Meeting with the ACE Executive
“Good work.”
“You too.”
After finishing up the photoshoot for the pictorial that would go in the final issue, I thanked the photographer and headed to Team Leader Kim Joo-han's office to chat with him.
“Great work on the shoot, Ae-ri.”
“You too, Team Leader Kim.”
“This pictorial magazine is gonna sell like hotcakes. Payment will be wired right after publication. And I have one proposal for you.”
“A proposal?”
“Yes. How about becoming an exclusive model for Cyber Days officially? No pressure, though—don't feel obligated.”
It was an offer to become an official model.
I pondered it for a moment.
Not a bad idea at all.
In a world where broadcasting power is everything, having your account suspended like this time blocks your income stream. Diversifying revenue sources couldn't hurt.
Having mulled it over, I gave Team Leader Kim Joo-han a positive response.
“Sounds good. But would it be okay if I recommended someone else too?”
I'd thought of one person while agreeing, so I mentioned it to him.
“Someone else? Tell me more, and I'll see.”
Team Leader Kim Joo-han nodded, intrigued, and I named the person I'd had in mind.
“I have a friend named Ra Mi-yeon. What do you think?”
“Ra Mi-yeon... Hmm... Alright, let's set up a meeting and decide from there.”
Team Leader Kim Joo-han seemed a bit noncommittal but agreed. Since I'd already mentioned it to Mi-yeon yesterday, I passed her contact info to him.
“We'll finalize the contract details and get back to you.”
“Got it.”
I said my goodbyes to Team Leader Kim Joo-han and wrapped up the day's work.
“The hero Ju Ae-ri returns like a comet now that her suspension's lifted.”
The moment my suspension lifted, I fired up a broadcast and spilled the tea on everything that'd happened to my porters while doing a just chatting stream.
“Alright, porters, tomorrow's gonna be a singing stream, so keep that in mind.”
These jerks... way too much.
I mean, I'm better than a total tone-deaf kid!
After wrapping the stream, I showered and was about to scroll C-Tube Shorts before bed when HERA spoke up.
Ae-ri, you had one missed call. It was an unknown number, so I didn't pick up.
“Missed call? From who?”
I traced it—the call originated from the ACE Group headquarters building.
“ACE Group? Why would they call me?”
ACE Group is one of the mega-corps straight out of cyberpunk lore, rivaling H Group. While H Group sprawls like an octopus into every business, ACE dominates through a single focus: arms manufacturing.
The cybertech wear I wore for the pictorial? Made by ACE. Their fashion-arms division's motto is "weapons you can wear in everyday life."
Shall I connect you?
HERA's question made me pause. Should I take a call from ACE Group?
I'm curious, though. No way a mega-corp's gonna harm little old me.
I nodded, and HERA connected the call immediately.
The other side picked up before the ring even finished. A young woman's voice.
“Just curious why you called, so I rang back.”
Strategic Business Planning at ACE handles the whole operation—real power central. I'm no expert, but H Group probably has something similar.
ACE Group, and surname Gu? Owner family?
Yeah, ACE's owners are the Gu family. If she's in a prime power spot, this Gu Si-min's probably one of them.
But 'Executive Director' at ACE? Kinda pisses me off for some reason.
Thinking of ACE Jeonmu brought the irritation rushing back.
“Apologies?”
That confirmed it—ACE Jeonmu was exactly her nickname implied.
“You're ACE Jeonmu?”
Gu Si-min was ACE Jeonmu herself.
And calling me so brazenly? If she were in front of me, I'd have flicked her forehead a few good times.
“Hoo... So why'd you call me?”
At least she knows it's rude.
But a mega-corp heir wanting to meet a mid-tier indie streamer like me? What's her angle?
To satisfy my curiosity, I told Gu Si-min:
“Alright, let's meet.”
“Two days from now?”
Call ended.
I wanted to figure out her game, but mostly, I just wanted to see the face of the asshole who'd screwed me over—even if it wasn't intentional.
Two days later, I rode in the car driven by the secretary Gu Si-min sent and arrived at ACE Group headquarters.
Damn, it's huge.
ACE HQ rivaled H Group's in sheer scale.
It's famous, too—not always for good reasons. Most notoriously, the slums behind it: Black Darkness Alley. Light casts shadows, after all.
They predated the building, originally just normal housing that devolved into a slum once the mega-corp tower went up.
This is the cyberpunk world, after all.
Dark underbellies are par for the course. Mega-corps, stratified society beneath them, tales of the discarded—that's cyberpunk's core plot.
I live normally, so it's foreign to me, but that's the world.
Following the secretary, I took the elevator to the Strategic Business Planning floor. The whole level—actually three floors up and down—was theirs.
Moneybags.
ACE had cash to burn.
The secretary led me to a woman waiting there.
“Good work, Secretary Yoo.”
The woman thanked the secretary, who bowed and stepped away.
“Nice to finally meet face-to-face.”
The woman greeted me with a gentle smile.
“You're Executive Director Gu Si-min?”
“That's me, Gu Si-min.”
“Your attitude's totally different from yesterday's call.”
She'd used formal speech then.
“Had to put on manners to get you here.”
So, all fake, huh?
She struck me as a real viper-in-the-grass type.
Makes sense for a corporate player—gotta be full of snakes inside to survive.
“Not buying the 'just wanted to see your face' bit. What's the real purpose?”
“Sharp. Yeah, I called you here for a reason.”
As expected, she had an agenda.
“What is it?”
“I want your cooperation.”
“Cooperation? With what?”
Her answer was a bombshell.
“I want you to go undercover as a spy in H Group.”