The Max-Level Office Assistant
Akemi, who loved playing pranks, giggled as she lifted her makeup box. "Alright, let's start with the makeup first!"
"U-uh, okay."
It had been a chaotic morning, but she still had to make it to her first day of work. Mari sat down in front of Akemi and quietly closed her eyes.
"Mari, you have such a nice skin tone and beautiful hair color. You're going to look absolutely gorgeous once I'm done."
"...I wouldn't know about that."
"Just trust me! You're in the hands of a professional!"
"I-if you say so..."
Faced with the absolute confidence of the gothic lolita beauty who loved dressing up, Mari entrusted her face to her, half-anxious and half-expectant.
"Open your eyes for a second."
"Okay."
"Close them again."
How much time had passed?
"All done!"
At Akemi's declaration, Mari opened her eyes.
"Ta-da!"
And when Akemi held up a mirror...
"Ah..."
Contrary to her worries, the makeup was subtle and elegant. Mari found herself thoroughly pleased with her reflection.
"Your features are very defined, Mari, so if the makeup is too thick, you'd end up looking like a man in drag."
"Is that... an insult?"
"It's not! I'm just saying light makeup suits you best!"
"Mmm..."
Still, looking at herself, she had to admit she looked quite pretty. The minor skin blemishes she had noticed while washing earlier were completely concealed, and her skin tone looked much brighter and more even. She could fully understand why Akemi said she looked so feminine.
"Now, go change and come out!"
"Alright."
Akemi stepped out of the room first.
...Maybe I should buy a vanity table too, Mari thought.
Deciding she should at least learn the basics of makeup, she slipped into her suit and stepped outside. The perfectly tailored jacket and H-line skirt accentuated her long, slender legs, making her look like a professional model.
"This should be fine."
But the moment she stepped out...
"Ah! No way!"
Once again, Yunjae's flustered voice echoed through the house.
"What's wrong? Did you ruin the food?"
Her heart was still pounding from what had happened earlier. Mari, drying her damp hair with a towel, cautiously poked her head out.
"No, the cooking is perfect!"
Just as Akemi said, the feast Yunjae had prepared was incredibly lavish.
"Then what is it? Why the drama?"
It was almost absurdly extravagant for an early morning meal. Since there was absolutely no reason for him to be in distress, Mari tilted her head in confusion. That was when Yunjae, his face pale, cried out:
"Today is Sunday, Mari!"
"Could you take care of this, Yunjae?"
"Yes!"
Although he had gotten the start date wrong,
"Here you go!"
"A-already?"
...he was truly a man of extraordinary capabilities.
"Just look at the unit prices here, filter out anything worth over a hundred million won, and upload the rest to the information database. Oh, and you can just discard anything under one million won."
"Ah, understood!"
Honestly, everyone had thought the same thing at first. An office assistant receiving an absurdly high annual salary of 94.5 million won? It made absolutely no sense.
"It shouldn't be too hard!"
"I'm all done!"
"Again? Already?"
But in reality, he was an absolute office machine who more than earned his keep.
...I have absolutely nothing to do.
If Lionel Messi showed up at a local Sunday league match, would it look like this? With his tireless stamina, blistering processing speed, and the alert posture of a meerkat waiting for his next task, Yunjae was so dominant at office work that it felt like they could fire everyone else and let him handle the entire department alone.
"Eee~? Isn't that a good thing?"
"Well, I suppose so, but..."
Consequently, despite holding the same office assistant position, Mari had been incredibly idle from morning till afternoon. Occasionally, someone would ask her to make copies, but since she was a former hunter with an obviously sharp temperament, most of the workload naturally gravitated toward the much more approachable Yunjae.
"I feel bad that all the work is piling up on him, and it makes me wonder if I'm just incompetent."
"It's true that he's overwhelmingly good at his job. He was fast this morning, but by this afternoon, they say he's churning out work like a supercomputer. The regular employees are actually flustered because he's finishing everything way too quickly."
"That Mamon's Grace is a total cheat code!"
Even his experience gain was tripled! Because his proficiency accumulated three times faster than anyone else's, he was bound to grow at an astronomical rate no matter what he did. Even though he was just a simple office assistant with no specialized duties, by the end of the morning shift, it was no exaggeration to say he had practically reached the max level of office work.
"But seriously, what did Yunjae do in the past?"
Akemi, who had been watching him work, asked as her curiosity flared up again.
"Don't you know, Mari? You guys live together!"
"I asked him before, but I couldn't hear his answer because you cast that overpowered Sleep spell on us. All I know is that he did something in Hongdae."
"But I was really flustered back then! I thought I had finally graduated from being flat-chested..."
Akemi stared resentfully at Mari's chest.
"W-why does that even matter right now?!"
"Hmph! You don't know how I feel! You don't know anything!"
In any case, Akemi didn't have any close friends or a sense of belonging within the Blast Guild, which made her gravitate toward Mari and Yunjae even more.
"Anyway, what could he have done in Hongdae?"
For someone like Akemi, who could earn dozens of times an ordinary person's annual salary by taking just one job a year, slacking off like this wasn't unusual at all.
"Maybe he was a chef?"
Recalling yesterday's feast, Akemi suggested, but Mari shook her head.
"He said he just studied recipes and learned how to do it."
"Eee~?"
Then, Mari frowned as the memory of yesterday rushed back.
"And you should have told us sooner! We got all ready at that ungodly hour, only for it to be Sunday!"
Waking up at 5:00 AM, washing, putting on makeup, and changing into a full suit, only to find out it was Sunday! At Mari's still-furious shout,
"I thought you guys were going on an early morning trip or something!"
Akemi yelled back defensively. She was only nineteen and had never worked a corporate job in her life, so how could she have known?
"Ugh..."
"Anyway, what on earth did he do in Hongdae?"
Putting yesterday's shock behind them, Akemi brought the conversation back to Yunjae's past, prompting Mari to fall into deep thought.
"Ah! Maybe hip-hop? Like Show Me the Money?"
At Akemi's suggestion, inspired by Hongdae's club scene, Mari shook her head.
"I don't know about other things, but that is definitely not it."
"Eee~, true! Maybe Unpretty Rapstar instead!"
"You dummy! He's so painfully shy, how could he do hip-hop?"
"But you never know! He might have an unexpected wild side!"
"Still, it doesn't suit him at all."
Then, Mari's eyes lit up as she made the connection between Hongdae and its famous art college.
"When people think of Hongdae, they think of art. Maybe he painted or did something artistic? That seems like it would suit him."
"That actually makes sense! An art student fits him perfectly! He probably stayed up all night working on projects, which is why he's so pale, and he never exercised, which is why his arms are as thin as a girl's!"
It was a surprisingly plausible theory.
"Was he an artist?"
"But for an art student, I've never seen him draw anything. Has he ever sketched anything while living with you?"
"Never. Though he does seem to have good aesthetic taste."
The Provence-style bedding he had bought was quite lovely. Considering how obsessively he had agonized over it, the result was undeniably tasteful.
"Ah! I just thought of something!"
"What?"
"Maybe he worked a part-time job wearing a mascot costume in Hongdae?"
As Akemi's eyes sparkled, declaring that nothing could possibly suit Yunjae better, Mari flinched.
"...How on earth did you come up with that?"
"He was an art student, but since he's so shy, he wore a mascot suit so people wouldn't see his face! And because it was so hot inside the suit, he lost a ton of weight, which is how he ended up with those slender forearms!"
"I don't know why, but that sounds incredibly convincing."
Setting everything else aside, it really did suit him best. The mental image of Yunjae in an animal mascot suit was too perfect.
...Pfft.
Was it adorable? Wanting to see it in real life, Mari let out a sudden chuckle. Meanwhile...
"Yunjae!"
"Yes!"
Yunjae replied in a bright, clear voice and scurried off to work again. A chorus of giggles immediately followed. It seemed he had already become the darling of the female office staff.
"He's popular."
Watching him, Akemi showed a hint of displeasure.
"But don't you think they're calling him over for no reason?"
Even with the bizarre username
Slender Forearms
and a status window floating over his head, he was undeniably an exceptionally beautiful boy. He wasn't tall, but he wasn't particularly short either, and his face was so small that his proportions easily rivaled those of men over 180 centimeters tall. On top of that, perhaps because he was a game character, his skin was flawlessly pale, and he possessed the prettiest face in the entire office.
"Pretty boys like him are always popular in Asia."
Even after putting on makeup, Mari still thought he was prettier than her.
Furthermore, as a max-level character with a maxed-out charm stat, his timid, introverted nature naturally triggered maternal instincts.
If even Mari, who had spent her entire life fighting as a hunter, felt her maternal instincts flare up around him, how could ordinary people possibly resist?
On top of that, his sheer competence made it impossible not to like him.
As a result, his floating username and status window, which everyone had initially found bizarre, had long since been re-evaluated as "cute."
"...Still, this is a bit much."
Was it a sense of crisis, or was it jealousy? Watching the scene unfold, Mari couldn't help but feel a rising irritation.
At this rate, it looked like he would easily achieve his dream of having an office romance with an office lady in no time.
"Hmph."
When Mari scowled at the thought, Akemi decided she couldn't just stand by and watch.
"We have to do something! At this rate, those office ladies are going to steal Yunjae away!"
With that, she stood up from her seat.
"What are you going to do?"
"I'm a high-ranking ability user in this guild. I hold executive-level authority."
The gothic lolita beauty clasped her hands behind her back and marched toward the Support Part staff.
"Ahem! I've been watching, and aren't you all dumping way too much work on Yunjae?"
"Ah, Akemi. It's not like that..."
In truth, they were guilty as charged. They had wanted to see his face more often, and since he was so incredibly efficient, they had dumped their tasks on him to chat among themselves.
"Cut it out already!"
Stop flirting with him! That was what Akemi actually wanted to say. At her stern warning, the employees quickly bowed their heads.
Although she was the youngest person in the room, she was a core asset of the Blast Guild who possessed the incredible power of teleportation. The uniqueness and raw power of her ability were practically unmatched worldwide. Naturally, her words carried immense weight.
"Anyway, Yunjae, follow me!"
"Ah! Is there something for me to do, Akemi?!"
Looking at the office assistant who had turned into a workaholic on his very first day, she nodded.
"Just follow me! You too, Mari!"
She led the two of them out of the Support Part office and grumbled:
"Why are you working so hard like an idiot? That's why those foxes are flirting with you and taking advantage of you!"
"Ah! But I've wanted to try office work for the longest time! I just got carried away because it's so much fun!"
However, Yunjae, whose worldview was entirely different from ordinary people, seemed to be genuinely enjoying himself.
"You find working fun?!"
"It doesn't even compare to hunting!"
For someone who possessed over ten billion gold but chose to work simply because he wanted to, it was only natural.
"You really are eccentric."
At Mari's comment—she herself found absolutely no charm in office work—Yunjae giggled, clutching his files.
"But what is the task?"
"What else? We're slacking off!"
"Ah! But we're on the clock!"
"There wasn't even an open position to begin with; they just squeezed you two in. The department runs perfectly fine without either of you. Besides, because you're too good at your job, those foxes aren't doing any work at all! That's unacceptable! They're regular employees, yet they're dumping everything on an assistant and just gossiping!"
In the first place, this position was merely a concession Ryu Taejun had made to recruit Yunjae into the Blast Guild. Even if he didn't work, he would never be fired or face any repercussions.
...Sigh.
Hearing this reminded Mari of Taejun's offer, and her expression grew heavy with conflict. Knowing Yunjae's personality, if she pleaded with him in tears, he would undoubtedly agree to whatever she asked.
"Suyeon!"
"...Ah."
The three of them ran into Suyeon, who had been wandering nearby.
It seemed she hadn't dared to enter the office and had been pacing around the hallway, waiting for him. Of course, since Yunjae never even needed to use the restroom, they wouldn't have crossed paths otherwise.
"Hello."
The moment she saw Yunjae, her face flushed. Just like their first meeting, she was tightly clutching her own hands.
"Ah!"
The effect of the Bless he had cast that day would have lasted only six to eight hours. Since quite some time had passed since then, her hands must have reverted to their original state.
"...Please."
Having tasted the happiness of those few hours of normalcy, Suyeon's expression was filled with an even deeper, more desperate longing.
Instead of acting immediately, Yunjae paused, falling into thought.
"Yes, just a moment!"
"Aren't you going to cast Bless?"
Suppressing Suyeon's curse with Bless had been an instantaneous affair. Seeing Yunjae hesitate unlike before, Akemi tilted her head.
"I realized there's actually a much better way!"
"A better way?"
"Yes!"
And then...
"This is it!"
In an instant, a pair of white mesh gloves appeared over Yunjae's slender, rolled-up forearms.
Clearly no ordinary item, each delicate thread of the gloves emitted a faint, mystical glow.
Rarity: Rare (Holy-tier)
Effects: Amplifies holy energy and permanently neutralizes curses while worn.
"They're the Saint's Gloves!"
"Incredible! Your arms really look like a saint's!"
"Ah! Akemi! How could you!"
They suited him perfectly.
"That's why I could never bring myself to wear them!"
In any case, he had rummaged through his inventory and pulled out a rare item that amplified holy energy.
"Anyway, if you wear these, you'll be able to neutralize the curse without needing me to cast Bless!"
"R-really...?"
After experiencing a normal life through the temporary suppression of her curse, Suyeon had even contemplated hiring him permanently. Yet here he was, offering an item that could continuously neutralize her ability without any need for active magic!
"Yes! Just keep them on, and if you ever need to use your ability, you can just take them off!"
Lacking even a shred of greed, Yunjae handed over the Saint's Gloves. Suyeon's eyes welled with tears once more.
"I... I don't know how I can ever repay this kindness..."