Surviving Restructuring

Chapter 149. Sales, Sales, Sales (1)

Eun-Ho felt as though he had received far too much. His thoughts were so cluttered that he could barely sort through them.

This is the first time I’ve ever had a headache from receiving too many things, he mused, half-amused at the strange kind of good fortune.

As he exhaled, a series of system windows popped up.

Gifts, an evaluation grading, and an appreciation plaque?

He decided to start with the floating gift box. A soft rustle sounded as his fingertips brushed the red box. The golden ribbon untied itself, and the lid lifted as if presenting a Christmas gift.

Inside the box was a neat pair of cushioned sneakers.

[Shoes of Swiftness]

- Sneakers crafted from Wyvern leather, and dyed using pigments made from White Dewgrass and Black Dewgrass raised on fairy dew.

- Increases walking speed by ten percent, and flying speed by twenty percent.

The mobility boost seemed useful enough. Though, he was not so sure about the flight portion. Then, a short note surfaced in his mind.

“Your shoes looked worn out. It’s nothing fancy, just something we put together. Hope to see you again.”

My shoes were worn?

When Eun-Ho thought about it, they really were. He had been wearing the pair of shoes that Ji-Eun had brought him back at the MS Tower, so it wasn’t surprising.

Even so, I didn’t notice at all.

His sneakers had been filthy and the soles nearly rubbed flat, but he had never had the leisure to check something like that.

Either way, thanks.

He did wonder if the size was a bit big. However, the moment he set them on the ground and slipped his foot in, they tightened perfectly around him.

“... Huh?” he murmured.

“Whoa, they fit you exactly,” Ji-Woong commented.

“Right? They even go with your clothes,” the Swear-Master added.

When Eun-Ho looked down, they really did match. The black-and-white design fit so naturally with his white shirt and black slacks. It even seemed like something he could’ve worn back on Earth.

He had assumed the supervisor was a sharp, intimidating type, but apparently the man was more considerate than he looked. Eun-Ho made a mental note to thank him properly if they crossed paths again.

He turned to the others. “Did you all get shoes too?”

Each of them had a floating red gift box at eye height. The blond supervisor gave it, they said. When he asked whether they had the same contents, Dmitri shook his head.

“Gloves... No, it’s something called a Power Gauntlet,” Dmitri said.

The Russian then lifted a pair of thick, fingerless gloves made of deep green leather, studded with metal.

“A Power Gauntlet?” Eun-Ho asked. “Does it strengthen your hits?”

“It does,” Dmitri replied.

“And can you control your Strength?”

“... Looks like it,” Dmitri muttered after checking.

Despite their bulky, intimidating design, the gauntlets appeared surprisingly fitting on Dmitri’s large hands. Eun-Ho could almost imagine him punching monsters into the ground.

“They suit you well,” Eun-Ho said.

Dmitri seemed to think the same. A satisfied smile tugged at his lips as he adjusted the gloves.

Eun-Ho turned to the next person. “Ji-Woong, what about yours?”

Ji-Woong took out two transparent stickers, each slightly bigger than a five-hundred-won coin. Before Eun-Ho could ask, an item description floated up.

[Beginner Archer’s Mark(Attachable)]

- Increases hit rate by twenty percent when attacking the marked target using a bow or crossbow.

- However, entering a focused state reduces movement speed by twenty percent.

“Does it raise your accuracy?” Eun-Ho asked.

“Yeah! This is exactly what I needed,” Ji-Woong said excitedly.

The movement penalty was unfortunate, but Ji-Woong was still inexperienced, making it the best possible gift for him. In truth, Eun-Ho had barely seen him land any attacks until now.

“True. Landing a shot is the hardest part of archery,” Eun-Ho said.

“Oh, I think you’re supposed to stick these on your glasses,” Ji-Woong added. “Maybe he knew I wore glasses, so he gave me the attachable type?”

The mentor really had been thoughtful. That left only the Swear-Master.

“And you?” Eun-Ho asked.

He wondered what kind of gift the unexpectedly considerate supervisor had chosen for him. However, when the man opened his box, there was something none of them had expected.

“Huh? what is that?”

“Shit. Don’t even ask.” Swear-Master growled. “Why am I the only one getting something weird like this?”

“Wait...”

“Is that a megaphone?”

It was a bright red megaphone that seemed straight out of an old elementary school field day, or a retro community gathering.

“Huh?”

[Portable Megaphone]

- Allows the user to speak loudly and clearly.

- Increases volume by two hundred percent when activated.

“What the hell am I supposed to do with this?!” Swear-Master shouted.

Is it really for him to speak louder? Seriously? Eun-Ho wondered.

Before Swear-Master could say anything further, Ji-Woong snapped his fingers with a realization. “Oh! It’s so you can curse louder!”

The moment he said it, Swear-Master froze. “... What the hell?!”

His face twisted in his usual exaggerated outrage. If the megaphone amplified his voice, then his signature Insult skill would probably travel even farther. The item wasn’t entirely useless.

Eun-Ho was about to offer a sympathetic comment when someone failed to hold back a laugh.

“Are you laughing at me? Huh? You think it’s funny?” the Swear-Master barked.

He whipped his head around and glared straight at Ji-Woong.

“It wasn’t me! It was him!” Ji-Woong yelped, pointing quickly.

“... Damn it.” Swear-Master immediately backed down when he noticed Dmitri looking at the floor, shoulders shaking.

“... Well, it does have an effect on it, though,” Eun-Ho said. “Volume increased by two hundred percent.”

“And what the hell am I supposed to do with that?!”

“I’m sure it’ll come in handy somewhere. Calm down.”

“Yeah! Like a sports day? Or a field day?” Ji-Woong said lamely.

“... Why don’t we check our evaluation results first?” Eun-Ho cut in quickly, hoping to rescue Ji-Woong before the man exploded again. “All four of us got S-rank, so the rewards should be good.”

Ji-Woong’s face was still red from holding back laughter, so it was best to move on. Eun-Ho pulled up the reward list.

“Trial rewards,” he muttered.

[Checking your trial rewards!]

[You currently have fifteen available Points.]

He had earned seven Points during the Investigation Bureau’s OJT, then another three from helping stop the monster wave. Just now, he received five more from receiving an S-rank evaluation.

That’s a lot... Should I upgrade my summon Golem skill first, or should I upgrade the swordsman specific skills?

The options spread out before him like a menu. Then he looked at the final reward hovering at the edge of his vision, the golden plaque.

[Appreciation Plaque]

Field Audit Department Exemplary Audit Appreciation

_____ is hereby awarded this appreciation for outstanding observational ability and unwavering sense of justice, by which he eradicated organized corruption. Section Chief of the Field Audit Department (Seal)

“...Huh?”

Even at his actual workplace, Eun-Ho had never received an appreciation plaque. Yet here he was, getting one in some otherworldly place he barely understood. The blank line only added to the strangeness.

Why is that part empty? he wondered.

Then a memory echoed faintly:

“I’d like you to file the audit request under your name, sir.”

The supervisor had remembered what Eun-Ho said. He didn’t want his name on the submission, and the man had accepted that request while still trying to thank him.

I only said that so I wouldn’t stand out...

He didn’t want to flaunt anything before actually joining the bureau. Also, he didn’t want the Center Director to see him as a rival either.

[The Section Chief of the Field Audit Department salutes the nameless Champion of Justice.]

[With the appreciation plaque, thirty thousand Welfare Points have been granted.]

Nameless Champion of Justice?

That was one serious misunderstanding. Although, earning free Welfare Points while staying anonymous was exactly what Eun-Ho wanted. He knew a simple thank-you wouldn’t be enough for this.

“... I’ll have to buy him a meal or something,” he muttered. With that vague promise, he continued forward until they reached the split between the towers. “The north tower, right?”

Dmitri nodded. At the same time, the man extended his hand.

Clack.

Their handshake revealed fingers twisted from having broken and healed repeatedly. His palms were covered in thick calluses, some patches blotched from old chemical burns. These weren’t recent injuries. They were marks of harsh, specialized labor, predating the restructuring he had mentioned before.

“It was fun,” Dmitri said. His cool blue eyes held no particular emotion, but the words carried a quiet sincerity. “I hope we get to work together again.”

“Same here,” Eun-Ho replied.

It was blunt and brief, but definitely goodwill.

Hence why Eun-Ho finally brought up what he had been hesitating to say since yesterday. “About the medicine.”

“Medicine?” Dmitri asked.

“You shouldn’t use them too much.”

“What do you mean?”

When Dmitry was downing all those vials back in the snowfield, rubbing his head raw reading the researchers’ reports, and even when lowering his head laughing at the megaphone, Dmitir’s head grabbed Eun-Ho’s attention.

Eun-Ho pointed directly at the spot that had been catching his eye all along. “You’re thinning up here.”

Dmitri seemed embarrassed.

***

It was 9:00 AM and a new morning dawned, marking the start of their third OJT.

[Welcome to the Banquet Hall for Strangers!]

The hall appeared exactly the same as it had two days ago: a domed ceiling reminiscent of an observatory, a massive wall of stained glass, and sunlight filtering through the colored panes like scattered jewels.

“Did you get good sleep?”

“Ugh... Not really. I stayed up too late browsing the internal bulletin board.”

“Internal bulletin board? What’s that?”

“You don’t know? It’s basically...”

There was one notable difference with the place today. The survivors, who had once stood around tense and wary, were now gathered in small groups by the sunlit windows, chatting casually.

“The atmosphere feels a lot more relaxed now,” Ji-Eun remarked.

She was right. The faces gathered in the hall seemed far more at ease.

Dmitri, for example, was checking the top of his head in a handheld mirror that did not suit him at all. Perhaps it was because they had experienced one group trial together, or maybe they were slowly acclimating to this bizarre world.

Whatever the reason was, they were getting comfortable far too quickly.

“They’re probably relieved that nobody died right in front of them today. But...”

There were hardly any trials with failure penalties so far, but that didn’t guarantee the same for what was coming.

“Yes?”

“... Never mind,” Eun-Ho said, stopping himself.

He wasn’t tactless enough to spoil the peaceful mood.

“What department do you think we’ll get this time?” Ji-Eun asked.

“No idea.”

“Do you have a preference, Eun-Ho?” Ji-Eun asked.

So far, they had gone through the Investigation Bureau and the Audit Bureau. They had learned a bit about internal affairs and even built some connections, but they still lacked something essential: the business model. In other words he couldn’t see how this company actually survived.

“Sales or Corporate Relations,” he answered.

“Ah, that makes sense,” Ji-Eun said, nodding as though she had expected it.

“And you? Which department are you curious about?” he asked.

Ji-Eun stared at him for a moment before answering, “Oh, I’m—”

However, the announcement cut her off.

[For your third OJT experience, your assigned department is the Sales Department.]

The moment he’d been waiting for had arrived.

[There are a total of twenty-eight OJT departments.]

Twenty-eight departments? That means it’s another group project.

[Survivors from Sector 13 will be randomly placed into groups of three or four.]

It was just like the Audit Bureau trial.

Soon, twenty-eight doors slid open along the curved wall of the hall, making loud noises.

[1]

[2]

[3]

...

[28]

“Eun-Ho! You got twenty-five?!” Ji-Eun called out.

“Yeah. You too?”

“Finally! We’re in the same group!”

“Me too, Hyungnim! Noonim!” Jae-Hyuk shouted.

“... Twenty-five,” Wei murmured, already standing there.

Ji-Eun who was smiling, Jae-Hyuk, and the small, quiet Wei stood in front of the glowing door numbered twenty-five.

[This OJT will also last for two days, and an evaluation grade will be assigned at the end.]

It seemed like the project would be something similar to what they had gone through. Same duration, same structure, all seemed familiar right until the final announcement shattered that illusion.

[For this project, each team will compete based on sales performance. Higher rankings will provide benefits during department placement.]

[Prove your worth through results!]

“Sales competition? Don’t tell me we’re hunting monsters again,” someone groaned.

“Wait! If we don’t rank high enough, what department do we end up in?”

Confusion swept through the hall, the earlier calm completely overturned.

However, Eun-Ho simply said, “There’s nothing to worry about.”

“Huh?”

“We just have to produce results. Same as always.”

That reassurance spread quickly.

“Phew... Eun-Ho’s right,” Ji-Eun said. “Jae-Hyuk, Wei, let’s bring our weapons just in case.”

Jae-Hyuk wiped his palms despite his massive build. “O-okay... I’m kinda nervous now, Noonim.”

Meanwhile, little Wei quietly followed beside them.

Click.

Together, they stepped through the newly opened doorway.

[The third OJT will begin now!]

They had no idea what enemies or dangers awaited in the Sales Department.

Just then, the system message continued.

[Transferring to the Customer Satisfaction Center!]

What? The Customer Satisfaction Center?