Arrival at the Human Resources Development Center

The Taira Group Human Resources Development Center, where I would be working from now on, served as the conglomerate’s primary training institute. It usually ran orientation programs for fresh recruits, mid-level managers, newly appointed executives, and a wide range of specialized courses including overseas training.

Located between the Yotsukaido Golf Club and Yotsukaido General Park in Yotsukaido City, Chiba Prefecture, the main campus consisted of massive buildings equipped with a thousand guest rooms, three restaurants, two auditoriums, and more than fifty conference halls.

There were smaller branch facilities in the provinces, but the vast majority of employee training took place at the main center. The branches were mainly used to brief employees being transferred from headquarters to regional offices or those heading ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠out on long-term assignments.

In short, if you were being demoted or shipped off for an extended period, the branch campus was where they taught you about the local business.

Since I carried the Taira surname, I was naturally assigned to the main campus in Yotsukaido. One piece of excellent news came when I asked my new stepmother—the center’s director, Taira Yukiko—about housing before I started looking. She told me a room had already been prepared for me inside the facility, so I no longer needed to hunt for an apartment.

I packed only the essentials: a change of clothes, toiletries, and a few small items, then headed for the train. Yotsukaido had been called a transportation hub since ancient times—its very name meant “four crossroads”—and the trip from Tokyo took roughly forty-five minutes, placing it firmly within the capital’s commuter belt.

Still, I had zero desire to endure a ninety-minute round-trip commute every day, which was why I had planned to find a place nearby. Learning that Taira Yukiko had arranged a room with literally zero commute time felt like winning the lottery. I immediately decided to use the money I would have spent on rent to buy a car instead.

My home in Edogawa was on Tokyo’s eastern edge, actually closer to Yotsukaido than central Tokyo. The train ride would take about thirty-five minutes to reach the station. As soon as I boarded, I sent a message.

Yotsukaido Station was still quite a distance from the center, so most people took a bus. Knowing this, Taira Yukiko had told me to message her once I was on the train so she could send a car. I didn’t refuse the offer and contacted her immediately.

Today wasn’t my official start date—tomorrow was—so I had dressed casually. I hoped it wouldn’t get me in trouble.

During the thirty-five-minute ride I decided to settle the issue that had been bothering me: the trait selection I had received after leveling up with Matoi Honami and Hanako. For reference, I had allocated one point to Stamina and one to Charm. The Stamina point simply pushed the stat from nine to a clean ten, while the Charm point was an investment in making future seductions slightly easier once I started acting like my usual self.

At level five, those stats were already excellent. They would have been even higher if I had swept up every hidden piece while I was in Korea or hadn’t given the Seoul hidden pieces to Han Yugyeong. But since she was now my woman, I didn’t regret handing them over to keep her from a bad end. Besides, the Korean hidden pieces weren’t going anywhere; I could always collect them on my next vacation.

I still hadn’t used the Yeouiju’s ability. The first option, Elbow Tattoo [Explosion], was a sweet trait that increased the speed of all arm and hand actions by 1.2 times during combat. For someone who relied on fist techniques, it was perfect. The second, Martial Arts Master, was equally delicious for my fighting style. The third was far too random; while the occasional screenshot of someone pulling a mythic item existed, the number of people who had chosen it and received garbage was thousands of times higher. It wasn’t even worth considering.

My dilemma was that two perfect traits had appeared, yet I was wondering whether I should use the Yeouiju for one more reroll. The Yeouiju’s reroll would upgrade the grade of all three choices, but it also carried a high chance of replacing them with useless traits like the previous “Master Confectioner.”

Still, you only get one shot at these things. I decided to use the opportunity I had been given.

The moment I confirmed, the original choices—Elbow Tattoo, Martial Arts Master, and random item—vanished. New options began to appear.

Hmm… Master of Dance was the highest “Master” rank in the skill-correction tree that went from Expert to Artisan to Master to Saint. Unfortunately, it was still just dance. There had once been a popular build that combined Master of Dance and Master of the Sword to push sword-dance martial arts to their absolute limit, but once people realized both masteries only applied to sword dancing, the build became extremely niche. Sword dancing itself had clear weaknesses anyway.

The second option, Advocate of Modification, was one of the best traits for anyone pursuing body augmentation. It boosted the efficiency of both biological and mechanical modifications by a flat twenty to thirty percent. In the game it had been a must-have for both MegaCorp’s Youngest Son and its predecessor TMC.

But this wasn’t a game anymore. This was reality. I had zero intention of replacing parts ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠of my body with machinery or undergoing weird surgeries. Besides, choosing Advocate of Modification would lock me out of Advocate of Purity, which raised every physical limit by one and improved the efficiency of all body stats. It was an essential trait for pure, unmodified playthroughs.

The last one, Abyss Affinity, was a trait I had never seen before. It had probably appeared because I now possessed the special Abyss stat. Quite a few traits only unlocked after acquiring certain stats or other traits. Others would never appear if you had already chosen conflicting ones. You had to choose carefully.

Should I at least check what it does?

Most affinity-type traits were Epic rank, yet this one was two grades higher—Legacy. On top of that, it gave the Abyss stat a maximum increase of five and improved its efficiency. The downside was that the mental debuffs triggered when Abyss exceeded Willpower would become even stronger… but right now my Willpower was far higher than my Abyss, so the penalty didn’t matter.

I still didn’t fully understand the Abyss stat, so I couldn’t judge exactly how valuable a five-point increase to its cap would be. If it were Stamina or Mental stats, five extra points would be completely broken. But even if the Abyss cap became twenty-five, my Willpower cap was only twenty-two. To avoid the debuff I could only raise Abyss to twenty-one anyway.

In the end, Abyss Affinity was the only choice worth taking. The pre-reroll options of Martial Arts Master or Elbow Tattoo had probably been better, but since I had already used the reroll there was no going back. I selected Abyss Affinity.

The instant I chose it, the world around me plunged into darkness. From within that darkness, something indescribable stared straight at me. The sensation lasted less than a second ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠before the darkness vanished as if it had never existed. It had been far too vivid to be a hallucination. The feeling left me increasingly uneasy. If simply selecting a trait triggered this kind of warning, I would have to make absolutely sure my Abyss never exceeded my Willpower.

I soon arrived at Yotsukaido Station and stepped off the train with my bag. As I left the station and looked around, a woman standing beside a luxury sedan on the street raised her hand and waved at me.

Up close, I realized it was Taira Yukiko. I had assumed she would send a subordinate, yet here she was in person. Was the director of the Human Resources Development Center really that free? Her figure, which I had already noticed at the funeral when she wore a kimono, was truly spectacular. Today she was dressed in a classic career-woman outfit—a tight H-line skirt and a ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠blouse that looked ready to burst at the chest. I didn’t know where to rest my eyes.

“Good afternoon, Mother.”

Since she was technically the boss of the company I would be joining, I bowed deeply and greeted her with perfect politeness. Apparently pleased by my manners, Taira Yukiko gave me a gentle smile.

“Hello. Was the trip uncomfortable in any way?”

“Not at all. I simply rode the train.”

“Get in beside me.”

It seemed she had driven herself without a chauffeur. Taira Yukiko slid into the driver’s seat. I placed my bag in the trunk and sat in the passenger seat. From the corner of my eye I couldn’t help noticing her plump, soft-looking thighs. They appeared so supple that pressing a finger against them would sink right in. I quickly caught myself and pretended to fix my hair. Of course the real problem wasn’t my wandering hands—it was Taira Yukiko’s excessively seductive thighs.