Chapter 77
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Translator: True Detective
Chapter: 76
Chapter Title: Full Review Nightmare
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Hyunwoo should definitely have been thrilled that he'd taken one step closer to conquering Go-eun.
However
‘Fuck, fuck.’
"Hyunwoo, is that data compilation we talked about still not ready?"
"Just ten minutes... no, I'll get it to you right away."
Not just Hyunwoo. Every member of the Organizational Innovation TF Team was caught in a frenzy of activity.
Full reexamination!
It was a hellish phrase that made any office worker's teeth grind just hearing it.
In a word, it meant toppling everything they'd painstakingly built up with time and effort—and starting from square one. Like deleting a character you'd nurtured to perfection and grinding back up from level 1. That was the essence of a "full reexamination."
‘It's even harder than raising a brand-new character from scratch.’
Because now they had to identify flaws and fixes while building on the original project trajectory, round two was far tougher than round one. If it dragged on to round three... he didn't even want to think about it.
That was why getting approval on the first try was ideal. The instant you got rejected once, the difficulty skyrocketed exponentially.
Every team member, Hyunwoo included, had written their share of proposals and reports before. They all knew exactly how dire the current situation was.
A quick glance.
In the chaos where there wasn't even time for a sip of water, Hyunwoo snuck a peek at Go-eun.
Her hair neatly swept up in a bun, her suit impeccably crisp without a single wrinkle—like a fresh-out-of-basic private's fatigues. Piercing eyes behind black horn-rimmed glasses, and that unchanging poker face.
Go-eun looked exactly the same as always. But Hyunwoo
💭 Psychological Message
[Satisfaction] from having her abilities recognized
[Anticipation] for the company's successful innovation
[Confidence] as team leader
[Disdain] for incompetent employees
[Contempt] for unconfident men
could gauge her state somewhat from her fingers tapping irritably on the documents.
Of course, the Work System showed Go-eun's status utterly unchanged. Especially striking was her [Mental] stat at maximum—rock-solid, unmoved by any of this.
And that meant Hyunwoo and the rest of the team were in for more grinding away at their desks.
"Hyunwoo! Still not done?"
"C-coming... Team Leader."
So Hyunwoo couldn't just grin and bear it happily.
Thud.
‘Ahh... rejected again, huh.’
Deputy Manager Kwon Yong-chan of the TF Team instinctively knew from the irritated slam of the approval board on the desk. Round two: failure.
They'd all pulled an all-nighter until 2 a.m. revising the report, but it'd clearly been shot down again in this morning's meeting.
"Haa..."
‘Should've just stayed in Budgeting.’
Kwon still trusted Go-eun's capabilities. Two special promotions. Youngest team leader ever. He'd figured projects under her would sail smoothly. But in hindsight, he should've ditched the ambition to get posted to Seoul HQ without knowing his place.
Today's overtime was locked in, and this was Kwon's grumbling lament.
"Everyone... revise and resubmit the report."
Her voice was its usual husky snap, but a faint crease marred Go-eun's otherwise flawless forehead.
Slam!
The neighboring department's staff jumped and stared at the approval board roughly flung onto the desk—loud enough to turn heads.
Shuffle, rustle.
Papers scattered from inside the board like confetti hitting the floor.
"Everyone... go home early today."
Biting her lip hard to stifle her rage, Go-eun dismissed the team. The members—including Hyunwoo, who'd been marching through two weeks of dawn overtime—were inwardly thrilled to have survived, but
‘Eek.’
at the sight of their team leader, primed to explode like a live bomb at the slightest touch, they tiptoed out of the office.
"Haa..."
Go-eun, who'd vowed never to show personal emotions in front of her subordinates, finally let out a deep sigh once they were gone.
‘Where did it all go wrong?’
After the CEO tipped her off that division heads and team leaders resented her project, Go-eun had made countless efforts to win them over.
One-on-one meetings, persuasions, even hosting roundtables to hear their views and incorporate them into the report.
But today's CEO feedback was unchanged. More precisely, the division heads and team leaders hadn't budged. This was the third rejection.
Crunch.
She wanted to hurl the report in their faces, but instead gripped her pencil like she might snap it.
The first two rejections bruised her pride. She blamed her own shortcomings for failing to convince the company.
But after this third one, she wondered if it was sabotage—unrelated to her skills. Someone trying to undermine her.
‘Because I'm a woman? Or too young?’
Go-eun's promotions had been meteoric compared to peers or seniors. Yet she'd never doubted them. They were earned purely on merit, not luck, connections, or backroom deals.
‘I even turned down double the salary.’
The jaw-dropping offer from a foreign firm. She'd rejected it outright out of loyalty to the company.
Despite warnings that it was a tough gig, she'd taken the Organizational Innovation TF because she believed she could steer the company right.
Now that confidence was crumbling.
‘The vice president?’
His overt stares had always bugged her, but she'd ignored them. Until recently, when she'd visited his office for project clarifications.
—Oops, Team Leader Choi, something on your skirt there. Clumsy, huh? Heh heh...
The vice president casually placing his hand on her skirt as she reported. The creepy sensation like a bug crawling up her thigh.
Slap.
—If there's a stain, I'll clean it later. No problem.
She'd swatted his filthy hand away firmly.
‘Because of that?’
It wasn't just the VP harboring a grudge. She couldn't pinpoint when, but the roundtables had felt off—disapproving looks aimed her way.
Why the sudden animosity? Go-eun couldn't fathom it.
Lewd stares at her youth, single status, and figure. Sexual harassment. Seniors stealing credit. She'd overcome every obstacle with stellar results.
So she'd never dwelled on reputation or relationships. No need. In the office, results proved everything, right?
‘Clear, solid results right here, and they reject it just because they don't like me?’
The company needed change, the solution was in this report, yet managers offered no alternatives—just vented personal gripes.
Go-eun, who'd always bulldozed through with competence, puzzled late into the night but found no answer to this unfamiliar barrier.
"Deputy Lee, the office vibe's been straight-up murderous lately, right? Ugh..."
Deputy Manager Kwon Yong-chan, who never lost his sly grin, was on eggshells around Go-eun's rock-bottom mood too.
"Whew... yeah. What's the deal, exactly?"
Hyunwoo took a deep drag from his cigarette, aware of Go-eun's plight but playing dumb.
"Bottom line, it's not the project itself. Means no fault in the team who made the report, haha... Just something's got the higher-ups pissed at our team leader."
"Really? Weren't they the ones who special-promoted her to bring her on board and back her?"
"You'd think. Tsk tsk... She's so proud, doubt she'll bend. Worried she'll snap instead."
Go-eun worried Kwon, but wrapping the project for a Seoul posting? That was priority.
"Eh, she'll figure it out. Company's top talent, after all."
"Whew... yeah, what can we do? Gotta trust her."
Finishing their quick smoke, the two headed back.
‘Time to take the mound as relief pitcher?’
Hyunwoo's sown [Smear Campaign] was squeezing Go-eun. She hadn't vented out of pride, but after repeated rejections, he approached her scowling face.
"Team Leader."
"Yes, Hyunwoo? Speak."
Go-eun didn't even look up from her papers at his call. The casual "-ssi" still grated, sans title, but for bedding her, he could swallow his pride.
"Heard you're hitting walls with the recent project reports."
Whoosh.
Her head snapped up—had he poked her sore spot?
"That's not for you to worry about, Hyunwoo."
Her intense gaze and sharper tone said "buzz off" politely.
"That's why I'm offering. Mind if I brief the higher-ups myself?"
"Ha! What? You briefing them directly?"
Even she, the team leader, was on a losing streak—would some deputy manager change that? Her eyes screamed disdain: You?
"Worst case, no loss, right? Give me a shot."
"...Fine. Go for it."
Frazzled from endless rejections, Go-eun shoved the approval board at him—done even looking at it.
"Thanks."
Her struggles stemmed from the negative rep Hyunwoo's [Smear Campaign] had engineered. Meaning the report's content was flawless.
‘Know the cause, fix is simple.’
Grabbing the board, Hyunwoo headed straight to the division head's office.
Knock knock.
"Come in."
"Hello. Organizational Innovation TF Team Deputy Manager Yi Hyunwoo."
"Oh, right, Deputy Yi. What's up?"
"Here to report on the project."
"Ah, yeah? Have a seat."
Hyunwoo handed over the exact same report Go-eun had submitted—not a word different.
"Rewritten from scratch per the reexamination feedback."
"Got it. Let's see."
Flip flip.
The division head skimmed the dozens of pages.
"Hmm... yes. Excellent report, Deputy Yi."
"Haha, thank you, Division Head."
With Go-eun's rep tanked by [Smear Campaign], Hyunwoo's entry let him read it unbiased. And the content? Go-eun's blood, sweat, and tears made it perfect.
"This looks good—no issues. Well done, Deputy Yi."
"Yes, sir. I'll head out."
Click.
"Heh heh heh heh."
Same report: rejection for her, pass for him. Content didn't matter to the division head.
‘This fucking retarded organization.’
Explained Go-eun's zeal for reform. Incompetent bosses, inefficient processes.
‘Old dudes occupying seats without knowing if the report even changed... sigh...’
Hopeless company. But irrelevant to Hyunwoo. He visited each division head and team leader, pretending revisions while submitting the identical report—and got approvals.
"Good. Team Leader Choi, looks like internal alignments are set for this one. Great work."
Scribble.
The CEO signed briskly. Go-eun, who'd done nothing but delegate to Hyunwoo, stared inscrutably at the approved report as she left the office.
‘What the...?’
Click clack click clack.
To demand an explanation from Yi Hyunwoo right now, she quickened her pace.