The Job Change Offer
Monday morning. The air outside the company building felt unusually crisp.
When the elevator doors slid open, the familiar scent of the corridor washed over me.
That unmistakable office smell.
It was the same commute as always, yet today something was different.
Wondering if someone might recognize me, I found myself unable to lift my head.
Was it because of the commercial?
“Good morning.”
“Manager Kim!”
“Manager Kim!!”
My team members swarmed to block my path the moment I walked in.
“Why didn't you tell us you filmed a commercial?”
“Ah... haha. You saw it?”
“Saw it? The Daehan Bank commercial! I nearly fell out of my chair. I honestly thought you were a real actor.”
“Exactly. You were standing right next to Song Hae-in and you didn't get dwarfed one bit.”
“It was just... a brief appearance. It wasn't a big role or anything.”
But my colleagues' reactions told a different story.
“Brief? You had lines! ‘We believe in Daehan Bank’—when you said that, your voice was so crisp and clear. Anyone would've mistaken you for a professional.”
The words caught in my throat for a moment.
They were exactly what my mother had said.
Her voice came back to me—the one that had said she regretted talking me out of pursuing acting.
By the afternoon, the department head had come to my desk personally.
“Manager Kim, I caught the commercial. The bank's image has improved tremendously. Song Hae-in was wonderful, of course, but having you standing beside her doubled the sense of trust.”
I rose from my seat in a daze and bowed my head.
“Thank you, sir. I was only filling in for someone—”
“Enough with the modesty. I think we'll be needing you on the PR side from now on. Be ready.”
The department head's words weren't simple praise.
They were a hint that the very direction of my work might change.
Public relations. Commercials. The stage—strangely, they overlapped with the path I had once dreamed of in college.
By quitting time, the office was still buzzing.
Someone jokingly asked me for an autograph; someone else quipped, “Let me know when you land a drama role next.”
I laughed and waved them off, but inside, an unfamiliar tremor stirred.
The office was no longer just a workplace to me.
The me in the commercial, the me in my colleagues' eyes, the me in my mother's pride...
Everything had shifted, little by little.
Today was Monday, but thanks to the aftermath of the commercial—or whatever you'd call it—I had no idea how the day had slipped by. Without even using Time Pass, the day vanished in an instant.
I came home and sank into the sofa when—
Huh? What's this?
Something strange was floating in my Status Window.
You have leveled up.
I checked it right away.
A level-up?
Checking the Status Window confirmed it—my level had risen to 2.
Just like a game system.
Having reached Level 2, a Class Change is now available.
A class change?
Did that mean changing my job?
[Collecting data...]
.
.
.
1. Full-Time Investor
2. Certified Realtor
3. Singer
4. Fitness Trainer
5. Model
6. Actor
I couldn't take my eyes off the messages spilling from the Status Window.
Full-Time Investor, Certified Realtor, Singer, Fitness Trainer, Model, Actor?
Full-Time Investor—the coin appraisal skill.
Certified Realtor—Dream House.
Singer—Heavenly Voice.
Fitness Trainer—Muscle Pump.
Model—Fashion King.
And Actor... my most recent experience?
Thinking it over carefully, every path was tied to the abilities I'd used or the experiences I'd had since awakening.
If you choose a class, you will grow in a manner suited to that occupation.
If no choice is made within 24 hours, the job change at this level will be canceled.
All ability usage will be restricted for 24 hours.
If I didn't choose, I'd be giving up the class change?
But the classes on offer...
No matter how I turned it over in my head, they all felt hopelessly detached from reality.
I had worked at a bank for over ten years, and now it was telling me to change careers?
I couldn't shake the feeling that this was a gamble.
“Good morning! I'm Kim Dong-su, a new teller.”
The moment my first greeting ended, a brief silence settled over the conference room.
Fluorescent light spilled across the long table, and every senior employee's gaze turned toward me at once.
My fingertips had gone cold with nerves, but my voice came out as firm as I could make it.
“I look forward to working with you all.”
Isu Station Branch—this was where I'd been assigned. The staff, branch manager included, clapped lightly and smiled.
“Quite the ambition. Fitting for a rookie.”
My face flushed at that, but a strange sense of pride bloomed in my chest.
How hard had I worked just to get in here?
That effort had finally borne fruit.
Nine in the morning.
Customers were already lining up at the counters, and the blue Daehan Bank logo gleamed on the wall.
I stared at that logo and made a silent vow to myself.
Hold my ground here. Grow here. Walk the stable path my mother had wanted for me.
The first day's work was simple.
Organizing documents, learning how to handle customers, jotting down whatever my seniors instructed.
Every single “thank you,” spoken one greeting at a time, felt precious.
Of course, it wasn't without hardship.
Black-listed consumers, customers who latched onto complaints like badges.
A branch manager who found fault with every little thing.
But the fact that this was a job worth keeping never changed.
My salary rose with each passing year.
I paid off my entire student loan within the first year.
In a way, it was a workplace that had let me live like a proper human being.
Now that I thought about leaving, it felt all the more precious.
They say when you're about to part with something, only the good memories surface.
I agonized through the night and ended up staying awake until morning.
Tuesday, 8:30 in the morning.
On the rooftop, taking my smoke break.
Youngsoo looked at my face and asked, "Hey, what's wrong with your mug? How far down do those dark circles go?"
"Got a lot on my mind...."
"You little punk. If you've got problems, you tell your hyung. What is it?"
"I was thinking... what if I quit the company and did something else?"
"What? Quit the company?"
He jolted upright, startled, and fired back at me.
"Do you know how hard it was to get in here? You even got promoted, didn't you... Ah! Right, you're a building owner now... okay, fine, as a building owner, I get it!"
"No, it's not that. I've been thinking about trying something else. Say—what would you think if I told you I wanted to be a singer?"
"Huh?"
Youngsoo stared at me for a long moment before delivering his verdict.
"You're insane."
"Yeah, I figured."
"I mean it. I know you can sing. But come on—you don't become a singer on vocal talent alone, do you? And you'd quit the company on top of that? Nah, that's not it."
"What about acting, then?"
"Acting? Look... if you were in your twenties, fresh out of school, I'd cheer you on and tell you to go for it. But is acting a joke to you? A celebrity? With your personality? I say it's impossible."
"Yeah, that's what I thought."
"Right. Sure, you might be riding high off that commercial. I watched it too, you know. You looked like a seasoned pro. But throwing away your job to become an entertainer—that's not the move."
"Then what about full-time investing? Fitness trainer? Certified realtor?"
Youngsoo had apparently heard enough—he stubbed out his cigarette and turned his back on me.
"Quit spouting nonsense and get back inside. An office worker works. At our age, dreaming like that is a luxury!"
It was already nine.
I watched him head down the stairs, then lit another cigarette.
"Hooowww... is giving up the class change really the answer?"
My thoughts only deepened from there.