The Main Characters That Only I Know

Chapter 63

“A promotion? Does that mean you’ll become an assistant manager right away?”

As if to answer my curiosity, messages popped up one after another.

[You have met the requirements to advance to assistant manager.]

[Amazing achievement! You have completed the long-term mission-assistant manager promotion in the shortest time!]

[You have received 5,000TP as a reward.]

[You need to attend a promotion ceremony to become an assistant manager.]

[Your rank will be fixed as assistant manager (provisional) until the promotion ceremony.]

[You will receive the benefits of assistant manager (provisional).]

At the same time, a light wrapped around my body lightly.

Hye-rim, who was surprised by the sudden event, widened her eyes, and Baekhyo, who was sitting on my shoulder, flapped his wings in shock.

[Your current rank is assistant manager (provisional).]

[Please visit the headquarters for further promotion.]

[The full reward for assistant manager promotion will be given later.]

I felt my excitement from the promotion cool down.

Hey, what’s this? 

They got my hopes up.

“Y-Yu-hyun. What’s going on?”

“It seems like I got promoted.”

“Really? Congratulations! So you’re an assistant manager now?”

“Yes. But it doesn’t seem like it’s official yet.”

To officially become an assistant manager, I had to go to the headquarters, Celestial Corporation, and attend a promotion ceremony. 

Only then would the system recognize my promotion and make me an assistant manager.

‘Come to think of it, I heard about the promotion ceremony before. I just remembered it now.’

The promotion ceremony was basically just hearing some congratulations. 

It wasn’t a difficult thing, but it was a bit disappointing that I couldn’t get promoted right away.

But at least I completed the mission and became an assistant manager (provisional).

‘Just by becoming an assistant manager (provisional), the stories that make up my body have increased.’

The vessel that could contain stories had grown. 

And the contents inside had also increased a little.

If I had to put it in words, it would be that my level had increased.

If being an assistant manager (provisional) was like this, then becoming an assistant manager would increase it even more. 

It was good news for me who fought directly.

“Do you have anything else to do right now?”

“I need to do something else to get fully promoted.”

“Then do you have to go back to the headquarters?”

“Well, I was planning to visit there again soon anyway.”

But even if I wanted to go to the headquarters and have a promotion ceremony right away, it wasn’t as easy as it sounded.

[Why?]

‘Because it doesn’t happen as soon as you want it.’

The promotion ceremony was like a periodic event.

Even if I did well and no one else did, I wouldn’t get promoted on the spot by myself. 

They would only give me the condition for promotion first, and then make me participate when the promotion ceremony was held regularly.

[What? So you mean you have to stay as an assistant manager (provisional) for now?]

‘Maybe it’s because I satisfied the condition too early.’

I’m not bragging, but I grew too fast.

It usually takes at least two years for a teller to go from regular employee to assistant manager. 

That’s the minimum time for those who get support from their department and grow fast.

But I did it all by myself in one month.

It was an unprecedented and incredible growth rate.

Of course, Celestial Corporation wouldn’t have prepared a promotion ceremony for me in advance.

‘The promotion ceremony usually happens every quarter. Sometimes they make an exception and hold it a month later. But the problem is that the promotion ceremony happened before my entrance ceremony.’

It hasn’t been a month since my entrance ceremony.

So even if the next promotion ceremony was held soon, I had to wait at least a few more days.

‘Now that I think about it, I was really fast.’

[…I know you joined recently, but you’re really not normal.]

‘Anyway, the point is that I can’t go to the headquarters and get promoted right away.’

And when I told Hye-rim this, she sighed in relief.

“Phew. Thank goodness. I thought you were going to leave suddenly like last time.”

“Why would I leave?”

“Well, you know. Like when a husband says ‘I’ll bring money home.’ and leaves the house and never comes back. And then the lonely woman lives alone in her room and waits for her husband to return.”

“What kind of plot from modern literature is that… And why am I your husband?”

“Oh, I don’t know.”

She covered her cheeks with embarrassment and patted my shoulder with one hand. 

I pressed her head with my hand because she was too annoying, and she screamed.

She must have flipped a switch again.

She seemed to be very happy and excited that I won the story battle.

We returned to the office.

I also told Baek Seryeon about this, and she clapped her hands with joy.

“Wow! Congratulations! You did that while I was away?”

She said that, but she seemed to have a grudge that we did something serious without her.

She smiled, but her eyes glared at me as if to say ‘How dare you do such a thing without telling me!’

I coughed and avoided her gaze.

“Ahem. Well, anyway, good things are good, right?”

“…At least you could have told me beforehand that something like this would happen. How do you think I felt when I heard that the teller and collector I signed a contract with went to the world of stories to earn points and came back after a story battle?”

“I’m sorry.”

“Hye-rim unnie too!”

“Yes. I’m sorry.”

“Hoo. You both seem to be reflecting, so I won’t nag you. Besides, you came back victorious, so what could be more fortunate than that?”

She said that, but Baek Seryeon’s mood looked good.

Her lips twitched as if she was desperately holding back a smile.

And her eyes were subtly expecting something.

Please ask me, they said. 

I couldn’t ignore them.

“Did something good happen to you?”

When I asked her that, she answered as if she had been waiting for it.

“Oh, yes! I wasn’t going to tell you! But since Yu-hyun said he was so curious and going crazy, I can’t help it!”

“No. I didn’t say I was curious and going crazy.”

“That’s the thing…”

She didn’t seem to care about what I said.

“Today, we finally got our salary calculated!”

Baek Seryeon showed us the calculation details on the monitor.

There were a lot of cash transactions recorded there.

Oh. 

Right, it’s that time already? 

I’ve been so busy lately that I didn’t notice.

“Ah, the calculation, you mean this?”

“Yes, that’s right. The amount of money Hye-rim unnie earned this month! It’s been properly transferred.”

“Let me see. You earned quite a lot, didn’t you?”

I thought she wouldn’t have made much since she was a beginner, but contrary to my expectations, the amount was pretty big. 

It was in the tens of millions of won. 

She made more money than I thought.

“Well, Hye-rim unnie earned a total of 63 million won. After deducting taxes and dividing it according to the calculation rate… This is how much you get. I already put it in your bank account, so check it out.”

“Gasp!”

Hye-rim gasped at the huge amount of money in her bank account.

For her, who had lived in poverty in a goshiwon until recently, it was the first time she saw such a fortune.

Her hand that checked her account trembled. 

She looked at me with a bewildered expression.

“Y-Yu-hyun, what do I do? I’m totally rich.”

“I envy your modesty for calling yourself rich with tens of millions of won.”

Well, I can’t say I don’t understand her situation. 

She used to eat meals that cost less than 2,000 won each. 

It was a lot of money for her to suddenly get.

“It’s probably because of the national reward money for clearing the world of stories.”

Most of the money calculated this time was from the reward money. 

The materials and items we obtained from the world of stories were not even sold yet. 

But according to Seryeon, that would also happen soon.

Baek Seryeon smiled brightly and said.

“Plus, there’s more good news. Hye-rim unnie has been so popular lately that there are requests for advertising, material supply, and interviews!”

The main income source for collectors was not only the items they got from the world of stories, but also advertising. 

Just look at the giant billboards outside. 

The famous high-ranking collectors were doing cosmetic ads.

I thought Hye-rim would get a good ad soon enough. 

Her personality aside, her appearance was perfect.

“Unnie. Do you see this? The contract amount for the ad I chose is a whopping 200 million won!”

“T-Two hundred million?!”

“Hehehe. With this money, we can not only pay off our office debt, but also add green tea to our Maxim coffee. We used to order coffee with tears in our eyes, but now we can order three boxes. And ramen too, we can eat various kinds! With pickled radish and kimchi! Of course, unless we make kimchi ourselves…”

“Seriously, how low are your ambitions?”

The best thing you can do with that money is order more coffee boxes. 

You could just buy a cafe if you wanted to later.

“And just buy kimchi from a side dish store.”

“That’s so bourgeois…”

“Right? Yu-hyun! No matter what, that’s too much!”

“I think your mental state is too much.”

As time passed, they both calmed down a bit. 

They looked embarrassed by their previous behavior, and their faces were red.

I summarized the situation.

“Anyway, it’s clear that we’re in a good situation.”

My promotion and Hye-rim’s calculated money.

It was full of prosperity for Baekhwa Management in many ways.

And it wasn’t just for now. 

Rather, the money we earned this time was laughable compared to what we would earn later. 

I guarantee it.

“But there are still a lot of things to deal with. We need to adjust the interview schedule and decide on the concept of the ad we’re going to shoot. And we still need more time to sell the by-products we got from the world of stories.”

“So basically, we’re going to be busier from now on.”

“That’s right.”

“Hmm. Seryeon will have a hard time too.”

“Yes. Well, I don’t mind that. But Hye-rim unnie will also need to meet with the company people soon.”

The more popular you get, the more work you get and inevitably become busier.

I wish I could just ignore that and focus on stories, but unlike me, Hye-rim was living in reality.

She had to maintain her pace in stories and spend the rest of her time dealing with the work in reality.

“Then let’s move now that we’re talking about it. Seryeon. Do you have time now?”

“Huh? Oh, yes. I do, but why?”

“Let’s go on a date.”

“What?!”

Not only Seryeon, but also Hye-rim, who was sitting quietly next to me, reacted strongly.