The Crazy Mercenary Commander Goes to Work in the Entertainment Industry

Translator: Dreamscribe

In truth, it wasn't that Kang Jae-ha had sensed someone's gaze while standing in front of Kamijo Yuu's mansion. It had simply been while he was checking a message that had come in on his phone.

"Hm?"

All at once his vision changed, and a familiar flavor of déjà vu welled up. His 'Deja Vu' had triggered. There was no protagonist in the Deja Vu. In other words, it was a subordinate's Deja Vu, one from the Mercenary Corps, and Jae-ha soon saw a Deja Vu concerning a certain subordinate.

It was a new subordinate on the Japanese side, the next one after Kamijo Yuu.

Back in reality, Kang Jae-ha called to mind the subordinate he'd seen in the Deja Vu.

'Sato Shota.'

The name of the new subordinate on the Japanese side was 'Sato Shota'. Recalling Sato Shota's Deja Vu, Jae-ha picked up his phone. Around this time, on the second floor of a café across the street, a man was watching Kang Jae-ha. That man was none other than the new subordinate, 'Sato Shota'. But up to this point, Kang Jae-ha still didn't know that 'Sato Shota' was across the street.

The moment he pinpointed Sato Shota's location came...

"Hey, Lee Chan-hoo."

...after he'd placed the call to Lee Chan-hoo.

"Yessir."

Jae-ha explained the new subordinate he'd just confirmed, 'Sato Shota', to him, and it took no time at all for Lee Chan-hoo, on the other end of the line, to come back with an answer.

"...Commander. This 'Sato Shota' bastard, looks like he's watching you from across the street right now."

"What?"

"He's looking right at you this second."

Mildly startled, Kang Jae-ha checked across the street with a sidelong glance, careful not to let it show. A fairly large café stood in plain view. Still on the call with Lee Chan-hoo, Kang Jae-ha heard Sato Shota's exact position and slowly started off. Moving as naturally as he could, Jae-ha thought.

'The 'Sato Shota' I saw through Deja Vu. That guy is watching me from the café across from the mansion where Kamijo Yuu lives?'

A coincidence? No, there was no way it was a coincidence. 'Sato Shota' had absolutely stationed himself in the café across from the mansion on purpose; if anything, the only coincidence, from Sato Shota's point of view, was Kang Jae-ha turning up at this exact moment, not the situation itself.

'And of course 'Sato Shota' doesn't recognize me, since I'm wearing the Mask.'

If that was the case, then Sato Shota's objective had been Kamijo Yuu from the very start. So why had he been holed up in the café, watching her? Kang Jae-ha ran through the various possibilities.

'Going by Sato Shota's Deja Vu alone, it's not like he'd gone berserk or lost his mind.'

Even weighing Sato Shota's character and abilities from the Mercenary Corps days, the odds were high that he wasn't watching Kamijo Yuu with any intent to attack.

'Well, still, better to lay down a speed bump just in case.'

Kamijo Yuu already had a Protective Barrier around her, put up by the 'Ability' Defense. Even so, it was better to be certain. Once Kang Jae-ha went back to Korea, Kamijo Yuu wouldn't be close at hand like his other subordinates.

And so Kang Jae-ha quietly slipped into the café and, muffling his footsteps, climbed to the second floor.

'Sato Shota', from behind, frantically scanning the street beyond the window.

After watching him for a moment, the Mask-wearing Kang Jae-ha spoke. A tone laced with a faint weight of pressure.

"Sato Shota."

Sato Shota flinched and slowly turned his head toward Jae-ha. The moment he registered Kang Jae-ha, Sato Shota's eyes flew abruptly wide. Understandably so, since the very person he'd been searching for was standing right under his nose.

Sato Shota was at a loss for words, but it showed in his eyes.

Why was this man here? How the hell had he found him? No, why had he come looking for him at all?

Up until just now, that man. Meaning, even while wary of Kang Jae-ha, Sato Shota had still figured him for little more than an ordinary civilian. But in this instant, Shota raised the alert level on Jae-ha.

"......"

In any case, Sato Shota failed to realize that the man before him was the Commander of the Mercenary Corps, and Jae-ha, unbothered, sat down in the seat beside Shota and went on in flawless Japanese.

"Sato Shota, were you watching Kamijo Yuu? As a comrade from the Mercenary Corps."

The instant the word Mercenary Corps came out.

'Wh-what did he just say??!!'

Sato Shota's thoughts stalled, and the alert level he'd set for Kang Jae-ha shattered outright. Because the moment the word Mercenary Corps came out, it meant the Kang Jae-ha standing before him was absolutely no ordinary person. Shota instinctively took a step back. His brain had short-circuited, but he pressed down on his pounding heart as calmly as he could.

"...Who are you."

Kang Jae-ha kept his expression placid as he sized Sato Shota up. Close-cropped hair, sharp piercing eyes, an all-around angular face. On top of that, a rather solid build for a Japanese man. Even as Jae-ha called up Shota's Mercenary Corps days, he answered him.

"Sit down first, and don't be so tense."

"......"

On the empty seat to the right lay the notebook and phone Shota had been using. But Sato Shota couldn't bring himself to sit down so easily. This, this reaction, was exactly why Kang Jae-ha had appeared before Shota so suddenly. Since his investigation and read on the man weren't yet complete, he'd installed just enough tension to keep Shota from making any rash moves.

Then, propping his chin on one hand, Kang Jae-ha spoke again.

"If standing's more comfortable, you can talk just like that."

After staring long and hard at the Mask-wearing Kang Jae-ha for a few seconds, Sato Shota slowly lowered himself into the chair. Except Shota scooted the chair back a little. The distance to Jae-ha was close enough to reach with an outstretched hand, too close. With a small smirk, Kang Jae-ha murmured.

"Don't give your opponent any room, you still remember the basics from the Mercenary Corps."

The word Mercenary Corps, out again. Sato Shota was certain now. This guy had come over from the Other World, just like him. But no matter how he looked at it, it was a face he'd never seen before. A little calmer now, Shota sorted through his thoughts.

'......Don't jump to conclusions. If he's someone who crossed over from the Other World, who knows what kind of Ability he has. Being able to change his face at will, for instance.'

He was riddled with questions, but Sato Shota was certain of exactly one thing.

'Avoid provoking him rashly.'

His plan was to take a defense-focused stance over an offensive one and pry out information. Fortunately, his opponent Kang Jae-ha still hadn't grasped his true intentions either, and wasn't taking any particularly aggressive stance. His mind made up, Sato Shota looked at Jae-ha and opened his mouth.

"So you crossed over from that side into this world too."

"Otherwise I wouldn't have said the word Mercenary Corps to your face, and you could've just brushed me off as some Crazy Bastard and moved on."

"Why did you come looking for me? And how did you know I was here."

"Because someone's watchful gaze was prickling a little too hard."

"...You noticed that?"

Jae-ha, his eyes on the world beyond the window, toward Kamijo Yuu's mansion, answered.

"You weren't watching me, you were keeping an eye on Kamijo Yuu. Then some stranger, me, showed up, so you got your guard up."

"......"

"Why were you watching Kamijo Yuu."

"You're the one to talk. Why are you the one at her side?"

Kang Jae-ha began to measure everything about Sato Shota. His eyes, his movements, his manner of speech, his breathing, and so on. On top of that, one thing occurred to him.

'Now that I think about it, if this Sato Shota is Japanese, there's a good chance he already knew Kamijo Yuu's face.'

Kamijo Yuu was a fairly famous A-list actress in Japan. It was only natural that his subordinates, Kang Jae-ha included, hadn't recognized her, but as a fellow Japanese, Sato Shota very likely would have recognized the actress Yuu's face back in the Mercenary Corps.

'So he played dumb?'

The conclusion was that he'd recognized Kamijo Yuu but pretended not to. He might have been startled at first, seeing Yuu, but the most plausible guess was that he'd spent his time feigning ignorance until he got used to it.

'And knowing Sato Shota's personality, he wouldn't have gone around blabbing that he'd come from the same world either.'

Under the wordless gaze fixed on him for a while, Sato Shota strangely recalled a sensation he'd felt somewhere before. Where had he felt it? This stare that seemed to coil around his whole body? Regardless, Kang Jae-ha was thinking back on the Sato Shota of the Mercenary Corps days.

'This guy was one of the exceptional ones, too.'

Sato Shota looked the part, and sure enough he was a combat member. Naturally he took part in battles and wars. That said, for Sato Shota, war was something like a side gig.

In the Mercenary Corps, his true role was Interrogator.

He was generally good at everything, combat and all, but the Sato Shota who tortured was the real deal. He had no qualms about the torturing itself, tearing and slicing through flesh, and with his knack for investigation, his silver tongue for prying out information, and his fairly high intelligence, he was an ace as an Interrogator.

Reminded of how much intel they'd gained thanks to Sato Shota, Kang Jae-ha laughed to himself.

'I can still picture him reporting in with his face all drenched in blood from the torturing.'

The Sato Shota of now had eyes much like the ones from his Mercenary Corps days. Which meant his eyes hadn't rolled back into madness. Thankfully, his reason was intact. Still, an investigation into him was absolutely necessary. He'd spent quite a long stretch of time in this world, and more than anything, he'd been secretly watching Kamijo Yuu.

Soon Jae-ha crossed his legs and said to Sato Shota.

"Are you after Kamijo Yuu."

The word "after" that Kang Jae-ha spat out carried two meanings. To openly attack her, and to pull her into one's own team or organization. Either way, going after Yuu came down to the same thing.

Anyone going after Kamijo Yuu was a sticking point for Kang Jae-ha.

But what Shota answered, facing the Mask-wearing Commander, was the other one.

"No. I was protecting her."

"Protecting."

"That's right, so don't even think about laying a hand on her."

Kang Jae-ha gazed into Shota's eyes for a moment. Was what he'd just said true, or not? It didn't seem like a lie. Not after her, but protecting her from the shadows?

'What's with this guy. Is he telling me he's some kind of Kamijo Yuu fan?'

As Jae-ha mulled it over this way and that, Shota asked quietly.

"Is there anyone besides you."

He had to mean comrades from the Mercenary Corps. Kang Jae-ha answered vaguely.

"You don't need to know that, not right now. What about you?"

Putting a bit of force into his gaze, Shota answered right away.

"I've got an organization, obviously. So bear that in mind."

An organization? That was the thing Kang Jae-ha was most cautious about whenever he met a new subordinate. Whether they had a team, or an organization. And yet, for some reason, Jae-ha had his doubts about this Sato Shota.

'An organization, huh... But it kind of feels like he's puffing himself up bigger on purpose. Bluffing, maybe.'

Teammates, sure, but an organization was hard to buy. Sato Shota, meanwhile, was reeling from a massive shock on the inside.

'Huh?! Why isn't it working??!'

The thing was, Shota had just used his 'Ability' on Kang Jae-ha. It wasn't an offensive 'Ability', but in the current situation it was a plenty useful one. And yet it hadn't worked on the man in front of him.

'Wh-what is this?? Why won't it work.'

Catching Sato Shota's fluster, Kang Jae-ha rose smoothly from his chair.

"It's a waste of effort."

"......What?"

"I'm telling you, using your 'Ability' on me is a waste of effort."

"!!!"

"Are you going to keep watching Kamijo Yuu."

His eyes widening a touch, Shota nodded as if to make a point.

"Of course."

"Alright then."

Answering as though it were nothing, Kang Jae-ha gave a faint smile.

"You and I will be seeing each other again before long."

A moment later.

Coming out of the café, Kang Jae-ha made his way back to the front of the mansion. Naturally, the Sato Shota he'd just parted from would still be watching Kang Jae-ha from that same spot.

Then, spotting her approaching Commander, Kamijo Yuu made a fuss.

"You scared me! Vanishing all of a sudden like that! I called and you didn't even pick up!"

Kang Jae-ha smiled as if it were nothing.

"I ran into someone I know for a bit."

"Someone you know? Who?"

For now, Jae-ha didn't bring up Sato Shota to Kamijo Yuu.

"More importantly, let's get moving. Call a taxi."

"Oh! Right!"

To Kamijo Yuu, who had dropped her eyes to her phone, Kang Jae-ha asked.

"By the way, you said that after you came over here, you never ran into any of the others, right? Aside from us."

"Huh? Ah, yeah. I thought I was the only one."

Kamijo Yuu didn't even know Sato Shota existed. Which meant Shota really had done nothing but watch from the shadows. After rubbing his chin for a moment, Kang Jae-ha sent Lee Chan-hoo a message the instant he got into the taxi.

-Starting today, get a tight tail on Sato Shota, and tell Ryu Hyuk to dig up Sato Shota's weaknesses right now.

About three minutes later, Kang Jae-ha's phone buzzed with a long vibration.

"Hey, yeah. Ryu Hyuk."

The caller was Ryu Hyuk, and Ryu Hyuk delivered an unexpected answer.

"Commander-nim. I've confirmed Sato Shota's weakness. And that guy's weakness is... Kamijo Yuu."

Shota's weakness was Kamijo Yuu?

*****

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