Season 2: Chapter 41. The Prelude to a Counterattack (2)
Director XXX, who worked for a major corporation, was eventually laid off. Such stories were common in today's world. Staying in a large company for a long time wasn’t easy. Reaching the position of a director meant that person enjoyed many benefits up until then. This was the common reaction of those around him.
However, Director Park was different. He was someone who could have risen all the way to an executive position.
Sang-Hyeon only worked there for about five years, so he didn't fully understand the exact reasons. The atmosphere within the company suggested that Director Park was definitely on the path to becoming an executive.
"He eventually left, huh."
In the end, Director Park chose to resign.
— He wasn't fired despite all the issues that erupted at once because he worked there for over 20 years.
└ Violating personal information isn't enough for a director's dismissal, even for the company.
└ A violation of personal information isn't that big of a deal. All his negative reviews in the company, sexual harassment, and verbal abuse also came out.
Yes, it wasn't a dismissal but a resignation. That seemed to be the company's final act of mercy for his twenty years of service. Being fired as a disciplinary measure would have ruined his chances for future employment.
Distorting Sang-Hyeon's personal information really wasn’t a major issue. Whether it was the disability quota or using connections, both paths were thorny in their own ways. This was just a highly noticed incident.
The problem was the outpouring of his misdeeds that emerged amid this attention. Even from a third-person perspective, Director Park wasn't a very good person. He had simply been bearable, the type who would strangle people and never cross the line.
However, he crossed the line this time. Who they used to pass off as a somewhat annoying director became associated with workplace sexual harassment, violence, verbal abuse, misconduct, etc. Well, it would be more accurate to say this accurately defined him.
— Honestly, what Director Park did was sexual harassment, verbal abuse, and assault, lol.
└ True
└ It was so sudden for all these issues to come up, but this guy was such a jerk! He’s better off gone.
— KARMAAAA! Stupid jerk.
— That guy was always throwing documents at faces. He really seems like someone lacking any intelligence.
└ For real, I was really worried about what would happen if such a person became an executive. Now I can sleep in peace, lol.
Under the power of anonymity, the employees freely vented their emotions in the comments.
"I’m gonna go to sleep."
Sang-Hyeon set his blurry phone screen aside and closed his eyes. Although the people in that world felt quite excited, it was already a different world to him.
'What if I had still been at the company...?'
The news of Director Park's dismissal would have been a major headline. Employees would talk about it all day, and others would secretly fight over the next director position.
Now, Sang-Hyeon found all those matters tiresome. He felt fortunate where he was right now.
"Yawn."
After a soft yawn, he sighed and fell into a deep sleep. He didn't have any strange dreams that night.
***
The next day, Sang-Hyeon received some special news in the morning.
"Hey, we've got 500,000 subscribers now."
Ju-Hyeok crunched the almond flakes in his mouth as he spoke.
Today was a busy schedule because of a hospital appointment, so Ju-Hyeok didn't insist on eating a proper breakfast.
"Wow. 500,000..."
Sang-Hyeon nodded as he ate his almond flakes, seemingly pleased with the outcome. It wasn't just 500,000 subscribers, but they also achieved nearly an average of one million views per video.
Ju-Hyeok, Ji-Ah, and Sang-Hyeon could split it evenly and still make as much as Director Park's salary with this level of revenue.
"We should probably do something like an event. We didn't even do one for 100,000 or 200,000."
It was due to all the viewers' support, so holding a celebration event seemed nice, but Sang-Hyeon had nothing planned.
"Isn’t this something Ji-Ah would know about?"
Sang-Hyeon casually tossed it to Ji-Ah. She was quite knowledgeable about fan service since she was the only one among the three who had been a fan of an idol group. Idol culture had a well-developed sense of fan service, so following their example would be a good idea.
"Ji-Ah said a fan meeting would be the best."
"A fan meeting?"
That was an unexpected content idea. It was hard to imagine Almond meeting with fans in person. The fans he had already met flashed through his mind.
‘Jensen─!’
Jensen was the Battle Large player who wore a tight power suit and persistently followed Almond.
‘King~ You can't beat me! ~Dom!’
There was also the Kingdom Age fanboy who suddenly acted out on the subway. Besides them, he hadn’t met many fans in person.
‘Oh, yeah. Ji-Ah was a fan too.’
The only normal one was Ji-Ah.
‘Wait, never mind. She is a bit...’
Ji-Ah wasn’t normal either. She had a strange spending habit of continuously supporting someone even when she was financially broke. Moreover, she tended to view the world in a slightly skewed way. Both her wallet situation and that cynical perspective had improved significantly though.
"A fan meeting... Will it be okay?" Sang-Hyeon asked worriedly.
"Oh, for sure. It’ll be fine. People will like it."
Ju-Hyeok gave a naive response.
Sang-Hyeon wasn't asking if the fans would be okay. He felt worried for himself.
He smacked his lips and grabbed more almonds. He needed to eat more to think properly.
'It's not like there are only those kinds of people... Even if there are, they don't cause any harm.'
Some fans acted strange, but they weren’t the type to harm others. They seemed unlikely to cause any real problems. Even if they did, he had to deal with that as a streamer. After all, they were his fans.
"Ah, and the Balloon Stars members are doing a photoshoot for the awards ceremony. It seems a bit urgent. They contacted me last night asking when you were available. We have a hospital schedule today, so I said tomorrow would work."
"Tomorrow?"
That was quite urgent for a photoshoot.
"Ah, it's not an offline shoot. It's in This World."
"Ah ha..."
A photoshoot in This World could be scheduled immediately for today or tomorrow. It didn’t require any particular preparation, just the program settings for shooting from any angle.
"But we're not even confirmed to receive an award. Is that okay?"
Quite a few teams had been nominated for the awards ceremony.
"It's not just Balloon Stars. A few other teams from the tournament are coming too."
"Okay. I see."
It appeared to be a group photoshoot.
"They sent a message asking for all the teams in the tournament to come together for a photoshoot?'"
"I see."
"They seem to be going for a harmonious concept with it being the end-of-year awards ceremony. Anyway, did you see that?"
"Yeah."
"Do you know what I’m talking about?"
Sang-Hyeon could tell what kind of news was coming just by looking at Ju-Hyeok’s expression.
"Director Park?"
"Yeah."
Ju-Hyeok heard about it from a group chat instead of any community pages.
"Man, life is full of surprises, huh? Who would have thought Yu Sang-Hyeon would fire Director Park?"
"Really. Usually, it's the other way around."
Ju-Hyeok giggled at Sang-Hyeon's joke. These kinds of cynical jokes were Ju-Hyeok's favorites.
"If you're done eating, let's head out. We have to leave early today."
"Ah, right."
They quickly got ready and soon left the house.
***
The weather was cold and their white breaths puffed out. Fortunately, it hadn't snowed. Only some wet spots froze over. They had to be extra careful while walking down the stairs.
"Phew. These stairs really take some getting used to..."
Sweat dripped down Ju-Hyeok’s forehead as he cautiously took one step at a time.
"It's not easy..."
Ju-Hyeok was tall and large, so he probably struggled to maintain his balance while walking down. He'd fall right on his bottom once he stepped on any ice.
The two of them paused for a moment at a certain area.
Whoosh!
An old gate in front of them opened.
"Oh. Ju-Hyeok, you dodged it?"
A girl wrapped tightly in a red scarf giggled. It was Seo Ji-Ah. Today, she also decided to ride in the car with them.
"Hey, that thing could really kill someone~."
"I've hit you several times before. You didn't die though. Maybe because you're a bear."
"You did that on purpose?!"
That door had knocked over Ju-Hyeok countless times.
"Of course not."
Ji-Ah left him with a puzzling comment and clung to his side.
"Almond! Good morning!"
She seemed cheerful.
"It's been a while, Ji-Ah."
"Yeah, it's been a while~."
Ji-Ah cheerfully joined them today for a reason. Ju-Hyeok and her were going out on a date. While Sang-Hyeon went for his medical appointment, Ju-Hyeok had nothing to do and planned on going to a nearby park with Ji-Ah. It was obviously a date, but Ju-Hyeok called it an efficient teamwork enhancement project.
Sang-Hyeon pretended to be clueless and responded, "Oh, that's a good idea."
He didn’t have to act because he genuinely didn't understand what an efficient teamwork enhancement project meant.
"Let's gooooo~!"
The unusually lively Ji-Ah hopped down the stairs. Ju-Hyeok worried for her safety and earnestly followed her, but Sang-Hyeon burst into laughter at how Ju-Hyeok seemed to be more at risk than Ji-Ah.
***
It took around two hours to get to the hospital. The suburban area was known for its good water and air, so it took a while to get there.
"We'll just have coffee nearby or something."
"Alright."
Sang-Hyeon walked alone across the garden as Ji-Ah and Ju-Hyeok left with the car.
This place was more like Song Ha-Na's lab than a hospital. Walking through the garden gave off the impression of entering a high-end exhibition hall rather than a hospital.
As Sang-Hyeon entered the building, which seemed like a part of the garden, the receptionist recognized him.
"Ah, you've arrived. You are Yu Sang-Hyeon, right?"
"Ah, yes."
"I will guide you."
He followed the receptionist and found Song Ha-Na conversing with someone.
"... So I already talked to them."
"It's a pity. If that person had been a bit more cooperative..."
They seemed quite passionate as if discussing something important.
"Doctor, Yu Sang-Hyeon has arrived."
Knock, knock.
At the sound of the knock, the two turned to look at Sang-Hyeon.
"Oh, Sang-Hyeon!"
Song Ha-Na quickly stood up and offered Sang-Hyeon a chair.
"Please sit."
"Thank you."
"Have you been well?"
"Yes."
Sang-Hyeon's gaze naturally shifted to the woman sitting next to him. It was Choi Sa-Rang.
She spoke first before he could say anything, "It's been a while, hasn't it?"
She smiled lightly and bowed her head, always exuding elegance. There was something about her, even more so now that he knew her identity.
"Ah, yes. Have you been well?"
"Yes, it's been interesting."
"Interesting?"
Her response was unusual, especially since she wasn’t one to add unnecessary words. This made Sang-Hyeon curious about what was so interesting in her life.
"I'll tell you."
Song Ha-Na smiled slyly and displayed some data on the screen. It was hard to make sense of it, but her words and smile suggested something hopeful.
"You'll surely like it."
He thought they would discuss something promising. Perhaps his right hand could be healed. He had never spoken such words, but his imagination already reached that far.
'Could it be...?’
Boom!
A tremendous amount of dopamine surged in his brain. The mere imagination sent shivers down his spine. It was an exhilarating feeling.
This reaction was similar to unexpectedly encountering a first love on the street. It was heart-racing and breathtaking. His mind blanked out and turned blindingly white like an opal.
However, dark ink seemed to spill over as he waited for it.
'Wait.'
In Sang-Hyeon's mind, defensive thoughts sprang up like white blood cells and quickly pulled down the curtains. His excitement rapidly faded.
'Don't get carried away. Don't harbor false hopes. Can you handle another disappointment? Be content with what you have now. What if they're not discussing what you think? Falling from a high place hurts. Don't climb up in the first place.’
Sang-Hyeon's expression briefly brightened and returned to its usual state. His calm, cold eyes stared at Song Ha-Na.
‘Let's hear what she has to say.’