Chapter 100
Chapter 100
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 100
Chapter Title: Self-Portrait (5)
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The convenience store owner's actions had felt even warmer.
"……Ha. Jinseong. Did you join our team just to screw everything up?"
It might have been because I had some inkling that office life wouldn't be easy.
"……No. I'm sorry."
"It's not something you can fix with an apology. Ha, I really don't get it."
In the spring when I turned 26, I started smoking again—cigarettes I'd only smoked during my military days.
I wasn't smoking with anyone.
If I went up to the smoking room with my coworkers, I'd end up chatting about all sorts of nonsense.
I knew that wouldn't look good to the bosses either.
"……."
Was I really this thirsty for praise?
For the first three months after joining, I heard every kind of criticism imaginable.
I made mistakes, but it took a bit more time to realize that wasn't the real issue.
"Assistant Manager Ahn, you fucking want to screw me and the department head over? That's why this shit came out? Planning? Is this what you call planning? Even small companies would toss out this kind of delusion!"
One day, I overheard my mentor getting chewed out while I was sneaking a smoke.
Afraid of being spotted, I pulled back against the wall and put out my cigarette.
'The section chief said the department head had pushed for this plan too, but it fell through.'
After rolling around for about three months, I started grasping the flow of things.
I could see who was trying to secure their position, why, and how.
Things seemed to be going well, only to get canceled due to various circumstances…… and that stress trickled down from the top.
When I realized the anger directed at me was just some learned reflex,
my mind felt more at ease than before.
'……I'll just play some DAT when I get home.'
That didn't mean I could change much.
I wasn't without the urge to give up.
But I didn't want to end any experience as a failure.
I didn't want to leave my first job after entering the workforce without even lasting a year.
"Manager Ahn, here are the documents you requested."
That was around the time I'd hit my goal of sticking it out for a year.
His nagging had become familiar. Like calluses from playing an instrument.
Toughened up, or maybe numbed.
It was a time when facing him didn't feel so hard.
"……."
While handling my usual tasks, I spotted an old file on his desk.
"Ah, that? It's a planning document from a year ago. The section chief ripped it to shreds already."
"……."
"Well, maybe it'll come in handy someday…… I left it there because I couldn't let go. No idea why you're curious about it."
Manager Ahn, my mentor then, showed me the planning document he'd written with a blank expression.
Those were the happiest days of my office life.
"……If it's not too rude, Manager Ahn."
"Yeah?"
"Could I take a look at this?"
That's probably why I spoke up so boldly. Developing something is usually something juniors don't volunteer for easily.
There wasn't even a process for it, and I didn't have the authority to disregard the creator's feelings.
"Sure, whatever. Might help if you study it."
But Manager Ahn just nodded indifferently and handed over the planning document.
"……This could work."
Back home, I stared at it for a long time.
It was a big change for me, someone who always ended the day glued to DAT.
The character I'd been leveling up until a few days ago was none other than a 'Custom Enchanter.'
Contrary to others' evaluations, I was realizing this job had real potential.
'This planning document too.'
Truth be told, when it got shot down a year ago, I'd peeked at the contents out of curiosity about how bad it was.
Manager Ahn seemed to have forgotten it already, but back then, it was a bit important to me.
I was curious about his planning skills, and if it sucked, I planned to trash it in my head.
'But…… it looks just as solid now as it did then. If we secure the initial investment…… we could dominate the market for a while.'
That was why the stack on the corner of Manager Ahn's desk always stuck in my mind.
'It has potential.'
I knew company work wasn't just about potential.
But what if I could meet the criteria and go through the process?
……I thought it was solid enough to get approved.
It might even be the item that changes our team's image.
Tap tap tap—
I revised the planning document until dawn passed.
Not giving up if I saw potential. And not just getting swept along at the company.
It was my best shot at thrashing about.
* * *
"……Quiet."
8th Floor, Portrait Room.
Ceria, who had been waiting in front of the black painting, narrowed her eyes sharply.
Her gaze turned toward the door.
"……."
Greg, who had been talking nonstop until moments ago, shut his mouth.
Even his breathing felt conspicuous.
Ceria reacting this strongly meant something was up.
'With us inside, no other party should be able to enter…….'
Of course, there were oddities.
Ceria had been wary of the surroundings for a while now.
But Greg's senses picked up nothing.
This room was completely sealed. No one could force their way in.
'But…….'
The mouse hole was the issue.
He and Regin had figured out how to sneak into this room through it.
It shattered the common sense that no one else could enter if someone was already inside.
"……."
Ceria must have sensed it too.
She heightened her mana and senses, starting to guard against something.
With Regin away for the moment.
Until he returned, she thought she and Greg had to hold this place.
"……It's coming."
Grip.
Ceria gripped her dagger and stared at the mouse hole.
At that instant, as her killing intent filled the room.
Squeak, squeak—
"……A rat?"
Greg let out an involuntary chuckle as he looked at the rat.
It had just emerged from the mouse hole.
"Phew, what a relief."
The tension that had built up following Ceria finally eased.
As Greg wiped sweat and tried to lower his axe.
"……Don't lower the axe."
"Huh?"
Whoosh!
Ceria drew a throwing dagger and ordered Greg not to relax.
In the blink of an eye, she hurled the throwing dagger.
Clang!
The rat jumped and dodged it effortlessly.
"……What?"
A rat was fast, sure.
But not fast enough to evade Ceria's dagger at this range.
Ceria could drop flying birds; there was no way she'd miss a single rat.
Especially since she'd infused it with mana.
"What the hell is that……?"
It happened in an instant.
"Urk!!"
Thud!
Greg's knees slammed into the ground.
"Some shitty hospitality."
Overwhelming mana.
Overwhelming killing intent.
The two combined, instantly crushing the air with heaviness.
Greg's gaze fixed straight ahead.
……The thing that had been a rat until moments ago swirled and transformed into a two-meter-tall hulking man.
"I came to check since I heard there were other rat-hole bastards around. What the hell are you?"
A man in a black leather coat.
"How did raw newbies like you use the mouse hole?"
He pressed down on them with killing intent, smirking.
Like he'd found a fun toy after a long time.
"……Hold on."
Ceria said to Greg.
"Hold until Regin comes back."
The mana emanating from him was vaster than Karuan's, and the vibe even more unpleasant.
Based on that past experience, Ceria could sense it instinctively.
There was no way this guy would let them live.
* * *
"Park Jinseong!!"
The section chief's excited voice slammed into my ears.
How did it come to this?
I'd just seen potential in Manager Ahn's planning document.
I wanted to do more than just follow orders—to give my best shot.
So I'd revised it nonstop for days.
Showing it to Manager Ahn and the section chief was already a month ago.
"The director says to run with this for real! Fuck, good job. Both of you! Let's drink till we drop today!"
Straight to a bar after work.
The section chief's gravelly laugh boomed out.
The plan had passed without issue, and the director himself had pledged support for the project.
"Manager Ahn, Employee Park. Fuck…… yeah. That's it! When you try, you deliver……!"
Clink!!
Soju glasses clashed wildly in the air.
I was dumbfounded.
A month ago, the section chief's expression had been off, and he'd escalated it right up.
Then suddenly, finance approved it.
And finally, praise exploding from the hyped-up section chief.
Things I'd hoped for but never expected were happening one after another.
"Jinseong."
I smoked with Manager Ahn.
He'd looked dumbfounded while drinking too, but his eyes sparkled a bit more in front of me.
"Thanks. That's what I wanted to say. I'd given up on that plan."
"……."
"And looking again, you only took my initial idea, but reworked the platform use and targeting completely?"
"……Ah."
"I'm not complaining—I'm saying you did great. It turned into something so different even I might've cut my name off…… but you put my idea first. Thanks for that."
Thump.
Manager Ahn patted my shoulder.
"……."
A strange feeling washed over me.
Like when the convenience store owner congratulated me right before I joined.
Emotions welled up just like when I'd looked up at the sky that day.
'Keep going like this…….'
I wanted to live just a little longer like this.
It felt like I was finally living a proper life after 27 years.
How much happier could I be if this project succeeded?
I wouldn't even need DAT anymore, the thing that had sustained me. I wanted to focus on this life now.
That's what I was thinking.
"……"
I panted in the bar bathroom mirror.
My thoroughly drunk face stared back.
And the faint smirk lifting the corners of my mouth.
"Whew…… how long since I got this wasted?"
Thinking about it, I rarely touched alcohol.
It had always been that way.
Even when climbing the tower.
'Good thing I didn't die then. Come to think of it, when the lycanthrope was chasing me…… Huh?'
The booze jogged something loose suddenly.
Mana.
Ceria.
Greg.
And where I was.
Where I am right now.
I became aware of the world's time, literally.
But then doubt crept in again.
Just……
Just…… like this……
"……."
I can just live like this.
Just walk the royal road.
Hell, my ex—who I'd reconnected with a few days ago—was vibing well too.
As countless thoughts and emotions chained through my head.
"……No."
My mouth opened.
"This never happened."
My face twisted. I made a pained expression.
But the me in the mirror kept smiling.
As if I had to keep smiling.
"I've never been this happy."
Bang!!
I slammed the mirror with all my might.
Crash!!
Glass shards flew everywhere, shattering.
But no blood flowed from my hand.
The drunkards' voices from outside didn't reach me.
"Fuck, Manager Ahn took my revised plan, erased my name, and got it approved."
I'd hoped for it.
"……The convenience store owner stiffed me on back pay and kicked me out. You think I've forgotten that insanity?"
Moments that hadn't actually happened.
"Above all……."
I recognized them.
My hoped-for fantasies had never happened to me.
As I started to accept that calmly, things I hadn't seen came into view.
"I don't have parents to call."
You think I poured my life into DAT for no reason?
"My ex never begged to get back together."
I'd lived a life of constant rejection.
Every hope I'd chased had collapsed spectacularly.
Even the last one I'd staked got wrecked by Manager Ahn and the section chief.
The only reason I hadn't chosen the extreme was DAT.
Even the end of that game hadn't been welcoming.
"……I'm trying to live."
In Korea or in DAT.
I'd staked everything and thrashed about.
Don't mock that.
Slide—
I stepped on the sink with my foot and leaned toward the mirror.
What wall is this pitch-black color? Mana emanated from it too.
'Time to go.'
What's the point of living my whole life in fantasy instead of reality?
I knew it was meaningless.
I just wanted to use the regrets so far as a springboard to resist true to myself until the end of my life.
That was the reason to leave this place.
Swoosh—
My whole body got sucked in.
Light appeared in the distance.
The place where I'd been Regin moments ago.
'I thought it'd show Regin's past, but I never imagined it'd show mine.'
It caught me off guard.
Seemed like it took more time than expected, but still, good.
This time too, I'd resisted to the end and succeeded.
Slide.
Right before exiting, I waved my hand in the black passage.
'It should be here…….'
There was a reason I'd taken this risk to come this far.
There's an item in DAT I absolutely couldn't miss.
Clunk—
Something box-like caught in my hand.
I immediately opened the lid and checked inside.
'Save Ticket.'
A consumable item that rewinds the game state to the saved location.
I clearly remembered using ten of them to clear the final phase—the ultimate cheat item—coming out of this box.