Team Leader, Let’s Retrieve the Transmigrators First!

“Three hundred years… Haa.”

At the thought of that impossibly distant vacation, Iryeong let out a deep sigh at his monitor and hammered away at the keyboard. He would have to do this six times longer than he’d already been doing it just to qualify for vacation.

‘I want to grab my sinful past-life self by the collar…’

In the end, all he could do was sigh deeply. Before he knew it, the completed report, every field densely filled in, was displayed on his monitor.

Still, he’d retrieved a soul on his first business trip and improved his performance record, so it wasn’t a bad start.

If he kept retrieving souls one by one like this and accumulated enough years of service, the end would come someday. Iryeong’s eyes filled with determination at the thought.

Anyway, all he had to do now was hit save and submit it to Kangmu for approval, and Iryeong’s work for the day would be finished for the time being.

‘I need to finish this fast and go rest.’

Kangmu, who had turned back toward Iryeong at some point, suddenly spoke.

“Iryeong-ssi.”

“Yes.”

Iryeong answered absentmindedly, his eyes darting busily across the monitor. He was just about to press ‘Save.’

“Want to go on vacation with me?”

“Yes… What?”

His hand slipped in surprise and clicked ‘Don’t Save.’

All the text that had densely filled the monitor vanished in an instant. His devastation lasted only a moment before Iryeong’s head snapped toward Kangmu.

My precious break time is gone!

“Why would you say something like that and make me lose my whole report? Is this some new form of workplace harassment?”

“It’s not harassment. I’m bored.”

Kangmu’s eyes were more serious than ever.

This man is serious.

This was an even greater crisis than losing his report. What kind of employee went on vacation with their superior?

“…Go with one of the Team Leaders from the Reaper Teams whose leave lines up with yours. You know I still have another three hundred years before I can take a vacation.”

Iryeong deliberately spoke gently, trying to convey that he wished he could but unfortunately couldn’t due to circumstances.

“Three hundred years is nothing. I can just wait. Or I’ll probably get the reward this time too. Want me to give it to you?”

But Kangmu was far more formidable than Iryeong had anticipated.

“What?”

Barely swallowing ‘Are you insane?’ Iryeong shot to his feet. Kangmu looked leisurely up at him.

“Let’s go together. Why don’t you go there and get an early taste of what it’s like to live in the mortal world?”

“Wh-Why would you do that with… me?”

Iryeong’s pupils trembled in bewilderment.

“Is it really something to hate that much? Didn’t you want to live in the mortal world, Iryeong-ssi?”

“Who said I wanted to live in the mortal world?”

Iryeong sighed at his Team Leader’s wildly mistaken assumption, which didn’t contain so much as a scrap of common sense. The irritation in his hands was unmistakable as he reopened a blank document and started filling it in again.

“You don’t? You were envious when you looked at Lee Jinwoo-ssi.”

More precisely, it wasn’t that Iryeong wanted to live in the mortal world. He wanted to become a real human and live a life that was truly his own. He doubted Kangmu, who had done nothing but criticize him for what he’d said to Lee Jinwoo, could possibly understand that feeling.

“That’s a little different, but I don’t know how to explain it. And even if, by some chance, I did go on vacation, why would I go with you, Team Leader?”

“Why? Is there some reason you can’t go with me?”

Does he genuinely not know?

“Uh, uh. Usually… getting personally involved with your superior is uncomforta…ble?”

It looked as though steam might start rising from Iryeong’s little head at any moment from the sheer effort he was putting into choosing his words. Watching him, Kangmu quietly erased the smile that had crept onto his face and rose from his seat.

As Kangmu passed Iryeong, he spoke with a touch of spite.

“You’ve got three hundred years left, so put it among the options for your vacation plans and think about it. It might even be sooner than that.”

“…Uh. What?”

“Going on vacation with me.”

“Uh, um. That’s…”

“I’ll head out first.”

Instead of a farewell, Kangmu heard the thump of Iryeong collapsing into his chair behind him. Letting out a soft laugh, Kangmu left the office.

“Damn it, what the hell is wrong with that guy? Why the hell is he acting like this toward me…”

Iryeong threw himself back into filling in the empty fields with fervor. More than anyone, he knew that no matter how fiercely he glared, the report wasn’t going to fill itself in.