Chapter 21:
Chapter 21
“Manager?”
“Yes.”
I nodded in response to Kang Hye-rim, who asked me hesitantly.
For a collector, the role of a manager usually means a teller.
That’s true.
I’m also something like Kang Hye-rim’s manager.
But a manager who handles things outside of this summer is different.
“I’m not going to take care of everything for you, Hye-rim. I’m barely able to manage my own library. You need to leave the matters of this world to the experts here.”
“What?! No way! You know how to do everything!”
“How do you see me?”
“Hmm. A jack-of-all-trades who knows everything and can do anything?”
“I’m not such a versatile entertainer. I just do what I can.”
Still, I was grateful that Kang Hye-rim appreciated me quite well.
No, rather, it seemed that she had some expectations for me.
“Anyway, you need a manager to work as a collector in this world.”
To be precise, she needed a management company to join.
“Do you like clans?”
“Clans are not good.”
Famous collectors are like celebrities.
Just as celebrities join agencies, collectors also join managements or clans.
A management is a small-scale operation that works with a few people.
On the contrary, a clan is a place that operates on a large scale with the support of giant corporations.
Kang Hye-rim suggested the latter possibility to me.
“Why?”
“Clans are usually large. They don’t even get the name clan unless they are big enough. Naturally, there are many collectors and tellers in there.”
And most of the tellers are no different from my superiors.
If Kang Hye-rim joins any clan, I will also have to face the tellers who have contracts with that clan.
“Whether you like it or not, you will clash with them. They will use their authority as seniors in this field to try to exploit us. You will be caught up in internal politics.”
“Oh… That sounds pretty bad.”
“Of course, there may be some benefits to joining a giant clan.”
A giant clan here is like joining a specific department in Celestial Corporation.
There would be benefits, but in my case, I lost too much compared to those benefits.
“The story that you and I show should be ours alone. No one should interfere with it.”
That’s why we need a small-scale management.
Of course, there is also a possibility that they will intervene in this side, but that can be solved by contract.
The important thing is that Kang Hye-rim needs a manager who can support her in reality.
“You won’t stay in this cramped room forever, right? I don’t earn you a lot of points or money. You need to find a manager who can fill that gap. Then you can live more confidently than now.”
“Yes. You’re right, Yu-hyun.”
Kang Hye-rim’s eyes became serious when the money issue came up.
I chuckled and said.
“You’re finally paying attention.”
“N-no, I’m not.”
“That’s enough. Anyway, you need to find a management that can help you in every way possible. Let’s focus on that.”
“Do you have any place in mind?”
“Well…”
I trailed off.
I had some places in mind, but I wasn’t sure if they actually existed at this time.
But the probability was high, so it was worth trying.
That was when it happened.
“…!”
I stiffened my expression at the strange wave I felt from afar.
“Yu-hyun? What’s wrong?”
“It’s nothing. I have something to see, so I’ll be back soon.”
“What?”
“I’ll be back soon, so don’t worry.”
I immediately moved to another place using [Genesis’ Blessing].
***
The place where Kang Yu-hyun appeared was not far from the goshiwon in midair.
The dizzying sky where skyscrapers spread below.
There he faced the one who called him from afar.
“Who are you?”
The other person was a middle-aged man with a long beard and a shabby appearance.
He didn’t answer, but just stroked his long mustache.
His eyes looking at Kang Yu-hyun seemed somewhat displeased.
“Don’t you ask who I am.”
“What a rude guy.”
He said bluntly.
Yu-hyun’s eyebrows twitched.
He didn’t care about Yu-hyun’s reaction and just said what he wanted.
“Tsk tsk. I wonder what Mr. Agael saw in this guy and told me to call him personally.”
“…”
“Well, anyway, it’s good that you came when I called. You must be the new employee who joined this time, right? I came here to give you the honor of joining our Pentagram department.”
The one-sided words of the other person made Kang Yu-hyun’s forehead wrinkle as much as it could.
He called me without asking, and he didn’t even answer my question, but he just said what he wanted.
Kang Yu-hyun tried to calm his feelings and asked quietly.
“I’ll ask you one last time. Who are you?”
“Me? I’m Jinhong, a member of the Pentagram department. Your senior, that is.”
“…So, what do you want from me, Jinhong senior?”
As Yu-hyun asked him back, Jinhong’s eyebrows shot up to the sky.
He didn’t hide his emotions and yelled at him.
“How dare you! How did you hear what your senior said!”
“I’m sorry, but my ears are not very good. Could you explain it to me again?”
“Tsk. You’re so arrogant for someone who just got a shape and doesn’t even have a name.”
“I’m sorry, but I have a name. It’s Kang Yu-hyun.”
As Yu-hyun said that bluntly, Jinhong’s pupils dilated for a moment.
‘He already has a name?’
Jinhong wondered if Yu-hyun was lying.
But he knew that tellers don’t lie about their names, so he dismissed that thought.
‘Could it be true that he has a name?’
Usually, tellers get their names after their shapes are fully developed.
On average, it took three weeks after the first step mission.
I saw a flash of jealousy in Jinpoong’s eyes.
He couldn’t accept the fact that Yu-hyun had done in one go what had taken him more than three weeks.
“Ahem. I don’t care what your name is. You just have to do as I say and follow my orders when I call you. You talk too much for no reason.”
“…”
Yu-hyun narrowed his eyes. Jinpoong didn’t even bother to listen to his opinions or words.
His purpose was nothing but a one-sided notification.
“You are just going to join our Pentagram department quietly…”
“No, thank you.”
“What?!”
Jinpoong was rather taken aback by Yu-hyun’s blunt answer.
He felt offended by Yu-hyun’s rejection of his offer.
“What did you just say?”
“I said I don’t want to join. Do you need me to repeat it for you?”
“How dare you!”
“You are the one who dares too much.”
“Hey, hey! Do you know who you are talking to…!”
“Who else? A teller who relies on his petty authority and position and acts bossy.”
Yu-hyun’s cold words made Jinpoong flinch.
He didn’t even use the honorifics anymore.
Jinpoong tried to figure out where Yu-hyun’s confidence came from.
‘What is it? What does he have to back him up? I heard he doesn’t belong to any department. Could it be, in the meantime…?’
But, what Jinpoong was worried about didn’t even happen.
Yu-hyun could see through his thoughts and snorted.
“Are you worried that I might have joined another department? Maybe you are afraid that if you mess with the wrong department, you will get in trouble?”
“What, what are you talking about…”
“Well, if you must know, don’t worry. I don’t belong to any department right now.”
He didn’t belong to any department?
As soon as he heard that, Jinpoong felt his anger rising to his head.
He thought Yu-hyun was mocking him.
“This brat dares to…!”
“If you want to be respected as a senior, act like one.”
“…!”
Jinpoong’s face turned red.
Yu-hyun couldn’t stand his patheticness.
“Senior? Sure. You are technically my senior by year. But, what about it? You are still a ‘staff’ who couldn’t even get promoted to deputy after all these years. Do you think you have the right to claim seniority?”
“…!”
For the first time, Jinpoong’s expression showed confusion along with anger.
“H-how did you know…?”
“Why? Did you think I wouldn’t know, Jinpoong staff? That’s funny. You are talking about seniority among the same rank. I thought our Celestial Corporation only distinguishes seniors and juniors by ‘position’.” 𝑓𝘳ℯℯ𝔀ℯ𝓫𝑛𝑜𝓋𝑒𝓵.𝘤𝘰𝓶
Celestial Corporation was a place where only results mattered.
Even if they competed and fought, they would treat them well if they proved their abilities and achieved results.
And the only proof of excellence was their position.
No matter how long Jinpoong had worked as a teller in the Story room, he was still a staff who couldn’t get promoted to deputy.
He was essentially the same rank as Yu-hyun, a regular staff.
Jinpoong’s eyes rolled frantically.
‘How did he know that…?’
Yu-hyun was a new teller who had just started working.
And usually, tellers at this stage were not familiar with the rules of the head office and were afraid of other tellers of the same rank.
Jinpoong tried to use that part to intimidate Yu-hyun and force him into his department.
If only his attempt hadn’t failed from the start.
“Do you find it strange that I know this?”
Yu-hyun gave him a sarcastic smile.
“Yeah. You must have looked down on me. Sure, I heard some rumors that I’m a genius, that I have a shape and a name from the start, but I’m still a newbie. You probably thought I would crawl in if you just said something.”
“You… do you know which department I belong to?”
“Now you are borrowing the prestige of your department behind your back? How pathetic. No wonder you can’t get rid of your staff badge at your age.”
“You bastard!”
Even Yu-hyun, who always tried to get along with everyone, didn’t always treat others with a smile.
Especially when there were people like Jinpoong who tried to force him.
‘I have to crush them.’
Especially those kinds of people, if they saw him groveling, they would get cocky and come at him more.
To stop that, he had to stomp on them so hard that they couldn’t make a sound.
“Jinpoong. Go and tell them. I will never join your department. And tell the teller who gave you this job too. If they want to take me, either bring a teller with some eyes or come in person.”
Yu-hyun had expected this to happen.
As soon as his library grew rapidly and his name spread among the spirits, the other tellers would have noticed.
Not just someone like Jinpoong who was blind and relied on his position, but they would have realized how formidable Yu-hyun’s growth was.
And they would try to recruit him to their department somehow.
“Are you not going to regret what you said?”
Jinpoong clenched his teeth and asked Yu-hyun with a subtle tone.
He implied that if he made an enemy of his department, which was in charge of one of the pillars of the Story room, his life in the Story room would be difficult.
Yu-hyun laughed at his pathetic threat.
“There is a saying on this planet. Do you think I can’t make a sauce because I’m afraid of worms? Don’t worry. I don’t even need to look at your department to know your level, since you have someone like you who stays as a staff forever.”
“You, you…!”
Jinpoong had been a staff for a long time, and he didn’t want to admit it.
That’s why he hung on to his department’s prestige rather than his own ability.
He thought his department’s power was his own power, and acted as if he was something.
Yu-hyun pointed out his weakness and stomped on it.
“Get out of here if you heard me.”
Jinpoong couldn’t say anything back with his face flushed.
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