Chapter 108
Chapter 108
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 108
Chapter Title: Probing the Specs
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One week.
Converted to minutes, that's 10,080 minutes.
Exactly seven days had passed since posting the Molrangmol recruitment notice.
Ding!
[Received Mail: 12,300]
Roughly one application email arriving every minute.
The ratio was about 1 for research to 9 for production.
Or more precisely, 0.5 to 9.5.
Monster research inevitably required specialized knowledge, so it made sense that people would flock to production.
Of course, production jobs benefited from relevant knowledge too, but...
'Honestly, most of the work is just producing and packaging slime balls anyway.'
In any case, I ended up reviewing applicants' resumes whenever I had time.
Naturally, I couldn't go through all 10,000 myself, so the four of us split the workload.
And since we hadn't set a fixed multiplier for interview slots—
"Middle school grad with zero specs is kinda iffy..."
Even their physical specs were a notch below average, so they'd probably struggle with heavy lifting.
It would've been nice if they'd at least listed some manual labor experience, but their brief self-intro was blank.
These days, people often turned 'self-introductions' into full-blown 'self-novels,' so we'd even kindly specified to keep it short, like 'Did this and that~.'
"A blank is too much..."
There were always these apply-on-a-whim types.
No sincerity at all. Just ban them?
"Okay, next applicant..."
In this vein, I slotted applicants who met my loose internal criteria into the 'hold' category.
Then the four of us would re-review the 'hold' pile properly and sort them into 'resume pass' and 'resume fail.'
This was the glorious first official Molrangmol recruitment, after all.
We needed to be thorough. Not that we were being overly strict.
Ding!
Just as I was about to check the next one, a new email arrived.
Normally, I'd shove it to the end of the queue, but...
[(Research) Job Application (Applicant: Baek Seo-ha)]
The 'Research' prefix caught my eye.
The specs on research applicants had been pretty lacking so far.
A lot of fresh college grads.
Of course, if we only hired experienced folks, how would newbies survive? I'd thought that way myself at times.
'No helping it.'
Now that I was the company owner, I had to follow the natural order of things.
I needed people who could promptly dive into research on the tasks I assigned.
Hiring true rookies straight out of unrelated fields felt iffy.
I hadn't formally trained in research processes myself, so I had no way to teach them.
Sorry, newbies—go look at other companies.
With a quiet apology to the applicants who would taste resume rejection, I checked her documents.
Name... Baek Seo-ha?
A total stranger, yet it felt oddly familiar.
"Oh?"
"What's up, Saebyeok?"
"Just got a new application email, so I checked it out... Oh ho?"
"Good specs? You've said all the others were meh so far."
The specs... were good.
Too good, in a way that could be a problem—I hadn't even considered that.
[Basic Personal Information]
[Application Field: Research] [Name: Baek Seo-ha]
[Age: 29] [Awakener Status: Y]
[Awakener Registration Number: W-7821-23****]
[Brief Career and Certifications]
*Early graduation from Korea University, Department of Monster Research Engineering
*Master's from Hudson University, Department of Comprehensive Research Science
*(Former) HXZ Intensive Research Line Chief Researcher
*(Current) Hwayeon Monster Research A-Team Research Leader
*US Hunter Association Certified - Monster Engineering (P-Grade)
*Korea Hunter Association Certified - Monster Engineering (1st Grade)
*Korea Hunter Association Certified - Monster Dismantler
.
.
.
.
*Tature's Monster Research of the Year Award
"...An interesting person just applied."
Elite doesn't even begin to cover it.
Was there a genius like this in Korea? And her age was remarkably young for those achievements.
"Where, where? Let me see."
"Here."
Jina took the tablet from me, and her pupils dilated massively.
Made sense.
What could someone like that possibly lack to apply at Molrangmol?
"It's not fake, is it?"
"Dunno. Doesn't seem like it."
"What do you mean? Do you know her?"
"......Kinda don't know, but I do."
"Huh?"
Jina blinked at me blankly, not getting it.
"Read the fourth line of her specs."
"Hang on... Hwayeon Monster Research A-Team... Leader? This the Hwayeon I know?"
"Probably."
No wonder the name rang a bell—she was from Hwayeon.
I remembered seeing it in the Hwayeon database that Kami No. 2 had acquired.
That explained her specs.
"Isn't the Hwayeon research team supposed to be full of nothing but elites?"
"That's what I heard too."
It had been big news in Korea a few years back.
Hwayeon throwing money around to scout elites from around the world.
"But why would someone like that apply to Molrangmol?"
"No idea."
I couldn't figure it out either.
Someone pulling that salary, going out of their way...?
Tired of Hwayeon's shady antics?
Or maybe they figured they couldn't beat me, so join up?
"What're you gonna do? Hire her?"
Jina asked, but I couldn't commit.
Coldly evaluating just on specs...
'No reason not to hire.'
She fit Molrangmol's ideal candidate perfectly.
Perfectly? More like overqualified.
Like tossing a line for crucian carp and hooking a sea bream.
So suspicion was inevitable.
'Trying to spy or something?'
If she'd been from another guild, I'd have scooped her up with a 'thank you very much.'
But Hwayeon, of all places.
"Not sure. It's kinda suspicious."
"Yeah. They're definitely up to something shady... But do they usually come at it this blatantly?"
True.
Spies would slink around sneakily. Just look at how they bought Molrangmol products through proxies.
"Just reject her. Sucks, but better applicants might show up."
Jina said.
A conservative take that made sense. No need to stir up trouble, as she put it.
But would another talent like Baek Seo-ha appear?
Absolutely not. Whoever we hired instead, there'd be regret.
Tough call.
High risk, high reward? Or play it safe?
"...I've decided."
"How?"
"Interview her first, then decide."
No matter how I thought about it, that felt right.
Gotta poke at the fruit even if I can't eat it.
**
Ding!
[Door opening.]
The elevator doors slid open smoothly, and Seo-ha stepped out.
Baekya Castle, 85th floor.
The scheduled interview location, where she'd somehow passed the resume screening for Molrangmol.
"Huu..."
She let out a long breath for no reason and started walking with clicking heels.
Was it right for a Hwayeon employee like her to be here?
A dazed feeling hit her now. But since she'd passed, doing the interview seemed fine.
It was just experience, and not like she was committing a crime.
Click, click!
High heels after years felt awkward in her stride. Her ankles and toes ached oddly.
Truth be told, it was her heart that hurt more.
Thump! Thump!
Why was her heart pounding like this?
Am I... nervous right now?
"Huu..."
Finally, Seo-ha stopped right there and rummaged through her handbag.
What emerged in her hand was a candy wrapped in gold foil.
Calming pills.
She knew intellectually they had little effect on awakeners, but she felt like she had to take one.
She was tense enough to cling to even the placebo effect.
Having regained a sliver of calm, Seo-ha sat on the long bench beside the interview room door.
"......"
Voices drifted from inside the door.
Probably another resume passer like her?
But something felt off.
'Why... is no one else here?'
She couldn't spot any other waiting applicants besides herself.
They'd even given her an exact interview time, which was weird.
Shouldn't everyone show up early, get numbers, and wait?
...Think positive.
Maybe she and the one inside were the only resume passers.
"...This is boring."
As always, waiting for her turn was interminably dull.
The calming pills seemed more effective than expected, making it worse.
To kill time, Seo-ha glanced around.
Baekya Castle had a stylish vibe unlike Yeonhwa Palace.
Never imagined doing an interview here.
Just this showed how tight Molrangmol and Baekya were.
Though she'd heard Molrangmol bought land in Seoul.
Weren't they building their HQ there?
Either way, it worked for her.
The interview spot was close to home, which she liked.
Creeeak!
At last, the interview room door opened.
Naturally, another applicant emerged.
Seo-ha's eyes met theirs naturally, and...
'Huh?'
A strange silence settled around them.
Familiar face.
A memory flashed by: vacationing with family at Molrang Park.
"That time..."
Seo-ha pointed at them.
"Ah...!"
The other seemed to recall it too, face going shocked.
The silence between them didn't last.
The other suddenly shouted and bolted.
"S-sorry about back then!"
Tadak!
"......"
What a coincidence.
Good omen or bad?
Unfortunately, Seo-ha had no time to mull it over.
"Baek Seo-ha-ssi. Please come in."
Her long-awaited interview was finally starting.