Season 3: Chapter 215. Fake Journey (2)
Regarding the national competition, the Fake National Team content solved everything and left editor Ji-Ah with little work lately. Nevertheless, she watched the entire national competition.
“Aaaargh! Almond! Almond is now driving two elephants at once and crashing them!”
She watched the final match against Persia with bated breath.
‘Isn’t he overdoing it?’
Having seen Almond up close, she felt more worried than impressed by his performance.
‘He used to get tired after two games.’
Given Almond’s condition, playing for long periods in a non-dedicated capsule would strain him. Despite that, he showed tremendous concentration until the end of the third game and Joseon advanced to the quarterfinals.
“... Wow.”
Numerous players burst out of their capsules and hugged each other.
Ji-Ah murmured, “Is this the same Almond who started with just five viewers...?”
She recalled the first time she saw him and chuckled. He went from playing single-player games alone to leading two hundred comrades and putting Joseon on the quarterfinals list.
‘Ju-Hyeok also finally started his business.’
Ju-Hyeok, who always talked about starting a business and making money, also took a step toward his goal.
“...”
She looked at the mirror beside her and saw her disheveled hair and hollow eyes. Having no work wasn't as good as it seemed. In fact, it was painful. Not being a part of a social community felt far from a happy experience.
She picked up her employee ID card from a corner of her desk. She thought she’d throw it away immediately. Maybe she hadn’t discarded it because it had her photo on it.
Looking at it, she suddenly thought.
‘Should I go?’
***
PD Jang asked as he made a place for her, “Ms. Ji-Ah, what brings you here? Please, have a seat.”
“Oh, yes. Thank you.”
Ji-Ah sat on the sofa and briefly observed the office. It looked smaller than she expected.
Although it was a new office, the sofa seemed secondhand with cracked leather and plants grew haphazardly everywhere. The dull green floor looked damp like a swamp even though it wasn’t actually wet.
The furniture arrangement was interesting. Employees worked around the sofa, blending working and resting spaces.
One employee sat near the snack table and casually picked up snacks.
Having worked in a mid-sized company as a contract employee, this felt like a novel working environment for Ji-Ah. It didn’t feel unfamiliar, but warm.
‘It looks nice.’
“Slurp.”
She sipped the warm tea and looked at PD Jang.
He looked exhausted like dry firewood, but still had a faint spark of enthusiasm.
“Ms. Ji-Ah, I've heard a lot about you. What brings you here? Did you just come to look around? Haha...” PD Jang spoke first and couldn’t contain his curiosity.
His eyes showed expectation.
“...”
Ji-Ah couldn’t meet his gaze and lowered her eyes to the large unsophisticated mug with hot tea. Her reflection in it was faintly visible through her long, curtain-like hair.
Could this person do it? She asked herself once more and finally spoke up, “Um... Can I work with you?”
“!”
PD Jang was taken aback. He wanted to hear that, but didn’t expect her to say it outright.
While he processed the statement, the others responded first.
“Of course!”
“Come right away! Starting now!”
A few employees jumped up, knocking over their chairs, and rushed to persuade her.
“It’s really nice here. We’d love to have you, Ms. Ji-Ah!”
“This is heaven. And since you can only go to heaven after you die... Ouch!”
PD Jang nudged the person talking nonsense. He smiled back at Ji-Ah.
“You manage Almond’s channel, right?”
Ji-Ah nodded.
“That’s right.”
“You’ve managed the channel from the start, so your pay must be quite high. We can’t offer that here.”
Ji-Ah quickly waved her hands.
“Oh, no. That’s not it. I came to see if there’s anything I can help with while working on Almond’s channel...”
“Oh!”
PD Jang’s face lit up. Did she come to help?
“There’s a lot I can learn too... And the Fake National Team doing well benefits Almond’s channel... But I’m just sitting idle... and it bothers me...”
She had no work during the Fake National Team project. She made shorts from community reactions to the national competition, but that wasn’t enough to satisfy her.
“Got it. Hmm.”
PD Jang pretended to sip his tea thoughtfully. Many employees glared at him from behind.
He stroked his beard and shouted, “Accepted!”
Thud.
He slammed the desk and pointed at someone.
“You. Move to your laptop.”
“... What?”
“You need to train the new employee. Move to the laptop for today. We’ll set up a spot for you by tomorrow.”
All the employees glared at him, clearly wanting him to leave quickly.
“Oh, okay!”
He realized that he needed to secure someone willing to work here too and moved aside.
“Then, Jung-Woo will be your supervisor.”
“Yes!”
“You take care of her.”
“Got it!”
PD Jang smiled brightly at Ji-Ah and kindly showed her to her seat.
“I’ll guide you.”
“Oh... okay. Hahaha...”
Ji-Ah had come to overcome her memories of working in a company.
‘Is this okay?’
She felt like she would probably leave with different memories, but she clenched her small fists.
‘I can do this.’
Ju-Hyeok had started a company selling merchandise and Almond was giving his all in the national competition. She couldn’t just sit idly by.
Even just being welcomed meant something to her. Seeing the employees make a fuss over a new hire made her smile without realizing it. She couldn’t remember the last time she felt so welcomed in a company.
Of course, PD Jang’s barely contained laughter in the background was a bit unsettling.
“Guys, remember the project we put off due to a lack of manpower? Let’s start that!”
“What!? But then there’s no point in hiring another person.”
“What do you mean!? We can do it now!”
“... Wow.”
She would do well. Ji-Ah reassured herself.
***
Sang-Hyeon suddenly stood up and shared his idea.
“Korea...”
“What?”
Pang was confused.
“Most of our team members with jobs went back to Korea, right?”
Pang felt a realization dawning on him.
“Oh!”
Those with jobs had to return after the weekend battles against the Vikings and Persia. They would be back by Friday this week.
Right now, Joseon wasn’t two hundred strong.
“Oh... right.”
Pang had overslept and missed it, but even those who took Monday off had left. The hotel became almost empty since working professionals made up a significant portion of Joseon’s team. Some overseas communities even thought that Joseon had been penalized.
“So we don’t have many people right now. We don’t need to book an entire place.”
“Oh... right?”
The manual had instructed Pang to book one of the nearby capsule rooms from the list. What if they booked outside the designated area?
‘We can rent without revealing our identity. They know us here as the Civil Empire national team, but how would other regions know? We’re not even two hundred people.’
They could avoid situations where places refused them for being on the Korean national team.
“Wow! You’re not just a game genius, are you!? Haha! No wonder you held your own in Ah-Sung for so long!”
Pang excitedly ruffled his hair.
“We’re already recognized here. We just need to go to another region. Even leaving Osaka should be enough!”
“Right. Where should we go?”
Sang-Hyeon grinned and felt pleased at his well-received idea.
“I don’t know. We need to think. Kyoto?”
Just then, a voice full of confidence came from behind the sofa.
“Oh. In that case, let’s go to Kobe. Enjoy the scenery there and have a beef feast.”
“!?”
Sang-Hyeon recognized the familiar voice and turned around in surprise.
“Kim Ju-Hyeok!”
It was Ju-Hyeok.
“You really summoned him?”
Sang-Hyeon stood up, his face filled with joy.
“Summoned? No...”
“It’s true. I called you earlier.”
“Surprisingly, I did hear you. As soon as I entered the lobby, I heard someone yelling ‘Kim Ju-Hyeok!’ in Korean and thought I misheard at first.”
“But why are you here?”
Ju-Hyeok proceeded to explain the situation.
Sang-Hyeon nodded.
“Oh, that’s great.”
“So, Kobe?”
Ju-Hyeok grinned and adjusted his briefcase.
“Is it really better? Isn’t Kobe farther than Kyoto...?” Pang asked and felt puzzled by Ju-Hyeok’s choice.
“Yeah, but each team has a dedicated bus from the quarterfinals. It’ll be comfortable. And we have a beef feast booked to celebrate our quarterfinals.”
“Beef...!?”
They had no idea.
“Yes, it was decided recently. The sponsor’s support allowed this with our advancement to the quarterfinals. We’ve hit the breakeven point.”
“Wow.”
Pang raised his arms in excitement. Even with annoying bosses, he never missed a beef feast.
Then, he recalled the members who returned to Korea.
“What about those who went back to Korea?”
“They won’t make it to this feast, unfortunately. There will be another feast after the event, so they can join then.”
“Haha. I see.”
Pang’s mouth widened into a grin. He could almost taste the beef. Kobe beef was famous, after all.
“Then, it’s settled!”
Pang raised his hand in agreement.
“Alright. I’ll talk to the organizers and arrange the bus for tomorrow. The capsule rooms should be empty on weekdays, so we can book easily. Let’s rest today without worries.”
“Thank you, but we need to avoid revealing we’re the national team...”
“Yes, I’ve heard. There are sixty-four of you left. We’ll split into groups of twenty or thirty and book under a tour company name.”
“Nice!”
Pang looked visibly relieved. Having someone handle everything felt comforting.
“Thank you, Manager. You’re amazing!”
Pang laughed loudly and nearly disturbed the lobby.
Sang-Hyeon quietly extended his fist to Ju-Hyeok.
“Thanks for coming.”
“I’m here to make money, not for you.”
Thump.
They bumped fists.
“Anyway...”
“Hehe.”
Sang-Hyeon smiled brightly. It felt good to see his partner’s face again.