The Interview That Led to a Harassing Phone Call
I had been living at the Eulji Disaster Camp for several days now.
This place was a hastily rented indoor gymnasium from the school.
The floor had thin blankets laid out in neat rows instead of mats, and beneath the basketball hoops sat stacks of bottled water boxes and lunch boxes.
If my life wasn’t already going to hell, the stale gym smell from my school days was the cherry on top.
“Hah. What a life.”
The new “sweet home” I rushed to that day greeted me with a floor plan that looked like someone had tried to rewrite it in modern art.
The entire living room was gone.
Clicking the key into the lock, the outside air and dust rushed in before any fresh-house smell could greet me.
“Ahhhhhk!”
Not long ago I’d been daydreaming about where to put the bed and which wall to nail the desk to.
The neighbor’s room had apparently been wiped off the map too.
At least it was better than nothing.
Or was it?
With the loan repayment starting any day now, I was about to turn this place into a vacant lot.
“Oh no, Jiwoo. What do I do? The Eulji office needs at least three months to reopen, and the closest one is in Suwon. You and I both need to go there.”
“Do you even know how many hours it would take to get there? I absolutely cannot!”
“Then how about going back to the Central Hero Call Center and applying for an operator position again?”
“You know how many times I had to visit the hospital back then? That place is off-limits too.”
“Ugh, fine. I’ll look into a few places and let you know.”
Despite the fact that I’d worked there for so long, the team leader had already found several other job options.
He even recommended various call centers that offered housing.
Monster Entity processing subcontract call centers—complete with complaints from people demanding the agency clean their front yards first.
Hero equipment after-sales support call centers—basically a nonstop parade of hero complaints.
Local Monster Entity temporary call center—back to the countryside. Great.
Everything sounded awful, but I had no other skills, so I submitted applications to all of them.
‘When am I going to have time to pick and choose?’
I just sent everything in blindly.
Five years at the top-tier Hero Call Center—plus a stop at a Monster Entity center. That should be more than enough, right?
Apparently not.
No calls came.
‘I’m finished. First month’s rent plus repair bills.’
Of course the Seoul government would eventually compensate us for Monster Entity damages.
But figuring out responsibility could take three months, sometimes six or more.
I couldn’t live like this for that long, constantly moving between temporary camps and daily rations.
‘No choice. Suwon will have to do…’
I was about to text the team leader when my phone buzzed.
Ding!
“Oh? Acceptance text?”
Employment Offer
Dear applicant,
After reviewing your resume, we would like to schedule an operator interview and background check today.
If you can start immediately, please visit the following address.
Address: Euljiro 1-ga Station, Exit 6, 10-minute walk
2nd floor, Badgirl Hero Agency
Please bring identification and a few personal items when you come.
We will inform you of housing and meal arrangements after the visit.
Please reply “possible” if you can come today.
Thank you.
“Badgirl Hero Agency?”
I’d never heard of it.
It could be a brand-new company, but I really wanted to avoid hero operator work.
A small office would be fine, and right now I couldn’t afford to turn down a job.
The distance was perfect too—camp to office in seconds.
“Yes, of course I can!”
I texted back immediately and headed out.
**
A tiny rundown building with a faded sign stood in front of me.
[BADGIRL HERO AGENCY]
“Badgirl? Not Bad-guk? The address matches though…”
I kept glancing between my phone and the building.
“Damn it. A typo? Ah, that’s it.”
This was a third-rate agency that employed Fortune Girl.
Even though I had no direct connection, an uneasy feeling still gnawed at me.
I looked the entire building up and down.
It clearly wasn’t usable as a whole—only the second floor was being occupied.
‘No. This isn’t it. Let’s just go.’
I turned to leave when something bumped into my shoulder.
“Ah, sorry!”
I spun around and the sweet scent of perfume hit me first.
Then her face.
Medium-length brown hair, doll-like features.
A thin knit top, short jacket, and black slacks.
The outfit was neat, but the way it clung to her body created an unexpectedly sensual silhouette that caught my eye.
She waved one hand at me.
“Are you okay? Ah, did you come about a request?”
“N-no. I’m…”
“Hurry and come upstairs.”
Her long fingers gently brushed my shoulder and arm, escorting me toward the entrance as if I had no choice but to follow.
Whatever she asked, I had to do it.
“Ah, no…”
“This way.”
Tac-tac-tac.
The old stairs creaked under her steps as she climbed.
“Where are you from?”
She glanced back, then kept climbing and looked over her shoulder to make sure I was following.
But the angle was so steep that her hip filled my entire view.
The tight black pants hugged her figure perfectly.
‘…I can’t walk while staring at someone’s butt.’
I looked down and took each step carefully, like a child learning to walk.
At the second-floor office, a nameplate hung on the door.
[BADGIRL HERO AGENCY]
It was worn and faded.
‘This really is it.’
Before I could think, I was already sitting at the central table in the office.
Oh no, I was supposed to say this was an interview.
“Would you like a cup of tea? What kind of request do you have?”
“Yes, it’s not a request, it’s…”
But she didn’t give me a chance to finish.
I glanced around.
The narrow office had four chairs around a small meeting table in the center.
On one side sat the operator computer and display equipment.
Opposite was a large window and a chalkboard covered with sticky notes.
The notes looked like mission logs or doodles.
The atmosphere wasn’t neat, but it wasn’t messy either.
On the wall above hung profile photos of the assigned heroes.
My eyes naturally landed on one.
[Representative: Lady G / Jang Hyeryun]
Ah. That was the face that had brought me all the way upstairs.
I couldn’t refuse her.
Lady G, huh?
“Green tea okay?”
A black mug with a heart-shaped handle sat on the table.
It was clearly merchandise from Badgirl Hero Agency.
“It’s not a request, I’m the person who saw the job posting. Haha.”
I finally managed to say it. Phew.
I really didn’t want to pour cold water on her hopeful expression, but what could I do?
Who told me to drink kimchi stew first?
“Ah?”
A brief silence fell.
During that quiet time I got to look at her face as long as I wanted.
It was a rare chance to fully appreciate such a beautiful face.
So I drank it in.
Her nose and lips were sharp even under light makeup, and a small mole sat prominently at the corner of her mouth.
Her eyes and mouth were bright from surprise, and her shoulder-length brown hair fell naturally with soft curls that made it look fuller.
My gaze drifted lower.
Instantly a trashy rumor about “Lady G’s G is not gravity” flashed through my mind.
“Whoa.”
I unconsciously swallowed.
Why did that come up?
I shook my head once, pulled my eyes back up, and tried to refocus.
If I had to describe her overall vibe with colors, wine-red would suit it.
No one had asked, but I wanted to answer that way.
That something I couldn’t feel in the same age group.
Was it a woman’s scent?
Who knows.
Anyway, in front of such a woman I couldn’t move.
I would simply do as I was told.
There was some mysterious power forcing me to.
Yet from her lips came words I never expected.
“You’re a man?”
“Yes, of course.”
“Eh? What kind of sound is that? Of course you’re a man.”
I tilted my head and repeated myself.
“A man, yes.”
She jumped up and started searching for documents on the operator display desk.
She looked them over carefully.
“Ji… Jiwoo? Kang Jiwoo?”
“Yes, that’s me. You texted me today, right?”
She glanced between the papers and me, then continued.
“Oh my, a man. I thought you were a woman just from the name…”
“It’s a fairly neutral name… Is there a problem with that?”
“As you can see, our agency is only for female heroes…”
“Then the person who answers the phone and gives briefings should also be a woman?”
“Ah… that’s not it, but given our company situation…”
She looked genuinely troubled and tucked her hair behind her ear while still reading the documents.
I caught her whispering almost to herself.
“The experience looked good, but I rushed and forgot to check the gender… hic.”
Why would an operator have to be a woman just because the heroes are?
I was the one hiccupping now.
I was about to stand up.
I’d been undecided anyway, and I didn’t want to make anyone uncomfortable.
Just as I was pulling my chair out, the phone on her desk started ringing.
My eyes naturally went to the phone screen.
“Pop-up Girl” flashed across it.
She glanced at me for a second, then picked up the phone without hesitation.
“Sorry, I have to take this urgent call.”
I nodded slightly and prepared to slip out.
While I was picking up the chair I’d set aside, I heard the call.
“Why? What’s wrong?”
『Sister! Sister! I’m in trouble here! Can you help me, unnnng?!』
“You already started the mission? It wasn’t time yet, right? Just a second.”
The urgent voice kept coming from the other end.
『I went to a nearby place and got chased from behind, so I had to start quickly. Help me fast!』
She rushed over to the operator desk in front of the central table and sat down.
The display switched on immediately, and she put on her headset and adjusted the mic.
“Just a moment. Hoeun, are you on?”
So Pop-up Girl’s real name is Hoeun.
A large display screen appeared in front of the seated woman.
In a big agency the entire wall would be covered with displays, but here it wasn’t the case.
The central monitor showed a red dot in the center with a GPS navigation screen.
On the right, four split CCTV feeds from the local area.
On the left, a live aerial shot from the drone.
It looked primitive compared to the system I used at the Central Call Center, but the format was decent.
Every screen was focused on one person.
Pop-up Girl.
She was from this agency too?
The explosive, viral SNS and YouTube hero.
Her ability sounded unique. What was it again?
While I was about to push in my chair and leave, I kept glancing between the CCTV and drone feeds and got drawn in.
Her long golden hair whipped around with a side braid, and a purple butterfly blindfold covered her eyes.
The way she moved between buildings was weird.
Not using wires, not rolling on platforms.
Pop-up Girl twisted her body in mid-air and spread her phone screen with her fingers.
The building wall outside the screen rushed closer.
At the same time her body was pulled toward it.
It was like enlarging the screen’s landscape and feeling the real body being stretched by that enlarged distance.
Just before she hit the wall, she slid the screen sideways.
As if an invisible cushion in the air had caught her and bounced her back.
No ropes, no springs, no wings—she simply bounced between buildings.
Every time she manipulated the phone screen, the city seemed to pull her toward her.
I stood there dumbfounded, mesmerized.
Amazing ability.
Envy… and it was cool.
Then her voice came through the headset, echoing through the office.
『Go this way. I need to check how many Insect Entity Type C monsters there are. My drone doesn’t detect any.』
“Eh? Wait a second. Is this CCTV on this side? Hoeun, is the road ahead the front of Chung-won Hospital?”
She couldn’t even see that?
An Insect Type C was basically what I saw recently in Paris—should be crawling all over the CCTV screen on the other side.
“No. Sister. That’s the opposite side!”
“Ah, sorry. Then it’s the other one.”
Where was that? Pop-up Girl was heading somewhere weird now.
If she kept going she’d be surrounded.
『Sister! I’m in trouble! Right side three, left side two?』
The urgent voice boomed through the headset.
Why was I so weak to a beautiful smile?
And this girl’s mouth was a problem too.
I should have just stayed quiet.
Damn it.
I ended up rushing over and snatching the headset from her hand, sitting in the chair.
I adjusted the mic to my mouth position.
Well, it was something I did every day, so it felt natural.
Somehow I felt a little pathetic.
I wasn’t cool at all.
This was ridiculous.
Someone was running around out there.
Someone was in a corner like this.
Anyway, my eyes swept across both screens.
On the right side alley there seemed to be three or more, and on the left rooftop two were clearly visible.
What now?
Obviously wait first!
I yelled.
“Pop-up Girl. Don’t move any further and wait!”