Chapter 2
I’m translating the chapter into polished HTML-formatted prose, keeping the narration natural and splitting only where the scene or speaker changes. I’m also preserving the in-universe system messages as styled blocks, since those need to be distinct from the body text.CHAPTER_TITLE: Pension
Pension: 24,781,890,000 won. A sum that came frighteningly close to 25 billion. It was the converted value of the various goods, items, and other things Kang Jaeha had amassed in the other world. Well, Jaeha had collected anything that could be turned into money without hesitation.
He had assumed he’d be living there for the rest of his life.
Along with wealth, he had also steadily built up honor, reputation, and more besides. But when he returned to the world he’d come from, all of it became meaningless.
Still, the wealth had come back with him, at least.
The problem was this.
Applied for Kang Jaeha, who suffered for 18 years in the other world.
Kang Jaeha must remain at his current company for 3 years, and the pension of 24,781,890,000 won will be paid out at 700 million won per month.
Some female voice had shoved this idiotic system in his face while spouting nonsense about a pension or whatever. A reality adaptation project? What kind of lunatic garbage was that?
And even worse, it said this:
If you resign from the company during the period in question, your pension will be erased.
If he stepped outside the conditions, the nearly 25 billion won pension would vanish into thin air. If he hadn’t known from the start, fine. But hearing it now made his irritation spike, and Jaeha muttered a curse without thinking.
“What the hell is this shit?”
The taxi driver must have heard him, because he glanced at Jaeha through the rearview mirror. Jaeha ignored him and waited, since it sounded like the female voice had more to say. Sure enough, it spoke again.
The converted amount has been processed into virtual currency and then handled in a way that leaves no practical issues in reality, so you may use the pension you receive each month without concern.
The first month’s payment of 700 million won has been deposited.
Going forward, your pension will be paid on the 15th of every month. That concludes the explanation. Fight on.
Fight on? That bastard. A vein pulsed at Jaeha’s temple. The last “fight on” had sounded like nothing but mockery. He waited a few more minutes, but the female voice never came back, and after running a hand through his hair once, Kang Jaeha let out a long sigh.
Then his phone gave a short buzz.
- Bzzzt.
Jaeha pulled his phone from his padded coat pocket. A notification had arrived. It was from the banking app. His eyes widened slightly.
“Huh-”
It was only natural. In his account, just now:
- [Deposit / 700,000,000 won]
The first pension payment of 700 million won the female voice had mentioned had actually been deposited.
More than 700 million had just been dropped into his account at once. The female voice hadn’t been a hallucination. Even seeing it, Jaeha still had trouble believing it. It felt unreal, like it hadn’t quite landed in his head yet. Which, to be fair, was understandable after he’d spent 18 years grinding through the other world and only just come back.
...700 million. Insane.
Still, seeing that very real figure printed in his account brought back, little by little, the instincts he’d had 18 years ago. The rush that came from seeing a number with eight digits in front of it. The past, when life had been so tight he’d practically been strangled by poverty.
Right. He wasn’t in the other world anymore.
He had to forget the resources, the items, the war, the slaughter, all of it. He was Kang Jaeha again now, a manager in his fourth year, and he had to live this life.
At least the 18 years in the other world hadn’t been for nothing.
He’d come back to a pension worth nearly 25 billion won.
The so-called reality adaptation project is a bit of a stain, though.
His thoughts darkened a little as he lowered the phone.
Forget it. Let’s sort this out first.
He went back over the key points from the female voice. A pension paid at 700 million won per month. He’d already received the first payment. Payment date: the 15th of every month. Total value: about 25 billion won. To receive it all, he had to stay at the company he was currently working for, without resigning, for three years.
The company. In other words, the entertainment agency he belonged to.
He quickly checked today’s date on his phone.
- [February 16, 2020 / PM 1:22]
The next pension payment would be on March 15. If the female voice was telling the truth, then for the next three years his monthly pay was 700 million won.
Seven hundred million. Not bad.
By then, the taxi had stopped.
That meant they’d arrived near Jaeha’s home. He got out of the taxi and silently looked around. This was the Suwon area. Kang Jaeha let out a faint, crooked smile.
“This scene somehow makes me feel dirtier.”
It was familiar and unfamiliar at the same time, like coming home to a place stained with bad memories. That wasn’t wrong. This had been the neighborhood where Kang Jaeha had lived. He was back after 18 years. He didn’t exactly have good memories here.
No. On the contrary.
It was fucked up.
Nothing but disgust.
Of course, the Jaeha of then and the Jaeha of now were different men. He stopped by a convenience store nearby and bought the energy drink he used to drink all the time.
- Swish.
The payment went through without issue. After leaving the store, Jaeha cracked open the drink and muttered to himself.
“Seven hundred million. Doesn’t seem like a problem, so I’ll just use it comfortably.”
He emptied his mind for the moment. If the pension turned into a problem later, he’d deal with it then. Kang Jaeha started walking and soon reached a shabby building.
“······”
His old one-room apartment building.
Jaeha clicked his tongue softly and stood before the steel door at the end of the second floor, slowly unlocking the door lock. Before long, the cramped little room welcomed Kang Jaeha back.
“Hah, damn.”
He’d returned after 18 years. But from the one-room apartment’s point of view, seeing its owner again was something that had happened just a few hours ago.
The next morning, on the 17th, near Hapjeong Station.
In a place with a clear view of the Han River, a row of large buildings stood shoulder to shoulder. Among them, a sign hung prominently enough to catch the eye.
- Leon Entertainment
It was Leon Entertainment. A company of medium-large scale, and among domestic agencies of similar size or higher, it stood near the front of the pack. It still wasn’t one of the top five names people thought of when it came to Korean entertainment agencies, but industry insiders were already saying Leon Entertainment might overturn that ranking before long.
The employees of Leon Entertainment were busy whispering to one another.
“I heard some manager from Team 2 blew up at Rayoon yesterday??”
“What? Which manager?”
Of course, it was because of the bomb Kang Jaeha had dropped.
“The manager from Team 2, Kang Jaeha? Who’s that?”
“You know, that one. The guy with almost no presence. Total pushover type, the sort who just keeps his head down.”
“Ahhh! The one with glasses?? Was his name Kang Jaeha?”
“That’s him.”
“Wow, he always looked like such a soft tofu type. Did he really have that kind of temperament?!”
“Apparently he told Rayoon to shut up.”
The rumor spread quickly through the staff.
By then, inside Leon Entertainment’s executive office.
In the wood-toned executive room, a sharp female voice rang out.
“President!!”
A woman wearing a hat was practically steaming with anger.
“Do I seriously have to be treated like this?!”
It was Rayoon, the visual center of the girl group Ceriel, who had been on the receiving end of Kang Jaeha’s wrath the day before. She had probably stopped by before her schedule, because there was almost no makeup on her face, but she was so furious that both cheeks were bright red.
She wasn’t alone in the executive office.
Around the sofa she sat on, there were roughly three men and one woman. Everyone there except Rayoon was a team leader from Management Team 1 through 4, and Rayoon’s outrage only grew more intense.
“Aaah! President! Are you even listening to me?!”
From where she sat, a man in a high-end suit approached.
Step by step, he came forward with an easy, heavy grace. Even through the suit, his body looked solid and well-built. His hair, neatly swept back, had a little gray threaded through it, and he stood at a good 180 centimeters or more, with an excellent frame.
He had the exact look of a handsome middle-aged man.
He could have been a cover model for a men’s magazine without looking out of place.
That man was Han Taeseong, the president of Leon Entertainment. In the entertainment industry, he was known as an icon of self-made success, having started from the bottom and built Leon Entertainment into what it was now.
President Han Taeseong sat at the seat of honor on the sofa.
“······”
Without a word, he slowly looked over Rayoon and then the management team leaders. His eyes seemed mild at first glance. But they were imposing. Proof of that was how quickly the team leaders lowered their gazes. Han Taeseong’s aura was different from most men’s.
One quiet breath from him was enough to make the air in the executive office go cold.
“So.”
Even his voice was low and deep.
“Go on.”
With permission granted, Rayoon complained as if she’d been waiting for it.
“You heard about it too, right?? What happened yesterday! Hah, I was so mad I couldn’t even focus!”
“What did you hear?”
“I was seriously speechless. That Kang Jaeha manager told me to shut up! Can you believe that??! Telling an artist to shut up! You have to fire a manager like that!”
“He told you to shut up?”
“Yes! He said that, and how was I supposed not to be angry??!”
Han Taeseong, watching her instantly switch to polite speech, crossed his legs with calm deliberation.
“Interesting.”
He shifted his gaze to the team leaders.
“Who is he?”
No sooner had the words left his mouth than the Team 1 manager handed over a profile. It was Kang Jaeha’s.
- Flip.
Han Taeseong opened the clear file and scanned the profile for a moment. No further words came out of his mouth. That was only natural.
“There’s nothing noteworthy here.”
Kang Jaeha’s profile was painfully plain. Fourth year in Management Team 2. But nothing special stood out. No achievements. No history of causing trouble either. He was completely forgettable.
To be blunt, he was the kind of guy who could stay or go and nobody would care much either way.
The sort of worker who was perfect for filling in gaps wherever needed.
President Han Taeseong closed the profile he had been reading.
“From this alone, I can’t tell.”
Resting his chin on one hand, he looked at the woman on the sofa beside him. She was the Team 2 manager.
“Team leader, tell me about him.”
Meaning: this was your team, so give me the briefing.
The Team 2 manager, who had brushed back her bobbed hair, swallowed and answered.
“Manager Kang Jaeha. He was usually quiet, easygoing. Not very outgoing.”
“Don’t sugarcoat it. Be honest.”
Rayoon jumped in at once.
“He was just frustrating! And stupid as hell!”
Han Taeseong let out a small laugh and asked the Team 2 manager again.
“Is that so.”
The Team 2 manager gave a tiny cough.
“Not stupid as hell... not to that extent. But he wasn’t especially sharp, either. He was rather soft, and as Rayoon said, he could be pretty frustrating.”
The Team 1 and Team 3 managers added their own thoughts.
“He wasn’t the kind of guy you’d remember.”
“Now and then he seemed a bit weak-willed. I thought he’d fold fast, but he was stubborn enough to keep going.”
Hearing their evaluations, Rayoon jumped back in.
“What good is keeping going if he’s completely useless at his job!”
Han Taeseong tapped a finger against the sofa armrest, expressionless, and called to Rayoon.
“Rayoon.”
“Yes! President!”
“Be quiet. Don’t interrupt.”
“······”
The voice was soft, but colder than ice. Rayoon immediately began reading the room, and a frosty silence settled over the executive office for several minutes. It was Han Taeseong who broke it.
“You should be looking at the fact that he lasted four years.”
“Pardon?”
When the Team 2 manager asked back, Han Taeseong met her eyes. He smiled, but his gaze remained cool.
“A friend that soft lasting four years is what matters.”
“Ah- yes, President.”
“He has persistence.”
Even if he didn’t stand out, even if he seemed weak, the truth was that Kang Jaeha had survived in the wilderness of the entertainment industry. That was the point Han Taeseong was making.
“It’s people like that who keep Leon Entertainment running.”
Rayoon, whose eyes had widened slightly, spoke up again. Her energy had clearly dropped compared to before.
“S-so, President? You’re not going to fire Manager Kang Jaeha?”
Han Taeseong’s gaze lingered on Rayoon for a few seconds before he looked to the Team 1 manager. The manager understood his meaning at once and gestured to Rayoon.
“Rayoon, let’s go.”
“Huh? Uh, uh-”
Looking reluctant, Rayoon shuffled out of the executive office. She was even seen biting her lip at the end, and as soon as she left, Han Taeseong let out a small breath.
“Team Leader Song.”
At the call, the Team 2 manager answered at once.
“Yes, President.”
“Why do you think that soft kid did it?”
“······”
“It wasn’t random, was it? Was it because of Rayoon?”
“She does tend to speak rather harshly to him.”
“An emotional trash can. He finally reached his limit.”
“Probably.”
As if he understood the situation roughly, Han Taeseong crossed his legs again and made his decision.
“Now that something’s happened, keeping the two of them together isn’t ideal.”
His eyes landed on the man seated at the very end of the team leaders. He was small overall, with the look of someone who hadn’t slept properly in days. The Team 4 manager.
“Team Leader Jang, put him in Team 4.”
“...Understood, President.”
Team 4 transfer. Kang Jaeha’s reassignment had been decided. Of course, to the current Han Taeseong, Jaeha was less than dust.
“Keep an eye on him while you watch how things develop.”
Just a tiny presence.
Meanwhile, Kang Jaeha appeared in the lobby of Leon Entertainment. He had come to work. With both hands shoved into the pockets of his padded coat, he let out a short sigh.
“Phew. I almost skipped it, seriously.”
Honestly, he had planned to take the day off. He could use the annual leave he had stacked up and spend some time adjusting to a reality that still didn’t feel fully settled.
But Kang Jaeha had come to work anyway.
The female voice’s warning was still bothering him.
I already got 700 million. I could live off that and look for something else, but... 25 billion is a bit too much to throw away.
Three years of endurance bought him 25 billion won. Seven hundred million deposited every month. What kind of idiot would toss that away? That didn’t mean Jaeha was going to let himself be dragged around, though.
If they start making a fuss, I can quit cleanly enough.
Money was not the same thing as a life worth staking. In the other world, Jaeha had learned many things over 18 years of grinding. One that stuck with him was this: money was best in abundance, but too much of it always invited trouble.
For now, I’ll keep my head down.
As long as there were no major problems, it made sense to keep taking the pension. Whatever the case, if he bailed on the company, that could become the first step toward resignation. He’d already caused a scene, so could he get fired today? Well, there was nothing he could do about that if it happened.
- Swish.
After taking a rough look around the company he’d returned to after 18 years, Jaeha stepped out of the elevator. His destination was the Team 2 office. The interesting part was that every employee he passed was whispering to someone else.
The people inside Team 2’s office were the same.
Tsk. Busybodies.
One hundred percent, yesterday’s incident with Rayoon had already spread. Ignoring the staff’s stares, Kang Jaeha took his seat. Since he had basically come straight from the field, his desk was nearly empty.
Then it happened.
“Hey, hey, Manager Kang!”
A man called out to him. Jaeha turned his head while sitting with one leg crossed, and there stood a guy who looked like he was born to swagger. Grinning, he came over and carelessly thumped Jaeha’s shoulder a few times before speaking.
“You told Rayoon to shut up, huh? Heh, what is this? The interest case finally pulled off a real stunt??”
“······”
Still seated, Kang Jaeha looked at the man without interest. Seo Jinsu, a section chief in Team 2. The Team 2 manager’s college junior. In other words, part of the Team 2 manager’s loyal inner circle.
Right. Was this bastard the one who used to bully me all the time?
Jaeha recalled his weak, useless former self and let out a snort. Seo Jinsu either didn’t see it or didn’t care, because he kept puffing himself up.
“What are you gonna do now, punk? Stick to what you’re good at and just keep enduring, why’d you go and blow up like that??”
Seo Jinsu expected something. The Kang Jaeha he knew should have been smiling sheepishly and groveling by now.
That bastard made a scene, got scared shitless, and is pretending otherwise. As if Kang Jaeha would ever amount to anything.
That was how it had always been, and that was how it should be now. But when Jaeha stood up, he didn’t grin weakly.
“Section Chief.”
He moved close and murmured quietly.
“Your mouth smells like shit. Quit smoking.”
“······What?”
Seo Jinsu stared at him blankly, as if he couldn’t believe what he’d just heard. Kang Jaeha, on the other hand, was perfectly calm.
“It stinks like shit. Disgusting.”
“You crazy-”
Just as Seo Jinsu was about to flare up, he stopped short. Someone had called for Jaeha.
“Manager Kang.”
The man who approached at an unhurried pace was extremely small. Kang Jaeha knew who he was.
Team 4 manager - was his name Jang Hyeongsu?
He was the Team 4 manager. Jang Hyeongsu, with the exhausted face of a man running on fumes, spoke to Kang Jaeha in a drowsy tone.
“Come with me. Manager Jaeha, starting today you’re in Team 4.”
Kang Jaeha knew enough about Team 4 already. Leon’s place for all sorts of failures, nobodies, has-beens, broken entertainers, and the like, with the goal of recycling them.
Doesn’t look like the recycling works very well, though. Anyway, Team 4, huh...
Team 4.