Chapter 22: Asked for a Quest, Got a Class Change Instead?
“Can't you wait for it?”
“I can wait, but I wanted to get this month's performance bonus all at once.”
“Alright, alright. I'll talk to the president and pull it forward as a special bonus. Roughly how much? This case's existing bond recovery incentive is...”
“Originally out of a hundred eighty million, the company saw twenty million, so calculating the full recovery excess, it's eight million.”
The manager ran the numbers in his head and nodded.
“Eight million? Fine. Eight million—no, I'll ask the CEO for eight point five million in advance as a special reward.”
“Eight point five million?”
“What, you don't like it?”
“No, sir. Thank you.”
“But the original bond's basic incentive will be treated as prepaid with that. The four new cases you bought will be settled separately as special performance once the actual recovery is done.”
Small gasps of admiration rose from around the office. Talk of eight million or eight point five million coming out right in front of everyone meant it couldn't stay quiet. And that was only part of the incentive.
I looked at Bae Jin-su beside me, who wore an expression like he'd bitten into shit.
“Thanks.”
“For what?”
“I made money taking over your work again this time. When the incentive comes out, I'll treat you.”
“No, fuck...”
Bae Jin-su was about to curse but checked the manager's expression. The manager was already organizing what to report to the president on his phone and paid Bae Jin-su no attention at all. Bae Jin-su clenched his teeth once and returned to his seat.
The manager looked at me and asked,
“Come to think of it, Kim Ju-hyuk. Your performance bonus this month is going to be sweet, huh? How much?”
“Yes, well. Roughly around twenty million, I think.”
“Twenty million?!”
Openly surprised voices rose from the surroundings.
“Whoa, damn. When did Deputy Kim get like that?”
“I'd be happy with just a quarter of that.”
“The drone case special performance was nine million, right? Adding the small stuff, yeah, really twenty million.”
The office filled with envious gazes and murmurs from the company people. I pretended to be nonchalant, but I felt good.
Actually, asking for the eight point five million in advance wasn't because I needed the money right away. It would have been fine to receive it later. I just wanted to feel the sensation of a large sum entering my account all at once. The two hundred million from coins I earned yesterday somehow didn't feel real. Besides, I still didn't even know how to cash that out. Should I look for some broker online or something?
Until just a little while ago, my salary left almost nothing after card payments and rent. But now I was receiving twenty million in monthly performance bonuses. And that was only counting the money the company gave, legally obtained.
The manager crossed his arms and looked at me with a pleased face, the expression of someone proud of a subordinate he had raised himself.
“Kim Ju-hyuk.”
“Yes.”
“From now on, if I entrust you with harder things, are you confident you can handle them?”
The words I had been waiting for.
“Of course.”
When I answered without hesitation, the manager stood up from his seat and slapped my back hard.
Slap!
“Good. I knew you'd turn out like this.”
The manager looked around the office and raised his voice.
“Dinner party tonight! To celebrate Deputy Kim's performance too, it's on me.”
“Whoa, whoa...”
Ah, a dinner party, though. Along with the half-hearted cheers of the office people, resentful gazes stabbed into me. Why me? Normally they liked eating meat to their heart's content.
The dinner was pork belly, and I ate my fill. These days, buying pork belly outside was too expensive. You had to eat it when you could get it free—on company money. No matter if it was two hundred million in coins or receiving ten million a month, I still had a commoner's mindset. I spent freely when booking tables at clubs to pick up women. But I skimped unnecessarily on what I ate myself. Saying it like this, I really was crazy about women.
“Kim Ju-hyuk.”
Normally no one went for a second round, so everyone was leaving the pork belly place and parting ways, but the manager called me from one side. The manager silently gestured with his head and started walking. I followed. I felt someone's gaze from behind. Probably Bae Jin-su.
After walking for about three or five minutes, a car was parked in the alley. This was the manager's car. Had he called a driver?
“Get in.”
When the manager opened the back seat door and said that, I was thinking whether I should sit in front.
“Sit in the back.”
So I got into the back seat following the manager. Once inside, a man was sitting in the driver's seat. His face—I'd seen it a few times? Not a company employee. He was a figure who contributed to the rumor that the manager used to be a gangster. I'd seen him with the manager when he went home after dinners or somewhere. And as the words about causing gangster rumors suggested, his face and build were a bit... fierce. Broad shoulders and a thick neck. Even from the gaze that met mine right next to him, I could tell he wasn't the type you'd easily see on the street.
“Mun Gwang-cheol.”
“Kim Ju-hyuk.”
I greeted him too.
“Gwang-cheol isn't an employee of our company.”
The manager said from beside me.
“He's a little brother I get help from sometimes when I handle outside work.”
Outside work? The manager didn't seem inclined to explain further. Mun Gwang-cheol also kept his mouth shut.
“Let's go.”
“Yes, hyung-nim.”
Mun Gwang-cheol moved the car. Hyung-nim. There were a few people in the company who called the manager hyung-nim. Mostly long-time business partners. But Mun Gwang-cheol calling the manager hyung-nim felt a little different. It didn't seem like a title just because he was older. Was he a real gangster?
The car exited the alley. I didn't ask where we were going. Surely he wouldn't take me to his house. The car passed through a street full of neon signs for a while, then entered the underground parking of some building. I didn't see what building it was because I was thinking of something else. We got out of the car without a word and took the elevator. When I was about to press the button, Mun Gwang-cheol stepped forward first. The form of walking side by side with the manager, with Mun Gwang-cheol in front. The elevator stopped at the second floor; it was a small building that only went up to the second floor to begin with.
When the door opened, a man in a suit was standing there.
“Manager. You've arrived.”
“Yeah.”
The man also bowed his head to Mun Gwang-cheol. In my view, Mun Gwang-cheol nodded faintly. Real gangsters? I wasn't scared. They wouldn't just stab me with a knife out of the blue. Even if a problem arose, I could control two people with hypnosis. After gaining hypnosis, my confidence and guts had grown. But whether the manager was a former gangster or whatever, the question was why he brought me.
Unusually, there was only one door on the second floor. I didn't know if it was a shop or what, but it seemed to use the entire second floor. The man standing in front of the elevator opened the door and bowed his head. We entered through the open door. As we went inside, a man with his hair slicked back saw us and hurriedly approached.
“Manager. You should have at least contacted us that you were coming.”
“It's fine.”
“It's a good thing I left the inner room empty just in case.”
After finishing his greeting to the manager, the man looked toward Mun Gwang-cheol and said,
“Shall I also inform the boss that Hyung-nim Gwang-cheol has come?”
“It's fine. We'll just stay quietly and leave.”
I thought he'd brought me to a gangster hideout, but looking now, it seemed like a bar? There were rooms on both sides, and as we walked down that hallway, a woman wearing the kind of dress commonly called a hall dress walked with the click-clack of high heels and ran into us.
“Oh my. Manager oppa. Call me.”
Ah. Was it a room salon? Glancing at the manager's face as he received the greeting, he just smirked looking at the woman. Did he bring me to drink with women? Looking at the woman's appearance, I was looking forward to it. But from how people were acting, it didn't seem like just a regular customer. Like the gangsters managing entertainment establishments you see in movies or something?
We were guided to the inner room. Even glancing from outside, it looked a bit larger than the other rooms. A large sofa and a low table. It was exactly the appearance I had imagined. The manager sat in the inner seat and said,
“Send the girls in a little later.”
The man called Manager Jang made a surprised expression.
“You want to talk first?”
“Yeah. Bring the drinks first.”
“I'll prepare the usual.”
After Manager Jang glanced at me and left, Mun Gwang-cheol and I sat facing each other, and the manager sat in the seat of honor. Soon drinks and snacks came in. The manager poured alcohol into my glass.
“Have a glass.”
I received the glass and stretched out my hand to pour for the manager, but the manager waved his hand. The manager poured into his own glass himself and then,
“Gwang-cheol has to drive. Or should I call a substitute driver?”
“Please pour for me too. And if I've brought hyung-nim, I should take care of him.”
At Mun Gwang-cheol's words, the manager smiled with a satisfied face. ...But if he was going to drive in the first place, shouldn't he not drink? Why was he happy? Well, if the manager died from Mun Gwang-cheol's drunk driving, it would just be a little regrettable. I stayed silent without a word. We clinked glasses once and drank.
“Kim Ju-hyuk.”
“Yes, Manager.”
Finally the main topic?
“You, you know, were fucking terrible at work but your eyes were alive.”
Manager. If you're going to talk about the past, call the girls first? I only said it inwardly. If it were the office it might be fine, but if I snarked here, the drunk manager or Mun Gwang-cheol might throw a whiskey glass. This seemed like the manager's turf, so I should stay quiet a bit.
“In the old days you just barely did what you were told.”
The manager drank a bit more and then,
“These days I like you. Your eyes are full of ambition and greed. A guy should be like that.”
“I've been working hard lately.”
“You bastard.”
We shared glasses again.
“Ju-hyuk. To go deep and high in this work, you need guts and spirit. Yeah? Spirit is needed.”
The manager pointed to his own eyes as he spoke.
“It's not something you can do just by flipping through a few scraps of paper documents and handling a few pennies of money.”
“Yes, yes.”
“You bastard, a bit.”
The manager shook his head a few times and then,
“A guy like Bae Jin-su isn't bad as a company employee. Quick on the uptake, knows how to take care of himself moderately, and if he smells danger he backs out on his own. But a guy like that is only up to there.”
I didn't expect him to bring up Bae Jin-su, but from him saying such things, maybe he had never shared a seat like this with Bae Jin-su?
“What about me?”
“You, you know. Inside. There's a wolf inside your eyes. When you work you meet all sorts of people, right? Looking at those guys, you're the type ready to bite. That beast that wants to bite the napes of herbivores weaker than you who are imitating carnivores.”
...I didn't particularly think so. But since the manager seemed to be reading faces, I didn't argue. It was good talk so I should just listen.
“Kim Ju-hyuk. If you want to go higher. Not simply earning a few more pennies but properly, to go up in society, there's something you need to know.”
Then the manager pointed at Mun Gwang-cheol with his chin.
“The dark side.”
And looking at me,
“The bright side.”
And putting down his glass he said,
“If you only stay on the bright side you just end up handling laws or documents. That won't do. That's why I'm introducing Gwang-cheol to you today.”
I had no idea what he was trying to say. I pondered. The hypnosis repeat cooldown—precisely the cooldown without headache penalty—was stably two hours to two hours thirty minutes. Should I try putting them under hypnosis? I wouldn't properly build proficiency either so it was a waste, but since the drinking session wouldn't end soon, the hypnosis use time would come back anyway. I couldn't put only the manager under in this seat so I had to put Mun Gwang-cheol under too. It was good that I leveled up hypnosis and increased to two people.
Whistle—.
I put both under hypnosis. I felt the familiar sensation of hypnosis activating in my head. I was about to ask the reason right away but hesitated and then,
“There's no camera or recording or wiretapping in this room, right?”
“Yeah. None.”
Just in case.
“What's the real purpose of creating this seat today?”
“To see a bit more if you're a usable guy.”
Of course it was a good purpose.
“The reason for introducing Mun Gwang-cheol?”
“Because when you do work or run my errands in the future, you might need force.”
“Are you thinking of making me your man? Like Mun Gwang-cheol here?”
“Not yet.”
“Not yet?”
“I have to watch a bit more. If you're a properly usable guy. You're still lacking.”
No, I asked for some work—that is, quests in game terms—and that quest was a class change quest? I asked for some work and it seemed he intended to make me into something like a gangster underling?
“Manager, are you a gangster? No, what's the reason for gathering people like this now?”
Whether he was a gangster wasn't important. I asked the purpose.
“Because to enter Taechung again I need power.”
Taechung?
“Taechung as in Taechung Capital? That loan finance group?”
“Yeah. That's right.”
Was he originally from Taechung? Certainly our company received a considerable amount of bad debts from Taechung. So was this a case of parachuting down to a subcontractor or something from a large company?
“Surely our company isn't just a simple trading partner of Taechung but a subcontractor or subsidiary...”
Click.
The door opened in the middle of speaking. I reflexively cut off my words and released the hypnosis. Damn. There was more I wanted to ask.
“Oh my. Were you in the middle of a serious talk? I heard the manager came so I came to greet. The girls a bit later?”
The person who opened the door was a woman who looked about late thirties.
“Oh, oh? Is the time already that late? No. Send them in.”
The manager came to his senses and gestured to bring them. Ah, well. If I was really curious I could put him under hypnosis later and ask. The girls were important, what was Taechung.
And the women came in. Wearing short, body-hugging clothes. Women with good figures and pretty faces. Hmm. It was good I came. Yeah, what was Taechung.