chapter 1
1 – 1. Chaebol? (1)
“Director Seo?”
“….”
“Director Seo Woojin? Are you okay?”
Oh, darn.
So, she was calling me.
“Ah. Yes.”
Our eyes met.
Her features were sharply defined, as if she wore makeup but didn’t.
A face so beautiful that one could mistake her for a celebrity.
I tried to align my gaze with her face, but my naturally ominous eyes couldn’t escape notice.
But seriously?
Her body defied any human standards.
A sky-blue blouse and a beige high-waisted skirt.
The skirt clung tightly to her well-formed hips, complemented by the blouse.
Her figure surpassed common sense.
Thin, you say?
No.
In all the places where curves should be, and in the right proportions, she confidently looked down at me.
Well then.
I should stop here.
At this moment, it was a situation where I couldn’t keep watching because of the social status I held.
I quickly refocused my eyes as I thought.
It all started in just 0.87 seconds.
But that was hardly enough time to deceive a woman’s sharp observation.
But well, I wasn’t really worried.
She wouldn’t say a word.
Because I was in an overwhelmingly superior position.
As expected, she didn’t care at all and opened her mouth with a bright smile.
“May I tell you about today’s schedule?”
The reason she wanted to tell me the schedule was very simple.
The beautiful woman in front of me is Kim Chaeyoon.
She is none other than my “secretary.”
But a schedule?
How did a schedule come up in this situation?
Well, regardless of the situation, I wouldn’t understand a thing even if I listened to the schedule.
I responded as politely as possible.
“I don’t want to listen right now, so please tell me when I call for it later.”
“Understood. Then I will prepare for the morning meeting.”
“Cancel it.”
Kim Chaeyoon’s secretary’s eyes widened with concern.
“What? All the team leaders are waiting?”
“He said to go back. He’s canceling all the morning schedules.”
“Mr. Head Director, are you feeling unwell by any chance?”
Hmm.
Did I make a gesture touching my forehead when I spoke last?
The way she worries is no joke.
I can’t tell if Secretary Kim is genuinely worried, but just that concerned expression alone seems to heal even the nonexistent wounds.
I want to keep staring absentmindedly at Secretary Kim’s face, but now doesn’t seem like the right time.
“I need to sort out my thoughts. If there’s anything to report to the team leaders, tell them to do it via email.”
Secretary Kim, who was looking at my face with concern, soon nodded.
“I will relay that. Then, I’ll prepare the coffee as usual.”
Chaeyoon Kim swiftly turned around.
I don’t know.
Maybe her figure is so graceful that each movement looks like a beautiful stroke.
But aside from that, her figure.
Ah.
…Huh?
Now is not the time to be absent-minded.
I need to look at that properly.
[[[System stabilization in progress]]]
[[[Information update in progress]]]
[[[Character activation in progress]]]
Meaningless messages flickered above the left eye.
The three messages appeared and disappeared alternately.
“Sigh… What’s going on?”
I muttered to myself, but there was no one to answer.
In fact, the situation was quite simple.
I had entered the game world.
And not just any game world, but an adult game world.
The adult game was titled ‘Becoming a Handsome New Employee.’
It was a Korean adult game, and despite its childish title, the graphics were so realistic that it had become a sacred place for adult game enthusiasts.
And I was in one of them.
Hmm.
Anyway.
To briefly explain the game, the protagonist is a new employee who joins a major company at the age of 27, and the main content of the game is to flirt with the heroines that come across in daily life.
There were occasional scenes of work, but since it was an adult game, it didn’t hold much significance, and even if the protagonist struggled at work, it didn’t have a big impact on the game.
So, it was a typical adult game where you just had to flirt with women diligently.
Come to think of it, what was the clearing condition again?
Wasn’t it something like the protagonist having to spend a night with at least 30 women to aim for the ending?
It seemed to be written in the game manual.
What’s peculiar is that it’s famous for having many heroines, and it’s noted that in order to clear the heroines in the game, you have to play at least 7 times.
It’s fun to search for numerous heroines one by one, as in any adult game, but the fact that you have to play 7 times is a sign of just how ridiculously many heroines there are.
“But… me?
Of all people?
Why?
How did I, not even the protagonist but an extra, and a third-generation chaebol with little significance in the game, end up here? I just can’t understand it, no matter how much I think about it.
What did I do wrong?
Anything at all?
I just liked the realistic art and bought the adult game, that’s all.
“It’s really unfair…”
I recalled my last memory.
There were rumors about its high-quality graphics, almost like real-life, and the massive file size.
The file size was indeed massive, so after clicking download, I lay down on the bed.
That was it.
I blinked for a moment while lying down, and this is how I ended up in this state.
Not even through illegal download.
Seriously.
“Why did I become an extra if I didn’t want to become the protagonist in the first place!”
Sigh.
To be the protagonist…
I pondered for a moment, then pressed the speed dial on my desk phone.
“Secretary Kim, please bring in some coffee.”
– Yes, Director.
“And also, bring in the resumes of the new employees we hired through the open recruitment.”
Since things turned out this way, I felt like I should take a look at the new recruits.
# # #
Knock, knock, knock.
“Come in.”
Secretary Kim entered with the coffee and a thick stack of resumes.
“Here you go.”
“Thank you.”
After she left, I started flipping through the resumes.
Is it because it’s a large company?
There were so many new hires.
The aroma of the coffee teased my nose, but finding out about this guy was more urgent.
“Is it really here?”
This guy.
This guy is the protagonist.
I thought it would take a long time to find him, but surprisingly, it was easy.
Fortunately, there was only one new employee who joined the Seohwa Group Marketing Team 2.
It was a good idea to take a look at the protagonist character description.
Hmm.
His name is Baek Seong-hoon.
Moreover, looking at the photo on the resume, I could be sure.
“Wow, seriously, this is the protagonist’s face.”
In the original game, the face doesn’t appear.
It’s to make the player feel like they are the protagonist.
Just like you can set the name.
With a face like this, girls will definitely flock.
A jaw-droppingly perfect handsome face, beyond description.
Now I understand why heroines act cute in front of the protagonist.
A fraudulent appearance.
A newly hired employee who passed the big company’s open recruitment.
Gorgeous credentials.
Well, there’s nothing f*cking lacking.
I envy him.
I might have transmigrated into the third generation of a chaebol, but I couldn’t do anything about my face being handsome.
I glanced at the mirror for a moment.
It was decent enough.
But when I looked at the protagonist’s picture.
Sigh.
I quickly turned into a squid.
This is a real scam.
You scammer.
You used the parents’ DNA for a scam.
No.
The person who created the game scammed me.
“By the way, what should I do here?”
I roughly knew who Seo Woo Jin was as a character.
He wasn’t always the antagonist against the protagonist.
When a certain heroine appeared, that’s when the conflict began, and in the end, the heroine chose the protagonist and Seo Woo Jin played the role of an extra who sucked his fingers and exited as the episode ended.
So it’s about the face rather than the chaebol?
What’s funny is that this third-generation chaebol guy got his girl stolen, but he doesn’t seek revenge.
It’s probably because it’s a game and the protagonist gets the better end, right?
“But wait…”
Now that I think about it, this is no longer just a game for me.
It’s breathing, touching, and feeling real.
Well, then.
Hmm.
…So that’s what they say?
I guess I’ll have to use my chance, Kim Chaewon.
“Secretary Kim.”
– Yes, sir. Vice President.
“Tell Director Park Youngwoo to come in immediately.”
– Understood.
Kim Chaewon hangs up the phone as if it were obvious.
In reality, I’m not even an executive, so it doesn’t make sense to call for a vice president.
But I’m a third-generation chaebol.
I can easily trample on such a position.
A moment later,
Knock, knock, knock.
“Yes.”
“Vice President Park Youngwoo has arrived.”
“Ask him to come in.”
Soon, a man in his fifties entered.
He was short, but his intense eyes were impressive.
He bowed his head and greeted respectfully.
“Good day, Director Seo.”
“Hello, Vice President Park. Please, take a seat.”
Vice President Park Youngwoo.
He was an executive in the Group Headquarters’ HR team.
Though it was my first time seeing him in reality, having inherited fragments of Seo Woojin’s memories upon possession, I could roughly discern who Vice President Park Youngwoo was.
As soon as we sat down, he began speaking.
“What’s the matter? I heard you canceled the morning meeting.”
“I have something to consider.”
“Did you call me in for that reason?”
“That’s right.”
I placed several resumes in front of Vice President Park.
To be precise, they were not just resumes—they were a collection of resumes.
It wasn’t only the protagonist’s resume but also resumes of several individuals from different departments that I placed before him.
Vice President Park Youngwoo’s expression subtly changed.
“Aren’t these resumes for the upcoming new hires?”
“Yes, they are. It seems quite a few employees with impressive credentials were selected this time.”
“We aimed high for next year’s goals and selected suitable candidates from there. As the potential domestic market is rising to the surface, now is the opportune moment to implement the long-term plans the Group has been preparing for.”
I cut him off mid-sentence.
“Vice President Park.”
“Yes?”
“I understand what you’re saying, but I have a slightly different perspective.”
“What do you mean?”
“In my judgment, now is the time to explore new international markets rather than focusing on the domestic market.”
Manager Park chuckled.
I smiled and continued.
“For that reason, I’m considering assigning some of the new recruits we hired this time to overseas positions. As branch heads.”
“…Excuse me?”
Manager Park’s voice trembled with confusion, but my intention was firm.
I was going to send them. Abroad.
Those protagonists of his.