her own ankle by now?”

Of course, not to that extent. Divine power wasn’t that amazing.

The nuisance guy, who knew that too, immediately argued back.

“What nonsense? It’s a worthless power anyway. How is something that barely heals tiny cuts supposed to fix an ankle?”

“Oh, really? Earlier you were saying a knight died because she didn’t give him that worthless blessing.”

Who was it again that complained she should’ve done it earlier without even saying thank you once?

Why are you changing your story now?

The moment I pointed it out, he just opened and closed his mouth.

Since the nuisance guy looked speechless, I kept talking on my own.

“You gladly accepted the blessing when it benefited you, but now that she’s hurt, you want to throw her away? Aren’t you ashamed? What is Yoo Jein, some object you toss out once it breaks? Have some conscience.”

I don’t even treat our robot vacuum cleaner like that.

I clicked my tongue openly.

The nuisance guy’s face turned red as he raised his voice.

“Who said we should abandon her completely? I said we should leave him behind! The knight! The sword guy!”

“Why would we leave Sir Darjeeling behind? By your logic, the most efficient thing would be for the people who aren’t baggage to leave first. Sir Darjeeling should go, and you should stay here with us. You’re baggage too.”

I pointed at his plump cheek.

His face was so smooth it was hard to tell, but he still had baby fat on his cheeks.

Maybe around twenty years old?

At an age where he should’ve been full of spirit, yet he’d already learned only rotten things.

Tsk, tsk, tsk.

“If we’re talking efficiency, let’s do it properly. Wasn’t it you who said we should leave behind the burdens and only let capable people escape?”

“……”

“From the perspective of the people carrying weapons, you’re baggage too. Heavy baggage, even.”

“……”

“You look like you weigh at least twice as much as Miss Yoo Jein. Wow, nobody would even be able to carry you.”

The moment I said exactly what I thought, the nuisance guy’s face turned red all the way to his ears.

He huffed while wiping the sweat from his forehead, but what would that accomplish?

Soon, he warned me.

“Young Lady, watch your mouth.”

“Watch what? I’m just talking about the most efficient method too. Come on, let’s go. Let’s all head back together. Let’s hide in the secret room all night without even a sip of water, starving while holding nothing but a tiny dagger and waiting for a rescue team that may never come!”

I clenched my hand, where dried blood had crusted over my palm, and raised it high into the air.

You crazy bastard, let’s die together!

“Let’s go!”

I stood and grabbed the nuisance guy by the elbow.

Even his elbow was stuffed with fat. Seriously, even Jeju hairtail fish probably had less flesh than this.

“If a corpse shows up while we wait, you can act as a shield and buy time while the women—including me—run away. You’re so thick they’ll probably spend a long time chewing through you.”

“You really…!”

“Why? That’s the most. ef-fi-cient. way.”

Apparently nobody had ever pointed out his weight before, because the nuisance guy looked completely stunned.

That was intentional.

I work among male employees who constantly evaluate other people’s appearances whenever they get the chance.

I know very well how unpleasant it feels and how much it gets under your skin.

I didn’t want to become trash that talks about other people’s looks.

I hate that I’m using such a pathetic method just to attack you.

I hate that this method was the first thing that came to mind.

And I hate the company bastards who made me think this way first.

Why do they turn people petty like this?

Did you think the women were keeping quiet because they had no mouths?

“If we abandon people one by one in order of who’s the biggest burden, and if we get abandoned first, then what? Why don’t you realize you’ll be the next burden thrown away?”

“I’ve had about enough of this—!”

The huffing nuisance guy shook off my arm roughly.

I staggered for a moment.

He suddenly stood up and raised his arm toward my face.

I lifted my chin stiffly because I wasn’t scared at all.

A sweet smell of alcohol came from his breath at this close distance.

‘You’ve got to be kidding me…’

He’s drunk too?

“Papri!”

The moment he raised his hand at me, everyone jumped to their feet.

The Crown Prince, who had approached behind him in an instant, grabbed the raised arm.

Wasn’t he sitting pretty far away? Did he use teleportation or something?

“Papri.”

The Grand Duke called the nuisance guy’s name with a hardened expression.

His hand was resting on his sword sheath.

The Crown Prince twisted the nuisance guy’s arm behind his back and restrained both arms with one hand.

“Argh!”

The nuisance guy screamed after being subdued in an instant.

“Hyung, it hurts! It hurts! Ack! Ack!”

Whether the nuisance guy screamed or not, the Crown Prince only looked at me.

Only after I shook my head did he let go and step back.

Then he warned him quietly.

“Do not make me disappointed in you.”

“Hyung…!”

“Apologize to the Young Lady. Otherwise, the one left behind here alone will be you.”

There wasn’t even the slightest trace of humor in his long, cold eyes.

…He seems pretty angry?

“Is all that really necessary? We can just drag him along and use him as a shield.”

The Grand Duke added casually.

“The Young Lady gave us a good suggestion. Let’s try it exactly as she said. A shield.”

His tone was lighthearted, but the content was terrifying.

Yeah. They were both angry.

The nuisance guy checked the expressions of the two “older brothers” he feared and pressed his lips together silently.

He only rubbed his twisted arm stubbornly, but the male leads clearly had no intention of letting it go.

The Crown Prince sighed as he looked at the silent nuisance guy.

“Papri.”

Finally, an apology dropped out of him.

“Sorry.”

“Yeah. It’s fine.”

I answered casually in informal speech too.

“……We’ll rest a little longer before moving.”

The male leads shook their heads and returned to their places to stand guard again.

Only uncomfortable silence remained.

‘What is wrong with people like that? This situation is already hard enough even if everyone works together, yet all they do is complain about everything.’

I wasn’t exactly mature either for snapping back at him…

No, but he started it first!

Ugh. I want to go home.

I was stretching my arms and legs when—

the nuisance guy, rubbing his elbow, whispered again while avoiding the Crown Prince’s gaze.

“Must be nice. Getting protected just because you’re a woman.”

“Then maybe I should be reborn as a woman in my next life too,” he muttered grumpily, keeping his voice low in case the Crown Prince or Grand Duke overheard.

‘This guy is seriously persistent…’

I fired back immediately.

“Did they really protect me?”

Wasn’t it actually you they protected from getting hit by me?

Did he think I’d stay still if he hit me?

Absolutely not.

I’d scream and lure zombies over just to get revenge.

As the argument started again, Yoo Jein anxiously darted her eyes around.

I spoke.

“What do you mean, ‘be reborn as a woman’? You were just saying we should leave the women behind. Do you enjoy getting abandoned?”

“That’s because you’re baggage!”

“No, I’m asking if you aren’t baggage too! You were hiding safely among the women getting protected from all sides! Be honest. If a corpse showed up, you were planning to hide behind Yoo Jein or Mascarpone, weren’t you?”

If he had any conscience, he couldn’t deny it.

“Even if I become baggage, I’d become baggage for the Crown Prince, the Grand Duke, or Sir Darjeeling—not yours. And.”

I tilted my chin up.

As obnoxiously as possible so I could look down at him.

“Can you even carry me around like baggage? We look about the same height.”

He looked a little taller than me.

My original height was 169 cm, and this Yoo Sara’s body was probably around that too.

So maybe he was about 172 or 173?

And his arms were nothing but soft fat without any muscle.

I’d rather trust the thigh muscles I built from swimming at dawn three times a week than get carried by you.

“Can we just shut up and move already? You and I are both freeloaders tagging along anyway.”

I couldn’t stop smiling while talking, even though it didn’t fit the situation at all.

If only I could say everything on my mind like this at work too.

So this was how refreshing it felt to speak without filtering yourself.

There’s a reason bamboo forests exist for venting.

“Oh, and one more thing since we’re talking. I’ve seriously wanted to say this for a while… What’s the point of Yoo Jein giving you blessings all day long when you never put in any effort? Aren’t you expecting way too much from a blessing?”

“Pfft.”

The one who finally burst out laughing was Supporting Character No. 2.

Gasping, he quickly covered his mouth and apologized.

“Sorry….”

Even though he didn’t laugh out loud, Mascarpone’s expression looked similar.

Even Darjeeling, who stood farther away.

The nuisance guy’s face looked miserable after getting humiliated by the “baggage” he’d been looking down on.

He clearly wanted to punch me right away, but couldn’t because of his older brothers.

I looked him over.

A nasty expression covered in spite.

A rude, inconsiderate tone.

Someone who never cared about the inconvenience he caused others, yet was overly sensitive about the inconvenience others caused him.

And stamina so pathetic he was already panting after walking only a few minutes.

‘What was his name again? Paprika?’

Whatever this bastard’s name was, I decided I’d keep calling him “nuisance guy” until the very end.

Until black-haired Papri happened.

Back in Korea, I was an office worker who solved everything with “Yes,” “Thank you,” “Please confirm,” and “(Fuck).”

But not here.

I was going to stand out.

I was going to say whatever I wanted and act however I pleased.

The corners of my mouth, already ruined from possession stress, slowly started to rise.

It started from then.

The moment I truly began breaking the resolution I’d been making all this time—

the resolution to “not stand out,” which honestly, I hadn’t successfully kept even once.

[Imperial Villa, 2nd Floor Washroom]

• Yoo Sara, Yoo Jein, Crown Prince, Grand Duke, Mascarpone, Supporting Character No. 2, Darjeeling, Nuisance Guy (Alive)