Damn! Damn! Chapter 2

Steal semen. Just by the sound of it, the statement itself wasn’t exactly shocking.

The reason Achim hesitated was that Michael Bernhard wasn’t just “some” Alpha.

“No…”

Achim let out a dry laugh.

“You aren’t talking about that Michael Bernhard, are you?”

Achim furrowed his brows as he watched the silent man. It was effectively the same as having received an answer.

Watching the man, Achim let out an exclamation that was half-amused, half-dismayed. As he crossed his arms and leaned back, the old chair let out an unpleasant, screeching metallic sound, as if it were screaming.

It was rare enough to find a normal Alpha, but a Royal Alpha? And to steal the semen of that Royal Alpha? The more he thought about it, the more he laughed, a faint smirk tugging at his lips while his arms remained crossed.

Omegas make up only 10% of the world’s population. Alphas are even fewer, at about 7%. And, astonishingly, among those few Alphas, an even smaller number of “Royal” Alphas exist.

Across all seven continents—Asia, Europe, Africa, North America, South America, Australia, and Antarctica—only twenty-two people were born with that trait, which is often called a blessing from God.

Excluding the deceased, there are only seventeen.

To steal the semen of a person among those seventeen out of billions of people… The more he chewed on it, the more absurd it felt, and Achim couldn’t help the snickering that leaked out.

“I can’t do it.”

Achim twisted the corner of his mouth upward.

“Don’t you know that Royal Alphas are treated with much more strictness than ordinary Alphas?”

It was the truth. If an act committed against a regular Alpha was considered a misdemeanor, the same crime against a Royal Alpha was classified as a felony.

In short, in the time it took to try a single act of theft, he could end up spending the rest of his life in prison.

Imagining himself growing old in prison, Achim shook his head from side to side, just as he had waved his hand earlier.

“No matter how much it’s 300,000 euros… it’s too much. I’m sorry, but go look somewhere else.”

Achim swallowed his regret with difficulty. He had made up his mind to break his ironclad rules, blinded by the 300,000 euros. But he concluded that if the price was his remaining life, it was a reckless gamble, no matter how much it was.

As Achim tried to look away and waved his hand dismissively—just as he had done during his first refusal—the man suddenly reached his hand into the khaki jacket he was wearing.

It was only natural that Achim immediately went into a defensive stance.

He quickly reached out, pulled the pistol he kept under the desk, and leveled it at the man. The man froze with his hand still inside his jacket, staring at Achim.

The Glock, which he hadn’t held in a long time, made his fingertips and toes tingle. Even though it was clearly a serious situation, Achim somehow felt the corners of his mouth rising involuntarily.

Enjoying the feeling of his blood pumping fast from the excitement, Achim narrowed the gap between the muzzle and his grip to reduce the perceived recoil.

Click. The sound of the Glock’s internal mechanisms clashing and a shell being chambered rang out pleasantly.

“This country’s self-defense laws are a bit tricky, though.”

“…”

“Still, it’s better to save your life, right?”

Don’t you agree? Achim asked with sparkling eyes.

But the man didn’t speak. He wondered if the man was terrified, but looking closely, he seemed only slightly flustered; he didn’t really look like someone who had death on his mind.

It was when Achim was peering at the man, gauging him with narrowed eyes without letting his guard down.

“500,000.”

At the suddenly uttered words, Achim faltered, his hand nearly pulling the trigger. It was so out of the blue that he wondered if the man was trying to bargain with his own life.

Then, something flashed rapidly through Achim’s mind.

As Achim stared with wide eyes, still holding the Glock, the man nodded decisively. He then pulled the hand he had tucked inside his jacket back out.

Achim, who had been momentarily stunned, jolted and shifted his gaze to the man’s hand.

“…”

Achim, who had been expecting a handgun or an OTF knife, blinked at the stack of cash in the man’s hand.

“With agility like that just now, you’re worth having expectations for.”

The man lifted the corner of his mouth slightly, revealing his satisfaction as if he were more confident in him now.

Achim looked back and forth between the man and the stack of cash he held.

The disappointment he felt as his blood—which had been boiling with adrenaline—suddenly cooled was fleeting; instead, he felt a different kind of excitement rising.

“5… 500,000…?”

“Yes, 500,000.”

Achim asked as if he couldn’t believe it, and the man nodded without hesitation.

500,000… Achim muttered, slowly lowering the Glock.

“This is the upfront payment. If you agree to the deal, I’ll leave it right here.”

“…”

Achim swallowed hard again. His dry esophagus was moistened, and his Adam’s apple bobbed.

The original 200,000 euros was already absurd, and now it had surpassed 300,000 to reach 500,000—more than double…

To think I’m such a spineless guy. No, wouldn’t anyone be tempted by 500,000 euros? Isn’t this reaction natural? But money is money, and if things go wrong, I could really rot in prison…

Achim was already pulling at his own hair by this point. He had even set his beloved Glock far away.

After staring into space silently for a while with his head in his hands, Achim parted his lips.

“…Leave it.”

Seeing Achim let out a deep sigh as if he had given up, the man looked surprised. What a pity. I heard rumors that he was quick and clean, so I had high hopes. It’s unfortunate, but if he really can’t do it, I have no choice but to look for someone else.

Just as the man was smacking his lips in regret and reaching to take the stack of cash back—

Grab. In the blink of an eye, a hand shot out and snatched the man’s wrist. It was so instantaneous that it felt faster than when he had pulled his pistol to target him a moment ago.

As the man stood frozen in shock, looking down, Achim said in a low voice.

“Leave it.”

Achim stared intensely at the thick stack of cash sitting in front of him, as if he could pierce right through it.

—As you might expect, if the job fails, we take no responsibility on this end. Whether you get caught stealing and rot in a cell or face whatever punishment, that is. There are no other conditions. If you succeed, I will immediately hand over the remaining 450,000 euros.

The man’s terms were simple. Fortunately, they were terms that aligned with Achim, who absolutely loathed anything complicated.

When Achim readily agreed, the man wrote out a memorandum regarding the matter on the spot and quickly finished signing it.

Sharing a copy of the same memorandum, the man turned back before leaving the shop and said:

—Watch your life.

Achim brushed off the man’s warning with a smirk.

He figured that if he lost his life, it would be because he got caught stealing and lost it in prison, so it wasn’t something to worry about right this instant.

Furthermore, a belief that he wouldn’t face anything too terrible even if the job failed was subtly underlying his thoughts. The reason was that the target of this operation, Michael Bernhard, was the representative who ran the autonomous welfare organization “Maaconi.”

Michael Bernhard was a descendant of Benjamin Bernhard, the founder of “Maaconi,” which held the longest history among Germany’s non-profit autonomous welfare organizations.

Achim knew this partly because Michael Bernhard was more famous than your average celebrity, but it wouldn’t have been strange for Achim, who came from an orphanage, not to know about related institutions.

For that reason, Achim felt as if his sense of burden had been cut in half. It was ridiculous for a guy who was going to commit theft to arrogantly assume someone else’s kindness, but well, since he’d already made up his mind, shouldn’t he think positively?

Achim, who had already forgotten his ironclad rules, was focusing solely on rationalizing his thought process.

After thinking about something deeply for a moment, he rummaged through his pants pocket. What he pulled out next was a cell phone that was closer to a piece of junk.

Achim pressed the power button to light up the screen, which was cracked like a spiderweb at the edge. When he found a familiar name in his contacts and made the call, he heard a click shortly after.

[Yeah, honey?]

Linus answered the phone with a voice that hadn’t quite shaken off sleep. Achim ignored the familiar endearment and went straight to the point.

“Linus, find something out for me about someone.”

[Who?]

He could have been a bit annoyed by the abrupt demand, but Linus didn’t seem to be, asking in his usual tone.

Achim stared intently at the stack of bills in front of him, then parted his lips.

“Michael Bernhard.”

[…]