You Wanna Fight?
"……Pardon?"
The employee blinked dumbly at the department head's words.
"The editor-in-chief is inside the stage right now."
"Do you think I'm saying this without knowing that?"
"Ah, no, sir."
The department head had been swamped lately, having just taken over priority clearance from the Ministry of Health and Welfare. That's why he'd entrusted the broadcasting duties to the editor-in-chief.
But to think they'd aired that kind of article.
Of all people, the military factory manager!
The employee in question was being treated like VIP on the down-low these days. Hell, for the 16th-floor stage survey, he'd even equipped the team with artifacts from that factory. No one knew the lengths he'd gone to secure them.
One misstep, and he might never get another artifact again.
So it was only natural that cold sweat beaded on the Media and Publishing Department head's forehead. He had to come up with an urgent fix.
Even if it meant letting the 16th-floor survey fail.
Pacing anxiously, the department head checked the latest post again. He wanted to gauge public opinion on the military factory manager.
Supporters and critics were locked in a fierce debate. At least that was something.
With resolve, he deleted the post. Then, looking up at the still-flustered employee, he said quietly,
"What are you waiting for? Go."
"Yes, sir!"
The employee bolted out.
Left alone, the Media and Publishing Department head sighed deeply, clutching his forehead.
This time, we're really in trouble, he thought.
The next day, I got out of bed and immediately circulated my Dragon Whisker Art.
Woooong.
Six or seven crimson ring shapes formed.
Click, click, click.
They instantly began linking together.
"Three stars now."
I nodded with satisfaction, a pleased smile on my face. Unlike my worries, the number of rings wasn't an issue. They seemed to increase naturally as my achievement level rose.
But not everything was smooth sailing.
"Time for some new spirit pills soon."
Last night, as usual, I'd trained until bedtime in the inner chamber of Parachao Pavilion. That's when Nam Bi told me,
'Jeongha. We need to find other spirit herbs from now on.'
Spirit herbs were the ingredients for spirit pills.
'Spirit herbs? Why? Running low?'
'No. We could make more, but eating the same kind builds tolerance. Spirit pills are medicine, after all.'
According to her, I needed either spirit pills with different effects or an adjuvant to neutralize the tolerance from the ones I'd taken.
They still worked fine for now. But who knew how long that would last?
So I'd started studying herbalism—something not even on my original plan.
Nam Bi had hauled a stack of books from the study and plopped into my lap with them. Thanks to her, my empty bookshelves were now crammed with headache-inducing tomes.
I stood before them, scratching my head.
"When am I supposed to memorize all this……."
These weren't just lists of medicines—they detailed secret recipes for compounding them. Especially the ones for cultivators' spirit pills. Any physician would kill for these.
I already had plenty to learn, and now it was a mountain.
But with my talent for martial arts and sorcery scraping the bottom of the barrel, I had no choice but to lean on spirit pills.
That's why I couldn't refuse Nam Bi's kindness.
Lost in thought for a while, I suddenly had a brilliant idea.
"Zhuque. Appear."
Whoosh!
-Peek!
The guy materialized before me in his unawakened flame bird form. Thanks to the Flame Spirit Divine Crystal I'd fed him recently, he could freely toggle his awakening state. Even unawakened, his mind was sharp.
-Why'd you call, Master?
His voice was thin and high-pitched, but cute enough.
I pointed at the bookshelves.
"Everything in these books. Memorize them for me."
-Ahem…… Delegating your own work to others…….
"You seeing this as a request? I'll smack you!"
-Ow, got it, Master! Don't hit me!
Of course, I wasn't planning to freeload entirely. Every time he saw a spirit herb, he'd tell me what it was, and it'd stick in my head easily enough. Spirit herbs weren't that common anyway.
-Master, aren't you gonna wash up and head out soon? Training here's inefficient anyway.
"I'm going. And your concern's no issue."
I grabbed a book labeled Spiritual Qi Hundred Herbs from the shelf. It cataloged a hundred spirit herbs from various mountains and forests.
If I walked around with this open, Zhuque perched on my head would read it aloud.
What a genius idea!
-……Master.
Summoning Zhuque in spirit form while out and about was fine. Plenty of spirit summoner employees did it. But calling this tiny bird "Zhuque" felt off, so I stuck with "Pingpingi" like before. His cry sounded like "peek-peek," so Pingpingi it was. "Peekpeeki" was a mouthful.
As I left the room, I told Pingpingi,
"Pingping. I'll quiz you tonight on how far you've gotten, so no slacking. Got it?"
-Y-yeah, Master…….
I strolled along, flipping through Spiritual Qi Hundred Herbs and skimming it with my eyes.
Soon, I arrived at the Tactical Control Room. I'd come to check the department function upgrade I'd requested from Sasha yesterday.
Cherubim the manager lit up when I entered.
"Section Chief Kim!! Come on in!!"
"No issues, right, Manager Cherubim?"
"Check this out!!"
Cherubim pointed straight at the monitor.
Following his finger, I spotted familiar locations.
"That's the Ministry of Health and Welfare grounds."
"Here, here, and here too. Every department's situation at a glance!!"
He was right. Before, surveillance cameras were only in Safety Planning Agency areas and shared zones.
"And this button!!"
Cherubim zoomed in on a few chatting employees.
-So, Safety Planning Agency's turning the entire 15th floor into their turf, you know?
-Nah, bullshit.
-No, for real! I went there myself!
-Gotta make sense for me to believe it.
-Since when does anything in this company make sense?
-Fair…….
Ministry of Health and Welfare employees gossiping about our department.
"Eavesdropping function added, huh."
"Exactly!!"
Mics on the cameras let us listen in.
Cherubim grinned slyly.
"Safety Planning Agency's influence just got a big boost!! Heh heh heh!! Great job, Section Chief Kim!!"
I gave a light reply and shifted to another screen. The scene there was worlds apart from the company.
People in ragged clothes toiling under the blazing sun. Residents of the 15th-floor stage, now renamed Fairy Village post-clear.
"Communications working okay?"
Cherubim hit the comms button and leaned into the mic.
"Testing. Fairy Village, respond!!"
A Safety Planning Agency employee there stared at the camera.
-What is it?
"Status report on comms!!"
-Crystal clear.
Cherubim pulled a minigun card from the screen.
Clank. Whirr-
A crosshair appeared like in an FPS game.
-Gasp!
The employee on-screen yelped and dodged.
"Eee-hee-hee-hee!!"
"……Don't play with the guns, Manager. Resources aren't free."
"Sounds like employee lives mean less than resources to you!!"
"Employees are resources."
"Whoa!! Never thought of it that way!! You're so smart, Section Chief Kim!!"
"No big deal."
And with that, Fairy Village fell fully under Safety Planning Agency control.
"Oh, right. Speaking of, Section Chief Kim, you caused a huge stir yesterday!!"
"What kind?"
"Well……."
I got some updates from Cherubim in hushed tones, then left the control room.
Next stop: Technical Information Department. I could requisition supplies for employees here.
I ordered a glass tank like an aquarium. For raising the maggot eggs from the 16th floor.
-Why the hell would you raise those things?!
"Quiet down."
I ignored Angelica's scolding and took the tank. Since it was for maggots, I dubbed it the breeding tank.
I stored it in the mirror and turned to leave.
Thud, thud.
Suddenly, a group approached me. The leader up front was someone I knew well.
"Kim Jeongha employee."
"What? Mask employee."
The leader was the HR Employee Review Committee Chairwoman, Gamen.
"I'm your superior by rank, yet your speech is as rude as ever."
"Do superiors bring their whole entourage to check on underlings?"
"You never yield an inch."
"Can't stand losing."
"Hmph."
Gamen snorted and jerked her head.
"Follow me anyway."
"On what grounds?"
"Our Employee Review Committee has the right—and duty—to judge employee performance and misconduct. We'll be reviewing your fitness due to the subordinate assault case. Come quietly."
I snorted right back.
"Hmph! Does the director know about this?"
"Does she need to?"
"I had dinner with your director yesterday. Didn't quite make it to drinks…… but we did everything else. Right?"
Gamen's brow twitched at "drinks." I'd probed on a hunch, and sure enough, she was still salty about that incident.
No wonder she'd been hunting for dirt on me. Then this perfect bait dropped in her lap.
She paused, then ordered her subordinates,
"Escort him politely."
"Yes, Chairwoman!"
The employees closed in, grabbing for my arms.
I shoved their hands away roughly.
"Hands off! I'll walk myself."
"……."
They exchanged glances and nodded.
"Just don't cause trouble."
"You're the ones causing it."
"We'll see about that, Kim Jeongha employee."
Gamen glanced back calmly as we walked.
I followed silently.
"Hmph. How's it feel, Section Chief Kim Jeongha? Sitting here all pinned down?"
The employee giggling with a hand on my shoulder was Taki.
"You seem thrilled. Stage cleared okay?"
"Tch."
She ground her teeth. I'd asked knowing she'd failed and bailed.
Seeing Taki here meant she'd probably stirred Gamen up.
"All healed already? Guess it was just whining."
"……Haha. Worry about yourself first? Might get fired, you know. Hehe."
I chuckled it off. If firing was that easy, the company would've been a bloodbath by now.
I'd been summoned over Tae Ja-seok's discipline, but that stuff was routine here. At worst, a 3-4 day room arrest.
……My prediction missed badly.
"……For the reasons above, Kim Jeongha employee is sentenced to a three-month stage entry ban."
"Ridiculous."
Gamen replied as if I'd said something stupid.
"Why? Upper management's already approved the petition."
"Don't make me laugh."
"Don't believe me? Check yourself, Kim Jeongha employee."
"Isn't this overly emotional?"
"Dunno. What do you think, Editor-in-Chief Taki?"
"Hahaha!! Perfectly fair, in my opinion."
Taki smirked at me.
"Came straight from medical to see you—best decision ever. Ahh, so satisfying."
They'd teamed up to screw me. Approval before judgment meant they'd reported up first.
"We'll see how this plays out."
"Watch your step. No escort."
I stormed out.
Gamen's voice stabbed after me.
"As for what you said earlier—the director does favor you, Kim Jeongha employee. But surely she won't throw a childish tantrum. Keep some dignity as a section chief."
"Don't worry. Won't need to."
Precisely. No need.
I nodded to myself.
"Gonna use authority, huh."
Fine. Eye for an eye, tooth for a tooth.
Authority against authority.