Chapter 20
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Translator: Ace
Chapter: 20
Chapter Title: Seo In-ae's Five Jobs
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Seo In-ae's connection with me began when I took over the clinic.
Of the two nursing assistants from the previous director's time, one quit, and Seo In-ae was the one who chose to stay on her own.
"Arrive by 6:30 a.m.? Perfect. I've always thought mornings were too precious to waste."
Come to think of it, she wasn't your average person from the start, was she?
Back when I first opened the clinic, I was burning with an utterly abnormal level of enthusiasm, and I just assumed she was someone who lived life with ordinary passion.
'Passion and ordinary don't even belong in the same sentence.'
Seo In-ae worked incredibly diligently.
She clocked in precisely at 6:29:59 a.m., changed into her uniform, finished cleaning, and greeted me.
Then, at exactly 5:00:01 p.m., she'd breeze out like the wind, having prepared everything in advance.
'Up to here, she's your typical MZ generation.'
If I brought up anything outside work, she'd respond in a strictly businesslike manner, but within her duties—from daily settlements to managing toilet paper stock—nothing was ever lacking.
She made it blatantly clear she had no interest in getting chummy with her boss, so I didn't push to close the distance either.
Overachieving older sisters smoked with coworkers at their workplaces, and Hwang Seoyeong got along great with her colleagues too.
But I wasn't as sociable as them, and I was fine working with people I wasn't close to.
Hell, I had over ten university classmates whose faces didn't match their names.
Up until now, our comfortably distant relationship suited us both just fine.
"Think of it as unlimited refills—order whatever you want! What do you like? Sirloin? Ribeye?"
But now that I'd taken an interest, everything changed.
My master once said my competitive streak was a bit excessive. Being tenacious with patients was good, but if that obsession veered into weird territory, it could get out of hand.
But no matter what anyone said, once I set my mind to something, I followed through.
I mean, I'd managed to gather the Martial Alliance Leader and the Heavenly Demon in one place for a summit!
So befriending one person? Piece of cake.
"For real? Then ribeye for me."
I pulled out all the stops—boss's authority and cash—to win her over.
First, I took her to a Korean BBQ joint and stuffed her with delicious food to lower her guard.
"No issues at work? Sorry if I haven't been paying enough attention."
"None at all. No pressure, and working solo suits me fine. No crazy patients yet either."
"This clinic was your first job after I took over, right?"
"As a nursing assistant, yeah. Before that, I worked at a factory for a few months."
"Oh?"
"Shall we get a beer? You like drinking?"
"I'm pretty good at it."
I even indulged in drinks and karaoke, things I didn't usually do.
"Karaoke? Somewhere with more drink options sounds better."
"What do you like? Whiskey? Wine? Sake? I'll order it all!"
The after-work drinks went off swimmingly. Somehow, we hit round three, and I followed her lead into a quiet bar.
And then the usual sequence.
We drank a ton. A whole lot.
Drink. Eat. Drink more.
I could've secretly used my internal energy to sober up, but you have to get flushed and slur your words to really drop your guard.
"Actually... I'm doing a side gig..."
"Oh no, got debts?"
I matched her—actually, outdid her—a bit on the soju.
"No, not that... hic—"
"Righ' ... Jus' wanna earn more cash?"
This was getting risky. My tongue was starting to tie.
Seo In-ae shook her head vigorously.
She paused for a moment, then slammed the table.
"Waaah. Director, you're such a silver spoon! You have no idea!"
"Me too, all debts~ Scraped by with tutoring all through school jus' to pay tuition!"
"Eh... really?"
Honestly, by this point, things had derailed from the plan.
I'd somehow spilled about being orphaned, abused at my aunt's house, and running away empty-handed the moment I got into university.
"Ugh, seriously, college was so humiliating. Some had grandpas owning hospitals, others shoving million-won bottles at me!"
Her reaction to my sob story?
"But then how do you run it like this?!"
She got mad.
Did she think I was just doing this as a hobby? Me, 100% survival mode?
If I'd had money! Yeah... I'd have practiced medicine. Way up in the mountains, though.
"You're barely breaking even, right? Rent, my salary, needles aren't pricey but you use top-grade herbs!"
"Psh, patients are picking up. It'll be packed soon."
"I get you're an amazing doctor. You should've taken more loans and opened by the station—billions in monthly sales easy!"
"You're right."
She'd hidden the smart store screen, so yeah, businesswoman for sure.
Way sharper on money than me, who'd lived 20 years outside capitalism.
"So, what’s your side gig, miss?"
I slammed back another shot and asked.
My mouth itched to ask about the vending machine, but I steered the topic casually first.
"Well, see..."
"No non-compete in our contract anyway."
"Strictly speaking, it's not a side gig anymore? Nah, it's a five-job now."
"...Huh?"
My jaw dropped.
"You did bump my pay, but nursing assistant wages have limits. Gotta buy a house, car, prep for retirement."
With me staying quiet, the plenty-drunk Seo In-ae spilled it all.
"So after clinic shifts, I started night convenience store gigs for double pay. Still peanuts. Watched NewTube for ways to earn more, saw smart stores trending. Jumped right in."
Oh... oh... Execution like a beast.
"Did promo blogs, grew 'em for ad revenue. Saved a bit, started studying real estate auctions. Met folks doing share houses and vending machines."
"Yeah..."
"High school right by work had an auction. Thought I'd try vending—bid and won it on impulse."
What the hell had I just heard?
Never imagined she hustled this hard.
Not average MZ. A full-on multi-jobber.
"Thought I'd restock every few days, but kids devour snacks. Heh."
"So five jobs: clinic, store, blog, share house, vending?"
"Share house pending!"
"What's the last one?"
"NewTube! 500 subs now! Bit more watch time, monetization unlocked!"
Seo In-ae jumped up and played a video.
NewTube was still in its early days.
Back in my NEET phase, my algorithm fed me creators with 100k subs minimum.
"Needs that bang! hook. Got lotsa multi-jobber subs on blog, but views still suck."
A hook, huh.
Before I knew it, I was brainstorming NewTube ideas with her.
Vlogs of multi-job life, past gig reviews, nursing exam tips, vending startup guides—but views topped at two or three digits. Rare spikes barely hit 1k.
"Hmm."
Too drunk maybe?
"Wanna see something fun? Camera up."
I just wanted to help her a tiny bit.
3,000 watch hours almost there, right?
"Huh? Magic trick?"
"Kinda."
End to end of the bar... three meters? Too short.
"Let's go outside."
It was a park anyway, empty too.
"That one!"
An old fountain had a boy statue holding his junk.
I dashed opposite, prepping frantically.
"Film from there~."
First, I ripped open all my acupuncture needles and stuffed them in my sleeve.
Thicker ones would've been ideal, but a bit of internal energy burn should do. Heh.
"Zoom out! Just catch my hands maybe! Okay?"
"Yess~!"
She grabbed her phone, clueless what was coming.
No people, good evening light.
Good call packing a fistful of needles!
I excitedly flung one at the fountain's center.
"Whoa!"
It nailed the statue's forehead dead center.
Before her awe faded, I pinched ten between my fingers.
"So cool!"
Drunk-cheering Seo In-ae pumped me up. I hurled all ten at once.
My projectiles... er, needles traced a perfect circle in a parabola.
They pierced the statue's central Conception Vessel meridians in sequence.
Thwack!
Not one missed. All simultaneous.
Then mixed sizes flew. Dozens around a central long needle, blooming like flowers.
"Wha, wha, what...!?"
Shwaaaa!
Too fast for her eyes.
"How...?!"
Worried thin needles wouldn't show, I ignited my energy green.
Shadowless Blood-Poison Step circled the fountain, scattering hundreds of needles shredding physics.
Impossible arcs. Flowers from my hands danced in rhythms, ascending then raining down timed.
"...Insane! Like webtoon Thousand Blooms Rain?"
She reads wuxia webtoons amid all that hustle?
Heh, who wouldn't gawk at 365 acupoints pierced?
Seo In-ae clapped gleefully.
"Nah, can't teach secret to outsiders. Maybe 20% Thousand Blooms?"
"Right!"
Amazing, cool, where'd you learn, needles through stone?
Praise poured; she chattered nonstop.
What'd I even reply?
Conveniently, no memory.
"We're buddies now, right? Chit-chat starting tomorrow?"
"Totally! Besties! Boss rocks!"
All hazy shapes and voices left.
"Ugh, drank way too much..."
Seo In-ae, pinching pennies in a goshiwon, woke with her upper body slumped over the toilet.
How'd I get home?
Director drop me? Crap, did I blab all about my five jobs?
"Idiot, Seo In-ae!"
She slapped her cheeks, wailing.
Tipsy or not, how'd I spill everything? No boss likes side gigs.
'Won't get fired, right? No gig this sweet.'
Long hours, fat pay, tons of downtime—where else?
Worrying Monday apologies, she washed up.
'Gotta say something...'
Sorry felt off. Excuse? Hmm...
Fretting, tapping fingers, she absentmindedly hit the bottom-left '+'.
"Huh?"
Then spotted something weird.
"What's this video?"
A clip she didn't remember shooting sat on her phone.