Reasons for Diligence! Meracle's Fifth Day Without Kim Juseon
Today was Friday. It was day five at Meracle without Kim Juseon. Kim Yang was in the middle of attending to a client.
"Yes, as you can see, hunters are categorized in detail too. Not every hunter risks their life on the front lines."
"Really? I thought anyone who wasn't a corporate hunter was out there beyond the walls, risking their necks."
"The Hunter Management Bureau and the Seoul government are extremely reluctant to release info about what's outside the walls, so a lot of people misunderstand."
Monsters live outside Seoul. Hunters clean them up. That was the extent of it. Thanks to the inter-floor wars, humanity's territory in Korea had shrunk to just Neo Seoul. Talk of monsters or the ruined outer cities was still a raw wound for the citizens.
"Hunters are fine. But I'd like to retire once I've saved up enough retirement funds. I can keep working at the office, and with that, the two of us could open a little restaurant."
The woman receiving the consultation asked worriedly.
"I saw online that some hunters are battle maniacs with something like war PTSD, enjoying the thrill of risking their lives not for money, but for the pleasure—"
"I know there are certain sites spreading malicious, exaggerated nonsense about hunters. But hunters are just people like us."
"R-right? I thought it was weird too."
"Don't worry too much."
Finishing the consultation, Kim Yang rubbed her temples with a sigh. Since the Tower appeared, the world had birthed too many "differences." And inevitably, there were people who couldn't distinguish between mere differences and outright discrimination. The world had already been complicated enough with divides of gender, generation, and race. Now, discrimination had multiplied beyond counting, making it hard to even sort through.
One infamous example was the floorists from the 6th floor's Cyber City—folks who saw lower-floor dwellers as barbarians, beneath contempt. The hunter-hating groups on the 3rd floor were cut from the same cloth, claiming that unless you were a corporate hunter, you were all psychos who got off on killing.
"Nngh—!"
Stretching, Kim Yang rose from her seat. Life never sorted itself out easily. Leaving the consultation room, she returned to the office. Passing Renea, who was practicing typing at Kim Juseon's desk, she sat down. Just two more days until Kim Juseon returned. Most of the client list had lines drawn through them, marked as done. But there were still some she couldn't figure out.
"……."
She checked as soon as she sat, but her inbox was still empty. The final draft from Design Frame, which they'd promised to send, hadn't arrived. Even though she'd talked to them three days ago.
"Ah, my, my head."
Complaining of a headache, she peeked, and Renea craned her neck from the next seat to peer at Kim Yang's screen.
"They haven't sent it again? These fools have truly lost their minds!"
"C-call. Call……."
Fumbling for her phone, she dialed Design Frame. But it just rang on endlessly with no sign of an answer.
What the hell?
She knew they got along well with the boss. Kim Yang had even seen them consulting together on design drafts here at Meracle. He'd seemed like a kind, affable uncle back then.
Glancing at the time, it was right around lunch. With no intention of skipping the meal, Kim Yang stood.
"G-gotta go see them."
"You're going? This lady shall accompany you! Let's give them a proper scolding!"
Renea rolled up her sleeves and followed. Kim Yang stared blankly before shaking her head.
"N-no. I'll go alone."
"Why?! This lady will do the scolding!"
"……No."
For some reason, Renea looked like she'd be the one getting scolded. Kim Yang straightened her clothes and headed out.
Business called, so she took a taxi on the company card and arrived at the small firm. They'd contracted here because of the cheap prices and reviews praising the boss's diligence. Clearing her throat, Kim Yang stepped inside.
The place was packed with computers and unfamiliar machines. Being a design business, it was full of objects with unique shapes.
Hearing the door, the Design Frame boss stood, and their eyes met.
"Who—oh."
"From Meracle."
"Huh…… You came all the way here?"
Kim Yang's expression hardened further at his dumbfounded look.
"I didn't expect to have to come all the way here either."
Who's the one dumbfounded here?
"I asked for the final draft by email, but you haven't sent it. You've ignored every call and message."
The few employees at Design Frame rolled their eyes at their monitors, gauging the tension. The atmosphere turned to thin ice in an instant. Still, the boss shrugged, stroking his chin smugly.
"Aigoo, you called? I must've missed it. We were on vacation until yesterday."
"Vacation……."
So while I'm tearing my hair out trying to meet deadlines, you were just goofing off?
"Is this how Design Frame normally does business? We trusted you because of your good industry rep, but this is downright rude."
"Rude? Tsk."
Tongue clicking, the man's sneering gaze raked over Kim Yang.
"Barging into someone's home like a shed full of fur—that's what's rude."
"……."
As mentioned before, the Tower's arrival had diversified discrimination based on "differences." Prejudice against beastkin and beastmen was common enough. Some classified them as animals, others didn't see them as people at all. It wasn't something you saw daily in real life, but news articles brought it up constantly. The worst she'd dealt with was some sexual harassment comments on SNS.
So this is what it's really like.
It was a stark reminder of how sheltered her life had been.
"Final draft? Hey, send it over."
"Y-yes, sending…… Sent!"
It took a whole five seconds. He'd made such a fuss over something that took five seconds—because she was a beastkin.
Infuriating. Absurd. But Kim Yang wasn't the type to cry in moments like this. She checked her email right away on her phone. She didn't budge until the file confirmed.
It's here.
The final draft had arrived. With the file in hand, there was no need to deal with them anymore.
"Confirmed."
Pocketing her phone, she shot him a frosty glare.
"I don't get why you're handling business like this. Just because I'm a beastkin?"
"If anything, we're the aggrieved ones. The boss handled the contract and meetings, but you dump the actual work on a beastkin……."
He trailed off. Kim Yang could guess the rest without hearing it. Her mind cooled to ice. Crying now wouldn't suit her. There was no point reasoning with baseless hate. They weren't hating her for logical reasons.
He might have his reasons for hating beastkin—ones that sounded convincing. But they weren't reasons to hate her.
"So what's the problem?"
Her low voice halted the room's air. The boss's face finally hardened.
"Pardon?"
"The boss did the contract, I handled execution. Revision requests, schedule checks, emails, calls—all me."
Folding fingers one by one, she countered methodically.
"But you ignored contact for three days."
"No, we were all on vacation—"
"If on vacation, leave an away message."
"……."
"Or hand off to the assigned staff."
She shoved her phone at the speechless boss. Missed call logs. Sent emails. Revision summaries. All there.
"I didn't come here just to grab a file and hurt my feelings. This is business. But you delayed delivery, ghosted contact, and just now treated me like less than human over my appearance."
"……."
"Beastkin can't do the job? Who's dropping the ball here?"
The boss's chin trembled faintly.
"Th-that's not what I meant—"
"Then what did you mean?"
"……."
"Was 'shed full of fur' a necessary business term?"
Asked point-blank in front of his staff, he sighed instead of answering.
"M-my mistake."
Clunk! A printer whirred loudly from the corner. Kim Yang no longer held back, curling her lips in a smile that didn't reach her eyes.
"Boss, do you know why our president contracted with you?"
"……."
"Cheap rates, sure. But also the rep for diligence."
"That's—"
"Save it. No excuses."
Sorry, but she had no interest in hearing them.
"Three days no contact? Mistake."
"……."
"Botched revisions? Mistake."
"……."
"Wrong files? Mistake."
"……."
"Beastkin slur? Mistake."
Kim Yang clicked her tongue sharply. She scanned the room coolly before declaring,
"You've made a lot of mistakes, boss."
"Ah, it won't happen again."
"It won't. We won't have business with you anymore."
That was it. Kim Yang turned and walked out. She'd gotten what she came for and handled what needed handling. No desire to deal with trash like that anymore.
Outside, it was afternoon, streets filling with coffee-toting people. No real relief, just a sudden old memory.
'Wh-what if... s-someone... y-yells at you... b-because you're... d-different?'
Not acting. Back when Korean wasn't fluent yet. Fresh from the Immortal Peach Garden, stepping into the world for the first time. Terrified her, he'd grinned and said,
'I've got you.'
'Th-the boss?'
"As if."
Grumbling, but a smile tugged her lips. Matchmaking agency. The work was pretty fun. Joy in meeting all sorts of people, quirky coworkers. But.
If Kim Juseon ran a diner, she'd wait tables. If a clothing store, she'd model. If a hunter, she'd manage.
That was exactly why she stayed so diligent.
Monday.
"I'm back—!"
The moment Kim Juseon grinned entering the office, Kim Yang shot up and rammed her head into his chest.
"Guh?!"
A perfect headbutt to the chest. In the pose of naturally falling into his arms, Kim Yang grinned conspiratorially and yelled,
"M-meat! N-night shift pay! H-hand it over, y-you evil boss!"
