Chapter 18
Chapter 18
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Translator: uly
Chapter: 18
Chapter Title: #5 Countdown
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Things had gone pretty much according to plan in the Bipa ambush battle, leaving me in a fantastic mood.
But the second I returned to reality, it all went to shit.
["Ga-hyun, seriously, think about it one more time. Where in the world are you gonna find a job this good?"]
"What the hell, man? You call that talk?"
Sigh.
I took a deep breath.
"Do you seriously think there's such a thing as a 'good job' out there? High, mid, low—doesn't matter, you're still a slave. You get that, you goddamn boss?"
Work for a public company, you're a public slave.
Work for a private firm, you're a corporate slave.
It's all the same.
["Ga-hyuuun..."]
Kim Je-hyun's voice dragged on pitifully as he called my name.
Diamond spoon same-age cousin.
Kim Je-hyun had always been pretty-faced, never showing his age.
This guy, raised sucking on diamond spoon grub, had such a refined look that when he tried acting like an older brother just because his birthday was a bit earlier, it pissed me off to no end.
Just like he wanted, I dropped the "Oh" from his surname and kept calling him that relentlessly.
Hey, you punk-ass bitch.
Even brothers can be punk-ass bitches.
After I embarrassed him a few times, he stopped that crap. But then he somehow ended up in his family's company and now expected me to call him "President."
"Shut up. You're the one who exploited me harder because we're family."
If it weren't for Mom, I'd have quit ages ago.
That's where I learned what real corporate hell was like.
This bastard promised me work-from-home and good treatment, then made me run every odd errand because I was "family and too comfy."
Kim Je-hyun whined.
["I was wrong. I swear I won't do it again. So please, just take back your resignation."]
Should've done right when you had the chance.
Kim Je-hyun was sucking honey as vice president in the company his older brother built.
He had solid standing there.
Good at his job, good image, great at playing nice.
Being loved was Kim Je-hyun's specialty.
Meanwhile, his older brother—who'd shown real talent and diligence building the company from scratch—was about to move under Grandpa's wing.
He'd started it to catch Grandpa's eye from the get-go, so no regrets leaving.
Smart bro builds a solid company, and it falls right into little bro's lap.
Life's a fucking cheat for that lucky bastard.
Anyway, I'd been working there until recently. Right up until I got into a fight with some employee and threw down my resignation.
"You should've toned down the parachute vibes."
["How could I not let it show?"]
"What the hell, man?"
The more he talked, the more it pissed me off.
["Big Bro said to promote you quick so you could prove yourself!"]
So that's how it was.
Kim Je-hyun's older brother, Kim Do-won—that fucker was behind it all. Made my blood boil even more.
A promotion at a startup?
Oh, sure.
"And so?"
That so-called brother doesn't know shit about how Kim Je-hyun actually works. Big problem.
This guy's such a slacker.
You promote him in moderation.
But Kim Je-hyun went around blatantly advertising me as a parachute hire, so I was about to quit when he begged for work-from-home to keep me, then piled on every bullshit task under that excuse.
Sigh, fuck.
God knows what happened, but suddenly he said other employees were giving him looks, begged me to come in for a few days, I did, got into a fight with some employee right away, and finally submitted my resignation.
A beautifully shitty story.
"My resignation is one hundred percent your fault. You. You! YOU!!"
Of course, the Bipa siege played a part too, but the full quit was entirely on Kim Je-hyun.
["Nooo! Don't say that! Big Bro will beat me to death! If it gets to Grandpa, our whole house flips and I'll be executed!"]
"You created this mess and treated me like shit anyway. Should've done right when you had the chance."
["Yaaaah!"]
Useless fucks.
Having chaebol cousins just gets you a job at some startup.
Grandpa's the type who can't stand leech grandkids sucking his wealth dry.
So he wants all the grandkids to start from the bottom and prove themselves.
Auntie figured better to set her kids up in their own company to show their chops than shove them under strict Grandpa.
Kim Je-hyun's big bro was smart and capable, so the plan worked great.
And I got screwed in the middle.
Grandpa saw the cousins getting along and liked it, so he nixed my big corp job placement.
Damn it.
"Enough. I'm sick of the Kim clan."
["I'll do better now, I swear!"]
No, treating a commoner like me—unlike them—to prove myself at some shitty startup instead of a big corp?
Are they insane?
They're not even gonna make me heir if I win, or give me a company or anything.
I know damn well I won't get shit from Grandpa, so why the hell should I slave under his grandsons?
Regular corporate life is shitty and humiliating enough, but lifelong ties to these diamond spoon cousins in this dog-eat-dog hierarchy?
Fuck that.
"I can't do it anymore, fuck."
No matter how shitty, I'll just get a job elsewhere.
Sometimes I wish I had no pride. If I were more sociable and ass-kissing.
But a startup? That's too much. Might as well fund my own startup.
Not like I have a good idea anyway.
["Ga-hyun, can you tone down the cursing? It feels murderous and scary."]
The blowfish mumbled some blowfish shit.
"No, you fucking fuck."
["Hing. Ga-hyuuun."]
Don't fall for Kim Je-hyun's cute act.
This guy's a power-trip king.
From my view, Kim Je-hyun was always the biggest problem.
I have massive inferiority complex toward this same-age cousin born with a diamond spoon.
Try working under that kind of guy, dealing with his childish power trips every damn day.
It's just!
"Fine. Whatever. I'll have a nice chat with your precious big bro."
["No, seriously, don't! Please! He'll kill me! Our big bro, you, uh, argh, really!!"]
"I'll tell him real nice."
["Nooo! Save me!!"]
Kim Je-hyun was jumping up and down.
Sneaky temptation.
Anyway, I was dead serious about cutting ties with Kim Je-hyun's whole family.
My life was too tangled with them, from Auntie to Je-hyun.
Favor or grudge, didn't matter.
I'm done.
Even as maternal cousins, Kim Je-hyun and I are worlds apart socially.
Sounds like trashy drama, but Mom was basically disowned by that family.
So as a kid, I had no clue about her background.
Then Dad died one day.
That's when I first learned about "Mom's side."
Meeting same-age Kim Je-hyun in middle school crushed me with inferiority.
Born diamond spoon in a chaebol house, pretty and prim, always top grades.
Plus, he talked so sweetly, super popular.
Hated that prick.
Unlike me, leeching off Grandpa and cousins' favors, he had it all— even that sly side perfectly.
Even his childish power trips showed he didn't like me much.
But now he's cornered from all his fuckups.
["I'll beg on my knees! And you know how much Big Bro likes you! If he succeeds under Grandpa, you benefit too! It's basically set in stone, why—"]
"You know me better than that."
Anyone else maybe not, but Kim Je-hyun knows.
"I can't be satisfied with that."
Kim Je-hyun—who'd been freaking out about me snitching to his bro—went suddenly quiet.
["......"]
Does Kim Je-hyun even get how I felt grinding at that company?
Whispers of "parachute" behind my back, watching him and cousin bro hustle for Grandpa's approval, bearing Mom's crushing expectations every day.
Job market's tough these days, but I can't take it anymore.
"Just accept the resignation."
Even if I rehire at some trash place, somewhere no one knows me.
I can't breathe.
I want to go back to not knowing about that lofty maternal side.
* * *
Used the war break to nap, woke up to missed calls.
I'd silenced my phone so Kim Je-hyun wouldn't wake me.
Of course, guild chat alerts stayed on for game emergencies.
But it wasn't him.
[Mom (7)]
Blood ran cold.
"......"
Come to think of it.
Why didn't it occur to me Kim Je-hyun might snitch to Mom?
Obvious who'd a cornered rat run to.
[Did you tell Mom?]
[You wanna die??]
[You fucking bastard]
Sent with pure murder vibes, then rage exploded—I hurled my phone across the bed.
Thud!
"Ah—!!"
Should I just kill that Kim Je-hyun prick?
Real life's shit enough—kill him and give up mine too?
For a second, deadly serious thought.
"Ha......"
Reined in my sanity.
Still got shit to do. Too wasteful to quit now.
Time to log in.
Rubbed my dry face, got up with heavy heart.
Grabbed glucose IV packs, chugged them down.
No time to eat during siege? Just jab an IV in my arm.
Did it studying too—used to it.
Killed room lights, flipped gear switch, sat in the dome device.
Whirr—
"......"
Sitting in the dark Imperial Super Dome Station calms me endlessly.
Top-tier gear costing as much as a luxury car.
Luxury toy for the rich, obviously. Budget versions are way cheaper.
But I wanted this.
Big bro gifted me a pricey foreign car for joining—sold it quick for this.
Still think it was the best decision ever.
Kim Je-hyun flipped, asking how dare I sell it like that.
Too cheap, blah blah.
Freebie anyway—what's it to me? Phone blew up when I sold it, though.
Anyway.
Sigh.
Head's a tangled mess.
Seven missed calls, not one.
Definitely snitched to Mom.
Pressed furrowed brow with hand back, forced brows up.
Relaxed deep frown by habit, muttered low.
"Log in."
Lights out, headgear stabilized around my skull.
Leaned back comfy, closed eyes.
Vrrr—
Surrender to the familiar.
Sinking fast under inky depths, through dark water, surfacing opposite side.
Thus, I escape reality for a bit.
["Welcome."]
Logging in always mixes liberation and regret.
If only my shitty life was just this game.