Evil Organization’s Extra Mr. A – Chapter 63

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Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: Xrecker
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Spacetroe had a few major annual events. For example, the “Branch Report Inspection,” where each branch reported to the main headquarters ship anchored at sea, and the “Annual Performance Report,” summarizing the year’s duel results.

While most Spacetroe operations were handled by the executives, and these reports were also their responsibility, there were still major events that involved ordinary soldiers like me.

“Ugh, I don’t want to do this.”

Despite it being a bi-annual event, I couldn’t hide my annoyance as I sat at my computer, reviewing the training schedule. Yes, training.

The primary duty of ordinary soldiers was participating in duels. Since we were fighting against the superhumans of the Earth Defense Alliance, combat training was essential. Many soldiers had years, even decades, of combat experience ingrained in them, so regular training wasn’t usually necessary.

Of course, it depended on each team’s performance. While my team, Team 3 of the Seoul branch, consistently lost to Hunter Killer, we always scored high in training exercises. We couldn’t complain about the lack of support, even with our poor duel performance.

We didn’t usually have combat training, but there were two mandatory training periods every year, in the summer and winter. Each team would conduct training exercises based on the manual and submit a performance report.

Since the monsoon season coincided with the usual summer training period, I’d assumed we’d skip it this year, but they’d scheduled it for September, after the summer heat had subsided.

“They’re making us look at the training schedule at the end of August.”

Any work-related event was a chore. Even fun outings became tedious when organized by the company, and these bi-annual training exercises were no exception.

“Isn’t September supposed to be cooler?”

A document landed on my head, and I turned around at the familiar voice.

Ruche stood there, looking down at me, her eyes narrowed.

“Taking a break?”

“Yes, I came out for a bit.”

She’d probably approached me while I was complaining about the training schedule, and I felt a little awkward. My colleagues, who’d been present earlier, had disappeared, as if sensing Ruche’s arrival. They usually didn’t mind her presence.

“Why am I in charge of supervising the training this time?”

The training was conducted by each team, and the personnel were selected internally. The training staff were divided into two groups: the trainees and the supervisors. I’d always been a trainee, but this year, I was assigned to supervision.

While I preferred the easier task, I was curious about the sudden change.

“I was going to put you in the trainee group, but Team Leader 4 said, ‘Don’t give him anything to do.’”

She mimicked Seira’s voice perfectly, and I frowned, annoyed that Seira was interfering with my work again.

But then something occurred to me.

Ruche and Seira didn’t get along. They glared at each other or spoke in sharp tones, creating an awkward atmosphere for everyone around them.

I’d never seen them actually fight, though. Perhaps because they were both team leaders, or perhaps they weren’t that hostile towards each other.

Anyway, they clearly weren’t on good terms, so it didn’t make sense for Ruche to follow Seira’s suggestion and assign me to supervision instead of training.

“You listened to Team Leader 4?”

“Don’t even get me started. Team Leader 1 said to prioritize experienced personnel for training supervision.”

I knew it. Ruche wouldn’t just follow Seira’s suggestion.

While she said Team Leader 1 had given the order, it was probably the branch manager’s decision, relayed by Team Leader 1.

Ruche hadn’t wanted to listen to Seira but had followed the order from above, and I was the most suitable candidate for training supervision, given my experience. She was probably annoyed that it appeared as if she’d listened to Seira.

“Where are the other teams going?”

I’d only seen that our team was assigned to the West Sea and was curious about the other teams’ locations.

“They’re all going to the same place.”

“Huh?”

Summer and winter training were usually conducted separately, with each team assigned to a different location. While two teams had sometimes been assigned to the same location, having all teams train together was unprecedented.

“It’s hard to schedule anything with the monsoon season, and the training is already delayed, so it would be too much work to coordinate separate locations.”

That explained why they’d chosen experienced personnel for supervision. The combined training meant a larger scale operation, requiring experienced supervisors familiar with various training exercises and potential issues.

“I thought it would be easy, but it might not be.”

I mumbled and continued scrolling through the schedule. I’d missed the “all teams participating” part. The schedule just said “training schedule,” not “Team 3 training schedule,” and I’d assumed it was just a general overview, not a combined training exercise.

“It’s lunchtime. Aren’t you going to eat?”

Ruche’s words made me check the time. It was almost lunchtime. There were things I needed to prepare for the training supervision, but I still had to eat.

“How about you, Ruche? Having lunch with the other team leaders again today?”

“I was planning to. What about you, A?”

“I’m…”

I hesitated, then looked at my phone, which was lying face down on my desk.

I checked for messages, but there weren’t any, and I wasn’t sure what to do.

“I’ll eat separately.”

I didn’t have anyone to eat with, but that sounded pathetic, so I just said I’d eat separately.

“With the others?”

I’d momentarily forgotten my teammates were also here for the training.

“Yes, it’s been a while since we were all here, so we should have lunch together.”

“Really? Okay.”

Her tone seemed slightly disappointed, and I couldn’t figure out what she meant.

Ruche left to have lunch with the other team leaders, and I considered my lunch options. I wasn’t in the mood to eat with my teammates because of something that had been bothering me.

I left headquarters and walked towards the park, the sun, now free from the rain clouds, beating down on me.

“How is this August weather?”

The unusually late and long monsoon season had made the weather unseasonably hot. I dreaded the upcoming training; it would be a living hell in this heat.

I arrived at the park, exhausted from the heat. My usual bench was empty, and even the shade offered little relief. I’d come hoping to see Green, but the weather was brutal.

I couldn’t bring myself to go back to headquarters yet and sat down on the bench, my head down. I’d come to relax, but the heat made it impossible. I was starting to regret coming here when I felt something cold against my neck and jumped.

“Ah! Cold!”

I looked up, startled, and Green stood there, holding two cold cans of soda.

“Eun-ha.”

“Hello. It’s really hot today, isn’t it?”

“It is. Did you just get here?”

“Yes, I saw you sitting here as I was entering the park, so I went to buy these.”

I didn’t say, What if I’d left while you were gone?. She’d probably been too excited to see me after such a long time to even consider that. While I didn’t know her intentions, I was happy to see her.

We hadn’t seen each other during the rainy season and had only exchanged messages, so I was curious about how things were going with her situation and whether she was okay.

“It’s so hot.”

“It is. We should be expecting cooler weather with the typhoon season approaching, but…”

What we thought was the typhoon season had been the monsoon season, and the actual typhoons, delayed by the late monsoon, would also arrive late. We both complained about the unusually long summer, sitting side-by-side on the bench, the heat stifling.

“Were you waiting for me?”

“I came here just in case, but I just arrived, too.”

“You could have texted me.”

“I thought you might be busy.”

I’d had breakfast with Ha-yeong that morning, and she’d left for her Hunter Killer meeting. I’d also come straight to Spacetroe headquarters, but I’d avoided contacting Green, thinking it was best not to communicate with Hunter Killer members while they were together.

While I knew their approximate meeting schedule, this was a special meeting in place of the canceled duel, so I’d been hesitant to contact her.

“Is something wrong?”

While I was happy to see Green after so long, her expression seemed troubled.

It wasn’t the weather, and she didn’t seem awkward, despite our long absence.

“Well…”

Her hesitation made me wonder if I shouldn’t have asked. But sensing her reluctance stemmed from not wanting to burden me with her problems, I looked at her expectantly, and she, as if encouraged by my gaze, spoke.

“The meeting atmosphere… wasn’t very good… because of me.”

“Hunter Killer?”

“Yes.”

I couldn’t understand why the meeting atmosphere would be affected by her presence.

She wasn’t the type to cause trouble, and the other members, knowing her situation, wouldn’t give her a hard time.

Then I realized there was one unknown element: Yellow, about whom I knew nothing.

“We use codenames within the team. Color-coded.”

“Yes, I know.”

It wasn’t a secret; there had been some media exposure, and it was common knowledge that superhumans had codenames.

“There’s a teammate, Yellow, she’s older than me… and I think she was upset because I was at the meeting.”

“Can you tell me what happened?”

Hearing about a problem at the Hunter Killer meeting made me worry about Yu-bin. As Red, the team leader, she was in charge of managing the meetings and maintaining team harmony. While I’d heard the team atmosphere had improved recently, closer relationships also meant more potential for conflict.

And since Yellow hadn’t been mentioned much, I didn’t have much information about her, so hearing that she’d caused trouble made me view her negatively.

“Yes.”

Green recounted the events of the meeting. Yellow hadn’t known about Green’s situation and had been upset that Green, with her unresolved issues, was attending the meeting. There had even been an argument with Yu-ra, so I figured they’d be having drinks together after work the day after tomorrow.

Green wasn’t the type to use harsh language, so the actual argument, based on Yu-ra’s reaction, was probably more heated than Green had let on.

While Red had mediated and resolved the situation, Green’s expression suggested it hadn’t been a pleasant experience.

“Yellow doesn’t seem to care about being close to the other team members. I was hoping we could all become closer, but…”

Green, who’d briefly entertained the idea of including Yellow in their newfound camaraderie, smiled wistfully.

“It would be nice to be friends with your colleagues, wouldn’t it?”

I agreed and thought I should learn more about Yellow if I was going to investigate Hunter Killer.

I knew she was a frontline fighter, along with Red and Green, using tonfa as her weapons. Her primary fighting style was hand-to-hand combat, and she was the tallest member of the team in her suit. That was all I knew.

From my conversation with Green, I’d learned she had a strong personality, perhaps even abrasive,

and that she was older than Green.

“What’s Yellow like?”

“Yellow? I don’t know her very well because she rarely comes to meetings, but she’s quiet… and speaks her mind.”

Quiet? Yu-bin and Yu-ra hadn’t mentioned much about Yellow either. They’d just said she was reserved, but hearing Green’s story, I couldn’t picture her as a quiet person.

“I see. Are you okay, Eun-ha? That must have been uncomfortable.”

“I’m okay.”

She said she was okay with a smile, so I decided to believe her for now.

While the meeting had been a bit of a disaster, I wanted to talk about other things, catch up after not seeing each other during the rainy season.

“Should we go somewhere else?”

“Yes, let’s.”

We needed to find a cooler place.

And I needed to learn more about Yellow.

Meanwhile, at the Spacetroe team leaders’ lunch gathering.

“I’m here.”

Ruche approached the table where the other team leaders were already seated.

“It’s hot out there. Have a seat.”

Angelica, Team Leader 2, pulled out a chair for her, and Ruche sat down, took a sip of water, and sighed.

“You’re late.”

Esmeralda, Team Leader 1, commented on Ruche’s late arrival, and Ruche, after finishing her water, replied,

“I was talking to A.”

Esmeralda smiled faintly at her words.

“You two haven’t changed at all.”

She said, reminiscing, but Ruche’s expression remained glum, and Seira, sitting across from her, sensing the shift in mood, spoke.

“Don’t bring that up. He doesn’t even remember.”

Seira’s words made Esmeralda’s eyes widen slightly, and she looked at Ruche.

“Really? A doesn’t remember anything?”

“I’ve never told him.”

Ruche’s voice held a hint of regret, and Seira sighed, annoyed.

“Just let him be.”

“Let’s just eat! Eat!”

Ruche raised her voice, trying to change the subject, and Esmeralda and Angelica decided to let it go for now, observing the situation.

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