Thinking back, every time Muhae knocked on his head or kicked him recently, it was because of that.Whenever Joo-o clung to him—every moment his body twined against him, every spark of heat—Jin Muhae felt unbearable irritation.No, was it irritation? In retrospect, it was closer to frustration.A feeling as if his clothes were tightening around him. A sense of wanting to smash a wall, and yet unable to look away—his temper flared again and again.He couldn’t accept it: the shocking fact that he periodically went into heat for Joo-o.So much so that Muhae, even in his teens, never once imagined the entertainment district—until now.‘I need to calm down.’He must have repeated that inwardly a hundred times. Only once he’d brainwashed himself until his vision blurred could he somewhat tame the rage that bubbled up at every opportunity.Muhae had never lived doing good deeds for others. Still, there’s a limit to being trash—too far, and it’s mentally exhausting.“Get off? Huh?”“What?”“We’re in District Da Beon. Get off—huh?”“Right. Get off. And don’t stick ‘huh’ onto everything.”With his bangs neatly trimmed, his face looked clear. Muhae couldn’t help staring at Joo-o’s smiling eyes for a moment.Siiing-.As soon as the door opened, Muhae turned and exited. Joo-o tumbled out right behind him.“We have to check warehouses in Districts Ma Three, Four, and Five. Don’t stray—just follow.”“Yes!”“Answer more politely.”“I will.”His obedient honorifics struck a nerve. Muhae scowled and strode ahead.A logistics inspector wasn’t as rough as a mercenary, but it wasn’t a money-making job either.Muhae’s tablet listed over thirty checklist items.The first eight required ◆ Nоvеlіgһt ◆ (Only on Nоvеlіgһt) uploading both video and photos.Honestly, it was tedious. If he weren’t stuck here for two days, he’d have just pretended to write and skipped it.‘Still, given a choice between working outside the Comfort Zone or here, only a fool would choose the other.’People born and raised within formal residential areas had no desire to wander in and out of the dome protecting humanity.Only those driven outside the city would even entertain such a ridiculous option.Bii-ik-!“Scan signal in Subsector 3-2. Reveal the cover, stand by for inspection.”The machine automatically recognized and recorded the item type and permit number twice. Still, the final step always required human confirmation.They said it kept people responsible if something went wrong. Boss Gil probably joked, but Muhae found it strangely memorable.In an age of Blue Energy automation, should he be glad or sad that humans still had a role for various reasons…?“Please open the loading bay properly. Hmm. Slightly thawed?”“It’s not just here. The container had issues… but they’ll start production immediately, so no hygiene problem. It’s orange-labeled, meaning it never goes to Central—mostly shipped outside residential zones.”Listening to that unconvincing explanation, Muhae peered at the contents: a neat row of machete-thick rats.More precisely, plump wild-rat beasts. Stripped of fur, with feet and heads cut off, the flesh made him queasy.He knew they’d undergone some disinfection, but most game meat was from capture, not farming.Seeing those filthy, writhing rats made him instantly sick.Beep. He scanned the logistics code, and the processing plant name popped up on the tablet.[Gamna Foods]Muhae glanced back unconsciously. An oblivious Gamna Foods consumer cocked her head and smiled.‘Just wait until you buy those “nuggets.”’Even the lowest-grade cereal made from GM grains, drenched in artificial sweeteners, would feel like a luxury compared to this.Maybe because Dr. Jeong managed his childhood diet, Muhae was picky about what he ate—unusual for someone from the slums.Whirr-!“Lots left to check, and the food itself is still fresh.”“They’ve already passed inspection. If you pay attention, nothing will violate the conditions.”“I’ll mark it as passed, but I’ll report it.”“Orange labels usually get that leniency…”Muhae clenched his jaw against the urge to call bullshit. He’d discovered things he needn’t have known… as he’d expected. After this substation’s bad food, they wouldn’t bother stopping the slum shops’ processed meats either.Resolute, Muhae tapped Joo-o on the shoulder and turned. Bii-ik-! Another scan signal came from the other direction.“Shall we go there?”“Yes.”Once he handled the influx, he could take a break. Then he’d cross-reference any suspicious items in the records.This was, after all, just Cloud’s request for a covert op. This mundane task masked the real reason.“Senior, I’m hungry.”“Lunch is a long way off.”“Can I have some of yours?”“No.”“…”“Just eat jellies. Are there any left?”“I will.”Was this the right conversation for workers? It was absurd—but he felt touched that Joo-o even asked and then put one in his mouth obediently.When break time came, Joo-o immediately chewed on a meat skewer.Muhae was shocked twice: once that the cheap food from Seogyeong City still existed, and again that Joo-o was eating it days past its date.“It’s fine.”True to his word, the skewer smelled appetizing. It didn’t seem spoiled, and it was even warm.Who knew when it had been heated? Muhae pressed his temple and refocused on the task.‘Sectors Three and Four are all food.’High-tax smuggled goods were the Black-Label premium ingredients—harder to hide than cheap flour or beast meat. Things like the tea Boss Gil drank.Focusing on luxury items bound for Central, the endless list shrank somewhat.Reviewing paperwork was not unfamiliar. When he first started merc work, many tried to scam him. He’d learned from Dr. Jeong and his own experience.“Found anything odd?”“No, not yet.”“They inspect like this here. Wouldn’t it be risky if someone caught you lying?”“They try because there’s profit. They mix fakes into similar items within allowable error….”Muhae answered, wondering if they’d understand. Suddenly, his expression stiffened.He realized there was no rule that only premium goods could be smuggled in.Even if mixed with other grades, they could be sorted later. And products whose price varied by quality…?‘Cheese, coffee, tea, alcohol… luxury foods.’Today’s significant volumes were coffee and liquor. Cloud must’ve had a reason to send them here in District Ma today.“Let’s go.”Joo-o, having discarded his wooden skewer somewhere, trotted along empty-handed.Muhae furrowed his brow, accidentally tapping his glasses and blurring his vision.He’d tried at home, but wiping with a shirt wouldn’t clean them. Impulsively, he folded them and shoved them into his pocket.Right—no one here knew his face, so why parade these on his nose?“Senior, you look mad.”“What?”“You’re handsome, but without glasses… hmm, cold? You look like you’ll hit me?”“…”“Ah! Scary.”Muhae knew he didn’t look particularly friendly. It kept trouble at bay, so he didn’t mind.But hearing ‘you look like you’ll hit me’ felt too extreme.Slowly, he put on his smudged glasses again. Why Joo-o liked this synthetic plastic figure was beyond him.Sector Four, where liquor was stored, felt deserted.Perhaps inspections had paused, and everyone had gone to rest or eat.Muhae ducked between towering boxes and tore open the nearest package. Inside, bottles of artificially aged whiskey were packed among padding.“I don’t even know whiskey’s scent… don’t think they’d open bottles to check.”“I can smell them.”“You’d really open each one and test?”“If you can’t smell them all, wouldn’t they mark them another way?”He was right. Unless dozens of inspectors spent all day on machines, they’d tag contraband differently.Boxes might shuffle, and scans passed fine. They’d gotten the codes at City Gate and swapped a few items—most likely.He hadn’t been caught by weight, so they hadn’t filled a whole box with contraband…?“…Let’s finish quickly…”As Muhae examined bottles, he sensed someone returning. The inspectors must be coming back.He hurriedly resealed the package and turned—but Joo-o stood, as if planted, refusing to move.“Out.”A gentle nudge from Muhae snapped Joo-o back to blunt speech as he whispered.“I saw them. That person.”Then, like an intelligence agent, he backed up and pressed close to Muhae.“At the café in Sakdal—I saw them.”At the unexpected words, Muhae’s eyes widened. He grabbed Joo-o’s arm.

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