I Became A Black Merchant In Another World-Chapter 325: One Ghost, Labor Standards Act (3)

They say if you want to catch a tiger, you have to enter its den.

So, I personally went to work in a factory that seemed like it could be the cradle of communism.

From now on, I shouldn’t even think about trying something I haven’t done before.

After working a day like this, I feel like I’m about to drop dead.

“Is it really okay to work like this and only get 1.5 silver coins a month?”

Normally, if someone grumbled like this, there’d be someone nearby who would look back at them, but...

Maybe because the work is so urgent and tiring, no one even reacted to my words.

In the countryside, no matter how much work they try to pile on, there’s a limit. They only get busy during harvest or planting seasons.

Here, we’re working nearly 13 hours a day.

After working like this, it’s more miraculous that I’m still alive.

No, after working like this, even I would want to pick up a spear and follow that red ghost, sending both you and me to the next world.

“Stop work! Stop work!”

With that command, the workers, including myself, stopped working.

A sigh of relief naturally escaped as I thought the work was over for the day.

“Everyone, get to your dorms! You’ve got work again tomorrow!”

This isn’t a cotton farm with black slaves or machines picking cotton, but although the overseers didn’t carry whips...

Instead, they swung clubs around and pushed us into the dorms.

“Don’t even think about drinking, get in and sleep! We’ve got to work like dogs tomorrow!”

“If you work hard, one day, you’ll have good days too.”

“You should be grateful every day to the factory manager for letting you scum work here!”

After forcing us into a tiny, miserable shack for 13 hours of grueling labor, they had the nerve to say such things.

Exploitation is bad enough, but they also want to receive gratitude for it?

These bastards must be filled with the rotting mentality of North Korea’s “People’s Democratic Republic” system.

Those assholes demand infinite gratitude and loyalty to the leader while exploiting the people.

I’ve only worked one day like this, and already, I can feel the sharp spear in my heart, the anger brewing inside me.

When we reached the dorm, the workers who had been silent during work began to curse.

“Those damned overseers, came here thinking we’d get paid well, and now look at this!”

“They’re nothing but worthless punks who wouldn’t even be a snack if we met outside...”

“I swear, I’ll die like this.”

Just listening to them, it sounds like the older guys in their late 40s or 50s are cursing and gossiping behind someone’s back.

But the ones here, including myself, are all in our early 20s to mid-20s.

Maybe it’s the terrible conditions, or maybe working in a factory makes everyone like this, but everyone looks so dissatisfied.

I’m planning to quit tonight and leave anyway.

Now, which one of these guys is the one we were supposed to talk to?

I kept looking around, and eventually, one of the guys yelled out with a rough voice.

“That damn Roberto, does he think losing his mother makes him some kind of noble? Every time something happens, he acts like a martyr, making our lives hell. We’ve been thrown out of our villages with no land rights, but at least our parents are alive. He’s just a pathetic bastard.”

“Bruno, calm down. What are you doing?”

“What? Did I say ➤ NоvеⅠight ➤ (Read more on our source) something wrong? He’s a damn scum, his mother’s dead, so he can’t stop acting like a little bastard. Do you expect me not to say anything?”

“That’s true.”

“Hah, once I quit this job, I’m going to hit that bastard Roberto over the head, kidnap him, and throw him into a toilet.”

Even though everyone was exhausted, hearing that made them chuckle.

It felt like a burst of energy, even if forced.

And I found the guy I was looking for—the name matched.

“Are you Mr. Bruno by any chance?”

“But weren’t you new here? How do you know me?”

“Let’s step outside for a minute. I’ll explain everything to you.”

I forced Bruno outside.

He looked at me with a dumbfounded expression and sighed.

“Why the hell are you looking for me?”

“I came to find you for a greater cause.”

Bruno grabbed my collar and shook me.

Since I was a high-ranking individual in my past life, I had never been slapped or grabbed by the collar before.

Bruno was the first to treat me like this.

“What greater cause, what the hell are you talking about? Do you think anyone wants to hear your noble nonsense? We’re living like dogs, don’t preach to me!”

“Still, we must fight.”

“Stop talking nonsense, what can we do? All we can do is curse behind that bastard Roberto’s back!”

People say that as times change, society changes too.

Back in the Joseon Dynasty, rice was a luxury for commoners, but in the 21st century, we can have rice and meat every day.

In the 1980s, only the rich had cars, but in the 21st century, it’s common for families to have two or more cars.

However, some things don’t change, even with social development.

Like the relationship between employers and employees (workers).

‘The employer is the boss, and the worker is the subordinate.’

Though society has improved somewhat in this regard...

“If we’re thrown out of here, we’ll be left with no choice but to steal, kill, or join a gang in the slums. We’re stuck, just enduring and working, hoping for the best.”

Bruno, now with tears streaming down his face, continued protesting.

“But what ‘greater cause’! Get lost, you bastard!”

“Then, are you going to spend your whole life being exploited?”

If you are reading this translation anywhere other than Novelight.net or SilkRoadTL, it has been stolen.

“There’s no other choice, what can we do? This rotten world only allows us to live like this!”

“I’d rather die trying to make some noise than live a life worse than a dog.”

The source of this c𝐨ntent is freeweɓnovēl.coɱ.

When I was in school, I was taught that if you’re being bullied by school delinquents, you can’t just accept it.

You should either tell the teacher, inform your parents, or at least fight back with a punch, resisting in any way.

Like a worm wriggling when stepped on.

‘They say most bullying stops if you resist.’

Because what delinquents want is to bully someone who won’t fight back, someone who’s weak. They don’t want someone who will fight back.

The same applies to malicious employers—they’re no different from the school bullies of my youth.

“But even if we protest here, that bastard factory manager won’t listen.”

“That’s true. But what if protests spread across the nation?”

Bruno was left speechless after hearing this.

It’s hard for someone who’s never even finished elementary school to suddenly imagine something involving political matters.

“If protests spread across the nation, even the Duke Federico, who rules here, might start paying attention to the factory you’re working at. Since the protests started here.”

“That’s true?”

“And this news will reach the Emperor.”

“Oh, the Emperor...”

Right now, the Emperor’s stature among the people of the Toscana Empire is soaring.

He’s been tasting the same food as the serfs and experiencing their hardships to understand their pain.

He’s even reduced taxes, saying that the burdens of paying taxes were too heavy for the people.

Bruno, if he’s not a spy, has probably heard this “Emperor who loves the people” story more than a few times.

“That’s right, if the Emperor hears how we’re living, he’ll come up with a solution. If it’s the Emperor, he will.”

“A few voices won’t reach anyone.”

Workers protested during the Industrial Revolution, but unless thousands of them rose up together, it didn’t make much of a difference.

Employers used police to brutally suppress workers, labeling them as communists.

But when these movements spread and continued on a large scale, the brutal conditions of labor during the Industrial Revolution slowly began to improve.

“But if everyone speaks with one voice, it will reach the Emperor.”

Bruno swallowed his saliva after hearing this.

“What do I need to do?”

“On April 14th, gather the workers and shout in front of the factory that we deserve to live like humans. Honestly say that the current conditions are unbearable. I and others will protest at the same time.”

“Well, I guess there’s nothing to lose. Dying like this is better than living like this.”

And then April 14th came.

The day of resolution.

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TL Note:

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