Chapter 62

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Translator: True Detective

Chapter: 61

Chapter Title: Junior Administrator Promotion

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"Finally got the Junior Administrator badge."

Bronze, low-level, newbie, junior. Korean guys who could stomach being called idiots but not noobs hated those words. Hyunwoo had ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠been irked by that 'Junior' Administrator label all along.

It was ridiculous when he thought about it. Promotions at the company now felt less important than leveling up his administrator authority in the work system.

And ironically, the system mattered even more. Getting Deputy Manager barely bumped his salary a pittance, and unlike regular employees or assistants, it just piled on more work without much real power. No wonder Hyunwoo was obsessed with his administrator privileges in the work system.

"Hmm... The first promotion was... right, when I banged Seo Jin-ah."

It was a shitty [Task Directive] when he recalled it. Like ripping out a flea-sized liver, messing with a salaryman's pay. A salaryman's wage was that 'small but precious' thing you had to guard until the bitter end.

'No way...'

A sudden wave of unease hit him. Did that mean...?

[Please check the Task Directive menu.]

He felt like muting the chatty system alerts, like it was glitching out, but Hyunwoo activated the [Task Directive] menu. A new directive appeared after a long time.

"Dis... dismissal?!"

Guys in the next district over made billions on land deals and got slaps on the wrist. Wasn't this overkill, system?

"And why's the reward less? It gave 3 points for Junior level. Anyone can see this [Task Directive] is harder!"

[Beginner rewards are always generous in games, right?]

"That's not the point—is this even a game?!"

[Weren't you enjoying it like a game?]

"..."

He silently closed the annoyingly spot-on system alert and checked his [Status Window].

"Heh heh heh heh."

The shitty [Task Directive] pissed him off, but seeing 3 [Remaining Points] left made Hyunwoo grin with pride.

'Dump 'em all into Stamina? Didn't expect Choi Hyun-min to wreck me like that.'

After getting thrashed by Hyun-min, he'd realized how crucial [Stamina]—pure physicality—was. Suddenly, it tempted him.

'Nah, Charm after all?'

Despite mentoring Kim Hye-ri nicely, she'd ignored him—probably because his looks were painfully average. But with enough [Charm], he wouldn't need to fiddle with [Psychological Messages]; women would flock naturally.

'But where's the fun in that?'

What fun was banging women with a pretty-boy parasite vibe? He'd already used the system to tattoo a lewd design on Seo Jin-ah's ass and made Kim Hye-ri masturbate on random chat for some anonymous guy.

And that wasn't all. He'd created a burner account to upload pics of the haughty Eun Seol's nude body. Face blurred, but her figure was hot enough to spread across communities.

Did jacking up [Charm] enable that stuff? Hell no. He'd be lucky not to end up in jail.

So what if his physique sucked and he took a beating? Plain face a bummer? Better to stay under the radar. That way, he could manipulate female employees freely at work.

To control lots of female employees via the system, he needed ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠[Leadership]. For a varied sex life, [Virility].

"Leadership and Virility, let's go!"

If the system had an [Intelligence] stat to upgrade his mediocre brain, it'd be priority one—but no such luck.

Decision made, Hyunwoo dumped a point into Leadership without hesitation.

He needed [Leadership] to tackle the new [Task Directive] that came with Intermediate Administrator.

"Now I can register one more in the [Female Employee] tab."

Saving 2 points for emergencies, Hyunwoo checked the newly unlocked [Employment Contract] options as an Intermediate Administrator.

"Kyah! This is it. Exactly. Why'd it take so long?"

Intermediate Administrator boosted personnel for monetary provision and gathering limits, but only the fifth [Employment Contract] caught Hyunwoo's eye.

The new [Slander Campaign] was a cheat key for Hell Joseon's office politics. Hell, outright scam?

The company wasn't huge, but rumors birthed and died daily in the cafeteria, tea times, smoking rooms, ladies' lounge, meeting rooms. It was a nonstop brawl of mouth-fighters.

Sure, every company had backtalk and baseless gossip. But...

"Yeah, our place takes it way too far."

Hyunwoo didn't stay quiet at work for nothing.

Due to the public-facing nature without clear metrics, promotions hinged on reputation and connections. Even civil servants rated peers for evaluations.

So promotions boiled down to:

'How's that guy?' 'Reputation's solid.' 'Go with him then.'

BS? 21st century? Shockingly real.

This idiotic system fostered endless slander and a 'beautiful(?)' gossip culture.

But with [Slander Campaign], Hyunwoo could shape office opinion however he wanted. Making one person a fool? Piece of cake. Goebbels couldn't touch this.

"Nice, nice. I can grind their Mental to dust."

To manipulate female employees' [Psychological Messages], you had to tank their [Mental] first. [Slander Campaign] was perfect for that.

"With this, the new [Task Directive]'s a breeze."

Promoted to Intermediate Administrator, extra points, new contracts—his confidence soared. Strike while the iron's hot, right? He searched only female employees in the [Administrator] menu to pick his next target.

"Hmm..."

"Hmmm..."

"Huh...?"

"..."

Scanning each female employee's Charm stat. His confident face turned ashen.

- Thwack!

Irritated, Hyunwoo chucked his smartphone onto the bed while scrolling the list.

"Fuck!"

"This is a total bugged clusterfuck, right?"

He started yelling curses.

Yeah.

His company had zero female employees with Charm 8+.

"Fuck fuck fuck..."

"Bugged trash game... total fail total fail..."

"Dismissal doom destruction destruction it's doom~"

"Ahahaha, freedom in 3 months~"

Every salaryman dreams of quitting. Hyunwoo's was now just 3 months away.

"Hey, how the hell do I clear this?"

He gripped his phone, asking the work system.

But the snarky messages from before vanished like a lie. The situation felt dreamlike.

'All the karma I've stacked up exploding now? World still worth living in. Divine punishment. Retribution tale.'

"Should've lived right... Too late for regrets now, huh?"

What if he'd held off popping Kim Hye-ri's cherry? Conquered her as a virgin? She was the only one in the system with Charm 8. Past tense now, obviously.

Or what if he'd never found the work system? Could've happily jerked off to porn forever with his right hand.

Should he job hunt now? Turning 30 next year—any sucker company hiring a humanities drone over an engineer?

- Gulp gulp

"Haa."

Snapping out of shock, Hyunwoo chugged cold water to clear his head. Somewhat sane again, he brainstormed ways to beat the dismissal-on-failure [Task Directive].

"Tell HR's Kim Ji-young to hire only hot chicks?"

No way. In this era, hiring by looks lands you on the front page. Plus, new hires take months with fair hiring BS.

"Hire hundreds of interns. Bound to snag one?"

Slim chance. Same era issues. Interns have processes too—no photos, no gender on resumes. How to snag Charm 8?

"Charm 8 means prettier than Seo Jin-ah, Eun Seol, Kim Hye-ri. Near-celebrity level, right?"

"How to get her in the company? In 3 months?"

Hours on the bed, mumbling ideas, but nothing realistic came to mind. His final choice:

- Seo Jin-ah, I told you to show the tattoo to your husband, film his reaction, and send it.

- Hubby's been on constant trips lately. He's home tomorrow, I'll do it then...

- Tomorrow's the deadline. If not, I'll barge into your newlywed home, Byung-joo or no. Got it?

- Yes...

After tattooing lewd wings on Seo Jin-ah's back, he'd ordered that. Days later, no video—he messaged threats.

Yeah.

If you can't clear the quest, might as well enjoy the game till game over.

"Right. Let's savor these last 3 months. Lifetime chance. Do everything. Hahaha!"

Hyunwoo had flipped to 'if you can't beat 'em, enjoy 'em' mode.