Congrats on the Promotion, Big Brother
The next morning.
Hangnyeoul Station, in front of SETEC, was a sea of people.
"Wow, it's packed."
The theme of the 2027 Seoul Architectural Expo was Survival Luxury. Pursuing beauty was a given, of course, but every design also had to be safe against any disaster that might come.
"Maybe I'll run into someone I know."
Behind me, Jeokmyo and Chilmyo followed, their faces remade through Yeokyongsul.
"My lord, I shall sweep them all aside and clear a path for you."
"Don't be ridiculous. You two get up on the roof and stand by. I intend to enter like a proper, civilized citizen."
"Yes! Our apologies!"
"Keep your voices down."
"......Our apologies."
Of course, my idea of a 'proper citizen' didn't involve waiting under the blazing sun. I turned away from the long, snaking line and headed for an entrance where no one stood—the VVIP gate.
"Oh my, Mr. Jaewoo! Hello there."
There stood Section Chief Jeon Sua in a crisp business suit, waiting for me.
"Hello to you too."
"Wow, Mr. Jaewoo. Your appearance...... what on earth happened?"
Oho. She can tell.
I looked quite different from when she'd met me at the Association's brokerage counter. Back then, I'd been in a sweatsuit. Now, a long black coat.
"Have I changed a bit, then?"
"Yes...... you're a completely different man from when we first met."
"That's a compliment, right?"
"Of course it is!"
Just then, a sharp-featured woman stepped up beside Section Chief Jeon Sua.
"Hello, Mr. Jaewoo. It's a pleasure to meet you. My name is Kim Yunju."
"Oh, hello. Wait—don't tell me, the Kim Yunju?"
I shook her hand, genuinely startled.
Kim Yunju of Team Superhuman. A level-48, top-tier A-Class ranker, if I wasn't mistaken?
"The Team Leader briefed me on the operation. We scattered the information carefully, so you were bound to show up here."
I had told Team Leader Jo I'd need bait. But I never imagined he'd send Kim Yunju of Team Superhuman itself.
So this is the power of people in high places!
"Ah, yes. All I need is an event that draws the eye, so this works perfectly."
"By the way, you really are handsome. I never imagined you'd look like this."
"Hm? Oh. Haha. Thank you."
What kind of compliment was that, out of nowhere?
Just then, Section Chief Jeon Sua smiled and asked, "Might I handle the payment on your behalf?"
"I'd only be grateful. Here's my card."
"Thank you for trusting me."
"No, no—you've done far too much for me already. One thing, though: I'd rather you not trail right behind me. Hovering too close gives it away."
"Of course. We'll follow at a discreet distance so we don't disturb your browsing."
"Haha, now I feel bad for no reason."
Section Chief Jeon Sua answered with a bright smile. "Not at all. This kind of thing is all about reading the room."
Like with her younger sibling's matter before—her instincts were sharp. And she seemed to handle her secretary duties admirably, too.
I gave a light nod, then activated the skill [Solitude] and issued my orders to Jeokmyo and Chilmyo.
"If you spot anyone suspicious—especially a Russian spellcaster—report to me at once."
"Understood, my lord."
After that, I strolled leisurely into the expo.
Inside, the exhibition hall was a veritable bedlam.
"Come right up! A three-seater sofa handcrafted by an E-Class blacksmith! Not a single scratch, even if you slash it with a blade!"
"Worry about winter heating bills no more! Magic stone ondol heating system, for the low price of just 50 million won!"
"Come tour our sub-basement bunker home! Safe even if a nuke goes off overhead!"
At one booth, an Awakener of the Geomancer class was putting on a demonstration.
Kugugung—!
The ground churned and flipped, and in an instant the foundation was leveled flat. Upon it, a neatly built house settled into place.
"A fully prefabricated building—toilet, bedroom, bathtub, kitchen, even a sauna! Give us a patch of ground, and we take you from design to construction in a single day!"
The crowd cheered and applauded. It was fast, undeniably. But it didn't catch my eye, so I headed for the premium gallery in Hall C.
"Oh."
The atmosphere was on another level entirely. Far fewer people, and the interiors were vastly more luxurious.
Just then, I spotted not one but two familiar faces.
One was my former boss, Kang Mincheol—that insufferable bastard who dished out worthless advice like it was his daily bread.
The other was my older brother, Yu Jaegyeong.
Well, well. Running into him here of all places.
As it happened, the timing was perfect for both. One of them I could use as a prop for the commotion, and my brother......
So this is why he's been so busy lately.
If it's hard to find time to meet him, why not meet him through work?
I went straight to my brother's booth. A premium interior design firm—Design Share.
I sought out the man who looked for all the world like the president.
"And what might this be?"
"You have a discerning eye, sir. This tree was grown from a seed of the Dragonblood Tree, pulled from a Tower random box. Simply keeping it near your home improves circulation and sleep quality."
"Oho. How much?"
"A special expo price—1 billion won."
The man named the price cautiously. For just a moment, I saw his eyes flick to the VVIP name tag hanging at my neck.
I stroked my chin and said, "I'll take it. I'll pay right now."
Today was a day for flexing.
The man bowed at the waist, folding himself in half. "Then may I process your purchase immediately?"
At that, Section Chief Jeon Sua, who had been watching from a distance, approached. "Payment will go through me."
The man's eyes went wide at the sight of her. "Manager Jeon?"
"President Jeong Minwoo. It's been a while."
So he really was the president.
The two exchanged a few brief words. President Jeong's manner was so scrupulously deferential that I worried his back might snap in half, but once the conversation wound down, he turned to me again.
"Thank you so much, sir. We've processed the payment with an additional 20 percent off—800 million won in total. Is there anything else you might need?"
I answered casually. "Do you build grand estates, by any chance? Eastern style, if you would."
I wanted to build a sprawling mansion. The kind of scale where I could open the World of Dream Souls in the courtyard and simply live. A minimum of 3,300 square meters!
"Of course. Depending on the size and your preferred style, we can provide a hexagonal pavilion, detached movable pavilions, and even a pond lined with Azure Water Stone."
"You can build an outdoor barbecue area too, right?"
"Should you commission a barbecue terrace, we'll throw in a top-of-the-line grill set as a gift!"
A barbecue grill, hm. Perfect for grilling meat with Master.
"Can you install both dry and wet saunas?"
"There's a model that alternates between dry and steam modes with the push of a single button."
"Can a pool with a wave function be installed in a day?"
"Yes. If the ground is compacted and the plumbing is connected, installation is immediate. Even if not, we offer an on-site Geomancer dispatch service—we'll provide one if needed."
I nodded, then tossed out a question as if in passing. "Do you happen to have an employee named Yu Jaegyeong?"
"I'm sorry?"
"You do. I know you do."
"Ah...... yes. We do, but...... may I ask—"
I gave a sly smile. "No, it's that very employee who brought me here."
"I'll— I'll fetch him at once!"
"No need. Don't go pulling him away from his work."
"Hup. Yes, sir!"
"I'd like to work with Yu Jaegyeong on this estate project. What's his position, by the way?"
"H-he's a staff member, sir."
"A staff member, you say? The construction budget is somewhere around 100 billion won."
"M-Manager! He's a Manager. He'll no doubt be earning quite the performance bonus as well."
I grinned. "Well thought out, Section Chief Jeon Sua."
"Yes, sir."
"I'd like to discuss with Design Share about building the estate somewhere with good energy. Could you help me from the land search onward?"
"Of course. We'll thoroughly vet everything—legal matters, land with favorable feng shui—and then present the candidates for your confirmation, Mr. Jaewoo."
"Thank you."
President Jeong bowed his head again and again. "Thank you, truly. I promise to present you with a beautiful estate you will never regret."
"The estate should be lovely, yes—but so should the employee called Jaegyeong."
"Naturally. He's already one of our most diligent workers—having him be an acquaintance of a VVIP client, I must say I'm a fortunate man."
"Your business will flourish."
President Jeong Minwoo bowed deeply to me once more. The Design Share staff at the booth had evidently never seen their president like this—they wore looks of open astonishment. And among them was my brother.
I waved at him.
And yet—
My brother simply bowed his head politely. He didn't seem to recognize me at all.
Is it because my face has changed that much?
Should I call out to him? No. No reason to drag him away from his work.
We'll be meeting again soon enough.
I was about to do some rather rough business, after all. Better to keep my distance for now. And—
Congrats on the promotion, big brother.
Yu Jaegyeong, staff member at Design Share, was inspecting a portable ondol sauna at the edge of the booth.
"Whew. I think that's just about done."
"Good work, sunbae."
"You too."
Yu Jaegyeong genuinely loved the work he did now. He'd quit a perfectly stable pharmaceutical job and studied day and night to get in—the kind of job where you could design all of it:
The structure of living spaces. Aesthetic beauty and functional comfort. Safety in the event of a disaster.
It was his dream job.
But then—right around the one-year mark after joining the company—his wife had gotten pregnant.
He'd been overjoyed. It was unquestionably something to be celebrated. And yet—
The money going out just multiplied. Is chasing my dream right now really the right call?
Shouldn't I go wherever pays even a little more? With my résumé, I'd earn far more than I do now......
Design Share was wonderful. The president was passionate and a genuinely good man. But the salary was low. Naturally so—he'd come in without industry experience.
It was work he'd started out of pure love. But if it was for his wife and child, then......
Is giving it up the right choice......?
That was exactly what he was thinking when a tall, strikingly handsome man came to the booth. The long coat fit him so perfectly, and the black hair suited him so well, that Jaegyeong mistook him for a celebrity at first glance.
The president bowed his head over and over, catering to the handsome man's every word.
What a proper businessman.
People around them began murmuring about the man's looks. Was he some chaebol heir? An S-Class Awakener? Wasn't he basically an actor?
"Sunbae, did you see that guy?"
"Yeah. Gorgeous."
"I've never seen anyone like him."
"Me neither...... hm?"
The man was looking right at Yu Jaegyeong.
At first he didn't realize the man was looking at him. But then the man waved—as if greeting someone he was glad to see.
Yu Jaegyeong gave a polite bow of his head. And by the time he raised it again, the man was already gone.
Who was that, anyway?
Just then—
"Employee Yu."
President Jeong Minwoo came walking straight toward him. Yu Jaegyeong snapped to a respectful stance.
"Yes, President."
"As of this moment, you're Manager Yu. We're redoing your salary negotiation—I'll match it to the top of the industry. And I'll stuff your performance bonus until it's bursting."
"I'm sorry—what?"
"Your younger brother came by."
"Who came?"
"As a client. And he's entrusted us with a construction project of staggering scale. Somewhere in the hundred-billion-won range."
"......?"
His younger brother had commissioned a hundred-billion-won construction project?
What was that even supposed to mean?
"A grand estate, Eastern style. I want you to take charge of this one. Naturally I'll be working on it too, but you'll be with me for everything—starting from the very first client meetings."
"Th-thank you, President."
"I'm the one who should be thanking you."
President Jeong Minwoo clapped Yu Jaegyeong on the shoulder and walked off, and the junior colleague beside him turned to him.
"Holy—that's insane. Sunbae! Congrats on the promotion! But wait—that guy earlier was your younger brother?"
"Uh, y... yeah. Apparently."
"Why didn't you ever tell me?! Unbelievable! You hit the genetic jackpot!? Your brother looks like a total celebrity!"
"I didn't know myself. And anyway, I'm a Manager now. 'Genetic jackpot'? That's a bit much, don't you think?"
"Oh, I-I'm so sorry!"
"I'm joking. It's fine."
"Aww, sunbae!"
Of course it was fine.
He'd just been promoted from staff member to Manager. Was that really the problem here?
Yu Jaewoo, you absolute lunatic! I can't thank you enough!
Yu Jaegyeong's cheeks ached from grinning. He felt like he had to call his wife right now.
Honey, guess what—I'm a Manager now......!