Chapter 49: Came to Say Hello, But Got Caught in a Storm Instead

The HR Department.

It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say that it was the backbone of KR Märchen’s various systems.

Unlike other departments, the HR department was located slightly apart from the main office and involved a lot of on-site work.

What did that mean?

“Are you looking for something?”

“Oh, no, just browsing…”

“If you need anything, just let us know~.”

“Okay. Thank you.”

It meant that the HR department was responsible for handling visitors to Märchen.

More precisely, it was where the KR Märchen Live Pop-Up Store was located—a building dedicated to selling merch.

Why was the HR department responsible for that? I had no idea, and honestly, I didn’t want to know.

I’d heard that besides the recruitment and PR divisions, there were plenty of other departments, all under HR.

Trying to understand it would just be exhausting.

I decided not to bother.

After thanking the employee for their hospitality, I took a look around the first-floor lobby. It had a similar feel to the main office, but with a sleeker, more polished design.

Maybe because this was the first place visitors saw before entering Märchen, they had put extra effort into making it look nice.

“Merch… Should I make some too?”

Displayed across the first-floor lobby were various merchandise from different generations of talents.

Acrylic stands, plushies, tumblers, keycaps—dozens upon dozens of items filled the walls, the floors, even the window sills.

It was almost harder to find a spot without merchandise.

“The recruitment and PR divisions are on the same floor. Seventh floor.”

Tsupi casually commented as we walked past the merchandise displays.

I thought the main office building was pretty tall, but the HR building was unexpectedly large too.

Stepping into the white-walled elevator beside the stairs, I pressed the 7th-floor button, and the doors slid shut.

As the elevator quickly ascended, Tsupi suddenly turned to me.

“Oh yeah, Mu-il, when do you think you’ll be available for the next project?”

“I haven’t even finished my current one yet.”

“If you had to guess?”

“Proooobably… next week?”

“Hmm…”

“Why?”

I had barely answered when Tsupi made a vague sound in response.

Something about that hesitation felt ominous.

As I narrowed my eyes at her suspiciously, I noticed Akira and Kanu staring at me too.

“…What?”

“Ahaha, well… I was wondering if the next project was for my new outfit? Hehe…”

“……”

Akira awkwardly laughed and avoided eye contact, while Kanu, though not saying anything, clearly looked very interested.

They reminded me of kids waiting for Santa Claus.

Very mature-looking kids, but still.

Well, at least when it came to streaming, they were children in a way.

Akira’s character was supposedly 1,900 years old—which, when converted into human years, was 19.

Apparently, that was considered young for a succubus, but honestly? I didn’t get it. How did that math work?

Compared to her, Kanu’s character was straightforward. A 15-year-old shut-in, perfectly fitting the image of an anti-social hikikomori.

Even if, in real life, she was an actual adult.

“Come on, it wouldn’t be fun if I spoiled it early. You’ll have to hear it from your managers later.”

“Tch. Fine…”

“……”

Both of them looked disappointed, but I couldn’t help that.

By policy, I could only discuss projects with Tsupi—and maybe my assistant staff.

For reference, this time I was working on 9th-gen’s new outfits.

The theme? Pirates.

And among them, Akira’s outfit was a pirate captain’s uniform.

Hopefully, she’d like it when she finally got it.

As for 5th-gen, their new outfits had already been released last month, so Kanu would have to wait a little longer for hers.

“So… why did you even ask about my work in the first place?”

“Hmm? Oh, nothing, really. I’ll tell you later.”

Tsupi just shrugged, giving me an unreadable expression.

She was hiding something.

I squinted at her, but before I could pry further—

Ding.

The elevator arrived at our destination, and the doors slid open, revealing a pristine white hallway.

“Where do you want to go first? PR?”

“Yeah, let’s start there. We’re just here to say hello anyway.”

“Wonder if the old man’s in his office.”

With that, the four of us headed toward the PR division.

“Oh? What the—Dohee?”

“Just came to visit, old man. Where is everyone?”

“They all went home. Unlike other departments, things are pretty relaxed here. Plus, today was a health check-up day, so HQ told us to take it easy. I just sent everyone home.”

“Huh? Then why are you still here?”

“Well, I’m the manager. If I go home, who’s gonna handle the work?”

Park Ki-hyuk chuckled as he stretched his shoulders, then finally noticed the three of us standing behind Tsupi.

“Oh wow, you brought guests and didn’t even tell me!”

“That’s your fault for not noticing. And they’re not guests, they’re employees. Why are you acting like they’re strangers?”

“You little brat, always got something to say, huh?”

The older man let out a hearty laugh before turning toward us.

“Good to see you all! It’s been a while.”

“Hello! Do you remember me?! I’m Akira!”

“Haha! Of course, I do. I handled your contract myself! And Kanu, good to see you too.”

“Hello.”

After greeting them both, he finally turned his gaze toward me.

“And well, if it isn’t Mu-il.”

“……”

I felt my entire body freeze.

Oh no.

A very, very bad feeling washed over me.

With a warm smile, Park Ki-hyuk continued,

“It’s been over three months since we last met, hasn’t it? Time sure flies. Haha.”

“Now, it’s Yuwol.”

I responded with a light smile, accepting Park Ki-hyuk’s greeting.

After exchanging pleasantries with the three of us, Park Ki-hyuk turned to Tsupi and asked,

“So? You’re really just here to visit?”

“Yeah. Mu-il said she wanted to drop by and say hi to you and Manager Kang So-un, so I brought her along.”

“…Sounds suspicious.”

“Oh, come on.”

Park Ki-hyuk narrowed his eyes at Tsupi before chuckling and offering us seats, but since we planned to head straight to the recruitment division next, we politely declined.

“Also, you’re coming with us. There’s something I need to talk about.”

“Huh? Me too?”

“Yeah. You seem free right now. Or am I wrong?”

“I’m super busy, actually.”

“Should I check your browsing history?”

“…Fine. I’m coming.”

Letting out a deep sigh, Park Ki-hyuk switched off his office lights.

Tsupi grinned in satisfaction and led the way into the hallway.

“Stay strong.”

Park Ki-hyuk responded to my words with a weary smile.

“Ughhh…”

“That’s a corpse.”

“He looks like he’s about to die.”

“Making a dead man work… Definitely a black company.”

The recruitment division we arrived at was, in a word, a graveyard.

Dozens of employees had their faces buried in glowing monitors, letting out incoherent groans.

Despite looking like lifeless corpses, there was something oddly pitiful about them.

“They’re not corpses, you guys.”

“Don’t lie. If they were people, they’d be speaking actual words, not just moaning.”

“…They are people.”

“Stop looking away.”

Tsupi’s remark made the three of us shake our heads. No matter how you looked at it, they weren’t human anymore.

“Follow me. I know where the manager’s office is.”

Tsupi led us past the sea of bodies, and when we reached our destination…

“…She’s alive, right?”

“Technically?”

A woman, looking even more exhausted than the others, was staring blankly at the ceiling.

I felt tears welling up just looking at her. Poor thing.

“Manager~.”

“……”

“Manager?”

“Mm… Huh? Team Leader Dohee…?”

The woman, blinking slowly, seemed to snap back to reality and shot up from her seat.

This must be Manager Kang So-un.

She was the one who had sent the acceptance messages for the 11th gen talents.

“I-I’m fine. Ugh, my head… Phew. Anyway, what brings you here?”

“Oh, well, our 11th gen wanted to say hello.”

“11th gen…? Ah! Yuwol?”

Tsupi nudged me forward.

Before I knew it, Kang So-un was standing right in front of me.

She was taller than I expected, so I had to tilt my head up slightly.

“Hello. I’m Yuwol from the 11th gen.”

I greeted her in a straightforward manner.

Still looking dazed, Kang So-un gave a slow nod before asking,

“I see… But why are you greeting me specifically?”

“When you sent the acceptance message for the 11th gen, you wrote—”

“WAAAH! That—that’s a secret! Okay?!”

“…O-Okay.”

Before I could finish my sentence, Kang So-un clamped her hands over my mouth.

I gave her a weird look.

I thought she wanted to get closer to Tsupi. I was literally about to help her.

Even Tsupi and the others were now looking at her strangely.

“Ha… Haha… Ahem. Uh, should we move somewhere else? I think it’d be better to talk outside of the recruitment division.”

“Let’s go to the rest lounge on the sixth floor.”

Yeah, staying here for too long felt mentally draining.

They kept saying there was a labor shortage, but at this rate, the recruitment division would need recruiting itself.

Unfortunately, that wasn’t my problem.

“So? What’s this about?”

At Park Ki-hyuk’s question, Tsupi shrugged.

Then, placing her hand on my head, she casually said,

“Let’s take a trip overseas this winter.”

“Huh? Where is this coming from? An overseas trip?”

The rest of us stared at her in confusion.

Where was this random trip idea coming from?

“Well, technically, it’s a business trip… but we can also treat it like a vacation!”

“So, it’s just work.”

…Seriously?

And why was she still holding my head?

I suddenly had a very bad feeling.

“…I have to go too?”

“Of course! It’s related to your illustrator work.”

“Where exactly?”

“The U.S.”

…Wait, what?

“We’re going to EN Märchen Live this winter.”

Why?!

Wasn’t everything settled with them already?!

I really, really didn’t understand.