Is the Housing Provided?
"Is the housing provided?"
"Eh? Stop here just like that? Who are you?"
"Ah. Hello. I’m… the person called Kang Jiwoo, but… I was going to introduce myself properly, but I actually never met you." I became a complete idiot the moment she asked who I was.
The woman beside me bent at the waist and leaned toward my microphone, and a rich perfume scent suddenly filled the air. Without realizing it, my eyes naturally drifted lower. Beneath the burgundy knit top, soft curves were revealed. Just that single waist-bend action showed me her firm shoulder line and waist curve.
I vowed right then that I would never recall that gossip article again. I tightened my resolve, but it didn’t work. *Hup.* The warm breath near my ear, the scent reaching my nose… Oh no. I felt my mind go completely blank.
"Juyeong-ah. This is our new operator. Just listen!" She leaned even closer to the microphone, causing the loose neckline of her knit top to slightly gape. I wasn’t trying to look, but I definitely saw the soft inner whiteness inside. My eyes had to have gotten even wider than usual. Of course they did. "How close… I can’t… this is…"
'No, not now. Snap out of it. Duh.'
What did she say? New operator? Me? I pointed with my index finger and tilted my head with my mouth open. "Me?"
She nodded slightly and pointed at the central monitor with her finger. "This is our goal—getting everyone safely here."
I slowly nodded while looking at the point her finger indicated. It didn’t look that difficult. Why couldn’t I guide them?
*Psssh.* At that moment, a cute voice popped up through the headset. 『Yes? Is this the new operator? Nice to meet you, sunbae! Ah, how long should I wait here?』
The screen on the right showed Popup Girl squatting on the roof overlooking the convenience store. 'Wait. Sunbae? Nice. Hehe.'
"Yes, yes. Just a little longer, please."
I kept my eyes on the right CCTV screen. I wanted to see the inner screen—would pressing this button work? *Tap tap.* No. Press the front one again. *Tap tap.* There. Now, who controls the left drone? I want to switch this screen too. I pointed at the drone screen.
She immediately lowered her head to the microphone. "Juyeong-ah, shall we give our Inseo some drone control permission from this side?"
『Yes? But if she acts up again I won’t stay quiet. Hehe.』
The woman beside me pointed at the stick behind the left monitor. "That one."
I immediately picked up the stick and tried controlling it. But the voice I’d heard just now echoed in my head: 'If she acts up I won’t stay quiet.' I swallowed hard. I’d used drones casually before, but this was my first time in real combat.
I adjusted the sensitivity of my fingers on the stick to see how the screen moved, then quickly raised the altitude to look ahead for the route. Association agents and many heroes were waiting at the target point, and Popup Girl was driving the swarm of Insect C-type flies away from the maximum-risk area. It looked pathetic—those adults were just waiting for her to bring the monsters. It was so pitiful. Well, there must be circumstances. I’m neither a hero nor anything. *Sigh.* Anyway, the goal was simple: Sweep and force them to the delivery point.
"Excuse me, Juyeong. Ah, no, Popup Girl. When I give the signal, go straight to the right blue roof in front of me, lure the flies there with a single hand sign on the signboard, then jump to the roof."
『Eh? How did you know my name already? Anyway, understood—blue roof okay—』
'Oh no, I accidentally heard her real name. Hehe.' I silently practiced calling "Juyeong" over and over. The name is pretty. Even in these pointless thoughts, Popup Girl moved exactly as instructed.
On the screen, her flowing blonde hair and purple hoodie looked perfectly coordinated. Every time she moved, the hoodie hem fluttered lightly, and the long braided hair bounced behind her. Each time she landed on the roof, those bold shoes came into view first. The leggings wrapped around her slim legs matched them beautifully. Bright, light, bouncy—a completely different charm from the woman beside me. As the name suggested, she was Popup Girl.
"Also, don’t step on the wall ahead. It’s tempered glass—dangerous."
『Operator sunbae, thank you. If you hadn’t told me I would have smashed it with my foot. Hehe.』
I had only said it because I saw the wall reflecting sunlight through the CCTV. Promoted to sunbae! I was the one who should be going *hehe. Hehe.*
"Use a loud voice on the sign on the right so it doesn’t break. Then turn left the moment you see the monsters react."
『Yes.』
'Whoa.' Her whispering admiration beside me reached my ears. 'Hmph. Even after all these years I still can’t do live coverage like that.'
Somehow, I straightened my seated posture even more. Now this was important.
Through the left aerial screen, I watched the swarm of flies move in a big group. Around twenty. They used to appear one or two at a time—how did they suddenly gather into a horde? Right now wasn’t the time to worry about that.
"Then if I turn here and go straight, that should work, right?" I checked the route exactly as her finger indicated. It looked fine. "Looks safe for now…"
『Then I’ll keep pushing this side.』
Blind spots were dangerous. Anything could pop out from anywhere. Constant vigilance was the rule.
"Don’t go too fast. Go slowly. I need to check every point on the path."
『Eh, there’s nothing. There are a lot of people waiting over there—I’ll go faster.』
Popup Girl’s finger raced across the smartphone screen. The faster her gestures became, the faster she moved. It looked like teleportation. Roof to roof, she jumped, clung to the wall, and was suddenly pulled toward the utility pole.
At that moment, two large shadows flickered in the alley right in front of her route. The angle on the screen didn’t catch it. Why did I see it? I’d had moments like this when I was too immersed before. Just a few days ago I’d seen it again—why my eyes? I squeezed my eyes shut and opened them. I’m important right now. Ah, but what if this is the route?
"Ah, wait! If you go like this, you'll collide with Popup Girl at the worst possible moment. Stop!"
『What?』
Too late; she had already jumped to the next point. At that exact second, two shadows appeared in the alley on the drone screen.
"No!"
Just one timing. Think. Think. Those guys were sensitive to sound and light, and the drone was directly above. What if I dropped the drone like this?
I urgently pushed the left stick downward, trying to make the drone dive. *Thud.* Right before Popup Girl passed, the drone fell right beside the two flies. If I had kept it there, the timing of the collision would have been perfect. The broken drone bounced on the ground, sparks flying. At that instant, the two creatures twitched toward the falling drone, their wings fluttering as their front legs paused for a second. Then—*Whoosh!*—Popup Girl skimmed right past them.
Her glance toward that side was captured on the screen. 『Ah, I almost collided!』
*Sigh.* "Yes. Good thing. Wait one beat on that roof. Now we can head straight to the target."
*Clap clap.* The sound of hands clapping came from beside me.
"Jiwoo. Wow. How did you see that?"
"I just saw it. Anyway, what now? The drone got destroyed…" Still, it was good that I handled it—whether I was hallucinating or not. But why did I see it at all? Was there really something wrong with my eyes?
A no-signal warning flashed on the left drone screen as the feed glitched. Ah, I destroyed the drone. Because of Popup Girl’s warning, I’d been more worried about the broken one.
『Ah, Kongi?』
'Kongi? Is that the drone’s name? Inventing a name means she's a gadget nerd. Kng. The heart of a nerd is known to the nerd. In times like this, a sincere apology is the way.'
"Ah, I’m really sorry."
『Ah… no, it’s fine. Because of our sunbae operator, the mission succeeded. Thank you! Thank you!』
Through the right screen, Popup Girl lightly landed at the target. As if she knew I was watching, she waved one hand in an "it’s okay" gesture. She’s so cute. I unconsciously smiled.
Then dozens of fly swarms arrived, and the screen instantly filled with flames and smoke from the bombing. 'Amazing. But those strong monsters just sat there waiting for the heavy butts to swallow them? Tsk.'
While watching the screen, the woman beside me spoke into the microphone again. "Good work, Juyeong-ah. Clean up and come back in."
『Yes. Thank you for your hard work. New sunbae operator too!』
"Ah, thank you everyone."
Is it over? What… what was that? I somehow did it. My heart was pounding now. It had been a long time since I’d been on-site as an operator—apparently I still wanted to be on-site.
I removed the headset and placed it on the desk. "Ah… um. Did I get hired?"
"Hmm… for now?"
"What?" What happened? Tell me clearly.
"Well… I knew you were competent from your experience, but we also need to hear opinions from all our team members…"
"Sigh… okay, I understand. I’ll go. I have my own circumstances too." My circumstances were a lie—I was just sulking. 'Competent? You’d be the ones at a disadvantage.'
I stood up from the chair and tried to walk out. 'You’re not going to stop me? I’m really leaving?' I was already at the door.
"Wait!"
'Sigh. Stop being sneaky. I need to look properly.'
I slowly turned around. She approached, offered her right hand, and smiled brightly. "Congratulations on becoming our new operator. Let me formally introduce you. I’m Jang Hyeryun, representative of Badgirl Hero Agency. You know, Lady G. It’s me. Hoho."
'Yay. She seemed oddly shy when saying her hero name. Cute.'
I shook her hand; it felt soft yet firm. "Kang Jiwoo. Nice to meet you. Should I call you Boss?"
"Eh, no Boss. Just call me Representative. Or…" She found something on my paperwork, then smiled while looking straight at my face. "Just call me nuna. It’s natural, right? Hoho."
*Thump.* I melted again at that smile. 'I-I can’t. I’m dead. Sigh. This place is just… I have to work here forever.'
"Ah… no, I’ll call you Representative."
"Yes yes. Whatever you prefer."
After that came the boring and tedious paperwork time. Employment contract, confidentiality agreement—why was there so much?
"It’s a lot, isn’t it? All of it is legal, so I can’t do anything about it."
"Yes, I know. But Representative, you’re older than me, so speak casually. I’ll feel more comfortable too."
"Oh really? Being male makes you straightforward. It’s been a while since I hired a male employee. Hehe." She explained while mixing honorifics and casual speech, which felt awkward.
She gave me my ID card, and I filled in everything asked. I wondered if it was correct, but the only thing important to me right now was one thing: "Is housing provided?"
The Representative briefly averted her eyes. Ah. Something felt off about just now. "That’s important, Representative. The announcement clearly said…"
She hurriedly searched her phone for the announcement. "Come here, Jiwoo."
The partition in the middle of the office was for that purpose. Beyond it was a makeshift accommodation. "This is the temporary place we used to rest after overtime, but it seems you’ll have to stay here…"
"Eh?"
***
*Chikachika.* Night after sunset. I was brushing my teeth alone in the office.
Somehow I got hired. I found housing, but the office *was* the housing. Wasn’t that lucky? Zero commute time. Walk next door and you’re already on the job. Amazing, right?
But the salary was the minimum, way below what I earned at the Central Monster Disaster Call Center. On the plus side, housing was provided—so I could manage somehow. Let’s think positively.
While thinking that, I looked at the profile photos on the wall. The heroes affiliated with our company were lined up.
Lady G. 'Our representative is so pretty. Sigh.' As expected, she was. She must have been B-rank or higher before, but now she's C-rank.
Next to her was the Popup Girl I had worked with earlier—C-rank. Her profile photo looked like a selfie where she made a finger heart at her forehead. It was cute, though.
Next to that was Miss Poem, D-rank. I didn’t know her; it was my first time seeing her. She was a calm, black-haired ponytail girl with a somewhat shy expression. Wearing glasses was her signature—could she fight while wearing them?
And at the very end was Fortune Girl, E-rank. Aigoo, that’s the woman I saw last time. An E-rank all by herself. Yet she had suppressed a leader-level swarm of flies last time? Well, it was luck, so it’s fine. But… if luck is skill? Hmm. No way.
Anyway, even the profile photos were shot energetically like the one in front of the elevator. What kind of personality is this? I turned around to look at all the faces again. 'These are the people I’ll be working with from now on… what kind of things will happen in the future…' My chest was already swelling with emotion. Hah.
At that moment. *Ddit dit dit.* The sound of someone entering the password at the front door. Eh? *Ddit dit dit. Ddiring ddiring ddiring.* It was the same wrong password sound over and over. Who is it at this hour? *Ddit dit dit.*
"What the hell is this password?!" A woman’s voice came from outside. *Ddiring.*
What should I do? Should I run? No, this is now my house. In the moment of hesitation, the door swung open. *Ddiriring. Ddong.*
"Ah, this is the password… eh?"
The door opened and I saw a black-haired ponytail girl. Our eyes met. Ah, it's not unfamiliar. It’s immediately... Fortune Girl!
"Eh? Who are you! A man?!"
"I-I’m… eh." I was holding a toothbrush, so no words came out.
I saw her eyes scanning my body, and those eyes stopped at the lower part. There I was, in my underwear. Who else would be wearing anything at home? 'I’m telling you, this is my house.' I conveyed it with my eyes, repeatedly. 'This is my house. Proper attire for my current appearance. That’s it.'
But she immediately screamed. "Kyaa—"
"Wa-wait… Listen to me!"
At that instant, something flashed in front of me. *Pow.* What? Black short shorts and white thighs appeared, then immediately vanished. *Whang dang!*