Chapter 209: Role-playing Interview (2)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 209: Role-playing Interview (2)
After thirty minutes passed, the participants were granted permission to use the messenger app.
It was a messenger commonly used by many startups. They must have signed up for a corporate trial version just for the duration of the shoot.
Below it was a simple manual on how to use the messenger. Of course, I didn't need to look at it, so I quickly checked the profiles first.
At the very least, my messenger account was still active. That made sense. If this were deactivated too, it would immediately reveal that I was the target, and the game wouldn't be able to proceed.
An entry-level employee shouldn't go around sending random messages to a room where their superiors are present first thing in the morning. I held my breath and waited for the right moment.
Then, someone posted the first message.
An Jo-yong
[Good morning, everyone~]
He was using polite speech, but according to the organizational chart, An Jo-yong was the Team Leader. It seemed like he was testing the waters to see if people realized he was the boss.
Yu Yeon-seong
[The weather is so lovely~~]
True to his name, his skill in smoothly playing along was a work of art.
In times like this, it’s not good to send a message too late. I signaled my presence by sliding in at the appropriate middle ground.
Jo Yong-han
[Yes, good morning, Team Leader!]
After adding a smiling emoji to An Jo-yong’s message, the others began sending their messages belatedly.
Maybe they weren't used to the messenger, or maybe they hadn't clearly figured out their positions yet. Regardless, the two who showed up late would be my primary targets for framing.
While the three of them were fumbling through their messages, I checked the calendar once more.
‘The meeting dates from last month definitely look suspicious.’
Unlike other weeks, the page for last month had two meetings written down—one on Wednesday and one on Friday.
Considering that people generally give notice a month before resigning, there was a high probability that these meetings were resignation interviews disguised as regular meetings.
Once the Team Leader, An Jo-yong—who would have conducted the resignation interview—realized the target's identity was the "resigned employee," he would narrow down the suspects to those who lacked an alibi for the interview dates. I had to create an alibi before then.
What did I used to do in the data team at Hanpyeong Industry? For an entry-level employee, they usually assigned things like data labeling or, at most, verification.
For now, I decided to just mark the suspicious dates.
In the meantime, a check came in regarding the easiest thing to verify: the meeting dates.
So-mun-nan
[Team Leader! Are we proceeding with the meeting date as scheduled without any changes?]
This was the easiest way to filter the target by dividing people into those who knew Wednesday was the regular meeting day and those who didn't.
Unfortunately, no one took the bait. Perhaps the calendar was too easy an item to find.
So-mun-nan continued to send messages frequently after that. He seemed to have decided that maintaining a character that lived up to his name—"The Rumored One"—would be helpful.
On the other hand, I, whose name was "Jo Yong-han" (The Quiet One), only sent emojis or mechanical responses like "Yes." Poor So-mun-nan. He was probably sweating bullets right now trying to come up with something to write.
The short five-minute communication window ended, and this time, twenty-five minutes of additional investigation time were granted.
‘First, I need to figure out what kind of work this team does.’
Since I had been processed as resigned and couldn't access the work site, I had to look for scrap paper or shredded documents. Fortunately, the paper waste was well-sorted in one place.
As I flipped over the scrap paper and reorganized it according to the print dates, I saw a familiar word.
It was Jo Yong-han’s resignation letter.
“Hey, what’s up with him?”
Director Ma, who was listening to the audio, asked while pointing at the screen. On the monitor, Kim I-wol was incessantly muttering something to himself while cross-referencing the scrap paper with the calendar.
“I gave him easy hints because he’s a rookie, but he’s doing the weirdest things first.”
Thinking back, Kim I-wol had been different from the start.
While the others had frantically rummaged through their characters' workspaces the moment they entered, Kim I-wol had sat down in his seat with practiced ease, opening drawers and poking around the computer.
When Kim I-wol accessed the internal server network, the entire staff was aghast.
‘Hey, is that actually possible?!’
‘Based on the character settings, it’s supposed to be blocked, so it’s not a problem... but that was an Easter egg we put in! I didn't think he'd actually manage to log in!’
Kim I-wol had even finished checking the web pages Jo Yong-han had visited in his recent search history.
On the notepad of the split screen, words that appeared repeatedly on web pages and in articles were written down in order.
AI Trend → For improving individual work competency? Or reference research?
>
Deep Learning Technology Limits → Inferred that he found a way to improve them.
>
Big Data Verification → Preliminary work for deep learning / Likely the result reporting stage.
.
.
.
After checking the interview schedule on the calendar and even the calendar restored from the trash bin, Kim I-wol spoke to himself.
“I’m the one who resigned.”
It was the fastest keyword confirmation for a target in the show's history.
The one who had introduced Kim I-wol was an old university friend. He said the kid had appeared on his programs a few times and was useful because his brain worked fast.
‘Your programs are all about physical labor, you jerk.’
‘He’s good with his body and his head.’
‘Isn't he an idol?’
‘What does that matter? If you get paid to work, you’re a professional. At least, that’s his mindset.’
Director Ma had thought his friend had gone crazy from only doing grueling shows like Challenge! Life Experience, but apparently, he hadn't.
Kim I-wol also successfully found the major hint: the resignation letter. It was the moment it became certain that Kim I-wol was the target.
However, the smile on Director Ma's face was short-lived as Kim I-wol’s expression turned subtle.
Kim I-wol took the resignation letter and approached the desk calendar. He flipped the calendar back and forth, looking between it and the letter.
Kim I-wol’s eyes darkened.
“Oh boy... Is this company problematic?”
In that instant, everyone wearing earphones held their breath.
The seal stamped on the first resignation letter I found was grey.
Usually, the original is submitted to the company, so they must have set it up so that a copy was kept but thrown into the scrap paper bin to give me, the participant, a hint.
However, there was something peculiar. It was the submission date of the handwritten and then copied resignation letter, and the print time written at the bottom of the paper.
‘He wrote the resignation letter in the afternoon and submitted it that evening?’
The date the resignation letter was submitted and the date of resignation were the same. While I had occasionally seen cases of people quitting on their first day at Hanpyeong Industry, excluding those, it was rare for someone to write a resignation letter and leave on the same day.
Furthermore, if the situation was extreme enough to write a resignation letter and leave in a single day, there was no reason for the employee to wait until past quitting time. If I’m leaving right now, why on earth would I stay behind while everyone else is going home?
At this point, I couldn't help but be suspicious.
The "personal reasons" listed as the cause for resignation on this letter were definitely not the truth.
If the resignation letter was forged, I was likely a victim framed as the target by someone else; if it was real, there was a high probability that something fishy was going on.
I simply dumped the entire scrap paper bin onto the floor. Small scraps of paper that had been hidden among the stiff sheets came out.
‘How much time is left?’
According to the timer, there were less than seven minutes remaining. By the time I had picked up all the scraps and roughly spread them out on the floor, the remaining time had dropped to three minutes.
So-mun-nan
[What are you doing, Yong-han? You’re so quiet~]
Jo Yong-han
[I’m sorry. I was trying to find something and my desk got a bit messy. :sweating_face:]
Yu Yeon-seong
[Take your time, take your time~~ lol]
Jo Yong-han
[Yes, thank you, Deputy Head!]
At my words, Yu Yeon-seong went quiet.
The organizational chart came out yesterday.
My resignation was finalized last night.
Therefore, there was almost no possibility that the organizational chart had been reorganized in this company in the meantime.
Since I had intentionally mentioned the ranks of Team Leader An Jo-yong and Deputy Head Yu Yeon-seong first, they would be convinced that I was their team member.
There was also someone who suddenly started participating actively in the conversation. It was my colleague, Yeong-yang-ga.
Yeong-yang-ga reacted loudly, chiming in whenever So-mun-nan said something. It seemed they had formed a sort of "line" over there.
One person is resigning while others are forming lines and doing just fine at the company. It left a foul taste in my mouth.
So-mun-nan
[By the way, Seong-sil-han hasn't said a word since greeting us earlier???]
For now, I had avoided suspicion. After the three dots indicating that Seong-sil-han was typing moved up and down, a new message soon arrived.
Seong-sil-han
[I am sorry. My Korean is not very good.]
‘Is his concept a student who studied abroad or a foreign employee?’
If so, it was understandable that his typing was slow or that he wasn't very visible in the chat window. Since English is often used when handling data or looking at big data itself, it was a plausible story.
However, Seong-sil-han’s answer seemed to sound like prey to the others.
So-mun-nan
[Abroad? Where are you from?]
Seong-sil-han
[I am Korean. I studied abroad for a long time.]
So-mun-nan
[Oh, really??? Why is this the first I’m hearing of it??]
[Yang-ga, is this the first you’ve heard of it too~?]
Yeong-yang-ga
[Ah, it’s the first I’ve heard of it too!]
An Jo-yong
[Seong-sil-han lived in Germany for a while~]
Here, the Team Leader stepped in to cover for him.
This meant that An Jo-yong had some degree of personal information about the team members in his hands.
‘His head must be spinning right now, trying to find the resigned employee he interviewed based on their personal info.’
It’s tragic that I had to undergo a resignation interview here without even knowing it, something I never even got to do at Hanpyeong Industry. You could have at least let me experience it.
The conversation that followed also provided quite meaningful information.
Only An Jo-yong and I should have known that the target's identity was the resigned employee. Because I was the one who resigned, and An Jo-yong was the one who conducted the resignation interview.
However, there was one more person who knew of the existence of a resigned employee.
So-mun-nan
[Shall we turn the conversation more toward work? That way, an outsider won't be able to act along lol]
Mr. So-mun-nan, who had been sending messages incessantly since earlier.
He hurriedly tried to push the message up by posting new ones, but I saw it. Not just me, but everyone.
Had he not watched In My Office, which, while not a massive hit, was quite popular in its own right?
In a team, there could be investment experts with mysterious abilities, third-generation chaebols, or lottery enthusiasts.
There are very few people in the world who can be definitively labeled as "outsiders."
‘More than anything...’
Between typing, I confirmed the original form of the paper scraps I had been diligently piecing together.
The bright red seal proved that this document was the original.
‘It says the reason for resignation is workplace harassment.’
In that case, who else besides the harasser would think that one of us has resigned?