A Private Proposal
Some people's shoulders slumped in defeat. Others came at me with raised voices, demanding answers.
It made no difference whether they were men or women.
Maybe it was all those years dealing with Awakened hunters in the dungeons, but the ratio of aggressive types ran far higher than usual.
They seemed to have completely forgotten I was a Transcendent.
"What the hell is the reason for this?!"
"This doesn't make any sense. Our C-Team was the golden goose for this company!"
"We risked our lives going in and out of dungeons, and this is all we get…?"
I'd expected exactly this reaction.
And I already had my answers ready.
Still, it left a bad taste in my mouth.
It felt like I was looking at my past self.
"Due to the change in government policy, ordinary civilian supporters are going to disappear little by little. There's no helping it. And our company will be shifting its main dungeon focus from D-rank and C-rank to A-rank. For ordinary people like you, that's simply too dangerous."
The moment the words left my mouth, every one of them went silent.
They'd all seen the news. They'd known a day like this would come eventually.
They just hadn't expected it to be today.
"Try pitching other skills instead. We're replacing every supporter with Awakened personnel."
Senior An, standing beside me, seemed to share the same complicated feelings. She picked up where I left off.
"Mr. Kim Eungsu. I hear video editing of combat footage is your specialty? The new Awakened supporters we hire won't have that skill, so we'll still need someone to handle it. Would you consider transferring to that role?"
"Th-that is… well…"
The man looked dazed, like someone who'd thought he was falling off a cliff only to find a rope suddenly dangling in front of him.
He couldn't grab it right away—not with his colleagues watching.
But in the end he would. He had no choice.
This wasn't a social club. This was a battlefield.
"Thank you."
Of course he took it.
Glowering at the "traitor" from behind wouldn't change a thing.
People still had to eat.
If anything, more of them started pitching their own skills with desperate enthusiasm.
But I wasn't running a charity.
I sent them all packing with generous severance packages and nothing more.
We still had no real income stream. Keeping this many people on payroll would bleed us dry.
Out of eight supporters, six were cut.
Out of fifteen assistants, fourteen were gone.
The one man who survived was Kim Eungsu, hired for his video-editing skills.
The other two survivors were women whose faces and figures I personally found very much to my taste.
"Ms. Kim Hyunjoo, Ms. Lee Sanghie—could I have a word? I have a private proposal for the two of you."
"M-me…?"
"Why just us…?"
The moment I called the two female supporters over, Senior An and Hong Eunyoung both fixed me with looks that could kill.
What was their problem?
I'd already explained this thoroughly.
Turning ordinary people into Awakened was cheaper than poaching F-rank hunters from other companies.
And the loyalty would run deeper.
Of course, in this case the company was me and I was the company, but still.
Their stares made it impossible to sweet-talk the two women inside the conference room.
So I took Kim Hyunjoo and Lee Sanghie to the break room instead.
I told everyone else to stay the hell away, then stepped inside with just the two of them.
Damn, my heart's racing.
I hoped at least one of them would stay with the company.
"Ms. Hyunjoo, you were a D-rank team leader, correct?"
"Yes… I was scouted by Shinbaram from another company. I've been doing dungeon expeditions for four years, starting as an assistant."
After watching what happened with Kim Eungsu, she was already pitching herself hard.
Great body, and a very aggressive personality to match.
"And Ms. Sanghie…"
"I was a D-Team assistant. I joined as a new hire when Shinbaram first set up its dungeon expedition division. I've only been here ten months…"
She was actually my senior by tenure?
She seemed to think she was losing to Kim Hyunjoo; her expression turned timid and anxious.
It's fine.
You're prettier, and your chest is bigger.
Still… she needed to work on that face.
"But why us…?"
"As women, wasn't it hard going into dungeons?"
"Well… of course it was, but it's hard for the men too. There are female Awakened who hit on supporters just the same."
"Our team had… people from that industry filling in, so no Awakened ever did that kind of thing to me."
"That industry" meaning the courtesans who made house calls all the way into the dungeons, right?
Shinbaram was a major corporation, and they still allowed that?
Must have had some real pieces of shit among their Awakened.
Still, better they only touched the professionals.
"You've both had it rough… So what do you want to do from here? If you could keep doing this work, would you still be willing to risk your lives going into dungeons?"
"Of course. But now…"
"I like this job too. I just wish I'd been Awakened…"
"If that path opened up for you, would you be willing to do anything? I'm not talking empty words. I'm asking if you're prepared to stake your life on it."
Kim Hyunjoo nodded immediately. Lee Sanghie glanced around, then nodded as well.
"Why? Why go that far… Ms. Hyunjoo, you've been D-rank for four years and even got scouted. You must have a decent amount saved up."
"Because nothing else appeals to me. Going into dungeons, taking down monsters… well, I'm not the one taking them down, but living inside that life-or-death tension feels good. Like I'm actually alive. If I quit, I'll fall apart."
"I… want to make a lot of money. The pay is terrible at first, but once you become a D-rank supporter and start getting incentives, you can get filthy rich. I was only two months away from becoming a team leader myself…"
There were other, easier ways for a woman to make money, but I couldn't exactly ask about those right now.
And in the end, if I wanted to turn them into Awakened, they'd have to sell their bodies to me…
How the hell was I supposed to bring that up?
"What if, in order to keep entering dungeons as supporters, you had to… allow Awakened to do that to you? What would the two of you do?"
"That…"
"Sleep with them."
The look in both women's eyes changed.
The way they'd been regarding me as a Transcendent and company representative shifted into pure wariness.
"What exactly is the intent behind that question? Are you planning to make us do that kind of work from now on?"
"Not at all. Think of it as a confirmation of how far you're willing to go."
"I refuse. If two people genuinely liked each other, that would be different. Or if I wanted it myself. But I have absolutely no intention of making that my job."
"I'm the same…"
Had I asked the wrong question?
No… this was the normal reaction.
If they'd been willing, they would have gone into that industry from the start.
No need to risk their lives becoming Awakened supporters.
"I have zero intention of making either of you do that. Please don't misunderstand. Being willing to risk your life but drawing a hard line at that… I find that admirable."
"…Then why did you call us here separately?"
Kim Hyunjoo's glare was sharp; she was even more on guard than before.
Lee Sanghie, on the other hand, was completely unreadable.
She wasn't expressing her own opinion at all—just echoing whatever Kim Hyunjoo said.
Maybe I should have spoken to them one at a time.
Ah, screw it.
Both of them were attractive, but I wasn't going to die if I couldn't have them.
There were plenty of women in the world.
Time to cut straight to the point.
"Are the two of you happy that I'm the representative?"
"…I don't know yet."
"Same for me…"
Lee Sanghie was still just agreeing with Kim Hyunjoo.
Nothing I could do about it now.
Asking one of them to step out would be awkward at this point.
"How much have you looked into me? The news that I was coming in as representative has been everywhere for days, so you must have known."
"I know you're a Transcendent who appeared out of nowhere with strange abilities. Plenty of people seemed unhappy about it, but I wasn't one of them. I was actually looking forward to having someone who understood our work."
A textbook answer.
I turned my gaze to Lee Sanghie.
The look said: give me your personal take.
"I-I'm the same."
"I'd like a more personal answer from you, Ms. Sanghie. Be specific."
"I… heard you were a pervert, so I looked up the videos."
"And?"
"You seemed straightforward and… cool…"
Her eyes flicked down toward my crotch before she hurriedly looked back up.
How was I supposed to read that?
"Are you serious? The entire internet is calling me a pervert. Didn't that put you off?"
"No… After watching the videos, I could tell it was because of magic. You didn't actually do anything perverted. And compared to the men who went on expeditions with us, you're so much stronger… and… impressive…"
She was looking again.
Interested?
No—don't get ahead of yourself.
I couldn't just jump her over a little hint like this.
I had no intention of forcing anyone.
I only dealt with women who desperately wanted me.
Except for the ones with S-rank mana potential, of course.
"What if I really am a pervert? What if I used my status as a Transcendent to go around sleeping with every woman I meet?"
"That's…"
She didn't answer. Instead she glanced at Kim Hyunjoo beside her.
Whether she was looking for an opinion or just couldn't bring herself to say what she really thought, she clearly wasn't going to answer easily.
"What about you, Ms. Hyunjoo? If I used my position as a Transcendent and company representative to force the issue, what would you do?"
"I'd bite my tongue and die."
"Excuse me?"
I was genuinely startled.
This woman had serious charisma.
A completely different flavor of appeal from Senior An.
Which only made me want to break her even more.
I forced an awkward smile to hide my surprise and continued.
"You've both heard about my ability, right? Mana enhancement."
Both of them nodded.
"This is a secret, but I also have the power to Awaken people who aren't Awakened. It just requires a… somewhat difficult procedure."
Their expressions shifted dramatically.
Lee Sanghie's face lit up with raw desire. Kim Hyunjoo looked like she couldn't believe what she was hearing.
But both of them knew I wasn't lying.
The mana-enhancement ability already defied common sense.
And the public still knew almost nothing about Transcendents.
"Um… Transcendent… sir. Is that really true?"
"You can just call me Representative."
"Representative. Is that really true?"
"Yes."
I gave a light smile and nodded.
Lee Sanghie immediately pressed closer, eager.
"Y-you can turn me into an Awakened?"
"That's right. Though… it isn't simple."
"But it's not impossible, right? Does it cost money? I heard five hundred million… could I pay later?"
This one was already sold.
But I didn't feel particularly happy about it.
Nothing was less attractive than an easy woman.
Normally I would have said thank you, but right now I wasn't exactly starving for female company.
Kim Hyunjoo, on the other hand—staring at me from behind—was the one I wanted.
Imagining the woman who claimed she'd bite her tongue and die moaning while drunk on my cock sent blood rushing straight downward.
"I have no intention of taking money from my employees. That's why I asked those strange questions right from the start."
"Don't tell me… we have to give you our bodies before you'll make us Awakened…"
"Exactly. Or rather, something close but a little different. My ability only works on people I've had sex with. That's why, unfortunately, I had to let all the male supporters go. But for the two of you, I wanted to offer an opportunity—which is why I brought this up so carefully."
Now I finally understand why I can't even argue when the internet comments call me a pervert.
Kang Junghyeok, you absolute degenerate.
"But there were a few other female supporters besides us…"
"They weren't my type."
"So that means I am your type?"
Lee Sanghie's eyes sparkled with pure delight.
But my gaze was locked entirely on Kim Hyunjoo.
She had been staring at me the whole time, so our eyes met again.
The urge to kiss her right then and there hit hard.
"But if you hate it enough to bite your tongue, then there's nothing I can do."
"I-I'm not that extreme! If I can become Awakened and not get fired, I'd actually be the one begging…"
Yeah. I already know about you. Be quiet for a second.
"I… I'm sorry. It's just too sudden and hard to believe…"
What? Was she rejecting me?
"Hard to believe" meant she needed proof?
"Too sudden" meant she needed time to think?
Fuck. The more she played hard to get, the more I wanted to make her mine.
"You don't have to answer right this second. For now, both of you just keep coming to work like normal. Think it over carefully. If you decide to accept my proposal, give me your answer within a week. We'll draw up new contracts then. Even as supporters, you'll be treated as Awakened. And if you decide to refuse, you can take your time resigning. I'm busy, so I'll head out first."
I'll be waiting for a positive answer, Ms. Kim Hyunjoo.
Wearing a quiet smile, I slipped out of the break room.